Eschatological Issues and Daniel
The first five semesters have laid a foundation concerning covenant, Israel, the promises, God’s Law, the Temple, the priesthood, and the present reign of Jesus Christ. Only now do we begin turning more directly toward eschatology. That order matters, because the way we understand those foundational subjects inevitably affects the way we read prophecy.
Modern Christians are often presented with two very different tendencies. One pushes nearly everything prophetic into our future. The other recognizes genuine first-century fulfillment, especially surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, but can go so far that events Scripture still places in our future are drawn backward into the first century. The biblical answer does not require us to choose between pretending nothing important has been fulfilled and claiming that virtually everything has.
Jesus really did warn His first-century disciples about events that would occur within their generation. Jerusalem really was judged, the Temple really was destroyed, and many prophetic warnings found unmistakable fulfillment in those events. But Scripture also leaves Christians looking forward to realities that were not exhausted in AD 70: the bodily and visible return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, final judgment, the destruction of death itself, and the New Heavens and New Earth.
Original-audience relevance does not equal immediate exhaustion. A prophecy could speak meaningfully to the Christians who first received it while also describing a work of God that would continue unfolding far beyond their lifetime. Revelation began soon, but that does not require Revelation to have been exhausted soon.
This semester therefore examines several assumptions that have shaped modern expectations about the end times. Was biblical sacrifice really intended to return in a future Temple, or has Christ already provided the final sacrifice to which those shadows pointed? Is Premillennialism simply “the historic faith of the Church”? When did the modern Secret Rapture interpretation arise? Does Scripture actually teach a seven-year Great Tribulation immediately before Christ returns? How should we evaluate Preterism, Historicism, and Idealism? And what do the date of Revelation and Paul’s teaching in 2 Thessalonians 2 contribute to that discussion? These are the questions explored throughout the studies on this page.
The semester ultimately brings us back to Daniel, because Daniel supplies much of the prophetic vocabulary, sequence, and historical framework that Revelation later takes up and develops. Kingdoms rise and fall in recognizable succession. Beasts represent earthly kingdoms. Horns represent ruling powers. The Messiah comes, the covenant reaches its fulfillment in Him, and God’s Kingdom triumphs over the kingdoms of men. Before attempting to interpret Revelation’s beasts, horns, kingdoms, and prophetic periods, we need to understand the biblical framework from which that language came.
This does not mean Daniel stands over the New Testament or dictates beforehand how Revelation must be interpreted. Jesus Christ has come, the New Covenant has been established, and the New Testament gives the fuller revelation through which the earlier prophecy must now be understood. But when John deliberately uses Daniel’s prophetic language, Daniel provides the biblical background we should understand before looking elsewhere for an interpretation.
The goal of this semester is therefore not simply to choose a position on an end-times chart. It is to establish a biblical balance between what Christ has already fulfilled, what has unfolded throughout history, and what He has unmistakably promised still to do.
Prophecy should ultimately increase our confidence in Jesus Christ rather than our fear of the future. Kingdoms change, earthly powers rise and fall, and generations come and go, but history has never escaped His authority. The same Christ who fulfilled His promises in the past is reigning now, and He can be trusted to fulfill every promise that remains.
Week 1- Was Jesus the ultimate and final “Red Heifer?”
Week 2- Is Premillennialism the historic faith of the Church? (Overview of the Millennial positions)
Week 3- When did the “Secret” Rapture Theory Begin?
Week 4- Will there be a “Secret” Rapture before Jesus Comes Back?
Week 5- What if there isn’t “7 years of great tribulation” at the End? (A look into Preterism, Historicism and Idealism)
Weeks 6- Problems with Preterism: the Late Date of Revelation and 2 Thessalonians 2
Week 7- The Daniel Hermeneutic of Prophecy
