

# An Introduction to Bible Prophecy

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Scripture quotations, unless noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The "NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Table of Contents

How to Interpret Prophecy

A Balanced Approach to Bible Prophecy

What About Bible Prophecy?

The Prophetic Meaning of Daniel 2 and 7

What Matthew 24 Tells Us About "the End"

What About "the Rapture"?

Who Is the "Antichrist" and "Man of Sin"?

Only One Name

Will Humans Become Gods?

About the Authors...

About the Publisher...

Grace Communion Seminary

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## How to Interpret Prophecy

There are many difficulties involved in interpreting prophecy, but if we take the Bible seriously, we need to study prophecy, because prophecy is a large part of the literature God has inspired to be written and preserved in the Christian canon. Since prophecy encourages us to know God and do his will, it is important for us to study it, even if it is difficult.

Prophecy has a spiritual message, and readers need the help of the Holy Spirit to be able to understand it. But even people who have the Holy Spirit can make errors, and people with the Holy Spirit may disagree with each other. All sorts of erroneous interpretations have been taught by people claiming to have God's Spirit and claiming to have the inspired interpretation. Therefore, as a practical matter, we cannot convince people of our interpretation if we are using special insight they don't have access to. If we did that, we would be asking them to have faith in us.

We need to base our understanding, our arguments, and our teaching on what the scriptures say and on what people can see for themselves, in the translations that are commonly available. We have to use an understandable method of interpretation, one that makes sense historically, linguistically and theologically. We need to examine the words, the grammar, the paragraph flow, the type of literature we are dealing with, and with the overall message of the Bible.

Prophecy was not inspired to satisfy our curiosity about the future – it has always had a theological purpose. It tells us something about what God is doing with humanity, and it is given to help motivate people to do something in the present. Prophecy is not an end in itself — it supports a more important goal. God's primary purpose in dealing with humanity is to reconcile us to him, to give us salvation through Christ – and prophecy serves that larger purpose. It tells us something about what God is doing, and it may also tell us something about what we should be doing. Prophecy should lead us toward God, so that we know him, have faith in him, and seek him through Jesus Christ.

### Poetic language

We need to understand the type of literature we are dealing with, because this is where many of the difficulties arise. Prophecy is not written in the same way as history is. Prophecy is often poetic, and ancient poetry, like modern poetry, uses words in a metaphorical or symbolic sense more often than history does. Psalm 23 is a familiar example of poetic metaphors, with pastoral imagery. The Lord is my shepherd; he leads me beside still waters; my cup runs over. These are metaphors drawn from different aspects of life.

Psalm 18 is a good illustration. It tells us in verse 1 that it is about "when the Lord delivered David from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul." Saul tried to kill David, but David kept escaping.

The psalm begins with some common metaphors:

#### The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. (verses 1-3)

David uses a variety of images to describe God as a place of safety – a defensive and passive role. He adds even more images when he writes,

#### The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. (verses 4-6)

From images of the underworld, David now turns to images of heaven, and he puts the matter in cosmic terminology:

#### The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him — the dark rain clouds of the sky. (verses 7-11)

David is using some of the same language that Canaanite myths use. He is speaking of earthquakes and thunderstorms. Is this the way that God rescued David from Saul? No, that is not in the history – David is speaking in imaginative, poetic terms.

We see more as we go on:

#### Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. (verses 12-14)

So far, we have mostly thunderstorm imagery. But then David adds something that was surely not involved in his escapes from Saul:

#### The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (verses 15-18)

In this psalm, we can see how poetic language can be applied to a historical event. It would be a mistake for us to take this literally – and we must be equally cautious about taking the language of prophecy literally, because it is also poetry. Some dramatic figures of speech may be involved. Poetic language about the valleys of the sea should not be taken literally, mountains may not be meant literally, and heavenly signs may not be meant literally.

Hosea 12:10 says some of the prophecies were given as parables, that is, in figurative language: "I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them."

### Literally?

One school of interpretation stresses the literal interpretation of prophecies. Prophecies are sometimes meant literally, but to begin with an advance assumption about prophecy runs contrary to the biblical evidence. We can't assume in advance that it is literal; nor can we assume in advance that it isn't. The literal approach has produced a lot of failed prophecies, and a lot of disappointment. Other schools of interpretation have their problems, too, all of which emphasizes our need to be cautious in our approach.

Amos' prophecy of blessings illustrates some problems of literal interpretation:

#### The days are coming...when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. (Amos 9:13)

Will the reaper really be overtaken by the plowman? Why wouldn't the plowman simply stop and help the reaper? How can the grape-treader, who works in a wine press, overtake the planter, who works in a field? If streams of wine flow from the hills (other verses might make us wonder whether there will be any hills), why would anyone need a grape-treader? This is not meant literally. But how much of it is figurative? Will there be plowmen and grape-treaders at all? The verse cannot answer that question.

When we read that "mountains and hills will burst into song, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12), we interpret it symbolically, because a literal fulfillment isn't possible. But when we read that "the lion will eat straw like the ox" (Isaiah 11:7), we find something equally impossible without a miracle. Maybe it isn't meant literally, either.

When we read that everyone will sit under his vine and fig tree (Micah 4:4), we need not insist that everyone will have a vine and fig tree. We need to look at the picture before we look at the details. The details are artistic license used to support the picture of peace and prosperity, which is the context of verses 3-4. The details are like those in a photo of happy people. The photo can be representative of happiness, but we don't expect every detail to be representative. Sitting at home may illustrate peace and abundance, but those details are not required for peace and abundance.

As another example, Isaiah 40:3-4 says that the mountains will be brought low and uneven ground will be made level. Literally, this would mean that there will be no hills. However, Luke 3:4-6 implies that this prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist. Luke understood it figuratively, in a very non-literal way. He was not talking about mountains and roads at all.

Due to the way New Testament writers present Messianic prophecies, some readers may think there has been a "literal" fulfillment. But a comparison of Old Testament context and New Testament fulfillment sometimes shows a major shift in meaning. Sometimes the original verse in the Old Testament wasn't a prophecy at all – it was just fulfilled, or given greater meaning, in the life and ministry of Christ.

Joel 2:28-29 predicted God's Spirit on "all flesh" and dreams and visions, but Peter said that this was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when there was no mention of dreams and visions (Acts 2:16-17). Nevertheless, Peter said that Pentecost was a fulfillment of the prophecy. He did not press the details very far, and neither should we. Their understanding of fulfillment is different from the concept many people today have.

Let's look at an example from the book of Revelation: Does Christ hold a sword in his mouth (Revelation 19:15), or does it metaphorically mean words of war? Similarly in the Old Testament, when we read that people will "beat swords into plowshares," do we restrict the meaning to swords and plows, or do we update it technologically to include all instruments of warfare and productivity? In this case, the specific item (a sword) seems to refer to a general subject (violence); the same may be true with other details of prophecy. Each word may stand for something else.

What about people? Malachi 4:5-6 predicted an Elijah. But it wasn't literally Elijah; Jesus said that John the Baptist fulfilled that role. When Elijah comes again, will it be a resurrected Elijah, or someone in his role? What about the prophecies of a future David? In many cases, "David" may be a reference to his descendant and successor, Christ. And if Christ fulfills the prediction, it isn't necessary that David himself will also.

When we read that Christ will sit on the throne of David, should we expect the same physical throne, or is it a figure of speech depicting rulership of Israel? Will we all sit on the one throne of God (Revelation 3:21) while the apostles sit on other thrones (Matthew 19:28)?

### Humility needed

We should interpret the Bible by asking, What did the writer mean? He may have intended a figurative meaning. However, to understand the figure of speech or the metaphor, we must first understand what the words mean literally. But we cannot arbitrarily reject all other possibilities. Unfortunately, there is no simple formula to tell us which words are literal and which are symbolic, and even if we know the word is symbolic, there is no formula to tell us what the symbol means. That is why Bible prophecy is interpreted in many different ways.

Although we'd like to have an answer for every Bible question, we should say "We don't know" more often. "Some of us think this way, and some of us think that way. I understand how you got your view, and I might happen to disagree with it, but I cannot prove that either view is the only way of looking at it." This is the approach we need on several issues.

Because of the ambiguities that are involved in prophecy (probably by God's design), differences of opinion will exist, even among converted Christians. On such matters, we should not be dogmatic, and none of us should insist that the church teach our particular view. On many debatable issues, the church need not teach any view; it is not essential to Christian discipleship or to our commission. There are sections of the Bible we do not understand (even Paul didn't know everything), and we need to admit it. We cannot be dogmatic about many specific interpretations — and we cannot categorically reject everyone else's.

A brief word about dates, perhaps one of the most often misused aspects of prophecy: Bible prophecies are often purposely ambiguous about chronology. That isn't so we will study harder and make lots of guesses – it is because the chronology is relatively unimportant. The more important thing is our spiritual response, and that is more important even if we did know the chronology.

Prophecy is given not so much that we will know the future, but that we will know that God controls the future. It is far more important for us to know God, than it is for us to know the future. Any revelation of the future is given primarily so that we will do something now to be on the side of the One who wins in the end, the one who declares the end from ancient times, the one who will be sure to bring it all to pass just as he has purposed.

Michael Morrison

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## A Balanced Approach to Bible Prophecy

Many Christians need an overview of prophecy, to put prophecy into perspective. That is because many Christians overemphasize prophecy and make claims about prophecy that cannot be substantiated. For some, prophecy is the most important doctrine. That is what occupies most of their Bible study, and that is the subject they want to hear about the most. Armageddon fiction sells well. Many Christians would do well to notice the real purpose of prophecy.

Bible prophecy reveals God and his will and purpose for humanity. In Bible prophecy, God declares that human sinfulness is forgiven through repentance and faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Prophecy proclaims God as Sovereign Creator and Judge of all, it assures humanity of his love, mercy, and faithfulness, and it motivates the believer to live a godly life in Jesus Christ.

The above paragraph has three sentences. The first one says that prophecy is part of God's revelation to us, and it tells us something about who he is, what he is like, what he wants and what he is doing.

The second sentence says that Bible prophecy announces salvation through Jesus Christ. It does not say that _all_ prophecy is concerned with forgiveness and faith in Christ. Nor does it say that prophecy is the only place that God reveals these things about salvation. We could say that prophecy is one of the many ways in which God reveals forgiveness through Christ.

Since God's plan centers on Jesus Christ, and prophecy is part of God's revelation of his will, it is inevitable that prophecy relates, either directly or indirectly, to what he is doing in and through Jesus Christ. (We are not trying to pinpoint every prophecy here — we are giving an overview.) The most important thing about prophecy is not about nations, and not about the future, but it is about repentance, and faith, salvation, and life right now.

If we took a survey in most denominations, I doubt that many people would say that prophecy is about forgiveness and faith. They think it is focused on other things. But prophecy is about salvation through Christ, as well as a number of other things. When millions are looking to Bible prophecy to discern the end of the world, when millions always associate prophecy with events still future, it is helpful to remind people that one purpose of prophecy is to reveal that human sinfulness can be forgiven through the saving work of Jesus Christ.

### Forgiveness

Let me observe a few other things. First, human _sinfulness_ can be forgiven. We are talking about the fundamental condition of humanity, not just the individual results of our sinfulness. It is true that individual sins are forgiven, but it is even more important that our flawed nature, which is the root of the problem, is also forgiven. We will never have the time nor the wisdom to repent of every sin. Forgiveness does not depend on our ability to itemize them all. Rather, what Christ makes possible for us is that all of them, and our sinful nature at its core, can all be forgiven in one fell swoop.

Next, we note that our sinfulness is forgiven through faith and repentance. We have assurance that our sins are forgiven, on the basis of what Christ has done. The coming of Jesus to rescue us from our sinfulness was prophesied in the Old Testament; this is something that prophecy is about. Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin.

People can experience forgiveness simply through faith in Christ, without having any precise beliefs about how Christ is able to forgive us. No particular theory about Christ's atoning death is required. No special beliefs about his role as mediator are required for salvation. However, it is clear in the New Testament that our salvation is made possible through the death of Christ on the cross, and that he is our High Priest interceding for us. When we believe that what Jesus did is effective for our salvation, then we experience forgiveness. We acknowledge and worship him as Savior and Lord. We realize that he accepts us in his love and grace and we accept his wonderful gift of salvation.

Prophecy is concerned with our salvation. We find evidence for that in Luke 24. There, the resurrected Jesus is explaining things to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Verses 25 and 27: "Jesus said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?'... Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."

Jesus did not say that the Scriptures spoke only of him, or that every single prophecy was about him. He didn't have time to cover the entire Old Testament. Some prophecies were about him, and some were about him only indirectly. Jesus explained the prophecies that were most directly about him. The disciples believed some of what the prophets had written, but they were slow of heart to believe it all. They were missing part of the story, and Jesus filled them in and explained it to them. Even though some prophecies were about Edom, Moab, Assyria, or Egypt, and some about Israel, other prophecies were about the suffering and death of the Messiah, and his resurrection to glory. Jesus explained these to his disciples.

Jesus began with the books of Moses. They have some messianic prophecies in them, but most of the Pentateuch is about Jesus in a different way — in terms of typology, in the rituals of sacrifice and priesthood that prefigured the work of the Messiah. Jesus explained these concepts, too.

Verse 44 tells us more: "He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.'" Again, he did not say that every single detail was about him. What he said is that the parts that were about him had to be fulfilled. We could add that not everything had to be fulfilled in his first coming. Some prophecies seem to point to the future, to his return, but like he said, they must be fulfilled. Not just prophecy pointed to him — the Law also pointed to him, and the Psalms pointed to him and the work he would do for our salvation.

Verses 45-48: "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.'" Here Jesus explains more prophecies concerning himself. Prophecy was pointing not only to the Messiah's suffering, death, and resurrection — prophecy also pointed to the message of repentance and forgiveness, a message that would be preached to all nations.

Prophecy touches on many things, but the main thing it is about, the most important thing it reveals, is that we can be forgiven through the death of the Messiah. Jesus highlighted this purpose of prophecy on the road to Emmaus. If we are interested in prophecy, we should be sure not to miss this. If we don't get this part of the message, it won't do us any good to get anything else.

It is interesting to read Revelation 19:10 with that in mind: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The message about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. That is what prophecy is all about. The essence of prophecy is Jesus Christ.

### Three more purposes

Our third sentence adds several more details: "Prophecy proclaims God as Sovereign Creator and Judge of all, assures humanity of his love, mercy, and faithfulness, and motivates the believer to live a godly life in Jesus Christ." Here are three more purposes of prophecy. First, God is Sovereign Judge of all. Second, God is loving, merciful and faithful. Third, prophecy motivates us to live right. Let's look at each of these three.

Bible prophecy tells us that God is sovereign, that he has authority and power over all things. Isaiah 46:9-11 supports this point:

#### Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, [I make known] what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

God is saying that he can tell us how everything ends up, even when it is only starting. Only God can make the end known even when he is in the beginning. Even in ancient times, he was able to make predictions about what would happen in the future.

Some people say that God can do this because he sees the future. It's true that God can see the future, but that isn't Isaiah's point here. What Isaiah is bringing out is not so much that God sees or knows in advance, but that God will intervene in history to make sure that it happens. He will bring it about, even though he may call upon someone from the east, in this case, to do the work.

God makes his plan known in advance, and that revelation is what we call prophecy — something said in advance about what is going to happen. So prophecy is part of God's revelation of his will and purpose. Then, because it is God's will, his plan, his desire, he makes sure that it happens. He will do everything he wants to do, because he has the power to do that. He is sovereign over all nations.

Daniel 4:17 tells us the same thing. Just after Daniel announces that King Nebuchadnezzar will be insane for seven years, he gives this reason: "The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people."

This prophecy was given and carried out so that we would know that God is sovereign over all nations. He has the power to set someone up as ruler, even the most unlikely of people. God can give it to whomever he wants, because he is sovereign. That is one message conveyed to us by Bible prophecy. It shows that he has all power.

Prophecy tells us that God is Judge. We can see that in many of the Old Testament prophecies, particular prophecies of punishment. God is bringing unpleasant consequences because the people have done bad things. God is acting as a judge, with the power to reward and the power to punish, and the power to make sure that it is done.

Jude 14-15 says, "Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: 'See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'" Here the New Testament is quoting a prophecy that is not in the Old Testament. This prophecy is in the apocryphal book of 1 Enoch, and it has become part of the inspired record as to what prophecy reveals. It reveals that the Lord is coming — that is still future — and that he is a judge of every nation.

### Love, mercy, faithfulness

Bible prophecy reveals something about what God plans and what he does, and it is therefore inevitable that it reveals to us something about his character. His purposes and plans will inevitably reveal that he is loving, merciful, and faithful.

I think here of Jeremiah 26:13 — "Reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you." If the people change, then God will change. He is not anxious to punish; he is willing to wipe the slate clean. He does not keep grudges – he is merciful and willing to forgive.

As an example of his faithfulness, we can look at the prophecy in Leviticus 26:44. The passage is a warning to Israel that if they broke the covenant, they would be conquered and taken into captivity. But then this assurance is added: "Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely." This prophecy is highlighting God's faithfulness, mercy, and love, even without using those specific words.

Hosea 11 is another example of God's faithful love. After describing how unfaithful Israel has been, verses 8-9 say, "My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath." This prophecy is showing God's persistent love for his people.

New Testament prophecies also assure us that God is loving, merciful and faithful. He will resurrect us and reward us. We will live with him and enjoy his love forever. Bible prophecy assures us that God intends to do this, and previous fulfillments of prophecy assure us that he has the power to carry it out, to do exactly as he has purposed to do.

### Motivates godly life

Last, we say that Bible prophecy motivates believers to live a godly life in Jesus Christ. How does it do this? For one, it gives us a motive to turn to God, because we are assured that he wants the best for us, and we will receive good forever if we accept what he gives, and we will ultimately receive bad if we don't.

In this connection, we cite 2 Peter 3:14. We can start in verses 10-12:

#### The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

We are to look forward to the day of the Lord, rather than fearing it, and we are to live godly lives. Presumably something good will happen to us if we do, and something less desirable will happen to us if we don't. Prophecy encourages us to live godly lives, because it reveals to us that God will reward those who faithfully seek him. Verses 12-15:

#### That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

This passage is telling us that Bible prophecy encourages us to make every effort, to have right behavior and right thoughts, to live godly lives and be at peace with God. The only way to do this is through Jesus Christ. In this passage, prophecy is telling us that God is patient, faithful and merciful.

Jesus' ongoing role is essential here. Peace with God is possible only because Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us as our High Priest. The Law of Moses foreshadowed and prophesied this aspect of Jesus' saving work; it is through him that we are strengthened to live godly lives, to make every effort, and to be cleansed of the spots we incur. Through faith in him as our High Priest, we can be confident that our sins have been forgiven and we are assured of salvation and eternal life. Prophecy assures us of God's mercy and the way that we can be saved through Jesus Christ.

Prophecy is not the only thing that motivates us to live godly lives. Our future reward or punishment is not the only reason to live right. We can find motivations for good behavior in the past, the present, and the future. In the past, because God has been good to us, and in gratitude for what he has already done, we are willing to do what he says. Our present motivation for living right is our love for God; the Holy Spirit in us causes us to want to please him in what we do. The future helps motivate our behavior, too—God warns us about punishment presumably because he wants that warning to motivate us to change our behavior. He promises rewards, too, knowing that they also help motivate us. We want to receive the rewards he will give.

Behavior has always been a reason for prophecy. Prophecy is not just foretelling, it is also forth telling: setting forth God's instructions. That is the reason many prophecies were conditional — God warned of punishment, and he hoped for repentance so that the punishment would not have to come. Prophecies were not given as trivia about the future — they had a purpose for the present.

Zechariah summarized the message of the prophets as a call to change: "The earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says, Turn from your evil ways.... Return to me, and I will return to you" (Zechariah 1:3-4). Prophecy tells us that God is a merciful judge, and because of what Jesus Christ does for us, we can be saved if we trust him.

Some prophecies were longer-range, and did not depend on whether people did either good or bad. Not all prophecies were designed for that purpose. Prophecies come in such a wide variety that it is difficult to say, except in a general sense, what all prophecies are for. Some are for this, some are for that, and there are some we aren't sure what they are for.

When we try to make a statement about something as diverse as prophecy, we will make a general statement, because that is accurate: Bible prophecy is one of the ways God tells us what he is doing, and the overall message of prophecy therefore tells us about the most important thing that God is doing: leading us to salvation through Jesus Christ. Prophecy warns us of judgment to come, assures us of mercy, and therefore encourages us to repent and get with the program of what God is doing.

Michael Morrison

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## What About Biblical Prophecy?

The church sees prophecy in the following contexts. First, there is a past aspect to the gospel, in which Christ was foretold to be the Messiah. That is prophecy fulfilled, and it points to the redemptive work of Jesus (Luke 24:25-27, 44-47 and John 5:39-47). Two examples of such prophecies are Deuteronomy 18:15 and Isaiah 53.

There is also a present aspect to the gospel. This tells us we have been forgiven of our sins, we are justified and sanctified, and we live in grace as Christ lives in us. Those realities were also prophesied or foretold in Scripture. The teaching about salvation can therefore be called a "prophetic message."

There is also a future "prophetical" aspect to the gospel — that Christ will return and restore God's rule to the whole world. The dead in Christ will be resurrected and receive their inheritance to eternal life.

Some people focus on only part of the future aspect, sometimes to the detriment of the basic message of salvation. Much of the teaching is of a speculative nature that eventually proves to be wrong. Many have taught that there will be a "Great Tribulation" before Jesus returns. Some claim that the "beast power" originating in Europe will attack the United States and persecute Christians. Various teachers have set dates of 1975, 1988, or 2012. People are trying to use certain portions of Scripture, such as Revelation, as a blueprint or guide to the meaning of current events.

We hold a broader view of prophecy. Preaching the gospel is different from trying to discover in what year or age "the end" may arrive or what specifically might happen in the world at a given time. That is not the purpose of biblical prophecy, as all the failed predictions during the last 2,000 years have shown.

Speculative prophecy can be more exciting than the gospel. People listen to the "warning" and hope to escape the "Great Tribulation." The church will supposedly escape this time of trial. Speculative use of prophecy parallels an old covenant message that was a national warning to Israel to repent as God's people and nation. The Old Testament includes numerous messages that are classic prophecy. Ezekiel had a "watchman" function for the nation of Israel. However, that message of national repentance and restoration to a physical land no longer applies in a literal sense, since God is calling individuals from all nations and ethnic groups to spiritual salvation.

The gospel is not about the modern identity of nations. Christ's sacrifice is the central plank and fulcrum of God's plan. Acts 4:12 is one of the pivotal scriptures of the Bible: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

Jesus Christ is not the property of a few nations or church fellowships. He belongs, in a manner of speaking, to the whole world. In that context, the identity of a nation is insignificant, since God is no longer dealing with a single nation. Rather, his salvation is given to people of all nations. In light of the New Testament and the centrality of Christ in God's plan of salvation, the identity of nations is of no consequence. In Galatians 3:28 we read, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

As human beings we remain Americans, Chinese, Egyptians, English, Germans, Greeks, Indians, Sudanese or members of some other national group, even after conversion. Yet, in this life we are offered the opportunity to participate in God's nature and become a part of the "Israel of God," his church (Galatians 6:16). The church is composed of Spirit-filled Christians from all nations, and is the true Israel.

The new covenant message goes to the whole world. It is a message of hope that salvation in Jesus is given to everyone who accepts him as Savior and is willing to live in faith. It is the most important message that could be preached, for it affects our eternity.

Any attempt to pinpoint the exact years when the "end time" will occur is fundamentally flawed. (The biblical writers see the "end of the age" as beginning with the redemptive work of Christ.) We do not need to discern when "the end" might come – we need to leave the future in God's hands (Acts 1:6-7; Matthew 24:36, 42, 44). As Christians, our job is to watch our own spiritual attitudes to be sure we are in a relationship of faithful love with our Creator. We have no need to watch world events in that sense. God is sovereign and will take care of his own plans. In the resurrection of the dead to eternal life, all God's people share the ultimate victory that was won by Jesus Christ.

Paul Kroll

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## The Prophetic Meaning of Daniel 2 and 7

Do Daniel 2 and 7 predict events of our day, such as the rise of the European Community? Where might the United States and Russia fit into this scheme? Let's begin with a brief summary of Daniel 2 and 7.

Daniel 2 describes a dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Babylonian empire, which Daniel the prophet interpreted. Nebuchadnezzar had seen an enormous statue. It had a head of gold, arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron — with feet of iron and clay (2:31-33). A "cut out" rock struck the statue on its feet and caused it to fall down and break into pieces. The wind swept away the debris, and the rock that struck the statue "became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth" (2:34-35).

In Daniel 7, it is Daniel who has a dream. He sees four beasts coming up out of the sea that look similar to the following animals (with certain strange additions): a lion, a bear and a leopard. The fourth beast was terrifying and didn't look like any natural animal. This beast had ten horns and large iron teeth (7:4-7). Daniel then saw a vision of the Son of Man, to whom was given "authority, glory and sovereign power" and "all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him" (7:13-14). His dominion was to be everlasting, and his kingdom would never be destroyed.

In each case the vision was clearly interpreted. Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar that the statue's parts — the head, chest and arms, belly and thigh, legs and feet — represented four successive world-ruling kingdoms (2:36-36). When the last of the four kingdoms is ruling the earth, "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed" (2:44). This kingdom will "crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever" (2:44). This is the kingdom to be established by the "rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands" (2:45). Nebuchadnezzar is told that this "will take place in the future" (2:45).

In chapter 7, Daniel said: "I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this" (7:15). The interpretation Daniel was given of his dream corresponds to the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter 2. The four beasts are four kingdoms. The fourth beast is different from the other three and most terrifying (7:15). In this vision, the ten horns (who are ten kings) arise at the "end time" when "the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High" (7:27). This becomes an everlasting kingdom. (Daniel 2 and 7 add some other details, such as the mention of "another king," but the above gives a general outline of these chapters.)

Almost all scholars agree that Daniel 2 and 7 describe four empires ruling one after another. These are the empires of the Babylonians, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks and Macedonians, and then the Romans. These four worldly empires of ungodly resistance are overthrown by a fifth "empire" that will be established on earth to enforce God's righteousness, peace and mercy. This fifth empire is established by the "rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands" (Daniel 2:45), or the Son of man in Daniel 7. This Messiah, this Rock, will destroy all earthly empires and will rule the final kingdom of righteousness with the saints.

Most of the material in Daniel 2 and 7 is historical narrative. In terms of major "world-ruling" empires around the Mediterranean and extending through the Fertile Crescent to present-day Iran, Daniel 2 and 7 record what we know of history. From a secular political point of view, the "fifth kingdom" of the Messiah has not been established in any obvious, world-crushing way. The New Testament seems to place this occurrence at the time of Jesus' return in glory (1 Corinthians 15:23-27; Revelation 11:15-18 with 19:6-16).

Christians have speculated since at least the early second century about the time and manner of the "end time," the destruction of this world's kingdoms, and the coming of Jesus in glory. Here is where they have gone wrong: Those who have engaged in speculative prophecy have almost always seen "the end" as coming in their time in a visible manner. They have looked at the events occurring in their day and have tried to fit them into what is described in Daniel 2 and 7, as well as the book of Revelation. "The end" has not arrived and the Messiah (Jesus) has not come in some world-shattering way; this shows that all such speculative prophecy has been wrong, based on a wrong premise. The Rock has arrived, the Roman empire has been shattered, and the wind is slowly blowing away the debris. The kingdom of Christ is growing, but it does not look like the evil empires of this world.

With hindsight as our guide, we see that it does little if any good to speculate about how or when "the end" of the "kingdom of this world" might occur. (Such speculation, when dogmatically stated, can damage people's lives.) To ask how this or that nation — such as the United States — "fits into" biblical prophecy is to ask a question that cannot be answered with any guarantee — or perhaps should not be asked. It is, in a manner of speaking, an illegitimate question. It is asking for something that God did not choose to give us. He has told us that "this world" will be overthrown, but he has not told us exactly how or when.

With that in mind, we take a broader view of biblical prophecy. It avoids the setting of dates or any attempts to set out a "blueprint" of prophecy that would explain current world events in an apocalyptic manner. Rather, the church puts its faith in the fact of Jesus' future coming in glory. It leaves the "how" and "when" to the authority, wisdom and purpose of God (Matthew 24:36; Acts 1:6-8).

Paul Kroll

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## What Matthew 24 Tells Us About "the End"

D.A. Carson, a New Testament scholar, begins his commentary on Matthew 24 with the following words: "Few chapters of the Bible have called forth more disagreement among interpreters than Matthew 24 and its parallels in Mark 13 and Luke 21. The history of the interpretation of this chapter is immensely complex" ( _The Expositor's Bible Commentary,_ 1984, volume 8, page 488).

Carson's statement underlines the difficulties people have encountered when trying to interpret Matthew 24. As we try to understand what Jesus was saying in this chapter, we would do well to approach it with caution and avoid simplistic views and dogmatism.

### Seeing things in context

Studying Matthew 24 in the larger context of preceding chapters will help us avoid interpretation pitfalls. We may be surprised to learn that the background to Matthew 24 actually begins at least as far back as chapter 16:21. There, we are given the following summary statement: "From that time Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

By his comments, Jesus set the stage for what appeared to be a showdown in Jerusalem between himself and the religious authorities. He continued telling his disciples about this imminent conflict as they made their way to Jerusalem (20:17-19). During the time Jesus was explaining that he was to suffer at Jerusalem, he took Peter, James and John up a high mountain. There, they experienced the transfiguration (17:1-13). This must have made the disciples wonder whether the establishment of the kingdom of God was close at hand (17:10-12).

Jesus also told the disciples they would sit on 12 thrones judging Israel "when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne" (19:28). This sparked additional questions about the time and manner of the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus' talking about the kingdom even prompted the mother of James and John to ask him to give special positions in the kingdom to her sons (20:20-21).

Then came the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in which Jesus rode into the city on a donkey (21:1-11). This fulfilled what the prophet Zechariah had spoken, and which was thought to refer to the Messiah. The entire city was stirred, wondering what would happen. In Jerusalem, Jesus overturned the moneylender's tables and took other actions to demonstrate his messianic authority (21:12-27). "Who is this?" people asked in response (21:10).

Next, in 21:43 Jesus told the chief priests and elders of the people: "I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." His audience knew he was talking about them. Jesus' statement could have been taken as an implication that he was ready to establish his messianic kingdom, but the religious leaders would not be a part of it.

### Is the kingdom to be established?

The disciples who heard this must have wondered what was going to happen. Was Jesus ready to announce his messiahship? Was he ready to put down the Roman authority? Was he on the verge of bringing in the kingdom of God? Would there be a war, and what would happen to Jerusalem and the temple?

We now come to Matthew 22:15. Here the scene begins with the Pharisees laying plans to trap Jesus by asking him a question regarding the paying of taxes. They hoped to use his answer as the basis for accusing Jesus of rebelling against the Roman authority. But Jesus answered cleverly, and their plan was foiled.

That same day the Sadducees also had an encounter with Jesus (22:23-32). Not believing in the resurrection, they asked him a trick question about seven brothers marrying one woman. They asked, Whose wife would she be in the resurrection? Jesus answered them indirectly by telling them they didn't understand their own Scriptures. He pointed out that there is no marriage in the kingdom, so their question was meaningless.

Next, the Pharisees and Sadducees together tested Jesus on the meaning of the greatest commandment in the law (22:36). He answered by quoting Leviticus 19:8 and Deuteronomy 6:5. Then Jesus asked them a trick question about whose son the Messiah was to be (22:42). They fell into his trap, and "no one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions" (22:46).

Chapter 23 shows Jesus criticizing the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Toward the end of the chapter, Jesus talked about sending them prophets, wise men and teachers whom they would flog, pursue, kill and crucify. He placed the responsibility of all the slain prophets on their shoulders. The tension was mounting, and the disciples must have been wondering about the meaning of these hostile encounters. Was Jesus about to take control as Messiah?

Then Jesus spoke of Jerusalem's house as becoming desolate. This is connected to his cryptic comment: "You will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'" (23:39). The disciples must have become puzzled, curious and anxious. Was he about to proclaim himself?

### Temple to be destroyed

After these things, Jesus left the temple. As he was walking away, his breathless disciples pointed to its buildings. In Mark's words, they said, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" (13:1). Luke says the disciples remarked how the temple was "adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God" (21:5).

Think of what must have been going through the disciples' minds. Jesus' comments about Jerusalem's desolation and his confrontation with the religious leaders both frightened and excited the disciples. They must have wondered why he was speaking of impending doom on Judaism and its institutions. Wasn't the Messiah coming to glorify both? By their comments about the temple, it seems as if the disciples were thinking, Surely, nothing can happen to this beautiful temple in which God dwells!?

Jesus then made the disciples more curious and frightened. He brushed aside their lavish praise of the temple. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down" (24:2).

This must have been shocking to the disciples. They thought the Messiah was going to save Jerusalem and the temple, not allow both to be destroyed. As Jesus spoke of these things, the disciples must have thought about the end of Roman rule and the glory of Israel, both which are prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures. They knew these events would occur at "the time of the end" (Daniel 8:17; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9). The Messiah would then appear or "come" to usher in the kingdom of God. This meant Israel would arise to national greatness as the spearhead of that kingdom.

### When will this happen?

The disciples, who believed Jesus was that Messiah, were anxious to know if the "time of the end" had come. There was great expectation that Jesus was about to announce that he was the messiah (John 12:12-18). It's not surprising, then, that the disciples pressed Jesus about the nature and timing of his "coming."

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately to get some inside information. "'Tell us,' they said, 'when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'" (24:3). They wanted to know when the things Jesus said about Jerusalem would take place, for they associated these with the end of the age.

When the disciples asked about his "coming," they didn't have a "second" coming in mind. In their thinking, the Messiah would come and immediately establish his government in Jerusalem, and it would last "forever." There would be no "second" coming – only a first.

Matthew 24:3 summarizes the content of chapter 24. Let us repeat the disciples' question, italicizing some important words: "Tell us," they said, "when will _this_ happen, and what will be the _sign_ of your coming and of the _end of the age?_ " (24:3).

### Disciples' three questions

Perhaps they didn't realize it, but the disciples were asking three questions. First, they wanted to know when "this" would happen. "This" could refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which Jesus had just described. Second, they wanted to know what the "sign" of his coming was, which (as we shall see) Jesus finally gave them in 24:30. Third, the disciples also wanted to know when the "end of the age" would occur. Jesus told the disciples they could not know that (24:36).

In Matthew 24 are three questions, and Jesus answers each one. If we separate out the three questions, and see how Jesus answered them, we can clear up a number of misinterpretations associated with Matthew 24. Jesus was telling his disciples that Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed in their day. But the "sign" they asked about would be associated with his coming, not with the destruction of the city. As to the disciples' third question, no one could know when he would return and "the end" of the age would occur.

Let us see how these questions play out in Matthew 24. First, we note that Jesus didn't seem particularly interested in talking about the circumstances of "the end." It was his disciples who asked the questions, and Jesus obliged them by providing some comments.

Almost certainly, the disciples' questions about "the end" were based on a wrong conclusion — that all the events would occur almost immediately, all at the same time. So it's not surprising that they thought Jesus' "coming" as Messiah was very close, within days or weeks. Still, they wanted a physical "sign" of his coming as a confirmation. With this private and secret knowledge, they would be able to place themselves at the most advantageous position when Jesus made his move.

We should see Jesus' comments in Matthew 24 in that context. In short, the disciples initiate the discussion. They think Jesus is about to assume power, and they want to know exactly when this will happen. They want a preparatory sign. But the disciples totally misunderstood Jesus' mission.

### "The end" is not yet

Rather than answering the disciples' questions on their terms, Jesus used the occasion to teach them three important things. One, he taught them that the scenario they were asking about was much more complicated than their simplistic notions. Two, they could not know when Jesus would "come," or as we would say, "return." Three, they should worry about or "watch" their relationship with God and not worry about "watching" world or local events.

Let's notice how Jesus' conversation with his disciples unfolded, keeping these principles and the prior discussion in mind. The first thing he did was warn the disciples not to be deceived by traumatic events that might make it appear as though "the end" was near (Matthew 24:4-8). Tumultuous things would happen in the world, but "the end is still to come" (verse 6).

Next, Jesus told his disciples that they would be persecuted and put to death (24:9-13). How shocking that must have seemed! They must have wondered, "What is all this talk about persecution and death?" The Messiah's people would be triumphant and victorious, not butchered and destroyed, they thought.

Jesus then began talking about a gospel to be preached to the whole world. After this, "the end" would come (24:14). This must have also been confusing to the disciples. They probably thought the Messiah would "come" first, then establish his kingdom. Only after that would the word of the Lord go forth to all the earth (Isaiah 2:1-4).

Next, Jesus seemed to backtrack and forecast a dire warning for the temple. The abomination of desolation would be seen in the holy place, and those in Judea would have to flee to the mountains (24:15-16). These would be dreadful times for the Jews. "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never to be equaled again," said Jesus (24:21). Things would get so bad that no one would survive if those days weren't cut short.

Though Jesus mentioned what would happen in the world at large, Jesus was talking primarily about what would happen in Judea and Jerusalem. Luke uses the phrase "there will be great distress in the land" to describe the context of Jesus' comments (Luke 21:23). The temple, Jerusalem and Judea were the focus of Jesus' warning, not the entire world. The warning Jesus gave about impending doom was primarily for Jews in Jerusalem and Judea. The events of A.D. 66-70 confirmed this.

### Flight on the Sabbath?

It's not surprising, then, that Jesus said, "Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath" (24:20). Since the Sabbath is no longer a concern for Christians, why would it be mentioned as a significant problem?

The Jews believed it was wrong to take long journeys on the Sabbath. They had a measurement for the maximum distance that could be traveled on this day, which was called a "Sabbath day's walk" or journey (Acts 1:12). In Luke's example it was the distance between the Mount of Olives, on the perimeter of Jerusalem, and the city itself. But Jesus said that people who were in Judea would need to flee far away into the hills. A Sabbath's day walk would not get them out of harm's way. Jesus knew that those listening to him believed you should not do the kind of traveling that his warning required.

This explains why Jesus told his disciples to pray that their flight would not have to occur on the Sabbath. He gave this admonition in the context of their current understanding of the Law of Moses. We can paraphrase Jesus' thought in this way: I know you don't believe in traveling long distances on the Sabbath, and you won't do it because of what you think the law demands. So if the things to befall Jerusalem fall on the Sabbath, you will be caught and killed. I can then only offer you this advice: You better pray that the need to flee doesn't occur on the Sabbath. Even if they did choose to flee on the Sabbath, the restrictions imposed by other Jews would make escape difficult.

We can understand this part of Jesus' explanation to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in A.D. 70. Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, who still kept the Law of Moses (Acts 21:17-26), were caught up in these events and had to flee. They would have had to deal with their belief about the Sabbath regulations, if circumstances demanded a flight on that day.

### Still not the "sign"

Meanwhile, Jesus continued with his discourse, which had the purpose of answering the disciples' questions about when he would come. So far, all he has done is tell them when he will not come. Jesus has separated out the calamity to occur at Jerusalem from the "sign" and the coming of "the end."

At this point, the disciples must have thought that the destruction in Jerusalem and Judea was the "sign" of the end they were looking for. But they were mistaken, and Jesus pointed out their error. Jesus said, "If anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it" (24:23).

What were the disciples to make of this? They must have wondered, We asked when Jesus would establish the kingdom and we asked him to give us a sign of this event, and he keeps talking about when the end is not, and everything that looks like a sign he says isn't a sign.

Nevertheless, Jesus continued to tell the disciples when he would not come or appear. "If anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it" (24:26). Jesus was driving home the point that his disciples should not be deceived either by world events or by people claiming to know when the "sign" of "the end" had occurred. Perhaps he was telling them that the fall of Jerusalem and the temple were not the harbinger of "the end."

Now we come to verse 29, where Jesus began telling the disciples about the "sign" of his coming, which was the answer to their second question. The sun and moon would be darkened and "stars" would fall from the sky (24:29). This has been understood in various ways, from astronomy to atmospheric disturbances, to code words for political upheaval.

Finally, Jesus gave the disciples the "sign" they were waiting for. He said: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory" (24:30).

Basically, the "sign" of Jesus' coming, as he gave it, was his coming! There is no advance sign of Jesus' coming for us to be able to predict. He comes when he comes, and the people who are then alive will know it when it happens.

### "All these things"

Next, Jesus asked the disciples to learn a lesson from the fig tree (24:32-34). As soon as the tree's twigs got tender and its leaves came out, they knew summer was near. "Even so," said Jesus, "when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door" (24:33).

What are "all these things"? Are they only wars, famines and earthquakes in various places? No. These are only the beginning of sorrows. There are many other sorrows as well before "the end." Does "all these things" end at the appearance of false preachers and the preaching of the gospel? No, again. Is "all these things" fulfilled with the distress in Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple? No, it is not. What, then, must "all things" include?

Before we answer, let us digress a moment to describe what may have been an after-the-fact lesson that the church of the apostles' day had to learn, and which the synoptic Gospels talk about. The fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the destruction of the temple, and the death of many Jewish religious leaders (and at least some of the apostles) must have been a surprise to the church. It's almost certain the church believed that Jesus would return right after these events. But he didn't return, and some Christians must have been disturbed by that.

However, the Gospels show that much more had to happen than just the destruction of the city and temple before Jesus would return. The church should not assume that because Jerusalem fell and Jesus did not return that it had been misled. The Gospels repeated Jesus' thought for the benefit of the church: Until you see the "sign" of the Son of Man appear in the sky, do not listen to those who say he has already come, or is about to come.

### "No one knows"

We now come to the real lesson that Jesus wanted to get across in the dialogue of Matthew 24. That is, Jesus' discourse in Matthew 24 is not so much to be taken as a prophecy, but as a Christian living lesson. Matthew 24 is Jesus' warning that his disciples always need to be spiritually ready precisely because they cannot know when he will return. The parables in Matthew 25 continue that same theme.

In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." This is Jesus' plain statement that he did not know when the end of the age would come. That may seem shocking, since he was the Son of God, but nonetheless it is clear.

Accepting this point clears up a lot of confusion about chapter 24. It tells us that Jesus was not meaning to predict the specific time of "the end" or of his return, since he did not know when it would be. Matthew 24 was to be a lesson in spiritual awareness, not awareness of world events.

What we see in subsequent history is that Jerusalem has been the focal point of many turbulent events and times. For example, in A.D. 1099, the Christian Crusaders surrounded Jerusalem and massacred all the inhabitants. During World War I, in 1917, British General Allenby took the city from the Turkish empire. Jerusalem and Judea continue to play a central role in the strife between Jews and Arabs.

Jesus told his disciples that the answer to their question about when the end would come was: "You can't know it, and not even I know it." That seems to be a difficult lesson to learn. After his resurrection, the disciples still pressed Jesus on the matter. They asked: "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Again, Jesus told them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority" (verse 7).

Despite Jesus' clear teaching, many Christians throughout the centuries have repeated the mistake of the apostles. Many have tried to predict when "the end" would come, and have almost always said it would be "very soon." But history has proven Jesus right and every prognosticator wrong. Quite simply, we cannot know when "the end" will come.

### What are we to "watch"?

So what are we to do in the meantime, while we await Jesus' return? Jesus gave the answer to his disciples, and it is our answer as well. He said: "Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.... So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (24:42, 44).

Watching world events is not what Jesus was speaking about here. What all Christians must "watch" is their relationship with God. They are always to be ready to meet their Maker.

Jesus then went on to describe in the rest of chapter 24 and throughout chapter 25 what is really important to "watch." In the parable of the faithful servant, Jesus told his disciples to avoid worldly sins and the threat of being overcome by the attractiveness of sin (24:45-51). The lesson? Jesus said, "The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of" (24:50).

In the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus repeated his theme (25:1-25). Some of the virgins are not ready when the day of reckoning comes. They are shut out of the kingdom. The lesson? Jesus said: "Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour" (25:13).

In the parable of the talents, Jesus spoke of himself as going on a journey (25:14-30). He was probably referring to his stay in heaven before his return. In the meantime, the servants are to be faithful with the things they have been entrusted.

In the parable of the sheep and goats, Jesus spoke of the shepherding responsibility the disciples would be given during his absence. Here he switched their thinking from the "when" of his return to the consequences of that return on their eternal life. His coming and the resurrection would be judgment day for them. That is the time when Jesus will separate his sheep (his true followers) from the goats (the evil shepherds).

Jesus presented the parable in terms of the disciples' relationship to his physical needs. They fed him when he was hungry, gave water to him when he was thirsty, invited him in when he was a stranger, and clothed him when he was naked. The disciples were surprised, and they said they never saw him in any of these needy states.

But Jesus had a lesson in shepherding in mind. He said: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (25:40). Who is a sibling of Jesus? One of his true followers. Jesus was telling his disciples to be good stewards and shepherds of the flock — the church.

Thus ends the long discourse in which Jesus answered the disciples' three questions: When will Jerusalem and the temple be destroyed? What would be the "sign" of his coming? When would "the end" of the age occur?

### Jesus' point in brief

Let us summarize the discussion. The disciples are concerned by Jesus' teaching that the temple buildings will be destroyed. They ask when this will happen, and when "the end" and his "coming" will occur. They probably thought that Jesus would then and there take the mantle of messiahship and inaugurate the kingdom of God in all its power.

Jesus warns them against such thinking. There will be a delay before "the end." Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed, but the life of the church will continue. Future times will be characterized by violent persecution of his followers and terrible tribulation in Judea. The disciples are shocked. They think Messiah's disciples will be immediately and eminently victorious, the Promised Land easily conquered and the worship of God restored. What is this talk about the destruction of the temple and the persecution of his followers?

But there is more shocking teaching. The only "sign" that the disciples will have of Jesus coming will be his actual coming. This "sign" will have no predictive value because it comes too late. Jesus' point leads to his discussion that no one can predict when "the end" will occur or when he will come. Not even Jesus knew the time. Only the Father did.

Jesus has taken the disciples' wrong-headed concern and turned it into a spiritual lesson. In the words of D.A. Carson: "The disciples' questions are answered, and the reader is exhorted to look forward to the Lord's return and meanwhile to live responsibly, faithfully, compassionately, and courageously while the Master is away (24:45-25:46)" (ibid, page 495).

"Amen, Come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

Paul Kroll

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## What About "the Rapture"?

The "rapture" is a belief among some Christians about what happens to believers before Jesus' return in glory. They use the phrase "the rapture of the church" to refer to their belief that Christians will be "caught up" to be with Christ sometime before his glorious return. The rapture event is said to protect the church from a period of great tribulation. Those who believe in a rapture rely mainly on one passage of Scripture, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

#### According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

The rapture teaching seems to have originated with John Nelson Darby in about 1830. He divided the time of the second coming into two stages. Darby said Christ would come for his saints (the "rapture") before the tribulation and he would come with his saints after it, which he thought was Jesus' true coming in glory or second coming.

Those who believe in the rapture disagree as to when it will occur in relationship to the "great tribulation" before Christ returns. They are divided over whether the rapture will happen before, during or after the tribulation. These groups are called pretribulationists, midtribulationists, and posttribulationists.

What is our view on the rapture? If we look at 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, the apostle Paul seems to say that at "the trumpet call of God" the dead in Christ will rise first and those believers who were alive would be caught up together with them "in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." There is no discussion of the church, or a part of the church, being raptured or taken away before, during or after a tribulation period.

Matthew 24:29-31 seems to be describing a similar event. In Matthew, Jesus says that the saints are caught up "after the distress of those days," which includes the tribulation. They are caught up at Jesus' second coming. From such Scriptures, it's hard to see the details that are essential to the rapture theory.

For this reason, we have historically chosen the straightforward reading of the Scriptures mentioned above, which do not describe a special rapture. The verses in question simply say that the dead saints will be resurrected and will be joined by those who are yet alive when Jesus returns in glory.

The question of what will happen to the church before, during and after Jesus returns in glory is not clearly addressed in Scripture. What we can be sure about is what Scripture is clear and dogmatic about: Jesus will return in glory to judge the world. Those who are found in allegiance to him will be resurrected and live with him in joy and glory forever.

Paul Kroll

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## Who Is the "Antichrist" and "Man of Sin"?

Christians throughout the history of the church have been fascinated about the identity of the "antichrist," mentioned in the New Testament. The list of possible candidates to fit his description includes many past and present religious and political leaders.

However, when we look at the scriptural passages that mention the "antichrist," it becomes clear that they don't refer to any specific historical personage at all. The Bible uses the term "antichrist" only four times, and it appears only in the letters of John (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:2-3; 2 John 7). Jesus, Paul and Peter do not mention the "antichrist."

In the contexts in which John uses this term, he seems to have been most interested in showing that his immediate readers – not Christians living in future times – were living in what "the last days." John's use of the term "antichrist" was a label that applied to people teaching certain heresies who were or had been associated with the church of his day. Primarily, it was applied to those who denied that Jesus was God Incarnate – that God had come in human flesh (John 1:1, 14). By reading John's letters, we can see that this "antichrist" teaching was one that existed in his day. The people whose teachings John labeled as "antichrist," and which he had in mind, were then alive.

Any discussion of the "beasts" of Revelation 13 and 17, and especially of the "image" of the beast in 13:11-18 identified by the number 666, causes people to wonder if this is a description of the "antichrist." Revelation does not use the title "antichrist" for any of the "beasts" – or for anything else. Whatever Revelation has in mind when it speaks of "the beast," it is probably different from the "antichrist" mentioned in John's letters.

Let us come back to the "antichrist" and ask what such a person taught. In the Bible, the term "antichrist" describes someone who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh (2 John 7) or that Jesus was the Christ (1 John 2:22). This heresy must have referred to individuals who denied the divinity of Jesus and his Incarnation, reducing him to the status of an ordinary man. It's also possible some may have taught that the body of Christ was only a spirit, that it was not real.

Another view of "antichrist" is that the term could refer to those who stood in the "place of Christ," that is, claimed they were the Christ. Based on what Jesus said about false Christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:4-5, 24), John may have thought he and the church were living in "the last hour" because such heretics had appeared (1 John 2:18).

Who was an "antichrist"? Whoever these people were and whatever their specific teachings may have been, they had left the body of believers (verse 19). They were once part of the church but had now departed, presumably to start their own group or groups. John's controversy was not with outsiders, but with people who at one time claimed to have been Christians or members of the church. They may have continued to claim the name of Christ, but John is saying that they are really opposed to who Christ really is.

The term "antichrist" can refer to any person who opposes the true doctrine about the Incarnation, the divinity of Jesus, and his work of salvation as God in the flesh. "Antichrist" has no specific prophetic application to any political leader or to any group. John did not pin the title "antichrist" on any single individual. He was saying that anyone who denies the Incarnation of Jesus or his deity is an antichrist.

Any person who claims to be Christian but denies that Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh, or who claims to be Christ himself, could reasonably be called an "antichrist." Any individual, group or power that opposes the purposes of God would, in a general way of speaking, be antichrist and anti-God.

### The "Man of Sin"

Both Old and New Testaments speak of an individual, representing a system of evil – symbolizing sinfulness – who would arise in the "last days." Some Jewish apocalyptic writings describe this man of evil as a revived Roman emperor Nero coming from Babylon ( _Sibylline Oracles_ 5:143-148). The source of this belief in a "man of sin" goes back to Daniel. He had spoken of a fierce king who would arise at the time of the end. This king "will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed" (Daniel 11:36).

The apostle Paul refers to a "man of lawlessness" or "man of sin" in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Sometimes this person is called the "antichrist," though Paul does not use that word. Paul said that something was holding back this individual from accomplishing his evil deeds. The implication is that the restrainer, and thus the "man of lawlessness," was alive in Paul's day. Paul was concerned with someone living in his day, not in the future. Yet, Paul wrote of this "man of lawlessness" as though he would be revealed in the day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:3), which Paul said had not yet arrived (verses 2-3).

Paul said of this person: "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God" (verse 4). What did Paul mean by "the temple"? Was it the physical temple in Jerusalem, or was he speaking of the church, which he called "God's temple" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)?

Paul wrote his letter less than ten years after the Roman emperor Caligula tried to set up an image of himself in the temple's Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. Josephus, the Jewish historian, refers to this provocative gesture ( _Antiquities,_ 18:8). A similar desecration of the temple was described by Daniel (9:27; 11:31). This occurred during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C.

Jesus also said that the temple would be desecrated: "When you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains..." (Matthew 24:16). This probably referred to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman armies in A.D. 66-70, though some see this as a yet future occurrence.

There is biblical as well as historical precedent for describing the appearance of an evil ruler who would challenge the worship of God. Based on the biblical material, we can appropriately call him "the man of sin." However, while the biblical allusions to this individual, individuals or system are interesting, the prophecy is not specific enough to identify any person, government or other entity as "the" man of sin or the abomination of desolation.

Paul Kroll

## Only One Name

Many Christians believe that all people who do not accept the gospel before they die are eternally lost and without hope. On one hand, Christians believe that by the Son of God all things were created (Colossians 1:16), by the Son's word all things are held in being (Hebrews 1:3), and that through the Son's human birth, death and resurrection all things are reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20). Yet, on the other hand, many have the idea that the blood of Christ cannot reconcile humans who die before coming to faith.

At the end of the age, God will gather all the living and the dead before the heavenly throne of Christ for judgment. The righteous will receive eternal glory, and the wicked will be condemned to the lake of fire. We believe that in Christ the Lord makes gracious and just provision for all, even for those who at death appear not to have believed the gospel.

The Bible is very plain that only in Jesus Christ is there salvation at all (Acts 4:12). Human religions do not lead to salvation. Only in the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), who creates, redeems, sustains and rules all things, is there forgiveness of sin, healing of minds, redemption and eternal life. The question we are dealing with in this article is whether the Bible says that a person must confess Christ before he or she dies or else be condemned.

### Lazarus and the rich man

Two passages are sometimes interpreted as proving that all who die without having come to faith are automatically damned. Let's begin with the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, in which Abraham tells the rich man there is a great gulf fixed that keeps people in Hades separate from those who are with Abraham.

It is in Luke 16:19-31. Before the story begins, however, we can back up a few verses to get an idea of whom Jesus was talking and the subject that prompted him to tell this story. In verse 14, we read this: "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him" (NRSV throughout this article). Jesus was talking to a group of Pharisees, and Luke wants his readers to know that the Pharisees were lovers of money. This is the context of the story. A group of Pharisees who were lovers of money were ridiculing Jesus because of what he was saying.

We have to go back to chapter 15, verse 1, to get the whole episode: "All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, 'This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.' So he told them this parable..."

Then Jesus proceeds to tell them three parables in a row: The Shepherd Who Rejoices Over Finding His Lost Sheep, The Woman Who Rejoices Over Finding Her Lost Coin, and The Father Who Rejoices Over Finding His Lost Son. Jesus tells these three parables in response to the Pharisees and scribes who were disgruntled over the fact that he welcomes sinners and eats with them. These parables push God's grace toward sinners right up the Pharisees' and scribes' disgruntled noses.

Jesus wants them to know that "there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance" (verse 7). The remark is not lost on the Pharisees and scribes; they consider themselves righteous and not in need of repentance. Jesus (knowing they are not really righteous) is telling them that heaven is not singing their song.

### Money vs. God

If the first two parables irritate the Pharisees and scribes, the third one, The Father Who Rejoices Over Finding His Lost Son, commonly known as the Prodigal Son, takes the cake. Here is a father who gives unrestrained love and unconditional forgiveness to a son who dishonored him, wasted half his assets and dragged the family name through the mud. It was a scandalous story that trampled on any sense of common decency, dignity and honor. When Jesus finishes telling it, he turns to his disciples and addresses them with yet another story (Luke 16:1). But the Pharisees are still listening (verse 14).

The moral of this story, Jesus says, is that you cannot serve both money and God; you will find yourself devoted either to the one or to the other, not both (verse 13). If you love money, you will not love God. The Pharisees heard everything, but learned nothing. Instead of repenting so that there might be joy in heaven, they ridiculed Jesus. His words were utter foolishness to them, because they were lovers of money (verse 14). Responding to their ridicule, Jesus says, "You...justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God" (verse 15).

He points out that the law and the prophets stand as witnesses that the kingdom of God has arrived and that everyone is urgently piling into it (verses 16-17). His implied message: "Because you prize the things of humans, not the things of God, you are rejecting God's urgent summons to enter his kingdom, which can be done only through me."

### A tale of unbelief

Now, as the coupe de grace, he tells the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. There are three characters in the story: the rich man (representing the Pharisees who love money), the miserable beggar Lazarus (representing a class of people despised by the Pharisees), and Abraham (whose bosom or lap was a Jewish figure of comfort and peace in the afterlife).

The point Jesus is making is the same point he has been making all along: You consider yourselves the high and mighty blessed of God, but the truth is you love money and hate God—that is why you are so bothered that I spend my time in fellowship with sinners, this is why you despise other people and will not humble yourselves and believe in me and find true riches.

Back to the story: The beggar dies. But then, without missing a beat, Jesus again pokes the Pharisees in the eye by saying he "was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham" (verse 22). This is, as usual with Jesus' stories, exactly the opposite of what the Pharisees expected would happen to a man like Lazarus. Such people were poor and diseased beggars because they were under God's curse, the Pharisees assumed, and therefore it is only natural that such people go to be tormented in Hades when they die. "Not so," says Jesus. "Your worldview is upside down. You know nothing of my Father's kingdom. Not only are you wrong about how my Father feels about the beggar, but you are wrong about how my Father feels about you."

Jesus completes the turnabout by telling them that the rich man also died and was buried, but he, rather than the beggar, is the one who finds himself being tormented in Hades. From his torments in Hades, the rich man looked up and saw Abraham far off with none other than Lazarus by his side. He cries out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames" (verses 23-24). But Abraham tells him the way things stand. "All your life you loved riches and had no time for the likes of Lazarus. But I do have time for the likes of Lazarus, and now he is with me, and you have nothing."

Then comes the out-of-context proof text: "Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us" (Luke 16:26). Have you ever wondered why anybody could possibly want to pass from "here to you?" It is obvious why someone might want to cross from "there to us," but from "here to you" makes no sense. Or does it? Abraham began his words to Lazarus by addressing him as "child," then points out to him that not even those who might want to get to him are able to because of the great chasm.

### The Bridge across the chasm

There is one who crosses chasms for the sake of sinners. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). God gave his Son for sinners, not just for sinners like Lazarus, but for sinners like the rich man, too. But the rich man doesn't want the Son of God. The rich man wants what he always wanted — his own comfort at the expense of others, which is exactly the opposite of what the Son of God wants.

Jesus' condemnation of the unbelief of the Pharisees in this story concludes with the rich man arguing that if someone would warn his brothers, they would not come into the place where he was. "They have Moses and the Prophets; they should listen to them," Abraham tells him. (Remember Jesus' statements in verses 16-17? The Law and Prophets are a testimony to him. See John 5:45-47 and Luke 24:44-47.)

"No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent" (Luke 16:30). "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead'" (verse 31). And they didn't. The Pharisees conspired with the scribes and the chief priests to have Jesus crucified, conspired to have soldiers lie about his resurrection (Matthew 27:62-66), and proceeded to persecute and kill those who became believers.

There is a bridge across the chasm, the bridge across all chasms. The bridge is Jesus. But the rich man (the Jewish religious leaders who constantly oppose Jesus) is not interested in putting his faith in Jesus. Permit me to paraphrase Abraham's reply to the rich man:

#### Look, friend, you refuse to come to Christ, so there is no place left for you but right where you are. You won't even admit that you need forgiveness. You still want exactly what you always wanted — everybody else zipping around waiting on you hand and foot. You can't get over here because you won't go anyplace where you're no better than old Laz the bum. We can't get where you are to help you because you are nowhere. You made your own chasm to separate yourself from who you are in Christ because you won't come to him to have life.

#### You still think like you always thought — that you are something special and Laz here is a nobody, the dirt under your sandals. Now you're still so convinced you've got it all together that you can't even see that you've been the nobody all along and Laz the loser is the one who's "in like Flint" with me. Well, you've still got just what you've always had — nothing — nothing that matters, anyway.

#### What's that? Now you want Laz to run some errands to warn others like you? Are you kidding? They won't listen. They've got Moses and the Prophets who told them Messiah would come. If they won't listen to them, you think they're going to listen to Laz? Forget about it. What's that? If someone comes back from the dead they'll listen to him? Oh really? Well, guess what? That's just what Jesus did, came back from the dead, and yet there you are, over there in Nowhereland because you won't put your trust in him.

Even if you don't like my interpretation of this passage, you still have to admit one thing: it is bad business to base a doctrine on one verse alone, and especially on one in a story designed to make a different point altogether. This story is primarily about the refusal of the Jewish leaders to believe in Jesus and the willingness of others to do so, and secondarily about the reversal of common assumptions about riches being a sign of God's favor.

It is not there to paint us a portrait of heaven and hell. It is a parable of judgment against the unbelieving Israelite leadership and the unkind rich, using common Jewish imagery of the afterlife (Hades and "being with Abraham") as a literary backdrop to make the point. In other words, Jesus was not commenting on the validity of Jewish imagery of the afterlife; he was simply using that imagery as scenery for his story.

Jesus was not satisfying our itching curiosities about what heaven and hell must be like. He was in the business of filling us in on God's secrets (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9, etc.), the mystery of the ages (Ephesians 3:4-5)—that in him, Christ, God has always been reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). Our preoccupation with otherworldly geographical trivia leads us away from the point missed by the rich man in the story: Believe in the One who came back from the dead.

### Who is lost?

None are lost but those who will not trust in Christ. Since God made the world and called it good (Genesis 1), and calls humanity "very good" (verse 31), and since God loves the world and sent his Son that whoever would believe in him would enter into life (John 3:16), it is not unreasonable to conclude that God will provide an opportunity for every person to respond to the gospel, and since most people die before they hear the gospel, it is not unreasonable to conclude that God will also provide such an opportunity for them even if it is after they die.

You might say, "Maybe it is not unreasonable, but that does not make it true." You are right about that. But the Word of God is true, and the Word of God is good news for humanity. Whatever is God's will for humanity, is good for humanity. God has demonstrated his will for humanity by sending Jesus Christ. His will is not that the world be condemned, but that it be saved (John 3:17).

"I admit it doesn't seem fair that people who don't hear the gospel before they die are damned, but just because something doesn't seem fair to us doesn't mean it isn't fair in God's sight. If God wants to save only a few, that is his prerogative. After all, the damned are only getting what they deserve!"

We don't argue with that. Certainly, if God wanted to, he could do things that way. We simply argue that the Bible does not reveal God that way. It reveals God in Christ as 1) graciously and faithfully purchasing the reconciliation of all people (1 John 2:2), and 2) graciously desiring the salvation of all people (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

### Deep current of Scripture

The deep current of Scripture is the gospel. Scripture exists, we could even say, as testimony to the gospel. The Bible is the Spirit-inspired revelation of God's Word of redemption and salvation by his grace through faith in his Son made flesh for our sakes, Jesus Christ.

The Bible, this testimony of God's good news to humans, reveals God the way he really is: the God of creation, redemption and salvation. The Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, shows us that God loves his creation, a creation over which he is sovereign and almighty, and that he loves the people he has created. He made his creation, including humanity, very good, and because humanity botched itself by going into its own God business, he also, in Christ from the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), reconciled his creation to himself (Romans 5:10).

The Bible tells us that God longs for humans to repent and to turn to him (Acts 17:20; 2 Peter 3:9). He wants them to know him and experience him for who he really is as their Creator, Deliverer, Redeemer, Father and Friend. He wants them to dwell eternally in him and with him.

The apostle Peter wrote: "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). This is how the Spirit consistently reveals God as feeling and thinking about the people he has made. He made them in his image; they became sinners, alienated from him, and he, loving them intensely even in their sins (Romans 5:6-8), has forgiven and redeemed them through the blood of his Son (John 12:32; 1 John 2:2).

### The Judge is the Savior

"You said there is another passage that is sometimes used to prove that those who die without knowing the gospel are automatically damned."

Thanks for the reminder. The second passage is this: "Just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:27-28).

The only way to read into this passage the idea of automatic damnation for all who die without the gospel is to begin with that very assumption. In other words, the passage doesn't say that. It doesn't even address that question. It simply says that judgment follows death. It says nothing about what that judgment might include, nor anything about whether God will allow people to trust in him after they die. This passage proves nothing one way or the other about whether the dead are given the gospel.

We are told in Acts 17:30-31: "While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Not only will the whole world be judged in righteousness, but the Judge will be none other than the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

God doesn't only command all people everywhere (that's everyone) to repent, he does so because he has appointed Jesus, who died for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), to be Judge. If anybody wants assurance that God is serious about all this forgiving and reconciling of all people, all they have to do is notice that he raised the Judge from the dead after the very people who need redemption (that is, all of us) killed him. God will not be thwarted in his faithfulness to his covenant to be our God and we his people.

Revelation 20 depicts the Judgment this way:

#### Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

#### Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

When the judging is over, every person is either saved or condemned. But first, before any distinction is made, to everyone's surprise, death and hell themselves are thrown into the lake of fire. If I might be allowed to personify death and hell for just a moment, just imagine them sitting there in the heavenly courtroom, barely able to contain their grins, knowing that everybody on trial is guilty as sin. Waiting for the verdicts, their thoughts are delightfully occupied with the cruelty and torture they have in store for this innumerable multitude of sure-to-be-condemned wretches.

Then suddenly, their wicked daydreams are rudely interrupted as strong angels grip their arms and muscle them out of the courtroom to the Judge's own furnace and hurl them screaming into oblivion. A hush falls on the court. What can this mean? With death and hell destroyed, how can anybody remain enslaved by them?

### All are judged

The Bible teaches that there is one and only one way to be saved — by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). As we see from Revelation 20 and other passages, such as Matthew 25:31-33, there are only two kinds of people in the final judgment, the saved and the condemned. So what of those who seem never to have had the gospel presented to them before death? Some conclude that such people are automatically doomed for the simple reason that before they died no one told them about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Consider Paul's statements in Romans 10:14-21. Here, Paul highlights the unbelief of Israel by citing the words of the Psalms and of Isaiah. First, he asks a question regarding the hearing of the word of Christ (verses 17-18), "But I ask, have they not heard?" His answer: "Indeed they have; for [quoting Psalm 10:18] 'Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world'" (verse 18).

Next, Paul quotes Isaiah to illustrate the irony of Israel's unbelief in light of the salvation of the Gentiles: "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me" (verse 20, quoting Isaiah 65:1). God's word is the decisive word for all time to all humanity; it is not merely the word to those who are contacted by Christian missionaries and evangelists. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God and Word of God—the supreme Good News for all time past and all time future and extending to every corner of the cosmos.

It is strange that we should be asked to believe that God is incapable of confronting humans with the gospel in ways we do not understand and by means in which we have little or no role. Through his superintendence of Scripture, the Holy Spirit presents the atonement of Jesus Christ as thoroughly sufficient for the redemption of the whole cosmos, the cosmos Christ holds in the palm of his hand for his Father and to which he gives life and existence every moment. Yet, we are asked to believe, as one preacher put it, that "millions are going to hell this week because nobody is getting to them with the gospel!" As if God's desire for humanity is thwarted by human incompetence!

God is consistent with his word—he does not want any person to perish. Jesus said he will draw all people to himself. Since salvation comes by no means other than trusting in the word of God's grace through Jesus Christ, this means God does, in ways and at times to which we are not privileged to know, give every person the freedom to accept God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

### Righteous Judge

Returning to Revelation 20:11-15, we find two great truths of human destiny, attested continually in Scripture, again jumping out at us: 1) Everyone gets judged, no exceptions, and 2) Jesus is the judge.

Let's give a little serious thought to that. What sort of judge is this Jesus? Well, for one thing, he is not like any human judge we're ever going to meet. No human judge takes on himself every criminal's punishment and then declares the criminal "not guilty!" But this one does. In fact, he already did, from the foundation of the world. The power of his redemption came before even the very first salivating of Eve's mouth for the forbidden fruit.

This is no ordinary judge. This judge holds all the universe every moment in the miraculous dance of existence by the word of his mouth. This judge not only gives existence to every single human, he became one of us for the express purpose of forgiving us all crimes against him and giving us eternal life in himself. This judge draws all men, women and children to himself in his death and resurrection from the dead. This is no ordinary judge.

He is perfectly fair and just, but not just fair and just, because that would leave every one of us dead. His perfect fairness and justice are overpowered by his perfect mercy (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; 12:7; James 2:13). He has gone to extraordinary lengths, through his own incarnation and crucifixion, to see to it that people are saved. He took all our sinfulness upon himself and so destroyed sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). This is no ordinary judge.

This universe springs from the gracious freedom of the triune God to be who he will be. By his grace the worlds exist. By his grace every person exists. And by his grace the eternal Son of the Father became flesh for us, atoning for the sins of the whole world, that God's gracious purpose for us might be fulfilled in him, the eternal Son, Jesus Christ.

When all the people of the world, the great and the small (Revelation 20:12), including all the dead (verses 12-13), stand before the judgment seat, they are facing Jesus Christ. Imagine the scene. Their judge, the one who holds their eternal fate in his hands, is the Lamb of God, the atoning sacrifice not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2). They are in the spike-pierced hands of the risen Son of God, the crucified and glorified Christ. They are at his mercy—at the mercy of the Author of mercy.

### Judgment day

Imagine you are sitting in the Court of the Universe, waiting with pounding heart for the Judge of All Things to walk in and pass judgment on you. You had never really taken seriously the idea of a final judgment. You had heard people talk about God, but it never really meant anything to you.

Now you realize that there really is an accounting to be given. The piper is going to be paid, after all. You are heartsick. Your breathing is shallow, rapid. Sweat is trickling down your spine. Your eyes focus on the signs above two doors behind the bench. One reads, Exit for Perfectly Sinless and Righteous Saints. The other reads, Exit for All Others. Flooding through your mind is a hideous collage of your lies, lust, meanness, betrayals, selfishness, greed. And now this is it, the day of reckoning. You know you've got no hope. You hear yourself groan.

Then the Judge walks in and takes his throne. His presence overwhelms you. He is like nothing you could have expected. The whole courtroom seems to come alive in response to him. He is the definition of power and of authority, yet he radiates peace, serenity and love. He is so compelling that your thoughts are no longer on yourself and your dread. Your body relaxes, an unexplainable joy bubbles up from the center of your being. As awesome as he appears, you suddenly feel you would rather be smothered in his embrace than live another moment without him. You know that whatever his verdict, it will be good, and you are no longer afraid of anything.

"How do you plead?" the Judge asks. His voice seems to draw the truth from your lips. "Guilty," you respond, and as you do, you realize two things at once, that you are deeply ashamed of your sinful life, and that the Judge has already dropped all charges against you. Your shame melts into grateful tears of joy and peace of heart as you receive his life-giving gaze into the depths of your soul.

"Guilty of what?" the Judge asks, with a playful smile. "There doesn't seem to be any record against you. Are you ready to join the celebration? Good. Let's go eat." He holds open the Exit for Perfectly Sinless and Righteous Saints and beckons you to enter with him.

However, you could plead not guilty and try to argue your case, demanding to demonstrate that you really are a right decent sort of fellow and should be counted among the saints because of all the quarters you put in that donation jar in the grocery store line. Or you could try to argue that you should be let off the hook because God has no right to impose his arbitrary rules on you in the first place. Or you could simply tell God to leave you alone, he can keep his gospel, you don't need it, you want none of his lovey dovey stuff, you'd rather keep what works for you, your survival of the fittest, dog-eat-dog, fend-for-yourself way of life, where you are at least the master of your own domain. All these avenues allow you to exit with your nose in the air through the All Others door and find yourself where you like it best, in the dark, free to stew in your own self-satisfied juice.

### No need to worry

Even if you don't like my little tale of the heavenly courtroom, the point is that there is no need to worry that our departed loved ones, nor any of the rest of the masses of humans who have died, are consigned to the eternal flames simply because no missionary reached them with the gospel message before they died. Jesus knows the gospel too, and he can present it even better than we can.

Sad to say, the Bible tells us that some will not accept the grace of the Creator and King (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 19:20; 20:15). They will not trust the Son of God and his Father. There could be no greater tragedy, no greater stupidity, than for guests invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb to reject God's free gift of grace in favor of their own pitiful and miserable attempts to make life worthwhile. But that is exactly what our broken human nature is bent toward doing.

Our "just desserts" oriented minds find it distressing to put all our eggs in the one basket of the Father's outrageous grace. Such a deal would mean not only that our hard work at being good didn't really matter in the end, but worse yet, that some pretty unsavory types might be allowed to stroll into the kingdom alongside us as well—just by believing in God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

There must be some way to distinguish the deserving, like us, from the undeserving, like that weed-smoking pimp on the corner. There must be some way that the good, decent people will get a better deal than the blatant sinners will get. This free, undeserved grace thing has too many question marks around it for us to be entirely comfortable with it. It is the Judgment of God's grace, and it works off its own logic, a logic as high above ours as heaven is above earth (see Isaiah 55:8-9 and Psalm 103:11-14).

### Two sets of books

A remarkable thing takes place during this heavenly judgment sequence of Revelation 20. First, all the dead are gathered and some books are opened (verse 12). Then, another book is opened – not the "books" just mentioned, but "another book," distinct from them. This book is called the Book of Life. Then these dead people are judged "according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

These "books" contain the record of their works, all the evidence needed to judge them, and on the basis of the evidence, where do you suppose it leaves them? It leaves them in the same spot you and I are in—red-handed guilty. That is the hideous predicament of every one of these people, and in fact, the predicament of all people who have ever lived. "There is none righteous, no not one," God says. "All your righteousness is as filthy rags," is his assessment of where we humans stand in terms of judgment. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," just in case anyone is still wondering who "made it" and who didn't.

Just to be sure we understand that absolutely nobody is left out of this judgment, we are again told that everybody who has ever died is there: the sea gives up the dead in it and Death and Hades give up the dead in them (verse 13). Don't get the idea that anybody has slipped through the cracks. Everybody stands before this judgment seat. And all are judged "according to their works."

At this point, things seem to have taken an ugly turn. Everybody who has ever lived and died is condemned by their own actions as recorded in the books. They have to stand and wait their turn while Death and Hades get tossed into the ultimate incinerator (verse 14).

But wait! What is this? That "other" book turns up again. The judgment according to their works is not the end of the story! There is another book, the Book of Life, and the only ones who wind up in the lake with Death and Hades are those whose names don't appear in this Book (verse 15)! It was sitting there all along. Everybody whose name is in it gets a full pardon.

How do names get in it? By the atoning blood of Christ. The great mystery is that through Christ's Atonement, everybody's name is in it. Believers simply receive what was there for them all along.

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24). Those who will not believe, on the other hand, are unable to make the leap. This has been the message of Scripture all along, Old and New Testaments alike—a testament to Jesus Christ. "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (John 5:39-40).

There is only one way to be saved — faith in Jesus Christ. The very Law that brings condemnation by our failure to keep it also brings salvation through its proclamation that God would send his Messiah to rescue us from our sins. The curse of death does not have the last word! In Christ, all things are made new. The Word of Life is himself the final word for humanity!

### Sinners welcome

In Matthew 25:31-46, all people come before the judgment seat of Christ. On what basis does Christ separate the sheep from the goats? The Bible gives only one basis for salvation—either accept God's gift or reject it. One of the fascinating things in this parable is that the people who have been displaying the self-sacrificial love of Christ do not even realize they have been doing so. They have no personal sense of having been particularly good or holy or righteous. "When did we do all these things?" they ask, surprised.

Ironically, those who are rejected are also surprised, surprised that the judge would think they have done nothing worthwhile for God. "When did we fail to do all these things?" they ask, incredulous. They have no need, they believe, for this free and undeserved grace reserved for dirty sinners. They have a stack of good report cards and a pocket full of merit badges, and if that is not good enough for this so-called judge, then they want no part of his kingdom of losers.

### It's about grace

Who will love Jesus more—the one who is forgiven much, or the one who is forgiven little? Jesus poses the question in Luke 7:41-50. People who think they are decent moral folks don't seem to be looking for grace. People who know they are big sinners tend to be hungry for grace. Big sinners will get into the kingdom ahead of some big righteous people, Jesus says (Matthew 21:31). A friend of sinners, he was called, and that is what he is (Luke 7:34). He is your friend and mine.

Religious people tend to think they have an inside track on who is going to be saved and who is not. The rule keepers, the good boys and girls and the holy people are in, and the troublemakers, the stinkers, the porn stars, the lowlifes, the unwed mothers and the like are out.

"Don't count on it," Jesus says. "You think you know about righteousness? Why won't you trust me to be your righteousness, because you can't even see you're nothing more than a dolled up corpse. You are so rotten your nose can't smell your own stink. I will have mercy on whom I want to, pal, so take what you've earned and get out of here" (forgive my loose paraphrase of Matthew 20:13-15).

How many sinners have died longing for justice, for righteousness, for peace, for hope, for truth, for freedom, but having no clue where to find it? In Christ, and in Christ alone, these ageless quests are finally ended. "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3).

Remember what happened when Jesus touched the lepers? Everybody else stayed as far from lepers as possible. But not Jesus. Not only was he unafraid to touch lepers, but when he touched them, the lepers got healed. Our minds are like lepers' bodies, hopelessly diseased and rotting. But when Jesus took human nature upon himself, not only did he not catch corruption from us, he healed us. He healed the human mind.

That healing is open to everyone. All it takes to receive that healing, to begin to experience the joy of that healed mind, to enter the kingdom of God, is accept his free gift—to trust that in Christ's death and resurrection, the astonishing almighty God of lavish love has done everything that needed to be done to secure our place at his table.

### The will of the Father

In the last book of his Narnia Chronicles series, _The Last Battle,_ Christian author C.S. Lewis presents a symbolic picture of the final judgment. A man who was well acquainted with the intimate love of our Savior, Lewis was not afraid to depict the gracious salvation of a soldier who died having never believed in the only name under heaven whereby people must be saved. When Emeth, the Calormen soldier, came face to face in the final judgment with Aslan, the Christ figure in the story, he immediately loved Aslan, knowing Aslan was the true longing of his soul.

Is this concept so far-fetched? The Lord who died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) knows those who are his (2 Timothy 2:19). Jesus tells us that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). John tells us that Jesus died not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Jesus is also the Lord of all space and all time!

Perhaps Lewis' depiction is not far off. In Matthew 25:31-46 we learn that Jesus lives in those who are his and that his works are accomplished in them even though they are not entirely aware of it. Is it too much to say that by God's grace such people might know and love the glorious risen Lord as the deepest longing of their souls? Is it too much to say that those whose hearts have become fully committed to whatever opposes the kingdom of God—some to the egotistic pursuit of their own ends, some to cruelty and hatefulness, some to evil and rebellion against whatever is good and pure—will be filled with terror and hate for him?

Even so, there is still the element of surprise, of supreme reversal, in which even the blackest human heart can be melted and transformed by the radical grace of our radically gracious God. "There are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last," Jesus declares (Luke 13:30). Human expectations of justice and fairness are knocked on their ear when God's Son starts shelling out the fabulous grace of his Father. Witness the parable of the workers in the field (Matthew 20:13-15). He is dangerous, this One, because he forgives where we can't muster forgiveness, and he blesses where we can't see any justification for blessing. He saves the undeserving, the "deserving" get mad about it, and he tells them they have no right to object.

What is God's will? Jesus said, "This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day" (John 6:40). Some argue that God's will is also that a great many people _not_ see the Son and not believe in him and not have eternal life so that he will not raise them up at the last day. But let them take their rain cloud somewhere else. That is not what the Bible says.

### Other objections

Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Through Jesus Christ, God is pleased to reconcile all things to himself whether on earth or in heaven by making peace through Jesus' blood on the cross (Colossians 1:20). The vast majority of humans died without ever hearing the gospel. Therefore, we must take into consideration the possibility that their decision of faith, or decision of non-faith, may take place in the realm of death.

Objections to such a suggestion include the idea that the church is a little flock, so God intends to save only a few. The church may be a little flock in this age, but we are not talking about the church of this age. We are talking about people who did not know the gospel before they died. We are talking about the new creation in its full flower.

Another objection is that such trust in the grace of God for all humans would destroy any motive for spreading the gospel. To that, I can only say Nonsense. Jesus commanded us to spread the gospel, and that is sufficient motivation for any of us. Besides, one who possesses by God's grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit such good news cannot help but spread it. How can forgiven sinners like us want the rest of the world to continue living in the misery of not knowing that God loves them and has reconciled them to himself through the blood of his Son? As the Spirit dwells in us, how can we not care whether others continue to live hopeless in their sins without the healing balm of the Savior?

But to say that God depends on our puny and often destructive efforts is to limit God. God loves us so much that he grants us the grace to participate with him in his joy of bringing people to faith, but surely we can admit that our track record is such that he has to do more clean up after us than we are of actual help to him.

God gives humans freedom to trust him and also allows them not to trust him. Relationships are built on trust, and those who finally will not trust God will remain alienated from him. The Bible indicates that some people will not trust God to forgive them, but will instead by their own choice, in spite of their God-given freedom to believe, remain his enemies.

On that topic, though, let's never get the idea that hell is on any kind of par with heaven. Hell is only a tiny weed bed in a dark corner under a porch on a little street in the outskirts of the vast immeasurable expanse of all things made gloriously new in Jesus Christ. Those who choose to cower there in the dark do so not because that is where God wants them, but because God, in his free grace, allows them to trample on his love and huddle in the nowhere place they have "created" for themselves in their darkened minds.

I have received letters from some people who strongly disagree with what I have written on this topic. But it is interesting that nearly every letter also grants in essence that the Scriptures lead us to trust that God will indeed deal righteously with those who die without knowing the name of Jesus. I offer that he will deal with them in no other way than in accord with his eternal faithfulness and mercy as demonstrated supremely in Jesus Christ, the great Judge.

### Not a 'religion'

An amazing thing about the kingdom of God is that it is nothing like a religion or an exclusive society or club or institution. The religions and institutions of this world erect barriers and rules to keep the riffraff out. But the kingdom of God is designed to encompass everybody whom God has created.

Everybody is born, because of Jesus Christ, with a golden invitation to his kingdom, only they don't know it yet. Some, upon finding out about this invitation, don't want it. They have better things to do, more important fish to fry. Others figure they have better ways of getting in, working for it instead of taking charity. Others don't want to be in a kingdom that lets in so many losers. When all is said and done, the only people who will be excluded from the kingdom of God are those who refuse to accept it on the terms it is offered—absolutely free to the completely undeserving by simply trusting in the grace of the Giver.

It is not that hard to be a Christian. There is no secret handshake, no riddle or maze to figure out. And thank God, it doesn't depend on how competent the church is as spreaders of the gospel, even though our Father in his grace has blessed us with such a wonderful role in that task. Jesus simply says, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). He doesn't say when. He doesn't say, "Oh, by the way, beat the deadline or you're burnt toast."

This Savior has all the ends sewed up. The final judgment is rigged. Not only did the Father send his Son into the world that whoever believes on him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16), indeed, not only did he send his Son into the world precisely not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through him (verse 17), he also committed all judgment to him—he made his Son the supreme presiding Judge of the final judgment.

This is not the God of popular imagination! This is not the God people grow up on, the stern stone-face God who blows away the sinners and sends winning lottery tickets to the pious and obedient. This is the God of the Bible, the one who can't be stopped from lavishly dishing out his grace to anybody and everybody who will accept it.

God is not a "butterfingers." No one is going to slip through the cracks. Jesus Christ has a personal and intimate interest in every person who has ever lived, and he has gone to incredible lengths to see to it that they will take their place at his Father's table. He will not force anyone. But neither will he consign anyone to condemnation simply on the basis that one of us Christians did not get to the poor unfortunate wretch with the gospel message before he or she died. God's grace is not geared to our level of competence in evangelism.

After people die they get judged (Hebrews 9:27). It is a final judgment. But the one who sits on the judge's bench is none other than the One who bore the marks of slaughter for them, and boy, has he got good news! You will find no teaching in the Bible, regardless of what many Christians believe, that Jesus is powerless to confront and save people when their physical life has ended. In the words of the finale from the musical _Les Miserables:_ "For the wretched of the earth, there is a flame that never dies, Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise."

Whatever the author of the verse intended, this is not just a lovely sentiment. It is God's truth. Jesus is that eternal Flame, and even the darkest night has found its end in the rising of the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the only name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

J. Michael Feazell

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## Will Humans Become Gods?

Christians are called the children of God, and children normally grow up to be like their parent(s). Does this mean that we will become God? What will our resurrected state be like? John had something to say about these issues in 1 John 2:28-3:2:

#### Dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.... Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

There are some interesting thoughts in this passage. First, John admits that what we will be like has not been revealed. We can speculate about these matters, but we should admit that we don't really _know_ what we will be like nor what life will be like in eternity. We do know this much: we will be free of the trials and sorrows of this life (Revelation 21:3-5). That is certainly a wonderful insight.

John also stated that we are "born again" in this life and that we are also called the "children of God." But we are still limited human beings. We can be children of God and be "born again" without being "Gods." We have to be careful how we interpret such expressions in terms of what our nature and life might be like after the resurrection.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but this does not mean that we will be spirits without bodies. In the resurrection we will be "clothed" with an imperishable and immortal nature (1 Corinthians 15:52-53). We will be raised with a "spiritual body" (verse 44), which will be a state of existence given to us by God. This tells us that we will be qualitatively different, but this difference is not something we can explain or understand in this life.

This makes it doubly important that we clarify our assumptions about the next life—and that we use terms as carefully as possible. For example, there is a big difference between "become God" and "become like God."

We may become "like" God in certain ways. God is spiritual, and we shall have spiritual bodies, so we will be "like" God in one sense. Indeed, we are already made in the "image and likeness" of God. We are to exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which reflects the mind and nature of God's love. We are to become "like God" in this way as well, even in this life.

But to believe that we shall "become God" contradicts the Bible's teaching about the nature of God. God is one being, not many separate beings. God is eternal and uncreated. But we do not have a past eternity, and we were created by God. Therefore, we are less than God, and can never be all that God is, and we can never be God, for that word implies being eternal, being uncreated, and being all-powerful. We do not have life within ourselves, as does God. We must be given life by God. He will give us eternal life, but that life is not inherent in us, and we cannot give it to others, as God can.

Some people use John 10:34— "you are gods"—in support of the idea that we shall become God. But Jesus was not commenting on the question of what we will be in the resurrection. In this passage, Jesus is quoting from Psalm 82:6, in which the Hebrew word translated "gods" is _elohim._ In context, it refers to unjust human judges (Psalm 82:1-2, 7). Jesus says the following in John 10:34-36:

#### Is it not written in your Law, "I have said you are gods." If he called them "gods" to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, "I am God's Son"?

In John 10, the Jewish leaders were accusing Jesus of blasphemy because he had claimed "to be God" (verse 33). Jesus was saying, in effect, the following: "If Scripture can call unjust human judges "gods," how much more can the name 'Son of God' refer to me?" Jesus was not telling the Jews that these unjust judges were Gods. As the psalm says, they were mortal. Rather, Jesus was cautioning his hearers about their own unjust condemnation of his use of the term "Son of God." Both the psalm and Jesus were talking about mortal human beings. The question of what we will be like after the resurrection has nothing to do with John 10:34.

In the resurrection, we will be like Jesus Christ, and that will be wonderful. We will be God's children forever, living in perfect joy and happiness, and we thank God that we can become his children even in this life, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Paul Kroll

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## About the Authors...

**J. Michael Feazell** was vice-president of Grace Communion International for many years. He earned his M.Div. degree from Azusa Pacific Seminary in 2000. He is the author of _The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God_ and several e-books.

**Paul Kroll** worked for Grace Communion International as a writer and editor.

**Michael Morrison** received a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2006. He is now Dean of Faculty at Grace Communion Seminary, and associate pastor of a GCI church in Glendora, CA. He is the author of several books, numerous e-books, and is the editor of this book.

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## About the Publisher...

Grace Communion International is a Christian denomination with about 50,000 members, worshiping in about 900 congregations in almost 100 nations and territories. We began in 1934 and our main office is in North Carolina. In the United States, we are members of the National Association of Evangelicals and similar organizations in other nations. We welcome you to visit our website at www.gci.org.

If you want to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we offer help. First, we offer weekly worship services in hundreds of congregations worldwide. Perhaps you'd like to visit us. A typical worship service includes songs of praise, a message based on the Bible, and opportunity to meet people who have found Jesus Christ to be the answer to their spiritual quest. We try to be friendly, but without putting you on the spot. We do not expect visitors to give offerings—there's no obligation. You are a guest.

To find a congregation, write to one of our offices, phone us or visit our website. If we do not have a congregation near you, we encourage you to find another Christian church that teaches the gospel of grace.

We also offer personal counsel. If you have questions about the Bible, salvation or Christian living, we are happy to talk. If you want to discuss faith, baptism or other matters, a pastor near you can discuss these on the phone or set up an appointment for a longer discussion. We are convinced that Jesus offers what people need most, and we are happy to share the good news of what he has done for all humanity. We like to help people find new life in Christ, and to grow in that life. Come and see why we believe it's the best news there could be!

Our work is funded by members of the church who donate part of their income to support the gospel. Jesus told his disciples to share the good news, and that is what we strive to do in our literature, in our worship services, and in our day-to-day lives.

If this e-book has helped you and you want to pay some expenses, all donations are gratefully welcomed, and in several nations, are tax-deductible. If you can't afford to give anything, don't worry about it. It is our gift to you. To make a donation online, go to www.gci.org/participate/donate.

Thank you for letting us share what we value most — Jesus Christ. The good news is too good to keep it to ourselves.

See our website for hundreds of articles, locations of our churches, addresses in various nations, audio and video messages, and much more.

Grace Communion International  
3129 Whitehall Park Dr.

Charlotte, NC 28273-3335

1-800-423-4444

www.gci.org

### You're Included...

We talk with leading Trinitarian theologians about the good news that God loves you, wants you, and includes you in Jesus Christ. Most programs are about 28 minutes long. Our guests have included:

Ray Anderson, Fuller Theological Seminary

Douglas A. Campbell, Duke Divinity School

Elmer Colyer, U. of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Gordon Fee, Regent College

Trevor Hart, University of St. Andrews

George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary

Jeff McSwain, Reality Ministries

Paul Louis Metzger, Multnomah University

Paul Molnar, St. John's University

Cherith Fee Nordling, Antioch Leadership Network

Andrew Root, Luther Seminary

Alan Torrance, University of St. Andrews

Robert T. Walker, Edinburgh University

N.T. Wright, University of St. Andrews

William P. Young, author of _The Shack_

Programs are available free for viewing and downloading at www.youreincluded.org.

### Speaking of Life...

Dr. Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International, comments each week, giving a biblical perspective on how we live in the light of God's love. Most programs are about three minutes long – available in video, audio, and text. Go to www.speakingoflife.org.

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##

Grace Communion Seminary

Ministry based on the life and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Grace Communion Seminary serves the needs of people engaged in Christian service who want to grow deeper in relationship with our Triune God and to be able to more effectively serve in the church.

Why study at Grace Communion Seminary?

 Worship: to love God with all your mind.

 Service: to help others apply truth to life.

 Practical: a balanced range of useful topics for ministry.

 Trinitarian theology: a survey of theology with the merits of a Trinitarian perspective. We begin with the question, "Who is God?" Then, "Who are we in relationship to God?" In this context, "How then do we serve?"

 Part-time study: designed to help people who are already serving in local congregations. There is no need to leave your current ministry. Full-time students are also welcome.

 Flexibility: your choice of master's level continuing education courses or pursuit of a degree: Master of Pastoral Studies or Master of Theological Studies.

 Affordable, accredited study: Everything can be done online.

For more information, go to www.gcs.edu. Grace Communion Seminary is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, www.deac.org. The Accrediting Commission is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.

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## Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

Want to better understand God's Word? Want to know the Triune God more deeply? Want to share more joyously in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit? Want to be better equipped to serve others?

Among the many resources that Grace Communion International offers are the training and learning opportunities provided by ACCM. This quality, well-structured Christian Ministry curriculum has the advantage of being very practical and flexible. Students may study at their own pace, without having to leave home to undertake full-time study.

This denominationally recognized program is available for both credit and audit study. At minimum cost, this online Diploma program will help students gain important insights and training in effective ministry service. Students will also enjoy a rich resource for personal study that will enhance their understanding and relationship with the Triune God.

Diploma of Christian Ministry classes provide an excellent introductory course for new and lay pastors. Pastor General Dr. Joseph Tkach said, "We believe we have achieved the goal of designing Christian ministry training that is practical, accessible, interesting, and doctrinally and theologically mature and sound. This program provides an ideal foundation for effective Christian ministry."

For more information, go to www.ambascol.org

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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