Correspondence: JOE 2:14; 1TI 1:15; MAT 24:34 & LUK 21:32, 19:12-27; PHI 3:18-19

Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:32; LUK 19-12-27; Joel 2:14  •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 10
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Answer: God, and the blessing He leaves is to be rendered back to Himself as an offering. The desolate wilderness of verse 3 left neither corn nor wine for meat and drink offerings, but on their repentance, God would not so utterly destroy the land, but leave sufficient for them to enjoy, and offer to God.
Answer: The word is not “arkos,” a chief or ruler, but “protos,” the first or foremost, a word used constantly, and always rendered “first.” The meaning surely is “foremost as a sinner” that is in guilt. And was it not so? When Christ had just established the infant church on the Rock, the man who undertook to wipe it off the face of the earth, to destroy “the body,” now they had slain “the Head,” was Saul of Tarsus. And yet this was the man who in the wonderful ways of God is the only one to whom is committed the mystery of the church, and who alone fully unfolds the real character of that against which he had sinned so deeply.
Answer: “Generation” is not literal, for nearly all who heard the Lord’s words would be dead even before the taking of Jerusalem, and even this event only partially fulfills the prophecy. The word is used characteristically, meaning that the same self-will and rejection of Christ should still characterize His people until all these things were fulfilled, that is right up to Christ’s return to Mount Olivet.
Question: Please explain the giving of the pounds in Luke 19:12-2712He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 24And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. (Luke 19:12‑27).
Answer: This describes our Lord’s present absence from this world, and the faithful or unfaithful conduct of His servants in this world, to each of which He has entrusted some gift to be used for His glory. It also describes the future rewards for faithful service. The Lord said, “Occupy till I come.”
Answer: Verse 19 appears to say more than could be said even of worldly Christians, for their end is not destruction, however much God may chastise them by the way. These would appear to be only professors.