However central and crucial the Second Coming is, according to the Bible not all Christians see the event as a literal, personal return of Jesus Himself. Some argue, for instance, that the second coming of Jesus occurs, not when Christ Himself returns to earth but when His Spirit is made manifest in His church on … Continue reading –>
Read Titus 2:13. What great hope do we have, and why? Describing his beliefs about the origins of our universe, a lecturer explained that about 13 billion years ago “an infinitely dense tiny mass popped out of nothing, and that mass exploded and from that explosion our universe came into existence”. Just how this “infinitely dense … Continue reading –>
Though many Jews in the time of Jesus expected the Messiah to overthrow the Romans and establish Israel as the most powerful nation of all, that’s not what the advents of Jesus, either the first or second, were to be about. Instead, God had something so much bigger in store for His faithful people than … Continue reading –>
However much we tend to think of the second coming of Jesus as a New Testament teaching alone, that’s not true. Of course, only after the first coming of Jesus, after His death, resurrection, and ascension were we given a fuller and richer revelation of the truth surrounding the Second Coming. But, as with so … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Isa. 13:6, Isa. 13:9; Matt. 24:30-31; Dan. 2:34-35; 2 Tim. 4:6-8; 2 Thess. 1:7-10. Memory Text: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). The poet T. S. Eliot began a poem with the line: “In my beginning … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: “In several places in the battle of Armageddon narrative the hideous creatures and the ugly events take the back stage for a moment and a glimpse of more personal truth appears. As we have seen, one of them is Revelation 16:15: ‘Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps … Continue reading –>
Read 1 Kings 18:18-40. What happens, how does the story end, and (without pushing the parallels too far) how does this story reflect what will happen — but on a grand scale — as the great controversy climaxes at the end of time? The battle on Mount Carmel was between Elijah, prophet of God, and the … Continue reading –>
What, though, is this great battle of Armageddon? First, the name seems to mean “Mountain of Megiddo”. However, there is no mountain in the area known as Megiddo, but Mount Carmel was located in the vicinity, and scholars have seen the phrase Mountain of Megiddo as a reference to Mount Carmel. More to the point, Bible students … Continue reading –>
Though most people, including many Christians, don’t know much about the book of Revelation, one image or word from it has reached popular culture: Armageddon (see Rev. 16:16). Even in secular culture the word has come to stand for a final struggle in which the fate of the earth hangs in the balance. Hollywood produced a movie called Armageddon about … Continue reading –>
However corrupt and far-reaching the influence of Babylon has been in the world, the book of Revelation teaches that one day it will all end. Read Revelation 18:1-10. What do these verses tell us about “Babylon the great”? The second angel’s message (Rev. 14:8) about the fall of Babylon is repeated here, in Revelation 18:2. It is an expression … Continue reading –>
