Episode Synopsis:

From the moment of our Lord’s ascension into heaven (as recounted in Acts 1:8) Christians have expected the Lord’s bodily and imminent return. Both Jesus and the apostles had a fair bit to say about his return as well as those signs which would precede the end. So, from the dawn of the church, until now, some two thousand years removed from our Lord’s life and ministry, Christians have eagerly expected the Lord’s return. What are these signs of the end, and how are we to understand them? What remains to be fulfilled before Jesus returns?

There are also a number of common expectations people have about the Lord’s return, but which really are not signs of the end at all–the rapture, the seven-year tribulation, a millennial age, and so on. We’ll also discuss these expectations which are not biblical signs of the end.

It is hard to address the signs of the end today because since the days of the birth of the nation of Israel 1n1948, the biblical prophecy pundit industry has been doing its best to connect current events to biblical prophecy–especially events surrounding Israel. This has colored Christian expectation in many harmful ways–verses are lifted from their context and applied to virtually any event involving the Jewish state without due regard for what Scripture actually teaches about the end. A few of these predictions have come to pass, and those which have are more of “a broken clock is right twice a day” variety. So lets step back from the prognosticators and the Bible prophecy industry and take a fresh look at the biblical teaching regarding the signs of the end. I think this is an important valuable exercise.

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