We’re still in the 17th century:We’re still in the 17th century:

“Ver. 9: ‘Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted.’] To this relate those words of Peter, I Ep. iv. 17, ‘The time is come, that judgment must begin at the house of God;’ that is, the time foretold by our Savior is now at hand, in which we are to be delivered up to: persecution, &c.  

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. If it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them which obey not the Gospel of God?     
(1 Peter 4:17; GNV)

“These words denote that persecution, which the Jews, now near their ruin, stirred up, almost every where, against the professors of the gospel. They had indeed oppressed them hitherto on all sides, as far as they could, with slanders, rapines, whippings, stripes, &c. which these and such-like places testify…But there was something that put a rub in their way, that, as yet, they could not proceed to the utmost cruelty; ‘And now ye know what withholdeth ;’ which, I suppose, is to be understood of Claudius, enraged at, and curbing in, the Jews. Who being taken out of the way, and Nero, after his first five years, suffering all things to be turned topside turvy, the Jews now breathing their last (and Satan therefore breathing his last effects in them, because their time was short), they broke out into slaughter beyond measure, and into a most bloody persecution: which, I wonder, is not set in the front of the ten persecutions by ecclesiastical writers…”

Oh what a twisted web we weave… The author quotes from 1 Peter about how judgment must start with us: very clearly meaning the church. The author then says that the judgment “denotes” the “persecution, which the Jews…stirred up…”  This is very misleading. Persecution is not the same thing as judgment, especially for Christians. Jesus told us that we would endure persecution because we loved Him; He said nothing about it being a “judgment” against us.

The next problem is the use of the word “rapine”. Yes, the Jews slandered the Christians. Yes, Paul received beatings and stripes from the Jews, though I think he was actually singled out a bit because he was Jewish himself. The Jews would not have cared what random Gentiles believed. But rapine is different. It can mean ‘rape’, which there is no record of; it can also mean to plunder and pillage…which is to rob and steal by force, to take spoils. There is no record of this either. The Romans were more likely to do this, but even they didn’t do a lot of this unless they were in a battle situation. This may have been more of a seventeenth century idea.

The author then goes on to suggest that Rome was the Restrainer. I can understand people of the early and mid-Middle Ages thinking that, but by the seventeenth century law and order was mostly restored to the world post-Rome, so it should have become clearer that Rome was not the Restrainer. Because the author is thinking this, I’m suspecting that he might be a preterist who thinks that he is the millennium already.

As for Claudius, from what I’ve read he mostly tolerated the Jews; ‘enraged’ is not a word I would use lightly for Claudius. He did expel “the Jews” from Rome in 49 AD, but then let the edict lapse well before his death in 54 AD. Because most of the Christians at that time were actually Jews, and because the Romans saw Christianity as a sect of Judaism, the Christians would have been expelled as well. It’s been pointed out that this expulsion from Rome, followed by the arrival of Paul’s letter to the Romans, would have helped begin to shape the church as an entity separate from the Jews (see viola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2012/something-about-the-book-of-romans-that-will-help-you-really-get-it )

The author’s description of Nero is ridiculous. Using the word “suffering”, especially today, implies a passive outlook. I’m not sure that the word implied that in the seventeenth century, but to use such a light-hearted term as “topside turvy” (“topsy turvy” today) seems very dismissive. He has Claudius “enraged” at the Jews when he expels them from Rome, while Nero is “topside turvy” while he burns Christians on crosses to light the garden paths or throws them to lions for entertainment.

My last criticism of this quote is that the Jews were not “breathing their last”, as it was the city that was destroyed, not the whole population of the nation.  They also did not “slaughter beyond measure, and into a most bloody persecution”, so it’s no wonder that it wasn’t “set in the front of the ten persecutions by ecclesiastical writers”. The author seems to be conflating the Jewish uprisings against Rome with persecutory events against Christians. 

“Ver. 14:  ‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.’] Jerusalem was not to be destroyed, before the gospel was spread over all the world: God so ordering and designing it, that the world, being first a catechumen in the doctrine of Christ, might have at length an eminent and undeniable testimony of Christ presented to it; when all men, as many as ever heard the history of Christ, should understand that dreadful wrath, and severe vengeance, which was poured out upon that city and nation, by which he was crucified.”     [from THE WHOLE WORKS OF THE REV. JOHN LIGHTFOOT, by John Lightfoot, 1658]

Here is another thing that someone of Lightfoot’s time should have known: “the world” was not the Roman Empire. The seventeenth century saw new parts of the world being discovered with some frequency. To suggest that “the world” heard the Gospel before the destruction of Jerusalem is not supportable.  It also seems that the author is saying that the reason the Gospel must be spread is so that “the world” will understand how terrible the Jews are, which is not how I read the New Testament. 

Into the 18th century:

“Our Savior here goes on in giving farther signs of the destruction of Jerusalem. 1. He declares the sharp persecutions which should fall upon the apostles themselves;  They shall kill you. Thence learn,That the keenest and sharpest edge of persecution is usually turned against the ambassadors of Christ, and falls heaviest on the ministers of God. You shall be hated and killed. The next sign is the apostasy of professors upon the account of those persecutions: Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and hate one another. Learn hence, that times of persecution for Christianity are constantly times of apostasy from the christian profession.”

I disagree that persecution leads to apostasy. There’s been a lot published on this topic lately with a lot of proof offered. The best example is how hard the CCP is trying to drive Christianity from China. They kill Christians, they send them to primitive “re-education” camps, they beat them, they separate them from their families, they imprison them, and torture them. They tear down crosses and church buildings; they try to co-opt the churches by re-writing the Bible and putting their people in as “ministers”. Despite all these efforts and more, the church in China is the fastest growing church in the world. Compare that to the church here in the US. We’ve had about 200 years of relative ease, and during that time the church here has descended into apostasy with fewer and fewer teaching the Bible every year. Just recently there has been a hint of persecution in the air here, and I’ve noticed that many of the internet pundits are now declaring their faith publicly, which is a very interesting turn of events and proves my point yet again. Of course, many of these people have really mixed up ideas of the faith because of the rampant apostasy, but that public declaration is the first step to sorting it out.

As for “being offended”, I don’t think that this is talking about apostates: Jesus did not say that believers or ex-believers would be offended, He said “many” would be offended. Mark and Luke speak of family members turning against family members, so I think the “many” here are probably the unbelieving friends and family of the Christians. I also find the use of the word “offended” to be interesting, seeing that it’s the current battle-cry of the non-believer right now.

“2. That apostates are usually the bitterest persecutors… They shall betray one another, and hate one another. A third sign is the abounding of false teachers: Many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. Where note, That the fair pretenses and subtle practices of heretical teachers have drawn off many from the truth, whom open persecution could not drive from it.”

I would agree that apostates are usually pretty bitter; but what’s interesting is that I know far fewer apostates now than I used to.  I suspect that apostates are people who have been saved and will go back to the faith; and during this time of chaos and upheaval most are coming back (and this describes me as well). Those who don’t “come back” were, most likely, not saved originally.

And yes, “heretical teachers” and “fair pretenses” are really the cause of much of the apostasy in the churches today.

”A fourth sign is the decay and abatement of zeal for God, and love one to another: The love of many shall wax cold, that is, both towards God and towards man. When iniquity abounds, trouble waxes hot; and when trouble waxes hot, false love waxes cold, and true love waxes warmer than it was before; the cold blasts of persecution blow up the love of a few, but blow out the love of many more. These are the signs laid down by our Savior foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem: and forasmuch as Jerusalem’s destruction was not only a fore-runner, but a figure of Christ’s coming judgment, these are also the signs foretelling the approach of that dreadful day.”      [from EXPOSITORY NOTES WITH PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEW TESTAMENT, VOL 1, by William Burkitt, 1703]  

First of all, Jesus does not talk about “false love.” He also doesn’t say “believers love shall wax cold”; again it’s the love of “many”. I think it’s probably the same “many” as were “offended”: family and friends of believers. When trouble “waxes hot”we suddenly see the difference between those who love and those who are pretending, as Burkitt says, but we also see who believes and who doesn’t.

“He that endures to the end shall be saved. 1. It is comfortable to those who wish well to the cause of Christ in general, that though many are offended, yet some shall endure to the end; when we see so many drawing back, we are ready to fear that the integrity of Christ will sink for want of supporters, and his name be left and forgotten for want of some to make profession of it; but even at this time there is a remnant according to the election of grace, Rom. xi.5.” 

¹I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, ³Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. ⁴But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. ⁵Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.  
(Romans 11:1-5; KJV)

I enlarged the Romans quote to include the context. As you can see, Paul is talking about the Jews here, not Christians. I looked up the word ‘remnant’ for all the uses in the New Testament, and none of them refer to Christians: they are either referring to the Jews or to non-believers left in the world after a disaster. There is not a remnant of Christians discussed in the Bible that I can find. The Christians in this dispensation are known as The Bride of Christ, not “the remnant.” This is one of the arguments for the rapture, that Jesus will not allow His Bride to stay on earth to be pared down to a remnant. It may feel like we are a remnant, but there are still many, many of us.

“It is  spoken of the same time that this prophecy has reference to; a remnant who are not of them that draw back into perdition, but believe and persevere to the saving of the soul; they endure to the end, to the end of their lives, to the end of their present state of probation, or to the end of their suffering, trying times, to the last encounter, though they should be called to resist unto blood.”

Again, there is no discussion that I’ve found of a “remnant” of Christians. And, if our belief in the rapture is correct, we may endure until the end of our lives, or the resisting “unto blood”, but we will not have to endure until the end of the world as we know it.

Let me take a moment here to say a bit more about Replacement Theology, also known as Supersessionism. This is the belief that the Christian Church has taken the place of Israel as God’s people, and that it’s usurped the promises God made to Israel. There were some Early Church Fathers who believed this, such as St. Augustine;  and this is a core tenet for Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and most of the mainline Protestant denominations. Personally, I find this idea repugnant, and I look at as apostasy. We are looking at Matthew Henry right now, a well-known and still highly respected commentator, who obviously believed in this. You noticed that he used a quote from Romans, written by Paul, which couldn’t be clearer that he was talking about the Jewish nation. One of the really insufferable things about supersessionism is that many of them claim that Paul started it, which is not true as far as I’ve been able to determine. Paul certainly drew the lines between what was Jewish and what was Christian, and also how they related to each other, but he clearly did not write about God giving up on the Jews.

“2. It is comfortable to those who do thus endure to the end, and suffer for their constancy, that they shall be saved. Perseverance  wins the crown, through free grace, and shall wear it; they shall be saved; perhaps they may be delivered out of their troubles, and comfortably survive them in this world, but it is the eternal salvation that is here intended: They that endure to the end of their days, shall then receive the end of their faith and hope, even the salvation of their souls, 1 Pet. i. 9. Rom. ii. 7… The crown of glory will make amends for all, and a believing regard to that will enable us to choose rather to die at a stake with the persecuted, than to live in a palace with the persecutors. 

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.   
(1 Peter 1:9; KJV)

To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.    (Romans 2:7; KJV)

“He foretells the preaching of the gospel in all the world, ver. 14.This gospel shall be preached, and then shall the end come. Observe here, 1. It is called the gospel of the kingdom, because it reveals the kingdom of grace, which leads to the kingdom of glory; sets up Christ’s kingdom in this world, and secures ours in the other world.” 

I’m not sure what “secures ours in the other world” is referring to. Grammatically the “ours” should refer to “kingdom”, but that makes little sense theologically. While the Bible speaks of us sharing the throne with Jesus, I don’t think it says anything about us having our own kingdom(s). either here or there.

“2. This gospel, sooner or later, is to be preached in all the world, to every creature, and all nations discipled by it; for in it Christ is to be salvation to the ends of the earth; for this end the gift of tongues was the first fruits of the Spirit. 3.The gospel is preached for a witness to all nations, that is, a faithful declaration of the mind and will of God concerning the duty which God requires from man, and the recompense which man may expect from God. It is a record, 1 John v. 11. “

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.     
(1 John 5:11; KJV)

“It is a witness for those who believe, that they shall be saved, and against those who persist in unbelief, that they shall be damned.  See Mark xvi. 16. 

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.    
(Mark 16:16; KJV)

“But how doth this come in here:It is intimated that the gospel should be, if not heard, yet at least heard of throughout the then known world, before the destruction of Jerusalem; that the Old Testament church should not be quite dissolved till the New Testament was pretty well settled, had got considerable footing, and began to make some figure: Better is the face of a corrupt, degenerate church, than none at all. Within forty years after Christ’s death, the sound of the gospel was gone forth to the ends of the earth, Rom. x. 18.” 

But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 
(Romans 10:18; KJV)

If you look at this quote by itself it does look like Paul is proclaiming that the Gospel has gone to “the ends of the world.” Let’s look further:

¹⁹But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT A NATION, WITH A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU.”²⁰And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I REVEALED MYSELF TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.” ²¹But as for Israel, He says, “I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL DAY LONG TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.”         
(Romans 10:19-21; NASB)

I looked at the NASB version for the rest of the chapter as it is clearer for modern readers. We can see that Paul was talking about the Jews again. He wasn’t making a blanket statement of “Phew! We got the Gospel all over the world; that’s done!” He was actually saying that “Of course the Jews have heard the word, we’ve told EVERYBODY!”  “The world”, or “everybody” being every one he could find, or the known world, or, just a figure of speech. This doesn’t make what he said untrue, it just means that he is doing all he can.

“St. Paul fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem, and round about into Illyricum ; and the other apostles were not idle: The persecuting of the saints at Jerusalem helped to disperse them; so that they went every where preaching the word, Acts viii.1,4. And when the tidings of the Redeemer were sent over all the parts of the world, then shall come the end of the Jewish state: Thus that which they thought to prevent, by putting Christ to death, they thereby procured; all men believed on him, and the Romans came and took away their place and nation, John xi.48. Paul speaks of the gospel being come to all the world, and preached to every creature,Col.i.6,23.”            [from OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT IN FIVE VOLUMES, VOL 4, by Matthew Henry, ~1715]                   

¹And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. ²And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. ³As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. ⁴Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.   
(Acts 8:1-4; KJV)

Again, the known world at that time was not “the whole world” as we know it. I very much agree, however, that the Jewish leaders thought to avoid a take-over by the Romans by putting Jesus to death; and yet they did not succeed: it was in God’s hands after all.

If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him; and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.    
(John 11:48; KJV)

⁶Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth…²³If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister     
(Colossians 1:6,23; KJV)

if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and  not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.   
(Colossians 1:23; NASB)

What a difference in translations from the change of one little word! In the King James, Paul is saying that the Gospel was preached to every creature; in the New American Standard Bible, Paul is saying that the Gospel was proclaimed in creation. This newer translation fits into other things Paul has said about creation proclaiming God (Romans 1:18-20); and in Green’s Interlinear (Hebrew/English) Bible the literal translation agrees with the newer version. We can’t fault Henry for not having a newer translation, though if he read Hebrew perhaps he should have noticed this.

That’s it for today. We’ll start into the 19th century next time.