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Eschatology Video Commentaries

Who is the Antichrist?

Who is Antichrist?

JOHN

Likely written around 62 AD to an unnamed church in Asia Minor, John’s audience has suffered division and abandonment. As he counsels, notice John’s references to antichrist; this is a present reality his readers are experiencing, just as we’ve seen in our previous examples.

18 “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:18-19; remember the false Christs and false prophets of Matthew 24:23-25.)

From verse 19, it seems members of this congregation abandoned the faith, deserting the Church and drawing others after them. In verse 22, John zeroes in on exactly what he means when he says “antichrist” (antichristos, Strong’s 500):

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22)

John writes these things concerning those “who seduce you” (1 John 1:26). He is confronting an active threat by those who would undermine this body of believers. Now John defines the difference between true believers and false:

1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” (1 John 4:1-3)

Here we not only see a definition of what it means to be anti-Christ, but we also catch a glimpse of what it means to be in Christ. In his second letter to this church, John doubles down on his definition of antichrist:

“For many deceivers have entered into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 John 1:7)

Throughout John’s three epistles, the author drives home several key themes including admonition to reject false teachings, how to identify true believers, and encouragement to stand firm in the faith.

Top Antichrist Theories

Next, let’s briefly discuss the top theories surrounding the identity of John’s antichrists… [See complete transcript at ProphecyCourse.org…]

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Eschatology Video Commentaries

Are Blood Moons Signs of the End Times?

blood moons end times

One of the most distinguishing phrases commonly used in “day of the Lord” imagery makes use of what we call “cosmic decreation” language. Cosmic decreation or deconstruction is exactly what it sounds like; the universe itself is unraveling—or at least, your little slice of it. Per Joel 2:31: “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” In Joel 3:15: “The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.”

But there are many examples of “day of the Lord” language in the Old Testament.

Full transcript and small group discussion questions can be found at https://prophecycourse.org/session/more/day-of-the-lord/

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Eschatology Video Commentaries

Time, Times and Half a Time


Though I knew the biblical phrase “time, times and half a time”, I had only looked into it long enough to leave thoroughly confused. However, in response to my lesson on Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy, one fellow student of the Word wrote in the following:

“How do you explain the utilization of time, times and half a time (three and half years) by Daniel, James and John the Revelator?

“Revelation was written after the literal 70 weeks yet the author makes mention of that period (3½ yrs) as either happening or will happen. Is it allegorical or literal?

“Is it the latter part of the 70 weeks or a separate prophecy?”

By Sani’s questions, I realized folks might have been taught there was a connection to Daniel’s 70 Weeks and the “midst of the week” in verse 27. If you want to skip the rest of this lesson, I’ll simply tell you right now: I’ve now studied it out and I can safely say—while there’s no direct connection between Daniel’s 70 weeks and the three “time, times and half a times” we find in the Word—there is overlap! If you want to learn more about what “time, times and half a time” actually means, stay tuned.

Prophecy Course. Bible prophecy made clear. (https://prophecycourse.org/)

TAKE-AWAYS FROM THIS LESSON

? What does “time, times and half a time” mean? Explained.

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Eschatology Video Commentaries

The End is Nigh–or is It?

Gary DeMar continues discussing an e-mail he received questioning his viewpoint on the end times. Gary discusses how the “last days” in the Bible apply to New Covenant times, not to some futuristic event, and addresses the issue of things supposedly getting worse before Christ returns.

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Eschatology Video Commentaries

Gog and Magog

End times “gurus” are point many current events around Israel as fulfillment of the Gog and Magog prophecies. Gary DeMar examines these claims in today’s episode and exposes them in the light of Scripture.

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Eschatology Video Commentaries

Zechariah 14 Commentary (Amillennial)

zechariah 14 mt olivet splits

Zechariah is one of the hardest prophetic books to understand, its difficulty culminating in its final chapter 14. Here Bible-teacher Steve Gregg delivers a series of lectures on the fascinating book of Zechariah. In this post, we zoom into his teaching on the meaning of Zechariah 14. Does Zechariah 14 really foretell the second coming of Christ, Armageddon and the end of the world?

Zechariah 14:1-5

When Jesus returns, will His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives? Will the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south? What does it mean that the Lord will come, and all the holy ones with Him?

Additional resource: https://cbtseminary.org/an-amillennial-interpretation-of-zechariah-14-1-of-8/

Zechariah 14:6-21

Zechariah 14

1 A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.

2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

6 On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. 7 It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.

8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.

9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

10 The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. 11 It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.

12 This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another. 14 Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. 15 A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

20 On that day holy to the Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty.