The End of the Age - Gathering

We are back in Mark 13 as we continue our study on “The End of the Age”. This chapter began with Jesus’s prophecy of the destruction of the temple and his disciples’ questions of the signs and times of this prediction. So far, Jesus has given his disciples the signs leading to that destruction. There will be false prophets, calamities, and wars. Jesus also predicted what the destruction would be like. It will be unlike anything that has happened before or will happen after. But, what will happen after all of this? For that, we have our passage today from Mark 13:24-27. From this passage, see three points: The Collapse of Civilization, the Coming of the Son of Man, and the Calling of the Elect.

First, from verses 24 and 25, see the Collapse of Civilization. Jesus continues his prophecy by telling of what will come after the tribulation of the Jews. For the disciples hearing of this destruction, it would certainly sound like a world-ending event. The temple would be destroyed. There would be no more sacrifice. Untold numbers of their countrymen would be killed. What hope is there in that? But, Jesus wants them to know that there will be an “after”. In one sense, the destruction of the temple did represent the end of the world. It was the end of 1500 years of tradition. The Jews had held the same practices and laws for that long, and in five months, all of it was gone. With the destruction of the temple, the Jewish religion and law radically changed so that the Judaism of today looks very different from the Judaism of Jesus’ day. There is no way for them to offer sacrifices. They cannot carry out the proper ceremonies for purity. Even though the bloodline of the priests is still alive today, they cannot intercede for the people because there is no consecrated place to do so. This event was not just a collapse of their religious tradition. It was also the collapse of a world order that had survived for 500 years. Since the conquest of Babylon, the world had operated under an unspoken agreement: a single world empire would rule over all of humanity and provide a common law and order for all men. The Jews had even come to submit to this world order, with devout believers like Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah even serving in high positions within those empires. Though there were a few notable exceptions, these empires had provided an economy within which the Jewish people had thrived, and the leaders of Israel had learned to use this system to their advantage. The priests had especially benefited from a cozy relationship with Rome. Yet, in Jesus’s day, that unspoken agreement was beginning to falter. Zealots and Pharisees pushed for purity and national identity as they anticipated the coming of the Messiah. There had been small insults that fomented Jewish rebellion. Even the Roman census at Jesus’ birth was an offense to the Jews. But, rebellion began to boil in 39 AD when Emperor Caligula ordered that a statue of himself be set up in the temple. In 66 AD, governor Florus stole money from the temple treasury and massacred protestors. This set off the riots that led to the siege of Jerusalem. This rebellion was the final straw for Rome. There would be no more toleration of the Jews, and Titus was ordered to lay waste to the city and temple.

When something so cataclysmic happens to a society, what can it be compared to? The Bible has a regular habit of comparing such catastrophes to the collapse of the universe. Isaiah 13:10 predicts the fall of Babylon, and it says, “the stars of the heavens will not give their light; the sun will be dark… the moon will not shed its light.” Ezekiel 32 speaks of the destruction of Egypt in the same way, “God will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light… all the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you.” Amos 8:9 prophesies of the destruction of Israel, “God will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.” This is exactly the language that Jesus uses to speak of what will happen in the destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, I believe that Jesus is combining all of OT prophecy, and especially that of Joel 2:31-32 (which we read earlier), to speak of what this judgment will mean.

Now, when dispensationalists read verse 24, they take it to be a literal destruction of the universe – that God will one day destroy this material universe and remake it. But, the sun, moon, and stars all serve as symbols and signs in Scripture. In Genesis 1:14-19, when God creates the celestial bodies, the primary purpose for which they were created was not to give light. Light already existed. The purpose of the celestial bodies was “for signs and seasons, for days and years.” The sun and moon were not even given to shed light, but to “rule over” the day and night. When Joseph dreams of his rise over his brothers, he dreams of his family has sun, moon, and stars. In Daniels visions, he often portrays Israel as the firmament of Heaven. The book of Revelation speaks of the pastors as stars. This symbolism isn’t just the language of the Bible. We still use celestial bodies as symbols of power in our day. Over fifty countries (including our own) use stars in their flags to symbolize their power and authority. Even today, the symbol for the Jewish people is a star. When someone in high position loses respect, we still say that their star has fallen.

So, when Jesus speaks of the celestial bodies falling or dimming, he is speaking symbolically of the collapse of a world order. The priesthood lost all power. Sacrifices completely ended. The Jewish people were scattered into all the world. Rome, too, would slowly fade and fragment. Christian Europe would rise out its ashes.

That is not the only thing that will come after this tribulation. That leads me to my second point: The Coming of the Son of Man, from verse 26.  Jesus says that after this tribulation, “they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Again, the dispensationalists connect this statement with the language of 1 Cor. 15 (“with a shout, the twinkling of an eye”), and Rev. 19 to say that this jumps forward from the destruction of the temple to the second coming of Jesus. But, I think it’s clear that Jesus is still bringing together all of the OT prophecies to point to the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new. What Jesus says here is a direct quote of Daniel 7:13 and the coming of the Son of Man. In Daniel 7, the Son of Man is not coming down to earth. He is ascending into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Ancient of Days. What Jesus is referring to here is not his second coming, but his ascension to the Father. It is in that ascension that he began his rule over a new creation, a new covenant, and a new kingdom. In Matt. 28:18, he tells his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” The disciples of Christ could go with the full authority of heaven and expect to make disciples of all nations because Jesus had taken up his position as the king of heaven and earth. It is certainly the case that his authority and power are realized in the conversion of the nations, but it is also realized in the destruction of Jerusalem. Every last thing that Jesus predicted came to pass in 70 AD. Every last thing that Daniel predicted came to pass in 70 AD. Jesus put an end to sacrifice. He established the way of eternal righteousness. He brought desolation on the house of Israel.

There is one last thing for his kingdom to do, and for that, consider my last point: The Call of the Elect, from verse 27. Jesus says that after the tribulation, he will send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds from the ends of the earth. The dispensationalists have read this, too, to refer to the rapture of the church at the end of the world. They argue this because of our modern understanding of the word “angel.” We always read that to mean a spiritual being, but it is not always meant that way. The Greek word for “angel” is aggelos, which simply means “messenger”. It is even used this way in the NT to speak of humans. Matt. 11:10 speaks of John the Baptist as “my messenger [angel]”. In Luke 9:52 Jesus sends “messengers” (angels) before him. Revelation 1-3 speaks of the pastors of the seven churches of Asia as “angels”. So, when Jesus speaks here of the angels gathering his elect, he is not speaking of divine beings rapturing believers. He is speaking of the proclamation of the Gospel and the calling out of his people from every tribe, tongue and nation. As Jesus promised in John 10:14-16, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me… and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd.” This is the fulfillment of the promise of Joel 2:32, which sees the day of the Lord when the sun and moon are darkened and the stars fall, but in that same day, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It is not just the Jews who will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Everyone (Jew, Roman, Greek, African, Irish, Scottish) who calls on the name of Jesus Christ will be saved.

Brothers and sisters, we do not live in a waiting period. Jesus did not leave us. We are not waiting on him to come back (though he will). We are participating in the great victory of the kingdom of God. No power can ultimately resist him. He will make every enemy his footstool. He is right now gathering people from every nation to be a part of that kingdom. And we are called to participate in this great gathering. We are the messengers that are sent out to the four winds and the ends of the earth. We do that by giving to support the international mission board through our Lottie Moon offering. We do that by sending shoe boxes full of gifts through Samaritan’s Purse. We do that by our faithful attendance to church and our faithful discipleship of one another. We do that by living faithfully in front of a watching world. Raising our children in the admonition of the Lord. We do it by telling others of the salvation found in Jesus Christ. In all of these things and more, Jesus is fulfilling his work through us and bringing his rule to bear over all this world.