Gary answers a listener question about the history of the “Rapture” and the vision in 1830 of a young girl named Margaret MacDonald. Why is it that not a single sermon, address, or discussion in the book of Acts mentions the supposed rapture of the Church? Over a period of nearly 40 years, no one brings up this supposedly crucial prophetic event. There is no mention of an any-moment “r [...]
Does the number 666 refer to someone in John’s day? If so, who could it be? Revelation implies that there was a king who was alive when John saw and wrote down what was revealed to him: “Here is the mind which has wisdom.[1] The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,[2] and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must rema [...]
Gary continues responding to Pastor David Jeremiah’s interview and book, The Great Disappearance. All of the texts used to support the rapture theory presuppose the validity of the theory, a theory that does not have a single text to support it. The doctrine has been constructed before texts have been evaluated. This unsound approach to Bible interpretation has done little to dissuade the ad [...]
Gary responds to a recent interview between Glenn Beck and Max Lucado about the state of the world and the war between Israel and Hamas where Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 are brought up. When Russia invaded Ukraine, we were told that the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 was being fulfilled. When Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza, again the Gog and Magog war was being fulfilled. For nearly 1600 y [...]
Gary responds to a recent article by Dr. Michael Brown that claims the promises made to Israel in Joshua 21 are not the fullness of what God was promising to the Jews. There is not a single verse in the New Testament that supports the claim that there is prophetic significance in Israel’s restoration as a nation. Beyond A.D. 70, Israel as a nation plays no prophetic role. The New Testament only ad [...]
“Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security concludes the Gog battle is a ‘realistic scenario,’” a recent article from WND reports. “The study forecasts the toll of a massive nuclear war.” Christian prophecy writers have been making similar claims for decades. Are they right? Before we get into the meat of the controversy, it should be noted that in the premillennial and dispens [...]
The Dispensational system has a horrific future in store for Jewish people living in Israel. What does the Bible say about the future of Israel as it relates to the question of Jerusalem’s prophetic significance? The Old Testament teaches that Israel was taken into captivity in two parts: first, the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and then the southern kingdom by the Babylonians betwe [...]
In a debate I had with Dr. Michael Brown, I asked him what he thought of the supposed future Jewish holocaust that’s part of premillennialism’s prophetic system based on Zechariah 13:8-9: “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the LORD, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, [...]
Gary answers the perennial charge of “replacement theology,” a phrase that is designed to end debate by those who teach that the church and Israel are distinct and separate. Israel’s spiritual destiny is the same as it is for non-Israelites: Repent and believe in Jesus! No one said anything about a delay in the promises that had been made to Israel centuries ago. In fact, Peter clearly [...]
Gary discusses a new article by Greg Laurie that makes the (same old) argument that modern events “could be” fulfilling biblical prophecies. Most interpreters have tried to find the fulfillment in events of their day using current events as the interpretive grid. For example, in the fourth and fifth centuries, Gog was thought to refer to the Goths and Moors. In the seventh century, it [...]
There’s a great deal of confusion today regarding the last days and the role that Israel is said to play. I hope the following will clear up some of the mischaracterizations of Israel and the last days. Are we to believe that one last-days generation will be grafted into the olive tree mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Romans 11 after 2000 years, and that’s what Paul means when he wrote that “all I [...]
A daily double: an article and a podcast! The article is from the July 1991 issue of James Jordan’s Biblical Horizons newsletter. It shows how Jordan’s thinking and views of the whole debate over ancient and modern Jews and the state of Israel changed from his previous views that essentially followed the Puritans and the Westminster Divines. It is vital that Christians understand this [...]
Gary answers a listener question regarding Matthew 24:29-31. Jesus’ disciples did not inquire about the end of the world (kosmos), but about the end of that covenant age (aion). When the tribulation of “those days” was completed, the religious and political structure of Israel as a covenant nation came to an end before that first-century generation passed away. Even futurists do [...]
It seems everyone is getting into the “last days craze.” The latest entry is Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. I’m surprised at this since AiG has stayed away from the topic. I wrote two articles about the importance of eschatology in the same way Ham wrote about the importance of creation (see here and here). I’m a big proponent of showing how the origin of life is impossible no matter how many year [...]
Part Two of Two. Gary continues his response to Answers in Genesis’ Ken Ham. Ham uses 2 Peter 3 to show that we are in the “last days.” John Owen asks the question that so many expositors fail to ask: Where had God promised to bring “new heavens and a new earth”? The answer, as Owen correctly states, is only in Isaiah 65 and 66—passages which clearly prophesy the period of the Go [...]
Part One of Two. Gary responds to a recent Facebook article posted by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. Commentators often argue that Matthew 24 contains both a discussion of the A.D. 70 destruction of religious, social, and political Judaism as well as a reference to a yet-future return of Christ. This supposed distinction is drawn by contrasting “this generation” and “that day and hour.” Gentry wri [...]
If there is a single doctrine that both excites and divides Christians, it’s the ‘rapture.’ The doctrine of the ‘rapture’ deals with a future event where the church is said to be taken off the earth in one of five different times related to a seven-year period described as the Great Tribulation: before (pre-trib), at the mid-point (mid-trib), partial, just prior to God pours out His wrath (pre-wra [...]
Does Isaiah 11:11-12 refer to a distant return of Israel back to their land, or did it have a past fulfillment in view? No Jew reading Isaiah 11 in Isaiah’s day, during the time of the exile, and the return under the decree of Cyrus (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4), would have considered such an interpretation given that the chapter mentions Assyria, Shinar, the Philistines, Edom, Moab, “and the so [...]
I’ve debated Michael Brown several times. He believes that God’s promises for Israel have not been fulfilled even though the Bible specifically says they have, at least that’s what Zacharias believed: And [John’s] father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has ra [...]
Gary answers a listener question about the audience change between Matthew 23 and 24. Jesus warned His disciples to beware of false messiahs. Thomas Ice argues that “there is scholarly consensus that there were not false Christs or Messiahs until around A.D. 130.” To support his claim, he cites the following from a commentary published in 1878: We possess no historical record of any false Messiahs [...]
