Great tribulation

Jesus closes His explanation of the “great tribulation” sign with a promise to deliver the elect Jews from that catastrophe: “Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matt 24:22). He also tells His disciples what they must…

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…

In the last post (here), I discussed one aspect of Jesus’ great tribulation sign: the desolation it brought. Here, I begin examining the descriptions it required. Through these descriptions, Jesus showed the significance of the “great tribulation.” This time of upheaval would be (1) the days of God’s vengeance against…

Jesus answered the disciples’ sign question by presenting signs that would be “the beginning of the birth pains” for Israel (Matt 24:8 ESV). Now, He gives a sign nearer to the temple’s fall: “There will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until…

We’re testing Peter’s claim that all the prophets spoke about his days, his generation. According to the inmillennial prophetic model, these were the “last days” of the Mosaic age. We verified that Moses (here and here), Samuel, and Obadiah did so, following the chronological order Peter (and Jesus) suggested (Acts 3:24;…

Dr. Tom Nettles describes James’ view of the “last days” and the coming of the Lord in his foreword to my book: “Behold the judge is standing at the door” (James 5:9). I read these verses today and considered seriously the possibility that James, the pastor of Christians in Jerusalem,…

Paul encouraged the Thessalonians from a prophetic perspective. They were suffering for the kingdom of God (2 Thess 1:5). The Lord Jesus would soon come to take vengeance on their persecutors (2 Thess 1:6–9). I discussed these topics in my last post. The Apostle continued by reminding the Thessalonians about…

Christians need an optimistic view of God’s kingdom. We need to know that Christ’s opponents—including satanic conspirators who manipulate currencies, use COVID and its vaccinations for political purposes, and otherwise attempt to rule the world—will fail. False religions, and false doctrine within the church, also war against the kingdom of…

Paul uses a striking image to describe the tribulation the church of the Thessalonians was experiencing. He says the Jews were “fill(ing) up their sins” so that God’s wrath could come on them. This imagery validates inmillennialism’s view of a two-phased tribulation: the preliminary tribulations and the final “great tribulation”/“wrath” that…

  According to the inmillennial prophetic model, the churches in Paul’s generation were in a unique situation: they were taking part in a New Exodus, a journey to the long-promised messianic (kingdom) age. This pilgrimage was the antitype of Israel’s original Exodus under Moses (cp. 1 Cor 10:1–11). Israel left Egypt…