7. More on Closing the Canon in AD 70

The importance of interpreting the New Testament in light of the Old (Acts 17:11)

I will once again remind the reader that the New Testament should be read in light of the Old Testament prophecies and vice versa. The Bible is a seamless whole, and the New Testament adds to the Old Testament; it does not replace it. Otherwise, the church would have been without a canon for decades. As I proved in chapter 4, the Bible of the early church (before the New Testament was written) was the Old Testament, and the apostles constantly proved their doctrines from its pages (Acts 17:2,11; 18:28; etc.).¹⁶⁵ The New Testament cannot be fully understood apart from the Old Testament and vice versa. The Old Testament prophets excluded inspired books that were not intended for the New Testament audience¹⁶⁶ and were instructed that they were writing a canon “not to themselves, but to us” (1 Pet. 1:12) in New Covenant times. Of the Old Testament, Paul said, “all these things…were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11). This means that we are not “New Testament Christians” who can ignore the Old Testament.

When the apostles speak of the appearance of prophets and prophecy in New Covenant times, they were not saying anything that the Old Testament had not already predicted. When Paul affirmed that ongoing prophecies at Corinth would come to an end (καταργέω¹⁶⁷ - 1 Cor. 13:8) he was simply affirming something that the Old Testament had affirmed over and over again - the appearance and then permanent ending of prophecy (see previous chapters). When the apostle John said that two things were about to happen in AD 70, namely, 1) the seventh angel was “about to (μέλλῃ) sound” and 2) prophetic mystery was about to be brought to an end (τελέω - Rev. 10:7), he adds that this was not a new revelation, but something that had been anticipated and “declared to His servants the prophets” (v. 7). Where did the prophets (plural) anticipate an ending of prophetic mystery in AD 70? The answer is, In the Old Testament passages that we looked at in the previous chapter, and in the New Testament passages that will be listed below.

When the apostles indicate that these prophets would only exist in the “last days” of the Old Covenant (ending in AD 70) they were not saying anything that the Old Testament had not already clearly predicted. The point is that everything in this chapter should be seen in light of the previous chapters. Just as the New Testament builds on the Old Testament, this chapter needs to be read in light of the previous chapters.

And this was the way the apostles expected all Christians to interpret their writings. The Bible of the early church (before the New Testament was written) was the Old Testament, and the apostles constantly proved their doctrines from its pages (Acts 17:2,11; 18:28; etc.). Everything Paul taught could be proved from the Old Testament (Acts 17:2,11; 18:28; etc.) and he taught “no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come” (Acts 26:22). So when passages like 1 Corinthians 13:8 are interpreted in a way that would be totally foreign to Old Testament theology, we are violating the oft-stated interpretive principle that “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.”¹⁶⁸

So as the reader thinks through the New Testament passages dealing with the cessation of prophecy listed below, those passages should not be interpreted in a way that is inconsistent with the Old Testament prophecies. If your alternative interpretation cannot be proved from the Old Testament, it is likely false. To receive Paul’s praise of the Bereans, you too should search the Old Testament Scriptures to verify whether any given interpretation of each New Testament passage is true (Acts 17:11).

New Testament passages that say the same thing as Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and Joel

Acts 2:17-21

Acts 2 gives an inspired interpretation of the Joel prophecy, but it does so in a much broader prophetic context. Just as God promised to establish a new Israel and a new temple in Babylon from the remnant of exiles (see Ezekiel 10),¹⁶⁹ God promised a much later time when He would pour forth the Spirit and establish a new Israel and a new temple during New Covenant times. Luke crafts the books of Luke and Acts in such a way that it shows that the Spirit was indeed poured forth to establish a new Israel from the remnant of the Old Israel. God formed a new “nation” (see Matt 21:43) and bestowed on it the kingdom (Luke 22:29). He established twelve apostles “to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). As to apostles, it was symbolically essential that Matthias replace Judas as one of those princes (Acts 1:15-26).¹⁷⁰ As to twelve tribes it is important to remember that the early church was exclusively Jewish in makeup and was composed of Jews from all twelve tribes.¹⁷¹ It very literally was the remnant of Israel into which the Gentiles would be grafted (Rom. 12:17-24). In addition to the twelve princes and twelve tribes, there was also a new eldership of seventy on whom the Spirit would rest in prophetic revelation (see Luke 10:1-24) that corresponds to the seventy Spirit-anointed elders who prophesied at the first formation of Israel (Numb 11:25). The twelve plus the seventy is the core of the 120 in the upper room. But since a synagogue had to have a minimum of ten males, and God was symbolically establishing leadership among twelve tribes, God had 120 male “names” (Acts 1:15) ready to establish the new Israel, the minimum number to establish a new community. And this whole group of 120 was charismatically endowed. These additional prophets would provide guidance to churches all over the empire on the issue of the “mystery” of Gentiles being allowed into Israel without circumcision (see discussion of Ephesians 2-3 below).

Why did Jesus go out of His way to rename Simon as Peter (Peter means Rock) in Matthew 16:17-19? Was it because Peter was so strong? No. He was weak and as “Simon” had betrayed Christ (Luke 22:31-34). Several Reformed writers have pointed out that what made Simon a “Peter” (a rock) was the foundational revelation that had been given to him in the previous verses (Matt. 16:13-17). However, it is important to note that it was not only Peter who would be a foundation rock for the church. God established “twelve foundations” (Revelation 21:14) and added prophets to this foundation so that it became the “foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone” (Eph. 2:19-21). In Acts 1-2 God is laying a revelational foundation for the church by establishing a body of apostles, charismatically endowed elders, and prophets. Once that foundation was laid, no more foundational revelation would be needed.

There are three Cessationist facts relative to this foundation. First, if Paul is considered to be an apostle appointed “out of due time” (1Cor. 15:8-9), and was eschatologically the “last” of the apostles,¹⁷² then it argues that Acts 1-2 truly was foundational, and by implication within the “due time” that the foundation was laid. Second, this is reinforced when Peter interprets this charismatic endowment as taking place in the last days of the Old Covenant (“And it shall come to pass in the last days … prophesy … see visions … dream dreams … in those days; and they shall prophesy;” Acts 2:17-18). The last days is not a period of time at the end of history, but is the last days of the Old Covenant, of the temple, the priesthood, the ceremonial law, the holy land, etc. The last days are the days leading up to 70 AD, when Israel would be scattered in judgment among the nations.¹⁷³ Third, this is reinforced by the fact that this charismatic endowment is followed by a description of the last days of Israel as a nation (vv. 19-20) and salvation to all, both Jew and Gentile (v. 21). The implication is that the charismatic endowments would not necessarily go beyond the last days. Like the Old Testament passages predicted, the extraordinary gifts would be only for the last days of the Old Covenant to ease the transition.

Ephesians 2-3

Ephesians 2:19-21 is a very important text on the doctrine of Cessationism, and even Continuationist, Wayne Grudem, agrees that it is teaching some kind of Cessationism. Paul says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Paul is saying that the foundation of the church was being laid in the first century, and that this revelational foundation is made up of three parts: 1) Jesus Christ, who is the chief cornerstone of the foundation, 2) the apostles, who are part of the foundation and 3) the prophets, who are also part of the foundation. Even Wayne Grudem sees the significance of this passage as indicating that the apostles have indeed passed away. Just as you can’t have multiple cornerstones and multiple Christ’s in every century, you can’t have multiple foundations in every century. This is why Paul said that he was the “last”¹⁷⁴ of the Apostles (1Cor. 15:7-8) and an apostle “born out of due time” (Gal. 1:16-18). The very nature of apostleship necessitated an ending of that office. Since the apostles were the direct representatives of Christ on earth (Luke 10:16; Jn. 13:20) and since they were the only human foundation for the church (Eph. 2:20; Matt. 16:18-19), and since the foundation can never be laid again (1Cor. 3:11), it follows that there cannot be apostolic succession.¹⁷⁵ However, if apostles have ceased, then so have the prophets who are just as foundational. If chief cornerstones cannot be multiplied over 2000 years, then neither can the prophets grouped with that foundational cornerstone. It is clear that whatever this passage is talking about was clearly intended only for the first century.

Wayne Grudem seeks to avoid the force of this passage with respect to prophets by wrongly applying the Granville Sharpe rule to the phrase, “the apostles and prophets,” in Ephesians 2:20. Thus, he interprets it to mean that “the apostles who are also prophets” have ceased in the first century, but not all prophets have ceased. His thesis is that only apostolic prophets have passed away. We will deal with this interpretation in the next chapter. Here it is sufficient to note three things: First, the phrase, “apostles and prophets” speaks of something intended to only continue for the first century. Second, though the term “prophets” may include Old Testament prophets in its purview, it is clear that Paul especially had New Testament prophets in mind. This can be seen by his repetition of the phrase “apostles and prophets” in chapter 3:4-5, where Paul says that the “mystery… which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men,” “has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets.” The word “now” indicates that Paul was including New Testament prophets in the phrase. Third, the whole section of 2:19-3:21 makes it clear that this was a revelational foundation to equip the church (see especially 3:3-6,9,10). All that was needed for the church to be built in succeeding generations was completely laid in the first century.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

1 Corinthians 13:8 says, “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. 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. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (ESV).

This is a notoriously difficult passage to interpret, with numerous nuances of interpretation.¹⁷⁶ It is not the goal of this study to settle on one of those interpretations. Instead, we would note several objections that can be made to any Continuationist interpretation. First, the passage is clear that prophecy will cease sometime. While Non-Cessationists argue that the cessation occurs at the Second Coming, the fact that cessation is even mentioned is significant.

Second, the very mention of cessation should engage us in the hermeneutical principle of the analogy of Scripture. In light of Paul’s claim that he had been “saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come” (Acts 26:22), and in light of Paul’s praise for the Bereans for checking everything he taught against the Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 17:11), and in light of how much the rest of the Bible speaks about cessation of prophecy, it is wise to interpret this unclear passage in light of the Old Testament passages that we have already examined. Any interpretive options that bring this passage into conflict with first century Cessationism flies in the face of clearly established Old Testament doctrine.

Third, while both Cessationists and Non-Cessationists¹⁷⁷ have often taken the “perfect” in verse 10 as the terminus point for the Cessationism of verse 8, it is by no means a necessary conclusion. Verse 10 can just as easily be taken as the terminus point of the partial nature of all prophetic revelation (verse 9), including the Scripture. Thus, it really does not matter what interpretation of “perfect” one takes in verse 10; one can still argue Cessationism and keep this passage consistent with the rest of the Scriptures we have looked at.¹⁷⁸

Fourth, note the following problems with the Continuationist position that the three gifts of verse 8 cease at the Second Coming. Verse 8 says, “if there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” This is a reference to supernaturally given knowledge. Does this special God-given knowledge pass away in heaven? That will be the time when we “will know” more than ever (John 14:20; Matt. 10:26; Luke 8:17; 12:2). That is precisely the time when we are given knowledge we do not presently possess!!

Related to this is the knowledge of mysteries that prophets receive (13:2). The word “mystery” is simply the word “secret.” Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law.” If a knowledge of a mystery is an opening of our understanding to something God has not chosen to reveal to the church in the Scripture (see God telling Paul that he is not authorized to tell the church about the mysteries he learned about heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:4), then surely the terminus of a knowledge of mysteries cannot be when we get to heaven! That is precisely the time that knowledge of mysteries will be given to everyone, not the time that they will cease being given. Prophets are given mysteries (1 Cor. 13:2) while on earth. At the Second Coming we will be ushered into a time when the secret things of God will no longer be secret. Thus, interpreting “perfect” as heaven or the Second Coming may do justice to the contrast between the partial knowledge (vv. 9-12) and the perfect knowledge (v. 10), but it does not do justice to the phrase in verse 8, “As for prophecies, they will pass away… if there is knowledge, it will pass away.” Does knowledge really pass away in heaven or at the Second Coming?

We could apply the same logic to tongues. When does the gift of tongues cease? It cannot cease at the Second Coming because that is precisely the time when every man, woman, and child will not only be able to understand the “tongues of angels,” but will also be given a new tongue of their own. Zephaniah 3:9 says “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language (literally “tongue”) that they all may call upon the name of the LORD.” If eternity ushers in the gift of tongues par excellence, then the ceasing that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:8 must refer to a cessation of miraculous tongues in history rather than at the end of history. The tongues mentioned in the New Testament were a temporary stopgap measure of breaking the language barriers. Just as Adam and Eve were given a gift of instantly knowing how to speak in a new language, eternity will usher us into an instantaneous ability to speak a new language that we had not known previously.

Fifth, the temporariness of the three gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge is contrasted with the abidingness of the three fruits of the Spirit, faith, hope and love. Verse 13 says, “But¹⁷⁹ now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” This statement would make no sense if knowledge, prophecy, and tongues only ceased at the Second Coming because that is precisely the time when faith will give way to sight, and hope will give way to receiving. No contrast could be sustained between the abidingness of these graces and the non-abidingness of the gifts. Romans 8:24 says, “But hope that is seen is not hope.” Moffat paraphrases: “Now when an object of hope is seen, there is no further need to hope.”¹⁸⁰ Knox paraphrases, “Hope would not be hope at all if its object were in view.”¹⁸¹ 2 Corinthians 5:7 and Hebrews 11:1-3 show that faith by its very definition will cease when we receive what we have had faith in. Now “we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), but in heaven faith as “the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1) will give way to seeing the things we have longed for. Thus, if faith and hope do not abide forever, but if they abide longer than the other gifts mentioned in the chapter, then those other gifts logically must cease before faith and hope cease; they must cease before the Second Coming.

It is granted that there are many interpretive difficulties for everyone in this passage. This is precisely why this unclear passage must be interpreted in light of the clear. If it has been demonstrated in this passage that prophecy and tongues cease before the Second Coming, and if other passages indicate that prophecy will cease in the first century, then one of the interpretive options that allows for a first century interpretation should be given preference. We will not dive into the question of whether tongues cease at the same time as prophecy (versus petering out over time), nor the distinction between the gift of tongues and an occasional ability to speak in tongues. In this book I am seeking to stick to what is exegetically clear.

Revelation 10:7 and 22:18-19 with 2:20; 10:7-11; 11:1-14; 16:14; 19:20; 20:10; 22:18-19 and with 1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 22:7,9,12,20; 22:6.

The last proof for the cessation of prophecy comes from the book of Revelation. Revelation 22:18-19 says, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: ‘If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.’”

There are several Cessationist considerations in this passage, and its immediate context of the book of Revelation. First, the book of Revelation is repeatedly called a “prophecy” (Rev. 1:3; 22:7,10,18-19), as are oral prophecies given in New Testament times (Rev. 11:6). Continuationist efforts to make a huge distinction between inspired Old Testament prophecy and so-called uninspired New Testament prophecy simply do not stand. Nor do distinctions between written prophecy (1:3) and oral prophecy (11:6). The book of Revelation consistently uses the term “prophecy” to refer to authoritative revelation from God to man.

Second, God had previously used similar words to indicate the completeness of His moral code: “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deut. 4:2). Subsequent books expounded upon the moral law, but did not add new laws. The moral law was complete with the Pentateuch. In Revelation, the context seems to be broader than adding to God’s laws. There is good reason to believe that John is talking about adding to the revelation of Scripture. There are two reasons for thinking this:

First, there has been an earlier theme related to cessation of revelation. Throughout the book there is a conflict between true prophecy and false prophecy (Rev. 2:20; 16:14; 19:20; 20:10). There is also a reference to the cessationist passages already referenced in this paper when God says, “in the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:7). This mystery is the New Testament revelation of the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:3-5; cf. Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:7; 15:51; Eph. 1:9; 6:19; Col. 1:26; 4:3; 1 Tim. 3:9). This mystery revealed through the New Testament apostles and prophets was about to cease, but it could not cease until the last judgment on Jerusalem.

Thus Revelation 10:7 introduces God’s commission to John to continue writing (10:8-11) and a description of the last two prophets (11:1-14) to prophesy in Jerusalem, “the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” This terminus of prophecy (by divine judgment on Jerusalem) was not 2000 years away but “must shortly take place” (1:1; 22:6), and must happen “soon” (2:16; 3:11; 22:7,12,20) in fulfillment of O.T. references to AD 70 (10:7). Notice also that Revelation is preoccupied with Jerusalem being judged for the blood of all the prophets slain (18:20,24; 16:6). Christ similarly says that “upon you [the generation then living] may come all the righteous blood shed upon the land … all these things shall come upon this generation… behold your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:35-37).

Thus the first reason to see Revelation 22:18-19 as a reference to cessation of revelation is that it matches earlier references to cessation of prophecy and the need for God’s people to be warned about following Satanic revelation.

The second reason is that the book of Revelation uses the word “book” in a broader way than merely the scroll of Revelation (5:2ff.; 10:1-11; 22:7,9-10). For example, before Revelation was completed, and certainly before it was distributed to the churches, the messenger tells John, “I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who are keeping the words of this book” (22:9). How could the saints be keeping the words of Revelation when it hadn’t been given to them yet? On the other hand, if “book” includes the whole canon to which Revelation was being added, then the passage makes sense. John’s own prophetic witness to the truth (cf. Rev. 1:2) involved the writing of the little scroll of Revelation (10:8-11). The Greek word for the “little scroll” is βιβλιδάριον (cf. Rev. 10:8-10 in MT and 10:9-10 in USB) and is distinguished from the βιβλίον or big scroll of Revelation 5. The βιβλιδάριον is the book of Revelation and the βιβλίον is the growing canon of Scripture. Once Revelation 22 is finished, the author forbids anyone from adding to the canon (βιβλίον). For more details on this distinction, see the section in chapter 4 labeled “Instant canonization illustrated in the book of Revelation.”

Of course, we have already demonstrated in the first part of this book that the word “book” is used over and over again in the Bible to refer to everything God had written (Gal. 3:10). Thus, scribes who taught the Scriptures were said to teach “the book of the Law of the LORD” (2 Chron. 17:9). Psalm 40:7 refers to the “volume of the Book” when it refers to Scripture generally. Isaiah tells people to “search from the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these shall fail.” Often the individual books of the Bible are referred to as the scroll of the Book (cf. e.g. Ezek. 2:9). Thus the singular word “book” was often applied to a body of scrolls (cf. Acts 7:42). Christ said that all the Scriptures wrote about Him, and Hebrews 10:7 words the same truth this way: “In the volume of the Book it is written of Me.” When Revelation 22 says that no one may add to the words of this book, it is doing something revolutionary. The “Book” of Scripture had been added to for thousands of years. Now God was saying, “No more. The canon is closed.” That would not have surprised godly Jews since the Old Testament had repeatedly prophesied such a cessation of prophecy. As Revelation 10:7 says, “in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.” This present thesis has already outlined the various prophets who had predicted the cessation of the mystery of God in AD 70. Since the book of Revelation was written prior to AD 70,¹⁸² the Biblical self-referential statements with regard to canon have been fulfilled completely.