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One of the first things that Yahshua said when he began his ministry is found in Luke 16:16-17. “The law and the prophets
were until John. Since that time the kingdom of YAHWEH is preached and everyone presses into it. And it is easier for
heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”
As you can see, this is a very intriguing statement. First he says the law and the prophets were until John. Then he says it
is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail. Can he have it both ways at the same time?
The answer is yes!
There is the written law, and there is the foundational spiritual law. It was the written law that was to last until John. It was
the writings of the prophets that would already be fulfilled by the time of John. In another place, Yahshua said that John
was the last and the greatest of all the prophets (Luke 7:28). So you can see that it is the written law that would no longer
be necessary, can’t you.
If we are to understand the second statement of Yahshua we need to examine the meaning of the word fail. The word that
was translated fail in this statement, actually means “to fall down” or “to alight.” He is still speaking of the written law. A
tittle is the little flair or mark at the top of each of the Hebrew letters of the alphabet. The tittle is the highest mark on each
letter. When he made this remark it was in the context of chewing out the Pharisees for overlooking certain details of the
law on behalf of some of their wealthy benefactors. In other words he was saying that if you are going to live according to
the written laws of the Old Contract, you cannot pick and choose the ones you will follow, and the ones you will reject. A
fallen tittle could change the meaning of a word, and Yahshua was telling them that Yahweh would never make any
changes to the written contract. So if they were going to uphold the written contract, every last detail would be required of
them. However, to those who were beginning to live by the foundational spiritual laws of the kingdom of YAHWEH, the laws
of the written contract would no longer be of any concern to them.
Matthew explains this same idea a little more clearly. Matthew 5:17-19 records Yahshua as saying, “Think not that I am
come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Truly I say unto you, till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.”
What did he mean to fulfill the law?
First of all, he said that he did not come to destroy, demolish, or disintegrate the written law or the prophets. He actually
came to fulfill or cram more into it. The written contract would not be disintegrated, nor would it be changed. But at the
same time it would become more than it was. What does that mean?
He said that nothing would pass from the written contract till all be fulfilled. It is interesting to note that fulfilled here has a
different meaning than the word fulfill that we just discussed above. This word Fulfilled means to generate, to cause to be,
or to come into being. You can see from this distinction that a different substance is coming into being, can’t you.
Paul said in Hebrews 8:13, “In that he said a new contract, he made the first old. Now that which decays and waxeth old is
ready to vanish away.”
You can see, can’t you, that Paul is explaining what Yahshua was revealing here. Something new was coming into being
that would completely replace the old. That which decays in this verse actually means that which is declared obsolete.
Waxeth old means it has become senile and is ready to pass away.
Why would the written words of the Old Contract pass away?
Just before his death, Yahshua told the Disciples a whole list of things that would happen just before the Second Coming
for the 144,000 saints. At the end of the list he said in Matthew 24:31-35 “He shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a
parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So likewise,
when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Truly I say unto you, this generation shall not
pass till all these things be fulfilled.”
You can read the entire chapter of Matthew 24 which some have called “the End-time prophecy.” Yahshua stated that
everything mentioned in that prophecy would be fulfilled or come to pass before the end of their generation. He was right; it
all did come to pass!
Most people do not realize that the Tribulation and the Rapture or Second Coming have already come to pass. So when
modern day ministers proclaim the end time is near, they base their beliefs on deplorable conditions beginning to happen
in their own country. And they believe that those conditions will soon extend worldwide. But Yahshua never said the
conditions of the tribulation would be worldwide. If you read the words of Matthew 24 closely you will see what he really
said.
You can see from the closing 3 verses of chapter 23 and the beginning of chapter 24 that his remarks were directed
toward Jerusalem and its magnificent temple. When he spoke of the end of the world, he did not mean the end of life, or
the destruction of the planet. He meant the end of an Astrological Age, or end of a Dispensation, or the end of the Old
Contract. Remember that he said it all ended with John and his generation. He said there would be famine, diseases,
earthquakes, persecution, and false prophets. He said to watch for the abomination of desolation in the temple, and when
you see it, flee out of the area of Judea and into the mountains. And except those days be shortened, no one would be
saved alive.
All of these things are recorded by historians such as Josephus and others as having happened. A rebellion against the
Roman Empire broke out in Jerusalem, around AD 67 and the Roman Army was dispatched to surround the city. Because
people had already gathered in the city for one of the Feast days, it did not take long for famine and starvation to take place,
and then the resulting diseases. It got so bad that instead of burying dead bodies they just threw them over the wall into
the valley of Gehenna.
There were false prophets that told the people to join the rebellion because Yahweh was on their side and would soon
deliver them from the enemy. I know you realize that Yahshua said John was the last of the prophets, and that anyone
claiming to be a prophet after John would naturally be false. When one of the rebel factions moved their headquarters into
the Holy of Holies in the temple, that move was recognized by many as the abomination of desolation. Then, for some
unknown reason, the Roman Army opened up a passage so that the people, who wanted to leave the city, could leave.
Three days later the passage was closed and the siege resumed. The false prophets had convinced many to stay, saying
the Romans would kill them, but the Believers fled and headed for the mountains. Even the people of the Dead Sea
Scrolls community of Qumran had already hidden their scrolls and disappeared.
The Roman army tried to wait it out and convince the starving people still in the city to surrender but things became so
vicious inside the city that the army launched an all out attack. They broke down the city gates, burned the temple, and
basically cut short the days so as to save the emaciated masses still inside the city.
There was an earthquake that shook the temple, a loud noise that sounded like a long blast of a shofar, a bright light that
shone over the temple for a half hour, and, of course, sightings of people running around in the clouds. Many other signs
of the Second Coming were also reported during this time period.
Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted in AD 67 and during the following years the rumbling caused unusual weather patterns
and earthquakes in diverse places. The volcano erupted again even more violently in AD 79 which destroyed the city of
Pompeii and sent plumes of ash and molten rock more than 20 miles into the air, causing thick darkness in the area for
many days. The molten rock and glowing ashes would look like falling stars from a distance.
All these things were fulfilled around AD 70.
In Mark 13:30-31 Yahshua said, “Truly I say unto you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
You can answer these questions now, can’t you?
Did their generation pass?
Were all of these things done?
Did heaven and earth pass away?
Most people believe that heaven and earth did not pass way, but in truth it did. Next time I will explain in detail, how and
when heaven and earth passed away.
were until John. Since that time the kingdom of YAHWEH is preached and everyone presses into it. And it is easier for
heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”
As you can see, this is a very intriguing statement. First he says the law and the prophets were until John. Then he says it
is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail. Can he have it both ways at the same time?
The answer is yes!
There is the written law, and there is the foundational spiritual law. It was the written law that was to last until John. It was
the writings of the prophets that would already be fulfilled by the time of John. In another place, Yahshua said that John
was the last and the greatest of all the prophets (Luke 7:28). So you can see that it is the written law that would no longer
be necessary, can’t you.
If we are to understand the second statement of Yahshua we need to examine the meaning of the word fail. The word that
was translated fail in this statement, actually means “to fall down” or “to alight.” He is still speaking of the written law. A
tittle is the little flair or mark at the top of each of the Hebrew letters of the alphabet. The tittle is the highest mark on each
letter. When he made this remark it was in the context of chewing out the Pharisees for overlooking certain details of the
law on behalf of some of their wealthy benefactors. In other words he was saying that if you are going to live according to
the written laws of the Old Contract, you cannot pick and choose the ones you will follow, and the ones you will reject. A
fallen tittle could change the meaning of a word, and Yahshua was telling them that Yahweh would never make any
changes to the written contract. So if they were going to uphold the written contract, every last detail would be required of
them. However, to those who were beginning to live by the foundational spiritual laws of the kingdom of YAHWEH, the laws
of the written contract would no longer be of any concern to them.
Matthew explains this same idea a little more clearly. Matthew 5:17-19 records Yahshua as saying, “Think not that I am
come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Truly I say unto you, till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.”
What did he mean to fulfill the law?
First of all, he said that he did not come to destroy, demolish, or disintegrate the written law or the prophets. He actually
came to fulfill or cram more into it. The written contract would not be disintegrated, nor would it be changed. But at the
same time it would become more than it was. What does that mean?
He said that nothing would pass from the written contract till all be fulfilled. It is interesting to note that fulfilled here has a
different meaning than the word fulfill that we just discussed above. This word Fulfilled means to generate, to cause to be,
or to come into being. You can see from this distinction that a different substance is coming into being, can’t you.
Paul said in Hebrews 8:13, “In that he said a new contract, he made the first old. Now that which decays and waxeth old is
ready to vanish away.”
You can see, can’t you, that Paul is explaining what Yahshua was revealing here. Something new was coming into being
that would completely replace the old. That which decays in this verse actually means that which is declared obsolete.
Waxeth old means it has become senile and is ready to pass away.
Why would the written words of the Old Contract pass away?
Just before his death, Yahshua told the Disciples a whole list of things that would happen just before the Second Coming
for the 144,000 saints. At the end of the list he said in Matthew 24:31-35 “He shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a
parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So likewise,
when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Truly I say unto you, this generation shall not
pass till all these things be fulfilled.”
You can read the entire chapter of Matthew 24 which some have called “the End-time prophecy.” Yahshua stated that
everything mentioned in that prophecy would be fulfilled or come to pass before the end of their generation. He was right; it
all did come to pass!
Most people do not realize that the Tribulation and the Rapture or Second Coming have already come to pass. So when
modern day ministers proclaim the end time is near, they base their beliefs on deplorable conditions beginning to happen
in their own country. And they believe that those conditions will soon extend worldwide. But Yahshua never said the
conditions of the tribulation would be worldwide. If you read the words of Matthew 24 closely you will see what he really
said.
You can see from the closing 3 verses of chapter 23 and the beginning of chapter 24 that his remarks were directed
toward Jerusalem and its magnificent temple. When he spoke of the end of the world, he did not mean the end of life, or
the destruction of the planet. He meant the end of an Astrological Age, or end of a Dispensation, or the end of the Old
Contract. Remember that he said it all ended with John and his generation. He said there would be famine, diseases,
earthquakes, persecution, and false prophets. He said to watch for the abomination of desolation in the temple, and when
you see it, flee out of the area of Judea and into the mountains. And except those days be shortened, no one would be
saved alive.
All of these things are recorded by historians such as Josephus and others as having happened. A rebellion against the
Roman Empire broke out in Jerusalem, around AD 67 and the Roman Army was dispatched to surround the city. Because
people had already gathered in the city for one of the Feast days, it did not take long for famine and starvation to take place,
and then the resulting diseases. It got so bad that instead of burying dead bodies they just threw them over the wall into
the valley of Gehenna.
There were false prophets that told the people to join the rebellion because Yahweh was on their side and would soon
deliver them from the enemy. I know you realize that Yahshua said John was the last of the prophets, and that anyone
claiming to be a prophet after John would naturally be false. When one of the rebel factions moved their headquarters into
the Holy of Holies in the temple, that move was recognized by many as the abomination of desolation. Then, for some
unknown reason, the Roman Army opened up a passage so that the people, who wanted to leave the city, could leave.
Three days later the passage was closed and the siege resumed. The false prophets had convinced many to stay, saying
the Romans would kill them, but the Believers fled and headed for the mountains. Even the people of the Dead Sea
Scrolls community of Qumran had already hidden their scrolls and disappeared.
The Roman army tried to wait it out and convince the starving people still in the city to surrender but things became so
vicious inside the city that the army launched an all out attack. They broke down the city gates, burned the temple, and
basically cut short the days so as to save the emaciated masses still inside the city.
There was an earthquake that shook the temple, a loud noise that sounded like a long blast of a shofar, a bright light that
shone over the temple for a half hour, and, of course, sightings of people running around in the clouds. Many other signs
of the Second Coming were also reported during this time period.
Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted in AD 67 and during the following years the rumbling caused unusual weather patterns
and earthquakes in diverse places. The volcano erupted again even more violently in AD 79 which destroyed the city of
Pompeii and sent plumes of ash and molten rock more than 20 miles into the air, causing thick darkness in the area for
many days. The molten rock and glowing ashes would look like falling stars from a distance.
All these things were fulfilled around AD 70.
In Mark 13:30-31 Yahshua said, “Truly I say unto you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
You can answer these questions now, can’t you?
Did their generation pass?
Were all of these things done?
Did heaven and earth pass away?
Most people believe that heaven and earth did not pass way, but in truth it did. Next time I will explain in detail, how and
when heaven and earth passed away.
| BEYOND QUANTUM THEOLOGY: Heaven & Earth Shall Pass Away By Dr. Gary Hanson Ph.D. |