The Crazy Beast! The Vision of Daniel 7 (Part 2)
In the last article, we examined the strange vision from Daniel 7. Here, we look at what this vision means.
As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
In the last article, we examined the strange vision from Daniel 7. Here, we look at what this vision means.
“John declares, ‘It is the last hour’ (1 John 2:18). So the last hour has been ticking over for two millennia…. Can we say we’re in the last days of the last days, or the final minutes of the last hour?” - TGC
What is Jesus saying at John 14:2-3? What is “my Father’s house?” Where is it? When will Jesus take believers there? In the last article, we examined the theory that it refers to being “up there” in heaven, and that Jesus takes believers there at an event called the pre-tribulational rapture. We concluded this idea isn’t supported by the text and gave it a “D” rating for probability. That doesn’t mean the pre-tribulation rapture is false—it just means to “see” it in John 14:2-3 you must smuggle it in from elsewhere.
In Part 2 of this series, we presented four options for understanding what Jesus meant at John 14:1-3:
We also suggested a grading scale for evaluating these options:
In the first article, we set out to study what Jesus meant at John 14:1-3. Some Christians believe this passage speaks about the pre-tribulational rapture of the church to heaven, clearing the way for the tribulation here on earth. Is that right?
Many American Christians have been raised in a church culture that stresses that Jesus will return to “rapture” or snatch away “the church” before the Great Tribulation. They believe “the church” is a different people than ethnic Israel, with a complementary but distinct future.1 Because this great tribulation is “a time of trouble for Jacob” (Jer 30:7), it is not for “the church.” Therefore, the rapture is the point where “the church” slips out the door just before this tribulation begins.
“The cold, hard truth is the world isn’t getting better and more Christian but is instead playing out just like Paul wrote: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers…” - Robin Schumacher
“In the last installment … we examined the argument (a convincing argument, in my opinion) made by John Hart in Evidence for the Rapture that Matthew 24:29–41 was not intended to portray future events in chronological order.” - DBTS Blog
“Never view the world circumstances or any events with a temporal viewpoint. Recognize that God is constantly seeing the big picture while we normally see what is taking place day by day.” - P&D
To me, one of the strangest oddities of the year of 2020 was the call for safety in the face of COVID-19.
“Stay safe,” we were cautioned. Here in Wisconsin, our governor even issued an order titled “Safer at Home.”
This seemed to me to be an extraordinary choice of wording—because COVID-19 results from a virus. I’m sure that experts disagree on the best methodologies for warding off infection from a virus. But one thing that you certainly cannot do to escape it is to stay safe. Your only hope is to stay healthy.
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