Eschatology - End Times
Articles by Bryan Gibson and Dave Brown
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Matthew 3:12: "... whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."
This page contains four articles. This first (Eschatolgy - What to Expect) is a listing of all of the passages that we could find that clearly refer to the end of time as we know it. (Some obviously redundant verses were not shown twice.) We do not believe that it is necessary for us to explain what these say -- they are very simple and clear. You do not need help to understand them; in fact, it would take help for you to misunderstand them. Please take the time to read them. After you do you will know more about what is destined to happen than most people who speak as experts on this subject.
After you read the first article, scroll down for three more articles below. They are numbered and briefly contain the following subject matter:
Eschatology – What to Expect
By Dave Brown
One of the major things driving radical Islamists is their eschatology (“the branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind -- American Heritage® Dictionary). Generally they are totally convinced that they cannot lose this last great war that they are staging, and taunting the Western countries and moderate Moslems will bring on the end times that much sooner. We can easily see from recent events what happens when false religion goes to seed. Christians should be aware of what the bible teaches with regard to our eschatology for many reasons.
Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the relevant scriptures together in one place? Well, here they are with a minimum of comment from me. Please read and realize that what is passing for true “Christian eschatology” today is in most cases just entertaining fiction. If it is not to be found in the scriptures, it should not be taught (2 John 9; 1 Cor. 4:6).
Scriptures will be presented generally in the order given in the New Testament for ease of reference. Please check the context.
THE GOSPELS
Matthew 13:47-50: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew: 24:35-51: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. And as (were) the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. Then shall two man be in the field; one is taken, and one is left: two women (shall be) grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord comes.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man comes. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarries; and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expects it not, and in an hour when he knows it not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:1-30 contains two rather lengthy parables: the ten virgins and the talents. We encourage you to read them and verify our summary of them here. Both of these refer to a time at which a judgment will take place. Those who are judged are judged according to the preparations which they made and according to the abilities which they were given, respectively. There was no second chance, and those who were not prepared suffered extreme distress. Consider the summary verses to the two parables. First Mat. 25:13: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Then Mat. 25:30: "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but th righteous into life eternal."
Matthew 26:62-64: "And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what [is it which] these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
John 5:22-29: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all [men] should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
John 14:1-3: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also."
THE BOOK OF ACTS
Acts 1:6-11: When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
LETTERS TO THE CHURCHES
1 Corinthians 15:20-28: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
1 Cor. 15:35-41: "But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds. [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another. [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.
1 Cor. 15:42-50: "So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
1 Cor. 15:51-53: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
2 Cor. 4:13 through 2 Cor. 5:10: "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present [us] with you. For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in [this] tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad."
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13: "Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all [men], even as we [do] toward you: To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3-10: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: [Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming …”
2 Timothy 4:6-8: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
James 5:7-8: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
2 Peter 3:1-7: "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
2 Pet. 3:8-10: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
2 pet. 3:11-13: "[Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Revelation 1:7: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."
Rev. 20:11-15: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Rev. 21:1-4: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
A SUMMARY SCENARIO
Congratulations!!! If you have read, meditated over, and prayed for understanding of the passages above, you now know more than most (perhaps 99%) of those who claim to be teaching God’s word. Or perhaps they know it but refuse to teach it in its simplicity because that just will not sell. We pray for the former, and if you have misunderstood in the past, we pray it is just a matter of your not yet reading what God’s word says about it. Now you have!!! If you have doubts go back and read the passages above again.
I know many of your are thinking: but what about ________? Well what about it? Go back and read the passages above again – is that scenario there? If not, then why is it being taught? And why would you support such teaching? …
2 John 9-11: "Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed: For he that bids him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
We dare not go beyond what the scriptures teach, nor encourage those who do in any way.
Now there will be some who will draw upon difficult passages that may have nothing to do with the end of the world, Jesus' coming or the judgment, and they will try to tell you that these passages support their fables. If so, should they not be totally consistent with the simple and plain truth given by the passages above? The principle of interpreting the meat in terms of the milk is a sound principle of biblical interpretation (and not the other way around – starting with a difficult passage – giving it a false interpretation and then twisting all of the many clear and simple passages to make them conform). It is just common sense to reject such a method (see 2 Peter 3:16). For a more comprehensive discussion of the false teachings with regard to eschatology, please see the chapter of Seven Myths of Denominationalism on the subject of the rapture.
Now that you know the plain and simple truth with regard to the second coming of Jesus, you can test the following scenario and determine if it summarizes the passages above or not (sort of like a true-false test):
1. Jesus' second coming could be at any time and we should always be ready for it.
2. Jesus' imminent physical recognition (presence) will be accompanied by the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of heaven. It will be an event that is obvious to all people on the earth. It will in no way be hidden or just revealed to a few rock star preachers.
3. Jesus will appear in the clouds.
4. This will be followed almost immediately by a general resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
5. The righteous who have died physically will be caught up with Jesus in the air first.
6. After that happens, those saved who are still alive will also be caught up; this, by definition, will be a separation of the saved from the lost, who will remain on the earth.
7. The righteous will live with Jesus, His father and the Holy Spirit forever in heaven.
8. The lost will be cast alive into the lake of fire (whether literal or figurative makes little difference) where they will ever be doomed with the devil and his angels forever.
We beg of you – go back and read the passages again and prove to yourself that this is what you can expect when Jesus comes again, which could be at any time. If I have made a mistake in this summary, I would count you as a great friend to e-mail me and allow me to make a correction to everyone on this list. We hope you have enjoyed this study and have learned much from it.
Note: we have received criticism of the above article for "our interpretation" of a given passage, to which we responded that we made absolutely no interpretations of any of the passages given above. We have left that to you, the readers. God has given you as much if not more intelligence that we have. If our summary is not true, please identify which item is not correct and give us your reasoning from the bible.
The two short articles that follow (#1 and #2) provide a summary of the list of eschatology passages above. We felt it good to follow up with some summary articles that “put it all together.” We greatly encourage you to make sure that the passages given do, in fact, support the statements that are made. This is your responsibility – please help us out in this regard so that we can correct any misstatements. A final article (#3) is a discussion of Psalms 90.
1. What Happens When We Die?
by Bryan Gibson
The body—we know what happens to it when we die, but what about the soul or spirit? When spirit separates from body (James 2:26), where exactly does it go?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 provides at least a partial answer: “Then the dust (the body) will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” A good start, but more passages provide more detail.
One such detail is found in the death of Jesus, and in particular, the destination of His soul. According to Acts 2:27, 31, his soul went to Hades, if only temporarily. The KJV uses the word hell, but the Greek word is Hades, which is how just about every other translation renders it. In fact, unlike the KJV, other translations distinguish between Hades and hell. For additional study, note that Hades occurs 11 times in the N.T. (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15, 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; 1 Corinthians 15:55; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). Note, too, in your additional study how in four of those passages (1 Corinthians 15:55; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14), death and Hades are very closely linked together.
Still other passages provide detail about Hades. Shortly before He was crucified, Jesus promised one of the thieves he would be in the same place with Him—“today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). So the soul of Jesus (and the thief) would go to Hades, to some place called Paradise. Now, let’s contrast that with the description of a rich man in Luke 16:23, a rich man who had died: “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” That’s interesting—both Jesus and the rich man went to Hades, but one was in Paradise, the other in torments. Read the full story (Luke 16:19-31), and you can see that Lazarus, too, went to Paradise, or as it’s called here, “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22).
What becomes obvious then is that Hades has two divisions: a “place of torment” (Luke 16:28), where the rich man suffered; and a place of comfort (Luke 16:25), a place known as Paradise or Abraham’s bosom. What all this means is that when we die, our soul goes to Hades, to either Paradise or a place of torment (2 Peter 2:4 likely describes this same place of torment). And what terrible torment it is, because according to this account in Luke 16, one is fully conscious of his torment (Luke 16:24); he’s powerless to do anything about it (Luke 16:26); and he is further tormented by the fact that others close to him may join him in the same place (Luke 16:27-31).
Hades, however, is not eternal—our eternal fate is fixed, but we are not yet in our eternal home, regardless of which “division” we may be in. Read carefully: “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12-15).
Hades may not be everlasting, but this “lake of fire” certainly is. Jesus made that clear: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), a fire He elsewhere described as “the fire that shall never be quenched” (Mark 9:43, 45). This everlasting place of destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9) is called hell, from the Greek word, gehenna, and it’s found 12 times in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6).
Contrary then to popular belief, the Biblical evidence points to the fact that we do not immediately go to either heaven or hell when we die. The soul goes to Hades, where we await what Jesus describes as the “last day” (John 6:39-40, 44, 54; 11:24), the day when Jesus returns, the day when He raises “all who are in the graves” (John 5:28), the day when He will render His final judgment. The righteous will spend eternity with the Lord in heaven (John 14:1-3; Matthew 25:46); the rest will live forever in hell with the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 21:8).
2. The Second Coming of Jesus
by Bryan Gibson
Here’s the mistake many make when studying this subject, and in particular the events surrounding His second coming. They start with highly figurative passages, like those in the Book of Revelation, propose some theory heavily based on speculation, and then try to fit every other passage in the New Testament into their theory. There is a better way. Start with the plain statements of Scripture, get a clear understanding of them, and then proceed to the more difficult passages. Make sure then that your understanding of the more difficult passages does not conflict with the plain statements. [Were any of the passages we gave last week ambiguous or hard to understand?]
Here’s what we find when we study those plain statements:
It is foolish to make predictions about the time of His return, because He will come as “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). Understanding that a thief does not warn us ahead of time (Luke 12:39), we need to heed the following admonition: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).
His coming, or appearance in the clouds, will be obvious to everyone, because it will be signaled by a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God (Mt. 26:64; Mk. 14:62; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Revelation 1:7).
At the time of His return, which is described as the “last day,” there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and the unrighteous (Acts 24:15; John 6:39-40, 44, 54; 12:48). Jesus will speak and “ALL who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth...” (John 5:28-29).
The righteous who have died will meet Jesus in the air, followed by the righteous who are still alive (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This will of course involve a separation of the righteous from the unrighteous (Matthew 25:32-33; 13:49).
The righteous, who will be given spiritual or incorruptible bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-54), will then go to heaven to “always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17; see also John 12:16; 14:3; 17:24).
The unrighteous, on the other hand, will be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8), an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). They will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
“The heavens will pass away with a great noise...both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Pete 3:10). The saved will dwell in a “new heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
3. Three Score and Ten (Psalms 90:10)
by Dave Brown
Psalms 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; for it is soon gone, and we fly away.”
This verse was taken from a Psalm with the superscription: “A Prayer of Moses.” Like all such general statements, it refers to groups of people in general (in this case all people who will live subsequent to it), but it does not state the particular individual who will live to be 100, or sadly, those who will die at age 10. The statement is amazingly accurate of the average or the expected lifetime (the two terms meaning the same thing in statistical terminology).
Now let us look into the passage itself. It gives the life expectancy at that time, which is essentially the same as what it is today. Life expectancy today is 76 for men and 81 for women. In 1900 it was only 47 (in the U.S.) for both combined – but that was because of the extremely high death rate of infants and women giving birth. For those who survived to the age of 20 in 1900, their life expectancy was 75. Generally we would assume that the Psalmist was writing to this general age group, and so the 70 year number given is right on target. We know that our medical practice today has extended life expectancy, but when you think that it only extended it by about six years, you can see the futility in depending on medicine to obtain immortality.
The intent of the Psalmist, and the intent of this article is to dole out a major sense of reality. (Hiding from reality destroys our decision-making powers.) As your life quickly passes away from you, there should be the realization of James 4:13-14: “Come now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.” Those of us who are in our seventies know that time flies away, and according to Psalms 90:10, we soon will as well. James is an echo of the thoughts of the psalmist in Ps 90:5-6 “…they are like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut down, and withers.”
Delving into the latter part of the Psalms 90:10 answers the question: should those of us who make it to 80 be proud? It says: “…or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is their pride but labor and sorrow.” Not really anything to be proud of. The pains of old age might be compared to Paul’s thorn in the flesh (read 2 Corinthians 12) that was given to him to keep him from being proud. We would be committing the sin of pride if we erroneously thought that our long life as some blessing given us due to our own righteousness. But our often infirmities and pains are gifts of God to warn us of something that many do not seem to be able to come to grips with on their own. We are mortal and the small amount of time we have left needs to be spent on preparing for an eternal home with God. If we do not, then all we can look forward to is the terror of certain death that is bound to overtake us.
Please read all of Psalms 90. We will focus on the thoughts contained in Psalms 90:12-17:
12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.” God sees the certainty of our end; the prayer is that we may see it as well and that in doing so we may obtain a heart of wisdom to enable us to act “as if” we had the same view as God does. It is not wise to get our minds distracted with other things, nor to poison it with drugs and alcohol that we would not think soberly upon our end.
But does God want us to view our journey to the next life with fear?
Psalms 90:14-17
14 Oh satisfy us in the morning with thy loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory upon their children.
17 And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Is there any reason that we should fear death and all that goes with it if we are serving God as He has given us the ability? God has sent His son into this world so that death is something that we can anticipate with great joy. Let us accept with great anticipation what God has given to us so that we can enjoy to the fullest our last days on this earth.
Psalm 23: 4-6
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
We can have no greater blessing than to be able to confidently make this last statement.
Jesus gives his conditions for eternal life: God's Plan of Salvation
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This page contains four articles. This first (Eschatolgy - What to Expect) is a listing of all of the passages that we could find that clearly refer to the end of time as we know it. (Some obviously redundant verses were not shown twice.) We do not believe that it is necessary for us to explain what these say -- they are very simple and clear. You do not need help to understand them; in fact, it would take help for you to misunderstand them. Please take the time to read them. After you do you will know more about what is destined to happen than most people who speak as experts on this subject.
After you read the first article, scroll down for three more articles below. They are numbered and briefly contain the following subject matter:
- What Happens When We Die? Based on a story told by Jesus that illustrates what we can expect after death.
- The Second Coming of Jesus -- a summary of the bible's eschatology passages given immediately below -- be sure to check the conclusions drawn against the passages given.
- Three Score and Ten -- an article designed to emphasize the reality check of Psalms 90:10.
Eschatology – What to Expect
By Dave Brown
One of the major things driving radical Islamists is their eschatology (“the branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind -- American Heritage® Dictionary). Generally they are totally convinced that they cannot lose this last great war that they are staging, and taunting the Western countries and moderate Moslems will bring on the end times that much sooner. We can easily see from recent events what happens when false religion goes to seed. Christians should be aware of what the bible teaches with regard to our eschatology for many reasons.
Wouldn’t it be great to have all of the relevant scriptures together in one place? Well, here they are with a minimum of comment from me. Please read and realize that what is passing for true “Christian eschatology” today is in most cases just entertaining fiction. If it is not to be found in the scriptures, it should not be taught (2 John 9; 1 Cor. 4:6).
Scriptures will be presented generally in the order given in the New Testament for ease of reference. Please check the context.
THE GOSPELS
Matthew 13:47-50: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew: 24:35-51: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. And as (were) the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. Then shall two man be in the field; one is taken, and one is left: two women (shall be) grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord comes.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man comes. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarries; and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expects it not, and in an hour when he knows it not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25:1-30 contains two rather lengthy parables: the ten virgins and the talents. We encourage you to read them and verify our summary of them here. Both of these refer to a time at which a judgment will take place. Those who are judged are judged according to the preparations which they made and according to the abilities which they were given, respectively. There was no second chance, and those who were not prepared suffered extreme distress. Consider the summary verses to the two parables. First Mat. 25:13: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Then Mat. 25:30: "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but th righteous into life eternal."
Matthew 26:62-64: "And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what [is it which] these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
John 5:22-29: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all [men] should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
John 14:1-3: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also."
THE BOOK OF ACTS
Acts 1:6-11: When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
LETTERS TO THE CHURCHES
1 Corinthians 15:20-28: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
1 Cor. 15:35-41: "But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds. [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another. [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.
1 Cor. 15:42-50: "So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
1 Cor. 15:51-53: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
2 Cor. 4:13 through 2 Cor. 5:10: "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present [us] with you. For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal. For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in [this] tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad."
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13: "Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all [men], even as we [do] toward you: To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3-10: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: [Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming …”
2 Timothy 4:6-8: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
James 5:7-8: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
2 Peter 3:1-7: "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
2 Pet. 3:8-10: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
2 pet. 3:11-13: "[Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Revelation 1:7: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."
Rev. 20:11-15: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Rev. 21:1-4: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
A SUMMARY SCENARIO
Congratulations!!! If you have read, meditated over, and prayed for understanding of the passages above, you now know more than most (perhaps 99%) of those who claim to be teaching God’s word. Or perhaps they know it but refuse to teach it in its simplicity because that just will not sell. We pray for the former, and if you have misunderstood in the past, we pray it is just a matter of your not yet reading what God’s word says about it. Now you have!!! If you have doubts go back and read the passages above again.
I know many of your are thinking: but what about ________? Well what about it? Go back and read the passages above again – is that scenario there? If not, then why is it being taught? And why would you support such teaching? …
2 John 9-11: "Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed: For he that bids him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
We dare not go beyond what the scriptures teach, nor encourage those who do in any way.
Now there will be some who will draw upon difficult passages that may have nothing to do with the end of the world, Jesus' coming or the judgment, and they will try to tell you that these passages support their fables. If so, should they not be totally consistent with the simple and plain truth given by the passages above? The principle of interpreting the meat in terms of the milk is a sound principle of biblical interpretation (and not the other way around – starting with a difficult passage – giving it a false interpretation and then twisting all of the many clear and simple passages to make them conform). It is just common sense to reject such a method (see 2 Peter 3:16). For a more comprehensive discussion of the false teachings with regard to eschatology, please see the chapter of Seven Myths of Denominationalism on the subject of the rapture.
Now that you know the plain and simple truth with regard to the second coming of Jesus, you can test the following scenario and determine if it summarizes the passages above or not (sort of like a true-false test):
1. Jesus' second coming could be at any time and we should always be ready for it.
2. Jesus' imminent physical recognition (presence) will be accompanied by the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of heaven. It will be an event that is obvious to all people on the earth. It will in no way be hidden or just revealed to a few rock star preachers.
3. Jesus will appear in the clouds.
4. This will be followed almost immediately by a general resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
5. The righteous who have died physically will be caught up with Jesus in the air first.
6. After that happens, those saved who are still alive will also be caught up; this, by definition, will be a separation of the saved from the lost, who will remain on the earth.
7. The righteous will live with Jesus, His father and the Holy Spirit forever in heaven.
8. The lost will be cast alive into the lake of fire (whether literal or figurative makes little difference) where they will ever be doomed with the devil and his angels forever.
We beg of you – go back and read the passages again and prove to yourself that this is what you can expect when Jesus comes again, which could be at any time. If I have made a mistake in this summary, I would count you as a great friend to e-mail me and allow me to make a correction to everyone on this list. We hope you have enjoyed this study and have learned much from it.
Note: we have received criticism of the above article for "our interpretation" of a given passage, to which we responded that we made absolutely no interpretations of any of the passages given above. We have left that to you, the readers. God has given you as much if not more intelligence that we have. If our summary is not true, please identify which item is not correct and give us your reasoning from the bible.
The two short articles that follow (#1 and #2) provide a summary of the list of eschatology passages above. We felt it good to follow up with some summary articles that “put it all together.” We greatly encourage you to make sure that the passages given do, in fact, support the statements that are made. This is your responsibility – please help us out in this regard so that we can correct any misstatements. A final article (#3) is a discussion of Psalms 90.
1. What Happens When We Die?
by Bryan Gibson
The body—we know what happens to it when we die, but what about the soul or spirit? When spirit separates from body (James 2:26), where exactly does it go?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 provides at least a partial answer: “Then the dust (the body) will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” A good start, but more passages provide more detail.
One such detail is found in the death of Jesus, and in particular, the destination of His soul. According to Acts 2:27, 31, his soul went to Hades, if only temporarily. The KJV uses the word hell, but the Greek word is Hades, which is how just about every other translation renders it. In fact, unlike the KJV, other translations distinguish between Hades and hell. For additional study, note that Hades occurs 11 times in the N.T. (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15, 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; 1 Corinthians 15:55; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). Note, too, in your additional study how in four of those passages (1 Corinthians 15:55; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14), death and Hades are very closely linked together.
Still other passages provide detail about Hades. Shortly before He was crucified, Jesus promised one of the thieves he would be in the same place with Him—“today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). So the soul of Jesus (and the thief) would go to Hades, to some place called Paradise. Now, let’s contrast that with the description of a rich man in Luke 16:23, a rich man who had died: “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” That’s interesting—both Jesus and the rich man went to Hades, but one was in Paradise, the other in torments. Read the full story (Luke 16:19-31), and you can see that Lazarus, too, went to Paradise, or as it’s called here, “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22).
What becomes obvious then is that Hades has two divisions: a “place of torment” (Luke 16:28), where the rich man suffered; and a place of comfort (Luke 16:25), a place known as Paradise or Abraham’s bosom. What all this means is that when we die, our soul goes to Hades, to either Paradise or a place of torment (2 Peter 2:4 likely describes this same place of torment). And what terrible torment it is, because according to this account in Luke 16, one is fully conscious of his torment (Luke 16:24); he’s powerless to do anything about it (Luke 16:26); and he is further tormented by the fact that others close to him may join him in the same place (Luke 16:27-31).
Hades, however, is not eternal—our eternal fate is fixed, but we are not yet in our eternal home, regardless of which “division” we may be in. Read carefully: “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12-15).
Hades may not be everlasting, but this “lake of fire” certainly is. Jesus made that clear: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), a fire He elsewhere described as “the fire that shall never be quenched” (Mark 9:43, 45). This everlasting place of destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9) is called hell, from the Greek word, gehenna, and it’s found 12 times in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6).
Contrary then to popular belief, the Biblical evidence points to the fact that we do not immediately go to either heaven or hell when we die. The soul goes to Hades, where we await what Jesus describes as the “last day” (John 6:39-40, 44, 54; 11:24), the day when Jesus returns, the day when He raises “all who are in the graves” (John 5:28), the day when He will render His final judgment. The righteous will spend eternity with the Lord in heaven (John 14:1-3; Matthew 25:46); the rest will live forever in hell with the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 21:8).
2. The Second Coming of Jesus
by Bryan Gibson
Here’s the mistake many make when studying this subject, and in particular the events surrounding His second coming. They start with highly figurative passages, like those in the Book of Revelation, propose some theory heavily based on speculation, and then try to fit every other passage in the New Testament into their theory. There is a better way. Start with the plain statements of Scripture, get a clear understanding of them, and then proceed to the more difficult passages. Make sure then that your understanding of the more difficult passages does not conflict with the plain statements. [Were any of the passages we gave last week ambiguous or hard to understand?]
Here’s what we find when we study those plain statements:
It is foolish to make predictions about the time of His return, because He will come as “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). Understanding that a thief does not warn us ahead of time (Luke 12:39), we need to heed the following admonition: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13).
His coming, or appearance in the clouds, will be obvious to everyone, because it will be signaled by a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God (Mt. 26:64; Mk. 14:62; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Revelation 1:7).
At the time of His return, which is described as the “last day,” there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and the unrighteous (Acts 24:15; John 6:39-40, 44, 54; 12:48). Jesus will speak and “ALL who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth...” (John 5:28-29).
The righteous who have died will meet Jesus in the air, followed by the righteous who are still alive (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This will of course involve a separation of the righteous from the unrighteous (Matthew 25:32-33; 13:49).
The righteous, who will be given spiritual or incorruptible bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-54), will then go to heaven to “always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17; see also John 12:16; 14:3; 17:24).
The unrighteous, on the other hand, will be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8), an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). They will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
“The heavens will pass away with a great noise...both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Pete 3:10). The saved will dwell in a “new heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
3. Three Score and Ten (Psalms 90:10)
by Dave Brown
Psalms 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; for it is soon gone, and we fly away.”
This verse was taken from a Psalm with the superscription: “A Prayer of Moses.” Like all such general statements, it refers to groups of people in general (in this case all people who will live subsequent to it), but it does not state the particular individual who will live to be 100, or sadly, those who will die at age 10. The statement is amazingly accurate of the average or the expected lifetime (the two terms meaning the same thing in statistical terminology).
Now let us look into the passage itself. It gives the life expectancy at that time, which is essentially the same as what it is today. Life expectancy today is 76 for men and 81 for women. In 1900 it was only 47 (in the U.S.) for both combined – but that was because of the extremely high death rate of infants and women giving birth. For those who survived to the age of 20 in 1900, their life expectancy was 75. Generally we would assume that the Psalmist was writing to this general age group, and so the 70 year number given is right on target. We know that our medical practice today has extended life expectancy, but when you think that it only extended it by about six years, you can see the futility in depending on medicine to obtain immortality.
The intent of the Psalmist, and the intent of this article is to dole out a major sense of reality. (Hiding from reality destroys our decision-making powers.) As your life quickly passes away from you, there should be the realization of James 4:13-14: “Come now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.” Those of us who are in our seventies know that time flies away, and according to Psalms 90:10, we soon will as well. James is an echo of the thoughts of the psalmist in Ps 90:5-6 “…they are like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut down, and withers.”
Delving into the latter part of the Psalms 90:10 answers the question: should those of us who make it to 80 be proud? It says: “…or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is their pride but labor and sorrow.” Not really anything to be proud of. The pains of old age might be compared to Paul’s thorn in the flesh (read 2 Corinthians 12) that was given to him to keep him from being proud. We would be committing the sin of pride if we erroneously thought that our long life as some blessing given us due to our own righteousness. But our often infirmities and pains are gifts of God to warn us of something that many do not seem to be able to come to grips with on their own. We are mortal and the small amount of time we have left needs to be spent on preparing for an eternal home with God. If we do not, then all we can look forward to is the terror of certain death that is bound to overtake us.
Please read all of Psalms 90. We will focus on the thoughts contained in Psalms 90:12-17:
12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.” God sees the certainty of our end; the prayer is that we may see it as well and that in doing so we may obtain a heart of wisdom to enable us to act “as if” we had the same view as God does. It is not wise to get our minds distracted with other things, nor to poison it with drugs and alcohol that we would not think soberly upon our end.
But does God want us to view our journey to the next life with fear?
Psalms 90:14-17
14 Oh satisfy us in the morning with thy loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory upon their children.
17 And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Is there any reason that we should fear death and all that goes with it if we are serving God as He has given us the ability? God has sent His son into this world so that death is something that we can anticipate with great joy. Let us accept with great anticipation what God has given to us so that we can enjoy to the fullest our last days on this earth.
Psalm 23: 4-6
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
We can have no greater blessing than to be able to confidently make this last statement.
Jesus gives his conditions for eternal life: God's Plan of Salvation
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