Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 1160. Aramaic passages appear in the Old Testament at a handful of specific points, and the first time someone notices this in Daniel or Ezra, they usually assume it is a copying error rather than a deliberate feature of the text. It is not an error. Understanding why these Aramaic sections are there tells…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 1013. The phrase apocalyptic literature turns up constantly in biblical studies, and if you do not understand what it means you will struggle to read whole stretches of the Bible well. It is not a scary word, though the imagery it covers can certainly be vivid. It simply names a particular way of writing…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 11002 Fasting is one of those spiritual disciplines that many Christians know about but few practice. It sounds old-fashioned, perhaps even unhealthy. Yet fasting appears throughout Scripture, both in the Old Testament and the New. Jesus Himself fasted and expected His followers to do likewise. What exactly is fasting, and what place should it…
Reading Time: 7 minutesQuestion 10065 The re-establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 is one of the most significant prophetic events in modern history. After nearly 2,000 years of dispersion, the Jewish people have returned to their ancient homeland exactly as the Old Testament prophets predicted. This restoration points towards the fulfilment of God’s remaining promises to…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 10031 The abomination of desolation is one of the most significant prophetic markers in all of Scripture. Jesus Himself identified it as the critical warning sign for those living during the Tribulation, and He expected His hearers to understand it by reference to the prophet Daniel. The phrase links Old Testament prophecy, intertestamental history,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 10024 Pretribulationism is the view that Christ will return to gather His Church to Himself before the seven-year Tribulation period begins. It is the position held here at Bible Proclaimer, and it is the view that Ian believes best accounts for the full range of biblical evidence when the text is read according to…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 10025 Midtribulationism is one of several evangelical positions on the timing of the Rapture relative to the Tribulation period. It holds that the Church will be raptured at the midpoint of the seven-year Tribulation, after the relatively milder first half but before the intensified judgements of the second half, sometimes called the Great Tribulation….
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 10023 One of the most common sources of confusion in eschatology is the assumption that the Rapture and the Second Coming are the same event described from different angles. If they are, the debate about timing is largely irrelevant. If they are not, then two distinct future events await, each with its own character,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 10084 In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul warns that the day of the Lord will not come “unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” This figure, also called the man of sin in older translations, is one of the most significant individuals in biblical prophecy. He…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 10093 Jerusalem is not simply another city in the biblical narrative. It is the city God chose, the city where His name dwells, and the city around which the climactic events of human history will revolve. From David’s conquest of the Jebusite stronghold to the descent of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, this…