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.
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.
Once again John Alley brings a message about “end times”, beginning with an examination of the meaning of the “coming” of Christ and then giving an overview of the book of Revelation. Revelation, John explains, is the most Jewish of all the books of the New Testament, drawing greatly on Jewish symbols, history, concepts and nuances of language. The book was written to the seven churches of Asia, at a time when there was a larger percentage of Jewish Christians in the Asian region, and there was a huge emphasis on Emperor worship. John examines events from history which all point to the book of Revelation being written in about 64 or 65 AD. With this understanding, then, it is very easy to see that most of the prophecy of the book of Revelation has been fulfilled in the great tribulation and suffering inflicted on the Church by the Emperor Nero. Therefore, the Beast referred to in the book would seem to most likely have been Nero himself. John explains many fascinating facts including the source of the number 666 and then goes on to say that as for the future, we have hope, a great calling, a great many promises and a Messiah King ruling in Heaven. We should be encouraged, says John, that although difficult times will come for some people, the Gospel triumphs over them all and we need to pour ourselves out in service to God for the furtherance of the Kingdom.
In any modern Bible study on the last days, a common practice for understanding the dark, end-times enemy known as the Antichrist is to mix together Paul’s man of lawlessness, John’s antichrists (plural), and John’s beast of Revelation 13, while sprinkling in a dash of Daniel’s 70th week for flavor. The result? A tyrannical dictator the likes this world has never seen. But is this apocalyptic amalgamation biblical?
For many Christians, the end times are a hot topic. Does what we believe about the end of human history have implications for our lives in this world? Sam Storms discusses the different views of eschatology for a Desiring God’s Theology Refresh interview — the podcast for pastors that refreshes important points of doctrine.