As this millennial decade comes to an end and North Korea is rattling its military sword, popular Christian writers will reach into their prophecy bags, appeal to the Bible, and tell us that the end is near. The more judicious ones don’t come right out and say Jesus’ coming will take place in “our generation”; they temper their claims with something like this: “So is the end of the world near? I don’t know for certain, but clearly there are signs of the times.” Greg Laurie, like so many prophecy writers past and future, adds a caveat after spending a dozen or more paragraphs marshalling what he believes are incontrovertible evidences that the end must be near. No one would pay much attention to articles on prophecy if their authors didn’t suggest in nearly dogmatic terms that Jesus IS returning very, very, very soon.
So what evidence does Laurie muster to answer the question, “Are these signs of the times?” Let’s take the Korean conflict. Laurie believes that this is a prophetic sign based on the often cited “wars and rumors of wars” wording found in Matthew 24:6. But let’s put the conflict in perspective. First, it’s just one more of countless skirmishes and wars that could be offered and have been offered into evidence through the ages that the last days were near. Second, the reason there’s a North and South Korea is because there was a Korean War (1950-1953) where more than 36,000 Americans died and nearly 93,000 were wounded. My father was one of the wounded. He had his right leg blown off.
I suspect that in the early 1950s prophetic speculators claimed the Korean War was a sign of the end, just like they did with WWI and WWII, Vietnam, and the first and second Iraq wars. A sign ceases to be a sign when it always happens. Jesus’ reference to wars and rumors of wars referred to His contemporary audience (notice the use of “you”) and the time period of “this generation” (Matt. 24:34).
Some will argue that world wars are what Jesus has in view in the Olivet Discourse. “[R]ather than the local war in Judea, the account in Matthew depicts something on a much broader scale. In the words of Craig Evans, ‘the expectation of global warfare and chaos. . . . However, there were no major wars prior to the Jewish revolt.’”[1] First, Jesus is clear, “you will be hearing of wars and rumors of war.” Jesus identifies the audience that would hear about these wars, both real and rumored. He couldn’t be any clearer. Second, it’s important not to read modern-day definitions of war and how ancient peoples understood and used the terms “nations” and “kingdoms” into the Bible. Even though Rome “kept the peace” (Pax Romana), wars or “battles” among subjected peoples were still going on. Wars during a time of peace are signs, not during times of war. There’s more:
In A.D. 40 there was a disturbance at Mesopotamia which (Josephus says) caused the deaths of more than 50,000 people. In A.D. 49 a tumult at Jerusalem at the time of the Passover resulted in 10,000 to 20,000 deaths. At Caesarea contentions between Jewish people and other inhabitants resulted in over 20,000 Jews being killed. As Jews moved elsewhere, over 20,000 were destroyed by Syrians. At Scythopolis, over 13,000 Jews were killed. Thousands were killed in other places, and at Alexandria 50,000 were killed. At Damascus, 10,000 were killed in an hour’s time. These were not wars of a world-wide scope as we know the world today. They were in Galilee, and in Syria, and in the areas east and south of Judaea. And Judaea was in revolt against Rome, “while the armies of Spain, Gaul and Germany, Illyricum and Syria, converged upon Italy, to decide who should succeed to Nero’s purple.”
If these numbers are accurate, then these conflicts certainly qualify as “wars.” The Roman historian Tacitus (A.D. 56–117) (Histories, 1.2) writes of the period: “I am entering on the history of a period rich in disasters, frightful in its wars, torn by civil strife, and even in peace full of horrors. . . . There were three civil wars; there were more with foreign enemies; there were often wars that had both characters at once. . . . There were disturbances in Illyricum; Gaul wavered in its allegiance; Britain was thoroughly subdued and immediately abandoned; the tribes of the Suevi and the Sarmatae rose in concert against us; the Dacians had the glory of inflicting as well as suffering defeat; the armies of Parthia were all but set in motion by the cheat of a counterfeit Nero.” Even though Tacitus describes these conflicts as “wars,” “civil strife,” and “civil wars,” H. Wayne House argues “the conflicts within the Roman Empire were not really wars between kingdoms and nations in the first century A.D., as described in the Olivet Discourse.”[2] Nations dominated by Rome still considered themselves to be national entities. Israel is a perfect example, a point Pilate and his fellow Romans understood (Matt. 27:11, 37, 42). It’s not any different today. Nations within the former Soviet orbit thought of themselves as particular nations. In fact, that’s what they are today!
Laurie also mentions earthquakes, pestilence, and famines as additional contemporary signs that Jesus’ coming must be near. He writes:
The catastrophic tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, was caused by the fourth most powerful undersea earthquake on record, an earthquake so forceful that it moved the entire island of Sumatra 100 feet to the southwest from its pre-quake position. Geologists said it literally sent the entire planet vibrating and actually interfered with the Earth’s rotation to the degree that time stopped for three milliseconds. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, earthquakes are increasing. Every decade for the past five decades has increased the number of earthquakes – not just minor ones, but what are now called “killer quakes.” It seems as though every catastrophic earthquake that occurs is said to be the strongest ever. Then another killer quake will come along that is even worse than the ones before.
Earthquakes have occurred and been recorded for thousands of years. The OT (Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5) mentions them as does the NT. Jesus doesn’t say one thing about an increase in the number of earthquakes or their magnitude. He said, in various places there will be “great earthquakes” (Luke 21:11; cf. Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8 where the Greek word mega [“great”] is not used), and there were. Recorded in the NT, after Jesus’ prophecy and prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, there were a number of “great earthquakes” (Matt. 27:51, 54; 28:2; Acts 16:26). If revelation was written prior to A.D. 70, as I believe it was, then there were other earthquakes (Rev. 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; 16:18). Earthquakes were as common in Jesus’ day as they are in our day. The difference is that we have more sophisticated ways to measure and record them.
Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37 –100), an eyewitness to the events surrounding Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70, describes an earthquake in Judea of such magnitude “that the constitution of the universe was confounded for the destruction of men” (Wars of the Jews, 4.4.5).[3] He goes on to write that the Judean earthquake was “no common” calamity, indicating that God Himself had brought it about for a special purpose. One commentator writes: “Perhaps no period in the world’s history has ever been so marked by these convulsions as that which intervenes between the Crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem.”[4]
Three earthquakes shook Rome after Jesus’ Olivet prophecy and prior to Jerusalem’s destruction: A.D. 51 (Tacitus, Annals 12.43.1.), 53 (Syncellus, P 336C), and 57 (Hieron, Chronicles, p. 182) (see here). A later earthquake destroyed the city of Laodicea around A.D. 60. Tacitus (Annals 14:27) notes: “One of the famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was that same year overthrown by an earthquake, and, without any relief from us, recovered itself by its own resources.” In A.D. 62, an earthquake rocked Pompeii. Since the generation between A.D. 30 and 70 is past, there is no reason to attach prophetic significance to earthquakes in our day as a fulfillment of Matthew 24:7. They are not signs of the nearness of Jesus’ return in our generation, but they were a prelude to the coming of Jesus in judgment against Jerusalem in the generation of the apostles since He clearly stated that all He had mentioned prophetically in the Olivet Discourse would take place before “this generation” passed away (Matt. 24:34).
What about famines? Jesus mentions them in Matthew 24:7. Secular historians report that there were famines[5] and the Bible does as well. Consider these words from Luke’s chronicle of the period: (Acts 11:28–29): “And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great famine over all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius. And the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judea.” The Greek word translated “world” (oikoumene rather than kosmos; also see Matt. 24:14 and Luke 2:1) in most translations is better translated as “inhabited earth.” “Josephus, writing in his Antiquities at the end of the first century, spoke of a severe famine in Palestine between the years AD 44 and 48.”[6] If the famine during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54) is not a fulfillment of Jesus’ words, then nothing is. And yet, Wayne House dismisses Luke’s report with this claim: “Neither Luke nor the apostle Paul, apparently, connected this famine with prophetic fulfillment from the Olivet Discourse.”[7] This is hardly an argument. Note the use of House’s use of “apparently.” I suspect that that those who knew of Jesus’ prophecy, apparently, made the connection, especially those suffering because of it.
This article has gotten too long. I’ll take up the rest of Greg Laurie’s arguments in tomorrow’s article.
Endnotes:- Craig A. Evans, “Mark 8:27–16:20,” Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 34B (Dallas: Word Books, 2001), 307. Quoted in H. Wayne House, “Josephus and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Evaluation of the Preterist View on Jerusalem in Prophecy, Pre-Trib Study Group” (December 8, 2008): www.pre-trib.org/data/pdf/House-JosephusandtheFallof.pdf [↩]
- House, “Josephus and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Evaluation of the Preterist View on Jerusalem in Prophecy, Pre-Trib Study Group.” [↩]
- Quoted in Thomas Scott, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments, According to the Authorized Version; with Explanatory Notes, Practical Observations, and Copious Marginal References, 3 vols. (New York: Collins and Hannay, 1832), 3:108. [↩]
- Edward Hayes Plumptre, “The Gospel According to St. Matthew,” Ellicott’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, ed. Charles John Ellicott, 8 vols. (London: Cassell and Company, 1897), 6:146. [↩]
- “Although Judaea was ruled by the Romans, the governors there had practiced the same kind of religious tolerance as was shown to Jews in Rome. However, Roman tactlessness and inefficiency, along with famine and internal squabbles, led to a rise in Jewish discontent.” See here. [↩]
- Walter A. Elwell and Philip W. Comfort, eds., “The Acts of the Apostles,” Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 12. [↩]
- House, “Josephus and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Evaluation of the Preterist View on Jerusalem in Prophecy, Pre-Trib Study Group.” [↩]
Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped—both broadcasted and podcasted. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandsons, Calvin and Paul. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).
I disagree, and so does the plain language of the text.
“This article is hog-wash, designed to confuse Christians about prophecy and Jesus’s revelations. Jesus, when chastising his audience about knowing the signs of the seasons and weather, but not of His second coming and the end times, was talking of, and to, GOD’s chosen people of the future, for which prophecy and revelation is for.”
I don’t think you could make the case for Jesus being concerned about the weather.
This was in reply to “randy131″, my apologies.
It is true that the Bible,especially the New Testament,deals with the events of the 1st Century AD
and were meant for their present.BUT-what JESUS says,along with Paul,and the other Apostles,
are also for these end times we’re now in.Read All of Matt.24 and look beyond the ancient present times.Also,read Mark.12,All 4 Gospels, 1Cor.15 and All of Revelation.And not only are there prophicies regarding the Apostles’ present time,there are also instructions on how to live Good Christian lives by Loving GOD and our Neighbors as well as prophecies for the end times and beyond.
I have read several of GaryDeMar’s postings and i noticed he always mentions other ministeries and of course they are always wrong about their understanding of the Bible. He must think he is the only that understands God’s Word. Im supposing he also thinks he’s the only one thats going to make heaven. Then again maybe he doesnt believe there is a heaven.
Gary, I haven’t read too much of your writings, but in reading this one I get the feeling that you don’t think that Christ is returning. Do you think Revelations was just to the Christians of that day? I know that we do not know when Christ’s return will be, and I don’t think that it is an important question for me. My end will come soon on this earth, whether Christ returns by then or not.
However, whether you agree with Laurie or not, his messages are bringing a lot of people to Christ and I took your comments as maybe a little professional jealousy.
Know and understand what Jesus said and meant in Ma: Ch.11 Vs.25&26, and Lk: Ch.10 Vs.21, and ask all who want you to believe what they say about the secrets of heaven is true, to which of the two groups Jesus was talking about do they belong? The answer they give may very well tell you of the humility that Jesus said was required in all of His people, or lack there of.
The comments are all way above my little mind’s knowledge, but do these things that have been posted mean that there is no 2nd coming?
This article is hog-wash, designed to confuse Christians about prophecy and Jesus’s revelations. Jesus, when chastising his audience about knowing the signs of the seasons and weather, but not of His second coming and the end times, was talking of, and to, GOD’s chosen people of the future, for which prophecy and revelation is for. What Christians today don’t understand, and are not taught, is that the Jews in Israel today are from only two of the tribes of Jacob, the other ten tribes are missing and have been lost. The two tribes in Israel today were from the kingdom of Judah, enslaved by the Babylonians, while the ten lost tribes were from the kingdom of Israel and were enslaved by the Assyrians, who couldn’t defeat the kingdom of Judah because of GOD’s protection of them for not allowing the worship of false Gods in their lands, as the kingdom of Israel had. Much later, after the Babylonians had defeated the Assyrians, did the kingdom of Israel sin against GOD by also allowing the worship of false gods in their lands, to which they lost GOD’s protection and then was defeated by the Babylonians also. Before the defeat of Assyria by Babylon, when they knew it was unavoidable, the Assyrians set free their slaves, the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel, which since they knew couldn’t return to Israel, the direction of the advancing armies of Babylon, fled to the north across the Bosporus and into Europe where they settled. Proof of this is in the Catholic Bible in two of the books Martin Luther discarded when seperating from the Catholic Church, the entire book of TOBIT, and FIRST MACCABEES Ch.12 Vs.21, also in the entire book of ESTHER in all Bibles. The USA is populated by the decendants of these lost ten tribes of Jacob through the European immigration during the founding of our country. This explains the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers and the uncanny similarities of the taking posession of this country by our forefathers and the way GOD had the Israelites take posession of the promised land. The return and taking reposession of all the promised land, GOD will not allow without the inclusion of all the twelve tribes of Jacob, and only them. This will happen in the final war, a religious based war, in the final battle of Armageddon at Megiddo, during the return of Jesus to seal His victory. So the USA will play a critical part in the return of all the promised land to the entire twelve tribes of Jacob, which we are a part of, as well as GOD’s adoptees, the Christians. So keep watching for the signs that Jesus warned us of and get prepared.
Randy131 et al,
What part of “like a thief in the night” (I Thess 5:2) is unclear to you folks?
Do you KNOW why those “extra” books are included in the Catholic bible but not in the Protestant Bible? It is because those books are NOT in the canon. If you study the history and development of the canon you will find that the canon consisted literally of the books for which early Christians were willing to die. While the canon was formalized by a Church Council, it was only formalized there. The books not in the Protestant Bible are part of the 2nd canon also known as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The only reason those books are even IN the Catholic Bible is because the collection “Saint” Jerome was given to translate into Latin (the common – or “vulgar” – tongue of the time hence Jerome’s translation is called the “Vulgate”) included those extra-canonical books. Jerome knew quite well those books were extra-canonical. But being the scrupulous, particular, anal person he was, he translated every book he was given into Latin.
I studied “Text and Transmission” and “Development of the Canon” in school at Lubbock Christian College (now University). I know how the canon developed. I know how the text was transmitted to us. I know enough about the process to be comfortable in declaring that the Bible is the best attested ancient writing in the world and that nothing else even comes CLOSE to it.
Gary:
Revelation was spelled with a little “r” in paragraph 6. Might want to fix that. Otherwise, a superb article, as always.
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.
The only group of people living today that would “hear of wars and rumors of wars” would be some remote tribe still living in the stone age. Somebody so-much as shoots a firecracker off today and its on youtube, or its been twittered, or WND reports about it 10 minutes after it happens. Jesus was speaking to the people in “His day”, when communication was extremely slow. Horseback or boat was the major link for communicating between nations and tribes. Sorry dispensationalist’s, but that dog just don’t hunt.
Stephen while I agree with your final conclusion I think when Jesus told the disciples they would hear of wars and rumors of wars, it had little to nothing to do with the speed of communication. If that was the case I believe one could attempt to make a valid argument that Jesus’ words held true for those up until about 100 years ago. Ever hear of the Pony Express?
In reading Scripture, I think the greater focus is from an audience relevance standpoint. Who was speaking, to whom were they speaking to, is what the speaker was talking about relevant to those he was speaking to, and how would the original audience have understood what was said.
Hi David.
Yes, I agree with your explanation, speed of communication wasn’t the issue. Your second paragraph needs to be at the foremost of all of our studies. Pony Express? I had that in mind when I replied earlier. I”m wondering if Jesus wouldn’t have used the word “rumor” if cell phones were around in His day.
Blessings.
Stephen
I can’t get any of your explanations concerning the word ‘rumors’. Unless you are in the war, or near where it’s taking place, even with current communications, it is a ‘rumor’ as translated from the greek. You hang too much on that word.
Also, when you assume that all that Jesus said that is recorded in the NT was ‘only for’ those who were listening at the time, you ignore his wonderful prayer for all of us in John Chapter 17:20-26. You should all go back and review that prayer.
Thanks,
There are two errors at each other’s throat in interpretations of 1 Thessalonians 1 & 2. One of them is forever looking beyond the hands-on fact that Paul is encouraging a suffering Christian community in his own day. The other terminally localizes these palpable tribulations so that they have minimal bearing upon the Lord’s final, visible return to earth in judgment. That’s a picture of semi-preteristic dominionism facing off against dispensational, headline sensationalism.
2 Thessalonians 1:7 reads, “And to you who are troubled rest with us,when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There’s more to this than highlighting the paroxysms of global disintegration in 2010, or the death rattle of a corrupt, obsolete Judaic cult in 70 AD; God’s people are being comforted and an apocalyptic finishing of history, a _terminus ad quem_, is being described. The Lord’s meaning in Mark 14:62, “and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,” is joined with Paul’s fortifying, personal reminder in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
There’s nothing in these scriptures to validate the Scofieldists who bend scripture to satisfy their doomster appetites, or the Postmills who bend the fiery end to allow for their global cleanup program.
Interesting, but I disagree. The audience in Mark, would have thought they would see this. I don’t think it can be extrapolated 2000+ years. “and YE (them) shall see”…Not “us” in the twenty first century.
I know you will probably not be convinced, but this is my view. I once was a dispensationlist, and few other things to. Take care.
WorlNetDaily’s credibility is seriously lacking when they resort to people like Greg Laurie in order to sell their stuff. The never ending barrage of pro Israel (because they are God’s Chosen People, and don’t you forget it!) propaganda, backed up by pop dispy eschatology really appeals to folks who have a Scofield Bible and the “Left Behind” series on their shelves. For those of us who have been delivered from the lies of dispensationalism, and want to see the Kingdom of God manifested on this earth….not so much.
I agree Mr. DeMar, Paul is drawing from 1 THES 2:13-14 in 2 THES 1 and that those he is referring to as afflicting the Thessalonians are indeed their Jewish countrymen. How you get around 2 THES 2:7f as not being a “second coming” of the Lord text I’d be very interested in hearing. In the text we read about Jesus coming with his angels, in judgment of unbelievers, separating them from his presence into eternal destruction and being glorified in his saints. All of this sounds allot like MAT 13, 24, and 25 not to mention DAN 12, ISA 60, ZEC 9. Does this mean that you also see MAT 24:29-31 and 1 THES 4:13-18 as A.D. 70?
I discuss 2 Thess 2 in two chapters of my book “Last Days Madness.” It’s the most complete exposition of the passage that I know of. Notice the time indicators in 2 Thess. 2:7 (there are more in the chapter): “the mystery of lawless is ALREADY at work” and “he who NOW restrains.” The “man of lawlessness” was alive when Paul wrote otherwise he could not have been restrained then. Paul says he was being restrained. You can’t restrain something or someone who is not there. This verse makes no sense if Paul is talking about something that has not happened yet.
For a verse-by-verse exposition of the chapter, got to http://www.AmericanVision.com
Thanks Mr. DeMar! I absolutely agree that the man of lawlessness was at that time being restrained and that the Thessalonians knew full well what was restraining him. My confusion comes in when you say the language Paul used to describe the Lord’s coming that would give relief to the Thessalonians is not the language of the “second coming.” I have had the book of yours that you recommended on my list to read for a while, not to mention countless other books by other authors. So many books, so little time. Knowing now that this is discussed in your book I will have to push it up closer the top of my to read list. Thanks for all your work and books American Vision puts out. You’re doing a great work!
Paul is dealing with an imminent eschatological event in 2 Thess. 1, not the Second Coming. He is dealing with the unbelieving Jews. This was the Thessalonans’ relief–when the Old Covenant and all its attendant Old Covenant requirements passed away with the destruction of the temple, animal sacrifices, and earthly priesthood. I believe Paul is writing against the background of 1 Thess. 2:13-16. The language is taken from the OT.
Too long?!? It ended too soon!
I’m very thankful for the ministry of American Vision and Gary Demar. These kinds of articles are very helpful.
I don’t understand why the personal pronouns are so important in Jesus’ teachings, but are mostly overlooked in the epistles. In 2 Thessalonians 1, a passage that everyone, including myself, recognizes as Jesus’ second coming, Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica. Paul praises them for their faithfulness despite the afflictions he said they “are [anachesthe; present middle indicative] enduring. They had in fact received the word of the Lord in much affliction (1 THES 1:6). Paul writes that the afflictions the Thessalonians were enduring were proof of the righteous judgment of God that “YOU may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which YOU are also suffering.” (v 5) Again Paul uses the present tense to speak of the Thessalonians’ afflictions. Then he writes “God considers it just to afflict those [Jews; 1 THES 2:14] who afflict YOU, and to grant relief [anesin; loosening, relaxation] to YOU “who are afflicted” [thlibomenois; present passive participle] as well as to US [emon; personal/possessive pronoun] When? When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven.
So it seems to me that Paul, through the use of no less than four present tense participles in the current text alone, had no one in mind but the Thessalonians when he promised them relief from their ongoing persecution at the Lord’s coming. So it seems that only one of the following can be true:
1. The Thessalonians are alive and still being afflicted awaiting Jesus’ second coming.
2. Paul falsely promised relief to Thessalonians in their lifetime at the Lord’s coming, meaning he was a false prophet.
3. Jesus returned in the lifetime of the Thessalonians and granted them the relief they had been promised.
It will not do to say the Apostle was confused about the timing of the Lord’s coming. Not only because it raises the questions about what else may he have been confused about i.e. salvation, sanctification, justification etc., but the Lord himself warned against proclaiming the nearness of his coming (LUK 21:8) until the disciples had seen the fulfillment of the signs he gave them to look for (MAT 24:5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 23, 32, 33, 34).
This is not true for Paul only, for the very thing Jesus warned Peter, James and John about (LUK 21:8) is the very thing they proclaimed (1 PET 4:7; JAM 5:8; 1 JOH 2:18) Let us not forget the test of a prophet DEU 18:20-22.
I agree. Paul is talking about the “2nd coming”. It cannot divorced from Matt 24, Luke 21 and 17, and Mark 13. Peter is also in this mix. I don’t particularly like using the phrase “2nd coming”, I would prefer presence, or parousia.
Good stuff, keep up the good work.