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Session 9
Eschatology (The Study of End Things / Events)

Where is it all leading?

What is the "Apocalypse"? A Greek word for the word "Revelation".

1. Total redemption / Birth Pains (Mat.24:8, Rom.8:18-23, II Cor.5:1, 2, 4, I Cor.15:53, 54, I Thes.5:3) All of creation is going through a process theologically called “birth pains of the Messiah.” All of creation groans with expectation for the “revelation / birth of the Sons of God.”

a. Through the proclamation and obedience to the Gospel of Christ on the Earth leading up to the return of Jesus.

b. Parousia / The "Coming of the Lord" (Mat. 24:3, 36, II Thes.2:1). Does it only refer to the return of Jesus to the Earth?

What is the "Day of the Lord"? (Isa.2:12, 13:6, (Joel 1:15, 2:31, Acts 2:20, I Thes.5:2, II Pet.3:10).

What is the "Rapture?" (Pre-Mid-Post Tribulation). "Caught Up," Rapture (I Thes. 4:17, I Cor. 15:51, 52, Rev. 12:5).

What is the "Great Tribulation?" To listen to a debate click here Debates.

4 Views and other Terminologies

1. Historicist– believe that the book of Revelation surveys the whole of church history combining it with 7 periods of secular history. The final period is yet to be fulfilled. Most Historicists see the Catholic Church as the whore of Babylon and the Pope as the false Prophet which will be done away with upon the return of Jesus. They believe in a literal interpretation of prophecy. Many early Protestant leaders taught this. Today's Seventh Day Adventists have popularized this position.

2. Preterist– see many of the Bible’s prophecy’s as already having been fulfilled with the birth of Jesus to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70ad, the focal point being the destruction of Jerusalem as being the end of the age. They interpret time indicator words such as; “at hand, quickly, this generation and near” as meaning that it occurred within the generation of those hearing the prophecy. They believe that the kingdom of God will be established as a result of God working through the church in human history, eventually culminating with the return of Jesus. Extreme Preterism is called Pantelism.

3. Futurist– also called Dispensationalism or millenarians, see the book of Revelation and the prophecies of Jesus as still needing to be fulfilled. Most futurists see the Catholic Church as the whore of Babylon and the Pope as the false Prophet. They see society as getting worse and culminating with a "secret catching away" of the earthly Church, or Rapture, popularized by John Nelson Darby from the Brethren Church and William Miller, prior to the final earthly Battle of Armageddon and ushering in the return of Jesus to Israel in order to usher in a literal 1000 year reign of Jesus on this earth in Israel. After 1000 years Satan will be loosed and thus a final angelic battle leading up to a new earth, heaven and Jerusalem. Today's "Left Behind" authors have made this position contemporary.

4. Spiritual / Allegorical – interpret the book of Revelation as having no single historical fulfillment, only transcendent principles and recurrent themes. Much of scripture is symbolic. They do not take certain apocalyptic events as being literal. The Church is Christ on this earth. They do believe in a final return of Jesus to the earth.

c. The Resurrection of the Body / Glorification of the Body / Eternal Life (I Cor.15:51, 52)

For a Jewish idea on the Resurrection click here Resurrection.

d. The "Millennium" and “New Jerusalem” and “New Heavens and Earth” (Rev.20, 21)

e. Christ returns all things to the Father (I Cor. 15:24) What is "Apocatastasis"?

f. Believers are Judged / Particular (I Cor.3:12-16, II Cor.5:6-10, Rom.14:10-12)

Can a believer "lose their salvation" or "Fall Away"? What is "Backsliding?" (Heb.6:4-6, 10:26, II Pet. 2:19-21)

What about Purgatory (I Cor.3:12-16)? What did Martin Luther have to say about Purgatory? "95 Thesis".

Click on the following to learn about Indulgences and the Reformation.

What are Saints and Martyrs? What is the "Canonization of Saints" and "Martyrs"?

What is the "Communion of Saints"?

2. Judgment, Last / Great White Throne Room (Rev. 20:11-15)

Will human souls be Annihilated?

Jewish teaching on the soul and preexistence / Guf.

a. Heaven / Paradise (Lk.23:43, II Cor.12:4, Rev.2:7, 22)

What is the "Beatific Vision"?

What is "Paradise"?

What is "Limbo"?

b. Armageddon. First mentioned in the Old Testament as Megiddo. In the New Testament it is only mentioned once and has come to represent a place of battle between good and evil (Rev. 16:16). Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev.19:9).

c. Hell / Hades / Gehenna / Sheol (Rev. 20:14)

d. The Lake of Fire / Second Death (Rev.20:14)

e. Angels Judged (Rev. 20:10). Our struggle is against principalities in high places (Eph.6:12, 2:2, John 8:44, I Pet.5:8, Col.2:15, Rom.16:20, I Cor.6:3)

What is "Demonology"? What are Devils, Demons, Angels?

Who or what is Satan? (Rev.12:10, Gen.3:14, 15)

f. Anti-Christ (I John 2:18, 22, 4:3, II John 1:7). The Book of Revelation does not use the word "Anti-Christ." Strictly speaking; the word Anti-Christ refers to anyone who is "against Christ."

What is the "Son of Perdition" and the "Mystery of Iniquity"?

g. False Prophet (Rev.16:13, 19:20, 20:10). Is an indivdual, or individuals, that say that they speak on God's behalf, but in actuality do not. Jesus spoke of "many false prophets" that would come after Him. In the Book of Revelation, the "False Prophet" assists the Beast.

h. The Beast spoken of in the Book of Daniel and 25 times in the Book of Revelation (Dan. 7:6, 11, Rev. 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20). It is representative of a type of government, or leader of a government, that arises out of the gentile nations to come against the people of God, but is later defeated.

Mark of the Beast is an alpha-numerical system similiar to Hebrew Gematria. The number 666 or 616 is said to represent a person's name and be applied to the hand or forehead which is a sign of allegiance. This has been taken to be a symbolic term, but some take it literally. As far as the mark being literal, (Ezek.9:4-6) spoke of a symbolic mark that separated the holy from the unholy prior to destruction of the first temple.

Jewish Eschatology

For a further study of end time terminology and events click the following: Revelation Terminology

To take a test on the various doctrines click here Test

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