Duncan McKenzie, Ph. D.

Contents

I. Introduction

II. The Coming of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2)

III. The Little Horn of the Daniel’s Fourth Beast (Daniel 7)

IV. The King of the North and the Time of the End (Daniel 11:36-12:13)

V. The Day of the Lord

VI. The Man of Lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2)

VII. Introduction to the Book of Revelation

VIII. The Beast and the False Prophet (Revelation 13)

IX. The Beast and the Harlot (Revelation 17)

X. The Beast and the Fall of Babylon (Revelation 18)

XI. The Second Coming (Revelation 19)

XII. The Millennium and New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 20-22)

XIII. Where Are We Now?

Here is a little excerpt from my intro to the day of the Lord.

THE DAY OF THE LORD

In 2 Thessalonians 2 the coming of the Antichrist (the man of sin/lawlessness) is closely associated with the day of the Lord. The revelation of the man of lawlessness and his capture of the Temple would occur right before the day of Christ (“the day of the Lord,” NASB).

"Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 2:1-4.

Because of this close association between the Antichrist and the day of the Lord (cf. Dan. 7:21-22; Rev. 19:11-21) I shall engage in this chapter in an overview of the old and new testament’s concept of the day of the Lord. The purpose of this is twofold. First, it will provide context for Paul’s discussion of the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2 (which is the next chapter of this book). Second, it will provide background on the symbolic language of cosmic catastrophe that is commonly used in Scripture to describe the day of the Lord.

The last point is especially important. A symbolic vs. literal physical reading of Scripture’s language of cosmic catastrophe is one of the biggest single factors that differentiates the hermeneutic (and thus the conclusions) of preterists from futurists. For example when futurists see Jesus saying that the stars would fall from the sky on the day of the Lord (Matt. 24:29) they expect literal stars to fall (or at least a meteorite shower to happen) at some time in the future. Preterists, on the other hand recognize that stars can symbolize authorities (especially spiritual authorities such as angels, cf. Rev. 1:20; 9:1-11; 12:4). Preterists say that the stars falling in Matthew 24:29 have nothing to do with literal stars falling to earth but is the symbolic language of apocalyptic. The image of stars falling in Matthew 24:29 is not indicating the end of the world, rather it is revealing (as the rest of v. 29 explains) that the very powers of heaven (i.e. spiritual authorities) would be shaken on the day of the Lord (“the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”). Most so called “consistent literalists” would say that the stars falling in Revelation 12:4 are symbolic of the fall of angels (cf. rev. 12:9) but would say that the stars falling in Matthew 24:29 are literal stars. This may be the so called literalist’s interpretation, it is anything but consistent. This difference in interpretation between preterists and futurists regarding Scriptures language of cosmic catastrophe is foundational and thus deserves careful consideration. To a large extent one’s hermeneutic, one’s method of interpretation of Scripture, will dictate one’s conclusions.