The Outer Darkness - Part 1
Dr. Allen M. Barber
February 1, 2009
Introduction
Before reading this article, please read the two articles in the Biblical Topical Articles page - "The Law of First Fruits and the Barley Harvest" and "The Overcomers and the Outer Darkness" for the background to this article.
Having studied this issue for many years, I was never satisfied with the articles I read as being the true revelation of God including my own attempts to explain this little understood topic. For the most part it is ignored by the majority of ministers and biblical scholars; perhaps for two reasons: (1) It is not understood so it is best to leave it alone. (2) Once it is understood, the revelation is too controversial for traditional religion to accept; therefore, why rock the boat and upset the apple cart. There may be other reasons, but I think these two are primary.
May I say before I begin the article that I owe much to Jeff Forrester for his insights into the Outer Darkness. Of the many articles I read on this subject, his work is the "only" one in which I sensed any revelation of the Holy Spirit (See I Corinthians 2: 12-16). Jeff's website, The Tribulation Institute, is no longer online and I have not been able to locate his whereabouts. He also had excellent articles on other prophetic topics. If anyone knows what happened to Jeff, I would appreciate your feedback.
When God gives his end time prophets or for that matter the Church any revelation of the Word it is to be shared with the body of Christ, not hoarded as if it is that person's sole revelation. All of the apostles and writers of the New Covenant were given individual revelation; for example, Peter, Paul, and John, whose works constitute a large segment of the New Covenant, all wrote about specific doctrines peculiar to their own revelation yet became part of the canon for the Church. It is the same today or should be. What I mean by revelation is Holy Spirit illumination of the biblical text not a "new" revelation apart from or outside the Sacred text. There is no such thing today as "new" revelation outside the Bible. Some argue that other non-canon writings such as the Gospel of Thomas, The Epistle of Clement, The Epistle of Barnabas, etc. should have been included in the New Testament Canon as well as the book of Jasher in the Old Testament, which is mentioned in Joshua and 2 Samuel. Having read and studied these works, I see no reasons to include them in the final Canon given to us by the early Church Fathers, even though the information is excellent historical data. The book of Jasher sheds great light on the history of Nimrod and Shem who is the Melchizedek of the book of Hebrews not Jesus. Shem as Melchizedek was a type of Christ and was the King of Salem - the forerunner to city of Jerusalem, whose king is the Lord, that is, the New Jerusalem.
Jeff describes revelation as follows:
...as another dear brother in Yeshua reminded me, this just affirms the Scripture that says the body of Yeshua (Jesus) is made-up of many parts each having their own function and part of that function is that different believers get different revelations on certain subject matters even though each of them may study with reverence and ask for personal revelation concerning the same verse or verses.
I believe that this way the Lord does things concerning the revelation of truth may have something to do with keeping one from getting puffed up. Yeshua will however give you revelation to build upon the revelation that you received from another. In other words when the Holy Spirit who is the Teacher, reveals the truth to you of someone else's revelation, he can teach you more about the same revelation that was not included in the other person's revelation.
Jeff's point is well taken and is supported by II Peter 1:20-21.
Well, that is a brief background on the subject of revelation as all true local Churches are established by Holy Spirit revelation. If there is no revelation of the body of Christ, there is no true Church, just a shell. All of the denominations are nothing but shells even though there may be genuine Christians residing in them. They have not heard or answered the call to come out of Babylon. Babylon in the Bible always represents false religion and is the reason the warning is given in Revelation 18:4 for Christians to come out of her for she is laden with leaven - false doctrine. The chaste virgins of Revelation 14 are those who did not defile themselves with apostate religion. I received an email from a high school classmate about a year ago whom I had not heard from in many years and my heart was saddened to read of her active involvement in one of the mainline apostate denominations, yet it was obvious she has no revelation of the truth. Many who profess Christ today will end up in the Outer Darkness because they choose to unite with a false Babylon Church. My heart is grieved to have to say that, but it is the truth.
What is the Outer Darkness and who will end up there? Does it involve living or dead believers? These questions will be discussed and answered in this study.
The Outer Darkness
The best way to approach a study of this subject is to define the words "Outer" and "Darkness." Then taken together we can discover the truth of this important end time truth. The word "outer" is used only four times in the Bible as follows:
Ezekiel 10:3-5 KJV
3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.
5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
Matthew 8:10-12 KJV
10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 22:11-14 KJV
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 25:29-30 KJV
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Strong's Dictionary of New Testament words says the word "utter" is also a synonym of "outer" and means that which is the exterior or the outside.
In the Ezekiel passage, the setting is the temple in Jerusalem, which is the meaning of the word "house." Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel and was deported to Babylon in about 600 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital at Jerusalem where Solomon's temple stood. The temple was a three dimension structure: (1) the outer court consisted of the areas outside the temple proper and was called the courtyard of the Gentiles and the courtyard of the women. It was marked off by a large stone wall that ran the perimeter of the temple compound (I have been to Israel and walked upon the temple mount and prayed at the Wailing Wall). The Wailing or Western Wall is what is left of Herod's temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Since the Jews are not allowed on the temple mount,the Wailing Wall has become their most sacred place of worship. They cling to this piece of real estate as their legal right to exist and as a connection to their ancestry and history. Since they reject the New Covenant, they have no revelation of the coming Antichrist who will control the temple mount and prohibit them from worshiping at the Wailing Wall (See Daniel 11:31). Since the Antichrist and False Prophet will be Jews, the Jews will accept both and be deceived along with all the other apostates. The Fig Tree of Matthew 24 in no way predicts a spiritual awakening of the Jews to Messiah Jesus; on the contrary, the Fig Tree symbolizes the final destruction of the nation Israel and its religion - Kabbalistic Judaism. For any Jew to come out of the Fig Tree and be grafted into the Olive Tree - the Israel of God, they must accept the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way for a Jew to be saved today. They cannot be saved by attempting to keep their Old Covenant as descendants of Abraham. The blessings of Abraham are fulfilled in Yeshua Jesus and the Israel of God - the Church.
The Gentiles were allowed to walk upon the outer court as well as the Jewish women (no Jewish woman was allowed in the temple proper - the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies). In Revelation 11, John is told to measure the temple area, but to leave out the outer court for it was given to the Gentiles to trample upon for 42 months. The outer court (outside courtyard) was subjected to the elements - night and day; the cold of winter and the heat of the summer. It was also the place of the brazen altar for slaying the sacrifices and the laver for washing and cleansing. Only the Levitical Priests could offer the blood sacrifices and worship God in the temple proper - the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. In addition, only one man, the high priest, could enter the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement to atone for the sins of the nation.
(2) Holy Place - the second part of the temple was located behind the first veil in the temple edifice. When the priest entered the Holy Place from the outer court, they encountered a veil separating the Holy Place from the Outer Court. Inside the Holy Place were the Table of Showbread, the Menorah, and the Altar of Incense (placed before the second Veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies - it was this second veil [a very large heavy curtain] that was torn from top to bottom when Jesus was crucified).
(3) The Holy of Holies (the "Holiest of all"), which contained the Ark of the Covenant upon which was the mercy seat. Inside the Ark of the Covenant were the two tables of stone - the 10 commandments and Aaron's rod that budded (Note: there was no Ark of the Covenant in Herod's temple). The reason the Holy of Holies was the Most Holy Place was that God's presence hovered above the mercy seat; when Aaron, the high priest and the high priests who succeeded him entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, they carried with them the blood of the Passover Lamb and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat mixed with incense from the the Altar of incense. When God saw the blood upon the mercy seat and smelled the sweet fragrance of the incense, He forgave the sins of the nation for that year, which carried over to the next year. In this way, the forgiveness was temporary and not efficacious in putting away permanently the sins of the people. In essence, this religious system was only a type and a shadow of the substance to come - the Lord Jesus Christ who by His death upon the cross and shedding of His blood to be later presented to the Father in Heaven in the heavenly temple, put away forever man's sin against holy God. The pathway into this "new way" of entrance and acceptance by God was by faith in the Christ's finished work upon the cross and resurrection. Had Jesus not been resurrected, even on the third day, then the cross would have had no power to forgive sin. The sin bearer had to defeat both sin and the grave (death) in order for the sacrifice of Jesus to be efficacious for all mankind. Thank God Jesus did and now He is at the Right Hand of the Father fulfilling all righteousness until it is time for Him to return and claim His Bride and setup His kingdom on this earth. That day is not too far off even closer than we think.
The Outer Court stands for the "Flesh of man" and carnality. Just as the Outer Courtyard of the temple was subject to the elements, man's flesh (the soul and heart of man) is subject to Satan's attacks as well as false doctrine. Why? Because just as the light of God's presence was only in the Holy of Holies, the light of God's revelation is only in the reborn spirit of man. The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord - the place where the Holy Spirit resides and the area where the Word of God germinates - is planted to bear the good seed of a faithful life. The outer court then stands for "spiritual darkness" for God does not place His Spirit or His Word upon the flesh of man. Millions and even billions are in the outer court where no revelation of God exists. Just as the Gentiles mingled in the outer courtyard of the Temple area in the earthly temples, they had no understanding of the God of heaven for God is a Spirit and He must be worshiped in Spirit and truth. While billions worship in physical edifices, they remain outside the veil in the outer court and have no knowledge or relationship with the true God. This extends to many denominations today who are as blind to the truth as those who founded these worldly organizations.
Matthew's Account of the Outer Darkness.
The other three passages dealing with the Outer Darkness are found only in Matthew and there is a reason for that. The theme of Matthew's gospel is the "kingdom of God;" however, it is not a Jewish kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom typified by the Sermon on the Mount. This does not mean the coming kingdom is not a literal kingdom, but that the subjects of the kingdom must be spiritual people to gain access into it. Matthew presents the King Jesus, as the one establishing His kingdom on the earth. Since the religious leaders of Israel and the Jewish nation thought they would inherit the kingdom because they were natural descendants of Abraham, Jesus gave them some shocking news that only spiritual people would enter His kingdom. Many "professors" will be cast into the outer darkness. At first glance it appears Jesus is addressing only the Pharisees, but a closer examination of the three texts in Matthew reveals it includes those who profess faith in Jesus and are in fact believers.
The principle reason Jesus did not intend for His discourse in Matthew 8 to be inclusive only of the unbelieving Jews is because the context involves a dialogue Jesus had with a Roman Centurion (a Gentile and not under the Covenant of Abraham). When Jesus said this lowly Roman soldier (the Jews not only despised the Romans, but believed they were lower than cattle) had more faith than anyone in all of Israel, He was not only condemning the self-righteous Pharisees who prided themselves in being above sin, but the nation as a whole who should be following in the footsteps of Abraham, the father of faith (Romans 4). The reason the sons or children of the kingdom would be cast into the outer darkness is not because they were Jews, but because they lacked true faith in the God of Israel, which just happened to be Jesus; therefore, the focus of the dialogue is on FAITH - the door or entrance into the kingdom. The greater principle then is that the true sons of the kingdom are those who actually have the spiritual fruit of genuine faith. The truth is that Jesus cursed the whole nation of Israel and said it would never bear any fruit worthy of the kingdom of God (See Mathew 21:18-22) and will not, not even the modern nation of Israel. Likewise, there will be Christians who will not bear any fruit worthy of the kingdom and will not be allowed to enter because their works lacked true faith. You need to understand that the millennial Kingdom of God will be on this earth, not in a heavenly sphere. When the Kingdom of God comes to this earth, it will never be anywhere else. The right to enter the Kingdom and reign with Christ is more about the works of righteousness than the condition of righteousness. This is one reason many do not understand the teaching of these parables. They think the Kingdom of God is in the heavenly realms, but it is not. Jesus is coming to this earth to setup His Kingdom and rule from His throne in the New Jerusalem.