1. The change from the Old Covenant way of relating to God through the sacrifice of animals at a temple in Jerusalem, to the New Covenant established in the finished work of Christ, is the primary focus of prophecies of Scripture such as in Daniel, Revelation, and the “Mount of Olives Discourse” teaching of Jesus.

2. The ending of the Old Covenant and the establishment of the New Covenant involved a period of ‘overlap of the Covenants’, beginning with the birth of Jesus and ending with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. This overlap period is described by Daniel as the ‘time of the end’ (Daniel 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9, 13).

3. The public ministry, atoning death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement in heaven of Jesus came at the mid-point of this period. The ‘last days’ (Acts 2:17, 2 Tim. 3:1, Heb. 1:2, 1 Peter 1:20) refers to the “last days” of the Old Covenant, the period between the finished work of Christ on the cross, which made the Old Covenant sacrifices obsolete (Heb. 8:13), and its end with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

4. With the destruction of the Temple came the formal end of the Mosaic Law, and the initial fulfillment of all that had been prophesied (Lk. 24:25-27, 44-49; even Mt. 5:18, see below).

5. The four gospels, in fact probably all of the New Testament writings, were written before 70 AD. The book of Revelation was written during the reign of Nero in the 60s, and focuses on the events involving the Jewish revolt ultimately crushed by the Romans in 70 AD, the Roman persecution of Christians under Nero, and the ultimate victory of Christ over the spiritual enemies behind these events. (Kenneth Gentry’s book Before Jerusalem Fell, convincingly makes the case for this early dating of Revelation.)

6. God’s re-established rule on earth as in heaven, the ‘kingdom of God,’ began with Jesus’ enthronement in heaven and continues wherever and whenever His Kingship is acknowledged and His will is done.

7. The change of Covenants is reflected in language such as ‘in this age and the age to come’ (Mt. 12:32). The ‘end of the age’ refers to the end of the Old Covenant era with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. (Mt. 24:3) The author of Hebrews writes “at the end of the ages” (Heb. 9:26). The New Testament references to ‘the coming age’ (Mk. 10:30, 1 Tim. 6:19) and ‘the renewal of all things’ (Mt. 19:28) refer to the new reality found in Jesus’ reign from heaven since 70 AD until now, in which His Kingdom is gradually being more fully established (the mustard seed keeps growing), by the power of His Holy Spirit, who also enables us to have a foretaste of the eternal life of heaven now.

8. Jesus said that ‘the coming of the Son of Man’ would occur during that generation (Mt. 16:28, 26:64). This involved His ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’ to heaven to be enthroned in heaven as King of Kings (Daniel 7:13-14, Eph. 1:20-23, Phil. 2:9-11, Col. 3:1), and was reflected in His coming in judgment, through the Roman army, on the rebellious Jews of that generation who rejected His atonement and the peace He offered them, and persecuted His followers (as in Isa. 19:1 vs. Egypt, Mt. 11:24, 12:38-45, 23:37, Lk. 19:41-44, Gal. 1:4). This “coming of the Son of Man” would also prove to everyone that Jesus was the “Son of Man” of Daniel 7:13-14, the long-awaited Messiah/Christ, Son of God, and King of Kings (cf. Mt. 26:64).
   Note: The word commonly translated as “coming” (Gk. parousia), has the two senses of an active presence and an appearing, or a revealing, an uncovering, a making manifest, of the New Covenant reality that had been hidden by the continued practice of the Old Covenant sacrifices. This is also reflected in other passages where the same event is spoken of as a “revealing” (Gk. ‘apokalupsis’, as in 1 Cor. 1:7, Luke 17:30, Rom. 2:5, 2 Thess. 1:7-13).

9. The ‘Day of the Lord’ was language often used in the Old Testament in reference to the day of God’s wrath, God’s act of judgment on some evil nation- either His judgment of nations oppressing His people (Is. 13:6-19, Ezek. 30:1), or more often of His judgment of His rebellious people (Is. 2:11-20, Joel 1:15, 2:11, Zeph. 1:14). Similar language is used by Jesus and the New Testament writers for the day of the “coming of the Son of Man”, when He would judge the inhabitants of the land, avenge the persecuted saints, destroy the Old Covenant forms, and vindicate the gospel message of a reigning Jesus who has conquered sin and death. (Mal. 4:5, Acts 2:28-30, Heb. 10:25)

10. Jesus’ words that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24:14) were fulfilled in that generation (Col. 1:5-6, 23, Rom. 1:8, 16:25-26, and the parallel passage in Mk. 13:10 in its context for them then- ‘you’!). The ‘world’ (Gk. oikoumene) referred to the extent of the Roman world (Lk. 2:1, Acts 11:28), and the ‘nations’ (Gk. ethnoi) referred to the various ethnic groups of the Roman empire (Acts 2:5).

11. The language of imminence, such as ‘soon’ (Heb. 8:13, Rom. 16:20, Rev. 1:1, 3:11, 22:6, 7, 12, 20), and ‘near’ (1 Peter 4:7, Rev. 1:3, 22:10, James 5:8), should be understood in the normal sense, referring to events that would happen in the generation of the hearers/readers then.

12. The “new heavens and new earth” (cf. Rev. 21:1, 2 Peter 3:7-13) express the judgment and change of covenant eras in cosmic terms (see Is. 65 & 66). References to changes in the sun, moon, and stars (cf. Ps. 18, Is. 13:9-10 re. Assyria, Ezk. 32:7-8 re. Egypt, Mt. 24:29 and Rev. 6:12-14) also express God’s great acts of judgment and deliverance. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus bring about a cosmic restructuring of reality. (Note: In regard to 2 Peter 3, the “elements”-Gk. ‘stoicheion’ refer to the Old Covenant Law and its obligations, as in Gal. 4:3-10, Col. 2:8-21 and Heb. 5:12.) The “new heavens and new earth” (2 Peter 3:13, Heb. 12:26-27, Rev. 21 and 22), like the “Kingdom of God”, are “already but not yet”. They have become a present reality in Christ Jesus and through His indwelling Spirit, but are not yet in the complete and perfected form, just as we are not yet in our perfected heavenly form.

13. The “Rapture”- 1Thess. 4:16-17 has been understood by many in recent years to speak of a “rapture”-type event, a supernatural snatching away of Christians by God to spare them from experiencing ‘the Great Tribulation’, as proposed in the 1800s by Darby and Scofield. (The supposed supporting analogy with Noah in Mt. 24:38-41 is flawed, since “took/taken” there refers to those being taken in judgment, and was fulfilled when the Christians fled Jerusalem before its destruction in 70 AD. Also, the similar passage in Lk. 17:334-35 involves instructions to leave quickly and not go back for anything, as in Mt. 24:16-18, instructions which would be irrelevant in a “rapture” scenario.) This passage had always been understood previously in church history as referring to our resurrections, specifically the resurrection then of those who had died, and ours, in turn as we die, and perhaps also of a final great resurrection.

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