What’s All This Talk About Red Heifers?

Have you heard Bible teachers in recent days talking about red heifers?  Do red heifers have anything to do with the return of Jesus? We need to educate ourselves on the subject...

What’s All This Talk About Red Heifers? | Articles | The Line of Fire

Have you heard Bible teachers in recent days talking about red heifers? If so, do we need to educate ourselves on the subject? 

Do red heifers have anything to do with the return of Jesus?

Let’s start first with a definition of “heifer,” since not everyone may be familiar with the word. According to Dictionary.com, a heifer is “a young cow over one year old that has not produced a calf.”

As for the significance of a red heifer in particular, that goes back to the book of Numbers, where we read that the Israelites were to bring to Moses 

“a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.” It was then to be slaughtered outside the camp and burned to ashes, and the ashes were “to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin” (Numbers 19:2, 9).

Under the Old Covenant, when an Israelite became ritually unclean, his rites included being purified by “the water of cleansing,” which was mixed with the red heifer’s ashes....

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What John Calvin Got Wrong About the Restoration of the Kingdom to Israel

The book of Acts records that, after the resurrection of Jesus, as it was time for Him to leave this earth, the apostles asked Him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” This seemed like a perfectly legitimate question...

What John Calvin Got Wrong About the Restoration of the Kingdom to Israel | Articles | AskDrBrown

The book of Acts records that, after the resurrection of Jesus, He appeared to the apostles “over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). 

This was in addition to the three-plus years they had spent with Him before His crucifixion, sitting at His feet and drinking in His word. Now it was time for Him to leave this earth, so the apostles asked Him in v. 6, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

This seemed like a perfectly legitimate question.

After all, He had been speaking with them for more than 40 days “about the kingdom of God.”

He had already spoken to them about His future coming to Jerusalem (see Matthew 24; Luke 21; Mark 13).

And He even said this to them on one occasion: “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).

They were now asking Him, “Will this happen now that You’re ascending to heaven? Will all Your promises to Israel and Your purposes for the world be fulfilled in the coming days?”

According to John Calvin, the famed theologian and commentator, they could not have been more wrong.

“He showeth that the apostles were gathered together when as this question was moved, that we may know that it came not of the foolishness of one or two that it was moved, but it was moved by the common consent of them all; but marvelous is their rudeness, that when as they had been diligently instructed by the space of three whole years, they betray no less ignorance than if they had heard never a word. There are as many errors in this question as words.”

That is a strong rebuke, especially in light of the fact that they had just spent 40 days with the resurrected Lord talking about some of these very things. 

“They ask him as concerning a kingdom; but they dream of an earthly kingdom, which should flow with riches, with dainties, with external peace, and with such like good things; and while they assign the present time to the restoring of the same. they desire to triumph before the battle; for before such time as they begin to work they will have their wages. They are also greatly deceived herein, in that they restrain Christ’s kingdom unto the carnal Israel, which was to be spread abroad, even unto the uttermost parts of the world.”

Their error, then, according to Calvin, was failing to see that Christ’s kingdom would extend far beyond the borders of Israel. 

This, of course, was true, but it was part of the Messianic vision in Jewish teaching as well, namely, that with the coming of the Messiah to Israel, redemption would come to the nations (see Isaiah 2:1-4 for one example).

Calvin also claims that they misunderstood the timing of God’s plan, which was certainly a fair criticism. Yet it is a mistake of which many prophets throughout the ages have been guilty (see 1 Peter 1:10-12).

In no way did the apostles deserve Calvin’s stern rebuke, namely, “they declared thereby how bad scholars they were under so good a Master.”

That’s why Jesus didn’t rebuke their question, as if it was fundamentally flawed. He simply told them that this was not to be their focus at that time: 

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7–8).

In other words, that’s a great question, but that’s for the Father to know. You concentrate on bearing witness to the Messiah’s death and resurrection starting in Jerusalem and going to the ends of the world.

As noted by the late Messianic Jewish scholar David Stern in his Jewish New Testament Commentary, 

“Yeshua’s answer to his disciples’ question as to whether he will now restore self-rule to Israel is, ‘You don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under his own authority.’ From this we learn, contrary to the teaching of Replacement Theology, that the kingdom certainly will be restored to Israel. The only question is when, and that is not presently ours to know. ‘The secret things belong to Adonai [the Lord] our God’ (Deuteronomy 29:28(29)).”

As to the term “Replacement Theology,” Stern commented, 

“There is an ancient, widespread and pernicious Christian teaching that the Church is the ‘New’ or ‘Spiritual’ Israel, having replaced the Jews as God’s people. In this view—known variously as Replacement theology, Covenant theology, Kingdom Now theology, Dominionism, Reconstructionism and (in England) Restorationism—God’s promises to Israel were nullified when ‘the Jews’ refused to accept Jesus (never mind that all the first believers were Jews). This false theology, impugning the character of God by suggesting that he will welch on his promises, has provided apparent justification for many antisemitic acts in the Church. It also lies behind most Christian protestations that the present-day regathering of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is without theological or biblical significance.”

More recently, terms like “fulfillment theology” or “expansion theology” have been used, with many Christian leaders finding the term “replacement theology” to be both misleading (in terms of their own beliefs) and negative (in light of historic Christian antisemitism).

Either way, however, the end result is the same: promises which were previously given to national Israel no longer apply to the Jewish people. 

We are told, instead, that they have been fulfilled in Christ or expanded to include all believers.

And while there are beautiful, Jesus-exalting truths intermingled within various forms of replacement theology, the end result of all these theological expressions is the same.

Consequently, it is no surprise that the Christians today who tend to be the most critical of the State of Israel are those who hold to one form or another of replacement theology. Conversely, it is those Christians who recognize that the same God who scattered Israel is also in the process of regathering His ancient people to the Land who recognize the degree to which Satan himself is trying to wipe them out.

We can preach Jesus as the only way to salvation for Jew and Gentile alike (as I do).

We can emphasize that, in Jesus, we are all equals, without class system or caste system (this is true).

And we can call for justice and equity for both the Israelis and their Palestinian neighbors (as we should).

But let us not do it at the expense of God’s covenantal promises to Israel. 

“As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28–29).

Let all of God’s people say, “Amen!”

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Do You Believe Jesus Is Coming Back In Your Lifetime? 

I recently conducted a poll on Twitter asking the question, “Do you believe Jesus will return in your lifetime?” The answers were as varied as expected. And, in a certain sense, as different as the answers were, all of them were right.

Do You Believe Jesus Is Coming Back In Your Lifetime? | Articles | AskDrBrown

But how can three, mutually exclusive answers, all be right? That’s a great question. I’ll try to answer that here.

The three choices offered in the poll were: Yes; No; No Idea.

I also allowed for the fact that some of those responding were not believers in Jesus, giving them a fourth, quite separate choice: “I don’t believe in Jesus.” 

But that group only amounted to 2.6 percent of those responding. 

Of the 97.4 who were believers in Jesus, 31 percent responded with Yes; 19.9 percent said No; and 46.6 percent answered with No Idea. (In total, there were 1,922 votes.)

How, then, can I say that, in a certain sense, all of them were right?...

The End of the World is Coming, Just Not Yet

Personally, as one who is neither a climate alarmist nor a global warming denier, my issue is not so much with the science as with the warnings. Perhaps these voices are a bit too shrill? Yet my own perspective is not based on science; it is based on Scripture and on my relationship with God...

The End of the World is Coming, Just Not Yet | Articles | AskDrBrown

Did you hear the announcement last week? The “‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closest ever to midnight.” 

As the article explains, 
“Top scientists and security experts moved the ‘Doomsday Clock’ forward on Tuesday to just 90 seconds to midnight -– signaling an increased risk to humanity's survival from the nuclear shadow over the Ukraine conflict and the growing climate crisis.

“The new timing of the clock set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is closer to midnight than ever before.”

More specifically, “The hands of the clock, which the Bulletin describes as a ‘metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation,’ had been at 100 seconds to midnight since January 2020 -- the closest to midnight it had been in its history.”

Have we truly come to the end of our rope? 

To be clear, I do not want to minimize for a second the chaotic situation in which we find ourselves today, worldwide. Even more, I do not want to minimize the acute suffering that is experienced by millions of people, moment by moment, every single day.

The chaos is real and the suffering is real. 

But does this mean that we are reaching the last seconds of human existence? 

Can we expect the final conflagration very soon? 

Is global warming about to kill us? Will there be a nuclear war? 

Will the earth be struck by a devastating meteor? 

Will the final events of the Book of Revelation unfold in the next few years?

Anything is possible, and mass destruction could occur at any moment. Things may accelerate more rapidly than many of us have expected. But from my perspective, that final cataclysm is not yet. 

I have often stated that when I came to faith in late 1971, I learned quickly that the end was near and that all the biblical prophecies were about to be fulfilled. 

I was 16-years-old then, which is now the age of our youngest grandchild, and I’m about to turn 68. 

But this is not the first time we have speculated and been wrong. As I have studied church history, I have been struck by how many times the end was predicted. 

Even from a secular perspective, we have to consider these end-time warnings carefully.

This was illustrated in a November 12, 2021 op-ed in the New York Post, written by the Post Editorial Board and entitled, “50 Years of Predictions that the Climate Apocalypse Is Nigh.”

Similarly, a March 19, 2019 article on Fox by Maxim Lott listed, “10 Times ‘Experts’ Predicted the World Would End by Now.” The article was responding to a comment by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said, “Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z... we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.’”

Personally, as one who is neither a climate alarmist nor a global warming denier (I’ve not studied the issues sufficiently to offer a strong opinion), my issue is not so much with the science as with the warnings. 

Perhaps these voices are a bit too shrill?

Yet my own perspective is not based on science. It is based on Scripture and on my relationship with God.

Scripturally, I see that much work still needs to be done before the Lord returns, most obviously when it comes to the Great Commission. After all, if there will be a multitude of believers that no one can number from “from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9), then it would follow that the gospel must go to “every nation, tribe, people and language.”

At present, “there are still over 5,000 languages that do not have a full copy of the Bible” while about half of all languages do not have any portion of the Scriptures at all. And while it is true that these existing translations can potentially reach more than 95% of the world’s population, there is still much more work to do to get to the rest.

More urgently, the Joshua Project asks, “So how many of the approximately 17,400 ethnic people groups are considered unreached i.e. less than 2% Christ-follower and less than 5% Professing Christian?”

The answer is that, “The latest estimates suggest that approximately 7,400 people groups are considered unreached. That means over 40% of the world’s people groups have no indigenous community of believing Christians able to evangelize the rest of their people group. Over 42% of the world’s population live in these over 7,400 people groups.”

And there are these “sobering facts about just the 50 largest unreached people groups.”

All 50 of these people groups have less than 2% Christ-followers

Individuals in these groups may have very limited, if any, access to the Gospel.

These 50 unreached people groups are comprised of 1.48 billion souls.

One in five people on earth live in these 50 unreached peoples.

Every group is larger than 10,000,000 in population.

None have an indigenous church capable of taking the Gospel to the entire group.

Primary religion: 26 are Muslim, 17 Hindu, 5 Buddhist, 1 Ethnic Religions, 1 non-Religious.

All of these 50 largest unreached people groups are in the 10/40 Window, 47 are in sensitive countries.

Again, things could explode overnight exponentially, and hundreds of millions of unreached people could suddenly have access to the gospel. But for sure, that has not happened so far – and this is just one indication that, while the end may be near, it is not yet.

Speaking from the perspective of my relationship with God, I do not sense that the time of final upheaval is at hand. 

Again, things could change on a dime, and I live in readiness before the Lord. But I firmly believe that as that season draws nearer, the biblical warnings will become clearer and the prophetic voices will shout more loudly (and accurately!).

In this regard, I remember something that Rush Limbaugh used to say, “I’ll tell you when it’s time to panic.”

And for people of faith, the time when the world panics is the time when we lift up our eyes, knowing our redemption is near (Luke 21:25-28).

That being said, let’s roll up our sleeves afresh. 

There’s a lot of work to be done and the world harvest has never been more ripe.

Whatever your end-time beliefs might be, I can assure you of this. God is not going to end this age with a whimper and on a note of defeat. Instead, He will bring His grand plan to pass with a climax – a climax of redemption and outpouring and salvation...

God is Not Going Out with a Whimper | Articles | AskDrBrown

Whatever your end-time beliefs might be, I can assure you of this: God is not going to end this age with a whimper and on a note of defeat. Instead, He will bring His grand plan to pass with a climax – a climax of redemption and outpouring and salvation.

I personally hold to what is known as historic premillennialism. This means that I do not believe in a pre-trib rapture (see here for a book I co-authored with Prof. Craig Keener on the subject). 

But I do believe that Jesus will literally return in the clouds of heaven. 

I do believe we will be caught up to meet Him in the air, descending in triumph with Him. 

And I do believe that He will rule and reign for a thousand years on the earth during what we call the millennium. 

You may hold to similar beliefs or to very different beliefs. But either way, to say it again, God is not going to end this age with a whimper and on a note of defeat...

We Must Have the Prophetic Discernment of the Sons of Issachar

Today, more than ever, it is essential that we understand the times and know what we as God’s people should do. This is all the more true if we are spiritual leaders. We must know what time it is, understanding what God is doing, what Satan is doing, what the world is doing, and what we should be doing.

We Must Have the Prophetic Discernment of the Sons of Issachar | Articles | AskDrBrown

There’s a fascinating verse in 1 Chronicles 12 which lists the “the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the LORD had said.” (1 Chronicles 12:23) In the midst of impressive descriptions of large numbers of experienced warriors, we have this: “from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

This was the smallest of all the groups listed, and there was no mention of their military prowess. 

But in many ways, they were among the most important elements of David’s army. They “knew how to interpret the signs of the times, to determine how Israel should act” (NJPSV).

Today, more than ever, it is essential that we too understand the times and know what we as God’s people should do. This is all the more true if we are spiritual leaders. We must know what time it is, understanding what God is doing, what Satan is doing, what the world is doing, and what we should be doing.

Many Christians are fascinated with Bible prophecy, trying to match headlines with biblical verses as they attempt to calculate exactly when Jesus will return. (If this is your practice, I recommend using a pencil rather than a pen on your prophecy calendar.)

But are we asking the bigger question, namely, “How should we be living? As God’s people, what should we be doing?”

During the counterculture revolution of the 1960s, it was understandable that many Church leaders thought we were in the time of final rebellion and apostasy. The decadence in our culture was unprecedented and the generation gap was never larger. Plus, Jerusalem had just returned to Jewish hands in the miraculous Six Day War in 1967. Surely this was a sign of the times.

The sexual revolution was sweeping the nation, leading not only to an exponential increase in heterosexual immorality but also to the rise of gay activism. Coupled with this was the rise of militant feminism, along with things like the “God is dead” movement. Surely we were near the end!

It was the era of sex, drugs, rock and roll, and Eastern religion, and I was right in the thick of it, playing drums in a rock band and getting high day and night.

But there was something else going on at this time. There was a deep searching for God. We would get high and talk about spiritual things. We would speculate on the existence of the soul, on what happens after you die, on the meaning of life. 

With so many young people dying for no reason in the war in Vietnam, with so much shaking going on in our country due to the assassinations of President Kennedy, Dr. King, and Robert F. Kennedy, we were asking big questions and looking for something more than the American dream.

Unfortunately, most of the Church did not recognize what was going on, looking at the outward signs rather than the inward search. 

Even when God began to save a large number of hippies, radicals, and rebels, bringing them into traditional churches (I was one of them, saved in 1971), most of the Church still didn’t realize what was happening. 

As I have often commented (with pain in my heart), the Church largely slept its way through the counterculture revolution and the Jesus Revolution. We failed to understand the times and, consequently, we failed to know what we as God’s people should do.

And while other groups were mapping out long-term strategies – I’m speaking of gay liberationists and sexual anarchists and radical feminists and anti-religion nihilists and others – we were expecting the rapture. “We’re out of here any moment now!”

The results of this have been catastrophic, morally and culturally and spiritually. 

We cannot afford to make the same mistakes again today.

That means we need to see beyond the outward, beyond the rioting of Antifa and BLM; beyond the radical LGBTQ+ agenda; beyond the “Shout your abortion” movement; beyond the rise of the religious “nones” and “dones.”

We need to understand what is driving these movements and ideologies, what is going on in the hearts and minds of those who are marching and protesting. 

We need insight into why so many are dropping out of churches or what motivates those who are pushing for equal outcomes and not just equal opportunities.

We need to see past the rebellion. And the anger. And the extremism. And the immorality. We need to see into the spiritual realm and not just react to the natural realm.

As we do, we will recognize that many young people are passionate about justice, but they are misguided in the application of their zeal. They want to side with the underdog and the outcast, but they are being duped and misled in the process. They long for a Marxist type of utopia, but they are leaning on the arm of the flesh and seeking to bring about what only the gospel can ultimately accomplish, partly in this world and fully in the world to come.

Having these spiritual insights doesn’t change the way we vote, nor does it stop us from opposing destructive ideologies and mindsets and movements. And it doesn’t make evil any less evil.

But it does help us take positive action rather than simply react. It does help us see the humanity of the people whose ideologies we reject. It does help us to find ways to reach out to them and point them to the only One who can bring justice, the only Who embodies mercy, who can truly transform.

The bottom line is that we cannot afford to sleep our way through another revolution. 

Let the sons and daughters of Issachar arise and show us the way!

Now that he is deceased, we can officially take his name off the list of potential antichrist figures. But you can rest assured that he will hardly be the last one on the list. Not by a long shot.

When Gorbachev was the Antichrist | Article | AskDrBrown

Are you old enough to remember when Christians thought that Mikhail Gorbachev was the antichrist? After all, he was the whiz kid who came out of nowhere and was shaking the Soviet Union. Perhaps he also aspired to take over the world? And then he had that mark on his forehead. Some said it looked like a dragon! Could he be the man?

Now that he is deceased, we can officially take his name off the list of potential antichrist figures. But you can rest assured that he will hardly be the last one on the list. Not by a long shot...

A Sober Assessment of the State of America and the World

Certainly, we are living in chaotic times, times of trouble and upheaval. But how bad are things, really? How dire is the condition of the world? Has America ever been in a worse condition than it is now?

A Sober Assessment of the State of America and the World | Article | AskDrBrown

Are we living in the last moments of human history? Is the whole world about to explode? Has America ever been in a worse condition than it is now?

Certainly, we are living in chaotic times, times of trouble and upheaval. 

There is a mindset that C. S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery” which he defined as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.” In other words, if it’s newer, it must be better. 

The exact opposite of this concept is the idea that if it’s newer, it must be worse. Society is not what it used to be. Families are not what they used to be. Morality is not what it used to be. Education is not what it used to be. Everything is on the decline!

But are things really that simple? Can we make such blanket statements?

Andrew Klavan, who was born in 1954, was describing his early days with the Daily Wire team, which included much younger men like Ben Shapiro and Michael Knowles.

Klavan wrote, “sometimes the younger guys would say things like, ‘This is the most divided era in American history,’ and I’d say, you know, between the ages of ten and fourteen, I saw the president of the United States murdered by a Communist, his senator brother murdered by a Palestinian and the greatest civil rights leader of the age gunned down by a racist pornographer. To me, things look pretty chill. I think that was useful to keep the rhetoric in check and align our feelings with reality.”

Of course, it’s easy to think that America is the worst it’s ever been. Doesn’t it often feel like that?

After all, when is the last time we’ve been this politically polarized? When have we had to deal with LGBTQ+ extremism? When have we faced such uncertainty about the future? What about the horrific school massacres? What about the dangers of cancel culture and wokeness? What about the racial divisions? What about the plague of porn? And the epidemic of fentanyl overdoses? The list goes on and on.

Still, as Klavan said, we need to “align our feelings with reality.” How bad are things, really?

The fact is that some things are the worst they’ve ever been in our nation’s history, such as the ubiquity of porn or the rise of radical transgender activism.

On the other hand, other things are better than they’ve been in decades, such as the strength of the pro-life movement, from the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the passing of pro-life legislation in state after state. And despite the racial tension we’re living with, things are certainly far better today for black Americans than they were prior to 1964, let alone prior to 1865.

It’s true that we’re having serious economic struggles. But Americans today, on average, live in far more luxurious conditions than did previous generations, and we’re nowhere near the times of the Great Depression.

And despite the deadly uptick in certain drug overdoses and the legalizing of pot, illicit drug use is lower today than in past decades, as is violent crime. (The murder rate in big cities is back to where it was 25 years ago, but again, that just means things have been really bad before.)

As for being a divided nation, which we are, we are nowhere nearly as divided as we were immediately before and after the Civil War.

Even our colleges and universities, many of which had strong Christian foundations and most of which have swung far to the left, have had bad days before. As revival historian James Edwin Orr noted in one of his lectures, after the Revolutionary War, America experienced a period of spiritual decline. 

Things got so bad on some of our campuses that not a single professing Christian could be found at Harvard, which was founded for the glory of God. At Princeton, only two believers were found and only 5 students who did not belong to the filthy speech movement. 

Students rioted on some campuses and, on one occasion, took a Bible from a church and burned it. Orr even states that Christian students were so few on some campuses that they met in secret, and recorded their meeting notes in code lest they should be discovered. This really happened in our country! (I strongly encourage you to take 25 minutes to watch this old lecture by Dr. Orr. He also mentions how Thomas Paine joyfully repeated Voltaire’s words that Christianity would be forgotten in 30 years.)

As for the state of the world today, we are actually living in one of the more peaceful times in history, despite Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. Just compare things today with the worldwide upheaval and massive loss of life during World Wars I and II. Or consider the tens of millions of lives snuffed out due to the policies of Stalin and Mao.

Even in the Middle East, Israel has friendlier relations with more of its neighbors than at any time since its reestablishment in 1948.

To be sure, the whole world is like a tinder box ready to explode. And there is more potential for some kind of global government than ever, not to mention a potentially catastrophic “Great Reset.”

On the other hand, the gospel is spreading through the nations at an unprecedented rate, and the church is experiencing its greatest growth in history.

To borrow the words of Dickens, these are the best of times and the worst of times. These are times for great concern and great hope. 

These are times of great shaking, of powerful spiritual outpouring, and of intense demonic activity.

These are critical times in which the scales could tip either way, quite dramatically and suddenly, in the days ahead.

Let us be vigilant. Let us be active. Let us seize the moment.

As one of my missionary colleagues has said, “This may not be the last generation, but it’s our last generation.”

Let us use these times for the glory of God. 

What Does the Bible Say About the End of the Age?

There are some theologians who believe the world will only get worse before Jesus returns, others who believe things will pretty much remain the same until then, and others who believe the whole world will become Christian. How do we sort this out?

What Does the Bible Say About the End of the Age? | Article | AskDrBrown

Let’s be brutally honest here. It would be arrogant and foolish to imagine that, in one short article, any of us could make a definitive statement about the Bible and the end times. After all, these issues have been debated for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and the debate continues to rage until this day. Plus, what Bible are we talking about? And what do we mean by the end of the age?

When talking about “the Bible,” I’ll be referring to the version of the Bible shared by the largest number of people, namely, the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament.

Judaism accepts only the Hebrew Scriptures (called the Old Testament by Christians) as the Bible. And Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians accept the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha as sacred Scripture.

But all Christians agree on the Old and New Testament as being Scripture, so for simplicity’s sake, when we speak about “the Bible,” that’s what we mean.

As for the end of the age, we’re asking the question: what does the Bible say will occur at the end of the world?

Even then, we have opened up a hornet’s nest of controversy, as within evangelical circles alone, there are numerous competing end-time systems, including: historic premillennialism; dispensational premillennialism; amillennialism; and postmillennialism (within this, there are also variations of preterism). Is your head spinning yet?

I suggest we major on the majors, looking at the large themes that are repeated over and again in the Bible rather than trying to figure out every last detail. That’s why I’ve told people for years that if they keep a prophecy calendar, they should use a pencil when filling it in.

Here’s big theme number one: In the end, God’s kingdom will triumph. In the end, righteousness will rule. As described in these famous words of Isaiah, “In the last days   the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

“Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:2–4)

At that time, either literally or metaphorically, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6–9)

This will be the answer to the prayer that Jesus taught His followers to pray, saying, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9–10)

Here’s the next big theme: Until that time, we will see parallel extremes, with the darkness getting darker and the light getting brighter until the Lord returns. It will be as if the devil himself stops hiding in the shadows and unveils the full force of his wickedness while God Himself says, “Really? Now watch this!”

That’s why there are many verses that speak of the separation of the righteous and the wicked in that final hour.

To quote Jesus Himself, “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:47–50)

And this: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” (Matthew 25:31–33)

As for specifics, a good case can be made for the following (and I’m just citing one or two verses for each point, knowing every points will be challenged): 1) the nations of the world will attack Jerusalem and seek to destroy the Jewish people, but God will fight for them (see Zechariah 12 and 14); 2) the whole world, aside from God’s faithful children, will be deceived by a one-world ruler who will demand worship for himself (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11); 3) still, a massive number of people will come to faith from all nations (see Revelation 7 and Romans 11:25-26), yet it will also be a time of great apostasy and wickedness (see Matthew 24:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3); 4) the Holy Spirit will be poured out mightily in the midst of mass deception (Acts 2:17-21; Matthew 24:10-11; Revelation 13; 16:13-14); 5) Jesus will return and set up His kingdom (Revelation 19).

The end times will be marked by final separation and judgment, by massive upheaval and then setting things right, by parallel extremes. 

That’s what I understand the Bible to say. Let the debate begin!

(For specific details of my own view, called historic premillennialism, see the book I co-authored with Prof. Craig Keener, Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don’t Believe in a Pretribulation Rapture – but I do not divide over these issues and I encourage you not to divide over them either.)

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