Matthew 24 Fulfilled

by John L. Bray

It was Jesus who said: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be....Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass til all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:21, 34-35)

In his book, Southern Baptist Reverend John Bray states: "Present-day students of eschatology seem woefully ignorant of the writings of past theologians on these subjects. There was a time (prior to the mid-1800s) when the most prominent interpretation of Matthew 24 was from the preterite standpoint, and the dating of Revelation was believed to be at an earlier date than is now believed."

Grasp what this book teaches, and you won't waste any more of your time on the pre-mil, pre-trib fiction put out by the so-called "prophecy experts." Matthew 24 Fulfilled examines the issues related to popular "end-times" hysteria and counters with a view consistent with all of Scripture.

Genres: Theology, Religion

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful resource for preterists (the orthodox kind who believe in a future resurrection of the dead and all that stuff, I mean).

This book makes an exceptional case that the stuff Jesus talked about in Matthew 24, especially leading up to Verse 34, were in fact fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. What makes it especially useful is the historical information given to help shed light on the things Jesus said. The abundant citations of authors from pretty much the reformation until now, and even some early church fathers, helps to show that this view, sometimes viewed with suspicion in 21st century America as something novel, has actually been quite common throughout history (although it certainly wasn't the uniform view of the church; eschatology has always been arguably the most controversial issue among Christians).

The book does have a few drawbacks worth mentioning. The citations of other authors which start out as abundant and relevant become overwhelming. It comes to a point, as the book progresses, where less of the chapters are Bray making a case, but rather, authors being quoted who don't actually add to the argument, but simply say the same thing he just said. This book could have been significantly shorter without losing any substance. Worth noting, though it is not necessarily all negative, is that, as far as preterists go, he is very preterist. He is not a hyper-preterist; he does repeatedly affirm that not every New Testament prophecy has been fulfilled. However, many passages I saw with little question as being about the end of the world he asserts are also about the fall of Jerusalem (e.g. Hebrews 1:10 and2 Peter 3:10). Admittedly, he makes some good arguments, though at times I think he assumes too much. For starters, he does show that in some Old Testament verses that God would speak to “the heavens” and to “the earth” when he was addressing Israel. However, the fact that heaven and earth were used metaphorically to speak of Israel doesn't mean that every mention of the heavens and the earth is referring to Israel. After all, the whole reason there can be metaphorical uses of these things is because they are real things. And I think to relegate the vision of Revelation 21 and 22 as just being about the church one Jerusalem would fall leaves a lot of questions. Would John have gone off the deep end with joy and started worshipping the angel who showed him the vision if it was just a metaphor for the church, something he was already part of? Also, though this isn’t that big of a deal, he does quote some hyper-preterists positively (i.e. having them say the same thing he does to give it weight). Some will be a bit turned off by that.

Despite it being a bit bloated and making some claims that I am not so sure about, he does make a really strong case for the preterist position of Matthew 24 (especially through Verse 34, which preterists are pretty much all in agreement on by definition of being preterists). That, as well as its irenic and charitable attitude make it a book I recommend (well, the new edition that is in print, anyway...).

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matthew 24 is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted passages of Scripture. In this book, John Bray goes to great lengths to show that all of Matthew 24 was fulfilled between 67 and 70 A.D. during the war with Rome. In this war, the Jews--especially of Jerusalem, but all of those that were guilty of the blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 27:25) were judged through the great tribulation.

Matthew 24:30-31, about "the Son of Man coming on the clouds" is about Christ's visitation in judgment, not about his second coming, in the flesh. This is the same kind of language used in the Old Testament about God's visitation in judgment, and should not be foreign to us, or to the original audience.

Bray goes to great lengths, sometimes even too much, to show not only is this the best and most consistent reading of the prophecy, but it has been the consistent message of the church throughout history, with the exception of the last century as we've drunk too deeply of the poisonous well of Dispensationalism.

God grant that we turn from our vain interpretations of Scripture and pursue the truth in humility.

[Chautona Havig · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there was a lot of good information in the book, the repetitiveness became wearying. I get why it might be necessary. I do. But still. Wearying. Sigh. I also found it really odd that at the end of the book, he talked about how he'd taken others' teachings on eschatology and developed his understanding of it from that rather than from the Bible but now he's getting it from the Bible. In a book where half or more of it is quoting another author to support his points.

It's not that I disagree with his conclusions. He made a lot of things that I've found confusing clear. But oh boy. I did not enjoy the process of reading it. Particularly the overuse of ALL CAPS anytime he WANTED TO EMPHASIZE HIS POINT. It got old.

[Steven H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A BAPTIST EVANGELIST EXPOUNDS A "PRETERIST" INTERPRETATION

John L. Bray (born 1921) is a Baptist evangelist who has written many books and pamphlets such as 'The Second Coming of Christ and Related Events,' 'Israel in Bible prophecy,' 'Bible prophecy: Five one-hour Bible conference lectures,' etc.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1996 book, "This book took a few years of research and study and writing before it was finally completed... The research took me personally to many large theological libraries ... I wanted to find out what the 'old dusty books' ... had to say about Matthew 24 (as well as the Book of Revelation and other New Testament prophecies)... I am not a scholar. It has been said that one of the differences between a student and a scholar is that a scholar has to know Greek and Hebrew. I have to accept the scholar's authority for definition of Bible words." (Pg. 5)

He states of the Jewish War raging in AD 70, "This was the GREAT TRIBULATION which Jesus prophesied would come upon the Jews, remarkably fulfilled as He had predicted. The 'great tribulation' is not the same future demonstration of God's wrath on an unsaved world... but it was an actual occurrence that came about exactly as Jesus said it would, upon the land of Israel." (Pg. 80) He quotes Lk 21:22 ["For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled"], then adds, "Notice that He said 'ALL'---not 'some.' Everything concerning the Jewish people which had been prophesied and not yet fulfilled, would be fulfilled in those closing days of the history of their nation." (Pg. 91)

He says, "From this author's perspective, the five verses of Matthew 24:27-31... are the prediction of Jesus concerning His coming in judgment on Israel in A.D. 67-70. It happened just 40 years after Jesus made his prediction---in that same generation ... this is known as the 'preterist' interpretation of Matthew 24... Our interpretation sees only past events in the passage. There is no double-fulfillment. There is no double-reference. There is no 'transition' verse separating the destruction of Jerusalem from another event 2,000 years in the future." (Pg. 107-108)

He asks, "Can anyone tell me why we should consider all these passages in the Old Testament to be figurative language, but that in the New Testament they would have to be literal (that is, natural and physical)? Isn't it more logical to think that the writers of the New Testament (and Jesus) would naturally do the same as the Old Testament writers did, and use this kind of language metaphorically? Didn't the same God inspire the prophecies in both testaments?" (Pg. 182)

He argues, "Men have taught such an imminent return of Christ for 2,000 years, and NONE of them have been correct except for those who taught it prior to A.D. 70. Only during that generation from Christ until that date (from A.D. 30 to 70) could it be said that Christ's coming was imminent and would occur in that generation... And it was during that period of time that the writers of the New Testament constantly wrote of a soon-coming Christ." (Pg. 213) He adds, "Jesus was not introducing a new subject in Matthew 24:36 when He said, 'But of THAT DAY.' The word 'that' ... would have to refer to the time mentioned in the previous verses. One cannot make 'that day' of Luke 17:31 refer to a past event (to us), and 'that day' of Matthew 24:36 refer to a future event (to us)." (Pg. 257)

Bray's lively style of exposition will make this an interesting book for all those interested in biblical prophecy---whether they agree with all of his positions, or not.

[Jake Litwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The amount of scholarship and commentaries quoted in this volume is amazing. This will definitely be used more as a reference guide when continuing to study the Olivet Discourse. Definitely worth having for all the excellent resources provided in one book.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this book and several of John Bray's booklets. All his teaching is biblically correct and enlightening for anyone seeking the Truth of God's Word.

[Tuese Ahkiong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to Preterism!

[AlegnaB † · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 - This is excellent, although there is some repetition.

[David Carraway · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this book it had not been long since I had become a Partial Preterist. I, like most, was raised as a Dispensationalist. I read Dr. Bray's testimony in the back of this book and can really identify with him.

Dr. Bray does a wonderful job explaining from Scripture, as well as from some very good historical sources, how everything Futurist look forward to, really took place in 67-70 AD just as Jesus said it would.

I really feel Dr. Bray has a heart for people to learn as he constantly tells his readers to go check it out for themselves or look up occurrences of different words in a concordance. I also respect that he doesn't dogmatically bash other Theologians, as some do, for their eschatalogical beliefs.

He uses references from Theologians of all different backgrounds and era's throughout church history, sometimes hammering them for their view on one thing and admonishing them on another. He breaks down every single verse in Matthew 24 and even parts of verses comparing them with parallel verses in the synoptic gospels or verses found in the epistles that deal with the same topic and/or subject to show how they all fit. This is just an excellent, excellent read. I highly recommend it to everyone.

[Jeff McCormack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best commentaries on Matt 24 that I have ever read. It is very details, verse after verse, with quote after quote from historical writings to show how the things described in Matt 24 took place in the first century, just as Jesus had said they would. THAT generation was told these things would happen to them, and book is chocked full of historical evidence to show it happened. It also dispelled the myth that there is some magical division between the first 36 verses, and the last few. This case would have been even more thoroughly proven if this book were to be expounded to include Matt 23-25. The author was supposed to be following this up with a volume on Matt 25, but it has been so many years, and with him getting up there in years, I am not sure we'll ever see that come to light.

[Mark Olivero · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by John Bray is very helpful for understanding a correct interpretation of Matthew 24. Mr. Bray's writing style is repetitive which I initially considered a non-plus. However, his repetition of some information becomes a useful way to grasp the essentials of his argument. This is helpful in assimilating his main points.

He appears to come from a partial preterist point of view. That means his interpretation of Matthew 24 is that most if not all of it was fulfilled in AD 70 at the Destruction of Jerusalem.

[gfguildjr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Titus Vs Jerusalem, 70 AD

[Jsbiddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. A close look at Matthew 24 with good support of claims and argues most of Matt 24 is fulfilled.