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the Coming of Jesus: Revelation Fulfilled?

...ly before the fall of Jerusalem and just as the Jewish War was getting underway during the reign of Nero. the late date puts the writing towards the end of the reign of Domitian around 95-96 AD. From John’s own testimony, we know that he was suffering persecution at the time of writing: Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.   Both of these Roman Emperors persecuted the Christians, though none quite so severely as Nero did. there’s varying accounts of when Revelation was penned...

Was there death before the fall?

...It is often said and believed by many that our souls are immortal - that God gave us a spirit/soul that cannot die when he created us, and that death was not even a concept or reality before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Despite this idea being a fairly "recent" concept (in terms of history and theology), and it stemming from Greek philosophy, it's also not supported by the Biblical text - especially in Genesis. Lets look at the creation account in Gen 2:7— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. the word "being" in that verse, or "sou...

Where Hal Lindsey and Dispensationalism Went Wrong

...ding with the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.) Lindsey (p. 87, etc.) saw the existence of nuclear weapons as an important sign of the end times. However, Jesus taught that the so-called “end times” would be when God’s people would “fall by the edge of the sword” (Luke 21:24). Jesus’ prophecies were about ancient warfare, not modern nuclear weapons. the context of this prophecy by Jesus was about the coming destruction of the temple (Luke 21:6). Jesus told his listeners that it would happen when theY saw Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20), in theIR generation (Luke 21:32). This all happened when the Roman armies invaded Jerusalem in AD 67–70....

the Coming of Jesus: Coming on the clouds

...Coming on the clouds of heaven then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. When people read Jesus saying that he will be "coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" in Matthew 24:30, it often taken to mean that he will be doing that literally as opposed to figuratively. Kinda like this, but on clouds.   Careful now, before you put on your heretic hunting hats and grab your pitchforks — let me explain why I say that Jesus wasn't telling his fol...

the Temptations of Jesus: Complacency

...So now we are at the end of the temptations that Jesus endured in the desert, and I wanted to look at what happens at the end. So often I think this aspect is overlooked when we read of this time in Scripture. Let’s take a look at the text: Matthew 4:11then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Luke 4:13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. the two Gospel accounts both give us a varying perspective with different details. Afterwards, the devil leaves and angels “suddenly” come. This is almost a temptation in itself; one to think we are all good and safe now we've won the battl...

What are the Seraphim, and was the devil one of them?

...be about the fall of Satan, despite the start of this passage being directed to the King of Tyre. In verse 14 and 16 it speaks about a “cherub” (another rank of angelic being, and again, a transliterated word), but depending on which translation you read, the phrasing can either imply that the subject of this text is a cherub, or that the king of Tyre had a cherub with him. Each version has a footnote saying that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain here, so I’m not sure it can be a strong argument for or against the devil being a cherub. Update: Since writing this, I’ve come across this video which summarises Michael Heiser’s teaching on this topi...