Then Will Come The...End?

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

So, when will the “end” come? ? ? ?  This is the billion dollars (euros, yen, shekels, yuan etc.) question which has aroused countless speculations throughout the generations, and especially in ours.*

The conditional prerequisite for the “end” to come is that “this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the entire world as a witness to all the nations”. What Yeshua meant by “this Gospel of the Kingdom” and His definitions of it is an extensive topic which we will not cover here. However, in Acts 1:3 we are told that after His resurrection the Messiah spent His forty days on earth “speaking (to His disciples) of the things pertaining to the kingdom of Elohim”. It is quite significant, therefore, that just before He was taken up these ones asked Him: “Master, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Yeshua’s answer seems to be quite cryptic: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). Thus when the Spirit came upon the disciples at Shavuot with signs and power, it was, as Paul puts it, “the kingdom of Elohim… [which is] righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). In this way, these Jewish/Israelite disciples of Yeshua became living witnesses of the beginning of the restoration of the Kingdom of Elohim to Israel (in accordance with Yeshua’s answer to them in Acts 1).

Now back to our Matthew 24:14 text.  If “this” Gospel of the Kingdom (as Yeshua calls it) is the restoration of the Kingdom of Elohim to His people Israel, then this is what should be preached in all the nations as a witness to them. Even though the Gospel has gone around the world up to the most remote areas, and that for centuries, has it been “this” Gospel of the Kingdom (i.e. the restoration of Elohim’s Kingdom to Israel)? Yeshua underscores the witness that this Gospel is to be to the world’s nations. What or who is the witness or witnesses? In what way is the Gospel of the Kingdom a witness, if it is not by the fulfillment of Elohim’s word to His chosen people among whom He had said that He would set up His Kingdom (see Ex. 19:6; 1Chor. 28:5; Luke 1:32-33)?  Revelation chapter 11 describes a ‘monumental’ double witness, depicted as two olive trees and two lamp stands. Could this have anything to do with the double witness of Israel’s two houses that are being restored in order to display and be a witness of YHVH’s Kingdom on earth? Is it possible, then, that the Hebrew/Torah awakening which is taking place all around the world is the tool to spread “this Gospel” to all the nations so that the “end” can come?

*The Greek for “the end” in the above text is “telos”, with the same root that is used in “teleo”, which means “to be brought to an end, completion”.  The latter is used in John 19:30, in reporting Yeshua’s last words on the cross - “it is finished/completed/fulfilled/covered in full payment”. In the Aramaic Peshitta the word that’s used for “end” (in Mat. 24:14) is “shulama” (similar to the Hebrew “shalom”). This could be implying an “end” in a sense of completion or fulfillment. However, if the original text was in Hebrew (and not Aramaic), there is no way of saying in Hebrew “the end” (as is used in our text) while employing one of the root derivatives of sh.l.m. Hence the Hebrew translation of the Greek is “ketz” which is more like “termination”.
Addendum:
In the 14th century Hebrew copy of an (heretical) version of the book of Matthew (http://adamoh.org/TreeOfLife.lan.io/SDAcomms/Hebrew%20Gospel%20of%20MATTHEW%20by%20George%20Howard%20-%20Part%20One.pdf) known by the name of its copier, Shem Tov, the "end"is "tachlit", not only in chapter 24:14, but in all other references to "end". "Tachlit" is indeed a more comprehensive term, meaning completion and fulfillment, but also an ending. A similar term, based on the same root, is used in Psalms 119:96 for "perfection" - "tichlah". The usage of this term in the text that was available to Shem Tov points to a different understanding of "end", and seems to complement the aim of the gospel message as was pointed out above.  

The Word and The Womb

All through scripture the womb of mothers seems to conceal a mystery.  We have spoken and written much about the “seed” (not seeds), with life issuing forth from the sperm of the father, but what happens in the womb is the beginning of the formation of the life that has been preordained and selected by the Word of Elohim.  Here is what YHVH said about Sarah, Abraham’s wife: "And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her…   …Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him” (Genesis 17:16-19 italics and emphasis added). This promise YHVH “remembers even to a thousand generations” (Psalm 105:8). What’s more, Sarah carried the promised son in a womb that to all intents and purposes was ‘dead’. 

Isaac too was called and predestined to have child - a seed that would carry on the predetermined destiny of YHVH’s plan.  Rebecca, his wife, was barren for 20 years before she conceived.  She was greatly surprise when she found that there were two separate distinct seeds/nations growing in her womb, and that only one of them was chosen by YHVH to carry the blessing of an everlasting covenant.  So out of the two nations/goyim/seeds which one was chosen, was it Esau or Jacob?   YHVH said: “Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated” (Malachi 1:2-3).  Paul writing thousands of years later in regards to YHVH’s choice says: ^“nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ‘in Isaac your seed shall be called...’ …but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.  For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, by our father Isaac…   that the purpose of Elohim according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls,  it was said to her, ‘the older shall serve the younger.’  As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated’" (Romans 9:7-13).  

Because YHVH keeps His promises and will not lie, He states: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).  YHVH is a covenant keeping Elohim!  

In the womb of Rebecca Jacob was called a nation (Genesis 25:23), while in the womb of His mother Yeshua was called to restore the government of the kingdom to the nation called Jacob (Luke 1:31-33).  Jeremiah declared that he was called before his bones were formed to be a prophet to the nations (Israel and Judah, and also to other nations): "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).  Of John the Immerser it was said: “He will be great in the sight of YHVH, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb” (Luke 1:15).   Likewise Paul also declared that he was called from the womb (Galatians 1:15-16).  

Perhaps we too, even while yet in our mothers’ wombs were called for such a time as this. Our very being is bearing witness to the reality and fulfillment of “all that has been spoken through the prophets of old” (see Acts 3: 19-21).   It is an awesome thought that we were chosen by the Almighty Creator of humanity even before our bones were formed: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O Elohim! How great is the sum of them” (Psalm 139:13-17 emphases added). 

YHVH’s thoughts were written down by the prophets of old and are now being realized or revealed in and through us, not just as individuals but as the one nation that was in the wombs of our mothers, Sarah and Rebecca. If there is anything that will stir up our national Israelite identity and love for the promised land it will be the understanding of who we are, based on “the sum of YHVH’s thoughts” toward us from “His book”.  Hence, the attitude of underrating the literal Israelite identity, occasionally expressed by some Torah teachers and others, is rather disconcerting.  We just had a reminder in the title of Genesis’ last Parasha – “Jacob Lives”, although the narrative actually reports the death of the patriarch. Interestingly, a popular song which has been around for decades is:  “Am Israel Chai-Od Avinu Chai” - The People of Israel lives-Our Father Still Lives (being Yehuda’s answer to Joseph’s question, see Gen. 43:27-28 listen and watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0zzQSa_7Fw). 

Let us not extinguish the life of the forefathers.  After all YHVH identifies Himself as their Elohim.  

Here we may ask: Is this present Israelite national restoration a religious move? Is it a move that is destined to become geopolitical? Is it both or neither? YHVH told Moses to tell Israel, “’And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'  These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:6). Echoing the everlasting covenant to the forefathers, the words of the prophets also reiterate the same message, as do the words of the Apostle Peter who spoke to the “strangers and aliens” living in the non-Israelite nations.  Even though YHVH sowed or scattered His precious chosen seed among the nations, He intends on gathering and bringing it in its multiplied form back to the lands that He has set aside in the everlasting covenant. In this generation the strangers and aliens in the Gentile nations are us.  But we will not be so when we return to our own ordained territories (read Genesis 15:18-21).  In line with that which was declared in Exodus, Peter defines us as a “royal priesthood”, a “set apart” or “holy nation”.  We already have a king who is enthroned in Zion, and a kingdom government that is within us.  Is all this just an abstract concept that has but a vague connection to the prophetic declarations just mentioned, and to the prayer of our Kinsman Redeemer: “Your Kingdom [Father] come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?  Almost the entire Bible is about YHVH’s dominion over all of creation and more specifically over a nation chosen while still in the womb of a mother. 

This present move of the Spirit, to restore the non-Jewish side of Jacob’s family - the house of Joseph, is in fact Messiah’s mandate and prophetic assignment from the Father (read Isaiah 49: 5-6). If that is the case, we should be cognizant of the fact that our enemy will counterfeit and oppose YHVH's great plan of redemption and restoration, in an attempt to prevent His will from being accomplished.  Indeed, the reality of a restored national identity is being opposed on every level, spiritual as well as physical.

If we, as the “not My people” (Lo Ami) who are now called “the sons of the living Elohim” (see Hosea 1:10; 1 Peter 2:9-10), do not connect our origins  back to the womb of Rebecca, and to Jacob’s destined calling as YHVH’s holy set apart nation, we will still be playing our instruments of worship on the banks of the Rivers of Babylon.   Worse than that, heaven will retain or delay Yeshua, and YHVH just might choose another generation and let us perish in the wilderness. 

“Thus says YHVH who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen… Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you ... For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your seed, and My blessing on your offspring; They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses…   Remember this, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!'” (Isaiah 44:1-3, 21; 46:3-4, scriptures have been rearranged).

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful; For He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).  Have we seen the “Himself” in us, O offspring of Jacob?