The Whole World
The undeniable pattern thus far in Matthew’s Gospel is the rejection of
Jesus by his people, Israel that led to the rejection by Jesus and His
condemnation. He foretells judgment that
will occur in their generation that will signal the end end of the Mosaic period, the judgment of Israel,
the destruction of the Temple, the end of the Levitical sacrificial system, and
the end of the Old Covenant.
In my journey through
this passage I never really struggled with the "this generation"
issue as some have. I truly wanted to hold on to what I saw as the correct
interpretation: judgment was coming upon Israel within the lifespan of those
who were hearing Jesus speak. What
troubled me was the signs of these events. My goal is not to be comprehensive,
but to simplify. There are more
complexities within the text but basically speaking Jesus answers the disciples
questions in verse 3 with a number of signs:
1. Many false christs will come and
deceive.
2. There will be wars and rumors of
wars.
3. Famines and earthquakes, etc.
Then I hit a
wall. There are two stunning statements
by our Lord:
#1.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole
world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14, ESV)
#2.
““Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in
heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will
mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:29–30, ESV)
These two prospects, I
thought, contradicted the predication of Christ that these things would come
within their generation included worldwide evangelism and the cosmic
signs. Surely even today we have not
seen such phenomenon?
Was the Gospel Preached
to the World Prior To A.D. 70?
In the Greek text the
prediction of the Good News going to the "whole world" uses the word:
οἰκουμένη [oikoumene /oy·kou·men·ay/].
The question is, "Does this mean the entire inhabitable
earth?" In Luke 2:1 (ESV) we
read these words: "In
those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered." Did Augustus
take a census of the entire inhabitable earth?
Not likely. One dispensational
commentary notes: " All the world indicates only the twenty-seven
provinces ruled by the Roman Senate and the emperor."[1]
"All the
world" doesn't mean "all the world" in the sense of global coverage
at least in one instance. The word οἰκουμένη can also mean the
"localized culture." In Colossians 1:3–6 (ESV) wrote:
"3 We
always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4
since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5
because of the hope laid up
for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the
gospel, 6 which
has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and
increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and
understood the grace of God in truth . . .."
The same commentary
explains: " The gospel was spreading all over the Roman Empire." So
in at least two cases, (there are at least 6 others in the New Testament) the
word world did not mean the entire inhabitable earth, but in fact the localized
culture. Therefore we are free within
the context to understand the words of Jesus as probably meaning a similar thing. And certainly the context supports that
notion.
But I'm not convinced
yet. Does not the clause immediately
following "the whole world" point us toward "all nations" (“And this gospel of the kingdom will
be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and
then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14, ESV) Again we have a similar issue because "the
use of "all the nations" is not always a reference to every nation on
earth. In many cases it refers only to those known nations in which one could
travel (Matt. 24:9; Acts 2:5)" (Gary DeMar). In 1 Timothy 3 we read, in reference to
Christ's life, death and resurrection, that in that time:
“. . . He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by
the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the
world, taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16, ESV)
Jesus never left the country of Israel during His earthly ministry.
So here is my conclusion:
When Christ warns His hearers that these signs will come upon them including
the Gospel being proclaimed to the whole world as a testimony to all nations –
the whole world and all nations DOES NOT HAVE TO MEAN THE ENTIRE INHABITABLE
EARTH. In fact in this case, as
constrained by the context, it does not mean that.
But what of all these cosmic signs that are predicted?
[1]
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2013). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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