Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 10 Many modern preachers and authors are schizophrenic. They don’t seem to understand that their messages are contradictory and often cause their hearers to become paralyzed with indecision. Thousands of tracts, magazine articles, sermons and radio messages tell the people, “Jesus is coming soon!” “These are the last days of this dispensation” and [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 9 Gary puts the popular claim of dividing Matthew 24 into past and future events under the exegetical microscope to see if it stands up under scrutiny. Matthew 24:33 tells us what audience Jesus had in view: “so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.” It’s obvious, and without any need for debate, that the [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 8 Gary discusses the idea put forth by nearly all modern pop prophecy writers that Israel becoming a nation again in 1948 is a “major prophetic sign” of the “end times.” A very popular argument for modern-day Israel being the fulfillment of Bible prophecy uses the fig tree illustration found in Matthew 24:32: “Now learn the [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 7 Gary discusses Max Lucado’s new book, What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through the End of This Age. While referring to Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks of years (9:24-27), Lucado writes, “This gloomy prophecy was fulfilled on August 6, AD 70. Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem, killed a million Jews, and tore the temple apart stone by [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 6 Gary responds to a clip on Facebook that claims to “prove” the Rapture with two Bible verses. If Revelation 3:10 is the passage that teaches that Christians won’t go through a future seven-year tribulation period, then it needs to be studied carefully. Can it be shown that John being told to “Come up here…” (4:1) is a type of rapture that [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 5 Gary responds to recent comments made by Glenn Beck on Tucker Carlson’s national tour. The literal meaning of Scripture “embraces the normal, everyday, common understanding of the terms of the Bible. Words are given the meaning they normally have in common communication.” The interpreter should be mindful of the “historical setting.” Sentences o [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 4 Gary puts Matthew 24, or what is commonly called Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, under the microscope. The question before us is simple: Does the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Mark 13; and Luke 21) describe signs that were fulfilled in (1) events leading up to and including the destruction of the temple in AD 70, (2) a future generation, (3) a past gener [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 3 On this third episode of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope, Gary continues his study of 2 Thessalonians 2 and the “man of lawlessness.” II. The temple A. The temple was still standing when Paul wrote his letters to the Thessalonians. “[T]he hearer would naturally think of the Jerusalem temple, which would stand for two decades more.” B. [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 2 Gary responds to comments on Facebook about the man of lawlessness (or sin) from 2 Thessalonians 2. Is “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” a reference to the Second Coming, that is, an event that is still in our future, or is it a coming in judgment upon first-century Jerusalem that would be the event to bring the “last days” to a close (2 Thess. [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 1 Gary begins his new Friday series called “Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope.” A Christian should never fear having his “system” scrutinized by the plain teaching of the Bible. The rallying cry of the Reformation was ecclesia reformata quia semper reformanda est, “the church reformed because it must always be reforming.” This should be ev [...]
