Originally published in "The Lord's Coming Herald & Wesleyan Bible Prophecy Advocate," Winter Edition 2001
Logical Foundations Of End-time Bible Prophecy
Where do we begin to make sense out of end-time Bible prophecy? What do most people believe about end-time Bible prophecy, and where does the logic of their thinking start?
Most people today believe in a future seven year great tribulation period. This idea not peripheral, it it is a central, settled belief about end-time prophetic truth. Everything else most people believe about the end-time either fits, or is supposed to fit, into the future seven year concept. Without the future seven year great tribulation period at center stage in their thinking about end-time Bible prophecy, most people today would be completely lost. They would be in the woods. They would have no clue. They would have no idea.
Now in terms of reason and logic it is important to ask ourselves the question, Where does the Bible teach that there is going to be any future seven year great tribulation period with which to start?
Go ahead! Break loose, and allow yourself to think about it, and do some honest research. If you do that, you will be forced to conclude that the New Testament does not say anything at all about a future seven year great tribulation period. The only evidence allowed is the actual mention of such a period, per se, it must not just be thought to exist!
Of course, many people today believe that a future seven year great tribulation period is taught in the book of Revelation, but the irony of the fact is, that, if it is taught there, it is never mentioned! The book of Revelation does not say anything about some future seven year great tribulation period, per se! Nothing about the book itself demands the existence of a seven year time-frame as a basis for the interpretation of its teachings.
Friends, it is imperative fully grasp this key point before we go any further; if all we had to go by was the New Testament, nobody would have ever heard of a future seven year great tribulation period! Yet everybody seems to be teaching it today. Why? The supposed biblical basis for the existence of a future seven year great tribulation period can be pinpointed to only two Old Testament proof-texts: Daniel 9:27 and Ezekiel 39:9.
Now it is important to deal honestly with these two passages of Scripture to see
if they do, indeed, teach the future seven year great tribulation period that
millions today imagine. We shall take up the exegetical concerns of these two
passages, Lord willing, in coming editions of this paper. Stay tuned.
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