Preunderstandings of the Nature of the Bible

If we desire an honest study of eschatology, we must define carefully where we stand on the interpretation and or on the doctrine before beginning the study. That is preunderstanding. To begin with, the Bible contains the story of God’s character and His purpose. He is the source, the starting place of everything. And then, the center of the story is Jesus, his nature and his work. Third, the biblical worldview. And finally, we will see the biblical story which is the sole basis of interpretation.

God’s character and His purpose

To begin with, eschatology is linked to God’s character and His purpose. As a well-known British theologian affirms that “all statements about the End . . . are fundamentally affirmations about God,” and “every statement about God is ipso facto an assertion about the end, and a truth about eschatology”¹

Besides the classical character of God,² we can synthetize it in three points: God is love, God is just, and God is powerful.

The love of God is unlimited, unconditional and no measurable. Paul Gregor reveals it by commenting Genesis chapter 1 verse 2:

When this understanding of the verb is transferred to Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God âhap over the waters, it is clear that this movement was a show of power represented by tender love and care. It was a moving force behind God’s eternal intentions and served as a prelude to the imminent creation of everything on this planet. The author intentionally implemented the verb râhap right in the beginning of the creation account to indicate that not only careful planning preceded the act of creation, but also that God’s love and the tender care He shows as a Parent was present form the very beginning of His creation. It also serves as a promise or indicator that the power of His parental love will find a way to save His children and the entire creation from disaster if anything goes wrong.³

And as Richard Rice confirms that

The most fundamental theme in any Christian doctrine of salvation must be the love of God. His vast and intense concern for every human being is the basis of his saving activity. This explains why God takes the initiative in meeting the problem of sin. As soon as sin entered the world, God acted to mitigate its consequences. In other words, salvation went into effects the moment it was needed. Some texts even suggest that God formulated a response to sin before it was actually needed. The book of Revelation, for example, describes Jesus as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; cf. 1 Pet 1:20.⁴

Taken together, these two quotations show us that the love of God is unlimited, unconditional, and no measurable in the sense that He can find a way to save even there is obstacle. And moreover, His saving activity is vast thanks to His omnipresence—everywhere and every time, and intense thanks to His omnipotence—God’s power gives His creature security, and cannot stop without resolving the problem of sin. Thanks to His omniscience, He knows everything about us, and He can find solution of our problem. So His omnipresence, His omnipotence, and His omniscience are in the framework of His eternal love. He is just because He takes the initiative in meeting the problem of sin.

God’s purpose is that He is saving the world through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, according to Hebrews 2:14,15:

Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh a blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death, and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.

So the God’s purpose is that the believers will live eternally without sin, and that is the goal of the incarnation of Jesus. Now the following part is to see the effects of the center of the Bible, Jesus— His nature and His works.

The center of the Bible: Jesus

Norman Gulley statement is illustrative and represents our current understanding of Jesus— His nature and His work:

In our theological system, Christ is both the center and the context. He is the center of the plan of salvation, which begin in Genesis, is look forward to through types and prophecies in the Old Testament, actualized in the Gospels in the New Testament, proclaimed by the apostles, and predicted to be completed in the return of Christ, who inaugurated the new heaven and the new earth. In this system we choose Jesus Christ as the center. By doing this we are not delimiting revelation to Jesus Christ. He is the center of the cosmic controversy throughout Scripture.⁵

We understand the Bible in the light of Jesus Christ (Christocentric point of view). As Paul G. Hiebert states that

He [Christ] is the center to which all revelation points. The Old Testament finds its fulfilment in him, and the New Testament bears witness to him. As Son of God, he is the perfect representation of God. And as Son of man, he is the perfect communicator of God’s self-revelation to humans.⁶

Hiebert adds that his incarnation is the center of the gospel. His death and resurrection are the heart of redemption. It is around the person of Christ that all theologies must unite.⁷

Since that is the role played by Jesus Christ, it is important to see what the Scripture says His nature and His work. Jesus Christ also is the center of theology, because it is through Him that we clearly know God. In this part of study, according to John 1:1-5, 18, and Hebrews 1:1-5, we must understand the Bible in terms of the person of Christ. And then, we will talk the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who has both fully God and fully human (1 John 1:1-3), because this is the basis of our salvation.

The deity of our Lord Jesus is established by at least eleven separate lines of evidence, which, taken collectively, completely establish His deity:⁸ We can summarize that Jesus is (1) one in ture with the Father, equal in power and authority, God in the highest sense, eternal and self-existent, with life original, unborrowed, underived; and (2) that Christ existed from all eternity, distinct from, but united with, the Father, possessing the same glory, and all the divine tributes⁹

About the humanity of Jesus, Richard Rice defends that

Several factors favor the view that Jesus’ humanity was sinless, rather than sinful. One is Jesus’ account of his own disposition. According to the fourth Gospel, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34); and, “The ruler of this world… has no power over me” (John 14:30). Such statement suggests that Jesus’ fundamental orientation to God was one of obedience. He was naturally inclined to God’s will. This doesn’t mean he couldn’t sin, of course, but it means that he would have departed from his natural bent of mind in doing so.

Another reason to attribute sinlessness to Jesus is his relation to the human race. Paul compares Jesus with Adam in an important passage in Romans (5:12-21). The effects of their actions are sharply different, of course. Adam brought us condemnation and death, while Christ brings us acquittal and life. But the relation to humanity is the same. What they accomplished affects the entire race. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that they began with the same moral posture. They were naturally loyal to God, and his loyalty was tested for both. Adam failed the test, and Christ passed it.¹⁰

It is important to know and to believe that Jesus is 100% divine and 100% human. Because by his perfect divinity, he can save us. And, by his humanity, he knows and is able to save us.

As Georges K. Knight describes what God does through Christ meets a different aspect of human need: Propitiation rescues us from the wrath of God, redemption from our captivity to sin, justification from our guilt and condemnation, and reconciliation from our enmity against God and our manifold alienations.¹¹

Jesus’s life: we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:10), His life without sin (John 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22).

Jesus’s death: . . . through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14).

Jesus’s resurrection: The significance of Christ’s resurrection lies in its being a validation of His victory on Calvary and an indication of the tangible triumph over Satan’s stronghold/prison house of death.¹²

Jesus’s heavenly ministry: His heavenly ministry extends the fruits of His accomplished victory to those who have faith in Him; and His coming at the beginning and end of the millennium will complete the work of atonement.¹³ Without the cosmic controversy, we cannot understand the full mission of Christ,¹⁴ and moreover to discover foundation of the eschatology.

The Biblical Worldview: The Cosmic Controversy

Ranko Stefanovic presents his view by giving the book of Revelation a chiastic structure in which the center is the cosmic controversy.¹⁵

• A.Prologue (1:1-8)

• B.Promise to the overcomer (1:9-3:22)

• C.God’s work for humanity’s salvation (4:1-8:1)

• D.God’s wrath mixed with mercy (8:2-9:21)

• E.Commissioning John to prophesy (10:1-11:18)

• F.Great Controversy between Christ and Satan (11:19-13:18)

• E’.Church proclaims the end-time gospel (14:1-20)

• D’.God’s final wrath unmixed with mercy (15:1-18:24)

• C’.God’s work for humanity’s salvation completed (19:1-21:4)

• B’.Fulfillement of the promises to the overcomer (21:5-22:5)

• A’.Epilogue (22:6-21)

The center is the most important part of the chiasm. The central focus is great controversy. Chiastic studies are making a vital contribution to our understanding of the way Scripture was written. There are six cosmic events—in heaven, in Eden, at Calvary, on the day of Pentecost, during the Judgement, and in the God’s final Judgement--which were manifested this cosmic controversy:¹⁶

(1) In heaven: There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “Now have come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of the brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Rev. 12:7-12)

When we read carefully these biblical passage, there are two expulsions: the first one is in heaven before the creation of Earth (12:4). The second is at Calvary during human history (12:9-11), and is central in the Book of Revelation, and is the hermeneutical apex for interpreting its history and eschatology.¹⁷ Therefore, Satan was defeated, it is a fact.

(2) In Eden: “And 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” (Gen. 3:15).

As Georges Knight points out that:

Satan has been under a perpetual curse ever since he seduced man in Eden (Gen. 3:15). His destiny is fixed. Everlasting fire has been prepared for him and his angels (Matt. 25:41; Rev.20:10). Christ came to earth and took our nature in order to destroy the devil and his works (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). Satan sought to overwhelm Christ when He came to reclaim man (Mark 1:12, 13), and has since persecuted the church (Rev. 12:12, 17). But his power and dominion received a death blow at Calvary, and he is a conquered foe (John 12:31; 16:11; 1 John 3:8). He will soon be bruised under the feet of the saints (Rom. 16:20).¹⁸

In Eden, the defeat of Satan is published, proclaimed publicly.

(3) At Calvary: Christ’s death on the cross sealed Satan’s defeat. . . Satan had “no power” or authority over Him (John 14:30). . . Calvary was the turning point in cosmic history. In the book of Revelation it is the blood of the Lamb that is the ground of victorious triumph Rev. 7:9-14; 5:9, 12). At the defeat of Satan on the cross, John envisioned him being “thrown down to earth” with “his angels” (Rev.12:9, 10; cf. John 12:31).¹⁹

At Calvary, the defeat of Satan is confirmed.

(4) Day of Pentecost

The central issue of the cosmic controversy is the sovereignty of God. The basis of this issue is that God is love and hence just. During the Day of Pentecost: “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41).

Thus, after Calvary, Jesus said to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit” as He breathed on them a special blessing (John 20:22), a foretaste of what Pentecost would bring. Not only was Calvary a prerequisite for the impartation of the Spirit, but Calvary’s acceptance was also a prerequisite for Pentecostal fullness. That acceptance was still to come after Christ’s ascension to heaven, for “as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39 RSV). He was glorified in His inauguration in heaven (Revelation 4-5). When Jesus was seated at God’s right hand (Heb. 1:3), and His sacrifice at Calvary was officially accepted, the Father (John 14:16, 26) and He (John 16:7) together sent the Spirit to the believers. Now the fullness of the Spirit came at Pentecost because of the finished work of Christ in defeating Satan at the cross (John 19:30; Re. 12:9-13), and the acceptance of it in heaven.²⁰

During the Day of Pentecost and till the second coming of Jesus, the defeat of Satan is proved because the Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by the Father after His resurrection, and the Holy Spirit is sent to show the evidence of his defeat.

(5) Judgement: God will not resolve the cosmic controversy until all intelligent created beings are fully satisfied with the final decision about their destiny.That destiny is not so much what persons have done or not done. Of course it includes their acts and thoughts, but more than these, final destination has to do with whether people have accepted or rejected what Christ did for them when judged in their place at Calvary (John 12:31).²¹

The result of the Satan’s defeat is revealed and is manifested by the choice of every believer.

(6) God’s final judgment

At the end of a millennium, all humans, lost and saved, will be present and will declare: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of all kings” (Rev. 15:3).

Accordingly, all people saved and lost are expected to agree that God is love, just, and powerful (Isa 45:23b; Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 5:13; 15:3; 19:1-6). Finally, the cosmic controversy find closure.

The Biblical Theology

The Biblical theology is God’s story who tells us how/when things started, lost their way, can be redirected, and how the human story comes out in the end.²²

Before the Creation

Following are three biblical passages in which God already planned according His purpose and His work: (1) Titus 1:2, 3a: which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time, and at the right time he revealed it in his message (TEV). (2) 1 Peter 1:20: He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. (3) Revelation 13:8:

All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed. In Titus, the eternal life was already promised whatever the situation will be—the fall, the sin, the death—before the creation of the world. In fact, the promise of eternal life is the consequence of God’s purpose established from eternity. In Peter, Christ was the center of God’s plan of salvation and was foreordained before the creation of the world. In Revelation, since Jesus was slain from eternity in terms of God’s eternal plan, people who accept Jesus as their Savior have already their name in the Book of life.

At Creation²³

In the beginning, God [the triune God] created the heavens and the earth. Two Seventh-day Adventist scholars have called special attention to the relationship between protology and eschatology. In his book, Doukhan points out that Eschatology, which moves toward an end, imperatively necessitates a beginning, and the theme of creation provides the theological rationale against which eschatology can take place.²⁴

Davidson reports that

With regard to Genesis 1:1, it has been suggested that the term bere’sit, “in the beginning,” was deliberately chosen by Moses to rhyme with be’aharit, “in the last days” (NKJV” in Genesis 49:1; Numbers 24:14; and Deuteronomy 31:29 in order to illustrate the eschatological perspective of the Torah from the very first verse.²⁵

Taken together, these two quotations tell us first that in the very beginning of the Bible, the concept of eschatology is present. Second, eschatology is always linked to the protology. And third, there is an end, because there is a beginning. Davidson adds that by commenting Psalm 104:5 gives the promise that the earth and its foundations “will not totter forever and ever.” That means that there is eschatological perspective within the when of creation.²⁶

The Fall

The fall is the origin of sin. Sin is the interruption of God’s purpose, a departure from design for the cosmos. Adam and Eve decided to disobey God by yielding to temptation from an adversary orking against God. This fall has its effect into human identity and all dimensions all human relationships ould be marred as Davidson describes:

Within Genesis 3, after the Fall, we have all of the harmonious relationships described in Genesis 1 and 2 disrupted: between man and himself (guilt, a recognition of “soul nakedness” that cannot be covered by externals, 3:7-10); between humans and God (fear, 3:10); between man and woman (blame or discord, 3:12, 13, 16, 17); between humans and animals (deceit and conflict, 3:1, 13, 15); and between humans and nature (decay, 3:17-19).²⁷

The impact of sin is not only on all relationships but also death as Davidson add:

Now death appears immediately (as an animal must die to provide covering for the humans’ nakedness, 3:21) and irrevocably (for the humans who have sinned, 3:19). The upset of the ecological balance is directly attributed to the humans’ sin (3:17, 18). The blessing of Genesis 1 and 2 has become the curse (3:14, 17).

The bottom line of the fall is that the good creation of God became bent and no longer points at the purpose for which it was created.²⁸

After the fall, God did the first path to search Adam and Eve. Klingbeil points out that

Following the Fall, described in Genesis 3, it is God who takes the initiative and begins His search for humanity. His question—“Adam, where are you?”—is still echoing through the ages and speaks to human hearts in need of hope, healing, and restoration. The earth-made-new reflects God’s original creation and represents a key moment in cosmic battle between good and evil. . . The God of creation is also the God of salvation. . . .²⁹

The liberation story

To get to the fall to Jesus, God made promises by calling a man, Abraham. And through him a nation, Israel. All of God promises limited to Israel and to all people are based on who He is and His purpose for the world.

The bible relates stories of what God (the author of the story) has done, is doing, and plans to do. These whole stories make sense of human stories. This biblical theology tells the only story that answers the important questions asked by all human beings: Who am I? Where am I? What’s wrong in my life? How can it be changed? When it be changed? What time is it?

As Westcott defends that

Almost immediately after man was created, he fell into sin; the rest of the Bible tells how and why God is going to come to the rescue of the human race, so that all of history prior to the Incarnation was “the preparation of the world for that great mystery, and all subsequent history the gradual appropriation of its results”³⁰

Accordingly, let us see some biblical passages in the Old Testament in which we can see the concept of eschatology.³¹ We will start with the Pentateuch, and prophetical books.

About the eschatological perspective of the Pentateuch, Davidson states that “with regard to Genesis 1:1, it has been suggested that the term bere’sit, “in the beginning,” was deliberate chosen by Moses to rhyme with be’aharit, “in the last days” (NKJV in Genesis 49:1; Numbers 24:14; and Deuteronomy 31:29 in order to illustrate the eschatological perspective of the Torah from the very first verse.”³²

In the prophetical books, we will see some prophets from the Old Testament. To begin with, as Klingbeil states that

The book of Amos concludes with a glorious perspective on restoration after judgment (Amos 9:11-15), introduced by the eschatologically charged phrase bayyôm hahû’, “in that day.” The passages allude to the creation theme by employing building terminology (for example, banâ, “to build,” Amos 9:11, 14) and the metaphor of YHWH as King. Thus, within the theological thinking of Amos the correct understanding of creation becomes a prerequisite to the comprehension of re-creation.³³

For the book of Micah, the same author points out that

According to Old Testament cosmology, Zion lies at the center of the created world, and Micah points to its establishment in terms of creation terminology (kûn, “to establish” [Mic. 4:1]). Creation in Micah is focused on destruction and consequent re-creation in the context of the “day of the Lord” with its eschatological implications. The prophet builds a theological bridge between creation in the beginning and in the end around of the presence of God, as symbolized by the Mount Zion metaphor.³⁴

For the book of Isaiah the author continues by concluding by this:

The final division of the book of Isaiah (Isa.56-66) focuses on the creation of Zion with chapters 60 to 62 at the center of the section describing the glorious city. The book’s grand finale in Isaiah 65 an 66 adds an eschatological dimension to creation theology in Isaiah, describing renewal and restoration in terms of creation.³⁵

For the book of the Joel, Davidson points out that

The final verses of Joel return to the topic of re-creation, describing the future of Zion in paradisiacal terms: “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with the milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias” (Joel 3:18 [MT 4:18]). The garden of Eden mentioned earlier on (Joel 2:3) that has been destroyed by the locust plague in thus being re-created. Again, a linear motion from creation to de-creation and finally to re-creation can be observed with creation being the overall paradigm that underlies history.³⁶

Alexej Muràn makes an association to the Sabbath, creation and restoration from his analyze of Psalm 92.

Psalm 92 is the only psalm that is clearly associated with the sabbath. The superscription calls it a Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.” This psalm’s connection to creation has been recognized by many scholars. It brings out two aspects of Sabbath worship and, at the same time, two aspects of the Creator. These are creation and redemption, corresponding to the two versions of the fourth commandment. As a concluding day of the six-day creation, God’s rest of the seventh day signifies the completeness of God’s “very good” creation. At the same time, it is the seventh day that points to the restoration of God’s creation through His redeeming act, clearly seen in the history of Israel a foreshadowing the final eschatological restoration.³⁷

From the prophetic literature of The Old Testament, Klingbeil points out that

In the concluding chapter of the book, Daniel evokes creation terminology by describing re-creation, which is taking place after de de-creation scenario pf the previous chapter (Dan. 11). For the righteous ones, there is a passage from sleeping in the dust (12:2) to shining like the stars (12:3), and for Daniel in particular there is a passage from resting to sanding up in the final day to receive his inheritance (12:13)³⁸

Taken together, these quotations show us that the idea of eschatology is already seen in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament

About the “last days,” the “end of times,” and the “last things,” the bible says that the last comes from the Jesus’s incarnation (Hebrews 1:1, 2)—God, who has various times and in variable ways spoke in time past to the fathers to the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

The last goes through the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21, cf. Joel 2:28-32) till the Day of judgement in which the scripture calls the Day of the Lord. The period will begin with the return of Christ and will end with the passing away of the heavens and both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21:1).

Lee J. Gugliotto points out that

the Day of the Lord was a framework for interpreting history, for understanding the present under ivine control, and also for projecting a final day of reckoning (the eschatological Day of the Lord). They were given to understand that the Day of the Lod is past, present, and future.³⁹

Applied Theology

Hermeneutic is not complete if these four items will not be fulfilled: (1) What it meant?--biblical theology, exegesis; (2) What it means?--systematic theology: the supracultural truth; (3) What it means for me?--my interpretation or I am interpreted by my study of the bible. (4) How I communicate what it means for me (sermon, evangelization, mission).

Ellen G. White says that we do Bible study by preaching what is important to people:

A sermon is more than a glorified Bible study or an opportunity to persuade people to agree with your views. It is a life-or-death presentation of truth painstakingly discovered, carefully arranged, and simply told so as to “touch the common life experience, the daily necessities; bringing home to the heart the very truths which are of vital interest.”⁴⁰

Another writer states that:

Sermons, lessons, and devotionals are actually extended arguments, longer compositions that combine argument with persuasion “to compel the listener or reader to adopt another position, another manner of thinking, or another solution to a problem.”⁴¹

And as Osborne points out that “the study of Scripture can never be complete until one has moved from text to context.”⁴² He adds that “the true goal of hermeneutics is not the commentary but the sermon.”⁴³

To deal with it, I will take Hebrews 9: 1-10:25. The author’s topic of the text is the benefits of Christ’s ministry. Questions on doctrine state that:

The death of Christ on Calvary’s cross provides the only sacrifice by which man can be saved. . . the sanctuary and the Temple services of long ago emphasized certain vital truths in connection with the atoning work of Jesus our Lord.

In the sanctuary ritual during the days of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness, and latter in the time of the Temple, many sacrifices were offered. But whatever their number, and whatever their variety, every sacrifice without exception pointed forward to the one great sacrifice—to the death of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour; He was the antitype of all these sacrificial offerings.

This “one sacrifice” (Heb. 10:12), or “one offering” (verse 14), of Christ was “fo ever” (verse 12), and wrought “eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12) for man. This sacrifice was completely efficacious. It provided complete atonement for all mankind, and will never be repeated, for it was all-sufficient and covered the needs of every soul.⁴⁴

The message will be delivered to general believing as humankind. The goal is that although the message of the Bible is supracultural—above all cultures—it must be understood by people living within their own heritage and time frame as Ellen G. White wrote:

Christ drew the hearts of His hearers to Him by the manifestation of His love, and then, as they were able to bear it, He unfolded to them the great truths of the kingdom. We also must learn to adapt our labors to the condition of the people—to meet men where they are.⁴⁵

What is common in human being is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In one side, every humankind experience four negative emotions after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit: (1) fear of God instead of the trust and confidence, (2) shame upon seeing his nakedness, his sin, and (3) guilt as the weight of responsibility and certain punishment for breaking the law. In fact, every human being has fundamental anguishes face to the fear, to the suffering, and the death.

In the other side, every human being aspires the high level of values, according to the Scripture in Ecclesiastes 12:14: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. (Emphasis added). The high level of values is indeed the God’s commandments.

And moreover, every human being has eternity in thinking of eternity in his heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11, and only Christ can provide ultimate satisfaction.

Now the doctrine seen in Hebrews 9-10:25 is the doctrine of the sanctuary. “To keep the doctrine of the sanctuary in proper perspective, we need to remember its eschatological focus.”⁴⁶

The meaning of the morning and evening sacrifices were called in Hebrew tamid (daily continual offering) prefigured in a unique sense the sacrifice of Christ (A.D. 31) which is always available and ever efficacious (He. 7:3, 24; 10:12). That means that the Christ’s sacrifice is for all humankind. The salvation is possible.

The question is that what is the meaning of sinner’s sacrifices? These sacrifices were not a means of salvation, but were an evidence of faith (the commitment of individual person in the baptism). In the book Questions of doctrine, it points out that:

The individual who accepted the benefits provided by the morning and evening sacrifice was given opportunity to express his faith and to reveal his acceptance of the divine provision for his salvation. This he did at the command of God. When visiting Jerusalem he brought his own offering for himself and for his family. In the morning and evening sacrifice we see provided atonement; in the individual sacrifice we see appropriated atonement.⁴⁷

Then the Day of atonement services, we call it the investigative judgement (from 1844). In that day, every Israelite who is sincere will be pardoned and their sin be blotted out.

At the end of the millennium, finally the sin will be destroyed and eradicated. With sin destroyed the New Jerusalem descends out of heaven so that God can re-create the new earth to be the eternal home of the redeemed.

To stress the main points from this biblical passage, let’s consider some messages: first of all, the cross of Christ is the answer to both our human problems on earth and the cosmic dilemma of sin.⁴⁸ Second, look back to the good news of Christ’s sacrifice and remember it (Heb. 10/ 19, 20. And third, look up to the High Priest and react (draw near, hold fast, and consider) verses 21-25.

To conclude this part of the paper, Knight is right to affirm that:

The good news of the gospel is that Christ not only suffered and died like other human, but that He overcame death itself. Christ’s resurrection victory is the guarantee that Satan has been defeated and that those who believe in Jesus will be resurrected to immortality when He comes again (1 Cor. 15:20-23, 51-56). Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His victory. Since the time of His resurrection, Christians still suffer and die, but with the firm assurance that suffering and death are not the ultimate reality.⁴⁹

Onclusion

It is important to realize that to be honest to study a biblical doctrine like eschatology, we must first, define carefully where we stand on the interpretation of this doctrine. What is our reunderstanding of the nature of the bible? That is about God’s character and His purpose; the nature and the work of Jesus; the great controversy.

Second, we must understand biblical theology in which we comprehend God’s story from the very beginning to the end.

And third, how communicate what we understand to people where they are.

Conclusions

So in conclusion, my intention was to understand a more biblical eschatology. And it should now be clear that eschatology is linked to God’s character and His purpose. That every history is moving toward a definite final goal. As such, eschatology is the framework of all stories; unites past, present, and future, and gives human being a new perspective of his life and that becomes a framework for living in hope of eternity.

Eschatology was already began before the creation, before the beginning of time and revealed in the last days.