of foreign nations. The northern kingdom of Israel was sent out by the Assyrians in 721 BC and the southern kingdom of Judah was sent out in 605 BC.)
60. Cf. Mark 1:2–3.
61. Luke’s use of the OT is significant despite the fact that he does not extensively cite the OT. Pao and Schnabel note, “Luke’s use of the OT Scripture underlies his conviction that the OT prophetically announced Jesus’ life and ministry” (“Luke,” in Beale and Carson, Commentary on the NT Use of the OT, 252).
62. Beale goes so far as to claim, “it should not be astonishing to discover that eschatology is a dominant idea in the NT” (New Testament Biblical Theology, 129).
63. In Isa 40–66 the people of Israel are in exile. They are viewed as already having been sent out of the land. Isa 40–66 then predicts the eschatological return of the people. (Note: Isaiah employs an abundance of exodus imagery to depict the return of the people to the land.)
64. In Malachi the coming of the messenger clears the way and the “Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come into His temple” (3:1). Thus, Malachi associates the future restoration of God’s people with the exodus of the past and looks forward to the restoration of God’s presence among his people. See ch. 7 for a look at the temple in the NT.
65. The more technical answer as to the nature of apocalyptic itself is that it is “A genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another, supernatural world” (Collins, “Introduction,” 5). David Aune proposed a change that omits mediation by an otherworldly being, and adds “in autobiographical form” and “revelatory visions . . . so structured that the central revelatory message constitutes a literary climax” (Aune, “Apocalypse,” 86–87). Apocalyptic language is just language used to describe such a worldview. The difficulty in defining the genre is that no one work displays all the characteristics set forth as apocalyptic.
66. Mark 13:25; cf. also Luke 21:25; Rev 8:12.
67. Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24.
68. Acts 2:20; Rev 6:12.
69. Matt 27:54; 28:2; Rev 11:3.
70. The events at the cross that may be viewed as apocalyptic include: darkness (Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44), an earthquake (Matt 27:51), tearing of the temple veil (Matt 27:51; Luke 23:45), and the bodies of the dead walking around town (Matt 27:52). The apocalyptic like events at Pentecost include: the presence of a violent wind, tongues of fire coming upon the people, and people speaking in foreign tongues (Acts 2:2–4). See below for further discussion.
71. Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 13:9; Matt 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8; 14:35.
72. Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.
73. This is why Jesus used this phrase with reference to his parables. Cf. Mark 4:9, 23; Matt 11:15; 13:9, 43.
74. Cf. Isa 6; cf also, Jer 5:21; 17:23.
75. Note that Jesus was explaining all of his parables to his disciples privately (Mark 4:34). Thus, even the disciples did not understand the parable, but since they have “ears to hear” Jesus explained things to them.
76. Cf. Isa 6:9–10; Jer 5:21; 17:23.
77. Cf. Ezek 3:25.
78. Cf. Matt 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8; 14:35.
79. Note that Mark clearly associates this phrase with the prophetic commissioning of Isaiah 6 (cf. Mark 4:10–12; Isa 6:9–11).
80. Cf. Mark 1:15; Luke 17:21.
81. It is superfluous for our purposes to debate the historicity of such events. That is, many wish to reject the historicity of these events because they are depicted in apocalyptic terms. Others will deny that the language is apocalyptic because they fear that by doing so the historicity of the events will be questioned. The proper response is to recognize the clear use of apocalyptic language and then to determine how that may or may not affect the historicity of the events.
82. Cf. Joel 2:30–31.
83. Now, one may ask, end of what? This will be explored more fully in ch. 7. For now, let us note that the end of the kingdom of this world has begun!
84. Cf. Ezra 9:9. This significant thesis has been worked out thoroughly in the work of NT Wright. See his The New Testament and the People of God and Jesus and the Victory of God.
85. Cf. Deut 28:3–6; Lev 26:3–10.
86. This is clearly set forth in the covenant. If the Israelites disobey and break the covenant with God, then they will be uprooted from the land (cf. Deut 28:32–37, 49, 64). Leviticus uses even more graphic language when it says that the land will “spew you out” (Lev 18:28; ESV, NET, NKJ all say “vomit”).
87. Yahweh (often spelled without the vowels YHWH) is the covenant name for God in Hebrew (cf. Exod 3:14–15). The English equivalent is “Lord,” but one must be careful because “Lord” translates both Yahweh and Adonai. The Greek uses Kurios.
88. The prophets do so in accord with Deut 30:1–6. This is clear in 2 Chr 6:37–39; 7:14.
89. This is the significance of the temple in Scripture, as we will examine in chs. 6–7.
90. Though the NIV and NET translate the verse by saying that the kingdom of God “is near,” we must
