It is important when studying the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25 to understanding the context that surrounds the passage. The overall biblical context, the context of the book of Matthew, and the immediate context of the preceding chapters all help to make the passage much more clear and more easily understood.
The glory of God is related to the unfolding revelation of the prophetic Scripture. In other words, as redemptive history unfolds we find that God’s Word becomes more than it seemed when it was first given, though never something other than what was given. The initial covenant of God with man in the garden sets the stage for this entire age which means understanding it is critical to understanding God’s covenantal interaction with man over the course of redemptive history. In God’s interaction with man in the garden we see His original intention for man, an intention that He returns to at the end of the age.
This entire age is the unfolding of God’s plan of redemption to address the crisis that emerged in the garden. If we do not understand this crisis and God’s prophesied resolution to it, then we do not understand the season of redemptive history that we live in.
The Adamic covenant begins in the very beginning of the book of Genesis. It occurs in the first chapters of Scripture in a context about which we have very little information. Scripture is the only resource that we have at our disposal in interpreting the context of the garden and man’s initial state. Since we can only use Scripture to interpret Scripture in the book of Genesis, it is important to understand that Moses assembled Genesis in such a way that the events of man’s early history were being viewed through the lens of the Patriarchs and the promised seed. Moses wrote the book in such a way as to give Israel the context of her unique calling and covenant destiny.
Some use the Adamic covenant as a reference to God’s covenant with Adam both before and after the fall, while others use it to refer only to God’s agreement with Adam in Genesis 3 after the fall. For our purposes, we will reference both covenants as part of the Adamic covenant, but refer to the pre-fall covenant as the Edenic covenant.
Though the covenant was made with Adam and Eve specifically, they were representative of the entire human race so the covenant is essentially being made with all mankind.
26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. (Genesis 1:26–30 NKJV)
16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17 NKJV)
The covenant was made between God and Adam. The covenant consists of several positive commands because man, both male and female, was created in God’s image:
The covenant consisted of one negative command.
We know that God viewed these commands as a covenant because of how He viewed Adam’s fall:
7But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. (Hosea 6:7 NASB95)
14So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” 16To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:14–19 NKJV)
After Adam broke God’s initial covenant and fell, God made a specific covenant with Him related to what conditions would be like for man and how He would restore creation. This part of the covenant, specifically Genesis 3:15, is typically referred to as the protoevangelium or the “first gospel.” This time the covenant involved God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent. God addressed each of them individually in the covenant with man, both male and female, collectively bearing the weight of their sin.
The following aspects of the covenant applied to Adam:
The following aspects of the covenant applied to Eve.
The following aspects of the covenant applied to the serpent as a creature:
The following aspects of the covenant applied to the serpent as satan:
God promises to provide a “seed” that will do the crushing of the serpent. God is intimately present in His judgments. Though he judges the violation of the covenant, He inserts Himself into the scenario and offers redemption. He is not detached from the effects of their sin, but both involved and determined to provide a means of restoration.
The first part of the covenant is important because it gives us insight in God’s intention for man and His purpose in creating him. While the Edenic context no longer exists, the Scripture ends with a return to a similar context (Revelation 21-22) so understanding God’s initial plan for man gives us great insight in understanding God’s eternal plan for man.
The second part of the Adamic covenant is critical because it is the first covenant made after the fall. It is His initial agreement with us and promise to us in our fallen state. As such, its essential elements define God’s relationship to man in this age and it governs the present state of our existence. This is God’s most concise summary of His redemptive plan. It was designed to deal with the problem that the sin in the garden created and answers important questions about our own existence. It both summarizes what life will be like in this age, and gives God’s answer to the crisis of the fall and His initial prophecy of how He intends to deal with it. It essentially encapsulates God’s entire plan to redeem and restore man in this age.
The first half of the covenant has significant implications for how we understand other passages of Scripture, however we will focus on the implications of the second half of the covenant, because God’s response to the covenant dilemma gives us significant insight into God’s relationship with man and desire for him.
The immediate negative effects of the covenant were a loss of communion and the experience of death entering the human race. The fact that God immediately responded with a solution to the crisis of the covenant shows how deeply important communion with man is to Him and how unnatural death is for mankind. God intends to address the loss of fellowship and the issue of death.
God took on all the responsibility of fulfilling the covenant. In the second part of the covenant, no condition is given to man for the fulfillment of the promise made. It is clear that God Himself will orchestrate and empower the resolution of the covenant promised in Genesis 3:15. No human strength will help Him. This points both to the supernatural nature of His covenant solution and the inability of man to contribute anything to his salvation.
No matter how seductive the enemy’s lies appear there is deep enmity between man and the serpent. In this statement, God exposes all the serpent’s future temptations. No matter how seductive his future lies are, men must remember that the serpent is committed to man’s destruction.
God makes a prediction that both the serpent and the woman will have offspring. The serpent’s offspring will bruise, but the woman’s offspring will crush.This prediction is meant both in the collective sense and the individual sense. In other words, mankind will conquer the serpent, but man conquers through a specific seed. The rest of Old Testament history will record the development of the seed. The community of the promise will be highlighted in the form of Israel, Judah, and finally David’s descendants, but the individual nature of the promise is emphasized through specific individuals who keep the promise alive. At times, the fulfillment rests on just one individual.
In the poetry of God, the serpent will also have offspring. Like the promise made to man, this promise will have both collective and individual applications. For example, Jesus makes reference to the religious leaders being of their father the devil, but redemptive history ends in the individual seed of the serpent stepping on the stage of history. Satan does not naturally reproduce, so the fact that God highlights the “seed of the woman” and the “seed of the serpent” points to supernatural circumstances surrounding the offspring of each. The age will end in the conflict of the two seeds. God’s prediction ends with Eve’s seed crushing the serpent’s seed indicating that the age will end at this point.
A brief overview of this covenant shows us that the nature of God and the nature of our redemption are clearly seen both in the condition of man before the fall and in God’s initial promise to man after the fall. That covenant with Adam gives us a summary of all of redemptive history. This initial covenant is also the governing factor over all subsequent agreements of God with man. It initiates God’s redemptive work in this age and will serve as a foundation for everything that unfolds after it.
An overview of some of the essential elements of Eschatological Missiology given at the International House of Prayer University.
The phrase “Holy One of Israel” is a notable one that appears just over 30 times in the Old Testament and primarily in the book of Isaiah. The phrase is important for multiple reasons. The first is that YHWH, creator of all, would choose to identify Himself in context to His union with a very small group of people at all. When you understand how majestic, how holy, how totally “other than” He is, it is staggering that the Holy God would choose to identify Himself as the God of a specific people group. Names are significant to God and it is great humility for God to call Himself Israel’s God.
He is the God of the Universe, over and above all His creation, so why would He call Himself something as seemingly insignificant as “Israel’s God.” If you were the ruler of ancient Rome, you would want to be known as the Ruler of Rome, not as the ruler of a small, rebellious tribe in the corner of your empire. In the case of God, the disparity is a million times more. It almost seems an insult to God to call him only the “Holy One of Israel” when He is due to the adoration of all creation, and yet is is a title that He uses to refer to Himself.
Next consider the context in which it is used. I have included every reference to “Holy One of Israel” below with a summary of the context so you can see how this term is used in the Scripture. As you look through the passages, there is something immediately shocking about God’s use of the term. The vast majority of times God describes Himself as the “Holy One of Israel” it is set in context either to Israel’s rebellion or the restoration of Israel after a period of rebellion and deserved judgment. In other words, God refers to Himself as Israel’s God intentionally when He is addressing Israel’s sin and unfaithfulness.
Even more interesting is that God uses the term “Holy One of Israel” rather than the “Holy One of Jacob.” Israel is often referred to as Jacob when her lack of covenant faithfulness is in view because the transition from “Jacob” to “Israel” is a conversion from an untrustworthy schemer to one transformed through a divine touch from God. Jacob highlights weakness and failure, whereas Israel highlights the fulfillment of covenant promises. When God rebukes Israel for her faithfulness, He specifically chooses to call Himself not the God of Jacob, but the God of Israel. No matter how severe Israel’s sin is or how deserved Israel’s disciple may be, God remains Israel’s God and He continues to see Israel in context to her inheriting all the promises.
In other words, though Israel is acting like Jacob, God continues to call her Israel even when He disciplines her severely. He sees the end of corporate “Jacob” like the end of the patriarch Jacob. The end is not “Jacob.” It is not being cast away. The end is like the patriarch Israel, one who was conquered by the loving faithfulness of God and made a patriarch at the precise moment when he was facing his deserved judgment. Jacob’s name was changed just before he was anticipating his just destruction at the hands of Esau. In the same manner, corporate “Jacob” will be delivered and transformed into the long promised corporate “Israel” before they will face the just recompense of their sin. God calls Himself the “Holy One of Israel” to keep the final fulfillment of Israel’s covenant destiny before her. He rebukes “Jacob” but what He sees is “Israel.”
Looking at the context of something as simple as the phrase “Holy One of Israel” illustrates how deeply God treasures and is committed to the fulfillment of His salvific plan revealed in and administered through Israel. It immediately exposes how grave an error “replacement theology” is. While virtually all replacement theologians would argue for the salvation of individual Jews and their subsequent incorporation into the church, the fact remains that they transfer Israel’s promises to the church. Whereas Israel was once God’s elected people, they now argue for the church as God’s elected entity. Where the biblical promise is that gentiles can be grafted into Israel, they try to argue that Jews have the possibility of being grafted into the church.
By looking at something as simple as the title “Holy One of Israel” it becomes immediately clear how dangerous and erroneous systems of replacement theology are. God calls Himself Israel’s Holy One primarily when He is either rebuking Israel because of her sin or encouraging Israel that they will have a future after a severe trial that comes because of their sin. Therefore the idea that Israel’s rebellion somehow broke or “re-negotiated” her covenant with YHWH is simply ludicrous. He affirms the covenant when she is most rebellious. To enforce the point, most of the references are in the prophets in passages that have a future fulfillment. In other words, God calls Himself Israel’s God as He anticipates future rebellion, discipline, and restoration that has not yet happened. To say it plainly, He is still Israel’s God even if she does something as horrific as executing His only Son.
Has Israel been unfaithful to God? Absolutely. Did Israel commit the unthinkable sin of executing God in the flesh? Yes, as did the gentiles. Will Israel face future judgment related to her rejection of YHWH? Yes. Has any of that changed God’s identification with her, His election of her, and her place in His salvific plan? Clearly not because names matter and they matter to God. Israel’s rejection of Jesus did change certain dynamics related to God’s pursuit of gentiles that will be grafted into Israel’s salvation, but it did not change Israel’s trajectory to her final covenant destiny, not as a people ingrafted into the church, but as the unique people whom the gentiles are grafted into. This will require her to submit to and embrace Jesus, just as He promised she would. There is no other path of salvation for Israel, but we must remember that the path through Jesus is Israel’s salvation.
for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” (Matthew 23:39 NKJV)
In light of the deep rebellion of both Jew and gentile, the simple conclusion of all this is that we should humble and prostrate ourselves before the Holy One of Israel. Whether Jew or gentile, the fact that He would chose to be so engaged with rebellious mankind is staggering and should leave us in fear and trembling at the depth of His covenant love. Rather than rewriting those covenants, we should bow low before the God of Israel and live in deep gratitude that He has even given us the option of being joined to those covenants through the blood of His own Son.
All references are NKJV.
‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. (2 Kings 19:22 – Israel is being threatened with destruction from Assyria.)
Also with the lute I will praise You— And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 71:22 – Confidence in God’s deliverance in the time of trouble.)
Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 78:41 – Israel’s unfaithfulness to YHWH.)
For our shield belongs to the LORD, And our king to the Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 89:18 – God’s faithfulness to His covenant with David in spit of Israel’s unfaithfulness.)
Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. (Isaiah 1:4 – God’s lament over Israel’s sin.)
That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it.” (Isaiah 5:19 – A warning to those in Israel living in an ungodly way.)
Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 5:24 – A warning of God’s judgment against His people.)
And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (Isaiah 10:20 – A prophecy of a day when a remnant from Jacob, after having endured a horrific trial, will finally refuse to seek other gods, but will depend entirely on YHWH.)
Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!” (Isaiah 12:6 – Worship from the remnant of Israel who have survived horrible trial (Isaiah 11:10-12) and have been regathered in a second Exodus.)
In that day a man will look to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 17:7 – A prophecy of Israel’s turning in an hour of judgment.)
The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:19 – A promise that Israel will rejoice in YHWH after He judges them for their unfaithfulness.)
11Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.” 12Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them…15For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not.. (Isaiah 30:11-12, 15 – A warning of judgment for Israel’s rebellion against God.)
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1 – A warning of judgment because Israel has sought the help of others rather than YHWH.)
“Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 37:23 – A warning to Sennacherib for his assault against Israel, even though Israel was very near a season of judgment.)
14“Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel…16You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, And glory in the Holy One of Israel…20That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isaiah 41:14,16,20 – YHWH’s promise to deliver and restore Jacob from a severe trial.)
3For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 14Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives— The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. (Isaiah 43:3,14 – YHWH’s promise to regather, restore, and redeem Israel after both scattering and a severe trial. Consider that scattering is always the result of the nation’s sin.)
Thus says the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. (Isaiah 45:11 – A passage concerning God’s appointing of Cyrus to help restore Israel after they were exiled for their sin.)
As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 47:4 – YHWH’s promise to judge Babylon because of how they treated Israel when God allowed Babylon to secure military victory over Israel for the purpose of punishing Israel for her sin.)
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17 – God’s promise to restore and redeem Israel after exile and captivity.)
Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.” (Isaiah 49:7 – The prophecy of the Servant who will bring Israel back to YHWH and be a light to the gentiles.)
For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5 – YHWH’s promise to regather and restore Israel to fruitfulness after a period of barrenness where she was forsaken for a moment because of her sin.)
Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the LORD your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” (Isaiah 55:5 – YHWH’s promise to glorify Israel because of the everlasting covenant made with the nation.)
9Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the LORD your God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you…14Also the sons of those who afflicted you Shall come bowing to you, And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; And they shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 60:9,14 – A promise for Israel’s situation to be radically changed as she is regathered to the land and made preeminent among the gentile nations.)
“Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel. (Jeremiah 50:29 – Jeremiah’s warning that Babylon would be destroyed because of her pride against YHWH and the Jews when Israel was given into Babylon’s hand as judgment for their sin.)
For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the LORD of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” (Jeremiah 51:5 – YHWH’s promise that Israel is not forsaken even though she sinned greatly against Him and therefore was given over to military invasion and destruction at the hands of Babylon.)
An overview of the subject of a transitional generation and the looming controversy around Zion, followed by a brief consideration of how this affects the way we do missions in this generation.