Building a Biblical Theology
We have seen the bowls of wrath being poured out as Christ gave His life on Calvary. By now, you realize that most of what we’ve been handed as “end times” events is far-fetched. It’s hard to believe because it does not make sense. The Revelation of Christ is much more straight forward and simple... Continue Reading →
John has started a new sequence. He explicitly calls this sequence a sign (15:1). If John calls it a sign, or symbol, we are meant to read the bowls as symbolic–a sign of something. In Chapter 15, John used this sign to point to the wrath of God being poured out upon Christ at Calvary.... Continue Reading →
John has described the age in which the Gospel is going out, persecution abounds, and the church experiences all sorts of distress—the tribulation of which he is a partaker (cf. 1:9). After describing the dragon and two beasts, he turned to describe the result of the tribulation experienced in this world—the harvests of the earth.... Continue Reading →
John has described the age in which the Gospel is going out, persecution abounds, and the church experiences all sorts of distress—the tribulation of which he is a partaker (cf. 1:9). After describing the dragon and two beasts, he turns now to describe the result of the tribulation experienced in this world—the harvests of the... Continue Reading →
Satan could not devour Christ. He failed to consume Israel. Now, he is persecuting the church. He calls the first beast, worldly nations represented by Rome, out of the sea. The first beast establishes the second beast, the imperial cult or some national leader like Caesar. The whole world, those whose names are not written... Continue Reading →
Satan is persecuting the church. Worldly nations are under his influence. State institutions and leaders direct the public to worship the worldly nations and bear the marks of those nations. How are true Christians identifiable in the context of such worldly nations and institutions since we are theocratic revolutionaries in the midst of the worldly... Continue Reading →
In John’s third interlude, he has described a great war between Satan and everything godly. Satan tried to devour Christ and failed. Then, he tried to devour national Israel and failed. Now, he turns to persecute the church. He persecutes the church by building blasphemous nations of his own and influencing people to persecute people... Continue Reading →
The dragon could not devour the child, Christ. He could not consume the woman, national Israel. So, he persecutes the other offspring of the woman, the church of Jesus Christ. John envisions how the serpent persecutes the church and exhorts the church to respond properly to the serpent’s persecution in the tribulation of this age—the... Continue Reading →
In his third interlude, John has described redemptive history through apocalyptic imagery. God chose Israel, the woman, who gave birth to the messiah, the child. Satan, the dragon, tried to devour the child like he devoured other nations. He chased the child as the child ascended to the Father but could not retain his foothold... Continue Reading →
John’s third interlude, so far, has depicted the birth and reign of Christ from His incarnation. We arrive at a pericope in the discourse often interpreted as a prelapsarian spiritual war that brought Satan to the earth in order to tempt Eve. The text does not rest that way in John’s vision. For at the... Continue Reading →
andrew paul cannon 