Welcome to Episode #174 of the Way of the Bible podcast. This is our sixth of eight episodes in our Twenty-Second mini-series entitled The Return of Jesus Christ. On today’s episode, we’ll scratch the surface of Old Testament prophetic texts that speak of the return of Jesus. We are likely living in a period the Bible refers to more than any other. The judgment of the world and the return of Jesus Christ on the Day of the Lord. Are you ready for this?
We can’t go back until we start at the end. What do I mean? God revealed to Israel through the prophet Isaiah a key to all God given prophecy. Isaiah 46:10 – I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
When God provides a prophetic word to the prophet to speak, God is not guessing what will happen. Nor will he artificially orchestrate something to happen to meet the prophetic vision apart from his will. Nor can anyone change the prophetic vision of God.
Before we get to the Old Testament, let’s take a look at the Bible as a whole. I know it seems like one step forward and two steps back each episode, but hopefully, this summary will give clarity as we continue to explore why Jesus is coming back.
The Bible starts with the creation narrative in Genesis 1-3. I encourage you to accept the narrative as written, including the creation of man from the dust of the earth and woman from the rib of man. If you consider it, otherwise you diverge widely from the context and meaning of life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this narrative, we see creation, inference of a fall in the spiritual realm, the fall of mankind, and the identification of the fix to rebellion in heaven and on earth – seed of the woman.
Next, we blast through mankind’s first two thousand years of history from Genesis 4 to 11. We see in this historical narrative mankind’s wickedness, angelic interference, the flooding of the earth to cleanse both human and animal kingdom genome, the continued wickedness of man, the dividing of mankind into seventy nations by language distortion.
From Genesis 12 to the end of the Old Testament period is another two thousand years. God establishes an irrevocable covenant with Abraham to make of him a nation of people, with a land, and a descendant through whom all nations would be blessed – the seed of Abraham. The covenant is affirmed with Issac and Jacob. God makes a conditional covenant with the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob to give them the promised land if they obey God’s covenantal laws. God establishes a covenant with David for a descendant who will sit on his throne and a kingdom that will have no end – seed of David.
The New Testament reveals that the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, and the seed of David are all fulfilled in the person Jesus Christ, the Son of God/Son of Man. Jesus’ life of ministry demonstrated he was the spotless lamb of God through whom all the sins of the world were paid for on the cross of Calvary. The apostles affirm the sacrificial work of Jesus and that salvation and eternal life are now available to both Jews and Gentiles who believe the gospel. The hanging chad is the covenantal promise to Abraham and the Patriarchs of a people and a land and the covenantal promise to David of an earthly kingdom.
What was not revealed since the creation of the world, but was revealed to the apostles of Christ was the Mystery of God. The mystery of God was that Jews and Gentiles alike who believe in Jesus are adopted by God as his children, are reborn by the Holy Spirit, together collectively are the bride of Christ, and are the manifestation of the body of Christ in this world.
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