Prophecy

As the apostles were writing the New Testament, God was bringing the Mosaic age to a close. He was also establishing the messianic-age kingdom of God. Matthew’s gospel emphasizes this age change. John and Jesus had announced the kingdom of God was at hand (Matt 3:2; 4:17). Jesus had taught…

Our last post (here) gave Inmillennialism’s interpretation of the “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11). This post will show how it fits within Paul’s flow of thought in his letter to the Thessalonians. Paul could “not have been in Thessalonica for more than a matter of months.” After persecution forced him…

The “rapture passage” (1 Thess 4:13–5:11) creates problems for the current prophetic models. Their interpretations implicate Paul in error. They portray him as naïve and inconsistent. They do not take the Olivet Discourse to be “the word of the Lord” to which Paul appeals (1 Thess 4:15), even though the…

Current prophetic models imply Paul made mistakes about the “the day of the Lord.” They say that, on that day, deceased Christian will rise to leave their graves empty. Living Christians will receive glorified bodies and fly to join them. Paul thought he and/or his contemporaries would live to see…

A reader who embraces much of inmillennialism asked for help. He has difficulty with the “rapture” passage. I am being challenged on 1 Thess 4:13–5:11 and the teaching of the rapture. In part this seems to be referring to a future event from our time, but I am having trouble…

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This verse causes some readers to doubt inmillennialism.…

The New Testament gives a surprising report of Roman centurions. It mentions six, each a “commander of 100 men in the Roman army.” They all had a positive connection to the kingdom of heaven. Matt 8:5–13 presents the New Testament’s first centurion. His perception of the kingdom caused Jesus to…

Please don’t allow a little word to intimidate you. Syllogism may sound scary, but it is our friend. It is “a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion.” For example, “every virtue is laudable; kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is laudable.” This post…

My mom used to make butter from fresh cow’s milk. She poured it into a churn and agitated it with a wooden plunger. This caused the milk solids to separate from the liquid. She then skimmed the butter off the top and pressed it into a mold. When the butter…

Jesus did not preach a theoretical kingdom. Centuries earlier Daniel declared God would set up his kingdom in the days of the Roman kings. It would consume all other kingdoms (Dan 2:44). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1–7:29) Jesus shows the tangible nature of that kingdom. The context…