Spiros Zodhiates

What did Jesus mean when he said, “I will build my church”? In last week’s post (here), we defined the terms “church” and “kingdom” as Jesus used them in Matt 16:18–19. The church (Gk. ekklēsia) comprises all persons in covenant relationship with God during the messianic age. The kingdom is…

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…

Our last post (here) discussed Jesus’s parables of the “treasure” and the “pearl of great price” (Matt 13:44–46). Our view of them agrees with the majority view on a key point. In these stories, “Jesus is comparing the kingdom of God to the treasure and to the pearl.” We disagree,…

Revelation’s sixth vision—The Vision of the Great Whore (Rev. 17–20)—mentions a thousand-year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:2–7). Commentators call this period “the millennium.” This word comes from the Latin words mille, “thousand,” and annum, “year.” The traditional prophetic frameworks derive their names from this period. Postmillennialism believes the Lord will…

Our application of inmillennialism to this section of Revelation (Rev. 14:1–5) introduces the sixth mystic figure in this vision—the Lamb on Mount Zion (Rev. 14:1). The Dragon (Satan) has attempted to destroy the Man-Child (Christ) at his birth (Rev. 12:4; cp. Matt. 2:16). When the Man-Child ascended to heaven (Rev.…

We are tracing Paul’s arguments in Hebrews that show how Christianity excels Judaism. We contend that Inmillennialism supports his reasoning well. This will hold true as he takes the next step: Christianity excels Judaism because Christ excels Moses (Heb. 3:1–4:13). Paul supports his argument in ways that affect our prophetic…

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” — Stephen Covey In our last post, we identified the Olivet Discourse as the starting point for constructing our prophetic model. Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; and Luke 21:5–35 record this exchange between Jesus and his disciples. We will…