Hyperbole

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…

Two patterns emerge in Jesus’s list of signs related to the Temple’s fall: they became more intense and more figurative (Mark 13:5–27). Regarding intensity, he began with signs that were not immediate precursors of that event. These would give way to signs that would affect the apostles directly. These would…

This brief post will make a single point—Jesus used standard prophetic imagery to describe the Temple’s destruction. The need to establish this point is clear. In the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:1–27), Jesus spoke about the Temple’s destruction. His disciples asked two questions about this prophecy: when would “these things” happen…

Jesus’s Olivet Discourse was about nothing but the Temple’s destruction. He foretold that event (Mark 13:1–2). His disciples asked two questions about it (Mark 13:3–4). He answered them in reverse order (Mark 13:5–27). The disciples asked, “what will be the sign” of the Temple’s fall? Jesus began with signs that…

A friend asked me to develop a 15-page summary of inmillennialism, my framework for the interpretation of biblical prophecy. This post is the third part of that summary. The next two posts will provide the rest. I plan to then post a downloadable PDF of the entire document. We started…

On Tuesday of his final week on earth, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. He told his disciples about the Temple’s destruction. They asked for a sign pointing to that age-changing event (Matthew 24:1–3). Jesus answered their request with a straightforward list of signs.  We categorized these signs into…