D. A. Carson

Jesus gives a second description of the “great tribulation” sign: it would be one “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt 24:21). This begins the shift in literary styles that I mentioned earlier (here), from unadorned prose…

This post continues our answer to a reader’s objection to our Miraculous Gifts post. There we dealt with 1 Cor 13:8–10 and said “that which is perfect” (1 Cor 13:10) refers to the messianic age.  If our identification of the “perfect” is correct, Paul was showing the Corinthians when God…

The AD 70 blog has come full circle. We published our first post on Nov. 3, 2016. Our fourth post appeared on the last Wednesday of that month. Since then, the Lord has blessed us to post each Wednesday for 129 consecutive weeks. We have covered much ground. Our first…

The timing of this week’s post on Matthew 21 is fitting. This passage describes events that occurred on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in the week of Jesus’s crucifixion. The anniversary of this (Palm) Sunday will occur on April 14, 2019. So, this post is about events that happened almost exactly 1,989…

One atheist used Matthew 16:27–28 to explain his rejection of Christianity. Speaking to the South London Branch of the National Secular Society in 1927, Bertrand Russell said, I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels;…

We are using our prophetic model (inmillennialism) to interpret selected passages in Matthew. We have come to a passage (Matt 13:46–52) that contains two sayings of Jesus. The setting is important. Jesus gave them in the “last days” (Heb 1:2) of the Mosaic age. He was about to take the…

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” — Prov 29:18 (ESV) Prophecy leads God’s people to obey their Lord. But, several ingredients must be present. First, God must give us a vision. When Samuel was young, “the word…

Commentators often say the kingdom of God is Matthew’s major theme. For example, Donald A. Hagner says, The central emphasis of the book is found in . . . ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; cf. 26:13), namely, the good news that the reign or rule of…

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…

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…