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 [...]
Gary responds to several recent articles about the state of the world and the end times. While books on the Armageddon theme flood the market, there are a few authors who concern themselves with talk of peace by world leaders: “And now, at long last, the prospect of a peace such as the world has never known before seems to have metamorphosed from an impossible dream to a realistic hope. In fact, t [...]
In a survey that Left Behind publisher Tyndale did, “More than 50 percent of respondents … said ‘I’m anxiously expecting his return.’” Jan Markell, president of Olive Tree Ministries, writing for a large worldview ministry, argued that “the church is not in the business of taking anything away from Satan but the souls of men.”[1] Hal Lindsey said something similar: “I don’t like clichés but [...]
How authoritative are man-man confessions of faith? Can they ever be revised or updated? How sacrosanct is historical theology? No one should despise the work of the church over its many centuries or the work it has produced over nearly two millennia. My many published works show great respect for historical works. In some circles, when there’s a disagreement, appeals are made to agreed-upon seemi [...]
Gary interacts with two articles by David Jeremiah and Dr. Michael Brown regarding the climate of the modern Church. The Apostle John’s antichrist doctrine is a theological concept related to an apostasy that was fomenting in his day. John did not have a particular individual in mind but rather individuals who taught that Jesus Christ is not who the Bible says He is: In one word, “Antichrist” mean [...]
Non-dispensational debates on eschatology have become big news. The topic of the resurrection is often at center stage. What passages deal with the physical resurrection of the “self-same bodies” (Westminster Confession of Faith: 32.2) and “the very same body” (Larger Catechism Q/A 52) at the physical return of Jesus at some time in the future? Larger Catechism Q/A 87, “What are we to believe conc [...]
One of the arguments used against a preterist interpretation of Revelation is that it was developed by Spanish Jesuit Luis De Alcazar (1554–1613) who wrote a commentary titled Vestigio Arcani Sensus in Apocaplysi or Investigation of the Hidden Sense of the Apocalypse and was published a year after his death. “In this work dedicated to the Catholic Church, he made a new attempt to interpret the Apo [...]
Gary responds to several comments from Pastor John MacArthur and Dr. Michael Brown who are pushing back against the preterist interpretation of Bible prophecy. Much of the debate over preterism comes down to when a document was written. This is especially true for the book of Revelation. If a document was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in A.D. 70, then any statement [...]
Gary discusses his trip to Mexico last week where he gave five talks about eschatology and Bible interpretation. The Apostle Paul compares the supposed progress of the ungodly in Timothy’s day, the “last days” of the Old Covenant of Judaism (Heb. 1:1–2; 1 Cor. 10:11), to the overthrow of Jannes and Jambres in Moses’ day (Ex. 7:11): “But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be [...]
