For those just starting on these, my point is not to take any positions (I don’t); it is to show you that much of what you think is secure about end times beliefs is far from self-evident and depends on assumptions brought to the text.
Why an Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 1
Focus: Are Israel and the Church distinct from each other, or does the Church replace Israel in Gods program for the ages? How would we know? Why is it that Galatians 3 has the Church inheriting the promises given to Abraham? Why are believers called the temple of God in 1 Cor 3 and 6 if the temple is supposed to be rebuilt? If Israel and the Church are distinct, it would seem that Israel might still have a national future, apart from the church. Keeping Israel and the Church distinct is key to any view of a rapture (because the Church is taken, not Israel).
Why an Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 2
Focus: The need for Israel and the Church to be distinct is in part created by the assumption that the land promised to the patriarchs was never inherited and so must still be fulfilled. But there are certain indications in Scripture that might suggest the land promises actually were fulfilled — what if that turns out to be the case?
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 3
Focus: Did the covenants that God made with Abraham and David, and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), come with conditions for fulfillment? Are these covenants conditional or unconditional? The question is critical for knowing if the covenants (tied to the land promise) are still in effect or not (and so fulfilled by the Church).
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 4
Focus: Was the Davidic covenant “sinned away” by the apostasy of Israel that resulted in the exile? The writer of Psalm 89 certainly wondered. If it was, there may be no point in a literal millennial reign of Jesus in the future. His reign would be spiritual, fulfilled beginning at the resurrection and Pentecost through the Church.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 5
Focus: Was the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 fulfilled at Pentecost? If so, that’s another covenant given to Israel fulfilled in the Church, and so we have no reason to look for a national end times revival in Israel.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 6
Focus: This post revisits and elaborates upon post #2.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 7
Focus: Is there any *biblical* proof that the 70th week of Daniel = the tribulation period? Everyone assumes it, but there’s no Bible verse that says it.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 8
Focus: The 70th week of Daniel 9 (identifying it is more uncertain than you realize).
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 9
Focus: Continuation of the 70th week of Daniel 9.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 10
Focus: Continuation of the 70th week of Daniel 9.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 11
Focus: Continuation of the 70th week of Daniel 9.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 12
Focus: Continuation of the 70th week of Daniel 9. (Last one – features a scholarly article defending a non-Left Behind view so you know the issues involved.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 13
Focus: Are you a splitter or a joiner? ANY view of a rapture is heavily dependent on splitting up passages that speak of the return of Jesus into two categories (one of which = a rapture). The splitting is done along the lines of slight “discrepancies” between all the “return of Jesus” passages, assuming that they describe two events, not one. But why split these when we JOIN such passages everywhere else in the gospels (we harmonize so as to remove disagreement rather than highlighting disagreements)? Who made up the rule that the return passages should be split to produce a rapture? Why not harmonize? Maybe the answer is because then the rapture disappears. Ultimately, splitting or joining is our guess.
Why An Obsession with Eschatology is a Waste of Time, Part 14
Focus: Was the book of Revelation written before or after 70 A.D.? Any view of a rapture depends on a date after 70; any non-rapture view must assume a pre-70 date. How can we know which is right? Good question.
Some journal articles on assorted eschatological presumptions
An Eschatological Spasm: McFalls Chronology of the Prophetic Weeks of Daniel
Other Items on Why Eschatology is Driven by Presuppositions and Guesses:
Thoughts on Prophecy: Embracing the Messiness
Video Link to My First Why Do You Believe What You Believe About End Times? Session
