Adventism in the Old Testament (Isaiah)

by koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungbook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

12 December 2009

Think of Adventism and you think of the Great Advent Awakening in 1843-1844. One of the strong beliefs of Adventism is the belief in the coming of Jesus. The return or Second Advent as it is known. What is worthy to consider, is the concept of the Coming of God in the Old Testament or the Advent of God in the Old Testament.

Scholars were trying to seek the origin of eschatology in the Old Testament by suggesting that it originated with Zoroastrianism (M. Rist), or prophecy (O. Plöger), wisdom literature (G. von Rad), covenant (C. Fensham), temple (R. G. Hammerton-Kelly), from Mari (J. M. Sasson), from the holy war concept (G. von Rad), throne succesion festival (Mowinckel), cult (H. Gressmann), multi-dimensional (C. van Leeuwen) which means: theophany, covenant, war, cult, remnant (Hasel), and election. It is to be sought not with humans on a horizontal level but the source of eschatology is from God to man in the act of revelation and revealing or unfolding His agendas and plans with history.

Seventh Day Adventists cannot operate with historical criticism but can with historical analysis. They cannot operate with literary criticism but they can with literary analysis. They cannot operate with redactional criticism but they can with redactional analysis. They cannot operate with source criticism but they can operate with source analysis. They cannot operate with textual criticicism but they can operate with textual analysis utilizing the Hebrew consonantal as the very Word of God.

I visited George Fohrer twice in my life at 6 Habbad Gush in the Old City of Jerusalem, the first time on the 1st of August 1989. In 1977 Fohrer said that the Creation expectations and Future expectations are placed side by side in Old Testament prophecy. This is for him the structure of Old Testament eschatology (G. Fohrer, "Die Struktur des alttestamentlichen Eschatologie" in H. D. Preuss Eschatologie imAlten Testament [Darmstadt: 1978], 171-178).

By analysing Isaiah, I came to the conclusion that I cannot accept the theories of the Rationalists like Eichorn in 1783 and Döderlein in 1789 that Isaiah 40-66 was written by another writer other than Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah. Also can I not accept the view of Bernard Duhm in 1892 who would like to see a third different writer in chapters 56-66 or Trito-Isaiah. The reason these parts are different is because Isaiah wrote it in three periods of his life. The young, the middle age and the old Isaiah.

Seventh Day Adventist eschatology is a broad concept with a number of theologies connected with it. We will mention a view:

a. theology of the Advent of God

b. theology of the Delay of the Advent

c. theology of the Waiting for the Advent

d. theology of the Tiredness waiting too long for the Advent

e. theology of the Empowerment or Early Rain and Latter Rain of the Spirit

The theology of the Advent of God is our focus in this writing. The New Testament make us to understand that the Advent of Christ or Second Advent will be:

a. sudden

b. unexpected

c. with brightness

d. with fire for His enemies

e. as a coming down action

f. mountains will quake

g. nations will be perplexed.

The interesting thing today is that I have found a song or poem in Isaiah that just present all these concepts in a few lines.

The pericope of Isaiah that deals with the Advent of God is (in the Hebrew) Isaiah 63:19c-64:2 and (in the English) Isaiah 64:1-2. 

Isaiah 64:1-2 (van wyk translation)

1. "Oh, that You tear the heavens,

2. You come down

3. From Your presence the mountains quake.

4. As fire kindles brushwood

5. fire boiling water

6. to make known your name to your adversaries.

7. From Your presence the nations quake

8. in Your doing bright things.

9. We did not expect Your coming down.

10. From Your presence mountains quake.

From this passage we learn the following:

1. The same word for bright things (line 8) is used in Maleachi 3:22 (Hebrew) and Maleachi 4:5 (English) for the Day of the Lord Motif. 

2. Heavens tear or rip open for the Lord to come.

3. God comes down (yarad) (see line 2 and 9).

4. God comes in brightness (see line 8).

5. Mountains quake (see lines 3, 7 and 10) and we are reminded of the same not only in other biblical passages of the Old Testament associated with the Lord's Day but also in the New Testament when the evil will say, 'mountains fall on us'.

6. It will be like fire (line 4).

7. Fire will it be for the adversaries of the Lord (note it is not yet the hell which will come after the millennium which follows the Second Advent, see Revelation 20-22). Here it only says "as fire".

8. God comes unexpectedly (see line 9). Says 1 Thessalonians 5:2 that the Lord will come as a thief [kleptes] in the night [unexpectedly].

9. Nations will tremble (see line 7).

Summary

The Advent of God was a reality to the people of the Old Testament and this motif is not new to Isaiah and neither is it new in the New Testament. Isaiah is just detailing what was already known to Moses and also to predecessors like Abraham since the book of Hebrews says that Abraham was expecting a city which he never got in his life, meaning the New Jerusalem in Heaven in the eschatological future.

Dear God

If the Advent of God is so clear in the Old Testament then it is not an invention in the New. Help me not to be a quietist but an alarmist based on facts in history and facts in Your Word.

Amen