End Time Insights

Foundational to our future hope is bodily Resurrection when Jesus arrives in glory at the End of the Age . Paul’s description of the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians was written to comfort believers over the fate of their compatriots who die before Christ’s return. We need not sorrow “ like the others ” since   the righteous dead will be resurrected when the Lord “ arrives ” from Heaven.

The ‘ Olivet Discourse ’ in the thirteenth chapter of  Mark  is the last recorded block of teachings by Jesus given shortly before his death on the Mount of Olives. It followed a series of confrontations in the Temple between him and the Pharisees and the priestly authorities, disputes that set the stage for his trial and execution. Thus, his “trial” effectively began in the Temple, and inevitably, it concluded with his unjust death on a Roman cross.

In his ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus describes key events that will occur in the future, especially the destruction of the Temple and the “ coming of the Son of Man .” In doing so, he provides geographic details related to each event that alternate between the local and the universal, depending on which event he is under discussion.

Fifty years ago, I was influenced greatly by the bestseller, ‘The Late Great Planet Earth.’ In it, I read how last-day prophecies were being fulfilled before our eyes in the daily news headlines. All the “signs” indicated that I was a member of the “last generation” that would live before the return of Jesus. The Antichrist, Armageddon, and the Millennium were just around the corner.

Revelation is a message to the Church concerned with its real-life situation as it bears witness in a hostile world  – Revelation 4:1-3. After Jesus dictated his letters to the “ Seven Assemblies of Asia ,” John saw an “ open door in Heaven ,” and he heard the voice from his first vision summoning him to “ come up here .” Next, he was standing before the “ Throne sitting in Heaven .” Does this image symbolize the physical removal of the Church from the Earth before the subsequent visions of the Book, the so-called ‘Rapture of the Saints’?

SYNOPSIS  –  The commencement of the “seventy weeks” is linked to the prophecy of Jeremiah about the Babylonian Captivity  –  Daniel 9:1-2 .  The prophecy of the “ seventy weeks ” in  Daniel  is one of the most perplexing and disputed passages in the Hebrew Bible. One of the few aspects on which there is a general agreement is the length of the prophetic period – That the “ seventy-sevens ” equates to a period of 490 years. Beyond this, interpretations diverge on every aspect of the prophecy - ( Daniel 9:24-27 ). - [ Photo by Eliza Diamond on Unsplash ].