One of the foundation stones of dispensationalism in particular and futurism in general is the claim that “this generation” in Matthew 24:34 either refers to a future generation (“the generation that sees these signs”) or the Jewish race. Norman Geisler, in his critique of Hank Hanegraaff’s The Apocalypse Code, argues that the Greek word genea should be translated “race.” He writes: “as virtually [...]

The Bible (as well as the Constitution, Art 3, sec. 3) requires two witnesses to substantiate that an event has taken place (Deut. 17:6). The two-witness requirement is a safeguard for those accused of a crime. When an accusation is made and there is not a second witness, the single witness is investigated to see if he or she is telling the truth (Deut. 19:16-20). What’s true in cases related to c [...]

I was doing my typical daily research when I came across the article “The Jews in End Time Bible Prophecy” written by David R. Reagan of Lion and Lamb Ministries. In it he claims the following: “We are living in exciting times when we can witness Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes. Many of these prophecies relate to the Jewish people and their nation.” As I and others have written [...]

The first of four Blood Moons has appeared in the sky. Millions of Christians have become fascinated with the phenomenon. Books have been written on the subject. Why all the interest and excitement? Because the lunar event is supposedly all about Bible prophecy and the end of the world or the so-called “rapture” of the church that these prophecy prognosticators claim will usher in the Second Comin [...]

Because of the latest developments in Syria, prophecy prognosticators are coming out of the woodwork . . . again. The same thing happened in 2011 when prophecy hobbyists were claiming that Isaiah 17 was being fulfilled right before our eyes. Here’s an example from a video that was uploaded on July 21, 2011: Damascus in Isaiah 17 is going to be destroyed in 1 day. This is about to occur in our life [...]

Greg Laurie is a popular evangelist. Periodically he goes off topic and discusses Bible prophecy. A few years ago, another prominent evangelist went off topic and wrote an article on why we are living in the last days and how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes. I wrote a four-part series of articles critiquing his argument. He and I spoke on the phone about the topic and my po [...]

During the round-table discussion phase of the Reno, Nevada, Symposium on the Book of Revelation, each of us was asked what there is about the two competing positions that we say is a positive feature. When premillennialist Jim Hamilton was asked about preterism, you could tell he had a hard time coming up with something positive. Preterism is the biggest threat to premillennialism. To say anythin [...]

I’ve been following prophecy speculators for almost exactly 40 years. They all have one thing in common. They’ve been consistently wrong for nearly 2000 years. In the 1970s, Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth was a mega-best seller. It was the No. 1 non-fiction book of the decade. (Some would put it in the fiction category.) Lindsey predicted that it would all fall apart by 1988 based on th [...]

Prominent dispensationalist and end-time advocate Jan Markell had this to say about the latest conflict in the Middle East: “God hasn’t abandoned Israel. He does have an end-times plan for her. It involves some harshness, but it also involves salvation as a nation — though that comes later, during the time of the tribulation.” Every time there’s a dust up in the Middle East prophecy pundits tell u [...]

WorldNetDaily published an article that I wrote, titled “Why Pat Robertson is Wrong” back in 2005. ((World Net Daily http://www.wnd.com/2005/10/32788/.)) It dealt with Robertson’s claim that today’s earthquakes are signs of the soon coming of Christ. As usual, I received my share of hate mail. Words like “stupid,” “lukewarm,” and “heretical” were thrown about with careless ease. The nastiest lette [...]

People ask me what keeps me going. Why do I continue to write on subjects that so many people resist? For the simple reason that I see progress. When I first did radio interviews on Bible prophecy in the late 1980s, I was bombarded by some pretty nasty callers. I was called a heretic. Some called to ask if I was a Christian. As time went on, the nasty callers faded, and I started to get calls from [...]

In 2000, John MacArthur wrote a book with the title Why Government Can’t Save You. ((John MacArthur, Why Government Can’t Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 2000).)) When this book first appeared, I wrote that I didn’t know any Christians who believed government can or should save us. The subtitle led the reader to believe that getting involved politica [...]

You may have heard Mark Alan Siegel, chairman of Florida’s Palm Beach County Democratic Party, tell an interviewer the following about what he thinks about Christians and their relationship with Jews: “The Christians just want us to be there so we can be slaughtered and converted and bring on the second coming of Jesus Christ. “The worst possible allies for the Jewish state are the fundament [...]

If you tell someone he can’t do something, in most cases that person will stop before he even tries. Of course, there are some people who take the impossible as a challenge and use the impossible as an incentive to work hard to disprove the critics. Many of the advances in science, technology, and everyday life are the result of people who fought against impossible odds. Life is full of impossible [...]

A friend sent me a video of John MacArthur preaching on Mark 13, the Olivet Discourse. There is no need for me to interact with it in detail since I’ve written a verse-by-verse commentary on Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse. Two items caught my attention. The first has to do with context. Here’s how Mark 13 begins: “As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Tea [...]

As I’ve shown in previous articles (they can be referenced here, here, here, here, here, and here), Tommy Ice has not supplied a single verse that supports either a pre-tribulational rapture or a rebuilt temple. Let’s move on to the third question that I ask of dispensationalists: 3. Where in Revelation is the seven-year tribulation found? Here is Tommy’s attempt to answer my question: The answer [...]

The second question that I often pose to dispensationalists after challenging them to give me a verse that teaches a pre-tribulational rapture relates to the rebuilding of the temple. Tommy Ice references it in his article “Answers and Clarifications for Gary DeMar.” You can reference the other five posts here, here, here, here, and here: 2. Can you point out one verse from the New Testament that [...]

This is the fifth installment of my response to Tommy Ice’s article “Answers and Clarifications for Gary DeMar.” You can reference the other four posts here, here, here, and here. Tommy brings up the dating issue of when Revelation was written. He takes the position that Revelation was written around A.D. 95 while I and many others believe with good exegetical and historical reasons that it was wr [...]

This is the fourth installment of my response to Tommy Ice’s article “Answers and Clarifications for Gary DeMar.” You can reference the other three here, here, and here. I don’t expect Tommy or Brannon Howse to read them as thoroughly as I tried to write them, but I don’t want it to be said that there is not an answer for the type of prophetic material out there that is passed off as s [...]

In his article “Answers and Clarifications for Gary DeMar,” Thomas Ice has been trying to set me straight on issues related to the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24. This is my third response. You can read the first and second responses here and here. Of all the signs listed in the Olivet Discourse, Tommy Ice points to Jesus’ comments regarding “false Christs.” He doesn’t say anything about the abund [...]