Bible Prophecy Daily

Marquis Laughlin continues his Director’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation, and in today's eposide examines chapter 7 of Revelation.

He shows how the timing of the rapture and the sequence of events leading up to it have been repeated several times throughout Scripture. He also shares evidence for the precise timing and nature of God’s wrath, and the premise that the book of Revelation is primarily about the 70th week of Daniel.

Chris White begins our week continuing his multi-part study on the timing of the events during the 70th week, and today focuses on the Mark of the Beast in Revelation 13.

Now at the midpoint of the timeline, we arrive at the moment when the Antichrist demands that the world worship him. It in this context we find the infamous "mark of the Beast", forcibly imposed upon people, globally, by the false prophet.

Chris takes us point-by-point through the text, being careful to separate contextual biblical exposition from speculation.

Nelson Walters concludes our week with a very interesting episode concerning a prophecy that is easily missed: a prophecy that involves the magicians who opposed Moses in the court of Pharoah.

Listen to Bible teacher Nelson Walters as he presents a text from 2 Timothy 3 that describes not only a great end-time confrontation that's going to take place,  but also the historical context of Exodus that reveals a spiritual battle that is relevant to our time and the approaching day of Christ's second coming.

Chris White continues his multi-part study on the timing of the events during the 70th week.

This episode focuses on three points on Daniel's 70th week timeline: the Abomination of Desolation, Antichrist Worship and the Great Tribulation. Beyond the timing of the events themselves, Chris offers an interpreation of what's happening at and with those events.

This is a highly informative installment that clearly synthesizes Old Testament prophecy with Christ's teaching, and reinforces the premillenial & prewrath view.

Jake McCandless recently returned from a trip to Israel with the ministry Generation 2 Generation. The trip was to show solidarity with Israel and to learn first-hand what happened in the 10/7 attacks. He was able to tour locations that were attacked and speak with a long list of people on the ground ranging from survivors to IDF officials. Jake gained incredible insight while on the ground with 360-degree views of the attacks which which he is sharing here, over a series of episodes.

In previous episodes, Jake has talked about what he learned about the attacks and the current conflict. In this episode, he will begin a multi-part installment on the fulfillment of Bible prophecy he felt was being fulfilled before his eyes. This first prophecy discussed does not have to be seen on the ground in Israel, for it is currently in the news and that is the start of the sacrifices and the building of a new Temple. To make sure we accurately understand what is actually prophesied in the Word, Jake begins this Part 1 by discussing the prophecies surrounding resumption of the sacrifices and a new Temple.  You can also learn more at www.standfirmministries.com.

Marquis Laughlin continues his Director's Commentary on the Book of Revelation, now explaining how Daniel, Matthew and Revelation describe the same “time of the end” sequence of events. These inspired books of God's Word give us "multiple camera angles" and significant details about the final seven years prior to Christ’s return.

Ron Wallace kicks off our April epsiodes teaching from Malachi 3:1. The prophecy about a future coming of Elijah has a dual focus: it looks to both the first coming of the Messiah and His second coming.

At both advents, Elijah will have a special ministry to woo the Jewish people back to a covenant relationship with God. The leaders and the people need to change their mind about their current belief system that revolves around Mosaic legalism. They need to believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah and trust in Him as the Savior of the world.

Dr. Alan Kurschner explicated here in Part 2 the lines of evidence that Colin R. Nicholl adduces that supports the "Restrainer" being Michael the archangel.

1. Contemporary Jewish literature viewed the characteristics of Michael having eschatological pre-eminence as the chief opponent of Satan and Restrainer of God’s people.

2. Michael is viewed as a celestial restrainer of God’s people in Daniel 10–12, the passage serving as the source for Paul’s exposition in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–8.

3. Daniel’s use of the Hebrew term ʿmd comports with the activity of the restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7.

4. The Greek term parerchomai in Daniel 12:1 of the Septuagint (LXX) means, “to pass by,” which corresponds with the ceasing of restraint in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7.

5. Early Rabbinic interpretation of Daniel 12:1 perceived Michael as “passing aside” or “withdrawing” just after Antichrist’s establishment near or at the temple mount (Dan 11:45), just before the eschatological unequaled tribulation against God’s people (Dan 12:1).

6. Revelation 12:7–17 supports viewing Michael as the Restrainer because it links the cessation of Michael’s war against the dragon with the unprecedented persecution of God’s people, which is consistent with 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7 and Daniel 11:45–12:1.

Given this evidence, the only candidate who can explain the Restrainer being removed is Michael. Other proposals for the Restrainer are hard-pressed to comport with those roles. Thus, this is a strong case that the apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7 refers to Michael the archangel as the Restrainer, whose ministry ceases and causes the eschatological temple to be desolated by Antichrist, ensued by his great tribulation against God’s people.

At the conclusion of the program, Dr. Kurschner explained Colin Nicholl's understanding of the masculine and the neuter in reference to Michael, where in verse 6, it is in the neuter gender to katechon (“what holds him back”), and in verse 7, it is in the masculine gender ho katechōn (“the one who holds him back”). Nicholl believes the best explanation is recognizing the Greek can use the neuter gender to refer to a person while the emphasis is on an exceptional quality of the individual (e.g., 1 Cor 11:5; 1 Cor 1:27–28; Gal 3:22; John 3:6; 17:24; 1 John 5:1–4; Matt 12:6). Thus, the neuter in verse 6 refers to Michael with a focus on his restraining ministry, while the masculine in verse 7 refers to Michael himself.

Bibliography:

In the April 2000 volume of The Journal of Theological Studies, Colin R. Nicholl published the seminal article, “Michael, The Restrainer Removed (2 Thess. 2:6-7),” arguing strongly that Michael is the Restrainer. After his journal article was published Nicholl published it as an appendix in his important monograph (which was his dissertation) From Hope to Despair in Thessalonica: Situating 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Dr. Alan Kurschner explained the context of the Restrainer question.

Who is the "Restrainer"? This question stems from Paul's text in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7.  "And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time.  For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way."

Dr. Kurschner is from the persuasion that the identity of the Restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7 is the Archangel Michael. There are several compelling lines of evidence to conclude this, and the value of this conclusion is its consistency to the overall prewrath position, even though it is not an essential tenet to the prewrath view. From a negative point of view, it undermines the pretribulational interpretation that the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit.

The Michael interpretation is not new since there have been about a dozen theologians and scholars over the last hundred years who have taken this position. Even Robert Van Kampen, a pioneer of the pewrath position, held to this view.

But it was not until the year 2000 that a young Thessalonian scholar by the name of Colin R. Nicholl came along that would, for many scholars, put the nail in the coffin of the Restrainer debate.

In the April 2000 volume of The Journal of Theological Studies, Colin R. Nicholl published the seminal article, “Michael, The Restrainer Removed (2 Thess. 2:6-7),” arguing strongly that Michael is the Restrainer. After his journal article was published, Nicholl published it as an appendix in his important monograph (which was his dissertation) From Hope to Despair in Thessalonica: Situating 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Dr. Kurschner gave some context to Paul's restrainer text that helps situate this question for next week's episode.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they know about the restraining ministry of Antichrist’s revelation: “And so you know what holds him back.” The Thessalonians are under the false impression that the day of the Lord is occurring. To correct their error, Paul teaches that before the Lord’s revelation happens, the Antichrist’s revelation will occur first. But even before the Antichrist’s revelation occurs, Paul explains that the individual who restrains Antichrist’s revelation must be first taken away.

Traditionally, the enigmatic person who restrains has been properly designated “the Restrainer.” Once the Restrainer is removed, this causes Antichrist’s revelation, resulting in Antichrist taking his seat in the temple and proclaiming himself as God (2 Thess 2:4). When this happens at the midpoint of the seven-year period it will cause the abomination of desolation and the unabated great tribulation will commence.

It was also noted that the issue of the identity of the Restrainer is not essential to the prewrath position, namely because it does not sway the fact that Paul teaches two events must occur before Christ’s return: the apostasy and the revelation of the man of lawlessness. So one can be prewrath and disagree that it is Michael because it simply is not inherent to the prewrath position. Conversely, pretribs can hold the Michael view. Similarly, the issues of identifying the religion or ethnicity of the Antichrist, the False Prophet, the Great City of Babylon, or the Two Witnesses are not exclusive to a particular a rapture view. That being said, it is believed that identifying the restrainer as Michael is the most consistent interpretation and that it fits well with the prewrath position.

In part 2 next week, Dr. Kurschner will distill Colin Nicholl's argumentation and provide specific lines of evidence.

Janet Willis continues her study of the meaning and timing of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Does the apostle John tell us why a New Heaven and a New Earth will be needed? And does he say when this will happen? What does the apostle Peter reveal about the timing of all this?

While the world agonizes over environmental preservation, Janet presents the biblical evidence that, after the eschatological judgments, God Himself will restore His Creation in a marvelous way.

With a look back to the Noahic Flood and various Old Testament prophetic references, it’s exciting to see how God’s promises about our future all fit together!