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 every Christian’s rallying cry.
The church needs to take another look at the topic of eschatology, the study of last things. The topic has not been settled in spite of a great deal of misplaced dogmatism. The Bible is not a book that can be taken lightly. As students of the Bible, we are obligated to take God at His word, even when it contradicts what we’ve been taught by popular prophecy writers.
One of the first things a Christian must learn in interpreting the Bible is to pay attention to the time texts. Failing to recognize the proximity of a prophetic event will distort its intended meaning. The New Testament clearly states that the “end of all things” was at hand for those who first read 1 Peter 4:7; that is, the Old Covenant with its types and shadows was about to pass away. The book of Hebrews opens with two verses that put the timing of certain eschatological events into perspective: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” (Heb. 1:1–2). Prior to the coming of Jesus, God spoke via dreams, prophets, written revelation, and types. Through the New Covenant God “has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready [lit., near] to disappear” (8:13).
Last Days Madness
The end is here...again. At every calendar milestone, self-proclaimed modern-day ‘prophets’ arise to stir up a furor rivaled only by the impending apocalypse they predict. This doom-and-gloom prognostication is not only spread by a few fanatics, but millions of Christians, including some of the most recognized names in mainstream Christianity who are caught up in the latest ‘last days’ frenzy. In this authoritative book, Gary DeMar clears the haze of ‘end-times’ fever, shedding light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages in the Bible.
Buy NowOn today’s podcast, Gary responds to a critic of his article “All Christians are Preterists.” A preterist interpretation of prophecy puts its fulfillment in the past. All Christians believe in fulfilled prophecy. This makes them preterists to some degree. Claiming Christ as Lord means that you believe that His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension were fulfillments of promises and prophecies in the Old Testament. What was once future has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ and is now in the past; it is history.