Prophecy

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This verse causes some readers to doubt inmillennialism. For…

In our last post (here), we proposed that Paul meant for his “rapture” passage—1 Thess 4:13–5:11—to comfort the Thessalonians regarding the relationship of their dead to the parousia (i.e., coming/presence) of Christ. Here is the heart of his answer: We say this to you by a revelation from the Lord:…

We have arrived at a passage—1 Thess 4:13–5:11—that mentions several important prophetic events. In this famous “rapture” passage, Paul discusses the coming (i.e., parousia = presence) of the Lord (1 Thess 4:15), the resurrection (1 Thess 4:16–17), the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2), and sudden destruction that would…

R. C. Sproul, one of my favorite theologians, spoke often of living life coram Deo. He explained: “The big idea of the Christian life is coram Deo. Coram Deo captures the essence of the Christian life.” This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or…

Paul tells the Thessalonians of his desire to be present with them but says “Satan hindered us” (1 Thess 2:18). Most commentators express uncertainty about Paul’s meaning here, but I want to make a suggestion that, if true, will help us understand God’s prophetic word: Satan was using Israel after…

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous responded to my recent blog post, Parousia Now. Carl—my fictitious name for the reader—said: The Messiah is not on earth yet. When he is here there will be no evil. Evil is rampant now. I don’t see how you can say we are…

Commentators often make interesting interpretive adjustments when they encounter certain words and concepts in prophetic contexts; they do not allow them to keep the meaning they have elsewhere. Our present passage in 1 Thessalonians furnishes two examples important for our understanding of God’s prophetic word: (1) Paul’s desire to be…

Christians! Let us adopt Paul’s view of the local church. Consider his words in the next section of our study of 1 Thessalonians: But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire…

Paul uses a striking image to describe the tribulation the church of the Thessalonians was experiencing. He says the Jews were “fill(ing) up their sins” so that God’s wrath could come on them. This imagery validates inmillennialism’s view of a two-phased tribulation: the preliminary tribulations and the final “great tribulation”/“wrath” that…

Paul had a perspective of the kingdom that differs from ours; in his day, God was calling the churches into the messianic-age kingdom. Now, the churches of Christ comprise that kingdom.  The prophets had foretold both the coming of the kingdom and the saints taking possession of it (e.g., Dan…