Bible Prophecy Daily

Dr. Alan Kurschner talked about the apostle Paul's teaching of the temporal relationship between the rapture and the beginning of the day of the Lord’s wrath and its implications. Prewrath eschatology teaches that the rapture and the onset of the day of the Lord’s wrath will happen back-to-back on the very same day. The day Christ returns, arriving on the clouds to resurrect and rapture his people, will be the very same day that his eschatological judgments begin to unleash on the world for an undetermined length of time. To be sure, the day of the Lord will not all happen in a single day, only its inception occurs on the day the rapture happens. God’s purpose is to deliver his people and then initiate his wrath on the same day. This same-day, two-fold event contains significant implications for the pretribulational notion of “imminence,” the belief that Jesus can return at “any moment.” Since Scripture teaches that prophesied events will happen before the day of the Lord—the celestial disturbance (Joel 2:30–31), Elijah’s coming (Mal 4:5), the apostasy and revelation of the Antichrist (2 Thess 2:1–4)—then by necessity they will take place before the rapture. Consequently, the pretribulational teaching of imminence is rendered invalid. The majority of pretribulationists believe the day the rapture happens will be the same day, or the next day, the day of the Lord’s wrath begins (albeit, they wrongly place it as the beginning of the seven-year period). So, this biblical reality of events happening before the day of the Lord becomes problematic for their theological system. Some pretribulational teachers, accordingly, recognize this salient implication that contradicts their eschatological theological system. But rather than move away from their position and embrace the prewrath interpretation, they feel the need to continue to defend pretribulationism. Their attempt to resolve this problem, then, is to posit a  “gap” of time—days, weeks, or months—between the rapture and the day of the Lord’s wrath. This schema then allows for the prophesied events mentioned above to occur during this “gap” before the day of the Lord but after the rapture. Thus, the pretribulationist aims to “protect” their teaching of imminence by using this interval argument. We would expect the apostle Paul to be consistent with Jesus on this point, since Paul draws so much of his eschatology from Jesus’ teaching. And sure enough, we shall see that Paul also taught the same day that Jesus returns in the clouds the righteous will be delivered and the punishment for the wicked will begin. We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater. As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring. This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering. For it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony. (2 Thess 1:3–10 emphasis mine) In 2 Thessalonians 1:7, Paul instructs that the church will experience affliction right up to the initial day of the revelation of Christ: and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.

Jake McCandless recently returned from a trip to Israel with the ministry Generation 2 Generation. The trip was to show solidarity with Israel and to learn first-hand what happened in the 10/7 attacks. He was able to tour locations that were attacked and speak with a long list of people on the ground ranging from survivors to IDF officials. He gained incredible insight while on the ground with 360-degree views of the attacks which he will share over a series of episodes. On his recent trip to Israel, while hearing about the history of peace agreements in Israel and the Abraham Accords, he felt he was watching Daniel 11 unfold with the coalition of the south and coalition of the north beginning taking shape. In previous episodes, Jake has talked about what he learned concnering the attacks and the current conflict. In this episode, Jake dives into Daniel 8, Daniel 11, the Abraham Accords, King of the South, and King of the North. This is quite the combo! Learn more at www.standfirmministries.com.

Ron Wallace continues with part two of his Isaiah study.  In Isaiah chapter 25, the prophet exalts the wonders of God both past and future. He wrote about the future earthly Messianic kingdom, and applies it to resurrection and the eternal kingdom makings a very unique reference to the destruction of Moab.

Michael Ufferman, a staff teacher with Zion’s Hope, defines several key terms found in the First Testament of Scripture. There, he is clearly able to identify "The Day of Wrath" or "The Day of the Lord" as clearly being carried out by the Lord Himself. These terms will have significant impact as the study continues in the New Testament of Scripture, in Part 2.

Jake McCandless, with Stand Firm Ministries, recently returned from a trip to Israel with the ministry Generation 2 Generation. The trip was to show solidarity with Israel and to learn first-hand what happened in the 10/7 attacks. He was able to tour locations that were attacked and speak with a long list of people on the ground ranging from survivors to IDF officials. He gained incredible insight while on the ground with 360-degree views of the attacks which he will share over a series of episodes. In previous episodes, he has talked about what he learned about the attacks and the current conflict. In this episode, Jake continues to tell of the prophecies he felt were being fulfilled before his eyes. As he shares in the episode for these prophecies one doesn’t have to be in Israel to see them, but the interactions on his trip gave great insight.  Recalling the sites visited and especially the military briefings Jake shares the larger picture of the attacks and how Hamas is merely a proxy of Iran. Iran has spread its power throughout the Middle East with its proxies. This grab of power from Iran may be the fulfillment of a prophecy in Daniel 8. Jake shares a possible novel interpretation of Daniel 8 in how it may be being fulfilled now. Whether one aligns with his interpretation this is an important issue to lean into. Learn more at www.standfirmministries.com The Alma Research Center was mentioned in this episode, you can learn more at https://israel-alma.org.

Dr. Alan Kurschner talked about the temporal relationship between the rapture and the beginning of the day of the Lord's wrath and its implications. Prewrath eschatology teaches that the rapture and the onset of the day of the Lord’s wrath will happen back-to-back on the very same day. The day Christ returns, arriving on the clouds to resurrect and rapture his people, will be the very same day that his eschatological judgments begin to unleash on the world for an undetermined length of time. To be sure, the day of the Lord will not all happen in a single day, only its inception occurs on the day the rapture happens. God’s purpose is to deliver his people and then initiate his wrath on the same day. This same-day, two-fold event contains significant implications for the pretribulation notion of “imminence,” the belief that Jesus can return at “any moment.” Since Scripture teaches that prophesied events will happen before the day of the Lord—the celestial disturbance (Joel 2:30–31), Elijah’s coming (Mal 4:5), the apostasy and revelation of the Antichrist (2 Thess 2:1–4)—then they will, by necessity, take place before the rapture. Consequently, the pretribulation teaching of imminence is rendered invalid. The majority of pretribulationists believe the day the rapture happens will be the same day (or the next day) the day of the Lord’s wrath begins. So, this biblical reality of events happening before the day of the Lord becomes problematic for their theological system. Some pretribulation teachers, accordingly, recognize this salient implication that contradicts their eschatological theological system. But rather than move away from their position and embracing the prewrath interpretation, they feel the need to continue to defend pretribulationism. Their attempt to resolve this problem, then, is to posit a  “gap” of time—days, weeks, or months—between the rapture and the day of the Lord’s wrath. This schema then allows for the prophesied events mentioned above to occur during this “gap” before the day of the Lord but after the rapture. Thus, the pretribulationist aims to “protect” their teaching of imminence by using this interval argument. In this episode, Dr. Kurschner provided biblical support for the back-to-back nature of the rapture and the beginning of the day of the Lord’s wrath, militating against the notion of a gap of days, weeks, or months. He explained Jesus's teaching on this point as well as responded to a key pretribulation argument for the gap interpretation.

Marquis Laughlin, founder of Acts of The Word Ministries, examines Revelation chapter 10 in his “Director’s Commentary” series. He re-caps the first 9 chapters and then discusses a critical verse in chapter 10 that reveals the outline for understanding the book of Revelation, its structure, and sequence of events.

Ron Wallace, with Bible Fragrances, begins a 4-part series on Isaiah 24-27.  Each part will analyze a chapter in succession. Today, in Isaiah 24, Ron points out that Isaiah predicts the serious and wide-spread judgments from God's wrath during what we designate as the "Day-of-the-Lord Judgments". These judgments will begin after the Lord's return at the 6th seal of Revelation 6, and will consist of the 7 trumpets and 7 bowls that are described throughout the book of the Revelation.

Bob Hunt exposits Daniel 7:15-28, giving the context about the Beast. He goes into detail about 12 characteristics, or character qualities, of the Beast and the empire he will lead. Bob also compares two differing views of the Beast and his empire, showcasing which one he believes best fits the biblical Text.

David Rosenthal, president of Zion's Hope, discusses who or what is influencing America's most prestigious universities and why they are turning a blind eye to hate-filled, anti-Semitic “protests”. For decades, these institutions have been receiving vast sums of money from political activists and billionaire-funded global foundations. What has largely been ignored, until now however, has been the enormous flow of Arab-Muslim money into their coffers from authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. The largest of these “contributors," the nation of Qatar, has donated more than $3 billion to Hamas and has deep connections with the Muslim Brotherhood – a radical organization with its sites set on the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. Listen to this timely update, originally presented on the 2024 National Day of Prayer, how the current events of our world relate to Israel and end-times prophecy.

Dr. Michael Weis with Zion's Hope reminds us of the first 2 elements and then zeroes in on the next topic: that the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel will be reunited in the Kingdom. Dr. Weis connects this with the Abrahamic and New Covenants, and helps us apply principles for reconciliation in our own relationships.  He then turns to how the Jewish people will be in a place of prominence in the Kingdom, where God will fulfill all of His promises to them, proving this from various texts.

Michael Ufferman, a teacher at Zion's Hope, concludes his 4-part series, "Twins of a Different Covenant", with this final session in the Book of Jude. Michael compares how Jude's message, in essence, is the same as that addressed to the priests in the Book of Malachi. In the first twin, the Book of Malachi, God warned the priesthood to adhere to biblical righteousness so they could stand when the Lord appeared at His First Coming. In the second twin, the Book of Jude, God exhorts believers – the New Testament priesthood – to remain steadfast in faith and teaching the Word of God before Christ's Second Coming. The times in which we live are more precarious every day. This message from the Book of Jude becomes more critical as we see the Lord's Second Coming approaching on the horizon of time. Enjoy the final session of this series: “Twins of a Different Covenant (Part 4): Jude - The Last Book Before God's Second Coming".

Dr. Alan Kurschner looks at the "classic rapture passage" in 1 Thessalonians 4, in context. He explains the reasons why Paul wrote this exhortation to the church at Thessalonica, and how the Thessalonians were struggling with various questions about life after death. While talking about the rapture, Alan puts this in the context of their day, for our day. This was given as an elective at Zion's Hope in Winter Garden, FL.

Jake McCandless recently returned from a trip to Israel with the ministry Generation 2 Generation. The trip was to show solidarity with Israel and to learn first-hand what happened in the 10/7 attacks. He was able to tour locations that were attacked and speak with a long list of people on the ground ranging from survivors to IDF officials. He gained incredible insight while on the ground with 360-degree views of the attacks which he will share over a series of episodes. In previous episodes, he has talked about what he learned about the attacks and the current conflict. With this episode, Jake begins a series on the fulfillment of Bible prophecy he felt was being fulfilled before his eyes. This first prophecy discussed does not have to be seen on the ground in Israel, for it is currently in the news: and that is the start of the sacrifices and the building of a new Temple. Jake shares how he saw this unfolding on the ground. You can learn more at www.standfirmministries.com.

Marquis Laughlin continues his Director’s Commentary on the book of Revelation with an examination of chapter 9. Why are the last three trumpet judgements called “Woes”? How long does this period last, and do we have evidence some of these things may have been experienced before?

Dr. Michael Weis of Zion's Hope began Part 1 of this subject "The Millennium: What it is and Why it is Important" in January and continues today with Part 2. After a brief review, Dr. Weis explores that in the Messianic Kingdom, or Millennium, the nation of Israel will live in peace. This factor is critical for the Jewish people today, and particularly as we get closer to the End Times. But, not only is peace promised to the Nation of Israel one day, it is promised for us today. He explains how we can have God's peace in our lives, as we look forward to the ultimate peace in the future.

Ron Wallace teaches what the nature and occasion is for the Abomination of Desolation. There are two aspects to the abomination: First: there is the abominating presence of the man of lawlessness who takes his seat in the temple of God. Second: there is the abomination of an idol image, or images, that are put in the Holy place. In both cases God's name will be blasphemed and Satan will attempt to usurp the authority and power of the Godhead on the earth.

David Mohler joins us today from "behind the scenes" at Bible Prophecy Daily to thank our teachers upon the airing of 300 episodes since Dr. Alan Kurschner launched the BPD podcast back in January, 2023.  Nearly every day, expository teaching centered around Bible prophecy, from a pre-wrath perspective, has been presented and now represents a continuing repository available to Christians worldwide. After some brief comments about the podcast, David concludes with a short discussion concerning the churches of Thyatira & Laodicea and the implications they present for us as overcomers, along with all the seven churches of Revelation.

Michael Ufferman from Zion's Hope continues his "Twins of a Different Covenant" study, now delving into the second twin, the Book of Jude. In this session, Michael identifies the audience to whom Jude is addressing. In the first twin, the Book of Malachi, God warned the priesthood to adhere to biblical righteousness so they could stand when the Lord appeared at His First Coming. When Christ visited the Temple and assessed the righteousness of the Priesthood, He found it severely lacking; to the extent that those who should have recognized their Messiah actually crucified Him. Malachi serves as the final book in the Old Testament before Christ's First Coming. God deemed it necessary to provide a book with exhortations to the priesthood prior to His First Coming. Does God follow a similar pattern in the New Testament? Does He provide a book with exhortations to the priesthood before His Second Coming? Indeed, God has done just that in the second twin, the Book of Jude, our last Scripture text before the Book of Revelation, which details the events surrounding Christ's Second Coming. You're invited to enjoy this third installment of a 4-part series!

Dr. Alan Kurschner, in his last episode, gave the context to the unfolding of the seals, trumpets, and bowls. In today's episode, Dr. Kurschner outlines 10 reasons against the concurrent-recapitulatory interpretation of the book of Revelation while arguing for the consecutive-progressive framework. Seals, Trumpets, Bowls – At the Same Time or One After the Other? Consecutive-Progressive The prewrath position interprets a sequential chronological framework for the seals, trumpets, and bowls. That is, the seal-trumpet-bowl septets (sets of seven) will happen in a consecutive-progressive fashion, with each septet consecutively following each other. For example, the trumpet septet cannot begin until the seventh seal is opened; and the bowl septet cannot begin before the seventh trumpet is blown. The last judgment element of the day of the Lord’s wrath will be the seventh bowl. Accordingly, the seventh seal and the seventh trumpet serve as transitions to the next set of God’s climaxing judgments, culminating with the seventh bowl. Concurrent-Recapitulation Posttribulationists subscribe instead to a concurrent-recapitulation framework with the septets occurring at the same time with the judgment elements giving different emphases or perspectives. For example, it is said that the sixth seal, sixth trumpet, and sixth bowl describe the same event from a different angle. Accordingly, the last element in the day of the Lord’s wrath describes the seventh of each septet; thus, the seventh seal, seventh trumpet, and seventh bowl are the same event from different perspectives. And there are those posttribulationists who hold that it does not describe the exact same event, but they affirm that the three elements occur roughly at the same time. For all practical purposes, the main point is that both of these posttrib interpretations do not view the trumpets and bowls occurring after the seventh seal is opened. It is noted that this debate does not hinge on whether each judgment element within the septets succeed each other; that is not the issue. The main question is: Do each of the three septets themselves succeed each other (consecutive) or do they simultaneously unfold (concurrent)? Dr. Kurschner's aim is to demonstrate that the concurrent view is flawed. He argues for the consecutive nature of the three septets, showing that the seventh seal does not depict the culmination but the introduction to the day of the Lord via the seven trumpets and culminating in the seven bowls. Why Recapitulation? There are two main observations from the book of Revelation that lead posttribulationists to conclude the concurrent-recapitulation theory is correct. First, they will point out that the septets possess a similar structure, thinking these depict the same events with different emphases. They draw attention to at least two observations: (1) the first four elements of each septet share a structured unit, and (2) the first two septets, the seals and trumpets, each contain a parenthetical section between the sixth and seventh element. However, this is a non sequitur (no pun intended) to reason that because they share similar forms, therefore they must possess the same content and occur at the same time. It is a fallacy to equate similarity with identity. The second observation is where their theory either falls or stands. They will point out similarities between the sixth and seventh element of each septet, along with their parenthetical sections, concluding all three describe the end. They argue that since there cannot be “three ultimate ends,” it follows that they recapitulate the trumpet and bowls back into the seals giving a composite of a single event (see the chart above). Marko Jauhiainen pinpoints their key argument for the recapitulation theory. He writes, [R]egarding the septets, the recapitulation theory seems to be logically necessary only if one sees the ‘end’ narrated or described before the seventh bowl....