Biographizing The Eschaton: The Proleptic Eschatology Of The Gospels

Biographizing the Eschaton: The Proleptic Eschatology of the Gospels

Eli Kittim

The canonical epistles strongly indicate that the narratives concerning the revelation of Jesus in the New Testament (NT) gospel literature are proleptic accounts. That is to say, the NT gospels represent the future life of Jesus as if presently accomplished. The term “prolepsis,” here, refers to the anachronistic representation of Jesus’ generation as if existing before its actual historical time. Simply put, the gospels are written before the fact. They are conveyed from a theological angle by way of a proleptic narrative, a means of biographizing the eschaton as if presently accomplished. In other words, these are accounts about events that haven’t happened yet, which are nevertheless narrated as if they have already occurred.

By contrast, the epistles demonstrate that these events will occur at the end of the age. This argument is primarily founded on the authority of the Greek NT Epistles, which affirm the centrality of the future in Christ’s only visitation! In the epistolary literature, the multiple time-references to Christ being “revealed at the end of the ages” (1 Pet. 1.20; cf. Heb. 9.26b) are clearly set in the future, including his birth, death, and resurrection (see Gal. 4.4; Eph. 1.9-10; Rev 12.5). It is as though NT history is written in advance (cf. Isa. 46.10)!

The Proleptic versus the Prophesied Jesus

The historical view is extremely problematic, involving nothing less than a proleptic interpretation of Jesus. It gives rise to numerous chronological discrepancies that cannot be easily reconciled with eschatological contexts of critical importance. What is even more troubling is that it evidently contradicts many explicit passages from both the Old and New Testaments regarding an earthly, end-time Messiah and uses bizarre gaps and anachronistic juxtapositions in chronology in order to make heterogeneous passages appear homogeneous (e.g. Job 19.25; Isa. 2.19; Dan. 12.1—2; Zeph. 1.8—9, 15—18; Zech. 12.9—10; Lk. 17.30; Acts 2.17—21; 2 Thess. 2.1—3, 7—8; Heb. 1.1—2; 9.26; 1 Pet. 1.20; Rev 12.5, 7—10).

Intertextuality in the Gospels

The canonical gospel accounts add another level of intertextual reference to the Old Testament (OT). Almost every event in Jesus’ life is borrowed from the OT and reworked as if it’s a new event. This is called “intertextuality,” meaning a heavy dependence of the NT literature on Hebrew Scripture. A few examples from the gospels serve to illustrate these points. It’s well-known among biblical scholars that the Feeding of the 5,000 (aka the miracle of the five loaves and two fish) in Jn 6.5-13 is a literary pattern that can be traced back to the OT tradition of 2 Kings 4.40-44. The magi are also taken from Ps. 72.11: “May all kings fall down before him.” The phrase “they have pierced my hands and my feet” is from Ps. 22.16; “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst” is from Ps. 69.21. The virgin birth comes from a Septuagint translation of Isa. 7.14. The “Calming the storm” episode is taken from Ps. 107.23-30, and so on & so forth. Is there anything real that actually happened which is not taken from the Jewish Bible? Moreover, everything about the trial of Jesus is at odds with what we know about Jewish Law and Jewish proceedings. It could not have occurred in the middle of the night during Passover, among other things.

There is only One Coming, not Two

The belief in the two comings of Christ equally contradicts a number of NT passages (e.g. 1 Cor. 15.22—26, 54—55; 2 Tim. 2.16—18; Rev 19.10; 22.7, 10, 18—19), not to mention those of the OT that do not separate the Messiah’s initial coming from his reign (e.g. Isa. 9.6—7; 61.1—2). Rather than viewing them as two separate and distinguishable historical events, Scripture sets forth a single coming and does not make that distinction (see Lk. 1.31—33). Indeed, each time the “redeeming work” of Messiah is mentioned, it is almost invariably followed or preceded by some kind of reference to judgment (e.g. “day of vengeance”), which signifies the commencement of his reign on earth (see Isa. 63.4). In 2 Thess 2, the author implores us not to be deceived by any rumors claiming that the Lord has already appeared: “to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here” (v. 2; cf. v. 1). His disclaimer insists that these conventions are divisive in view of the fact that they profess to be Biblically based, “as though from us” (v. 2), even though this is not the official message of Scripture.

Why Does the New Testament Refer to Christ’s Future Coming as a “Revelation”?

Why do the NT authors refer to Christ’s future coming as a “revelation”? The actual Greek word used is ἀποκάλυψις (apokalupsis). The English word apocalypse comes from the Greek word apokalupsis, which means “revelation.” The term revelation indicates the disclosure of something that was previously unknown. Thus, according to the meaning of the term revelation, no one knows the mystery or secret prior to its disclosure. Therefore, we cannot use the biblical term “revelation” to imply that something previously known is made known a second time. That’s not what the Greek term apokalupsis means. If it was previously revealed, then it cannot be revealed again. It’s only a revelation if it is still unknown. Thus, the word “revelation” necessarily implies a first time disclosure or an initial unveiling, appearing, or manifestation. It means that something that was previously unknown and/or unseen has finally been revealed and/or manifested. Thus, a revelation by default means “a first-time” occurrence. In other words, it’s an event that is happening for the very first time. By definition, a “revelation” is never disclosed twice.

Accordingly, the NT verses, which refer to the future revelation of Christ, never mention a second coming, a coming back, or a return, as is commonly thought. See the following verses:

1 Cor. 1.7-8; 4.5; 15.23; Phil. 1.6; 2.16; Col. 3.4; 2 Thess. 1.7; 1.10; 2.1-2; 1 Tim. 6.14; Titus 2.13; Jas. 5.7; 1 Pet. 1.13; 1 Jn. 2.28; Rev 1.1; 22.20.

In the aforementioned verses, a second coming is nowhere indicated. Conversely, Jesus’ Coming is variously referred to as an appearance, a manifestation, or a “revelation” in the last days, which seems to imply an initial coming, a first coming, and the only coming. Surprisingly, it’s not referred to as a return, a coming back, or a second coming. As N.T. Wright correctly points out, the eschatological references to Jesus in the New Testament don’t mention a second coming but rather a future appearance or manifestation. Not only do the NT writers refrain from calling Jesus’ future visitation “a second coming,” but, conversely, they further indicate that this is his first and only advent, a momentous event that will occur hapax (“once for all”) “in the end of the world” (Heb. 9.26 KJV), or “at the final point of time” (1 Peter 1.20 NJB). None of the NT authors refer to the future visitation of Christ as a second coming. It’s as though these communities expected Jesus to appear for the first time in the end of the world! The takeaway is that the NT is an apocalypse. It’s not a history.

When is the end of the age?

Eli Kittim

When is the end of the age? Not where, not how, but when? The New King James Version calls this specific time period “the end of the age,” while the King James Version refers to it as “the end of the world.” Biblical scholars often ask whether the end of the age is a reference to the end of the Jewish age, which came to an end with the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., or whether it’s an allusion to the end of human history. Given that the signs of the times coincide with this particular age, we must examine whether this is literal language, referring to first century Palestine, or figurative, pertaining to the end-times.

Since “the end of the age” is a characteristic theme of the New Testament (NT), let’s look at how Jesus explains it in the parable of the tares in Matthew 13:37-43 (NKJV emphasis added):

“He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’ “

In this parable, the constituent elements of the end of the age are highlighted, namely, the end-times, judgment day, the wicked cast into the lake of fire, and the end of human history. The key phrase that is translated as “the end of the age” comes from the Greek expression συντελείᾳ τοῦ ⸀αἰῶνος. In a similar vein, let’s see how Jesus explains the eschatological dimension of the parable of the dragnet in Matthew 13:47-50 (italics mine):

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Once again, in this parable, the end of the age (συντελείᾳ τοῦ ⸀αἰῶνος) is described as taking place at the last judgment, when the righteous will be separated from the wicked, while simultaneously placing emphasis on the end of the world, when “there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Similarly, in Matthew 24:3, the disciples ask Jesus to tell them two things, namely, when will the coming of Christ and the end of the age take place. In comparison to Matthew 24:3, the book of Acts tells us that the apostles asked Jesus if he will restore the kingdom of Israel at the end of the age (Acts 1:6). This question was asked just prior to his ascension and departure. Historically speaking, Israel was restored in the 20th century, which is one of the signs that ties in closely with Jesus’ coming and the end of the age. Jesus responds in v. 7 by saying, “it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” And v. 9 informs us that Jesus’ response is part of his farewell speech. In like manner, the last recorded words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (28:18-20 emphasis added) are as follows:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age [συντελείας τοῦ ⸀αἰῶνος].”

If Jesus promised to be with the disciples until “the end of the age,” and if that age is a reference to first century Palestine, does this mean that Jesus is no longer with those who have long since outlived their first century counterparts? Taken as a whole, this would also essentially imply that the resurrection of the dead, the rapture, the great tribulation, the lake of fire, judgment day, and the coming of Jesus were events that all took place in Antiquity. Is that a legitimate theologoumenon that captures the eschatology of the NT?

We find an analogous concept in the Septuagint of Daniel 12:1-4 (L.C.L. Brenton translation). Daniel mentions the resurrection of the dead and the great tribulation, but in v. 4 he is commanded to “close the words, and seal the book to the time of the end; until many are taught, and knowledge is increased.” Curiously enough, “the time of the end” in Daniel is the exact same phrase that Jesus uses for “the end of the age” in the NT, namely, καιροῦ συντελείας.

As for the biblical contents, given that the exact same language is employed in all of the parallel passages, it is clear that the end of the age is a future time period that explicitly refers to judgment day, the lake of fire, the harvest, and the consummation of the ages. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the time of Antiquity. Not to mention that the parousia is said to coincide with the end of the current world, when everything will dissolve in a great conflagration (2 Pet. 3:10)!

Who is the False Prophet of Revelation?

Eli Kittim

Binary Patterns

The Bible often uses binary patterns by introducing two important figures who turn out to be one single individual. For example, a binary pattern can be seen in the Old Testament’s (OT) presentation of the two Messiahs in Judaism: one is a high priest, the other is an anointed king of the Davidic line (cf. Zech. 4:14). The two Messiahs can also be found in the Apocryphal literature, such as in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Damascus Covenant. However, in the New Testament (NT), these two Messiahs are morphed into one priestly/kingly figure: Jesus, the Son of God (cf. Heb. 4:14 and Mt. 2:1–2).

The same is true of the two witnesses in the NT. In order to understand the identity of the two witnesses in Rev. 11:3-12, we must first trace them back to the Hebrew Bible from which they emerge (Zech. 4:14). So when we trace the identity of the two witnesses back to the OT and the context in which they appear, we find that they represent the two Messiahs of Rabbinic Judaism. But these two figures later became coalesced, commingled into one, in the figure of Jesus Christ, who’s given the titles of king and high priest in the order of Melchizedek, who is also a king and priest (Heb. 7:13-17). Therefore, the two witnesses appear to represent the coming Messiah: Jesus Christ (cf. Mal. 4:5; Rev. 6:2)!

The Earth & the Sea

First Jn 5:6 uses the symbols of “water and blood” to represent the divinity and humanity of Jesus, thus indicating that he’s both God and man. The “water” symbolizes the divinity of Jesus, while the blood symbolizes his humanity. Thus, water symbolizes the spirit, while blood symbolizes the flesh.

Now let’s look at the serpent of Gen. 3, which is later identified as the devil or Satan, who is also known as “the great dragon.” Revelation 12:9 says that he will be incarnated on earth:

“And the great dragon was thrown down,

that ancient serpent, who is called the devil

and Satan, the deceiver of the whole

world—he was thrown down to the earth,

and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Isaiah 27:1 alludes to the “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12) by portraying their ruler (i.e. the serpent/dragon) as residing “in the sea”:

“In that day the LORD with his hard and

great and strong sword will punish

Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the

twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon

that is in the sea.”

Just as 1 Jn 5:6 uses the symbols of “water and blood” to represent the spiritual and human domains, so the description of the two Beasts in Rev. 13—-one “rising out of the sea,” the other “out of the earth”——may be used in a similar fashion to describe the spiritual and earthly realms, respectively. In other words, the reference may be to a single individual who possesses two natures: a human & a spiritual one. Let’s not forget that in heaven, within the Throne Room of God, a sea is explicitly mentioned in Rev. 4:6 (cf. Gen. 1:7).

The Unholy Trinity

According to Rev. 13:4, the whole world “worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast” (i.e. the Antichrist). Yet notice that the second Beast (i.e. the False Prophet), who came out of the earth mimicked Christ because he “had two horns like a lamb … [but] spoke like a dragon” (Rev. 13:11). The point is that just as the two messiahs and the two witnesses represent one person, so the False prophet and the Antichrist may be one and the same person as well. The Book of Daniel doesn’t mention two Antichrists but rather one, namely, the “little horn” (Dan. 7:8; 8:9-12).

First Jn 4:1 associates false prophets with unclean spirits which have been unleashed in the world. Rev. 16:13 reads:

“And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the

dragon and out of the mouth of the beast

and out of the mouth of the false prophet,

three unclean spirits like frogs.”

The Dragon, the Beast, and the False prophet seemingly represent an unholy Trinity in which these three persons are one being, just like the Holy Trinity represents one being, not a plurality of beings. The Devil, the Beast, and the False prophet appear to be three manifestations or three modes that represent Satan, his spirit, and his incarnation.

False prophets in the OT

Surprisingly, we don’t find the phrase “false prophet” in the OT, but there are nevertheless references to many false prophets. The Septuagint (LXX) talks about the priests and the false prophets (ἱερεῖς καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται), and often links them together. The term ἱερεύς in this context refers to a priest, one who offers sacrifices to a god, an idol, or an evil spirit. So the LXX suggests that the false prophets are priestly insofar as they encourage the worship of idols (cf. Zech 13:2). Jeremiah 34:9-10 (LXX) associates false prophets with divination, enchantments, clairvoyance, dreams, sorceries, and with lies. Similarly, in the NT, false prophets are magicians, sorcerers, & illusionists (cf. Acts 13:6). This is reminiscent of 2 Thess. 2:9-11 in which the Antichrist “will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie.” Likewise, in the Hebrew Bible, the false prophets are prophesying lying wonders and working miracles (see Exod. 7:8-13; Jer. 6:13). In the NT, they even rise from the dead (Rev. 13:3) and perform “great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth” (Rev. 13:13) in order to deceive if possible even the elect (Mt. 24:24).

False Prophets in the NT

Both Mt. 7:15 & Mt. 24:11 warn that there will be many false prophets (ψευδοπροφῆται) who will deceive the world. Matthew 24:24 speaks of false Christs (ψευδόχριστοι) and false prophets who perform “great signs and wonders.” Second Pet. 2:1 associates false prophets with false teachers who secretly introduce destructive heresies, even those that deny Jesus’ lordship. Similarly, 1 Jn warns of deception and commands Christians to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. … This is the spirit of antichrist” (1 Jn 4:1–3). Thus, false prophets have the spirit of Antichrist. The apostle Paul calls them “false apostles” (2 Cor. 11:13) and “false brothers” (Gal. 2:4).

The most notorious false prophet in the Bible is the one referenced in the Book of Revelation. In Rev. 19:20, the signs that the False prophet performs in the presence of the Antichrist may be analogous to the signs that Jesus performs in the presence of the Holy Spirit who anoints him with power (see Lk 4:18; Acts 10:38). In fact, the relationship between the False prophet and the Antichrist seems to be analogous to the relationship between the first and second person of the Trinity in which the Word is not only with God but the Word is God, meaning that the Word & God are one and the same (see Jn 1:1). Thus, the reference to the Devil, his son (the Antichrist), and the unclean spirit (personified in the figure of the False prophet) may signify an unholy trinity of three persons who nevertheless share one being (Rev. 16:13). Let’s not forget that the great dragon——“that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan”——is thrown down to the earth and takes the form of a man, as mentioned in Rev. 12:9. And just as Jesus, who is God incarnate, is called a prophet in Mt. 21:11, so the dragon, or Satan incarnate, may be dubbed the False prophet in Rev. 16:13. Matthew 7:15 warns of false prophets who come in “sheep’s clothing,” but who are “ferocious wolves.” This is echoed in Rev. 13:11 where the second Beast (False prophet) looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon.

Conclusion

Curiously enough, it’s the False prophet who works miracles, not the Antichrist. But if the Antichrist is far more important, and if the False prophet is subordinate to the Antichrist, surely the Antichrist must have more power than him. Yet, in the Bible, the opposite seems true, which doesn’t make any sense. That’s why it seems far more plausible that they are one and the same person, just like the two witnesses and the two OT messiahs are one and the same person. So, the reference to the two beasts from the earth and the sea may be an allusion to a single individual who possesses two natures: a human & a spiritual one. Notice also that the second beast is not mentioned until after the resurrection of the first beast, “whose mortal wound was healed” (Rev 13:12), “and has come to life” (Rev 13:14). In other words, the second beast may simply represent the first beast after his resurrection. Therefore, it seems far more plausible to assume that the False Prophet is the Antichrist, who is also known by many other titles, such as “the man of lawlessness,” “the son of destruction” (2 Thess. 2:3), and the "Little horn" (Daniel 7:8, 20; 8:9-12, 23-26)!

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Eli Kittim is a Bible scholar and an award-winning author of the Nonfiction Book, The Little Book of Revelation: The First Coming of Jesus at the End of Days. He has published articles in numerous prestigious journals and websites, including Rapture Ready, the Journal of Higher Criticism, The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Aegean Review (which has published work by Jorge Luis Borges, Lawrence Durrell, Truman Capote, and Alice Bloom) , and the International Poetry Review (a literary translation journal that has published work by Philip Sherrard), among others. Eli Kittim has studied Biblical Studies at Koinonia Institute and Liberty University's John W. Rawlings School of Divinity. He was born in Athens, Greece, but now lives in New York.

Christ, Antichrist, and the Coming Apocalypse