The End of the Jewish Kingdom-NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

                                       The End of the Jewish Kingdom-NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

Ezekiel 7:2-7 English Standard Version 7 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.3 Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 4 And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 5 “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes. 6 An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. 7 Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 9 And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes.

10 “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them. 12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.13 For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life. 14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity


Context: Babylon coming to destroy Jerusalem. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

 

Ezekiel 21:25-29 English Standard Version 25 And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, 26 thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him. 28 “And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning— 29 while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.


Context: Nebuchadnezzar decides to judge between Rabbah of the Ammonites or Judah/Jerusalem. He chooses Judah/ Jerusalem for final judgment-the humbling of the Prince of Judah-Zedekiah. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

 

Ezekiel 35:5 English Standard Version 5 Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment,


Context: The “You” is Edom. The “power of the sword” is Babylon. “Their” is Jerusalem. Final punishment/judgment is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

 

Daniel 8:17 English Standard Version 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”

Daniel 8:19 English Standard Version 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.

 

Daniel 8:23 English Standard Version 23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise.

 

Daniel 11:35 English Standard Version 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.


Context: Indignation is a general term for wrath/fury-God or man. There is no special eschatological meaning towards the word. See its usage in Deuteronomy 29:28, Joshua 22:20, 2 Kings 3:27, Esther 1:18, and Ecclesiastes 5:17. In Daniel 8:17, 19, 23 and 11:35, the “time of the end” here refers to the last days of the Greek Empire and Antiochus Epiphanes IV.

 


Daniel 11:40 English Standard Version 40 “At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through.


Context: The “time of the end” here refers to the events of the Battle of Actium near the last days of the Greek Empire. For a deeper study, check out the works of Phillip Mauro.

 



Lamentations 4:18 English Standard Version 18 They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come.

Context: Babylon conquering Jerusalem. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

 



Amos 8:2 English Standard Version 2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.

Amos 8:10 English Standard Version 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

Context: The end applies to destruction of the Northern Kingdom-Israel. They were destroyed by the Assyrians.


Habakkuk 2:2-3 English Standard Version 2 And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.


Context: Babylon conquering Jerusalem. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

 

 

 

Erroneously interpreted as the End of the World

Based on what we read above, and if we hold to the principle of scripture interpreting scripture, then it is logical that these passages refer to the End of the Jewish Kingdom-70AD, NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

 

Daniel 12:4 English Standard Version 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase

Daniel 12:6-7 English Standard Version 6 And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” 7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of THE HOLY PEOPLE comes to an end all these things would be finished.

Daniel 12:9 English Standard Version 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

Daniel 12:13 English Standard Version 13 But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”

 

 

Matthew 24:6 English Standard Version 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

 

Matthew 24:14 English Standard Version 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come

 

1 Corinthians 15:24 English Standard Version 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

 

1 Peter 4:7 English Standard Version 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

 

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