Leon Morris

Jesus is now entering the prophetic crossroads of the ages. He has just finished giving the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24–25) on Tuesday of Passion Week. He will die on the cross and rise from the dead within five days. The Old Testament prophecies about the messianic-age kingdom depend on what…

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…

We now come face-to-face with an evil triad. The Seven Mystic Figures vision has already revealed the Dragon (Rev. 12:3–17) and the Sea Beast (Rev. 13:1–10). Now John introduces us to the Land Beast (Rev. 13:11–18). “This second beast completes the triumvirate of evil—the dragon, the sea beast, and the…

“I know that’s what it says, but that is not what it means,” said my red-faced father to my maternal grandfather. Grandpa Smith had a second-grade education but loved God. I often saw him read the Bible and pray with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was also a died-in-the-wool…

Paul wants the Hebrew believers—and us—to know that Christianity excels Judaism. Our previous posts examined his two opening arguments: Christ excels the agents—angels (Heb. 1:4 – 2:18) and Moses (Heb. 3:1 – 4:13)—through whom God gave the law. This post will examine Paul’s next step as he argues that Christ…

Paul shows the superiority of the Messianic covenant to the Mosaic in Heb. 1:4 – 2:18. He does so by comparing the agents through which God established the covenants. The Mosaic covenant—also called “the law”—came with a prominent display of angelic ministry. Israel “received the law by the disposition of…

We have completed the inmillennial prophetic model. Future posts will add other details, but the basic structure is now available to help us interpret Scripture. We will begin doing so with a series of posts dealing with the letter to the Hebrews. The identity of the author of Hebrews is…

Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse on Tuesday of Passion Week. It seems appropriate to finish our analysis of it on the 1,987th anniversary of that day. Jesus ended his discussion about the Temple’s destruction with a fifth warning, this time referring to the sheep and goats judgment. Like the other…

Turmoil often accompanies the inauguration of a new government. Even stable nations sometimes experience disruptions to the social, economic, and political order during transitions of power. As contrasts between the new and the old become starker, the protests against the change become more severe. Jesus’ disciples understood how the inauguration…