by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Last week we saw that θλῖψις was of 2 kinds, for us believers and for non-believers; but the 2 types of tribulation may and do overlap. The prophesied θλῖψις μεγάλη (“great tribulation”) would not be just a single event but a period of time. Furthermore, this troubled period for believers in the Lord Jesus for all time apparently would not only be called great but also a long tribulation. Indeed as the Gospel writer Luke expressed in his parallel version of the Olivet Discourse (Luke 21:24):
24And they will fall by point of sword and will be taken captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled upon by (the) Gentiles that until (the) times of (the) Gentiles are fulfilled.
Since the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D., it was only in May 1948 that the nation-state of Israel was reestablished. This was after the horrors of the Holocaust in WWII and the 1947 UN General Assembly vote (where the Philippines was the only Asian country to vote for the creations of a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian-Arab state). It has been only 75 years of independence since then. With the continuing terrorist violence and existential threats to Israel; with the Temple Mount reserved only for Islamic prayers but off-limits to Jews (even in their own country and city) and sometimes even to Christians; with historical Jewish and Biblical lands and even presence denied and contested, can we truly say by any stretch of imagination, that the times of the nations/Gentiles are over?
It would seem that the great and long tribulation is continuing. The Apostle John, writing the Revelation near the end of the 1st century A.D., certainly thought this way. And it seems, so did the Church Fathers in the succeeding centuries. But for Dispensationalism, an eschatological belief which became popular from the 1830s onwards, a future 7-year tribulation period is still yet to come.
Despite all this, there is a message of hope in the prophetic words found in Matthew 24:22. After the successive fearful words in vv. 15-21, verse 22 carries with it a promise of hope. The Lord Jesus, right after telling the disciples about the coming “abomination of desolation” (v. 15) and “great tribulation” (v. 21), says:
καὶ εἰ μὴ ἐκολοβώθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι, οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη πᾶσα σάρξ· διὰ δὲ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς κολοβωθήσονται αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι.
22And if those days were not cut short, no flesh would be saved; but because of the elect, those days will be cut short.
This has a parallel verse in Mark 13:20. Mark also has the Lord Jesus saying that God cuts short those days of tribulation, for the sake of his chosen, otherwise no one would be able to survive.
The Luke 21:24 verse we just saw earlier supports this “cut short” view in that it gives some limit to the suffering of the Jews (and also Christians). Matthew 24:22 (and Mark 13:20) apparently echo a recurring Biblical theme that Israel and its people will be saved through whatever destruction (from the LORD’s judgement) that befalls them.
The prophet Jeremiah expressed God’s promise of restoration to Israel and even alludes to the great tribulation judgment day that was later taken up in Daniel. Jeremiah says that the sound of terror is so great; that there is no other day like it and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble/distress, but he will be saved from it (Jeremiah 30:5-7). However, it appears that those who will be saved constitute only a remnant. This may be termed “remnant theology.” Isaiah 10:20-22 is the prime example. Its historical context is the Assyrian destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. (but it could also apply to the Babylon destruction of Solomon’s Temple and Jerusalem in 586 B.C.). Isaiah 10:21-22 with my formal translation follows:
שְׁאָ֥ר יָשׁ֖וּב שְׁאָ֣ר יַעֲקֹ֑ב אֶל־אֵ֖ל גִּבֹּֽור׃
21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob to the mighty God.
כִּ֣י אִם־יִהְיֶ֞ה עַמְּךָ֤ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כְּחֹ֣ול הַיָּ֔ם שְׁאָ֖ר יָשׁ֣וּב בֹּ֑ו כִּלָּיֹ֥ון חָר֖וּץ שֹׁוטֵ֥ף צְדָקָֽה׃
22Even though it happens your people Israel (be) as the sand of the sea, a remnant in it will return; destruction (is) cut short, overflowing to righteousness.
The Aramaic Bible in Plain English translates Isaiah 10:22 this way:
22And if your people Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, the remnant of them shall return; he has cut short and he has cut off and he overflowed in righteousness.
The Septuagint (LXX) translation of Isaiah 10:22-23 in the Greek follows, with the NETS translation:
καὶ ἐὰν γένηται ὁ λαὸς Ἰσραὴλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ κατάλιμμα αὐτῶν σωθήσεται· λόγον συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ,
22And if the people of Israel become like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved; for he is completing and cutting short a reckoning with righteousness,
ὅτι λόγον συντετμημένον ποιήσει Κύριος ἐν τῇ οἰκουμένῃ ὅλῃ.
23because God will perform a shortened reckoning in the whole world.
This remnant theology and cut short judgment of God for the sake of his people expressed in Isaiah 10:22-23 is quoted (from the LXX apparently) by the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:27-28. Romans 9 – 11 are the 3 chapters where Paul expresses his deep desire to see his fellow Israelites saved during the time that not very many had accepted the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and also his great confidence and faith in God that all Israel will be saved at the end. However, during this time of tribulation prior to the end, only some of his people, a Jewish remnant are being saved. Still it is by the grace and mercy of our Almighty God that the time of tribulation is promised to be cut short. For this, our Lord deserves all our praise and thanksgiving!
We will continue next week.
God bless us all.