Are We Witnessing the Final Prophetic Generation?

Are We Witnessing the Final Prophetic Generation?

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 [...]

The Bible is the Blueprint

The Bible is the Blueprint

Gary discusses a speech given by Pastor Jack Hibbs to the Family Research Council about the state of the culture. One would be hard pressed to find modern politicians who would claim that the State is divine, but more often than not actions speak louder than words. For modern secularists, the political sphere is no less divine than the city-states of Greece and Rome and the deified nationalism of [...]

The Heavens Will be Shaken

The Heavens Will be Shaken

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 [...]

The Last Days Scoffers

The Last Days Scoffers

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 [...]

Scoffers and the Last Days

Scoffers and the Last Days

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 [...]

Creation and Eschatology

Creation and Eschatology

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 [...]

Should Christians Still Believe in the ‘Rapture’?

Should Christians Still Believe in the ‘Rapture’?

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 [...]

Isaiah 11 and the Recovery of Israel “the Second Time”

Isaiah 11 and the Recovery of Israel “the Second Time”

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 [...]

Is the Modern Hebrew Language a Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy?

Is the Modern Hebrew Language a Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy?

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 [...]

False Christs and False Messiahs

False Christs and False Messiahs

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 [...]

Biblical Illiteracy and the End of the World

Biblical Illiteracy and the End of the World

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 [...]

Don’t Help the Poor: It Might Delay the Rapture

Don’t Help the Poor: It Might Delay the Rapture

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 [...]

The Westminster Confession of Faith and Preterism

The Westminster Confession of Faith and Preterism

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 [...]

What Does the Current Apostasy Mean?

What Does the Current Apostasy Mean?

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 [...]

Daniel 12 and the Resurrection

Daniel 12 and the Resurrection

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 [...]

Alephs in the Sky

Alephs in the Sky

Gary discusses a recent article that makes the claim that the end times are finally upon us because eclipses are writing Hebrew letters in the sky. During World War II biblical references to falling heavenly bodies were thought to be bombs dropping on the cities of Europe. Supposedly there was even a Russian postage stamp to support the interpretation. The stamp showed apocalyptic symbols—lightnin [...]

Was the Preterist Interpretation of Revelation Invented by the Jesuits?

Was the Preterist Interpretation of Revelation Invented by the Jesuits?

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 [...]

Is Preterism an Impossibility?

Is Preterism an Impossibility?

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 [...]

Taking It to the Next Generation

Taking It to the Next Generation

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 [...]

Heretics and False Teachers

Heretics and False Teachers

In this concluding part of his interview with Pastor Richard Henry, Gary further discusses the recent heresy controversy. As the New Testament makes clear, apostasy was rampant almost from the church’s inception. The apostasy about which John wrote was operating in his day. Paul had to counter a “different gospel” that was “contrary” to what he had preached (Gal. 1:6–9). He had to battle “false br [...]