Passage: 2 Thessalonians 2:3
In March 2004 I wrote a Pre-Trib Perspectives about why I believe the Greek word apostasia was mistranslated in the King James Version as “a falling away” and the New American Standard Bible as “the apostasy.” Instead, the most accurate and therefore the best translation should be “the departure.” ...
The so-called “Bible Answer Man,” Hank Hanegraaff says the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14 are “the purified bride,” “true Israel,” which is the church. This is a classic replacement theology interpretation. He then continues to torture the biblical text by equating the 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel (Rev. 7:4) with another group of believers said by the biblical text to be “a great multitude, which no one can count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (Rev. 7:9). Hanegraaff says, “the 144,000 and the great multitude are not two different peoples, but two different ways of describing the same purified bride.” So what does the Bible actually teach?
One of the most important prophecy passages in the whole Bible is that of God’s prophecy given to Daniel in Daniel 9:24-27. This passage constitutes one of the most amazing prophecies in all the Bible. If worked out logically, this text is both seminal and determinative in the outworking of one’s understanding of Bible prophecy. Especially for those of us who believe that prophecy should be understood literally, it is essential that a right understanding of this central text be developed and cultivated...
An important issue that divides most preterists from futurists is the meaning of the biblical phrase "the age to come." Also, one’s understanding of a related term "the present age," is significant to a right understanding of the biblical view of prophecy. I believe that this present age refers to the current church age that began almost 2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost when the church was founded. It will end with the rapture of the church. The age to come is a reference to the millennial kingdom that will commence with the second coming of Christ and last for one thousand years...
When one sits back and contemplates the great truths contained in God’s plan for history as revealed in the Bible, it is truly amazing to contemplate such reality. A partial list would include the following: God’s creation out of nothing; God’s creation of angels and their role in history; man’s fall into sin; Noah’s Ark and the Flood; the tower of Babel; the call of Abraham; the Exodus and foundation of the nation of Israel; the up-and-down history of Israel, Christ’s first coming; His death, resurrection, and ascension; the founding of the church; and Christ’s promise to return to take His bride to heaven with Him at the rapture. These real, historical events are greater than any fictional account that the most creative moviemaker could conceive...