At the request of several in our congregation, Pastor Chris took on the task of looking carefully at End Times theology and “last things.” With some American evangelicals, it’s an article of faith that the modern nation-state of Israel and the “Rapture” are important (even vital) parts of the End Times. Yet… is that what the Bible actually teaches? And is that what the Church, down through the ages, has always believed? Those are important questions. And not because they are essential questions of the faith, but because they can result in essential questions of the faith: What is the Church? Who is Jesus, and is His sacrifice on the cross enough? Did Jesus fulfill all the Old Testament covenant promises?
Here’s the pivotal question for our study: What do the Scriptures actually say? And how did the early church and the Church Fathers interpret those particular Scriptures? Join Pastor Chris for an in-depth, six-part series on the End Times.
He writes this: “In these matters, I freely acknowledge that I don’t know everything, and that I believe most of these matters are surely ‘non-essential tenets’ of the faith. My primary passion is, foremost, for Jesus and also for the historic orthodox faith handed down to us across the ages. In this series, I affirm my love for Israel and why I think the modern nation-state should be supported. And yet I take a very careful look at what the Bible and subsequent biblical commentators has to say about End Times. Apart from Scripture, I combed through and used many sources for this study and I’m indebted especially to author and commentator Steve Gregg whose careful scholarship and balanced, peaceable, and pastoral approach I greatly admire.”
Check out this series if your desire is to examine Scripture deeply, interpret it seriously, listen carefully to how the orthodox church through the ages has traditionally interpreted it, and test the assumptions that so many evangelical Christians make.”
+++
Here are the Audio Files for Each of the Six Sessions:
Session one: Intro: The End Times
Session two: The Abrahamic Covenant
Session three: The Covenant at Sinai
Session four: The Davidic Covenant
Session Five: The New Covenant and the Future of Israel
Session Six: End Times, Summing Up, and Our Christianly Response
+++
And Here Are the Outlines Handed Out for Each Session:
Session 1, Session 2, Session 3, Session 4, Session 5, Session 6
Other Supplemental Materials:
- Responses related to a person’s questions after session 1: The Rapture, Tribulation, and other Scriptures
- Response to questions raised by two more participants after session 2: Question about some Sinaitic curses possibly being hyperbolic; Answer to Bible texts offered in support of the rapture and the second coming
- Two questions that came up after session 5: Questions about heaven and about apocalyptic language.
- Session Six Supplement: A Christianly Response to Dispensationalism; A Christianly Response to the Modern-Day State of Israel.
+++
And Finally, an Overall Outline for the Series:
Israel and the End Times
Session 1: Where to Begin?
First things first: Assumptions and limitations. Dispensationalism in America.
Session 2: Prophecy and Promises, Part 1
Covenant with Abraham
Session 3: Prophecy and Promises, Part 2
Sinaitic Covenant
Session 4: Prophecy and Promises, Part 3
The Davidic Covenant
Session 5: The New Covenant and Israel’s Future
Session 6: Summing Up. The Christianly Response to Dispensationalism. The Christianly Response to Israel. Discussion.
+++
The artwork associated with this post is a detail of the “Last Judgement” by Michaelangelo (on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel) (c. 1541).
