Handout - Western Christadelphian Bible School

Part 2 - Parallels
1 We will try to avoid hypotheses in our study of the main features of prophecy. One of
the principal tools will be parallelism.
2 Prophetic Parallelism is, in principle, similar to the rugby photos in the Dominion
(fable, above).
3 Start with the Olivet Prophecy:
(a) To us it is not unnatural to divide the disciples’ questions (Mark 13:4, Matthew
24:3):
(i) Herod’s temple was destroyed in AD 70.
(ii) Jesus’ return was certainly not to be until after 2000.
(iii) These imply that maybe the questions were addressing two different events
in two different eras.
(b) But:
(i) The disciples had no idea that Jesus was going away.
OHP 1: Latter-Day Agendas.
‣ The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him;
and … he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and
were afraid to ask him (Mark 9:30-32; see also Luke 9:44, 45, 18:31-34,
etc)
‣ The disciples, like other first-century Jews, expected the Messiah to come
immediately (Luke 3:15, 19:11, John 10:24, Acts 1:6, etc); Jesus’
departure was simply not on their “latter-day” agenda.
‣ So Jesus’ “coming” in Matt 24:3 must mean his “coming to power” - as in
Luke 23:42 - and there is really only one question in Matt 24:3.
‣ Like them, we have trouble adjusting to Bible teaching that is not on our
agenda. There is a warning here!
(c)
(d)
(ii) “Thy coming” must have meant “coming to reign” as in the thief’s request
(Luke 23:42). So disciples would not have any idea of dividing Jesus’
answer - the Olivet prophecy - into parts. To them the answer was one.
Therefore the question is one.
(iii) Mark has two questions (Mark 13:4) yet only one subject (“these things”).
The Olivet Prophecy has 97 verses; yet it only answers the disciples’ question
with three specific prophetic statements contained in 5 verses (Matt 24:15, 21,
29-31). 61 verses (24:37 - 25:46) are lessons for disciples so that they will be
prepared - Jesus’ real concern.
The prophetic outline begins from the desecration of a temple and ends with the
Lord’s triumphant return from heaven.
(i) The question is, which temple does he mean?
(ii) We usually think of the obvious - Herod’s temple, Israel’s second (Herod’s
temple had simply taken over Zerubbabel’s without any hiatus and so is
called the second temple).
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