The People’s Bible Teachings

END TIMES

Jesus Is Coming Soon

Thomas P. Nass

NORTHWESTERN PUBLISHING HOUSE Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Fourth printing, 2010Third printing, 2004Second printing, 2000

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken fromthe HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permis-sion of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the Holy Bible, EnglishStandard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a pub-lishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. Allrights reserved.

All hymns, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from ChristianWorship: A Lutheran Hymnal. (CW) © 1993 by Northwestern Pub-lishing House.

All rights reserved. This publication may not be copied, photo-copied, reproduced, translated, or converted to any electronic ormachine-readable form in whole or in part, except for brief quota-tions, without prior written approval from the publisher.

Northwestern Publishing House1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI 53226-3284

© 2011 by Northwestern Publishing HousePublished 2011

Printed in the United States of AmericaISBN 978-0-8100-2371-0

Table of Contents

Editor’s Preface ............................................................. 5

Introduction ................................................................. 7

Part I: THE BIBLE ON THE END TIMES ......................... 11

Chapter 1. How Can We Know About the Future? .................................. 13

Chapter 2. Jesus Is Coming Back ................. 29

Chapter 3. The Day Is Unknown.................. 41

Chapter 4. Christ Could Come at Any Time..................................... 53

Chapter 5. What Can We Expect While We Are Waiting?......................... 69

Chapter 6. The Antichrist ............................ 89

Chapter 7. The Events of Judgment Day ..... 109

Chapter 8. The Resurrection of the Dead..... 125

Chapter 9. The Final Judgment.................... 143

Chapter 10. Hell ............................................. 163

Chapter 11. Heaven ....................................... 177

Chapter 12. What Happens If I Die Before the End? .......................... 199

Chapter 13. Applying the Bible’s Teachings.................................... 217

Part II: FALSE TEACHINGS ABOUT

THE END TIMES ................................................ 239

Chapter 14: Millennialism ............................. 241

Chapter 15: Postmillennialism....................... 259

Chapter 16: Premillennialism ........................ 275

Chapter 17: Dispensationalism ...................... 291

Chapter 18: The Tribulation and the Rapture................................. 309

Chapter 19: Millennialism in the Lutheran Church........................ 327

Chapter 20: Conclusion ................................. 341

Appendix 1: The Augsburg Confession (1530)........... 345

Appendix 2: WELS This We Believe (1999)................. 347

Appendix 3: WELS Statement on the Antichrist (1959) ............................. 351

Appendix 4: Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod (1932)...... 353

Endnotes ...................................................................... 357

For Further Reading ..................................................... 367

Scripture Index ............................................................ 369

Subject Index ............................................................... 385

5

Editor’s Preface

The People’s Bible Teachings is a series of books on allof the main doctrinal teachings of the Bible

Following the pattern set by The People’s Bible series,these books are written especially for laypeople. Theolog-ical terms, when used, are explained in everyday languageso that people can understand them. The authors showhow Christian doctrine is drawn directly from clear pas-sages of Scripture and then how those doctrines apply topeople’s faith and life. Most important, these books showhow every teaching of Scripture points to Christ, ouronly Savior.

The authors of The People’s Bible Teachings are parishpastors and professors who have had years of experienceteaching the Bible. They are men of scholarship and prac-tical insight.

We take this opportunity to express our gratitude toseveral people who have read the manuscript for thisbook and offered valuable suggestions: John Brug, LeroyDobberstein, Joel Fredrich, Brian Keller, Nathan Nass,Tim othy Nass, and Michael Otterstatter.

We pray that the Lord will use these volumes to helphis people grow in their faith, knowledge, and understand-ing of his saving teachings, which he has revealed to us inthe Bible. To God alone be the glory.

Curtis A. JahnSeries Editor

7

Introduction

Have you ever been curious about the future? Have youwondered if things are going to get better or worse onearth? Have you wondered how the world is going to end?Have you wondered how much time is left for this world?

Then this book is for you!This book is different in one way from the other books in

The People’s Bible Teachings series. The other books gener-ally deal with the here and now. This book looks ahead toconsider what we as Christians can and cannot know aboutthe future.

The technical term for this area of study is eschatology.This word comes from the Greek word eschata, whichmeans “the last things.” Eschatology is the study of the lastthings or the end times.

Among many Christians, eschatology has been a hottopic recently. The 20th century saw more attention givento eschatology than did any other Christian century. It hasbeen said that eschatology is the “battleground of today’stheology.”

Many Christians seem to have an unhealthy preoccupa-tion with the topic. Christian tracts for unbelievers mayfocus on the number 144,000 and what the beasts of Reve-lation are. A Christian pastor may have his first visit withsome prospective members and feel compelled to lay out acomplicated schedule of events for the end of the world forthem. For some, eschatology seems to be their startingpoint and the center of their theology.

Lutherans do not make eschatology the center of theirtheology. For Lutherans the chief teaching of the Bible is

8 END TIMES

justification by faith. If a Lutheran pastor has his first visitwith prospective members, he will tell them about their sinand the sin of all people. He will tell them that Goddeclares the world innocent for the sake of Jesus Christ,who died innocently in our place and rose gloriously forour justification. He will tell them that this gift of justifica-tion is received by faith in Jesus Christ. Lutheran outreachtracts will present the law and the gospel. Justification byfaith is the starting point and center of Lutheran theology,because this is the one doctrine by which we are saved.The other doctrines do no eternal good if we don’t knowjustification by faith.

But Lutherans in the past have perhaps been too quietabout eschatology. In contrast to the veritable flood ofpublications on the end times in some Christian circles,there is little current Lutheran writing on the topic. OneLutheran has lamented, “The relative neglect of eschato-logical teaching constitutes one of the great ironies of theLutheran Church.” 1 This book intends to make a modestcontribution to improve this situation.

The fact is that eschatology does hold an importantplace in Christian teaching and life. In some ways, escha-tology can properly be called the crown or the capstone ofChristian theology. It shows us the end result of God’s planof salvation. It lifts our eyes to the ultimate goal to whichwe are heading. As such, eschatology is very practical fordaily Christian living. The Bible’s doctrine of the endtimes gives us hope for the future. It also influences ourfundamental attitudes about life on earth and can have aprofound impact on our daily behavior.

Throughout the history of the church, the devotionallife of Christians has been permeated with thoughts of theend times. In this volume each chapter ends with a hymn

INTRODUCTION 9

from Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal. With thesehymn stanzas, from a wide variety of time periods andbackgrounds, we are reminded of the practical nature ofeschatology. We are encouraged to study this topic with adevotional spirit. Let’s begin with this:

Blessed Jesus, at your Word We are gathered all to hear you.Let our hearts and souls be stirred Now to seek and love and fear you,By your teachings, sweet and holy, Drawn from earth to love you solely.

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Praise to you and adoration!Grant that we your Word may trust, Confident of our salvation,While we here below must wander, Till we sing your praises yonder.

Text: Tobias Clausnitzer (1619–1684, German Lutheran pastor) (CW 221:1,4)

Part I

THE BIBLE

ON THE END TIMES

13

1

How Can We Know About the Future?

In ancient Rome, if a decision needed to be made aboutRome going to war, you could expect the Roman Senate todebate the issue vigorously. Some might have argued infavor; others, against. But at some point in the discussion,you could count on something else happening. Men calledaugurs would be consulted to find out what the omenswere. The augurs would do something to determinewhether or not the gods were in favor of the action. Oftenthey studied the flight of birds.

Throughout human history, people have loved to try toknow the future, and they have been incredibly creative indevising methods. The ancient Greeks looked at the innerparts of animals. During the Renaissance, people studiedthe movements of the heavenly bodies with astrology.

Some found messages in tea leaves. Even in our own age,people look into crystal balls and at the palms of peoples’hands. They use Ouija boards and tarot cards.

The big question is, How can we know anything aboutthe future?

Only God knows the futureThe simple truth is that only God knows the future.

According to the Bible, God has “plans” for the future(Psalm 33:11), and these plans will certainly take place(Isaiah 14:24). God determines where the nations of theworld will live (Acts 17:26). God has our days as individu-als recorded in his book (Psalm 139:16). God determineswhen sparrows will fall to the ground (Matthew 10:29).This doesn’t mean that God foreordains evil and sin. ButGod does direct history, and he knows everything that willhappen. In his omniscience, God even knows the potentialfuture. He knows what will happen if a different decisionis made by humans on earth in their human freedom(1 Samuel 23:9-13).

This ability to know and predict the future makes thetrue God unique. No other spirit or supposed “god” cando it. Isaiah 41 through 48 especially stress this point.There the Lord issues a challenge, knowing that no onecan meet it: “Bring in your idols to tell us what is going tohappen. . . . Declare to us the things to come, tell us whatthe future holds, so we may know that you are gods” (Isa-iah 41:22,23). The Lord says, “I am God, and there is noother; I am God, and there is none like me. I make knownthe end from the beginning, from ancient times, what isstill to come” (Isaiah 46:9,10; see Isaiah 45:21). Certainly,“the ability to know and control the future is what sepa-rates the Lord, the true God, from all the false gods.”2

14 THE BIBLE ON THE END TIMES

HOW CAN WE KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE? 15

A human psychic can attempt educated guesses aboutthe future. The devil and evil spirits can make reasonablepredictions based on their observation of human historyand their evil intentions for the future. Mediums may tapinto the special knowledge of the evil spirit world. Butnone of these know the future. Only God does. “In spiteof claims by fortune-tellers and those who say they speakwith the dead, Satan and the departed know nothingabout the future except the certainty of their damnation.”3

So where can we find reliable information about thefuture? Only from God, because he is the only one whoknows the future.

God has revealed some aspects of the futureRemarkably, God in his grace has chosen to reveal many

future events to his people through the years. He hasn’tkept the future totally hidden. He actually delights in show-ing himself as the true God by predicting things before theyhappen. He says, “See, the former things have taken place,and new things I declare; before they spring into beingI announce them to you” (Isaiah 42:9). Amos boasted,“Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without reveal-ing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).Daniel referred to the Lord as the “revealer of mysteries”(Daniel 2:29,47).

Jesus himself was quick to predict future events whilehe was on earth (Matthew 24:25). Jesus also promisedthat the Holy Spirit would continue to reveal futurethings to the apostles after he left. He said, “When he,the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into alltruth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak onlywhat he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”(John 16:13).

16 THE BIBLE ON THE END TIMES

The Lord has used many methods to reveal the future.In Old Testament times, he sometimes used the Urim andThummim (1 Samuel 28:6; Ezra 2:63) and the ephod(1 Samuel 30:7,8). No one knows exactly what these itemswere. They undoubtedly were items carried or worn bypriests. Perhaps they were special stones that were used byGod to reveal his will. In both testaments God used dreamsand visions (Daniel 2:1-47; Revelation 4:1). In both testa-ments he raised up prophets who spoke and wrote underdivine inspiration (1 Kings 20:13,14; Acts 11:27,28).

Our sure source of information today is the BiblePreeminently, however, for people of all generations God

has revealed future events by having them written in theBible. The Bible is a book inspired by God. According to2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture of the Old Testament is “God-breathed.” God guided the authors so that they wroteexactly what he wanted. Peter added, “Above all, you mustunderstand that no prophecy of Scripture came about bythe prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never hadits origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God asthey were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter1:20,21). Similar statements can be made about the NewTestament (1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Peter 3:15,16).

The main purpose of the Bible is not to reveal thefuture. Its main purpose is to lead people to faith in JesusChrist as the world’s Savior from sin. The apostle Johnsaid, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus isthe Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you mayhave life in his name” (John 20:31).

However, God did put a large amount of predictiveprophecy in the Bible. One scholar has calculated thatout of the 31,124 total verses in the Bible, 8,352 verses

HOW CAN WE KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE? 17

(or 27 percent) have prophecies that predict or foretellsomething in the future.4 Some of these verses are OldTes tament prophecies fulfilled in the life, death, andresur rection of Jesus. Some are short-range propheciesthat have already been fulfilled in human history. Othersare yet to be fulfilled. Some sections of the Bible are espe-cially thick with prophecy. The express purpose of thebook of Revelation, for example, is to show “what mustsoon take place” (Revelation 1:1,19; 4:1; 22:6).

All of the predictive prophecy in the Bible is 100 per-cent true and accurate because the Bible comes fromGod, the only one who knows the future. God will dowhatever he promised (Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 44:26;46:11; Jeremiah 1:12). “The word of the Lord stands for-ever” (1 Peter 1:25). The words of Jesus “will never passaway” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). Thepredictions in the book of Revelation are “trustworthyand true” (Revelation 21:5; 22:6).

Even if the fulfillment of a prophecy in the Bible seemsslow in coming, it will happen as written. Habakkuk said,“The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of theend and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it;it will certainly come and will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).

The Bible is our only sure source of information aboutthe future. As a fetus receives all its nourishment throughan umbilical cord, so we receive all of our informationabout the future through the wonderful conduit of theBible. Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary professor SiegbertBecker (1914–1984) said, “The future is a closed book tomen, and any attempt to discover the secrets of the futureapart from God’s revelation is an illegitimate quest.”5

Moses said, “The secret things belong to the LORD ourGod, but the things revealed belong to us and to our chil-

18 THE BIBLE ON THE END TIMES

dren forever, that we may follow all the words of this law”(Deuteronomy 29:29).

The Bible is filled with prophecies that have come trueA skeptic may question the assertions in the previous

section: “How can a person be so sure that the Bible isGod’s Word and its prophecies will come true?” You maywell have such uncertainties yourself.

The case for the Bible becomes strong, however, whenwe see that many prophecies in the Bible have alreadycome true. In addition, there are absolutely no propheciesin the Bible that have been proven false. This gives usconfidence that the other prophecies will also come true intheir allotted times.

A person could write an entire book on this topic. First,we could look at the many Old Testament propheciesabout the coming Messiah that were fulfilled in JesusChrist. Here are just a few, showing remarkable detail. TheMessiah would:

• come during the fourth world empire—Rome(Daniel 2:39-45);

• come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10);

• be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew1:22,23);

• be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2);

• minister by the Sea of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1,2);

• be killed as a payment for human sin (Isaiah 53:5);

• have his clothes divided up by lot (Psalm 22:18);

HOW CAN WE KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE? 19

• be buried in the grave of a wealthy person (Isaiah 53:9); and

• be raised from the dead (Psalm 16:10).

Then, a person could bring to light other propheciesthat have also been fulfilled in human history. Here aresome remarkable prophecies that are not so well-known:

• Isaiah predicted the name of the man (Cyrus)who would conquer Babylon and send theIsraelites home (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1,13).

• Ezekiel predicted that the city of Tyre wouldbe destroyed and never inhabited again(Ezekiel 26:7-14). This has happened. Curi-ously, the Bible gives no such prophecy aboutTyre’s sister city, Sidon, and Sidon still existsto this day.

• The book of Nahum predicted the fall of Nin-eveh in detail.6 This happened when Ninevehwas destroyed by the Babylonians in 612 B.C.

• Daniel 11 gives a detailed prophecy of theintertestamental period from 530 to 165 B.C.

• Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem inthe lifetime of his generation (Matthew 24:2,34).This happened when the Romans destroyedJerusalem in A.D. 70.

This is a feature of the Bible that is not seen in the holybooks of other religions. The Qur`an of Muhammad andthe sacred writings of Buddha do not have such predictiveprophecy. The fulfillment of predictive prophecy in theBible is a strong proof that the Bible is a book inspired by

20 THE BIBLE ON THE END TIMES

God and different from all other religious books. It is astrong testimony to the fact that the religion of the Biblemust be the true religion. If the Bible is able to predict thefuture, it must be a book from God and its religion mustbe true.

Wrong places to look for the futureOne wrong place to look for information about the

future is in the world of the occult. The devil and the evilspirits do not know the future, since only God knows thefuture. God also has expressly forbidden believers todabble in the evil spirit world. Deuteronomy 18:10-12says, “Let no one be found among you who . . . practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witch -craft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or whoconsults the dead. Anyone who does these things isdetestable to the LORD.” Similar prohibitions are men-tioned frequently in the Law of Moses (Exodus 22:18;Leviticus 19:26,31; 20:6). About the wicked king Man-asseh it is said, “He sacrificed his sons in the fire in theValley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination andwitchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He didmuch evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him toanger” (2 Chronicles 33:6).

Another wrong source of information about the future isastrology and horoscopes. Astrology assumes that thefuture can be ascertained by studying the position andastrological aspect of the heavenly bodies, with thethought that the heavenly bodies influence events onearth. There is no support for this in God’s Word. It was asuperstition prevalent already in ancient Babylonia andcondemned by the prophet Isaiah: “Let your astrologerscome forward, those stargazers who make predictions

HOW CAN WE KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE? 21

month by month, let them save you from what is comingupon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burnthem up” (Isaiah 47:13,14).

There also is no support for astrology in responsiblescholarship. Consider this quotation:

Astrology is based on the erroneous belief that Earth is thecenter of the universe and is circled by the zodiac, theimaginary belt in the heavens that encompasses the appar-ent paths of the principal planets except Pluto. The astro-logical system was established in ancient times. Since thenEarth’s actual position has shifted slightly relative to theconstellations. That means the twelve signs of the zodiacviewed now are not the same as those viewed by theancients. Most modern astrologers ignore this fact, andtheir predictions are based on the star treks as they existedtwo thousand years ago.7

It is ironic that our current age, which prides itself inbeing so scientific, still goes gaga over the occult andastrology. Siegbert Becker said, “It is amazing what peopleare willing to believe just as long as it is not taught inthe Bible.”8

What about the gift of prophecy today?Are there people with the gift of prophecy today? When

I was a child, I remember reading the predictions of a ladynamed Jeane Dixon. She was a devout Catholic whoclaimed to have the gift of prophecy. At the end of everyyear, her predictions for the coming year would be pub-lished in the tabloids. What are we to make of someonelike this?

The Bible gives us two tests that we should apply to any-one who claims to bring new revelation from God. Thetwo tests are (1) Does the new revelation agree with the