Pastor David B. Curtis

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Media #1073 MP3 Audio File Video File

Preterism and Spiritual Gifts (Part 2)

Delivered 07/18/21

In our study last week, we talked about spiritual gifts and looked at the temporary nature of those gifts. I defined a spiritual gift as, "A God-given capacity through which the Holy Spirit supernaturally ministers to the body of Christ." They are not natural abilities or talents; they are supernatural. In order to properly understand the spiritual gifts, you must know what time it is; you must know what age you are living in.  

In Romans 12:6-8 Paul talks about spiritual gifts and encourages the believers at Rome to use their gifts according to the proportion of their faith.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8 ESV

Paul says, "Having gifts…let us use them." Unfortunately, many read this as if it were written to them today. The "us" here includes Paul and the first-century saints at Rome. I tried to demonstrate last week that all the gifts ended with the end of the Jewish age. The gifts were supernatural provisions during the second exodus or transition period. When the bride reached maturity and married Yeshua, the gifts ended.

Now let me say, and please get this, Yahweh still does miracles. There are people today who have been miraculously healed. I know of several people who have been physically healed. After last week’s message, Bob Cruickshank Jr. wrote me an email with this testimony.

"Growing up, my family was charismatic. When I was 14, we had a guest speaker one Sunday. He was a circus ring leader turned evangelist named Austin Miles.

During the service, he had a ‘word of knowledge,’ as they call it. He said: ‘There is a young man here today who is in his early teens. You’ve been having severe sinus trouble for as long as you can remember. You get terrible headaches and earaches, specifically in your right ear. The Lord wants you to know that He’s heard your prayers, and all you have to do is reach out in faith and claim your healing.’ That was me, and I did.

I have not had those sinus problems, headaches or earaches since. They were gone instantly and have never returned. Prior to this, I had to go to the doctor every month and get tubes in my nose to flush my sinuses out.

This same kind of thing happened to my lovely wife Cathy over forty years ago. She was having problems with her eyes and was seeing double. She went to an eye doctor who told her she had scarring on the back of her eye and there was nothing they could do. Shortly after that we were with another couple at our house. I believe we were playing cards and had the Christian radio station on and were listening to the 700 Club. Ben Kinchlow said he had a word of knowledge that a woman with eye problems was being healed. Cathy said, "that’s me." And the next day she woke up with perfect vision.

But these experiences are not the norm, they are the exception. And please understand that salvation is a miracle! Yahweh gives life to dead people, that is the greatest miracle of all. So, Yahweh still does do miracles, I am not saying He doesn’t. I’m specifically talking about spiritual gifts.

I think that the subject of spiritual gifts is important because there is so much confusion and division in the church today over this issue. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:1, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. So, I would like us to look at the subject of spiritual gifts again this morning.

Paul tells the believers in Rome that if they have the gift of prophecy, they are to exercise it properly. Now prophecy was a very important gift. In fact, the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, said the most about prophecy and tongues. Notice what Paul says about prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14.

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV
On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 1 Corinthians 14:3 ESV
So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:39 ESV

So, prophecy was obviously a very important gift. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul says:

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 ESV

There seems to be an order of importance here: "first apostles, second prophets, third teachers." Paul also tells us the importance of prophets in Ephesians.

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Yeshua himself being the cornerstone, Ephesians 2:20 ESV

They, along with the apostles, were responsible for laying the foundation of the Church.

What is the gift of prophecy? John MacArthur writes, "It simply means to speak before people. It is the gift of public speaking." https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/45-91/ministry-of-spiritual-gifts-part-2

I think this is way too watered down. Biblical prophets were men who spoke for Yahweh.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. Deuteronomy 18:18 ESV

This is speaking of Yeshua. He calls Him a prophet and then says, "I will put my words in His mouth." A prophet is the mouth of God. He is a spokesperson for Yahweh.

          A biblical prophet is someone who has met with Yahweh, someone who has stood in the Divine Council and have been sent to speak for Yahweh.

Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land." Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’" For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?  Jeremiah 23:15-18 ESV

          Some see verse 18 as a rhetorical question emphasizing the hidden intentions of God, who is beyond human perception and knowledge (cf. Job 5:18). But it seems best to understand this as referring to the previously mentioned false prophets, of whom it is later said:

"I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. Jeremiah 23:21-22 ESV

This tells us that true prophets had access to the council of God, the decisions of which are the substance of their prophetic proclamation.

The word "council" here is from the Hebrew sod which means "a session, that is, company of persons (in close deliberation); by implication intimacy, consultation, a secret— assembly." Many texts in Scripture clearly depict a heavenly council in the skies. This is speaking of the divine counsel which is made up of Yahweh and the sons of God—or the "watchers" as Daniel calls them.

The idea of a divine council may sound strange to you because most Christians today simply view God as ruling and Satan as opposing Him. Yahweh is seen as the only good deity, and Satan is seen as the only bad deity. But in the Hebrew Bible, we see a divine council, a ruling body consisting of Yahweh as the supreme monarch and various supernatural attendants.

In the New Testament, Prophets were gifted men who were second only to the apostles in the founding days of the Church. A prophet in the New Testament refers to one who has the insight into divine things and who speaks them forth. Sometimes prophecy was predictive, as we see in Acts 11.

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). Acts 11:27-28 ESV

Prophets spoke for God and sometimes that involved predicting the future. But not always. For instance, not everything Isaiah said was predictive. Prophets gave present and future truth. When they spoke of the future, they were to be 100% accurate, or they were to die.

A contemporary writer, Ron McKenzie, who was a Presbyterian Minister, says this, "The most urgent need of the modern church is for the restoration of the prophetic ministry." He goes on to say, "There are no perfect prophets. There are very few perfect prophecies. I would expect that even experienced prophets get it wrong sometimes. I suspect that most prophets would be very happy, if they got it right 90 percent of the time. An even larger percentage of prophecies from God will be slightly contaminated by something the prophet has added from his own heart. This is normal even for experienced prophets, because all prophets are human." He goes on to say, "We must also learn to reject prophecies without killing the prophet. The church should accept a mistake as a reminder that all prophets are human. The prophets should be glad to hear about their mistakes, so they can learn from them."

Is this in line with Scripture? Not even close.

And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:19-22 ESV

A prophet, therefore, is to be accurate or die! A prophet is the mouth of God.

And the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. Exodus 7:1 ESV

Aaron was to speak for Moses, who was as God to Pharaoh. John Piper writes, "But the spiritual gift of prophecy is different from the inspiration of Scripture." I really don't see it as different than inspiration because a prophet was the mouth of Yahweh. Marvin Vincent says of prophecy: "Prophecy is utterance under immediate divine inspiration; delivering inspired exhortation, instructions or warnings. The fact of direct inspiration distinguished prophecy from teaching." Before the completion of revealed truth in the Scriptures, the prophets were inspired revealers of God’s teaching to the churches. They told the infant churches what they should do, believe, and teach. Their ministry was later superseded by the Bible.

Are there prophets today in a secondary sense? Aren't those who preach the Word with power and authority prophets? Not unless they are speaking under inspiration directly for God.

Are there prophets today who could write something that would have the authority of Scripture? No! John MacArthur says, "There are people who want to eliminate prophecy as still existing today. They have a problem, because if they eliminate prophecy, then what do they say the people are doing who proclaim the Word?" I would say they are teaching or preaching!

Can we prove that prophecy ended in A.D. 70, (and thus all the gifts) and that the Lord Yeshua Ha'Moshiach returned at that time bringing the Church to full maturity and into a face-to-face relationship with Yahweh? I think we can if we take a close look at some verses in the Tanakh. Let's start by looking at Daniel chapter 9. In Daniel 9, the 70 years for the Babylonian captivity was just about over.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Daniel 9:1-2 ESV

In verses 1 and 2, we find that Daniel had calculated the number of years of the Babylonian captivity based upon the prophecy of Jeremiah 29:10. He knew that the time was near, and he went to Yahweh in prayer asking Him to remember His covenant and to restore Israel. The restoration of Israel is at the heart and core of Daniel's prophecy. The angel was sent to speak unto Daniel, and this is what he said:

"Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Daniel 9:24 ESV

Daniel was told that 70 weeks had been determined on his people Israel and city Jerusalem. By the end of this prophetic time period, God promised that six things would be accomplished. One of the things that Daniel was told would happen by the end of that period was that God would "seal both vision and prophet."

If you have done much study using commentaries, you know that there is little that Bible scholars agree on. That gives great force to this phrase because it has almost unanimous agreement of Bible scholars across the board. The Hebrew commentaries are in agreement on the meaning of "seal up vision and prophecy."  They say it means "to give or reveal." It is the process of inspiration. But it's not just that. It also means "to confirm by the fulfilling of the prophecy." Keil and Delitzsch, highly respected Hebrew authorities, state in volume 9, page 344 (Commentary on the Old Testament) that "seal up vision and prophecy" means "Prophecies and prophets are sealed, when by the full realization of all prophecies prophecy ceases, no prophets any more appear." What does "seal up vision and prophecy" mean? Hebrew scholars agree that it means the end and complete fulfillment of all prophecy.

Even John Walvard, who is "Mr. Dispensationalist," says this: "probably 'seal up vision and prophecy' is best understood to mean the termination of unusual direct revelation by means of vision and oral prophecy. To seal means that no more is to be added and that what has been predicted will receive Divine conformation in the form of actual fulfillment."

To "seal up vision and prophet" clearly means "to give prophecy and fulfill it." Daniel's prophecy, then, tells of the time when all prophecy would cease to be given, and what had been given would be fulfilled. When would this be? Daniel's vision ends with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (v26). Let's compare Daniel 9:25-27 with Matthew 24:15 and following where Yeshua said the Abomination of Desolation and His coming would occur in his generation.

Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. Daniel 9:25-26 ESV

Who is, "the prince who is to come" of verse 26? Some say this is the beast. The nearest antecedent for the coming prince in verse 26 would carry us back to the "an anointed one, a Prince" (verse 25), who was cut off (verse 26). Therefore, Christ becomes the One and only "Prince" in the whole context. When all of the facts of biblical and secular history are considered, we find that the "people of the prince" speaks of the Jewish people who were the ones responsible for the destruction of the City Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70.

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."  Daniel 9:27 ESV

In the middle of the 70th week comes the abomination that makes desolate. When this happened, prophecy ceased. We know from the teaching of Yeshua when this happened.

"So, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Matthew 24:15-16 ESV

The "Abomination of Desolation" is referring to the Roman army in the holy place, which is the city of Jerusalem.

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. Matthew 24:21 ESV

"Then" refers to when the Roman armies surrounded and laid siege to Jerusalem in A.D. 67-70. There is no tribulation to equal what happened in A.D. 67-70, prior to it or after it. The great tribulation is over; it happened in A.D. 67-70.

Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Matthew 24:34 ESV

Some have tried to twist the etymology of the word "generation" here to make it mean "race," and try to make Yeshua say that all these things would happen before the "Jewish race" had passed away. The word for race is genos. The word in our text is genea. There is no biblical or linguistic justification for such a position. Generation does NOT mean "race"!

Some claim that "generation" refers to the generation that would see these signs. That generation would not pass away..." That is adding words to the text that are not there. Yeshua uses the near demonstrative "this" generation. Every time "this" is used in the New Testament, it always refers to something that is near in terms of time or distance. If I said, "This building" is going to be remodeled. What building am I talking about? You know that I'm referring to the one close to me. The one we are sitting in. But if I say, "That building," I am referring to one further away and not the one we are in. Yeshua could have said "That generation." But He didn't! Yeshua is saying that everything that He has spoken about would happen before the generation that He was speaking to would pass away. This included the Great Tribulation and His Second Coming.

So, Daniel tells us that his vision ends with the destruction of Jerusalem, which would bring an end to all prophecy. This is exactly what Luke tells us.

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, Luke 21:20-21 ESV

All prophecy was to cease and be fulfilled by the time Jerusalem was destroyed. This happened in A.D. 70. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 that prophecy would end when the perfect came.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 ESV

What is "the perfect?" This is the crucial phrase in the passage. How you interpret verse 8 and verses 11 and 12 is dependent upon how you interpret "the perfect." We need to try to understand this phrase in order to unlock the passage. There are several interpretations attempting to explain the meaning of "the perfect."

1. The Completion of the Bible

It is the completed cannon of Scripture which is perfect. That is a very common interpretation. They tell us that in the first century they did not have the New Testament as we have it. They relied upon the teaching of prophets, evangelists, apostles and others who spoke bits and pieces of the mind of God, but as the complete written account of the mind of God took shape and form in the New Testament, all the need for these gifts would pass away. It is the claim of those who teach this that as the Word of God, as we think of it, came into being in the written New Testament, these gifts began to fade, so that all the gifts of prophesying and of tongues and of knowledge have all long since ceased and we are now shut up to the Word of God.

2. The Rapture of the Church

This is one of the more popular views.

3. The Maturity of the Church

This is just another way of identifying the second coming; at the second coming the church is made mature, perfect.

4. The Second Coming

5. The New Heavens and New Earth of Revelation 21 and 22; the New Jerusalem

Now which is it? Is it the completion of the cannon, or the rapture, or the maturing of the church, or the Second Coming, or the New Heavens and New Earth? The answer is—yes!

"The perfect" refers to the maturity of the body at the resurrection which happened at the Second Coming of Christ in A.D. 70. It was the bringing in of the New Heavens and New Earth. This closed the cannon of Scripture.

The word "perfect" is the Greek word teleion. The literature of the New Testament usually equates the Greek word teleion with maturity. In its eight occurrences in Paul's Epistles, six are translated "mature." The phrase "the perfect" is often used in the Greek language to speak of purpose or a goal. In this context, it is the goal of Yahweh for the Church. What was Yahweh's goal for the Church? It is that it be conformed into the image of Yeshua.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29 ESV

This took place in A.D. 70 when the Lord returned and brought in the New Heaven and Earth where we see Him face to face. So, the coming again of our Lord for His people brought them to full maturity and closed the cannon of Scripture.

If that is true, then what Paul tells us in verses 9 and 10 is this: the reason that spiritual gifts are transitory is that when we came into a face-to-face relationship with Christ, we entered into a perfect maturity and there is no longer any need for spiritual gifts. Gifts were for the purpose of maturing the body, and when the body is completely matured, we will no longer need spiritual gifts.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV

According to this passage the gifts were to be used to bring the church from a state of infancy to adulthood. The word translated "mature" in verse 13 is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 13:10, teleion. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the body. Once the body is mature, we no longer need spiritual gifts. If Paul's argument and point of view are to be properly appreciated, the eschatological emphasis of 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 must not be overlooked./p>

          Paul used the word "until" in verse 13 It is the Greek word mechri (meck-re) which means "up to a certain point" (preposition of extent ([denoting the terminus]). It denotes termination. Daniel taught that prophecy would cease. Paul taught the same thing in 1 Corinthians 13 and Ephesians 4.

If "seal up vision and prophecy" means "to give and fulfill all prophecy" and if all prophecy is not yet fulfilled, then all prophecy has not yet been given. That would mean that there is still prophecy being given and that the Bible is not complete. If that is the case, then the Charismatics are right—God is still speaking through the gift of prophecy. Can you live with that?

The charismatic gifts of the Spirit were to continue throughout the last days according to Acts 2.

But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. Acts 2:16-20 ESV

The last days began at Pentecost and ended in A.D. 70. The charismata were to continue until the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. If the Lord has not yet come and the Last Days are still in progress, then the charismata still have to be around. All the revelatory gifts of the Spirit would still be around and the cannon of inspired Scripture would not be complete. But if the cannon of Scripture was completed in the first century, then the gift of prophecy ceased as well. To further emphasize this point, look with me at 1 Corinthians 1.

that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Yeshua the Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Yeshua the Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:5-8 ESV

Are the "revealing," "the end," and "day of the Lord" still future? If so, then all the gifts of the Spirit must still be available today because it says that we would not come short of any of them while waiting for the Lord to return. Keeping in mind the principle of audience relevance, we must conclude that Paul was speaking to the Corinthians in the first century. THEY were eagerly waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord Yeshua. When the Lord returned in A.D. 70, the Last Days ended and so did the gifts.

Believing that SOME of the gifts have ceased is indefensible if Christ has not yet returned. This dilemma and inconsistency are removed by understanding that the last days ended in A.D. 70 and that the destruction of Jerusalem was God's "Revelation of Yeshua as the Christ!" Preterists are not consistent unless they believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased. And Futurists are not consistent unless they believe that all of the gifts are still available. You cannot say that the perfect has not yet come, but that the gift of prophecy has ceased. That is INCONSISTENT!

Let's look at some other Scriptures that show us when prophecy was to cease.

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. Isaiah 51:1-3 ESV

Isaiah is calling Israel to remember the Abrahamic Promise which involved the redemption of Israel, true spiritual Israel. Who is Zion? It is the heavenly Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the true Israel of God.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, Hebrews 12:22 ESV
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."  Isaiah 52:7 ESV

We know this is a Messianic prophecy because Paul quotes it in Romans 10:15. Now pay close attention to the next verse.

The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Isaiah 52:8 ESV

Isaiah said that Israel would be in a face-to-face position when God, in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Promise, redeemed Israel. Israel was to see eye to eye when the Lord restored her. When was the Lord going to restore Israel? At the consummation of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 which was the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Now, Paul says that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease when Israel would see face to face.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:11-12 ESV

Therefore, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased at the consummation of the 70 weeks. We cannot divorce Israel's promise of seeing eye to eye from 1 Corinthians 13, and therefore, we must acknowledge that the first-century miraculous gifts have ceased.

Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples. Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. Isaiah 62:10-12 ESV

This is the same theme of Isaiah 52:8. "They shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion." Now look at verse 11.

Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him."  Isaiah 62:11 ESV

"Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him," Now let's go to Matthew 16.

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Matthew 16:27-28 ESV

Whose salvation was Yeshua to be? He was to be Israel's salvation. Is He the promised redeemer of Isaiah 62:11? I don't think anyone would argue that. In Matthew 16:27, Yeshua is quoting from Isaiah 62:11. Now, Isaiah 52:8 and 62:11 both speak of the same time and event—the redemption of Israel at the coming of the Lord. Yeshua, quoting Isaiah 62:11, said that His coming for the salvation of Israel would be when Israel would see face to face. It would be in the lifetime of his first-century disciples. When Israel saw face to face, the miraculous would cease. This was to happen in the lifetime of the first- century disciples in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed.

What have we seen? Paul said that prophecy would cease when the perfect came. Daniel said prophecy is to end at the destruction of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. Therefore, the "Perfect" of verse 10 has come! The "Perfect" referred to the Second Coming of Christ that took place in A.D. 70, which brought in the New Heaven and Earth where we see Him face to face. So, the coming again of our Lord for His people brought them to full maturity and closed the cannon of Scripture. This means that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit have come to an end. The gifts were for the period of the "last days."  When the last days ended, so did the gifts.

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