End of the Age
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19 NASB
The sons – Did you notice something odd about this verse? With an apocalyptic expectation, we expect Paul’s declaration to proclaim that the creation waits for the revealing of the son of God. Everything hangs on the return of the Messiah. That’s the real focus. But this isn’t what Paul writes. He says that the whole creation anxiously awaits the revealing of the sons (huión – plural). What does this mean? How can the creation be waiting for the sons of God? We’re already here.
Albert Barnes’ commentary provides a typical exegetical treatment:
The manifestation of the sons of God – The full development of the benefits of the sons of God; the time when they shall be acknowledged, and received into the full privileges of sons. Here Christians have some evidence of their adoption. But they are in a world of sin; they are exposed to trials; they are subject to many calamities; and though they have evidence here that they are the sons of God, yet they wait for that period when they shall be fully delivered from all these trials, and be admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges of the children of the Most High. The time when this shall take place will be at the day of Judgment, when they shall be fully acknowledged in the presence of an assembled universe as his children. All Christians are represented as in this posture of waiting for the full possession of their privileges as the children of God. 1 Corinthians 1:7, “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 3:5; Galatians 5:5, “for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10.[1]
Robinson’s commentary adds an interesting note:
The revealing of the sons of God (την αποκαλυπσιν των υιων του τεου — tēn apokalupsin tōn huiōn tou theou). Cf. 1 John 3:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Colossians 3:4. This mystical sympathy of physical nature with the work of grace is beyond the comprehension of most of us. But who can disprove it?[2]
So, it’s a mystery, a work of God that will finally make us known, to ourselves and to others, as God really intended us to be. Paul is thinking about the final judgment, right? He’s telling his Gentile (Christian) readers that really, really good things are coming. In fact, they are so good that the whole of creation is anticipating that day. Maybe that’s correct, but I think if we’re going to appreciate why Paul believes this is so important, we need the word to be transliterated, not translated, because when it is transliterated we can see where it comes from. That word, translated “the revealing,” is apokálypsis. Some background in the Greek use of the term is important because Paul is writing to an audience that would think of “revelation” quite differently than we do.
The Greeks do not use apokalýptein for divine revelation. For them deity is as open and hidden as the reality of which it is the basic form; one may thus see it or miss it. If it is still of the essence of deity to manifest itself, there is no unique revelation. The gods only give hints, and they are as fickle as fortune, having no standard of an inviolable moral will. Greek religion knows revelations but is not a religion of revelation.[3]
The noun usually has such ordinary senses as uncovering the head or finding hidden springs. It is, however, a technical term in soothsaying, finds a place in astrology and alchemy, and may signify cultically the revealing of secret matters. Theological use of either verb or noun is fundamentally alien to the Greeks and perhaps derives from the Greek Bible, though this is philologically debatable.[4]
With this background, we recognize that Paul’s statement is extraordinary, not because it speaks of some Christian mystery, but because it suggests that the apocalypse will happen as an historical event. Paul’s statement is not the declaration of a Greek oracle, sufficiently vague to be unverifiable. Nor is it a cultic message of secret knowledge. It is a statement that the end of the age will be a decidedly public event, an event that will confirm the status of every son of the Most High God. In that day, the whole of creation will rejoice with the chosen ones. It is not only public, it is cosmic.
Why does this matter to Paul’s audience in Rome? Perhaps if we realize that Rome was filled with gods, each claiming their own territories, their own ethnic affiliation, and their own form of discipleship, we would acknowledge that the Roman Gentiles were quite familiar with the fickle and mysterious world of divine beings. What they were not familiar with was a God who made Himself the subject of public evidence, who staked His reputation on a real event, not a legend or a myth. What Paul communicates is not just that we wait for this event but that when it occurs we will all know that this God is the real God, and He has chosen us. Paul thought this public validation was close at hand. He was wrong. But the event is still the proof of the God of Israel’s authenticity. So, we wait.
Topical Index: revealing, apokálypsis, sons, huión, public, Romans 8:19
[1] https://www.studylight.org/commentary/romans/8-19.html
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 407). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[4] Ibid.
