End-time prophecies and the Cross - A Covert Conversation -

Last night I had a most animated visit with a Christian gentleman whose sincerity, vigor, and integrity is certainly beyond question. He is indeed a most dedicated believer of current events as the exact fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, and a host of other biblical texts understood and interpreted as pointing to these very days. It was a marvelous con-fusion of the past, the present, and the immediate future. In his from the heart and mind descriptions, all the current players in the current world crisis are to be found right there in Daniel and Revelation: George Bush, Sadam Hussein, Ahmadinejad, Tony Blair, the Asian economic markets, represented by de-feathered eagles (USA), lame lions (UK), bear (Russia's Putin), leopards (Asian block). In listening, it seemed to me I was hearing William Millier-Uriah Smith revised and updated version (2006-2007). However, this recounting of end time prophecies had some incredible addtions: the earth will stop spinning on its axis, monthly lunar cycles would return to 30 days, yearly solar cycles to 360 days, all due to incredible cataclysims that make Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth seem like the first level of a kids' video game. But there was more. Somewhere it is also prophecied that it will take Jesus three and a half days to come to earth, and that something incredibly suspicious is lurking in the land - all over the world's land - just waiting to surprise humankind: The Vengeful Sword of God. A Geo-Politico-Religious thriller that would have Tom Clancy, Mel Gibson give up their trades as novelists and Apocalypto thrillers. It all led up to one great climactic point which was somewhat unclear graphically, but with one great certainty: God's judgment of all nations would take place... Somehow it was implied that if you just knew this stuff (the prophecies and their fulfillment) you would somehow escape the conflagrations, it would help if you owned some land and bunkered in the backcountry of Idaho... Wow! In the meantime one would have to make furtive raids into the big cities with pamphlets, tracts, in covert operations into shopping mall magazine racks slipping these tracts in between the mags and thrusting them into strangers' hands who might be deemed responsive to the warnings. Were it not that the actual headlines for today are so bad, it would be difficult to imagine that the news could get worse, but indeed the salient message of these apocalyptic scenarios was indeed "Bad News".

Since these scenarios arise from an allegedly Christian background (SDAism) I kept waiting for the "Good News". This was certainly harder to find in these scenarios and it was unclear as to what that might be. It may have been good news for an elite group of 10 Commandment keepers apocalyptically referred to as "the 144,000". Elite because they had achieved a maximum level of character progress (no longer referred to as "perfection") that they were actually on display before the universe as God's proof that upright citizens of planet earth could indeed be found. In terms of today's hype status given to stars on display, these 144,000 character righteous people certainly had been nominated and won the Oscar Holiness Awards, and thus gained special status in proximity to God's throne - forever! There was no other good news left for non-144-thousanders. The only hope was in edging out someone else and make it to this prestigiously eternally blessed group. Wow!

When I was finally able to get a word edgewise and ask about the place of the cross and Jesus' finished and saving work on our behalf I was given the strangest answers: Christ is still tied in chains awaiting the judgment, he died not for our sins but for his sins (what???!!), salvation is still an ongoing process, the cross was important but... "But what?" "But there's so much still to come: the plagues, the judgments, the three and a half years, Lucifer bearing our sins in the desolate earth (What?? Lucifer the sin-bearer??), some obscure Ellen White prophecy from Early Writings about some special group of people translated without seeing death...

And the cross? I looked at the prophetic charts in vain for some sign of the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ... Where was the story of the cross in the middle of lions, bears, leopards, eagles, little horns, a tiara bearing man caricatured on the tip of some horn... (That caricature is still propagated?)... Wow!!! And the cross of Christ?

"The cross is important, but..."

"But what?"

I kept praying for some text, some Scripture that would cut through the fog of seas, beasts, peals, and thunders and would lead this gentleman to see the glory of the cross of Christ as the one great apocalyptic event of all human history and the history of the universe.

Somehwere in the back of my head it seemed appropriate to look at the preaching on the day of Pentecost. Certainly that was a key day in the preaching of the gospel. What had been the theme of the apostle's preaching on that day?

Was I in for a surprise. When I looked at Acts 2 the answer was right there and it was something I had never seen before, and yet so appropriate to this very moment. Here it is for you to look at, and see what I saw that day, and what I shared with my dear brother in Christ. Through the marvelous presence of the Spirit, as we read outloud together, the message of the cross did get through...

Peter's messge, I saw consisted of two basic parts. The first part was a defense of the apostles' speaking in foreign languages. It was not only a great defense, but a great use of the end-time prophecies to try to get people scared enough to cry out to God for salvation (as it seemed was the intent of my brother's apocalyptic discourse and pamphlet distribution covert operations):

14. But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
15. "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
16. but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17. `AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, `THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
18. EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.
19. `AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
20. `THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.
21. `AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'

Wow! What an apocalyptic vision! Complete with blood, fire, and smoke. The sun and moon even seem to go into reverse, akin to my brother's description of the earth coming to a non-spinning halt.

In v. 21 the apostle seems to close his argument by insinuating to the hearers what they should do: Cry out for mercy!

Yet, when he made his pause expecting for the souls to come forward repentant to the altar, there was nothing but complete silence!

No reaction, no response, no convicted sinners.

Always troubling for a preacher. To present his best argument, and have the congregation of unrepentant sinners yawn and look at their watches, or look at each other with the uplifted eyebrow signal: "Let's split".

And yet, the Holy Spirit was at work in the apostle Peter's mind whispering: Try the cross, go to the cross, mention His name and His work on the cross...

And then, as if He got a second wind, and finally got it, he proceeded:

"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know--
23. this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
24. "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
25. "For David says of Him, `I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.
26. `THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;
27. BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.
28. `YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.'
29. "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30. "And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,
31. he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.
32. "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
33. "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
34. "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: `THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
35. UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."'
36. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified."
37. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"
38. Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."

Amazing. It was not until the crowd heard the preaching of Christ, and Christ crucified that of their own, without an appeal, without an altar call, they themselves couldn't take it any more, and cried to God for repentance and salvation.

Amazing how the forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of another works upon the human heart to show the love of God which drives out fear from the mind and heart.

And so it was with my brother.

He looked at the text. I pointed to him that v. 37 (the verse of crying out to God) had not come after the prophetic preaching but after the preaching of the cross. He looked at it again to confirm that it was so. He thanked me for showing this to him... and after prayer he headed off into the night to warn another big city of the impending doom... with I do hope and pray, the message of the cross of Christ as measure of last resorts...

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all, Amen.

Hebrews 2:2-4 "How shall we escape if such a great salvation we deem as less?

2. ει γαρ ο δι αγγελων λαληθεις λογος εγενετο βεβαιος και πασα παραβασις και παρακοη ελαβεν ενδικον μισθαποδοσιαν 3. πως ημεις εκφευξομεθα τηλικαυτης αμελησαντες σωτηριας ητις αρχην λαβουσα λαλεισθαι δια του κυριου υπο των ακουσαντων εις ημας εβεβαιωθη 4. συνεπιμαρτυρουντος του θεου σημειοις τε και τερασιν και ποικιλαις δυναμεσιν και πνευματος αγιου μερισμοις κατα την αυτου θελησιν2.

2. For if the word spoken by the angels was trustworthy, and each transgression and each time they did not heed had its due reward, 3. how shall we escape if such great salvation we deem as less? Which from the beginning the Lord took hold of it broadcasting it to those who heard it, being confirmed before us 4. God Himself testifying together with marvels and prodigious and diverse portentous signs and the Holy Spirit administering according to His will.

At the center of this passage is v. 3, which has been most often translated as “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

It is a question that implies inescapable consequences. However, it presents a rather confused concept of the gospel’s announcement of salvation. In refering to salvation it describes it as “such a great salvation”. On the other hand, it implies that we can escape this salvation if we neglect it. If understood in this manner, this salvation is really not all that great or powerful if indeed mere neglect will bring upon us inescapable punishments as sure and as certain as the revelation given by angels to Moses. If we can escape this salvation by mere neglect, then the “greatness” of this salvation is certainly diminished. It may be great, but easy to elude. This interpretation of the text has certainly presented difficulties for believers in the gospel.

Another problem is that the question implies a motivation arising from fear rather than love for accepting Christ’s great salvation. “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” If salvation may be lost with a mere neglect (other modern language translations render “careless” [descuido (Spanish)]), we will not escape punishment, therefore Christ’s salvation must be accepted in order to escape punishment. However, this is not the gospel motivation for accepting Christ, and neither does it agree with the testimony of other Scriptures: “If I be lifted up [on the cross] I will draw all unto me” (John 12:32). “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:18,19).

Is there then a way of understanding this question in the light of the gospel? We must remember that Scripture is its own interpreter, and that all Scripture points to Christ and to the great love found in the gospel. That principle is also true here in Hebrews 2:2-4. This Scripture has its sense and meaning in the great revelation of the love of the Lord Jesus.

Verse 2 is the introduction to verse 3. The question found in v. 3, “How shall we escape...?” cannot be understood apart from its connection with v. 2. Verse 2 is a continuation of the author’s entire argument given in chapter 1: The revelation given in the Son is greater than the revelation given to the angels. However, the author does not demean the revelation given to the angels. This revelation was trustworthy as God’s will for Israel. It was trustworthy because it pointed to the coming of the Messiah. The revelation given to the angels was replete with symbols, figures, and types that announced the redemptive work of the Messiah, the work of the Son, the greater revelation. The revelation given to the angels showed God’s relationship with humanity without the redemptive work of the Messiah: “every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward” (Hebrews 2:2).

Therefore, the author’s question of v. 3 is directly connected to v. 2: “How shall we escape if such a great salvation we deem as less?” The question compares the revelation given in the Son with the previous revelation given to Moses through the angels. How shall we escape the consequences if the revelation given in the Son we deem of lesser value than the revelation given to the angels? The question presupposes a comparison between the two revelations. It is not that now we are going to “neglect” or be “careless” with the revelation given in the Son. That is not the target or thrust of the author’s question. His objective is to create a comparison between the two revelations through the incisive question: “If the greater and absolute revelation given in the Son we deem as less in value as that which was given to the angels, we have no other recourse than to await the same consequences of punishment received by those who disobeyed the first revelation. There was no escaping the consequences of not heeding that revelation. How then will there be any escape if the greater revelation we don’t even hold as being equal in value as the old revelation?” Such is the literal translation of the Greek which appears above, which then renders the question as “How shall we escape if such great salvation we deem as less?”

For many, understanding this penetrating question in this manner will be new, and perhaps difficult to accept. In general, modern versions have translated the Greek of this question like this: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” The difference between the literal translation offered above and the most common translation lies in the translation of the Greek verb “amello”. This verb is most commonly translated “neglect” which is also found in the Latin translations (neglexerum). However the translations which render “neglect” render not the original or literal meaning of the word, but rather the consequential meaning of the word. Among the modern language translations the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras translations point to the earlier meaning of the word when it uses the phrase “tener en poco” (to deem as small). However, the original Greek’s intent is “to deem less than”, “to undervalue”, “to depreciate”. Something that is “undervalued” is certainly “neglected” because it is considered as of “less value” than something else which is given greater value.

However, the precise and original meaning, confirmed by the context of v. 3 is “to deem less than”, “to undervalue”, “to depreciate” (to value something as of less value in comparison to something given greater value).

This translation of “amello” here in Hebrews 2:3 is confirmed by the same use of “depreciating” or “under-valuing” which the same verb word, in the same tense carries in Matthew 22:5. In this text, this same verb is found to describe what those invited to the wedding feast of the king’s son did with the invitation: they “under-valued” it. They deemed the invitation of the king to his son’s wedding feast as below the value of their own interests: to take care of their fields and their own business interests.

(1) The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, (3) and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. (4) Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. (5) But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise (Matthew 22:1-5).

In v. 5 the word that is generally translated “did not pay attention” (CEV), or “did not care” (MKJV), is more correctly translated as “made light of it” in the King James Version. This translation points to the more precise translation of “undervalued” or “deemed less than”. In other words the invitees deemed the invitation of the king to his son’s wedding beneath their own businesses and interests. They compared the importance of two things as having value for their lives: the invitation of the king vs. their own interests. After weighing and comparing they underrated the king’s invitation in value when compared to their own interests. They thought that in the long run they would be better off with the works of their own doing than accepting the generous and free invitation of the king to his son’s wedding. They depreciated or undervalued the king’s invitation when compared to the value of the fruit of their own works. This is the sense of the Greek word “amello”, the same word that is used in Matthew 22:5 and in Hebrews 2:3.

Therefore, in Hebrews 2, the author compares the old revelation given to Moses through the angels with the perfect and complete revelation given “in these last days” in the Son. In 2:2, the author affirms that the old revelation was trustworthy, and to transgress it and not heed it brought its due just consequences. Although the author finds value in the old revelation he now proceeds to weigh the value of the new revelation given in the Son comparing it with the old: “How shall we escape if the new revelation given in the Son is deemed to be of lesser value than the old?

It is a rhetorical question since the answer is obvious. We will not escape because when we value the new revelation beneath the old revelation given to Moses we remain subject to the same punishments that were given for transgressing and not heeding that old revelation. When the new revelation is undervalued, there is nothing better. The old revelation remains in place with its same punishments dealt in due consequence for the transgressions. The theological question the author poses is, "How shall we escape if the old revelation did not provide salvation, how can we expect it to provide salvation now, when a new and greater salvation has been opened in the revelation of Jesus Christ?"

But it is not so with the new revelation. This new revelation in the Son is “so great a salvation”. Therefore, it is strong, powerful, sovereign. Rather, there is no escaping the reach of this salvation given through the grace of Christ bearing our sins on His body on the cross. The author’s argument implies another question: “How shall we escape such a great salvation?” In the old revelation there was no escaping the punishments. In the new revelation there is no escaping the Son’s great power to save.

"(37) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (38) For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. (39) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (40) For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:37-40 ESV)."