There Will Be a Time of Distress

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 10: All Found Written in the Book Will Escape: Daniel 12:1-3.

In the previous post, we began to examine Daniel 12:1-3, breaking down the elements of these verses so we can better understand “the book” to which Daniel refers. We continue our observations here.

There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time.

The focus of this “time of distress” is the nation of Israel, although the raging conflicts that mark this unparalleled period in history spill over her borders. This is a time many premillennialists refer to as “the great tribulation,” the final three and a half years of a seven-year tribulation that precedes the return of Christ (Dan. 12:7, 11-12; Rev. 12:6, 14). Others see this series of events as a natural descent into wickedness in the days leading up to the return of Jesus, but they don’t limit it to a specific period of time.

In any case, before this terrible time is revealed, the angel assures Daniel that Michael the archangel is dispatched to help God’s people. Michael’s aid is essential because Satan energizes the antichrist, resulting in the death of perhaps two thirds of the Israelites (Zech. 13:8; cf. 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 13:2). 

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Our Eternal Home: Part 2

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

In the previous column we looked at Jesus’ words about “the renewal of all things” (Matt. 19:28). Now, we’ll examine Peter’s writing about “the day of the Lord.”

2 Peter 3:10-13

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Before Jesus introduces us to new heavens and a new earth, he must first deal with the sinful corruption of the universe as we know it. This “day of the Lord” comes suddenly and unexpectedly, the way a thief uses the element of surprise to plunder the goods of unsuspecting victims. But, once that day comes, the Lord introduces it with great fanfare.

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All Found Written in the Book Will Escape: Daniel 12:1-3

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 10: All Found Written in the Book Will Escape: Daniel 12:1-3.

At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape. Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt. Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever (Dan. 12:1-3).

Many questions arise from these verses: What is the “time of distress” foretold in this passage? Who are “your people … written in the book”? What book is in view? From what do these people escape? Who are the “many” who sleep in the dust of the earth? Is their awakening the same resurrection and judgment to which Jesus refers in John 5:28-29? And in what ways do the righteous “shine like the stars forever and ever”? 

In seeking answers to these questions, we should examine this passage in the greater context of Daniel’s visions, in which God reveals his plans for the future (Dan. 7 – 12). Daniel 10 – 12 is a record of Daniel’s third and final vision, one that summarizes the previous visions of successive kingdoms that rise and fall: Babylon; Medo-Persia; Greece; and a beastly kingdom whose king invades Jerusalem, sets up idols in the temple, exalts himself above God, and then, astoundingly, comes to ruin. 

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Theories of UFOs and Aliens

This is the third in a short series of articles on what the Bible says about UFOs and aliens.

Read part 1 and/or part 2.

There are several theories that seek to explain UFOs and alien encounters. First, the skeptical view. Since 95 percent of reported UFO and alien sightings are explained naturally, many people write off the other five percent and deny the possibility of extraterrestrial life. They place UFOs and aliens in the same category as Bigfoots, skunk-apes, vampires, and other subjects of folklore.

Proponents of a second view contend that these unexplained phenomena are the products of secret technology governments are developing, primarily for use as weapons. Or, they say, the creators of these phenomena are corporations or private empires testing products they hope to commercialize. 

Third, there’s the extraterrestrial hypothesis. This is perhaps the most popular view, which a growing number of scientists embrace. Just watch an episode of Ancient Aliens on the History Channel to get a taste of salivating scientists who say we’re on the cusp of contacting intelligent life from galaxies far, far away. 

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Our Eternal Home: Part 1

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

In this column and the next two columns, we’ll look at three New Testament passages that help us grasp the promise of our eternal home.

Matthew 19:28

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

This verse comes in the context of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples about possessions and the kingdom of heaven. The disciples have just witnessed Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, whose love of wealth goads him to walk away from the Lord’s invitation to eternal life (Matt. 19:16-22). 

Jesus tells the disciples how hard it is for a rich person, like the young ruler, to enter the kingdom. Those who invest their lives and resources in the corrupt and fleeting domain of the evil one have no regard for the eternal king who offers them so much more. 

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