Future History. A Biblical Study of Eschatology. Matthew M. Powell

Transcription

1 Future History A Biblical Study of Eschatology Matthew M. Powell

2 Future History A Biblical Study of Eschatology Future History 101 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 An Introduction The Foundation The Covenants The Fullness of Time The Spirit of Antichrist The Old Testament Portrayal of Jesus The Millennial Reign Future History 201 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 The Seventy Weeks of Daniel The Times of the Gentiles The Seventieth Week The Beast The False Prophet The Abomination of Desolation The Second Coming Future History 101 Powell 2

3 Future History 101 Part 1: An Introduction DISCLAIMER + Studying Eschatology is Dangerous WHAT IS ESCHATOLOGY Every time we study the Bible, we are faced with a decision of how we are going to allow the Bible to speak to us. We can allow the Bible to speak to our heads alone, or we can allow the information from our heads to travel to our hearts. By studying the Bible, we increase our knowledge, and thus, we expand our minds through biblical study. However, the point of Bible study is not to expand the mind alone, but to allow the information we have learned to lead us to greater worship and everyday application of God s truth. + Eschatology is the study of Last Things or Future Things The study of future events is often called eschatology, from the Greek word eschatos, which means last. The study of eschatology, then, is the study of the last things. -Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology p God has revealed the future of the world through prophecy. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will. -Isaiah 46:10 HCSB Fulfilled prophecy is one of the greatest proofs of the authenticity and authority of the Bible. First Coming of Jesus: (written approximately 500 years before Christ) But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the LORD has punished Him for the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of my people s rebellion. They made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken Future History 101 Powell 3

4 deceitfully. Isaiah 53:5-9 HCSB + Eschatology is not the study of The End There will never be an end of the world. The world as we know it, will be destroyed and restored as it was before the fall of man, but there is not an end to the eternal reign of Christ on the earth. "The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah and He will reign forever and ever! -Revelation 11:15 HCSB WHY MANY DON T STUDY ESCHATOLOGY + Eschatology is too difficult to understand Also, regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him. He speaks about things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. -2 Peter 3:15-16 HCSB No one person will ever have the market cornered on Biblical understanding, but just because we cannot fully understand certain aspects of the Bible does not excuse us from studying them. "For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face-to-face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. -1 Corinthians 13:12 HCSB Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. -2 Timothy 2:15 KJV + People who are consumed about the end times are weird No argument here! There is a reason that we laugh at Doomsday Preppers There are healthy and unhealthy ways to study the Bible and biblical doctrines. A proper understanding of any biblical doctrine, will always lead us to worship and evangelism. Future History 101 Powell 4

5 + Thinking about Eschatology is scary While there are portions of eschatological scripture that are scary, the primary focus of eschatology is to offer comfort. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. -1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 HCSB Every woman would acknowledge that there is a scary aspect to giving birth, but the purpose of giving birth is not the labor but the baby. Labor causes pain, but without pain there would be no baby. + Evangelism and discipleship are more important than Eschatology Pastors are commanded to teach all of the Bible not just parts of it. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. -Acts 20:27 ESV Eschatology is a part of both evangelism and discipleship. It is the finale of the Great Commission. Then Jesus came near and said to them, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20 HCSB, emphasis added We tread on dangerous ground when we study certain doctrines at the exclusion of others. Eschatology gives Christians a sense of evangelical urgency. + What is important to us, is the here and now Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:19-21 HCSB Future History 101 Powell 5

6 WHY WE SHOULD STUDY ESCHATOLOGY + Eschatology is in the Bible Nearly every biblical writer makes reference to the last days. The Bible says more about the time surrounding the second coming of Christ than the first coming. We are being plunged into a period of time about which the Bible says more about than any other period in history, including the time when Jesus walked the shores of Galilee and climb the mountains of Judea. -Chuck Missler, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours p Jesus taught about Eschatology Olivet Discourse: Matthew 24:1-25:46, Mark 13:1-37, Luke 21:5-36 Quick Summary: 1. Deception will come; do not be deceived. Then Jesus began by telling them: Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in My name, saying, I am He, and they will deceive many. Mark 13:5-6 HCSB For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. Mark 13:22 HCSB 2. Persecution will come; do not be anxious. But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to sanhedrins, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. So when they arrest you and hand you over, don t worry beforehand what you will say. On the contrary, whatever is given to you in that hour say it. For it isn t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. -Mark 13:9-11 HCSB 3. Great tribulation will come; do not be caught off-guard. For at that time there will be great tribulation, the kind that hasn t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again! Unless those days were limited, no one would survive. But those days will be limited because of the elect. Future History 101 Powell 6

7 Matthew 24:21-22 HCSB 4. Jesus will come; do not let your heart be troubled. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near! -Luke 21:27-28 HCSB 5. Jesus told us about his coming; be spiritually prepared. And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance. -Mark 13:23 HCSB + Jesus expects us to be able to discern the times Jesus pronounced judgment on the Jewish nation for not discerning the time of his first coming. As He approached and saw the city (Jerusalem,) He wept over it, saying, If you knew this day what would bring peace but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. -Luke 19:41-44 HCSB + Understanding the future gives comfort in the present I have yet to attend a Christian funeral, where the preacher did not mention the resurrection and the future hope of God s coming kingdom. Understanding that the Lord not only has the whole world in His hands, he has the all of human history in His hands, gives us peace during the most difficult of circumstances. + Eschatology helps to prepare us for judgment Many of Jesus s parables contain direct references to a judgment or a reckoning Every believer will give an account to God for his or her faithfulness For we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless. -2 Corinthians 5:10 HCSB Future History 101 Powell 7

8 HOW SHOULD WE STUDY ESCHATOLOGY + With humility If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. The very greatness of the subject matter will intoxicate us, and we shall come to think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians because of our interest in it and grasp of it. J.I. Packer, Knowing God p. 21 knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. -1 Corinthians 8:1-2 HCSB Proper understanding of the Bible will always lead us to humility, if the understanding of any Biblical doctrine causes us to swell with intellectual, emotional, relational, or physical superiority, then we have made a grave error in our understanding of God s Word. Proper understanding will lead me to love God more and love his people more as well. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. -1 Corinthians 13:2 HCSB + Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. -1 Corinthians 2:12 HCSB We do not seek revelation from the Holy Spirit. We ask for wisdom to understand what God has already revealed in His Word. I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Spirit guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them. George Müller, How to Ascertain the Will of God + Within the context of the rest of the Bible Future History 101 Powell 8

9 Perhaps clearer than any other set of doctrines, eschatology reminds us that the Bible is one coherent story, with one author and one theme. -Russell D. Moore, A Theology for the Church p. 858 The Bible is the story of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. The entire Bible is thoroughly centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is not Israel s story, it is Jesus s story. Eschatology is the grand finale of the story of Jesus the Messiah + With an awareness of Church History Church History Helps us: 1. Distinguish orthodoxy from heresy Much of the church s historical writings are in response to heretical or perceived heretical thinking 2. Helps guard us from novelty Historical theology can guard Christians and churches from the penchant for the novel, the yearning for relevancy, and the tendency to follow strong leaders who are biblically and theologically shallow. Gregg R. Allison, Historical Theology p. 26 Rediscovering the corporate and historic nature of the Christian faith reduces the danger of entire communities of faith being misled by charismatic individuals and affirms the ongoing importance of the Christian past as a stabilizing influence in potentially turbulent times. Alister McGrath, Importance of Tradition p Helps us understand the historical background for certain beliefs Church history allows us to discover the certain streams of thinking behind the establishment of many doctrinal positions. + Being careful not to haphazardly read current events into the Bible Every time I teach on Eschatology, the question is always asked about where the United States is found in prophecy. Note, this is not a bad question, but the answer is that the United States is not a noted player in Biblical prophecy. The Bible is thoroughly Jerusalem-centric. Future History 101 Powell 9

10 WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DIFFERENT ESCHATOLOGICAL POSITIONS + Our eschatology is derived from our theology Just as there are different theological traditions, there are different eschatological traditions. We need to make sure that our position of the last days is consistent with the rest of our theology. + Every person is a product of his or her time Throughout the church age, governments have changed, wars have been fought, new nations have started, and technology has advanced. The church age has seen many changes in society, and in some cases, the church has been shaped by societal changes. + Our eschatology is a direct result of our hermeneutic A hermeneutic is the method by which we interpret the Bible. A flawed hermeneutic will lead to heretical interpretation. The proper hermeneutic for interpreting the Bible is the Historicalgrammatical method. The purpose of the historical-grammatical method is to interpret the meaning of the passage as the author would have intended and original hearers would have understood. Therefore, the passage considered is noted as having only a single meaning or interpretation. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF STUDYING ESCHATOLOGY + Proper study of eschatology can bring the Bible to life before your eyes Read Luke 24:13-33 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any doubleedged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12 HCSB + Eschatology forces us to study the entire Bible There is no book of the Bible named, eschatology. The eschatological portions of scripture, are spread throughout all 66 books. Don t make the error in thinking that a study of eschatology is a study of Future History 101 Powell 10

11 Revelation. God, the divine author of the Bible, has made it so that in order to study the prophecies of the future, we must dig deep into the treasure chest of Scripture. + Eschatology helps us keep a kingdom perspective The Bible makes it clear that believers are to focus on heaven. A heavenly perspective is vital, since everything connected to believers spiritual life and destiny is there. Their Father is there, as are their Savior and their comforter. The myriads of their fellow believers who have successfully run their earthly races are there. In short, everything of lasting importance to believers is in heaven; it is their home. John MacArthur, New Testament Commentary: Revelation p WHERE DO WE START IN A STUDY OF ESCHATOLOGY + The Beginning! The Julie Andrews Method of Biblical Understanding: Start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. Future History 101 Powell 11