“Preterism” isn’t about an “end times position.” It is a matter of basic Biblical theology. It is about how and why Jesus could issue the Great Commission to people who were, at the time, what we now call “Judaizers” and read about in Galatians. It is about why the Bible would say that twelve people who didn’t believe Jesus would or should be crucified were authorized to preach “the Gospel of the Kingdom (Luke 9:6). It is about how Jesus could exhort people to “believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) without teaching them anything about his necessary death and the resurrection that would follow (and knowing they would all react negatively to the idea just like Peter did later). Yet people were commended for believing that Gospel and condemned for refusing it.
Preterism is about growing up and not reading the Bible like a child. It is about maturing past the idiot notion that Jesus was a systematic theologian longing for the day when he could make us smart enough to articulate atonement theology, or justification by faith alone, or double predestination.
Preterism contradicts the error of a kind of soft dispensationalism that is rampant in Protestantism. While hard dispensationlism wrongly wants to make room for ongoing loyalty to Moses, the soft dispensationalism I have in mind wrongly wants to think that loyalty to Moses and loyalty to Jesus are different kinds of thing: that Jesus does not stand in thorough and proper continuity with Moses (contra Hebrews 3, etc.) as the one and only successor to Moses.
A good way to think about this is to realize that the gospels are recapitulating David’s time in the wilderness, and the rest of the New Testament is recapitulating the first few years of David’s reign. Believe it or not, people and their babies were truly saved before the coming of Jesus (e.g., Luke 1). During his time here, the anointed king Jesus secretly gathered people to himself much like David did. Just like David, Jesus endured suffering so that he and his people might be vindicated. Upon his resurrection and enthronement, a forty-year countdown started for all of his people to transfer their loyalty to him and to receive the blessings of his vindication. His people were already truly saved, but God presented a new loyalty test in order for them to continue in their salvation. It is now your loyalty to Jesus that saves you and gives you life.
Loyalty to Saul, though at one time a good thing, had an expiration date; after a certain point, your exclusive love for Saul or Ish-Bosheth would condemn you rather than save you, and even Saul’s own offspring had to find their salvation in David. Likewise, loyalty to Moses, though at one time a good thing, had an absolute expiration date (Romans 7, Hebrews 10); exclusive loyalty to Moses now in fact condemns you rather than saves you. But, equally, it is important to see that loyalty to Jesus is in complete continuity with the former loyalty to Moses. If your Moses is not in harmony with Jesus, then you have the wrong Moses (John 5)! This is one reason why we must baptize our babies, and why, with David (2 Samuel 12), we have full confidence that they belong to Jesus.
And he received the sign of circumcision, . . . that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, . . . and the father of circumcision to those . . . who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. . . . Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (Romans 4:11-16)
Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)
What is promised to sons of Abraham?
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Gen. 17:7-8)
Paul teaches us that, in Jesus, this promise is modulated from Canaan to the entire world. But it is clear that the promise still holds for sons of Abraham. If you are of faith, then you are a son of Abraham, and God has promised that he will be a God to your descendants.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do.”
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Draw out now, and take to the master of the feast.” And they took. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the [guests] have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2)
One thing worth highlighting here is that the arrival of Jesus marks the arrival of good wine. If you are serving grape juice rather than wine in communion, then you are play acting that we are still living under the old covenants.
But a second thing worth noting is that it is purifying water that is turned into wine; the one necessarily gives way to the other. If you are baptizing your children, then well and good. But if you are not serving them the Lord’s supper, then you are play acting that we are still living under the old covenants.
And he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; how is he then his son?” (Luke 20:41-44)
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. (Hebrews 7:1-10)
God inaugurates his covenant administrations with exceptional works of the Holy Spirit, normally accompanied by heavenly fire. Examples include:
Genesis 3:24, the flaming sword of the cherubim
Genesis 15:17, the smoking oven and burning torch that appear to Abram
Exodus 3:2, God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush
Leviticus 9:24, fire from God lights Moses’ altar
2 Chronicles 7:1-3, fire from God lights Solomon’s altar
1 Kings 18:38, fire from God lights Elijah’s altar
Zechariah 3:2, Joshua the high priest is described as a brand plucked from the fire by God
Acts 2:3, fire appears on the church at Pentecost
Genesis 2 is an interesting case. God breathes into Adam the breath of life, commissions him, and fashions a bride for him. At this point Adam is called by a new name—ish, or man. It is commonly pointed out that this word is a likely pun for esh, or fire.
The pattern we see above validates this connection. God’s inaugurating his covenant with man as steward of creation is a life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, which involves heavenly fire that lights a new fire that man must preserve.
Twice in the last few months I have checked myself when quoting Psalm 8:
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of your enemies, That you may silence the enemy and the avenger.
The word “avenger” feels out of place. Why would it be necessary for infants to silence the kinsman redeemer-avenger? As it turns out, the word for avenger here is a more general term, possibly even conveying the idea of self-vengeance.
Jesus quotes Psalm 8 in Matthew 21:
But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”
And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise’? ”
Jesus leaves off the latter part of the verse, but we cannot avoid hearing its echo. Jesus is accusing the chief priests and scribes of having become God’s enemies, of seeking to avenge themselves against him and his people.
Likewise those who bar little ones from Jesus’s table. Many of them do so heedlessly rather than high-handedly. But there is still a rightful sting and shame they ought to feel as these little ones otherwise participate fully in Jesus’s worship.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” (John 3)
Let’s see how Nicodemus ought to have derived this from Genesis. We know that God intended to give every gift to mankind, but he held one gift in temporary reserve until they matured:
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. . . .”
And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 1-2)
The serpent accused God of withholding a good gift, reserving it for himself:
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3)
Let God be true but every man a liar. In order to receive God’s good gifts, there is now no other possible pathway except for mankind to pass through the the death that God prescribed.
One man passed through this death and was reborn from the grave: “even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3) This is the birth that Jesus tells “you” (Nicodemus, singular) that “you” (mankind, plural) can now participate in by means of union with him. We are reborn by believing in him (John 3:16)—that is, by entrusting ourselves to him, allying ourselves to him.
On the face of it, it is easy to recognize that the purpose of the gift of tongues was to bring God’s kingdom, in the words of Revelation, to every nation, tribe, tongue and people. You can see this in Acts 2 mentioning “every nation under heaven” and in the fact that Pentecost is a mirror image of Babel. Instead of reversing Babel, Jesus subverts it, or in the words of Michael Heiser, “infiltrates” it; without destroying nations as such, he orchestrates to bring every nation and language under his rule.
There are a few less obvious ways in which Scripture highlights this. Michael Heiser points out that God is not simply bringing the gospel into every language, but also transferring every nation from the elementary principles and powers back to Jesus. In doing so, Luke presents a litany of nations that mirrors the exhaustive list of seventy nations of Genesis 10. Of course, it is “every nation,” but it is also structured from east to west just as it is in Genesis 10. And while Heiser does not call attention to this, Luke’s list covers a total of seventeen nations and people groups. This is significant because seventeen (10+7) is often a Biblical analog for seventy (10*7). The number seventeen is significant in the structure of the Psalms, and is the backdrop for the 153 fish of John 21, since 153 is the triangle of 17. This is another way of indicating that the purpose of the gift of tongues was to thoroughly distribute the wonderful works of God to every human language and nation.
Heiser also suggests that the word for “divided” in verse 3 is a significant allusion to this fact, since it can also be taken to mean “distributed.” The gifts of the kingdom are distributed to every language.
There is a sense in which God’s covenant with David, and David’s kingship, are exemplary of the new covenant and of Jesus’s kingship in ways that exceed later covenants. Peter Leithart works to demonstrate some of the ways in which this is true in his outstanding book From Silence to Song.
I especially like to highlight a few aspects of this. The so-called “Messianic Secret” is a fruitful parallel between the ministry of Jesus and the life of David. Related to this, the seven-year period in which Israel was gathered from Ish-bosheth to David is a significant parallel to the forty-year period in which old Israel was called to change her allegiance to Jesus. I especially like to reflect on the water crossings during the time Absalom drove David into the wilderness. Everyone who crossed the Kidron with David into the wilderness—including Ittai and his little ones (2 Sam. 15)—was baptized into David and enjoyed a union with David and all of the blessings of his kingship, victory, and vindication. In fact, on David’s return, it was necessary for the leaders to welcome David back by entering into his exile and crossing over the Jordan to bring him back (2 Sam. 19). These are clear analogs to our baptism into Jesus as well as our children’s baptism.
Mephibosheth was unable to join in this ministry to David. Instead, he allowed his hair to grow long (2 Sam. 19). Mephibosheth was thus to David what the Nazirite is to God. Earlier Nazirites had conducted a ministry of holy warfare; Mephibosheth’s ministry was instead a ministry of spiritual warfare, of prayer and fasting. This is instructive for Christians today. Today, all Christians are baptized; we are all priests (as well as being sons and prophets). There is therefore no more Nazirite, no need for a temporary priest or holy warrior. But the ministry of prayer—especially prayer in corporate worship—is how we fulfill the offices of priest and Nazirite today.
The fire that sat upon the heads of Christians in Acts 2 is equally instructive. This is not just the making of every Christian into a sacrifice and offering; it is also the making of every Christian’s head into a sacrifice and offering, just like the Nazritie. In terms of Pentecost, the work of speech, prayer, and worship is once again a significant characteristic of our service to God and his house.
I gotta have my orange juice. 
Govern
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As a precondition to discipling the nations, the church will disciple the revolutionary spirit.
She will gain the means to do so by learning to govern her own revolutionary spirit.
Relevant to this:
Written by Scott Moonen
June 25, 2025 at 7:06 am
Posted in Biblical Theology, Christ is Lord, Commentary, History