Gary responds to an Advent devotional in Christianity Today regarding Matthew 24. A failure to understand the symbolic nature of these passages has led many popular writers (and, surprisingly, not a few scholarly ones) to assume that such expressions as “the sun turned to sackcloth and the moon to blood” can only be understood as referring to the collapse of the physical cosmos. Nobody takes these [...]
Gary responds to a video where a pastor claims you must “rightly divide the Bible,” based on 2 Timothy 2:15. By this he means that you must rightly divide the “people” of God into Jew and Gentile and understand New Testament passages in light of “the Church age.” How could Christians believe that Jesus could come at any moment and also believe that He would not [...]
Now that the first volume of the book is available, this recap from the initial episodes of Covenant Hermeneutics and Biblical Eschatology was due for a re-run. New Testament eschatology is the eschatology of Old Testament Israel. Israel’s eschaton is what is being discussed there. But, of course, Israel’s eschaton was a subset of the greater world history. OT Israel was not the end of the road. I [...]
A few years ago, I spoke at a conference on postmillennialism in Torrance, California, on the topic, “Evidence that Postmillennialists are Winning the Prophecy Debate.” I only got through a small portion of what I prepared. Ken Gentry also spoke. Kirk Cameron was there at my invitation. He gave a great talk about his prophetic pilgrimage. Sorry to say, the recording of my talk did not turn out. Th [...]
The year 2023 was an interesting and productive year for me and American Vision. In December of 2022, I noticed a large lump nearly the size of my fist on my left calf. After numerous tests, I found out that it was a high-grade carcinoma. Cancer! After 25 sessions of radiation the tumor was removed in March. Every three months I get an MRI of my calf and a CT scan of my thoracic region because thi [...]
What does the incarnation of Jesus mean? For Simeon and Anna, it was a confirmation of God’s faithfulness to act on behalf of His people. They believed that the incarnate Jesus WAS God’s plan of salvation for the world. They weren’t bothered by the fact that their hope for Israel was bound up in the helpless frame of a baby. Quite the opposite; they were overjoyed. Simeon and Anna rejoiced to see [...]
From the archives: Gary answers an interesting question that was submitted to the Michael Heiser podcast several years ago. “This generation” in Matthew 24:34 and the parallel passages in Mark 13 and Luke 21 refers to the generation of Jesus’ day. Following this biblical evidence, most Bible commentators have interpreted “this generation” in this way, understanding t [...]
Gary answers a listener question about the “number of the beast,” Nero, and Titus. The number 666 has long fascinated theologians and mathematicians. Maybe the interest in the number has something to do with the attainment of wisdom and understanding since to “calculate the number of the beast” will reward the diligent (Rev. 13:18). Wallace John Steinhope is the physicist in Paul Natha [...]
Gary discusses a recent article by a Jesuit priest claiming that Donald Trump is the “antichrist.” Saint Martin of Tours, who died in A.D. 397, wrote of the coming antichrist whose reign would signify the last days. His prediction sounds strangely familiar. “Non est dubium, quin antichristus…. There is no doubt that the antichrist has already been born. Firmly established alread [...]
Gary concludes his interview with Paul Edward Stevenson on the Last Man Standing radio show about Israel, Hamas, and popular prophecy. When Jesus’ disciples heard His prediction of “desolation” for the temple and city (Matt. 23:29-39) when He “came out from the temple” (24:1), they “came up to point out the temple buildings to Him,” as if to say, “Lord, You can’t mean this temple that’s adorned wi [...]
Gary is interviewed by Paul Edward Stevenson on the Last Man Standing radio show about Israel, Hamas, and popular prophecy. Part One of Two Without a proper context, a verse from the Bible could be used to support atheism, because as one out-of-context passage reads, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The full reading of a passage in its proper context reveals its true meaning: “The fool has said in [...]
Guest article by Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr Daniel E. Harden (Editor) He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. -The Psalmist[2] Right now, the Church rules the nations of the world. We and we alone have been given power and dominion, and if we don’t like the way things are going, we have only ourselves to blame. [...]
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, [...]
