“THE END-TIMES” has been adapted from a lesson I originally taught to university students on 21 May 2018. The podcast lasts 23 minutes.

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  1. 1 Thess 5:1—Don’t get caught up in predictions. These are futile.
    1. William Miller
    2. Adventists
    3. Jehovah’s Witnesses
    4. 88 Reasons the Rapture Will Happen in 1988
    5. Eschatology = the study of the end.
  2. The Last Days (Acts 2:17; 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 1:2; Jas 5:3; 2 Pet 3:3) started in the 1st century AD.
  3. There is an overlap of ages: the present world and the world to come.
    1. The Jewish people viewed them as separate.
    2. They also (unnecessarily) took certain prophecies literally.
    3. The Christians proclaimed that the future age was breaking into our world now. This was counter-intuitive, and clashed with most 1st-century conceptions of the Messiah.
    4. In the 1st century, there were widely differing expectations of the end-times, Messiah, hell, etc.
  4. Judgment oracles (Isa 13; 34; Rev 18; 19:5; Matt 24:34) utilize extreme language.
    1. They are to be taken seriously -- but not literally. Over-literalizing ends in contradiction.
    2. We need to become familiar with apocalyptic language.
    3. Yet all such oracles point to the end—a greater fulfillment as the Lord dispenses justice.
  5. We are taken to heaven after the judgment day (not while there is “tribulation” on the earth).
    1. John 3:13
    2. John 5 -- the resurrection of the dead happens first
  6. Tribulation, which often moves in cycles, is a normal part of the human experience.
    1. The “Great Tribulation” (Rev 7:14) may or may not envisage an actual event.
      1. The destruction of Jerusalem followed a period of tribulation (Matt 24:21).
      2. Respect the historical context of this passage. My paper: “The Destruction of Jerusalem.”
      3. The word (thlipsis) normally applies to Christians, not outsiders.
  7. The end-times have nothing to do with Israel.
    1. Matt 21:43 -- kingdom removed.
    2. A Mass Conversion of Israel? – podcast at website.
    3. Nor do they connect with modern politics, climate, or weather.
  8. There are two prevailing views on the new earth (Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1).
    1. The earth will be burnt – scoured, scrubbed clean (surface level).
    2. The earth will be burned – annihilated, entire planet destroyed.
  9. Christians may differ on various end-times topics—and that’s okay.
    1. These are not salvation matters.
    2. Still, it is in the interest of our salvation to understand that the Lord may return at any time.