Key Beliefs Of Dispensational Premillennialism
· Like dispensationalists, historical premillennialists believe the second coming will occur before the literal millennium reign of Christ reign on earth.
· Unlike dispensationalists, however, historical premillennialists believe that the church will experience the tribulation but will find relief when Christ comes again in his power and glory.
· A modern take on historical premillennialism is sometimes called covenant premillennialism, based on its view that God established different covenants throughout human historysuch as works, redemption, and graceas a way of relating to humankind. These are different than the dispensations in dispensational premillennialism, since the covenants assume that Biblical covenants made with Israel equally apply to the Church, while dispensationalism draws a bright line between how God treats the Church and Israel.
· John Piper, Francis Schaeffer, and Charles Spurgeon are notable theologians who fall roughly within historic premillennialism.
· For more information on historic premillennialism, including covenant theology, look for A Case for Historic Premillennialism, edited by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung.
Pastor Paul Begley Addresses End Of The World Claims
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The Bible’s final chapters in the Book of Revelation are dedicated to the end of days, as prophesied by John the Evangelist. The Book of Revelation describes many specific and abstract events, such as the breaking of the Seven Seals and the arrival of the Seven-Headed Dragon. But mentions of the end of the world can be found throughout scripture, such as the time when Jesus Christ himself described the days before his supposed return.
The Spread Of New Diseases
Revelation 6:5-8 warns that our world will be rocked by new diseases and subsequent plagues in the end times. Luke 21:11 also cautions that there will be pestilences in various places and fearful events in the last days. Many people have wondered if the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the new diseases the Bible speaks of. Some believe that the pestilences that Jesus referenced will be fulfilled in the first three and a half years of the Tribulation period that comes after the rapture.
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Many Repeat Myths About Revelation
If there was a prize for the most misunderstood source for bad predictions, it would go to the Book of Revelation. It may be the Bibles ultimate crossover no other books imagery and language has so penetrated popular culture.
Even people who have never read the Bible are familiar with its references: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Red Dragon, 666 and the seven bowls of plague.
Revelation is filled with such contagious imagery that one theologian who has studied its text calls it a multimedia book whose popular images operate like an infectious disease.
They break off from the larger text and circulate like little viruses in our culture that hook on to other things and thats when they really take off and spread, says Timothy Beal, author of The Book of Revelation: A Biography.
Beal says many people quoting Revelation get the meaning and the symbolism wrong.
Almost none of the people talking about Revelation have really sat down and read it, he says. Many people, for example, believe that the Rapture when its believed that Jesus returns at the end of the age and all Christians, dead and alive, will rise up in the air to meet him is in Revelation.
Not true, says Beal.
There is no explicit mention of the Rapture in Revelation. There are references to the concept in scriptures like 1 Corinthians 15:52, which says, For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Nope, Beal says.
Psalm : Safety And Refuge In God
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
If youre feeling ambitious, why not commit this entire chapter to memory? Each verse of Psalm 91 speaks powerfully to the problem of pandemics. While many shelter in place, the psalmist invites us to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty . Though a thousand may fall at your side, the plague will not prevail .
Taken out of context, this chapter could be misinterpreted as a high-octane health-and-wealth prooftext. But the so-called prosperity gospel is heresy God does not unconditionally promise Christians a healthy or trouble-free existence if they only exercise enough faith. The Puritan Thomas Watson commented, God doth not say, no afflictions shall befall us, but no evil. We may have affliction, but affliction will not have us. Psalm 91 helps usand those we are seeking to evangelizelook above the physical and temporal to set our sights on heavenly realities so that we can recognize that our afflictions are light and momentary compared to eternity .
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Title Authorship And Date
The name Revelation comes from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: , which means “unveiling” or “revelation”. The author names himself as “John”, but modern scholars consider it unlikely that the author of Revelation also wrote the Gospel of John. He was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets, and was accepted by the congregations to whom he addresses his letter.
The book is commonly dated to about AD 95, as suggested by clues in the visions pointing to the reign of the emperorDomitian. The beast with seven heads and the number 666 seem to allude directly to the emperor Nero , but this does not require that Revelation was written in the 60s, as there was a widespread belief in later decades that Nero would return.
Jesus Disciples Asked Him For Signs Of The End Of The World Jesus Didnt Give A Date But He Did Give Prophetic Signs We Should Watch To Be Ready Is The End Of The World Near Now
There are many ideas about when the world will end, and even about what the end of the world and the end times mean.
For many, its a joke. Cartoonists draw a strange man wearing a sandwich board sign proclaiming The End Is Nigh to the unheeding crowds on a big city street.
But its not just kooks and religious people talking about the end of the world. Scientists and politicians throw around the phrase as well. Headlines discuss Heres How Stephen Hawking Predicted the World Will End and How Will the World End? Experts Reveal Nine Most Likely Ways Humans Will Be Wiped Out.
The prestigious Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists annually updates its Doomsday Clock. As I write, it is set at 2 minutes till midnight, the closest it has ever been throughout the atomic age.
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This Is Not The End Of The World According To Christians Who Study The End Of The World
Chuck Pierces son was concerned, like a lot of other people looking out on a world of ransacked grocery stores and canceled sports seasons and eerie lines of people standing six feet apart from one another. So he asked his dad: Is this the end of the world?
Thats a question you can ask when you have a dad who calls himself an apostolic prophet and leads a prophetic ministry. No, said Pierce, who is based in Corinth, Tex. The Lords shown me through 2026, so I know this isnt the end of time.
The worldwide upheaval caused by the fast-spreading novel coronavirus pandemic has many people reaching for their Bibles, and some starting to wonder: Could this be a sign of the apocalypse?
It sure might feel apocalyptic. But not if you ask Christian writers and pastors who have spent years focusing their message on the Book of Revelation the New Testaments final book. It lays out a lurid, poetic vision of the End Times, in which many evangelical leaders interpret it to mean that Jesus will return to Earth, believers will be raptured to heaven and those left behind will suffer seven dreadful years of calamities. Most of these Revelation-focused prophesiers dont see coronavirus as heralding the Second Coming and the end of life on Earth as we know it.
I think hes referring to a future time, Kinley said. I dont think this is an actual fulfillment of that.
What Does Scripture Say Will Happen In The End Days
Isaiah 26:20-21 reads: Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
“See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
“The earth will disclose the blood shed on it the earth will conceal its slain no longer.”
“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.”
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The Millennial Reign Of Christ
After the Tribulation, the Millennial reign will be ushered in by Jesus. The Millennial reign of Christ will last for a literal 1,000 years and Jesus will be the literal, physical King . During this time, Satan is locked away and will not be released until the end of the 1,000 years to test the nations.
The Millennial reign of Christ will be amazing as Jesus will literally walk with mankind again. Despite Jesus being physically ruling as King, people will still reject Him and choose to follow Satan. There will still be death in the Millennial Kingdom as well as life with new babies born.
However, after the Millennial, no more babies will be born, and nobody will die. After the Millennial Kingdom ends, there will be the Great White Throne Judgment, in which all unbelievers will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity .
All believers will enter the Eternal State, in which the Bible tells us this will be the home of righteousness .
End Of The World Summary
In summary, we have demonstrated that covenant eschatology, not cosmic dissolution and destruction is the focus of the end times teachings of the Bible. The Scriptures teach that the cosmic world as we know it will continue to exist without end. Further, we demonstrated that unbelievers will continue on earth but remain outside of the holy city of God unless they repent of their deeds until their probation ends in death.
Next we demonstrated Gods promise never to destroy the cosmic world, but promised that it remains as long as the name of Christ which is forever. God connected the longevity of the sun and moon with the longevity or eternal nature of the name of Christ. Christians should therefore be actively engaged in reaching the lost for Christ rather than sitting around waiting on the end of the world.
To enhance your studies on the end of the world, we recommend the following study that provides even deeper insights. You will discover many additional texts and how to accurately interpret them. Example after example is given to show how God used apocalyptic language. Some of the more difficult texts on the end of the world are simplified in plain language. See our book on the end of the world, Will Planet Earth Be Destroyed?
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Signs Of The End Time
When Jesus’ disciples asked about the end of the age , He responded by listing several warning signs. The first would be massive religious deception, including religious teachers who, while claiming to represent Him, would not follow His teachings but would deceive many through a counterfeit Christianity.
He also said there would be many wars and other conflicts between nations and ethnic groups. He also spoke of famines,massive disease epidemics and earthquakes.
The problem with trying to precisely predict the end from these signs is that these trends and conditions have been with us in varying degrees from the first century until now. This helps explain why end-time fervor has arisen repeatedly for two millennia.
Many believe that man’s development of modern weaponry with the ability to annihilate human life is a sure sign of the last days. As for this destructive potential being a sign of the end, Jesus did say that “if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive” .
Our awesome scientific and technological advancements have bequeathed to this and future generations a heritage over which hangs the ultimate sword of Damocles. Indeed, without miraculous intervention from God the human race has no assurance of survival.
End Of The World Means End Of The Age
If you check other, more modern translations, including the New King James Version, you will see that most of them translate the last phrase as end of the age.
The Greek word used here is aion, which here means an agespecifically, the time of mans misrule that will end when Jesus Christ returns.
Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says this about aion:An age, a period of time, marked in the NT usage by spiritual or moral characteristics, is sometimes translated world the RV marg. always has age. The phrase the end of the world should be rendered the end of the age, in most places.
The disciples were asking about the time when Jesus would return to end humanitys age of destruction and begin the rule of the Kingdom of God over the earth.
So the disciples were asking about the time when Jesus would return to end humanitys age of destruction and begin the rule of the Kingdom of God over the earth.
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Romans : : Gods Kindness And Repentance
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that Gods kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
This passage offers the converse perspective to the previous verse from Deuteronomy 28. While we often presume that illness and pandemics are the discipline of God, the Apostle Paul challenges his Jewish readers to think differently in Romans 2. It is not only pestilence and plagues which God uses to draw people to himself it is Gods kindness that draws us to repentance.
Many of us, together with our families and neighbors, have tasted real blessing even in the midst of unemployment and uncertaintymealtimes with families, connectedness to children, and rekindling of old friendships through video conferencing. These graces are intended by heaven to spur us to repentance, not further self-reliance. As you talk about some of the hidden blessings of quarantine life, consider sharing this important text of Scripture.
Matthew 1: 2: Jesus Relieves Our Anxieties
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
A University of Michigan study from March 31 indicated that since the onset of the pandemic, 50 percent of participants reported recurring anxiety. Nearly a third described symptoms matching clinical depression. It is no mystery why with U.S. unemployment claims approaching 20 percent and death counts delivered to us all daily by push notification, the natural human response is despair.
Perhaps your non-Christian colleague, coworker, friend, or family member needs to simply know that Jesus is a Savior who promises to ease the burden of life. I fear that those of us who are serious about theology , in an effort to avoid the dangers of the soft, watered-down American gospel of comfort and inclusivity, fall into an opposite extreme in which we neglect the tenderness and mercy of Christ. We forget to preach what Jonathan Edwards so often described as the excellencies and sweetness of Christ. Gods justice and wrath are real and must be fled, yet when we flee them, we find ourselves in the compassionate arms of the Good Shepherd. He does not even snuff out a smoldering wick or break a bruised reed, nor raise his voice in the streets . Jesus is near and available to all who are afflicted with fear, worry, and despond.
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Choose Hope Not Despair
In the same message from New York City in 1969, Billy Graham said people tend to react to the idea of the end of the world in one of three ways: with pessimism, activism or hope.
I belong to that group that has a theology of hope, he said. Because my hope is not centered in this world or in what man is going to do or not going to do. My hope is centered in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who the Bible says is going to come back someday and straighten the whole mess out.
If you are a follower of Christ, you also have hope, especially when it comes to end times. The idea of the end of the world may seem frightening, but those who are in Christ have nothing to fear.
Parable Of The Tares And The End Of The World
The King James Version also quotes Jesus using the phrase end of the world twice and end of this world once in His parable of the wheat and the tares . This parable was about how God sows His truth in this world and prepares people for His Kingdom, while Satan sows lies that produce people who pretend to follow God but follow Satan instead.
The enemy that sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels .
To be truly ready for Christs return, we must be sure we are living as He lived and doing what is pleasing to Him.
This can also serve as a sober warning to Christians to not fool themselves into thinking they are okay just because they attend church or consider themselves Christians. Satan is the master of deception. To be truly ready for Christs return, we must be sure we are living as He lived and doing what is pleasing to Him.
Here again, in this parable of the tares, world is translated age in the New King James Version and other modern versions. From other passages that give more specifics about Gods times of judgment, it seems these passages are talking about judgment that will occur sometime after Jesus return. Study more about the various times of judgment in our article Judgment of God: The Real Story.
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