Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 77 Gary analyzes a clip from a teacher on Facebook claiming that Gog and Magog from Ezekiel 38-39 will soon be upon us. A more recent interpretation holds that Ezekiel’s Gog and Magog battle is fulfilled in the details of Revelation 20:7–10 when Rome and its international armies attacked Israel and destroyed the temple in A.D. 70. This approach is diffic [...]
How do we determine how documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution should be interpreted? Let’s check with those who were there when they were written and the circumstances for their construction. Such a methodology comes to mind with a book I read as a child, We Were There at the Driving of the Golden Spike (1960).Eyewitness accounts are the starting point (e.g., Luke 1:1 [...]
Politicians constantly boast about how they are helping people. Gary disagrees. The only functions allowed to the state by the Bible are defense of its people and punishment of criminals. To go a step beyond this is forbidden. Biblical law works to prevent power being concentrated in any one institution, by creating and sanctioning many institutions—family, church, community, voluntary association [...]
One of the arguments against the preterist (past) interpretation of the Olivet Discourse and the use of the second person plural “you” is an appeal to Matthew 23:35: “And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” The claim is made that Jesus’ use of “ [...]
Gary discusses ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He explains when and why it began and what its jurisdiction and purpose is. Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) establishes the proper definition of the word “right”: “Conformity to the will of God or to his law, the perfect standard of truth and justice. In the literal sense, right is a straight line [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 76 Gary discusses Jesus’ statement in Matthew 23:35 about Zechariah, son of Berechiah. There is no record of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 1:1) being murdered. Berechiah, like Zechariah, is a common name in the Bible (1 Chron. 3:20; 6:39; 9:16; 15:17; 15:23; 2 Chron. 28:12; Neh. 3:4, 30). Jesus says that it was this Zechariah who was murdered by som [...]
I love the monthly news magazine World. You can thank David Chilton for contributing to its existence. He used his influence to help launch World with editor Joel Belz and wrote a monthly column for the publication for years. You should subscribe. You can do it here. Gary North wrote the following in his article “David Chilton Made the Case for Long-Run Christian Optimism.” “From the very beginnin [...]
Gary continues his discussion with Bob Cruickshank about the biblical usage of the word “antichrist.” (Click here for Part One.) You will not find the word antichrist in the book of Revelation. This is significant since the John who defines antichrist for us in his first two letters is the same John who penned the book of Revelation. Second, according to the Bible antichrist is not a s [...]
In the Foreword to Tony Campolo’s book Red Letter Christians, Jim Wallis tells a story about a secular Jewish country-music songwriter and disk jockey who told him that a new social movement was being birthed as a result of Wallis’ God’s Politics and other “social conscience” books. Here’s how Wallis tells it: “I love your stuff and have been following your book tour.” Then he told me he believed [...]
Gary interviews his friend Bob Cruickshank about a few recent articles he has written about the “antichrist.” The word “antichrist” appears only in John’s epistles (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). John’s description of antichrist is altogether different from the modern image. John’s antichrist is • Anyone “who denies that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22). • Anyone who “denies the Fa [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 75 Gary interviews Ed Stevens about the 1993 Covenant Eschatology Symposium that was held in Florida. Debates continue over which biblical passages refer to the AD 70 judgment coming of Jesus and those that refer to what is commonly called the yet Second Coming of Jesus. As I have repeatedly pointed out, there is no unanimous agreement among scholars on [...]
In January of 1993, the Covenant Eschatology Symposium was held in Mt. Dora, Florida. It was hosted by R.C. Sproul. I would like to thank Ed Stevens for providing materials about the Conference and for being a guest on an upcoming episode of American Vision’s podcast, which will be posted soon at AmericanVision.org. We also discussed David Chilton’s move to full preterism. Those in attendance disc [...]
Gary and Kim Burgess return to the conversation of 1 Corinthians 15 by discussing parallel passages in 2 Corinthians. GARY: When one studies Shakespeare, for example, one has got to go back to Shakespeare’s time to understand Shakespeare properly, but, somehow, odd as it is, when it comes to the Bible, it is more or less treated like a magic book for many people; a book somehow immune from these s [...]
Recently, I received an email from a woman who asked whether I could direct her to sources that refute Gnosticism. She wrote that a friend of hers “claims to be on an extraordinarily intense spiritual ‘pilgrimage’ of ‘really pressing in to know God intimately’—but this guy has in effect divorced himself from the material world and from all relationships (including his wife and 10 children) which h [...]
Gary offers his initial thoughts about the taking of Nicolas Maduro by American troops and the situation in Venezuela. Does the Bible forbid Christians from being involved in politics? It would be a hard case to prove since there are numerous books of the Bible that are filled with politics—from Joshua, Judges, and 1 and 2 Samuel to 1 and 2 Kings and the Old Testament Prophets. King David is confr [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 74 Gary discusses recent claims about current events being some of the “signs” from the book of Revelation. In terms of what the Bible teaches, the future of Israel is wrapped up in the future of the nations that has nothing to do with the physical land of Israel. We see this truth emphasized at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry: Thus, it is [...]
Some (too many) Christians advocate a form of factual neutrality, under which some subjects—science, geography, politics, mathematics—can be taught without regard to religion, since “facts speak for themselves.” This is most evident in education, where a self-conscious sacred-secular divide is maintained and supported by Christians. Ninety percent of Christian parents send their children to govern [...]
Gary discusses recent comments from some leftists about “taxing rich people”—like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk—at a higher rate. The Bible is the standard for every aspect of life. It tells us a great deal about economics. And it tells us that God’s law alone is the standard of right and wrong, of justice and injustice. We might therefore expect that the Bible would have much to say [...]
According to a radio editorial some years ago, “a man’s religion and the strength of his conviction are his own personal matter” and therefore “religion should not interfere with politics.”[1] Regrettably, many churches during Hitler’s rise to power accepted the argument that religion and morality should be separated from politics based on the neutrality claim. “Religion was a private matter,” his [...]
Gary weighs in on Pastor Loran Livingston’s claim that Earth is not his home, as well as his own thoughts about adding extra material to printed Bibles. The form of civil government the Founders developed was decentralized and specifically designed to limit political power. As Thomas Jefferson stated in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confide [...]
