by Brian Godawa
“The Ebionites claimed that their name, meaning "the poor," derived from a time when they sold their longings and laid the money at the feet of the apostles (Pan. 30.17.2). Epiphanius denied this, insisting that their identity derived from Ebion, their founder. The Ebionites had noncanonical books bearing the names of apostles (30.23. 1-2). Epiphanius attacked these writings by telling a story to show that the apostle John knew of Ebion and considered him heretical. He concluded: "It is clear to everyone that the apostles disowned the faith of Ebion and considered it foreign to the character of their own preaching" (30.24.7)…
Craig Koester, “The Origin and Significance of the Flight to Pella Tradition,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 1 (January, 1989), 92-93, 96.
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Cassandra is referring to Jude:
Jude 3–4, 17-19
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ…17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
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CHAPTER 4
The thief coming upon that generation:
Matthew 24:34, 43-44
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place…43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
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Alexander is here referring to: 2Peter 3. The following is from Brian Godawa, “Appendix: The Day of the Lord in 2Peter” in End Times Bible Prophecy: It’s Not What They Told You (Los Angeles, CA: Embedded Pictures Publishing, 2017) 165-168.
2 Peter 3:3–13
3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells
The interpretation I have presented in this book is no doubt earth shattering for some eschatological paradigms about the end times. Such radical departures from the futurist’s perceived wisdom always begs plenty of questions about other passages and concepts taken for granted by the futurist interpretation.
One passage is the apparently clear description in 2 Peter about the day of the Lord and the passing away of the heavens and the earth that are replaced by a new heavens and earth. Isn’t that unambiguous language to be taken literally? Well, actually, no. As a matter of fact, orthodox believers have wide-ranging interpretations of this passage, so it is a controversial one to begin with.
We must remember our dictum to seek to understand the text within its ancient Jewish setting steeped in Old Testament imagery and symbols. I believe when we do this, we will have to conclude that the decreation of the heavens and earth is covenantal mythopoeia, not literal, physical, scientific observation. Peter wrote figuratively about the final ending of the old covenant, with God’s judgment on Israel for rejecting Messiah and the final establishment of his new covenant as a new world order, or, in their case, a “new heavens and new earth.”
In the beginning of chapter 3, Peter compared the scoffers of his day and their impending judgment with the scoffers of Noah’s day before their judgment. The judgment was near; and, what’s more, these scoffers were in the last days, which we have already seen were considered the last days of the old covenant that the New Testament writers were living in. Those last days would be climaxed by judgment. But what kind of judgment?
Peter referenced the creation of the heavens and earth (red flag about covenants!) and then the destruction of that previous world by water. Scholars have indicated how the flood of Noah was described using terms similar to Genesis 1, as if God was “decreating” the earth because of sin, in order to start over with a new Noahic covenant. The ark floated over the chaotic “face of the waters” (Gen 7:17), just as God’s spirit had hovered over the chaotic face of the waters before creation (Gen 1:2). The dry land receded from the waters (8:3), just as it had been separated in creation (1:9). God gave the command to Noah to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (9:1), just as he had given it to Adam and Eve (1:28). So the covenantal connections are loud and clear.
As already noted, the day of the Lord is always used in the Bible for a localized judgment upon a people, which, by way of reminder, Jesus had already prophesied was coming upon Jerusalem to the very generation he spoke to (Matt. 23:36-24:2). But what makes some interpreters think this is the final judgment of the universe is the very bad translation of the Greek word stoicheion as “elements” in some English texts. This makes modern readers think of the periodic table of elements as being the most foundational building blocks of the universe. They conclude that the Bible must be talking about the actual elements of helium, hydrogen, deuterium, and others being burned up and melted!
But this is not what the Greek word means. Though some Greek thinkers believed in the existence of atoms, the common understanding was that there were four basic elements – earth, water, wind, and fire. Though someone may conjecture that these could still be considered physical elements that could be destroyed, a simple look at the usage of stoicheion throughout the New Testament shows that the Hebrew usage had nothing to do with Greek primitive scientific notions.
In every place that stoicheion shows up in the New Testament it refers to elementary principles of a worldview, sometimes a godless worldview (Col 2:8), but, more often, the elementary principles of the old covenant law described as a “cosmos” (Gal 4:3, 9; Col 2:20; Heb 5:12).
Remember how the cosmic language of creating heavens and earth was used to describe the cosmic significance of God establishing a covenant? And remember how in the Old Testament, the destruction of covenants, nations, and peoples was described in decreation terms as the collapsing of the universe?
That is the case in these passages as well, with the term “cosmos” being used metaphorically for the “universe” of God’s covenantal order as embodied in the old covenant laws of Jewish separation: circumcision, dietary restrictions, and sabbaths. Paul was telling his readers that the stoicheion of the old covenant cosmos were no longer over them because the peo
ple of God were under new stoicheion, the elementary principles of faith (Gal 4:1-11).
Peter meant the same thing. When he said that the heavens will pass away and the stoicheion will be burned up, he was claiming that when the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed, it will be the final passing away of the old covenant cosmos. This would include all the elementary principles tied to that physical sacramental structure – the laws that once separated Jew and Gentile. The new cosmos would be one in which both Jew and Gentile “by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet 1:5).
As Gary DeMar concluded, “The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant with new leaders, a new priesthood, new sacraments, a new sacrifice, a new tabernacle (John 1:14), and a new temple (John 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:21). In essence, a new heaven and earth.” Eminent Greek scholar John Lightfoot agreed, “The destruction of Jerusalem and the whole Jewish state is described as if the whole frame of this world were to be dissolved.” Kenneth Gentry adds, “‘The temple was more than a building and more than the home of the sacrificial cult. It was the sacred center of the cosmos, the place where heaven and earth meet.’ Thus, the collapse of the temple becomes a picture of the end of Israel’s world, her covenantal universe.”
The new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells that Peter was waiting for was the new covenant cosmos of righteousness by faith inaugurated by Christ’s death and resurrection. That new covenant inauguration and implementation was not merely an abstract claim of contractual change, it was physically verified with the destruction of the old covenant emblem, the temple, that finalized the dissolution of the old covenant itself.
Matt. 23:36-38
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house [temple] is left to you desolate. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation..
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Elihu refers to: Christ is the final goal (“telos”) of the law.
Romans 10:4
4 For Christ is the end [final goal] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Galatians 3:23–25
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
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Elihu is quoting from: Hebrews 8-10
Hebrews 8:5
5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
Hebrews 10:1
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
See also:
1 Peter 1:18–19
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
1 Corinthians 5:7–8
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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Elihu quotes from: Isaiah 53:1-12.
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Jesus fulfilled all the Jewish feasts: Special thanks to David Curtis of Berean Bible Church for his teaching on this topic. You can get his free teachings on these at: http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/studies/leviticus.php
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CHAPTER 7
Thelonius is referring to:
Revelation 17:17
17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
God providentially uses pagan armies to accomplish his will: Isa 10:5-7, 25-27; 44:27–45:7; Hab 1:6-11; Jer 51:11, 28. Note especially that though God calls Nebuchadnezzar “My Servant” (Jer 25:9), he nevertheless destroys his kingdom (Jer 25:12).
God’s providential control of the pagan destruction of Jerusalem and the temple: “Revelation emphasizes the divine governance over and again: Its very theme shows Christ’s vengeance against Israel (1:7; 6:16; 19:2). The first vision in the opening of the judgment material shows God on his throne above the history that he controls (4:1ff) and through which he avenges himself (6:10-11, 16-17; 11:8; 14:19; 15:1,7; 16:1, 7, 19; 19:2, 15). His throne is repeatedly emphasized throughout the drama (1:4; 3:21; 4:2-10; 15:1, 6, 11, 13; 6:16; 7:9, 10-11, 15, 17; 14:3; 16:17; 20:11; 21:5; 22:1, 3). We see this also in the abundant use of divine passives (e.g., 6:2, 4, 8; 9:1, 3; 13:7) and judgments falling from heaven upon men (8:2, 5, 7; 9:1; 12:9, 12; 16:1-2, 8). This reminds us of an earlier reference to Israel and Rome in Acts 4:27-28: “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation Vol. 2 (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2016), 486.
In each of these cases, God used a different nation or people as his tool to perform the judgment. In other words, the pagan people carried out God’s will; they represented him spiritually.
Notice in these Old Testament passages how God describes the pagan nations’ actions as his own actions:
Isaiah 10:5–6
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury! 6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Isaiah 10:15
15 Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
Isaiah 45:1–2
1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: 2 “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,
God uses Nebuchadnezzar as his tool to judge Egypt
Ezekiel 30:24–26
24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
God uses the Medes to destroy Babylon in 539 BC
Isa. 13:1
The oracle concerning Babylon ...The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle. 5 They are coming from a far country, From the farthest heavens, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole earth. …11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil..17 Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them..
God used Babylonians to perform his judgment destroying the first temple 587 BC
Jeremiah 4:12–27
Now it is I who speak in judgment
upon them.” 13 Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles… Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, “Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah…27 For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
God used Babylon to judge Edom And The Nations surrounding them. (fulfilled in the Babylonian Invasion of Judah 587-586 BC -- Jer. 25, Ezek. 35, Obad 15, Mal 1:2
Isaiah 34:2–6
2 For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. 3 …5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. 6 The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, …. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
