Since there is so much confusion and turmoil about matters relating to end-times and the book of Revelation, I thought it would be a good idea to take a moment and explain what I believe and why I believe it. This might be helpful for those who are sitting on the fence, unsure of where they stand.

There are four major interpretations of the book of Revelation. In my opinion, two of these views can be dismissed immediately, leaving just two interpretations to examine. The four views are:

Preterism: The whole book of Revelation took place in 70 AD, including the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This view is utter nonsense, and really doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously – especially when you realize that this view depends upon Revelation being written before 70 AD, when in reality it was written in the early 90s AD. This view is easily disproven, as I have done elsewhere.

Historical: This says that the book of Revelation is an overview of all of history from the time of Christ to the Second Coming. The problem is that this interpretation just doesn’t work: people’s attempts to tie the events in Revelation to real events have failed catastrophically. It is a nice theory but in practice it does not even come close to working.

Amillennial: This says that the book of Revelation is a symbolic look at the struggles between good and evil in the Church Age. It is called “amillennialism” because those who hold it believe that there will be no literal thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth; they believe that the “millennium” is symbolic of the Church Age that we are living in now.

Premillennial: This says that the book of Revelation is a description of what happens during the 7-year Tribulation, and is more or less a literal reciting of events using symbolic language. This is the view that believes in the Tribulation, the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, and so forth. This view also believes that, at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to Earth in person, set up a physical kingdom, and reign from Jerusalem as a king for a thousand years.

The only two views I take seriously are the amillennial view and the premillennial view. Preterism is easy to disprove and is actually silly. Christ has not already returned; that is utter nonsense. Likewise, the historical view sounds great in theory but in practice it utterly fails. People simply can’t tie the events in Revelation to real historical events; no matter how hard they try, they keep failing. That system of interpretation just does not work.

So between the two possibilities, how do you know which one is right? Is Revelation simply a highly symbolic look at the struggle between good and evil? It’s at least plausible. Or is Revelation intended to be interpreted largely literally? Is the millennium symbolic of the age we’re living in now, or is it a real thousand-year period to come?

Most people these days are “pan-millennial”. They believe that “it will all pan out in the end”, so it really doesn’t matter one way or another. They’re content to ignore the entire issue and go on about their lives. The problem with this view is that “I don’t really care” is not a Biblical stance. The New Testament commands us to watch and be ready; Jesus Himself repeated this several times. Not caring is not the same thing as watching and being ready.

On top of that, the Bible tells us that we should long for the return of Christ and earnestly desire it. If Christ really is the great love of our lives and the great passion of our heart, we will long for Him to return and we will be interested in the events surrounding His coming. Telling Jesus “I love you and all, but I’m not interested in when you’re coming back; you can stay away forever for all I care” is the opposite of passion. It does not honor the Lord. If you love somebody you will long to see them; if you don’t want to see them then you probably don’t really care about them at all (or, at the very least, you have a troubled relationship with them).

So how can you decide between premillennialism and amillennialism? It’s a tough question, but I believe there is an answer. Here is what struck me, and what convinced me to take one side over the other. It all came down to this passage:

Revelation 20:1: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

In this scene an angel comes down from Heaven, binds Satan with a chain, and imprisons him in a pit so that he can no longer deceive the nations or cause any harm. He is bound for a thousand years. During that time the people who were martyred for their faith in Jesus are raised from the dead and reign with Christ for that thousand year period. This is what is called “the millennium”, and it is the key dividing point between the two views. One view holds that this should be taken literally, and the other says that it is symbolic. So which is it?

Here is what bothered me. The amillennial view says that this thousand-year period is symbolic of the age we are living in now. They teach that when Christ died on the cross, He bound Satan and rendered him powerless. In this age the Church is reigning triumphant. This passage is just a highly symbolic look at our time in history.

That brings up a question: is there anyone who actually believes that Satan has been bound and rendered powerless? Does anyone believe that Satan and his forces of darkness have been neutered and can no longer cause any harm, or deceive anyone, or trouble the nations? The apostle Peter sure didn’t; long after the Resurrection Peter warned the Church that Satan was a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). He didn’t believe that Satan had been bound. Paul warned us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the forces of darkness, and urged us to take on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil. He didn’t believe the devil had been bound.

Then there is the issue that the details don’t match up. Amillennials say that when Christ died on the cross He bound Satan. In this passage, however, Satan isn’t bound by Christ; he is bound by an unnamed angel. Christ is mentioned in this passage (the martyrs reign with Christ), but Christ doesn’t do the binding of Satan. On top of that, the passage does not say that Satan was bound by the death of the Lamb; it says that Satan was bound with a chain. If this passage really did represent Christ binding Satan at the cross, then Christ should have been the one doing the binding and the binding should have been accomplished by His death and His shed blood. But we don’t see any of that here.

There is yet another big problem. Verse 6 speaks of a resurrection that happens before the reigning begins; it says that people who were martyred for their faith in Christ will be raised from the dead and reign with Him. In fact, it is the martyrs who are doing the reigning, and they start right after Satan is bound. So if, as amillennial people claim, Satan was bound when Christ died at the cross, that raises a question: just how many people were executed for their faith in Christ before Christ died? There were martyrs in the Old Testament, but they did not believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ because it hadn’t happened yet and people didn’t know about it yet. On top of that, how many of those people have been raised from the dead and are now reigning? It won’t do any good to claim that they are reigning from Heaven; that is not the same thing as being resurrected – and, beside, Revelation 5:10 makes it clear that the reigning happens on Earth.

For that matter, is the Church reigning over the Earth during this period of history? Not exactly: for most of the past two thousand years the Church has been brutally oppressed, persecuted, hunted down, and slaughtered. We are not living in a time of triumph; this is a time of tremendous suffering and agony. Paul says that we and the whole creation are groaning, awaiting our adoption. God is saving countless people, but it is a bloody process that is full of pain. Christ said “In this world you will have tribulation”, not “in this world you will reign as kings”.

The point of Revelation 20 is that Satan has been neutralized, the dead have been raised, the martyrs are living again, and they are reigning triumphantly over an Earth where evil has been soundly defeated and the powers of darkness are unable to harm anyone. In no way does that even begin to describe the age we are living in now. I simply cannot believe we are in the millennium; the details are all wrong.

That only leaves one option. If the millennium is a real thing that is going to happen, and if it hasn’t happened yet, then it must happen at some point in the future. If it happens in the future then the premillennial view must be true. At some point in the future there must be a time when Satan will be bound, the dead will be raised, and Christ and the martyrs will reign triumphantly over a peaceful Earth.

From that point it is not hard to work out the rest. Revelation does contain symbolic language, but the symbols it uses are all defined elsewhere in the Bible, most notably in the Old Testament. It is not hard to look up the handful of symbols it uses and see what it is really talking about. The rest, like the millennium, is all literal.

As a side-note, some have argued that the premillennial view must be wrong because that interpretation is only about a hundred years old. For most of its history, people claim, the church believed in amillennialism. That sounds good, but that is actually wrong. The early church was premillennial; letters that have survived show that in the centuries that immediately followed Christ the church interpreted end-times and Revelation much as premillennial people do today. However, when the Catholic Church arose in the 5th century they quickly stamped out that view, since Catholicism teaches that they are the fulfillment of the millennium. For more than a thousand years the Catholic church held power and enforced its view on pain of death. It was only with the advent of the Reformation that people began to escape its clutches and go back to what the Bible actually teaches. Shortly after the Reformation (and long before Darby and the 19th century) people began writing about premillennialism again.

You could just as accurately say that the idea that Christ is the head of the Church is a recent view. That view only became prevalent after the Reformation. Before the Reformation the Catholic church taught that the Pope was the head of the church (and they still teach that today). The truth is that many Biblical doctrines appear to be “recent discoveries” because the Catholic Church forced their heretical view on the world for such a long time. After the Reformation, though, people began going back to what the Bible actually teaches.

The reason I am premillennial is because I see it taught in the Bible. It is the only viewpoint that consistently makes sense and doesn’t result in really bizarre problems. Amillennialism sounds good, but when you look at the details it falls apart. As amazing as it sounds, there really will come a day when Christ will establish an actual, physical kingdom on Earth, centered in Jerusalem. Revelation speaks of it, but it is not the only book to do so; the Old Testament is filled with references to it. That, however, is a subject for another time.

II Peter 3:13: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

In the past I’ve seen this as a reference to Revelation 21 and the new Heaven and Earth that are created after the Great White Throne judgment, but I think that is incorrect. When Peter wrote these words Revelation 21 hadn’t been written yet. Nothing about the Eternal State was revealed until long after Peter was executed.

It’s far more likely that Peter is referring to the “new heaven and earth” that is mentioned in the book of Isaiah. That “new heaven and earth” is a reference to the Millennial Kingdom. In other words, Peter is telling us that we are to be looking forward to the Millennial reign of Christ!

That is certainly an interesting thought. Very few people today are looking forward to it – or have even heard of it, for that matter. In fact, great masses of Christians think that the very idea that Christ would reign on Earth is unbiblical, unspiritual, and positively evil. They are not looking forward to this Kingdom.

Yet it is coming, and Peter says that we ought to seek it and long for it. The Lord Jesus Himself said that we ought to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven”. This is another clear reference to the Millennial reign of Christ. How many people have prayed that prayer without even realizing what they were asking for?

I’ve completed my summary of II Corinthians. You can find it here:

Summary of II Corinthians, PDF

Enjoy!

“There really hasn’t been much crime in Tikal. We’ve appointed an efficient police force and they do their job well. One thing that has surprised me, though, is how little monitoring equipment the city has. The old underground city had cameras and listening devices everywhere. Every single move the public made was watched – well, when the cameras worked, that is. But here there’s nothing like that. As far as I can see there’s no surveillance equipment anywhere! Apparently the ancient government of Mars didn’t feel the need to watch every move its citizens made. I find that attitude very refreshing and I intend to see it preserved in the future. We do not need to return to the mistakes of the past.”
–Noel Lawson
July 12, 7243
 

That afternoon Monroe Araiza was sitting in the living room of his apartment. Beside him was a stack of books on the history of the Spanish Empire. He had one of the volumes in his hands and was lost in its pages when he was interrupted by a a knock on the door.

Monroe put the book down. “Come on in,” he called out.

The door opened and Doyle walked in. “You know, you really need to start locking that door,” his friend commented as he entered. He closed the door behind him and took a seat across from the scribe.

“Haven’t we had this conversation before? Anyway, how are you doing today?”

“I’m a bit puzzled, to be honest. I don’t quite understand what the Rangers are doing. Did you notice Amy in that video footage?”

“She was rather hard to miss,” Monroe said dryly. “Despite what the council ruled I am sure that she caused the malfunction. Now, that being said, she was not the one who turned that problem into a nuclear nightmare. The general made that happen all by himself. It was his unbelievable reaction to the problem, and not the problem itself, that destroyed the laboratory.”

“I suppose you’re right. I still don’t understand what the Rangers are trying to achieve, though. They’ve certainly delayed things for a while but the project will continue. Are they hoping that if they delay it long enough the council will eventually give up?”

“Not exactly,” a voice said behind them. The two men turned around and saw Amy standing there.

“How did you get in here?” Doyle asked.

“Magic!” Amy exclaimed. She smiled. “Look, guys, I know I’ve been making life hard on you, and I’m sorry about that. I’ve just been trying to stall the project to buy some time. I’d hoped that collapsing the road and stalling the surveys would get me all the time I needed, but then I found out that Maldonado was going to start dropping bombs immediately. That’s when I was forced to step in and do something – but I didn’t realize he was going to go bonkers and try to kill everyone. That part of it was not my fault.”

“Why were you trying to buy time?” Monroe asked.

“In order to make this happen,” Amy said. She made a motion with her hand, and a six-year-old boy materialized in front of her. The boy looked around the room in wonder and then looked at Monroe. “Hello,” he said. “You’re old.”

Monroe looked at the boy in astonishment. “Red hair! And look at his skin tone and cheekbones. He’s from the clans! There hasn’t been a red-headed person in Adrasta for thousand of years. That genetic variation was lost. Does that mean you’ve found a cure?”

Amy nodded. “Yes, it does. Now, keep in mind that it’s only a partial win. We can cure children but so far we can’t cure adults. We’re working on it and we think we can do it, but we just haven’t gotten there yet. Anyway, this bright young man is named Nate, and he is quite inquisitive.”

“You have a lot of books,” the child said. “Can you teach me how to read?”

Doyle smiled at him. “I think we can work something out. How long are you going to be staying with us?”

“I don’t know. Amy hasn’t cured my mommie and daddy yet. She said she’s working on it.”

“I understand,” Doyle said. He looked up at Amy. “How does the cure work?”

“It’s kind of complicated. Basically, Steve created a series of nanites that we’ve released into Nate’s bloodstream. Over the course of several days they have reversed the damage the mutation caused and corrected his genetic code. The process works well on children but it doesn’t work on adults. We’re going to have to come up with a different approach for them.”

“Who is Steve?” Monroe asked.

Amy hesitated. “That’s kind of hard to explain. Let’s just say that he’s a friend of mine. He’s, um, the scientist who came up with the cure. I tried to find a cure on my own but I didn’t get very far. Steve succeeded where I failed.”

“This is really quite remarkable,” Monroe said, as he stared at the child. “It’s astonishing! Please thank the Rangers for me. This changes everything.”

“The Rangers,” Amy said slowly. “Right. Let’s not go into that right now. Anyway, I’m certainly hoping that the cure will change everything. The reason–”

Nate walked over to a table and picked up a book. He held it up and pointed to the cover. “Those are letters, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are,” Doyle said. “It says The History of Martian Dog Breeders.”

“Amy is from Mars,” Nate said proudly. “She told me that herself. Mars is nice. I like it.”

“That’s exactly what I thought!” Monroe said triumphantly. He turned to Amy. “The Rangers found you after they took the Wall down, didn’t they?”

“Um, no. I’m actually the one who shut down the Wall, but we don’t need to get into that right now.”

“Really? But that doesn’t make sense! How were you able to collapse the Wall from the inside? I thought that was impossible.”

Amy sighed. “I didn’t – I shut it down from the outside. It’s kind of complicated.”

Monroe looked puzzled. “I don’t understand. You’re from Mars but you shut the Wall down from the outside? How is that possible? How did you get outside the Wall?”

“It’s a really, really long story. You see, I was on the Sparrow that the Spanish Emperor shot out of the sky. Then – well, it’s a long story. What makes it so hard to explain is that you’ve forgotten how the war started. You have everything mixed up and backwards. It’s history that is so ancient that you don’t even remember it.” She sighed. “It just makes you feel old, you know?”

Nate spoke up. “Amy is very old. Miles is older, though. He’s super old.”

“Miles? Who is Miles? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“That’s fine. That is totally fine. None of that matters right now anyway. The point is that we now have a cure for the madness that plagues the tribes. Right now it only works on children but we’re making progress on the one for adults too. What I need you to do is take Nate to the council and demand that Maldonado stop his bombing campaign, on the grounds that there is a now cure and you ought be helping these people.”

Nate spoke up. “Amy said you’re going to be taking care of me for a while. She said you were nice people.”

“We can certainly arrange that,” Doyle agreed. “I don’t think this particular apartment is a suitable place for young people, but you can certainly stay with me. My wife would love to meet you. We’ve wanted children all our lives but have never been able to have any.”

Monroe nodded. “I’m sure your wife would be delighted. Children are so rare these days; each child is a precious gift. And Amy, I can certainly arrange a meeting with the council. I’m sure they will be very interested in the cure you’ve found. But I’m still confused. Do you have a last name?”

“It’s Stryker. I’m Amy LeAnn Stryker, if you must know. But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to stop the bombing.”

“I understand. Anyway, Amy, the council is going to have many questions about your cure. They’ll want to know how it works, how we developed it, how to administer it, and how much of it we currently have on hand. They’re also going to find it difficult to believe that the cure exists. After all, no one has been trying to find a cure for centuries.”

Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out a small glass bottle. The bottle was made of semi-transparent blue glass, and inside was an opaque silver liquid. On the front of the bottle was a label with a series of instructions. Amy handed the bottle to Monroe. “Here you go. This bottle contains enough nanomaterial to cure a hundred children. The dosage instructions are printed on the bottle, along with the time it takes, how to care for the patient, and age restrictions. That will get you started. You can tell them that the cure was developed by a friend of yours and you can present Nate as proof that the cure works. I can provide you with all the cure you will need and I can do so at a moment’s notice. That bottle will be enough for your presentation to the council. I’ll get in touch with you after you’ve talked to them.”

Monroe nodded. “I appreciate your help – I really can’t thank you enough. You have gone beyond my greatest expectations. I thought that just stopping Maldonado was a lost cause, but you have gone far beyond that and found the cure that has eluded us for five thousand years. You have our deepest thanks.”

Amy nodded. “You’re welcome. It’s why I came here, you know.”

Monroe hesitated. “I hate to mention this – and I am sure Doyle will think that I am being unduly pessimistic – but what are you going to do if the council rejects the cure and opts to continue the bombing?”

Amy sighed. “I’m really, really hoping it doesn’t come to that. If it does then I’ll just cure the tribes myself. If Adrasta insists on trying to kill them then I’ll be forced to stop the city from doing that. Permanently. This will be their last shot. After your presentation there aren’t going to be any more secret obstructions. They’ll have to face the consequences of what they’ve done.”

“And what are those consequences?” Doyle asked.

“There are two groups of people on this planet – the tribes and the Adrastans. If the Adrastans cannot live in peace with the tribes then they will be forcibly relocated to Xanthe. There they will be allowed to live out the rest of their days. If they can’t find a cure for their infertility problems then they will simply die out. They will have what they want – a world of their own – and they will be unable to do anyone any harm.”

“And if the bombing does stop?”

“If Adrasta has a change of heart and shows that it can get along with everyone else, then I would be willing to cure them as well. But I’m not going to do that if they are determined to be genocidal monsters.”

“It sounds like the stakes are quite high.”

“For Adrasta, yes. Now, the tribes will be saved regardless. Their future is secure. But I do not know what will become of this city. Their fate is in their hands.” Amy sighed. “Speak to the council as soon as you can. I will be back in a few days.”

The child spoke up. “Are you leaving now?”

Amy gave him a hug. “I have to go away for a bit, but I’ll be back soon, ok? And I’ll be watching over you to make sure that no one hurts you. You be good for Monroe and Doyle, ok?”

“Ok,” Nate said. “Goodbye.”

Amy said goodbye and disappeared.

Syria

Syria has been an enemy of Israel for quite some time. It is one of the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism, and would love to wipe Israel off the map. Up until now it has had a fairly secular government, but that is on the verge of changing.
At the moment there is a civil war raging in Syria, and rebels are trying to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad. So far the rebels have not succeeded, but they are growing in strength and Assad’s problems are mounting. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to take over the country. Their goal is to have Syria be part of an Islamic Caliphate, which would be dedicated toward the destruction of Israel and the murder of all the Jews.

The Bible tells us that the Caliphate is going to become a reality and Syria will be a part of it. This means that, in all likelihood, Assad’s days are numbered. Assad may be able to fend them off for a while and buy himself some more time, but ultimately Syria will fall to Islam and join a list of other nations. These nations will band together and try to wipe out Israel – and the consequences will be horrific.

We find this prophesied in Psalm 83:

Psalm 83:1-8: “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.”

This passage is a bit difficult to understand because it refers to nations by the names they had in Bible times. However, these groups can be traced throughout history and they do correspond to modern nations. The Ishmaelites now comprise Saudi Arabia. The Hagarenes are now called Egyptians. Gebal and Tyre, together, make up the nation of Lebanon, and Moab and Ammon make up the nation of Jordan. Philistia, the land of the Philistines, is the Gaza Strip. Finally, last but not least, Assur is Assyria, which we today call simply Syria.

What this means is that, at some point in the future, a band of nations is going to come together and form an Islamic Caliphate. The nations that are going to be a part of it are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and Syria. Lebanon and the Gaza Strip have been controlled by Hezbollah for years now. Egypt (which we will talk about in a minute) has elected the Muslim Brotherhood to power, but the military is attempting to overthrow the election and seize control for themselves. Syria is in a state of civil war; no one knows how much longer Assad will be able to keep control. As far as Jordan goes, the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, has been making reforms in an attempt to keep the Muslim Brotherhood at bay but unrest is growing.

Up until this point in history Israel has never been confronted with the coalition described in Psalm 83. This is an unfulfilled prophecy, but in the past ten years there have been dramatic changes. One by one the nations listed in this psalm are falling to the Caliphate, which has a stated goal of destroying Israel – just as the psalm prophesied.

So how are things going to turn out? Ultimately, it looks like the government of Syria is going to fall to the Muslim Brotherhood and join with the Caliphate in an attempt to destroy Israel. This may happen in the near future or it may be delayed a period of years, but it will happen. Syria will join the Caliphate.

This will turn out to be a fatal mistake for Syria. God makes it quite clear what His response will be. We find it in Isaiah 17 – another unfulfilled prophecy:

Isaiah 17:1-4: “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.”

Isaiah 17:7-10: “At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation…”

Isaiah 17:14: “And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.”

In other words, Syria is going to be destroyed and the city of Damascus will be wiped out. After this war is over there will no longer be a nation of Syria. It will be gone – destroyed by God as judgment for its animosity toward Israel. Moreover, the destruction of Syria will take place in a single night. One day the nation will be there, and the next day it will be gone. Israel will be severely harmed (the passage speaks of the glory of Jacob fading, so Israel was not untouched), but she will survive – whereas Syria will not.

This war is going to be a devastating blow against Islam; in fact, it might be the beginning of the end for that false religion. As Isaiah 17:7 says, when this war happens people will realize that the God of Israel was responsible. Their own false gods will be shown to be false and powerless, and people will have respect for the God of Israel. Islam will be shown to everyone to be a false religion and even its adherents will understand this.

So, to recap: there is a civil war going on in Syria right now, and the Muslim Brotherhood is fighting to overthrow the government. Ultimately Syria will fall and join the Islamic Caliphate, and will join a group of other nations in an attempt to destroy Israel. When this happens Syria will be obliterated, and Damascus (which has been a city for thousands of years) will no longer be a city and Syria will no longer be a country. All of that will happen in a single night, according to Isaiah 17:14.

How far away is this from happening? No one really knows. Syria is in deep trouble; it might last the year or it might not. The Caliphate itself still has some missing members; Jordan, for example, has not yet fallen, and it may take some time (perhaps years) for the rest of the nations to fall into place. But the fate of these nations has already been sealed. God has spoken, and it will come to pass.
 

Egypt

Until quite recently Egypt was actually at peace with Israel. The country was led by a secular government that maintained a decades-long peace treaty between the two nations. Then, as we all saw on the news, there was massive civil unrest and the old government was overthrown.

Right now Egypt is in a state of chaos. The Muslim Brotherhood won the election, but the secular military is unhappy about this and is trying to nullify the election and seize power for themselves. The military has gotten the Supreme Court to say that the election was unconstitutional, but the Brotherhood is fighting the decision by appealing to the people who elected them. Right now no one knows how things are going to turn out – except for God, who prophesied the outcome long ago.

Even if the military wins for now, the fate of Egypt is already sealed. Psalm 83 tells us that the nation will fall to Islam and will become a member of the Islamic Caliphate, which was mentioned earlier. Egypt’s membership in this Caliphate is going to end in disaster. God has spelled out judgment for Egypt, which we find in Ezekiel 29:

Ezekiel 29:2-3: “Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself…”

Ezekiel 29:8: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.”

Ezekiel 29:13-15: “Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.”

As you can see, this attack on Israel is the end of Egypt’s power. Egypt is devastated so severely that the nation is actually abandoned for 40 years; neither man nor animal will set foot in it during that time. (In other words, after this attack there will no longer be a nation of Egypt; like Syria, it will be gone.) The Egyptians will be scattered throughout the world and the country will be abandoned.

However, that is not the end of the story. After the 40 years have passed the Lord will gather the Egyptians back into their land, but they will be “the basest of the kingdoms”. They will no longer have any power and they will no longer rule over other nations or be a threat to anyone. That is the fate of Egypt.
 

Iran

Iran is another nation that is constantly threatening Israel. They have an active nuclear weapons program and they have leaders that have promised to completely destroy Israel at all costs. The leaders of that country believe that if they can trigger worldwide chaos, the Islamic Messiah will return and conquer the entire world for Islam. They are willing to do anything – including dying or seeing their nation destroyed – to make this happen.

So how will this end? Is Iran going to succeed in destroying Israel? The answer is no. Instead, God is going to destroy Iran. This is prophesied in Jeremiah 49 (which refers to Iran by its old name, Elam):

Jeremiah 49:35-39: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the Lord. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord.”

Elam here refers to a part of the world that is now controlled by Iran. Interestingly, it is the very part of Iran where the Iranians have built a nuclear reactor – one of the cornerstones of their nuclear weapons program. Another interesting point is that Elam is an active earthquake region. Why someone would build a nuclear reactor in a part of the world that is prone to earthquakes I do not know, but that is what they did. This prophesy tells us that Iran is going to be devastated, its power broken and its people scattered all over the world.

It is interesting to note that Iran is not a part of the nations that come against Israel in Psalm 83. It is possible (although no one knows for sure) that Iran is judged before the Psalm 83 conflict occurs. Iran may not be a part of it simply because it isn’t there anymore! Time will tell how this plays out. What we do know is that Iran’s plan to eradicate Israel will not succeed. Instead of destroying Israel, they will be destroyed instead.

However, that is not the end of the story. As the passage says, the Lord will eventually bring the Iranians back and they will once again become a nation. When that happens, Iran will join Russia, Turkey, and Libya and try to invade Israel and seize its riches. Ezekiel 38 refers to this as the Gog-Magog war. When this war takes place the Lord will fight for Israel and obliterate her enemies, giving Israel a decisive victory.
 

Palestinians

The Palestinians have been on the news for decades. They spend a lot of time committing unspeakable atrocities against Israel – strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up busses full of children; sneaking into houses and murdering Jewish infants; and so forth. The Palestinians hate the Jews; they want to see every last one of them dead, and they want to wipe out the state of Israel. Their hatred for Israel is intense, deep, and passionate.

You may not realize this, but the word “Palestinian” is just the modern name for a very old group of people. They are actually the Edomites – the descendants of Esau. Their hatred for Israel is not new; it goes back for millennia, and the Bible talks about it. God actually has a lot to say about the Edomites. He is very angry with them for their treatment of Israel and has prophesied doom for them.

The Palestinians are going to be a part of the coming Islamic Caliphate that is forming the Middle East, which we discussed earlier. However, their membership in the Caliphate is going to be their doom. According to Obadiah none of them are going to survive:

Obadiah 1:1: “The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom…”

Obadiah 1:10-15: “For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.”

Obadiah 1:18-21: “And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”

The Palestinians want to wipe out Israel, but in the end they are the ones that are going to be wiped out. Because of their ancient hatred, the Lord has decreed that there will not be any remaining of the house of Esau. It will be brought to an end.
 

Conclusion

At the moment there is a lot of chaos in the Middle East. Thanks to the Bible, though, we know exactly how things are going to end. Right now the nations around Israel are in the process of forming an Islamic Caliphate, which will be made up of Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinians. This Caliphate will attempt to destroy Israel, but it will fail and the Caliphate will be destroyed. Syria will be destroyed as nation; its capitol, Damascus, will never again be an inhabited city. Egypt will be abandoned for 40 years, and neither man nor animal will set foot in it. It will eventually become a nation again but it will be the basest of nations.

Iran has its own plans to destroy Israel, but those plans will fail. God has promised to judge Iran and will scatter its people among the nations. The Iranians will eventually be gathered back into their country, though, and they will join with Russia in one last attempt to destroy Israel. This, too, will fail.

How far away is all this from happening? Well, parts of it have already come to pass. One by one the nations around Israel are falling to the Muslim Brotherhood and joining the Caliphate. There are some nations that have not fallen yet, like Syria and Jordan, but it is only a matter of time. This upcoming war may well happen in our lifetime; in fact, it may happen in the next ten years. The same can be said for the coming judgment on Iran. It is amazing to think that events prophesied thousands of years ago are coming to pass in our lifetime!

What does this mean for the Rapture? Nothing at all. The Rapture has no preconditions; it can happen at any time. It is not waiting for other things to happen first. The Rapture could have happened in the days of the disciples. It could have happened a thousand years ago, or right now, or in twenty years. It’s impossible to tell. If someone tells you that they know when it’s going to happen, run from them – they are dangerous. People who have claimed to know when the Rapture was going to happen have caused untold harm. They should be avoided.

We do know that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation. However, we don’t know how long before the Tribulation. The Lord could return for us decades or even centuries before the Tribulation occurs. God hasn’t told us how much of a gap there will be between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation; all He has done is commanded us to watch.

I think that the Rapture could happen a great many years before the Tribulation begins. This is because there is a parallel in the Old Testament that hints at this. Whenever Jesus spoke of his Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation, He likened it to the days of Noah and the Great Flood:

Matthew 24:37: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

That brings up a very interesting point. Do you remember Enoch? Enoch never died. Genesis 5:24 tells us “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him.” In other words, Enoch walked with God and pleased Him, so God simply took him. Enoch did not have to die – and he also did not have to experience the Flood. The Lord took Enoch out of the world before He judged it.

Enoch is a “type” or foreshadowing of the Rapture. Like Enoch, the Church walks with God. Like Enoch, one day God will come and take the Church and then we will be gone. Like Enoch, the Church that is alive when Jesus returns will not face death. Enoch was not around when the Flood happened; the Church will not be around when the Tribulation happens. There is a parallel here.

So how long before the Flood was Enoch “raptured”? Did God remove him at the last possible minute? Nope. God removed Enoch from the scene three generations before the Flood happened. It is possible, then, that God might remove the Church from the Earth many years before the Tribulation begins. It’s something to think about.

Are there a lot of Old Testament prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled? Yes, there are. But that does not mean the Rapture is a long way off; it may be very near indeed. After all, Noah hadn’t even been born yet when Enoch (his great-grandfather) was taken. Enoch was not taken at the last minute, but far in advance.

It’s a dangerous thing to think “Well, Jesus probably won’t come back for a long time, so I’m going to slack off and take it easy.” You do not want to get caught off-guard, unprepared, when He returns. There will be no do-overs. You will not have a second chance at getting it right.

II Peter 3:11: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

This verse runs completely counter to mainstream thought. The world says “If we’re all going to die tomorrow then let’s party today. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow is doomsday.” Peter tells us that is not even close to how a Christian ought to respond. He tells us that, since we know that all of these things are to be destroyed, we should therefore pursue holiness! Our reaction to the coming end of the world should be an increased passion for God, not an increased passion for worldly pleasures. Our hearts ought to be fixed on Jesus, not on these things that are about to be destroyed.

The world says “The end is coming, so enjoy life while you can.” God says “The end is coming, so since all these things are going to be destroyed, spend your time on something that will not be destroyed.” That is the difference between God’s wisdom and Man’s wisdom. Man says “The tide is coming in, so enjoy your sand castle while you can.” God says “The tide is coming in, so stop building sand castles. Invest in something that is actually worthwhile.”

A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

I’ve managed to complete my summary of the book of I Corinthians. You can find it here:

Summary of I Corinthians, PDF

Enjoy!

I Corinthians 14:34: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

Of all the verses in the Bible, there are few that are despised by modern Christianity quite as much as these two verses. (Yes, there are some that are hated even more, but these are near the top of the list.) This command is not just flagrantly violated by the modern church; it is mocked, ridiculed, and laughed at. Women have stood up and said that they will not obey this command, and the church has backed them up on it. The modern woman has absolutely no intention of following God’s will for her life. She has her Own Plan, and that is what she is going to do.

Why are women preachers unbiblical? Well, for one reason, there are these two verses. Women can’t exactly do very much preaching if they’re not permitted to speak in church!

The reason I’m posting this is because I’ve made an interesting discovery. We all know what those two verses say. However, do you know what the very next three verses say? Let me quote them for you:

I Corinthians 14:36: “What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”

Do you see that? These things are a test! If you are genuinely spiritual, you will acknowledge that these things are commandments of the Lord. If you reject them (as much of the modern church has rejected Paul), then you are not spiritual at all. You may claim that you are spiritual; you may go to church, and sing spiritual songs, and think highly of yourself; but you are just fooling yourself. You aren’t really spiritual at all. You are a fool.

There’s really no room for debate on this. Those who reject Paul are not spiritual; they are ignorant. Women who stand up and say they will absolutely not obey what the Bible has to say about their role are not spiritual either. They have willfully abandoned God’s will for their lives and are deluding themselves.

That’s the thing about God’s will: it’s not hard to figure out. God is pretty clear in His word about how He wants us to live and what He wants us to do. The problem with the modern church is that is has rejected God’s will, substituted their own will, and then pretended that God is happy with them.

There are very serious consequences when it comes to rejecting the Lordship of Christ. Those who shake their fist at God and say “Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” are in very serious trouble. This is what Christ had to say about it:

Matthew 7:21: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

There are many people (yes, the verse says “many”) who think they are saved, but are not. The litmus test is easy: those who do God’s will are saved, and those who don’t are lost. The people today who mock God’s commands and do their own thing may think they are saved, and may have many offices in the church, but God does not know them and will reject them on that day. You can do things your way, if you want – but the penalty is eternal damnation. There are no other options. Either plead for forgiveness and submit to the will of God, or else do things your way and face an eternity burning in the Lake of Fire. That is your choice.

II Peter 3:10: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

Traditionally this passage has been interpreted as having something to do with the ultimate destruction of the Earth during the Great White Throne judgment. However, I believe that interpretation is wrong. Notice that Peter is talking about the “Day of the Lord” – in other words, the Tribulation. Peter is quite specific here.

Peter states that the Tribulation will come upon the world unexpectedly, “as a thief in the night”, and during that terrible period of time “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” The destruction of the planet by fire, then, is not some remote event that happens after the Millennial Reign, but something that will occur in the near future, during the Tribulation itself.

Interestingly, the word ‘fire’ comes up quite a few times in Revelation:

Revelation 8:7: “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”

Revelation 9:18: “By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.”

Revelation 11:5: “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.”

Revelation 16:8: “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.”

Since Peter associates the destruction of the world by fire with the events of “the day of the Lord”, that leads me to think that what he is talking about happens during that period. It is worth nothing that Jesus said that if He did not cut short the Tribulation, every living thing on the Earth would die.

The Tribulation will be a uniquely terrible time. Billions of people will die and the planet will be utterly trashed. The forests will be burned to the ground, the planet’s freshwater supply will be poisoned, and every living thing in the oceans will die. It will be truly horrific. It will not be just another time of persecution, or just another time of hardship. It will be unlike anything else – Jesus Himself stated that it would be the worst period in all of human history, a time when hundreds of millions of demons would openly roam the planet, tormenting people. It will, quite literally, be the end of the world.

“Tikal’s subway system is proving to be very difficult to repair. It is extensive, of course, but most of it has collapsed and its wiring has been utterly ruined. We’ve also been unable to find any subway cars and we have no idea how to build our own. There are still vast areas we haven’t explored, but if the trains really are gone we may have to gut the system and build our own. We certainly need to find some solution to the city’s growing congestion. The streets are becoming more crowded every day.”
–Noel Lawson
July 12, 7243
 

“You have a great deal to answer for, Evan Maldonado,” Conrad Forbes said icily.

The general was seated in a chair in the debate hall. In the opposition section he could see Monroe Araiza and his allies. Maldonado himself was seated in the center ring, and the council had just called the session to order.

The destruction of the nuclear lab had occurred the previous day. Maldonado had been hoping that few people would attend a meeting that was called on such short notice, but that had not happened. The hall was completely packed.

Maldonado had been forced to sit down because his left leg was broken in two places. A doctor had set it in a cast but it would take weeks to heal. He felt sore and weak. Mostly, though, he felt angry – intensely angry. He was convinced that Monroe Araiza was the source of all his problems, and he was determined to make him pay.

The general spoke up. “I see no need for this outrageous treatment. There was a minor accident in one of our labs and my men are working on repairing it. This matter does not merit the council’s attention.”

“Do not try my patience,” Forbes said in steely tones. “The entire incident was caught on camera, and the footage was stored in a secure location and survived the blast. Let us play back the incident and see exactly what you did.”

Forbes pressed a button on the stone table in front of him and a giant holographic screen appeared in the air. He pressed another button and the screen began replaying the video footage of the lab incident, starting from the moment the general first noticed the warning on the screen. When it was over the crowd booed.

The head of the council silenced them and turned his attention to Maldonado. “According to your own men, the control board in the nuclear lab malfunctioned. They recommended shutting down the lab and performing a repair. Had they done that, the lab would have been saved, the lithium would have been saved, and no harm would have been done. That was the official technical recommendation of the top nuclear scientist in Adrasta.

“Instead of listening, however, you demanded that he take an action that was physically impossible for him to take. You then compounded the problem by shooting not just the kill switch, but the tank behind it. That was the action that led to the destruction of the lab. You, general, are personally responsible for the worst nuclear accident in the history of Adrasta. Nor is it a ‘minor’ one, as you claim. The radiation in that lab has reached lethal levels and will not cool down for at least two weeks. It will be months before that lab will be operational again, and the explosion has weakened that entire sector. Major foundational repair work will be required before it will even be safe to reenter that section of the city. You have single-handedly destroyed this city’s nuclear capability.”

The general tried to speak up but Forbes silenced him. “And let’s not overlook the fact that when your men tried to evacuate the laboratory, you stopped them. In fact, you physically stopped them from trying to leave the scene. If they had not attacked you all of them would be dead right now – and you would be dead as well. You acted in a grossly irresponsible manner and you came very close to killing a great many people. Frankly, you ought to be shot.”

At that the general lost it. He started screaming. “This is all Monroe’s fault! He did this! He sent an operative of his to sabotage the laboratory. He’s the one you should be prosecuting!”

“Oh, do you mean this little girl?” Forbes asked. He tapped some commands onto the stone table and the holographic image changed. The video showed a black-haired girl walking into the lab, talking to the general for a few seconds, and then getting escorted out.

In the opposition section, the video caught the attention of Monroe. He instantly realized that the girl in the video was Amy. He said nothing, however.

Forbes continued to speak. “As you can see, the girl did nothing. She touched no equipment and did not get near any of the controls. She simply talked to you and was then escorted out by your men. Frankly, the mere presence of the girl in your lab is a sign that your security forces are completely incompetent. Why are you allowing civilians into a nuclear work zone? Have you taken leave of your senses?”

“We didn’t allow her in,” the general began saying.

Forbes raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean to tell me that that little girl was able to bypass your entire security operation? She walked in the front door of your laboratory, Evan. Don’t you have guards outside? For that matter, don’t you even bother to keep that door locked?”

The general sputtered. He tried to say something but Forbes silenced him. “The council finds you to be criminally incompetent. We have placed a great trust in you and, frankly, you’re doing a terrible job. At every turn your project has been a disaster, and yet somehow you always find a way to make things very much worse.

“Since we believe in the neutron bomb project, and since the project has wide public support, we are not going to cancel it. However, starting at this moment we are going to post observers that will watch everything you do. Every decision you make will be relayed back to us. We will also be posting our own guards in the hallways, since yours are apparently incapable of securing anything.

“Be warned that we have come very close to not only firing you, but imprisoning you as well. If anyone had died today you would find yourself facing a minimum of life imprisonment. If you make any more mistakes like this they will be your last. Have you anything to say?”

The general looked through the crowd. He found Monroe and started at him, glaring at him with all the hatred he could muster. “No, sir,” he muttered.

“Then this session is adjourned.”

II Peter 3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

People often wonder: why has Jesus waited so long to return? After all, He has been gone almost two thousand years. Why the long delay? Here Peter gives us the answer. The Lord has tarried because He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.

The Lord has waited so that many (including myself) could be saved. (Aren’t you glad He waited for you?) During the past two millennia countless people have come to know the Lord – people who would never have even been born if Jesus had returned in 100 AD.

Jesus will not wait forever, though. The day will come (and is rapidly approaching!) when the wait will end and the Lord will come for His Bride. But for now He has tarried.

A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

II Peter 3:5: “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

I have seen people declare Revelation to be nothing but a fable because God, they say, just wouldn’t act that way. God is a god of love; He doesn’t judge nations. He wouldn’t hurt anyone or punish anybody or send anyone to Hell. He just isn’t like that. He’s a big, cuddly grandfather in the sky who just wants to make everybody happy.

As Peter points out, they “willingly are ignorant of” the fact that four thousand years ago God destroyed the entire world through the Flood! This Flood was not just a local event in Noah’s hometown, but was a planet-wide catastrophe that killed billions of people. Peter points out that just as God destroyed the old world, so He will one day destroy the modern world as well. Next time, though, He will destroy it with fire, not water. This judgment is certain.

This world in which we now live is “reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men”. Though many try to deny it, judgment is coming – a judgment of fire. Peter wants us to be mindful of these things, and not forget them.

God is not a harmless lovable fuzzball in the sky. This is how God describes himself:

Exodus 20:5: “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

Do not take God lightly. He promised to destroy the old world, and He did. He has promised to destroy this world as well, and He will. He always keeps His promises.

I’ve managed to complete my summary of the book of Romans. You can find it here:

Summary of Romans, PDF

Normal commentaries provide an in-depth view of verses within a chapter; I have written such things, and in fact verse commentaries are posted on this blog on a regular basis. However, I think there is also value in doing the opposite – providing a high-level view of entire books. Sometimes, when you are examining leaves under a microscope, it can be easy to miss details that can be plainly seen if you fly over the forest in an airplane. I think there is a need for both views: the microscopic view that commentaries provide, and the macroscopic view that summaries provide.

So here you go. My intent is to work my way through the Bible, book by book, until I’ve summarized everything. I’ll post the summaries here as I get them done.