I did not realize until some years ago that there is the “gospel” that our theologians taught us, and then there’s the “gospel” that Jesus and the apostles taught us, and the two do not line up with each other.
I have also, along with millions of other Christians, discovered exactly why…
Our theologians used their futurist interpretation of the letter called “Revelation” as the FOUNDATION on which to build their “understanding” of the rest of the New Testament. In short, they used their eschatology to interpret the words of Jesus and the apostles – rather than using the words of Jesus and the apostles as the FOUNDATION from which to interpret their eschatology…
1. I didn’t know that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed (and then completely and methodically dismantled right down to its foundation) in 70 AD (as Jesus foretold in Mat 24:2) from the orders of a Roman madman (Nero Caesar) of whom – throughout the entire region had the well-known nickname “the Beast."
I did NOT know about that.
Did you know about that?
2. I didn’t know that first century History recorded that the Roman armies, carrying the bold ensigns of an eagle, surrounded Jerusalem in 68 AD exactly as Jesus said they would in Luke 21:20.
I do wonder... when the disciples (who would have still been alive then) saw "the armies surrounding Jerusalem" if they thought about Luke 21:20... Why wouldn't they have? They were TOLD that they would see all these things happen...
3. I didn’t know that first century History recorded that the Roman armies built “siege mounds” around the city, as foretold by Jesus in Luke. 19:43-44. The question… “Why would a modern 21st century mechanized army with missiles, planes and pin-point accuracy-smart-bombs build an (ancient warfare) siege mound?” never even entered my mind when I read that verse. Whenever I read verses like that - that just didn't seem to add up - I "saw" what I was taught to see... nothing. I never questioned why a modern, futuristic military would build an ancient warfare siege mound... THAT's the power of indoctrination my friends... When I didn't understand it, or if it started making me question my teachers - I just skipped over it and kept reading... looking for the verses that DID seem to confirm what my teachers were teaching. Any Christian that says they don't know what I'm talking about here is not being honest.
4. I didn’t know that first century History recorded that not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, nor that the early Christian scholar Eusebius wrote: “The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella.”
5. I didn’t know that Epiphanes also attested to the Christian escape, “It is very remarkable that not a single Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, though there were many there when Cestius Gallus invested the city…”
6. I didn’t know that Peter had actually TOLD the people in Acts 2:16 that THEY were in fact IN the “last days,” even though I've read that passage a hundred times. AGAIN, we "see" what we've been TOLD to see. Have the “last days” lasted over 2,000 years? Has the “axe been laid to the tree” for over 2,000 years? Try to picture a man holding an axe at the bottom of a tree, as if to mark the spot where he is going to start chopping, and then holding that position for 2,000 years. I would think that the metaphor of an axe “already being laid at the bottom of a tree” would signify “very soon”… But that's just me.
7. I didn’t know that when the apostle Paul said “WE who are alive and remain…” in 1st Thess 4: 17 he was actually talking to (and about) himself and the people standing there in front of him who were mourning THEIR dead relatives (not our dead relatives 2,000 years later). How is it that we have been trained to read things like that and COMPLETELY MISS that we just got done reading about a REAL PERSON saying REAL THINGS to REAL PEOPLE in a REAL time zone who were going through "REAL-TIME" grief and sorrow because of losing THEIR relatives??? How have we been enabled to read that and see the word "WE" as meaning a statement that was REALLY meant for some folks over 2,000 years later, rather than for the folks it ACTUALLY SAYS the words were being spoken directly TO???
Have we stolen someone else's story?
Is that even possible?
They are not allowed to be us, and we are not allowed to be them.
8. I didn’t know that first century history eloquently documented the Roman army hurling 100-pound boulders at the city of Jerusalem nor just how horrendous that was in real life for the recipients of those… “hailstones” until I actually read the documented (Josephus) history on the subject… (Revelation 16:21).
No preacher ever told me about that.
9. I didn’t know that the OPENING and CLOSING statements of the book of revelation were basically talking about the same OPENING and CLOSING statements of the Olivet discourse by Jesus Himself…
(Rev 1:1) “things which must shortly take place” (Rev 1:3) “for the time is near."
(Rev 22:6) “things which must shortly take place” (Rev 22:10) “for the time is near."
Matt. 23:36 “Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon THIS generation."
Matt. 24:34 "Truly I say to you, THIS generation will not pass away until ALL these things (verse 2 through 34) take place."
10. I didn’t even know that it is an undeniable historic fact that the armies surrounding Jerusalem and building siege mounds and completely dismantling the temple building actually DID take place in THAT generation (just as Jesus said it would). I never even stopped to consider that these things alone have to be included in “all these things shall come upon THIS generation." I never realized that when Jesus said "these are the days of vengeance" He was referring to the event that took place in 70 A.D., but documented history proves that it WAS...
11. I didn’t know that most of today’s “end times” preachers ARE actually saying that Jesus was running around in the first century telling those people that something was going to happen to them (in their lifetimes) that DIDN'T happen to them and WOULDN'T happen to them.
12. I didn’t know that “end times” preachers are also, in effect, basically saying that Peter and Paul were also lying or were themselves misled about the same subject and thus giving out inaccurate information about the "end of the age" to the people THEY were talking to... (Rom. 13:11-12; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; 1 Cor. 10: 11; 2 Thess. 2: 6, 7; Phil. 4:5; James 5: 7-9; 1 Pet. 1: 20; 1 Pet. 4: 7; 1 John. 2:18; Acts 2:16,17; Heb. 10: 25 and 10:37).
13. I didn’t know that the “seven churches” in the book of Revelation (who the book was literally addressed to) were actually real first-century churches full of (real) harshly persecuted Christians, nor that the order in which they were listed in Revelation were in the same order of a known (first century) Roman postal route, nor that you can actually see the mainland where these cities are - from the island of Patmos (which is now a big tropical tourist spot where cruise ships come in).
I didn't know that.
14. I didn’t know that John’s letter to those (real) people in those (real) churches was sent to minister to them by John, a “fellow partaker in the tribulation,” to give them spiritual instruction, encouragement, and HOPE…John is writing to seven actual churches in DIRE circumstances. He intends on them to understand what is being written, revealed, and shown... They are to HEAR and to HEED, which would require that they understand… John’s letter is about things “which must shortly take place” (temporal nearness)… It was a letter of instruction, encouragement, and HOPE… And THIS is a BIG PART of what he told THOSE REAL PEOPLE…
Revelation 1:1 - "...things which must shortly take place"
Revelation 3:11 - "Behold, I come quickly!"
Revelation 22:6 - "...things which must shortly take place."
Revelation 22:7 - "Behold, I am coming quickly!"
Revelation 22:10 – “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.”
Revelation 22:12 - "Behold, I am coming quickly."
Revelation 22:20 - "Surely I am coming quickly." εγγυς, engus means "at hand, near"
Revelation 1:3 - "The time is near."
Revelation 22:10 - "The time is at hand." μελλει, mello, mellei means "about to, on the point or verge of"
Revelation 1:19 - "Write ... the things that are about to take place."
Revelation 3:10 - "... the hour of trial ... is about to come upon the whole world."
15. I didn’t know that those people in those seven churches THOUGHT all those verses were TRUE for THEM, nor that it would give them the BELIEF that all those things would happen in THEIR lifetime, but it did. Surely John is not telling these poor persecuted saints that the “time is near and you must heed that which I’m writing, and God is concerned with your persecution – BUT the things I am telling you that are near to you and shortly to come are (actually) NOT really near to you and (actually) NOT shortly to come but are (really and actually) not going to take place until 2,000-some years from now” ! "But hey, thanks for letting us USE your DESPERATE HOPE and your DIRE SITUATION as a STORY-TELLING PROP for the REAL people (2,000 years from now) that this letter is (actually) really written for." ?
Huh?????
Can you imagine that?
Does that make ANY sense at all?
How can that POSSIBLY be what happened there?!!
16. I didn’t know that the words “one will be taken and one will be left” in Matthew 24:37-39 which is to mirror the days of Noah - is ACTUALLY saying that the one LEFT is the one SPARED… otherwise it would NOT be “as it was in the days of Noah” – because the flood came, and ‘TOOK’ them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.’ But it doesn’t end there… “And they answered and said unto Him, "WHERE, Lord? And He (Jesus) said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” Where? Where the carcass is! Where the dead body is! Where the place of death is! Destruction, that's where.
The idea that Matthew 24 is talking about taking away the saints in a rapture is not true at all. The biblical pattern is that the saints are left behind after destruction TAKES the wicked out. Where? In Jerusalem…When? In 70 A.D., at the destruction and desolation of the temple. The Romans were like an eagle, and the ensign of their armies WAS an eagle. The term "carcass" well represents the utterly corrupted Jewish state in the first generation; the "eagles" is a fit symbol of the Roman army, every legion of which bore the eagle as its standard." The term "carcass" is explained in Robertson's Word Pictures as follows: "As in Matthew 14:12, the corpse. Originally a fallen body from Greek term meaning, to fall, like Latin cadaver from cado, to fall."
I didn’t know that. I never really read those verses outside of how I was TOLD to "see" them...
17. I didn’t know that there is no known writing or any kind of reference by ANY writer about a pre-tribulation rapture prior to 1830. I didn’t know that it is an historical fact that this teaching did not exist among the early Christians or Church fathers or ANY Christians throughout history until 1830…
Did you know that? I didn't...
18. I didn’t know that the origin of this belief actually began with a fifteen-year-old girl named Margaret MacDonald in the town of Port Glasgow, Scotland. In 1830 she had a dream or vision that Christians were raptured just prior to the “Great Tribulation” talked about in Matthew chapter 24. Around 1832 a Presbyterian pastor in London, England named Edward Irving heard about this dream or vision that Miss MacDonald had and started teaching it to his congregation.
19. I didn’t know that it is a well-documented fact that John Nelson Darby, the founder of a group known as the Plymouth Brethren, who after visiting Miss MacDonald also began teaching this new theory. Later, by 1917, C. I. Scofield had published his “improved edition” of the Scofield Reference Bible (which contained the dispensational pre-tribulation teachings of Darby and others). Soon many Bible Colleges such as Moody Bible Institute and seminaries such as Dallas Theological Seminary became staunch promoters of theology that included the doctrine of a pre-tribulation rapture.
I honestly didn’t know that.
In 1970 Hal Lindsey, who attended Dallas Theological Seminary, popularized this teaching with his book entitled The Late Great Planet Earth. Millions of copies have been sold and a movie by the same title was made. Other people wrote MORE books, and started teaching this VERY YOUNG philosophy as "Biblical Truth"…Everyone on the planet is now familiar with Tim LaHaye's "left behind" books and movies...
20. I had NO IDEA that reading the actual historical records of the destruction of Jerusalem was as easy as cutting and pasting a link…
Reading that history lesson made ME want to cry.
Why has no Pastor ever told me that story???
21. I never knew (never really thought it through) that if the “New Jerusalem” in the book of Revelation is talking about an ACTUAL city (rather than a metaphor symbolizing the Bride of Christ) that this 1,500 mile CUBED city would (literally) cover the entire Mid East including all of Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, a HUGE section of the Mediterranean Sea, and several parts of other neighboring countries - not to mention extending 1,200 miles BEYOND the International Space Station which is in a 220-mile low orbit.
22. I didn’t KNOW that a third of the stars falling to the earth could never happen – mainly because the smallest star out there is at least a THOUSAND times larger than our entire planet. I didn’t KNOW that.
23. I didn’t know that Hal Lindsey and Jack Van Impe and Tim Lahaye have all made several time predictions and “on-or-around” year projections of the Second Coming over the last 30 years, and yet Pastors all across these fruited plains have their books proudly on display in their office libraries. Hal Lindsey 1982, 1988, 2007, with contingency dates going as far as 2048; Jack Van Impe 1975, 1992, 2000, 2012; Ellen G. White (co-founder-Seventh Day Adventist Church): 1843, 1844, 1850, 1856; Joseph Smith (founder-Mormon church) 1891; Pat Robertson 1982; Lester Sumrall 1985, 1986, 2000; Benny Hinn 1993; Kenneth Hagin 1997 to 2000; Jerry Falwell 2010; John Hinkle (on Trinity Broadcasting Network) 1994; Louis Farrakhan 1991; The Jehovah's Witnesses 1874, 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, and 1984. And rather than these authors being banned from the Christian book stores, the money continues to flow from these same authors even to this day. I was never told these facts in the church… The titles have changed to less accountable declarations such as “Are We In The Last Days?”, just in case we are not – that way they don’t lose face like they did so badly in the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s with more daring titles…
Added Note: If your Pastor has ANY of the books by those authors in their office library, "There's yer sign"...
24. I didn’t know (and never really stopped to think about it) that when Jesus was talking to the Scribes and Pharisees about these things – He was actually talking TO the Scribes and Pharisees, and whenever He was talking to His disciples about these things, He was actually talking TO His disciples (not to you and me in the 21st century).
Thinking about it now... it only makes sense that He was talking to whoever He was talking to... Right?
25. I didn’t know that when Jesus told first-century people that THEY would experience “all these things” He was actually telling THEM about what was going to happen to THEM in THEIR lifetimes (not someone else’s lifetime some 2,000 years later). And I'm being honest when I say I really was unaware of the fact that I had (literally) been taught to mentally REMOVE the real live audience and recipients of those New Testament conversations, and INSERT mySELF in their place (as if Jesus were talking to ME instead of them). Think about how crazy that is, and how our teachers have actually pulled that off !
26. I didn’t know that His disciples THOUGHT Jesus was talking about THEM and what THEY would see in THEIR lifetimes.
How is it that we’ve been taught to “see” (or view) conversations in the New Testament being addressed to US rather than to the (actual) people who were being talked directly to? We "see" them as "object lessons", not PEOPLE. How did our teachers pull that off?
27. I didn’t know that the Bible says “antichrist” was already IN the first century… I Jn. 2:18; Compare Matt. 24:23-34, and I Jn. 4:3 That would mean that THEY were IN the "last days", would it not? Oh, and I didn't know that although there are many references to a rebuilt temple in the Old Testament, and that rebuilding DID happen, there is NO reference to ANOTHER rebuilt temple that will replace the one that was destroyed in 70 A.D., yet in order for the futurist end times doctrines to be true - there has to be one... But from the way the end times "experts" talk, I thought they were getting that from the BIBLE... But now I realize that EVEN IF someone DID build a new temple in Jerusalem and started offering sacrifices - it wouldn't change anything.
28. I didn’t know that there were “wars and rumors of wars” during the era of “Pax Romana” (Roman Peace). I didn’t know that a large book could be written about this … Josephus writes that “Roman civil wars were so common” in that empire that there was “no need to write about them in great detail”. The Jews were often the target of these wars. At Seleucia “more than 50,000 Jews were killed.” The Annuls of Tacitus (14 A.D. to 68 A.D.) describes the tumult of the period with phrases such as “disturbances in Germany,” “commotions in Africa,” “commotions in Thrace,” “insurrections in Gaul,”, and the list goes on and on… The information is there if you look for it…
I didn’t know anything about that.
It's truly amazing what a little research can pull up, isn't it?
29. I didn’t know that there were horrendous famines in the land in the first century, and that beginning with the book of Acts, we see famines were prevalent in the period prior to Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 A.D. (Acts 11:27-29). The famine was so great that the church as far away as Corinth participated in relief efforts (1 Cor. 16:1-5; Rom. 15:25-28). Also, well-documented historians of the time, Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonious all wrote of horrific famines during that same time period.
30. I didn’t know that there were catastrophic earthquakes in the first century, nor that Jesus simply said, “in various places there will be famines and earthquakes” (Matt. 24:7). I didn’t know that He never said anything about an increase in their NUMBER. Earthquakes are mentioned prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., one at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:54), at Christ’s resurrection Matt. 28:2), and another in Acts 16:26 that shook the foundations of a prison… Secular historians of that same time period record many earthquakes in Crete, Smyrna, Militus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Calosse, Campania, Rome, and Judea. Josephus describes an earthquake in Judea of such magnitude “that the constitution of the universe was confounded for the destruction of men.”
I didn't know that what most "end times" preachers are saying is in such a huge contrast from what the Bible is saying.
31. I didn’t know anything about a “Great Tribulation” of the saints being CLEARLY documented all throughout the New Testament and the book of Revelation, and a very clear record of this in the book of Acts (4:1-22; 5:17-40; 8:1-3; 12:1-9; 14:19-20; 16:22-23; 22:30-22:11). Consequently, the tribulation had reference to the Jews, the people of Judea (Matt. 24:16; Luke 21:20-24); it was NOT a world-wide tribulation. The seven-year period of tribulation spoken of in the Book of Daniel can be traced accurately and exactly to be the seven years beginning in A.D. 63 and ending in A.D. 70. Historical records tell us that in year 63 A.D. the Jewish people revolted against Rome, which gave way to a hellish seven year period in which millions of Jewish people died, and ended with the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. Josephus, in his volume Wars of the Jews documents in detail this terrible period of time and points out numerous instances of prophetic fulfillment. In addition, the seventy weeks of Daniel are not a future event, rather it is presented as a judgment on Israel: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression" (Daniel 9:24) The Great Tribulation is not a future period of time; it was a period of time ending in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the Temple, and can be documented well with historical documents.
32. I didn’t know there was so much evidence of “end times” false prophets in the New Testament… The Apostle Peter writes that “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who brought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). These false prophets will malign the truth, “and in their greed will exploit you with false words” (2:2-3). And entire study could be done about this reality in the New Testament, but here are a few verses for you… (2 Cor. 11:13; Acts 13:6; 2 Tim. 2:16-17; Acts 20:29-30; 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:13; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 7; 1 John 2:18)…
How could I have completely missed that?
33. I didn’t know that other apostles were also (clearly and boldly) telling first century Christians that they were IN the last days (1 Cor. 10:11, James 5:8-9, 1 Jn. 2:18, 1 Cor. 7:29-31, Heb. 8:13, Heb. 10:37, Heb. 1:1-2, Jms. 5:8, and many more…) Why would the apostles tell those Christians that they were in the "Last Days"?
Did anybody else know that? I didn't know that!
34. I didn’t know that end times preachers had actually “explained” away verses like Mt 10:23 - "Truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes." And… Mt 16:27,28 - "Truly I say to you, there are some who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." What I DID know about verses like those is that they were just MORE of those "don't-add-up, don't-fit-in, don't-make sense-with-what-we've-been-taught" verses... you know.., the ones we just "skip over" and keep reading until we get to the verses our Pastor uses to support his FUTURIST view on these matters... Again, Any Christian that says they don't know what I'm talking about here is lying to you AND to themselves.
Go ahead... read those plainly-spoken verses and then tell ME (with a straight face) that we need a room full of esteemed theologians to tell us what Jesus was saying or what He "MEANT" to say or what He "COULD" have been saying or what he REALLY meant in those CLEAR-AS-A-RINGING-BELL verses...
35. I didn’t know that end times preachers had actually found a way to discredit the clarity and the simplicity of plainly-spoken words of Jesus Himself, like Mat 23:36 – “Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon THIS generation.” And… Mat 24:34 - "Truly I say to you, THIS generation will not pass away until ALL these things take place." And… Mat 26:64 - "You (the high priest) will SEE the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven." It never occurred to me that it is the verses like those I just mentioned which SHOULD be the STARTING POINT (or FOUNDATION) on which to start building an exegetically-responsible understanding of the timing of the "end of the age" and the "coming of the son of man"... Wouldn't ya think??? I also didn't know that end times "experts" use 70 percent current news and global events and 30 percent cherry-picked Bible verses to build their doctrines, yet the words of Jesus throughout the book of Matthew get little discussion from these guys.
36. I didn’t know that Jesus was actually talking TO and ABOUT the women and THEIR children in Luke 23: 26 – 30 about what was going to happen in THEIR lifetime… because I was always taught that He was talking about ME and MY children in the 21st century! (Also read Revelation 6:16) Why would Jesus lean over and tell those women that if it weren't TRUE??? And why would Revelation 6:16 mirror that same statement so perfectly?
37. I didn’t know that the word "Hell" is not even in the original manuscripts, but was added in later translations and comes from the Teutonic "Hele" goddess of the underworld "Hell" of northern Europe. I also didn't know that the word “Gehenna” defines a local first century garbage dump outside of Jerusalem that burned 24 hours a day
I didn’t know that.
Did you know that? I was NEVER told that.
38. I didn’t know that the Bible does not speak of something called "The End of the World" or the "End of Time." The distinction is in the interpretation of passages in which "the time of the end" is discussed. While seemingly minor, the difference is crucial in that Biblical passages discussing the "time of the end" are not describing events which will take place in the future, rather events related to the time of the "end of the Jewish nation" and the "end of the Mosaic covenant."
I absolutely did NOT know that.
39. I didn’t know that the “end of the age” refers to the end of the old covenant redemptive system with its attendant sacrifices and rituals. These were designed to be temporary symbols of the coming atoning work of Christ. The “end of the age” refers to the termination of the exclusive Jewish entitlement to the covenant promises and the inclusion of the Gentiles into the blessing of the covenant and the privileges of the gospel and kingdom (Matt. 21:41,43; 22:10). “End of the age” is a covenental phrase. With the temple destroyed there would be no way and no need to carry out the rigorous demands of the sacrificial system, a system that was predestined to “pass away” with the incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus. Jesus replaces the sacrificial system as the “lamb of God” (John 1:21), God’s dwelling place as the “temple of God” (2:13-22), God’s sanctuary as the “true tabernacle” (Heb. 8:2); John 1:14), and God’s earthly sinful high priest as the “perfect High Priest” (Heb. 2:17, 3:1, 5:1-10, 7:26-28; Eph. 211-22; Heb. 10:4, 9:1-28).
40. I didn’t know, and I had given up on trying to make sense of the “abomination of desolation,” the “antichrist” and the “beast” until I read the following INCREDIBLY-ENLIGHTENING information…
If I didn't CARE about the truth, I wouldn't be sharing this with you...
These three above-listed things have been so mixed up and jumbled in the minds of modern-day Christians! Futurists (since they do not believe what Jesus said in Matt. 24 verses 2 and 34) NEED a rebuilt temple in order to project the fulfillment of prophecies related to the abomination of desolation to another time in the 21st century. Interestingly enough is the non existent Bible text that would indicate another rebuilding of a future temple. A careful reading of Scripture clearly shows that the "abomination of desolation" mentioned by JESUS was an event that would be fulfilled during the lifetime of His disciples.
The Apostle Paul would later address the concerns of the Thessalonians about the “day of the Lord” with a discussion of the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2). The man of lawlessness was a contemporary figure who was identified with the “abomination of desolation.”
Historic record tells of many horrific events surrounding Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem, including Romans offering sacrifices to their standards in the temple… While disagreement remains as to what form the abomination took, Scripture makes it CLEAR that it occurred soon after Jerusalem was surrounded by armies. As history attests, Jerusalem was surrounded just prior to the temple’s destruction in the fall of 70 A.D. The abomination brought desolation.
“Antichrist”: Interesting fact… There is no mention of the Antichrist in Matthew 24. The Biblical doctrine of Antichrist is VERY DIFFERENT from today’s fanciful futurist teaching on the subject. Here is the Biblical definition of “antichrist." The word “antichrist” appears ONLY in the epistles of John (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). John’s description of “antichrist” is altogether different from the modern-day image. John’s “antichrist” is…
Anyone “who denies Jesus is the Christ” 1 John 2:22)
Anyone who “denies the Father and Son” (1 John 2:23)
“Every spirit that does not confess Jesus” (1 John 4:3)
“Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7)
None of what John writes, relates to the modern doctrine of the “antichrist”.
Who is the Beast described in the book of Revelation?
Generally speaking, the Beast appearing in Revelation is Rome, the Roman empire or the Roman emperor. There are several reasons for understanding the Beast generally as Rome: The woman Babylon was seated on the Beast, which implies they were in league with each other. Josephus writes: It seems to me to be necessary here to give an account of all the honors that the Romans and their emperors paid to our nation, and of the leagues of mutual assistance they have made with it." (Antiquities, 14.10.1-2).
The Jewish people used this relationship with Rome to persecute Christians and destroy Christianity: (Jn. 19:15, Luke 23:2). Throughout Acts they agitated against the Christian so as to involve the Romans in their persecution (Acts 4:27; 16:20; 17:7; 18:12; 21:11; 24:1-9; 25:1-2).
The Beast turned on Babylon and destroyed her: Rev. 17:16-17. This happens during the Jewish War, the 42 month period of trampling underfoot by the Gentiles (Rev. 11:2)
"The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits." (17:9) Rome was known in antiquity as the city on seven hills (Septimontium).
Rome was rising from the sea: (13:1). From either John’s vantage point on Patmos, or the Jews’ vantage point, Rome appeared to rise from the sea. Cf. 17:1.
"The seven heads ... are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come." By this time of Revelation’s writing (during the Neronic persecution) five of the Roman emperors had fallen (Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius), one was still reigning (Nero), and one would remain for only a short time (Galba, who reigned only seven months, from June A.D. 68 to January, A.D. 69), and was followed by three others in short succession.
The Beast could also be specifically understood as Nero for several important reasons:
Nero was the emperor at the time when Revelation was written: He is the sixth king "who is." Suetonius’ enumeration of the emperors was: Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius or Caligula, Claudius (the five kings who have fallen at the time that John is writing), Nero (one "who is"), and Galba - one who "has not yet come, but when he does come, he must remain for a little while" - seven months (Rev. 17:10).
Nero claimed he was a god and demanded to be worshiped as such: (Rev. 13:5-8). Inscriptions have been found in Ephesus in which Nero is called "Almighty God" and "Savior." He and Caligula "abandoned all reserve" in promoting emperor worship - they were the only two who demanded divine honors while still alive. Nero claimed to be Apollo.
Nero persecuted the Church for 42 months: from November, A.D. 64 through June, A.D. 68. John banished to Patmos during this persecution (Rev. 1:9) and Peter and Paul died in A.D. 66 or 67.
John accurately prophesied this: (Rev. 13:5) - "The beast was given ... authority for forty-two months."
"... He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them."
Tacitus reported that Nero "inflicted unheard-of punishments on those who, detested for their abominable crimes, were vulgarly called Christians" (Annals 15.44). The persecution claimed "an immense number" (Tacitus), "a vast multitude of the elect" (1 Clement 6).
Nero's character is also very much similar to that of a Beast:
Nero murdered his own family
He married a boy, then castrated him and killed him
He kicked his pregnant wife to death
Suetonius writes that Nero "devised a kind of game in which, covered with the skin of some wild animal, he was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women, who were bound to stakes." (The Lives of the Caesars, 6.29)
Tacitus ... spoke of Nero's ‘cruel nature' that ‘put to death so many innocent men.' Pliny the Elder ... described Nero as ‘the destroyer of the human race' and ‘the poison of the world.' Juvenal tells of ‘Nero's cruel and bloody tyranny.' Apollonius of Tyana specifically states that Nero was called a ‘beast': ‘In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen man, many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs. ... And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero has gorged himself on this diet."
He committed suicide by the sword at the age of 31. Cf. Rev. 13:10 - "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he will be killed."
The number of the beast was also 666 according to Revelation 13:18, therefore as Hebrew had no numerals and used letters to signify numbers, the name Neron Caesar when transliterated into Hebrew (NRWN QSR) had a numeric equivalent of 666.
41. I didn’t know who were the ten kings (or horns) described in Daniel 7 until I read this…
The general understanding of most Preterists is that the "ten horns" or "ten kings" are the ten Roman emperors in the following order with the years of their reign:
If I didn't CARE about the truth, I wouldn't be sharing THIS with you...
Julius Caesar (Caesar) B.C. 49 to B.C. 44
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Augustus) to B.C. 31 to August 19, A.D. 14
Tiberius Caesar Augustus (Tiberius) A.D. 14 to March 16 A.D. 37
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula) A.D. 37 to January 24, A.D. 41
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Claudius) January 24, A.D. 41 to October 13 A.D. 54
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Nero) October 13, A.D. 54 to June 9, A.D. 68
Servius Sulpicius Galba (Galba) June 8, A.D. 68 to January 15, A.D. 69
Marcus Salvius Otho (Otho) January 15, A.D. 69 to April 16, A.D. 69
Aulus Vitellius Germanicus (Vitellius) April 17, A.D. 69 to December 22, A.D. 69
Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus (Vespasian) A.D. 69 to A.D. 79
As it is evident from history, the three kings which were "uprooted" (reigned for very short periods of time) were Galba, Otho and Vitellius before the "little horn" with the remaining seven kings being the seven kings of Revelation 17.
Now really take a second or two and try telling yourself that everything you've read so far in this article are all AMAZING "COINCIDENCES".
REALLY? Do you really believe that?
Here's something REALLY crazy...
Some folks, when they realize that this is NOT just all "strange doctrine" they will say this... "Okay... well... um... all these things are... foreshadowing the REAL 'end times'...." You think I just made that up? I've have actually heard that argument...
Moving on to even MORE "coincidences"...
42. I didn’t know if ANYONE would EVER make sense of when the 70 weeks of Daniel take place, until I read this… There are several opinions among preterist-view scholars regarding the Seventy Weeks mentioned in the book of Daniel. What all agree on is that those "weeks" are in fact weeks of years and would add up to roughly 490 literal years. The disagreements are however caused by two important points:
Changes in calendars system created discrepancies in the historical timeline. This makes it nearly impossible to accurately calculate the differences in years and months demanded by many critics.
There are four different decrees that could be used as the starting point of the seventy weeks of Daniel
It seems that regardless of which decree is being used, the prophecy of the seventy weeks points to a period of time during which several important things will happen:
Atone for iniquity
Bring sin to completion
Seal up prophetic vision
Anointing a new most holy place
A seven-year covenant will happen
Sacrifices and temple offerings will stop permanently
Because of these specifics, it seems without a doubt that the seventy weeks of Daniel were wrapped up sometime in the first century, likely at the fall of the Jewish Temple in A.D. 70 when sacrifices and offerings were permanently stopped.
43. I didn’t know that the FOUNDATION or BEGINNING POINT of understanding the “end of the age” and the “coming of the Son of Man” should be an in-context, audience-relevant look at WHO was talking to WHO in the verses and passages that talks about the timing or nearness of these events, not a verse here and there that seems to be an easy way off this rock into a perfect world of pop-up flowers and free milkshakes!
44. I truly didn't know, and I didn't believe it was even POSSIBLE for my church leaders to be so completely wrong about something as fundamental and HUGE as this subject or part of the gospel story. I guess I really thought that they were... infallible? I guess I thought that they... I don't know... just couldn't possibly be wrong. But they were.
45. I didn’t know that what was fulfilled in the first century does not need to get “fulfilled again” in some “history-repeats-itself” 21st-century apocalyptic scenario. What led up to and consummated the “age to come” does not need to lead up to and REconsumate another “age to come”. The first century is not a “TYPE” of the “last days” that will lead up to the REAL “last days”, etc, etc, etc… The reason I say that is because (and you are NOT going to believe me, but) there are people actually SAYING things like that after reading articles like this one - and then realizing that the truths within this article absolutely present some MORE-than-awkward problems with their futurist “theology”… One of the FIRST places they go is… “Well… maybe the first century was a “type” of what is yet to come…”
I WISH I was making this stuff up!
46. I didn’t know why God would allow the entire New Testament (including Revelation) to be written like some big puzzle, or riddle, or never-ending labyrinth of double meanings and hidden clues… like something out of a movie like the Scorpion King or Raiders of the Lost Ark… Even the way the gospels are written, and the style of wording used have often seemed like maybe God wanted much of His message to actually remain a mystery.
Then I finally realized the TRUTH...
It is not the Bible that has confused MAN, but man who has confused the BIBLE!
The reason the Bible seems to be so oddly-written, and the reason there are so many verses in the gospels (especially in Matthew chapter 23 and 24 and Revelation) seem to... "not fit" with what we've been taught on the end times, is BECAUSE the Bible is correct and our teachers are WRONG.
We were taught that things which seem to clearly say one thing “actually” mean something completely different. In many places where it seems like Jesus is talking about the people He is talking to – our church leadership has “encouraged” us to “see” the “deeper” meanings, and that He was “painting a picture”… but that seemed… CRUEL – to be painting a picture for some people 2,000 years later while using the people of His generation as PAINT, and then carelessly allowing THEM to think the story is about THEM… It doesn't add up, because it doesn't add up. But the end times preachers and teachers have MADE it "add up"... and then TAUGHT that to US. So when we get to those verses that don't seem to add up, we just skip over them and keep reading and keep believing what we were TOLD to believe the Bible says on these things...
47. I never realized (until now) that when we (rightfully) place Matthew chapters 23 and 24 and the entire book of Revelation back where it belongs (as a completed historical first century event) it is as easy to understand as reading a teenage novel. It all falls into place and fits (perfectly) together with literally ALL the verses throughout the entire New Testament. That’s what we’ve always THOUGHT it should do, and what we’ve always WANTED it to do. Its as simple as giving THEM their story back. We are not allowed to be THEM, and they are not allowed to be US.
48. I didn't REALLY have a clue what the book of Revelation was about until I dug and searched and researched and read it over and over - comparing to all the things PEOPLE were saying it was about, then - through all of that hard PASSIONATE digging I found this...
John is presenting a forensic drama wherein God judicially divorces His old covenant wife (Israel) in order to take a new wife. Throughout Revelation John presents God as “He Who sits on the throne.” From His throne He issues a writ of divorcement (5:1) which Christ takes (5:7) and opens (6:1). As the divorce scroll is opened, we witness Israel capitally punished for her marital unfaithfulness (6:1 – 19:2 with interludes), for she appears as a harlot (17:1, 5, 15; 19:2). Then we see a NEW bride (the Church) descending from heaven to take her place (21:2). She is the “new Jerusalem” who takes over for the old Jerusalem (21:2); she no longer needs a temple because CHRIST brings the presence of God to His people (21:22).
In the course of this unfolding drama, John points out a sea beast, who represents the Roman empire and particularly Nero Ceasar, the first Roman persecuter of the Church (Rev. 13:1ff). God’s unfaithful wife, Jerusalem/Israel, aligns herself with Rome against Christ and His followers; she is like a harlot seated on the beast (17:3, 7). This picks up on Israel’s deference to Cesar in rejecting Christ and His followers (cp., John 19:12, 15; Acts 17:7; cp. Acts 4:27; 16:20; 18:12; 21:11; 24: 1-9; 25:1-2).
The final consummation of all these things was to include the destruction of the temple in 70 AD… The results of the (first century) divorce of Israel as God’s people is that the final order is ESTABLISHED, which is the kingdom of Christ. This appears under the image of His 1,000 year reign over the world (Rev. 20:1-6; cp. 1:6; 5:10) and as an inbreaking of the new creation principles of kingdom salvation (21:1; cf. Isa. 65:17-20; 2 Cor. 5:17; 6:15). With the old covenant concluded, the new covenant brings the direct presence of God (as opposed to a temple-based presence) and the final redemptive order. Christianity is here for the long run…
The old covenant order ended with the destruction of Jerusalem. This in fact WAS the “sign” of the “end of the age” and of “His coming,” the end of the old covenant, and the consummation of the New Covenant… new wine skins…
Jesus replaces the sacrificial system as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29), God’s dwelling place as the “temple of God” (2:13-22), God’s sanctuary as the “true tabernacle” (Heb. 8:2; John 1:14), and God’s earthly sinful high priest as the “perfect High Priest” (Heb. 2:17, 3:1, 5:1-10, 7:26-28).
BEA-U-tiful! Like finding a precious stone in a dark, gray gravel pit.
49. I didn't REALLY know what the entire New Testament was REALLY all about, but now I do...
The coming of the new covenant as the final redemptive order, which appears in Christ, and the passing away of the old covenant order (the temple system) and people (Israel), who reject Christ and His new order. These themes are abundantly displayed in the New Testament.
The Synoptic Gospels record that when Christ’s appearance is first announced, the Gentiles are the ones who “come to worship Him” though “all Jerusalem” was “troubled” (Matt. 2:1-3). When Christ opens His ministry He declares His new covenant kingdom “is at hand” (Mark 1:15). But because of His coming and the new order it represents, the old garment of Israel cannot simply be mended in order to adapt to it; the old wineskin constraints of Israel and its temple-based worship will not be able to contain its glories: new wineskins will be needed (Matt. 9:16-17). Though Jesus focuses His earthly ministry on Israel (Matt. 10:6; 15:24), He warns His disciples that Israel will ultimately reject it (Matt: 16:21; 20:18) by persecuting them (Matt. 10:16-17; 23:34-37) until He comes in judgment (Matt:10:23; 17:22; 20:18; 24:2, 16, 30-34). Because they did not recognize their Messiah and His message (Matt. 23:38; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24).
Many of Jesus’s last actions and parables are given in Jerusalem and concern Israel’s rejecting Him and her consequent judgment. The Lord’s cleansing of the temple was an acted-out prophecy of the overview of the temple which has become a den of robbers (Matt:21:12-13). Likewise was His cursing of the barren fig tree, which represented Israel (Matt. 21:18-20). Mark even interweaves the temple cleansing and the fig tree cursing to show they are tied together (Mark 11:11-24). The parable of the landowner shows God repeatedly reaching out to Israel through the prophets, only finally to be rejected when they kill his son (Mat 21:33-45). Because of this “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it” (Matt. 21:43).
God’s calling Israel to Himself is likened to a marriage feast invitation which was rejected, resulting in the king’s wrath destroying their city (Matt:21:1-14). Christ strongly denounces the Pharisees as those who continue the rebellion of their fathers of old(Matt. 23:1-32). This will result in their persecuting his followers and their soon coming judgment in A.D. 70 (Matt. 23:33-36). As a result of this final word to Israel Jesus laments their rejection (Matt. 23:37), forsakes the temple, leaving it “desolate” (Matt. 23:38; 24:1), then prophesies the temple’s complete destruction (Matt. 24:2) and Jerusalem’s desolation (Matt. 24:16ff; Luke 21:20-24) in the first century generation (Matt. 24:34). As a result of Israel’s unfaithfulness and rejection, Christ gives a great commission that will lead to the baptizing and discipling of “the nations” (Matt. 28:18-20).
John’s gospel informs us that Christ came to His own people, who did not receive Him (John 1:1). In fact they are of “their father the devil” (John 8:44; Rev. 2:9; 3:9) and will reject Him in favor of Caesar (John 19:12, 15). As a consequence, the time is coming in which the temple will no longer be needed (John 4:23; Matt. 12:6). This will result in abundant blessings for the whole world of men (John 3:17; 12:31-32).
In the book of Acts we trace the movement of the gospel from Jerusalem to the utmost parts of the world of that day (Acts 1:8). Though the apostolic church initially wins converts from Israel (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7), it must eventually turn from there and go to the gentiles (Acts 13:46; 18:6). We discover the reason for this in that Acts is virtually a record of the relentless Jewish persecution of Christianity (references too many to list…). The apostolic church repeatedly declares Israel responsible for the death of Christ (Acts 2:22-23, 36; 3:13-15a; 4:10; 5:28, 30; 7:52; 10:39; 13:27-29; Acts 26:10).
What was really happening in that first century?
The old covenant is passing away and the New Covenant is replacing it (2nd Cor.3; Heb. 8:13; 12:22-29). In the book of Revelation John picks up on these themes and presents them in a dramatic judicial format. New covenant Christianity is the new approach to God; Israel has been rejected as the favored people of God.
50. I didn't know that we really and truly only have TWO CHOICES to believe when it comes to the "end times"... One of these statements is true, because they can’t BOTH be true…
Choice #1. The entire New Testament (including the book of Revelation) is an historic (true) story that not only all took place in the first century but was all fulfilled in the first century, instituting the “age to come” which we are now in. Much of the symbolic/metaphorical and old-testament-judgment-imagery language in the book of Revelation is grossly misunderstood by most evangelical churches of today. End times teachers have misinterpreted literal things into metaphorical/symbolic things and have misinterpreted metaphorical/symbolic things into literal things, and have wrongfully pushed ancient history (and completely fulfilled events) up into our 21st century and beyond.
Or…
Choice # 2. Jesus and all the apostles were USING all those unsuspecting people (their entire audience throughout the entire New Testament) as mere story-telling illustration tools (or human theatrical props, if you will) to get a message to the people living in the 21st century. Which HAS to mean that they were told to expect things within the span of their lifetimes to happen - that were absolutely NOT going to happen in their lifetimes. If that's true, then Jesus and all the apostles were also (knowingly) lying to the people they were talking to, knowing full well that those people would now EXPECT (as the early church record vividly shows) things to happen in their lifetimes that simply would NOT happen to them.
Choice #1
Choice #2
because they can’t BOTH be true…
I report, you decide...
I’ve learned a great deal more than this from just being hungry for truth, but I hope I’ve made some people want to start thinking for themselves and using their God-given LOGIC when they are reading their Bibles or listening to a preacher.
A repost via Facebook by Ken Dahl
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