The great commission bids us go into all the world with Gospel;
and we have pointed out the evident connection with Mt. 24:14: "
This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for
a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" .
This definitely suggests that the great commission will be mightily
obeyed in the last days. There are may other Biblical implications
that there will be an unprecedented spread of the Gospel to the
whole planet in the last days:
- Dan. 12:4 speaks of a time in the very last days when “many
shall run to and fro (an idiom often used concerning response
to God's word: Ps. 119:32,60; 147:15; Amos 8:11,12; Hab. 2:2;
Jn. 8:37 RV; 2 Thess. 3:1 Gk.), and knowledge shall be increased
[the context is of Daniel wanting to understand about the second
coming of Jesus]...many shall be purified, and made white, and
tried (in the tribulation); but the wicked shall do wickedly:
and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand"
. This increase of knowledge of the Gospel is to be spread world-wide
by many running to and fro in the last days. The great commission
will be fulfilled then as never before.
- The parable of the marriage feast highlights the tragedy
of Jewish rejection of what could have been theirs. There will
be an ever-increasingly vigorous preaching campaign by the "
servants" , seeing that " they which were bidden were
not worthy" (Matt. 22:8) - the Greek implying not enough
numerically. As a result of this preaching, "
the wedding was furnished ('filled' - numerically) with guests"
(Matt. 22:10). This indicates that in some ways, God
does work to a number. Once the required number of converts is
made, then the supper can begin. Their appeal being to "
the poor...maimed...halt and...blind" suggests that the marginal
and desperate within society will be those who respond- and this
is happening right now in the triumphant progress of preaching
in our day. The servants are sent " into the highways"
(Matt. 22:9), the Greek meaning 'a market square'.
This must be designed to recall the parable of the labourers standing
idle in the market place at the 11th. hour (Matt. 20:6,7).
The very short probation of those 11th.-hour workers will match
that of the latter-day converts. And again, it was the old and
weak who nobody wanted to hire.
- In the parable of the great supper, which is similar but not
necessarily the same as that of the marriage feast, the same point
is made. The servants going forth " at supper time"
(Luke 14:17) fits more naturally into the context of a preaching
appeal just prior to the second coming than to the first century.
The " supper" , i.e. the Kingdom (Luke 14:15; Matt.
22:2), is prepared, and at " supper time" - 'Kingdom
time' - the appeal is made. " All things are
now ready" (Luke 14:17) explains the unmistakeable sense
of urgency in the commissions given to the servants to preach.
This again indicates reference to an eleventh hour preaching campaign
just prior to the second coming. The 'decorum of the
symbol' suggests that the animals being killed for the meal would
necessitate a brief period of invitation immediately prior to
the feast, rather than them being on the table for 2,000 years.
- A careful reading of Mt. 10:16-39 reveals many links with the
Olivet prophecies concerning the latter day persecution of the
saints; verses 17-21 are effectively quoted in Lk. 21:12-18. However,
Mt. 10:16 prefaces all this by saying that these tribulations
will attend those who go out preaching the Gospel in that latter
day period. At this time, when many " shall be offended"
(spiritually stumble) and " the love of many shall
wax cold" for the truth (Mt. 24:10,11), the " Gospel
of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Mt. 24:14)-
i.e. the full establishment of the Kingdom. At that time, "
What ye hear in the ear (in quiet halls at the moment), that preach
ye (then) upon the housetops" (Mt. 10:27). This seems to
be giving special encouragement to persevere in preaching during
the last days. There is a connection here with Mt. 24:17,
which advises those upon the housetops to go with Christ at the
time of his coming. This implies that at the moment of Christ's
coming there will be zealous " upon the housetops" preaching
by the faithful. This latter day witness will be accompanied by
some measure of persecution. " Ye
shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake" connects
with " this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached for a
witness unto all nations" (Mt. 24:39,14). " My name's
sake" and the Gospel of the Kingdom's sake are interchangeable
expressions (Mt. 19:12,29; Mk. 10:29; Lk. 18:29).
- Before every 'coming' of the Lord there has been a period of
persecution and zealous preaching: Noah preached righteousness
before the flood, as Lot probably tried to before the Lord's coming
down in judgment on Sodom (would God have wrought such wholesale
destruction without giving the people a chance to repent? Cp.
Nineveh and Jonah). The schools of the prophets preached from
the street corners and temple steps to warn of the coming of the
day of the Lord at the hand of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
And of course the dramatic coming of the Lord in judgment upon
Israel in AD70, was heralded by Paul and his committed band of
zealots staging the greatest preaching campaigns this world has
seen.
- We have suggested elsewhere that the great commission is repeated
in John’s Gospel but in more spiritual language. The whole world
is to know the Gospel because of the unity of the believers (Jn.
17:18,21,23); and it follows that a situation will arise in which
the extraordinary nature of true Christian solidarity over linguistic,
ethnic, social and geographical lines will make a similar arresting,
compelling witness as it did in the first century. The Lord had
prophesied that His followers over time “shall become one flock”
(Jn. 10:16 RV); they would be “perfected into one, that the world
may know” (Jn. 17:23 RV). He surely hoped this would have become
true in the first century. As the Gospel spreads world-wide in
the last days, the unity of the believers will become all the
more comprehensive, and this will of itself provoke yet more conversions.
It could have been like this in the first century- for Eph. 3:9
speaks of how the unity of Jew and Gentile would “make all men
see” the Gospel. This is the urgency of Paul’s appeal for unity
in Ephesians- he knew that their unity was the intended witness
to the world which the Lord had spoken of as the means of the
fulfilment of the great commission in Jn. 17:21-23. But sadly,
Jew and Gentile went their separate ways in the early church,
and the possibility of world-converting witness evaporated.
- Dan. 11:32,33 speaks of how in the time of the end " The
people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits...instruct
many .
- The dragon/ beast made war with the seed of the woman "
which keep the commandments (word) of God, and have the testimony
(i.e. preaching) of Jesus" (12:17); it was because of "
the word of their testimony (i.e. preaching) (that) they loved
not their lives unto the death" (12:11), and then Rev.12
goes on to describe how this final witness amidst tribulation
is resolved by the coming of Jesus and the establishment of the
Kingdom.
There are some definite links between the Greek text of Matthew’s
record of the commission, and the LXX of the end of Daniel 12:
