The American Vision

Episode 116: The Election and Bible Prophecy

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 07:16:40 -0500

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 116

Gary discusses the aftermath of the 2026 midterm elections and how misinterpretations of Bible prophecy played a big part.

Christians should work to rebuild all institutions according to the blueprint laid down in Scripture. Too often we satisfy ourselves with occupying a square foot of living space in what we perceive to be the humanists’ palace. We fight for crumbs when Jesus tells us to sit with Him and feast in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23:5; cf. Matthew 15:21-28).

We now live under a better covenant with a greater measure of God’s Spirit but it is supposed that our sphere of ministry has decreased. Israel was confined to the land of Canaan, but Jesus has given us the world and yet the impact we are to have as Christians, if we believe some of our critics, is to be minimal. But the kingdom is now: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The kingdom comes and advances by doing God’s will. The devil only has a foothold when Christians fail to obey. When we resist the devil, he will flee from us. Satan’s counterfeit and corrupt kingdom is then supplanted by God’s rightful claim to the world. Resisting the devil is never passive.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5; cf. Psalm 37:11). Now, if the earth is ours as an inheritance, then why do we act as if the inheritance belongs to someone else? This passage does not say that the weak shall inherit the earth or the passive or the non-involved. Meekness is an ethical attribute. Meekness or being humble means to rely on God for all things. The Bible makes it clear that a double portion of a father’s inheritance goes to the faithful first-born son (Deuteronomy 21:17; see 2 Kings 2:9). If he is unfaithful, he can be disinherited (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Reuben lost his right of inheritance because of immorality (Genesis 49:3-4); and Jacob gave Joseph a double portion because of his faithfulness and righteousness (Genesis 48: 22). Jesus, as God’s firstborn, receives a double portion. We, as God’s adopted children and brothers of Jesus, participate in the inheritance. If the nations are given to Jesus as an inheritance, then we participate in His inheritance (see Psalm 2). It is someone who submits to a greater authority in this case, to God (cf. Matthew 11:28f.; 2 Corinthians 10:1; Galatians 5:22ff.; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 3:15f.; James 1:19-21). The way we will inherit the earth is by obeying God in all things, humbly submitting to Him. Moses is said to be the meekest man who ever lived (Numbers 12:3). But no one could portray him as being a non-activist. Only the Christian has a rightful claim to the earth and all its potential. God requires His people to lay hold of that claim ethically by submitting to God’s sovereign rule in all things and taking dominion over the whole redeemed world for Jesus and His glory.

God and Government

With a fresh new look, more images, an extensive subject and scripture index, and an updated bibliography, God and Government is ready to prepare a whole new generation to take on the political and religious battles confronting Christians today. May it be used in a new awakening of Christians in America—not just to inform minds, but to stimulate action and secure a better tomorrow for our posterity.

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Gary discusses the aftermath of the 2026 midterm elections and how misinterpretations of Bible prophecy played a big part. He critiques the political implications of these beliefs, particularly regarding Israel’s role in global politics, and calls for a new approach to governance based on biblical principles.

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A Fairy Tale for Adults

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 08:03:45 -0500

Carl Sagan said that “Creationism is not science—it’s mysticism; it’s religion. I would have no problem with teaching creationism in mythology courses, in courses on social trends, even in courses on religion. But not courses in science, because it is not science.” In fact, evolutionism is a philosophical declaration of faith rather than a testable scientific conclusion, since it cannot be empirically verified. The first line in Sagan’s book Cosmos is, “Nature is all there is or ever will be.” This is not a conclusion to the rigorous study and observation of empirical data. John Robbins nicely sums up the religious nature of Sagan’s governing presupposition.

The statement is not argued; no evidence is presented for our consideration; no hint is given that this statement is open to revision of even the mildest sort. The Sagan has spoken; so let it be written; so let it be done. This tone of dogmatic finality appears in all his books, and while it contradicts what he has to say about science, it is fundamental to his duties as a high priest of science.

Something from nothing, abiogenesis, is a fairy tale. See David Stone’s Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity, and Other Fables of Evolution. Ray Comfort has described something-from-nothing origins as “A Fairy Tale for Grownups.” Robbins again:

Had Dr. Carl Sagan been born in any other century, he would have been known as a teller of stories, a spinner of yarns, a maker of myths. Some of his listeners would have been skeptical; most would have hung on his every word, believing them all to be true, just as they do today. He is a talented storyteller.

The late apologist Ron Carlson summed up the fairy tale analogy well: “In grammar school they taught me that a frog turning into a prince was a fairy tale. In the university they taught me that a frog turning into a prince was a fact!” It’s even more ridiculous than that. At least evolutionists begin with a frog! They need that first spark of life from which to spin their fairy tale.

The Darwinian evolution fairy tale goes something like this: Once upon a time, nothing existed. No creatures from which humans could evolve. No matter or energy. No mind or morals. No information to program the magically appearing lifeform. What we had to begin with was nothing and nobody. Somehow, a miracle occurred when nothing plus nothing produced something! Evolutionists can’t explain this incredible miracle, but it had to happen. They tell us they don’t believe in miracles. They accept this origin story as a fact because of the alternative. Believe anything, no matter how unscientific and irrational, to keep God out of the picture. Instead of following an ethic that states we should love our neighbors, who’s to say it’s evolutionarily wrong to eat our neighbors? That’s how we got here, that and rape!

Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor

Love your neighbor, or Eat your neighbor? No matter how atheists try, they can’t account for moral standards that must be obeyed when there is no accounting for good or evil. The most damning assessment of a matter-only cosmos devoid of a Creator is that we got to this place in our evolutionary history by acts of violence whereby the strong conquered the weak with no one to support or condemn them.

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One of Richard Dawkins’ books is titled The Magic of Reality. An apt description of what people like Sagan assert without evidence or observation. Dawkins describes us as “robot-vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.” Wait a minute! What do we know about robots? They are designed and programmed. Who designed and programmed the designers and programmers, and who designed and programmed them? The lesser can’t produce the greater. Non-life cannot give rise to life.

A biotic soup did not evolve into what we see around us today. Sagan, Dawkins, and an entire group of evolution scientists have never been able to create life as we know it from scratch. “While researchers have successfully engineered synthetic genomes and constructed synthetic cells that mimic biological functions, these efforts involve modifying existing living cells or assembling pre-existing biological components rather than generating life from non-living matter.”

And what is the endpoint of this fairy-tale religion? Dawkins tells us: “In the universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, and other people are going to get lucky; and you won’t find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if, at the bottom, there is no design, no purpose, no evil and no good. Nothing but blind pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music” (River Out of Eden).

Couple the above comments from Dawkins with the following from Sagan and consider the implications for

In The Dragons of Eden, subtitled Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, he writes (7): “My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings—what we sometimes call ‘mind’—are a consequence of its anatomy and physiology, and nothing more. ‘Mind’ may be a consequence of the action of the components of the brain severally or collectively…. We are, to a remarkable degree, the results of the interactions of an extremely complex array of molecules…. Because there is not a shred of evidence to support [sic] it, I will not in these pages entertain any hypotheses on what used to be called the mind-body dualism, the idea that inhabiting the matter of the body is something made of quite different stuff, called mind.”

“The brain is that its workings—what we sometimes call ‘mind’—are a consequence of its anatomy and physiology, and nothing more.” Consider the moral consequences: “My brain made me do it! It’s all part of the evolutionary process. As the eminent evolutionist Richard Dawkins states, “DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music.’”

Please tell us, without borrowing moral capital from theists, why it would be morally wrong to eat our neighbors instead of loving them?

So Now What?

Wed, 04 Nov 2026 06:41:11 -0500

Gary discusses “covenant faithfulness” among Christians, while also critiquing the lack of a unified Christian voting block.

“Society” possesses no will of its own, but reflects the people’s will. The will of the people is either based on the autonomous will of men or reflects the will of the Triune God of Scripture. E.C. Wines (1806-1879) writes:

In political, as well as physical science, there are certain great principles, true or false, from which, in any given case, all the numerous details of social organization flow. Every state is based upon some fundamental ideas; and the study of those ideas is the most important object of inquiry in the study of its constitution. No social system can be understood without a knowledge of its fundamental principles… The first and most essential of these fundamental principles was the unity of God.[1]

If “society” is to be restored, individuals must be restored to the knowledge that God is one and that His law is one, binding individual, family, church, and State. Christians must understand that the Christian life goes beyond regeneration and justification to discipleship and sanctification, being conformed “to the image of God’s Son” (Romans 8:29). We are held accountable for the “whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27).

The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, must become our steady diet. If we do not know how to “handle accurately the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), we cannot discern the times and offer biblical solutions to personal, family, and societal problems (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:32).

If we want truth, we must go to the source of truth. Scripture equips believers to [do] all good works (2 Tim. 3:16-17), whether the arena is the family, economics, politics, or jurisprudence. We need to be aware of the intellectual and practical destruction latent in all humanistic theories of knowledge. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).[2]

Besides a comprehensive biblical education, we must develop an educational program for dominion purposes that will cover the world (Isaiah 11:9). This means applying what we learn from the Bible to every area of human thought. We should read and study books on economics, politics, education, law, medicine, journalism, foreign policy, ecology, philosophy, agriculture, ethics, psychology, science, and every other God-created sphere of learning. God supplies His people with gifts and talents for building the Kingdom. God requires us to account for our use of those gifts and talents. He does not restore us simply to provide for our private and self-centered use of those gifts.

Christians also must be future-oriented. Decisions made today affect future generations. We cannot give up on this world. Jesus calls us to victory now! Satan was crushed under the feet of the first century Christians (Romans 16:20), not Jesus.

God and Government

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Gary discusses “covenant faithfulness” among Christians, while also critiquing the lack of a unified Christian voting block. He highlights the need for Christians to engage with civil government and to educate themselves on political issues from a biblical perspective. Ultimately, he calls for actionable solutions to the political and societal challenges facing Christians today.

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[1] Wines, Laws of the Ancient Hebrews, 393.

[2] Tommy Rogers, “An Epistemology of Dominion,” in The Journal of Christian Reconstruction, Symposium on Social Action, ed. Gary North, 8:1 (Summer 1981), 81.

Simplistic Political Answers Abound

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:39:01 -0500

Franklin Graham began his article, “Christians must focus on God, not politics,” with the obligatory acknowledgment that he has “always used whatever influence and platform [he] had to urge everyone to vote.” Then comes the inevitable “but”: “But as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I have a higher calling than getting out to vote or ‘getting out the vote,’” Graham wrote. Is a “minister of the gospel” the only higher calling? It seems to me that civil government is also a high calling. More about that in a moment. I wonder what Graham might say ten years from now, when new laws could be passed to keep Christians from preaching the gospel because they didn’t vote to keep out the tyrants, because everyone was involved in their ‘higher calling,’ including everything else God considers important?

The State Is Not Our Savior—Agreed

Christians are ministers of the gospel, Franklin reminds us, and therefore we are obligated to “offer the message of the Gospel . . . to people of every race, creed, age, walk of life and political persuasion.” He goes on to argue, “It is ultimately God who saves and prospers us. He is our hope—not Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives.” Who says otherwise? John MacArthur made a similar argument in his book Why Government Can’t Save You. Who said it could or should? Civil government has a necessary saving feature when it comes to “enemies foreign and domestic” regarding our Republic. People can be saved in many ways that have nothing to do with regeneration. Regeneration’s saving feature is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Graham goes on to exhort Christian leaders to keep their focus “on our true calling, which is spiritual, not political.” Let’s play fill-in-the-blank using the title of Graham’s article:

• “Christians must focus on God, not economics because economics is not spiritual.”

• “Christians must focus on God, not education because education is not spiritual.”

• “Christians must focus on God, not work because work is not spiritual.”

• “Christians must focus on God, not work to outlaw slavery because working to abolish slavery is not spiritual.”

The list could go on. But we know the Bible has much to say about economics (“You shall not steal,” even if by majority vote), education (Prov. 22:6), work (2 Thess. 3:10), and laws against slavery (Ex. 21:16).[1] When we focus on God, we get the right perspective on life. God wants us to do the right thing in economics, education, work, and politics because they are all spiritual endeavors, if by spiritual we mean guided by the Holy Spirit from God’s Word. Granville Sharp, an evangelist, Greek scholar, and humanitarian, was a leading advocate for abolishing the slave trade. He combined a passion for legal reform with the gospel message. One flowed out of the other. John Wesley, who was committed to preaching the gospel, had an “uncompromising attitude to slavery.”[2]

William Wilberforce was the primary parliamentary leader of the British movement to abolish the transatlantic slave trade, a cause he championed for nearly two decades. Inspired by his evangelical Christian faith and advised by former slave trader John Newton [“Amazing Grace”], Wilberforce began his campaign in 1789 by presenting detailed evidence of the trade’s horrors to the House of Commons.

Slavery was an issue of justice, and civil justice is the civil magistrate’s jurisdictional sphere to stop it since it controls and protects it. Our understanding of the gospel and God’s love compels us to engage in politics (the civil sphere) to stop such an injustice as “man stealing.” God’s government includes civil government, as I point out in my book God and Government.

God and Government

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What Does It Mean to Be “Spiritual”?

Contrary to Graham, spirituality is not an abstraction, an unseen and ethereal realm above us cut off from the world in which we live. To be spiritual is to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the here and now; therefore, we should study God’s Word to learn what it says about everything, including politics. Dividing life between the spiritual and the secular has created the mess we are living in today. God created this world for our good (Gen. 1:31). The civil magistrate is designed to be a “minister of God . . . for good” (Rom. 13:4) in the same way mothers and fathers were designed to be family ministers for good, and elders and deacons were designed to be ecclesiastical ministers for good. You can’t get any more spiritual than that!

I cover the “spiritual” argument in my book Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths.

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths

Like the Bereans of Paul’s day (Acts 17:11), Christians should check the veracity of all opinions against the only reliable standard of authority that God has placed in our hands: the Bible. This may mean a change in belief systems for some. There is no novelty in this. God confronted Peter directly about the inclusion of Gentiles into the household of faith (10:9–16). Paul confronted Peter “to his face” on a similar matter (Gal. 2:11–14). There are times when we all need to be knocked off our horse of mistaken opinions (Acts 9:4). “Testing” is a biblical mandate (2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 4:1).

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Christians spend more time on the job and in the classroom than they ever do in a lifetime of politics unless they choose it as their vocation, a calling, for that’s what a vocation is. We vote every two years. It takes 30 minutes to learn what candidates believe. It may take another hour to go to the polls and vote. Why not tell Christians to give up their jobs and quit going to school so they can focus on preaching the gospel? Talk about time killers in the grand scheme of things. The thing of it is, God told us to work (Ex. 20:8-10; 2 Thess. 3:10) and learn (Deut. 6:4-9) just like he told us to view civil government as a ministry under God (Rom. 13:1).

When a warning is raised that a thief is about to come and steal from you, or that a murderer is on the loose, you better drop everything and get busy protecting yourself and your family. Civil government is stealing from us through the way it taxes us. Civil government has made killing unborn babies a legal right. Civil government has created a near-monopoly on education that makes children subjects and wards of the State. Civil government has created a perpetual underclass, a form of institutional slavery, through confiscatory taxation and wealth redistribution.

If You Want Long-Term Relief

Graham is the CEO and president of the international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. It does good work to relieve poverty in third-world countries. The main reason there is poverty in these countries is due to the sinful misuse of politics. Missionary enterprises typically meet the “spiritual and physical needs of hurting people around the world,” as Graham’s organization does. But they fail to deal with what’s causing the poverty. If you want to help the poor, get government out of the business of poverty. But you can’t do that if Christian leaders are minimizing the effects politics is having on our lives and inappropriately separating the spiritual and secular realms.

Graham and Samaritan’s Purse can put all the money they can into their relief work, but it will never alleviate poverty in the long run. Being a new creature in Christ must lead to the “renewing of the mind” (Rom. 12:2) and the hands (1 Cor. 4:12). That is, it’s not enough to get people saved; they must understand how God’s Word is applicable to every facet of life, including politics and economics! That’s why the Bible is such a big book. What’s a Christian teenager to do with the next 70 years of his life? Preach the gospel and view every other endeavor as a distraction? Who will make the food distributed to the poor? Who will make the bags and boxes to hold the food? Who will build the trucks to haul the food? Who will drill for the oil to be refined into gasoline to drive the trucks? You get the picture.

Eternal Vigilance

If Christians don’t stay involved in the political process, I can guarantee that the State—the god of so many—won’t need our vote either. We’ll end up under a dictatorship where Christians will be denied the right to vote and the freedom to preach the gospel. It’s happened before, so don’t say it can’t happen here.

Focusing on God means preaching the gospel and applying God’s Word to every area of life. Anything less, and we are less than Bible-believing Christians. We might as well surrender to the secularists who claim that religion and life should be separated.

The following was posted on Facebook:

If Christians abandon the voting booths, the voting booths would not be empty! Islam’s advocates are using their mosque networks to maximize voter turnout in favor of Democratic candidates in Michigan, Texas, and other states.

It is our ethnic duty, it is our civic duty, it is our religious duty to go and support those candidates and choose those that represent the best of our interests … We are undergoing perhaps the most important election season, perhaps of our entire lifetimes, and it is imperative that we, as Muslims of this country, as American Muslims, we avail ourselves to the same rights, the same privileges, the same sense of civic engagement and civic duty as everybody else. (Source)

If the Islamists take over, you’ll get your desire—the voting booths will be empty for Christians. Loving our enemies does not mean we should not stop people from raping our daughters and wives. Stop locking your doors because you do not want to “resist the evil person.” By not restricting the role of the civil magistrate, you are permitting an earthly master to rule over you and your family. “Seeking the kingdom” means following God’s commandments, including how to deal justly within family, church, and civil governments, as their jurisdictional priorities and limits are specified.

[1] “He who kidnaps [steals] a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.” Revelation 18:13 condemns the economic practices of Babylon, listing slaves and human souls alongside luxury goods like spices and wine. First Timothy 1:10 condemns slave traders (or kidnappers).

[2] Susanne Everett, History of Slavery (Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books, 1996), 135.

2 Timothy 3 and Pessi-millennialism

Mon, 02 Nov 2026 06:45:52 -0500

Gary DeMar and The Chocolate Knox bring out the Scriptures and break down 2nd Timothy 3.

According to William T. James in Storming Toward Armageddon, “We live in days such as delineated in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The evidence is astoundingly abundant to anyone not wishing to be a foolish, deceived, brute beast but rather desiring to seek to be wise unto salvation.” A careful reading of 2 Timothy 3 will show that Paul was describing conditions in Timothy’s day, what the writer of Hebrews characterizes as the “last days” of the Old Covenant (Heb. 1:1-2; cf. 1 Cor. 10:11). Notice Paul’s optimism when he states that those who perform such deeds “will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all” (2 Tim. 3:9). Second Timothy 3 is not a description of what the world will be like before the so-called rapture.

Why is there so much speculation and error about when the end might be, whether the “end” has reference to the rapture, the return of Christ to set up His millennial kingdom, or the return of Christ to inaugurate the “new heavens and new earth” (2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1)? While there are a number of reasons why prophetic speculation continues unabated, as we will see in subsequent chapters, one reason stands above them all: Fulfilled prophecy is being interpreted as if it were unfulfilled prophecy. This error was also made by the first-century Jews. When Jesus “came to His own … those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). These unbelieving Jews did not believe Jesus was the fulfillment of centuries of prophetic pronouncements that are found in “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44).

Last Days Madness

In this authoritative book, Gary DeMar clears the haze of "end-times" fever, shedding light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages in the Bible, including Daniel 7:13-14; 9:24-27; Matt. 16:27-28; 24-25; Thess. 2; 2 Peter 3:3-13, and clearly explaining a host of other controversial topics.

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Gary DeMar and The Chocolate Knox bring out the Scriptures and break down 2nd Timothy 3. Does it truly teach that things are getting worse?

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Episode 115: The Flat Earth and Rapture Myths Exposed

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 07:05:52 -0400

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 115

Gary responds to a recent video by Pastor Jack Hibbs claiming that Christopher Columbus sought to prove the Earth was round. He connects the “flat earth” myth to how Hibbs and others understand Bible prophecy.

The story goes that Columbus single-handedly disproved the flat-earth myth, and that he stood alone against the learned men of the day who ridiculed his theory of a round earth. In addition, this legend falsely blames the flat-earth theory on Bible-believing Church leaders.

While a story about one man doing battle with the religious and academic establishment of his day makes interesting reading, none of it is true. First of all, the Bible does not teach that the earth is flat. Second, Columbus was not the only one who believed that the world was round; so did all the other educated people of his day.

Nowhere does the Bible teach that the earth is flat. In fact, it is those religions outside Christianity that invent outlandish views of the cosmos (universe). Pagan philosophers of the past have put forth many theories of cosmic design that are inaccurate and downright silly. An ancient Hindu text, called the Upanishad, claims, “All who leave the earth go to the moon which is swallowed by their breath during the first half of the month.”

There are no biblical references to a flat earth. Biblical descriptions of the world’s “four corners” and “four winds” are poetic phrases. There is nothing unusual or unscientific about depicting the earth as having four corners. The modern compass works in terms of a linear perspective, and flat maps have always been used to plot direction. When was the last time you took a globe on a trip? Why should we expect the Bible to describe reality any differently from the way we do?

Although the Bible has little to say on the subject of the shape of the earth, it nowhere contradicts what we see with our eyes. In fact, the Bible actually refers to a round earth in Isaiah 40:22: “It is He that sits upon the circle of the earth.” The most literal translation of the Hebrew is actually “sphere.”

To Pledge Allegiance 3-Volume American History Textbook Series (PDF)

Formerly available as three textbooks with CD Rom study guide, now available in a three book series in downloadable PDF format. Includes A New World in View, Building a City on a Hill, On the Road to Independence, Supplemental chapters, study guides, tests and answers key.

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Gary explores the importance of understanding the historical context of biblical texts, as they were written for specific audiences at specific times. He debunks the myth that Christopher Columbus sought to prove the Earth was round, clarifying that educated people of his time already believed it. Similarly, modern eschatological interpretations rely on popular myths about the rapture, the antichrist, and more.

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Questions About God’s Law

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:33:16 -0400

A significant debate is underway today about God’s law. Are we free from every aspect of biblical law because we are “under grace”? The New Testament doesn’t support this claim (e.g., Rom. 13:8-10; 1 Cor. 5:1-2). How do people know they are loving someone if not by some moral standard? Not stealing, murdering, and committing adultery are acts of love. What about the Mosaic legislation? Dispensationalists maintain that we are in a different dispensation where nothing in the Mosaic legislation applies. For many dispensationalists, law in the Old Testament is exclusively “Jewish law.”[1] Dispensationalists do believe that Mosaic legislation will be revived during the thousand years of Revelation 20, including circumcision and animal sacrifices.

In Dallas Theological Seminary’s scholarly journal, Bibliotheca Sacra, S. Lewis Johnson (1915-2004), a former seminary professor, argued that the Ten Commandments should not be part of a Christian’s ethical life. He quotes dispensationalist Donald Grey Barnhouse for support.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, a giant of a man in free grace, wrote: “It was a tragic hour when the Reformation churches wrote the Ten Commandments into their creeds and catechisms and sought to bring Gentile believers into bondage to Jewish law, which was never intended either for the Gentile nations or for the church.” He was right, too.[2]

This sounds like what I’ve been hearing from Israel-Only advocates who believe the Bible was only meant for Jews and after AD 70 everything is up for grabs when it comes to ethics. But God’s revelation was not limited to Israel.

“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ What great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God, whom we call on? Or what great nation has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law I am setting before you today?” (Deut. 4:5-8).

The book of Hebrews never disavows the moral law of the Old Covenant, but it consistently shows that Jesus fulfilled the laws related to blood, the priesthood (7:12), the temple, and the altar (e.g., 7:27; 9:12; 10:10-14; 13:10). Paul often appeals to the moral law from the Old Testament, and why wouldn’t he? “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). “All Scripture” refers to what we call the Old Testament. Why discard what God has specifically revealed?

Charles Colson (1931-2012) criticized Christian Reconstruction in an interview with Bill Moyers on the “God and Politics” segment that first aired in December 1987. See Christian Reconstruction: What It Is? What It Isn’t? and The Debate Over Christian Reconstruction.

Christian Reconstruction: What It Is, What It Isn't

Christians have been told that there is nothing they can do to improve society. This idea is the devil’s own lie, one that gives him breathing room. They have been told that the world is lawfully governed by neutral principles of ethics, law, and science. Christians have believed this, but the results have been anything but neutral: secular humanism, New Age mysticism, and abortion on demand. Christian Reconstruction is a theological system, a movement of independent activists, and a cultural ideal. Its goal is nothing short of transformation of the world. “And they shall build the old wastes, and they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generation” (Isa. 61:4). Isaiah’s vision of cultural transformation was recapitulated by Christ, but applied to the whole world through God’s church, not just to the kingdom of ancient Israel: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43). Will the church be successful in presenting God’s message? Yes!

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Reconstructionists believe God’s moral law is applicable to all of life. Consider the following article by Colson, published in the 1988 book Transforming Our World, titled “The Kingdom of God and Human Kingdoms.”

Recently I addressed the Texas legislature…. I told them that the only answer to the crime problem is to take nonviolent criminals out of our prisons and make them pay back their victims with restitution. This is how we can solve the prison crowding problem.

The amazing thing was that afterwards they came up to me one after another and said things like, “That’s a tremendous idea. Why hasn’t anyone thought of that?” I had the privilege of saying to them, “Read Exodus 22. It is only what God said to Moses on Mount Sinai thousands of years ago.”[3]

Colson did not take the legislators to natural law or Adamic or Noahic law. Instead, he refers them to Mosaic legislation, a set of laws dispensationalists and Israel Onlyists say were unique to Israel. Scofield and his fellow dispensationalists say these laws were never meant for non-Jews. According to dispensationalists, they are Israel-specific case laws.[4] Consider the following from Ted Koppel, the host of “Nightline.”

What Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai were not the Ten Suggestions. They are commandments. Are, not were. The sheer brilliance of the Ten Commandments is that they codify in a handful of words acceptable human behavior, not just for then or now, but for all time. Language evolves. Power shifts from one nation to another. Messages are transmitted with the speed of light. Man erases one frontier after another. And yet we and our behavior and the commandments governing that behavior remain the same.[5]

Colson believed that Exodus 22 is “the only answer to the crime problem.”

[T]he citizens of the kingdom of God living in the midst of the kingdoms of the world provide a respect for the Law that stands beyond human law. It means the presence of a community of people whose values are established by eternal truths. There is no other place that a culture can find those values.

* * * * *

“How about the revealed propositional truth of Scripture, because that is the Law that is beyond law?” The Bible provides a basis for absolute truth, for true right and wrong. It is only the citizens of the kingdom in the midst of the kingdoms of man that make that discovery possible.[6]

Colson saw the whole Bible as the standard. “[W]e must apply God’s laws.”[7] Which laws ought to be applied? Can God’s law be applied to non-Christians? As we’ve already seen, Colson told a group of Texas legislators to dust off their Bibles and look at the Mosaic legislation regarding restitution found in Exodus 22.

In his book Kingdoms in Conflict, Colson decries a “utopianism” that he says, “is often articulated today in contemporary Christian circles.” He argues that “such preoccupation with the political diverts the church from its primary mission”: saving man’s soul. But another risk exists, particularly among “those on the political right where many want to impose Christian values on society by force of law.”[8] He wrote. “Some, such as those in the theonomist movement, even want to reinstate Old Testament civil codes, ignoring Christ’s teaching in the parable of the wheat and the tares in which He warns that we live with the good (the wheat) and evil (the tares), and cannot root out the tares. Only God is able to do that and He will—when the Kingdom comes in its final glory.”[9] This is typical. But how should we then live before the “final glory”?

God and Government

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Colson would be hard-pressed to find a Reconstructionist who believes in utopia or that the Christian’s concern should be for the world rather than the salvation of souls. Can’t it be both, with the person’s salvation as a priority? The Bible says God “so loved the world,” and everything He made is good (1 Tim. 4:1-4). Reconstructionists want to know how the saved should act in the world post-salvation. This is the message Paul sends to the early churches. The Pauline letters were designed to show these new Christians how to live “in this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4).

One of Colson’s heroes is William Wilberforce, who cared about slaves as they lived in this world. How should Christians have responded? I’m not sure how an Israel Onlyist would respond, considering that after AD 70 everything is up for grabs.

Can you imagine what the world would be like today if the nations applied the following law to slavery? “Now one who kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall certainly be put to death” (Ex. 21:16). According to the Bible, the State (civil government) has the power of the sword to enforce these values (Rom. 13:4). But Colson inconsistently objected to applying biblical values in this way. Which is it? In his article “The Kingdom of God and Human Kingdoms,” he says Exodus 22 is an excellent example for prison reform, and we should “apply God’s laws.” See Gary North’s Victim’s Rights and James Jordan’s The Law of the Covenant.

The Law of the Covenant

If we take a man-centered approach to these laws, we might say that the purpose of this legislation is only to ensure human prosperity. Such an approach to the law of God misses the most basic point. These laws show us God's own genuine personal care for His world, and as such these laws cannot be altered by human whim. To be sure, the Bible is man-oriented, and thus obedience to these laws will improve human life; but the laws are God's, and cannot be changed by man. Thus, as we examine the laws in Exodus 21-23, our first concern must be the glory of God, not whether these laws seem right to us sinful men. If we start with God, we will soon see how these laws also improve human life.

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Applying God’s law to society does not conflict with the theology of the parable of the wheat and the tares. The parable of the wheat and tares describes events leading up to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Many of the Jews believed in Jesus, and many rejected Jesus. When the temple was destroyed, the distinction between believing and unbelieving Jews became apparent. In the lead-up to Rome’s wars with the Jews, the Romans could not distinguish between Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews.

During Paul’s trial in Corinth, when the Jews brought charges against Paul, Gallio refused to intervene in what he considered an internal intramural religious matter, stating, “If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters” (Acts 18:14-15). He then drove the accusers from the judgment seat.

Rousas J. Rushdoony offers a helpful correction to those who claim that since Jesus’ death, Christians are not obligated to follow even the Ten Commandments, let alone other laws that have specific application to our lives.

The purpose of grace is not to set aside the law but to fulfil the law and to enable man to keep the law. If the law was so serious in the sight of God that it would require the death of Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, to make atonement for man’s sin, it seems strange for God then to proceed to abandon the law! The goal of the law is not lawlessness, nor the purpose of grace a lawless contempt of the giver of the law.[10]

[1] “To be sure, dispensational premillenarians insist that the Old Testament Law was given only to the Jews and not to Gentiles.” Norman L. Geisler, “A Premillennial View of Law and Government,” The Best in Theology, gen. ed. J. I. Packer (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today/Word, 1986), 1:259. See the multi-volume dispensational work, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 8 vols. (Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1947), 4:234-243.

[2] S. Lewis Johnson, “The Paralysis of Legalism,” Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 120 (April/June 1963), 109.

[3] Charles Colson, “The Kingdom of God and Human Kingdoms,” Transforming Our World: A Call to Action, ed. ed. James M. Boice (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1988), 154-155.

[4] House and Ice write: “The Christian is to love the law of God. Grace does not free the believer from obedience to the will of God. However, Christians are not under the expression of the law as it was given to Israel. Instead, we may use the Mosaic legislation as examples of how we may respond individually and corporately; we may gain wisdom from it [as suggestions for godly living?]. Christians are, however, to obey the will of God as it is expressed in the New Testament — the law of Christ — and the law revealed in the Adamic and Noahic covenants." House and Ice, Dominion Theology, 118-119.

[5] Ted Koppel, The Last Word, Commencement Address at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (May 10, 1987). Quoted in Robert H. Bork, The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law (New York: The Free Press, 1989), 164.

[6] Colson, “The Kingdom of God and Human Kingdoms,” 151.

[7] Colson, “The Kingdom of God and Human Kingdoms,” 154.

[8] Charles Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1987), 117.

[9] Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict, 117.

[10] The Institutes of Biblical Law (Nutley, NJ: The Craig Press, 1973), 4.

Don't Know Much About the Constitution or Economics

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 06:52:19 -0400

Gary argues against Robert Reich’s proposal to nationalize SpaceX and Starlink, connecting private enterprise, constitutional limits, and government-run education.

Before science as we know it today could get started in proposing theories, certain assumptions about the way the world works had to be understood to be valid and operationally consistent. These universal laws operated predictably because the majority of people—scientists included—accepted that they were God’s laws, established and upheld by Him, even if they did not know how the world worked the way it does.

It has even been suggested that such a view played a key role in the successful development of science in the Western cultures, and did so because they were influenced by the Judaeo-Christian tradition which fostered faith in the underlying rationality and orderliness of Nature during periods of history when human ideas were inbred by all manner of magical and occult notions.

Life is predictable because God is predictable. Even those who did not embrace a biblical worldview knew that they could not develop an ordered world without the shared belief that God was necessary to make it happen.

In cultures where progress was made in mathematics, science, medicine, political theory, and law, people assumed the world was not an illusion, that truth mattered, and man was a rational being created by a rational God, even though at times man behaved irrationally and believed irrational things. Cultures that believed that spirits inhabited trees, rocks, and animals made very little progress culturally and scientifically because they never knew what the spirits might do. There was never a guarantee that what people did one day could be repeated on another day. The world was at the mercy of forces controlled by capricious gods who were always changing the rules. The Bible makes it clear that neither people nor things are controlled by impersonal forces. The world was created by God (Heb. 1:1) and is held together by Him in terms of physical laws that He established (Col. 1:17).

The Case for America's Christian Heritage

America’s Christian heritage is writ large in its state Constitutions, charters, laws, symbols, and repeated stated reliance on the overruling providence of God. It’s not enough, however, to relive history. There’s much work before us to reset the foundation stones of a firm reliance on Divine Providence. We need to heed the words of Benjamin Franklin who quoted Psalm 127:1 during the drafting process of the Constitution: “except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it,” and “that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel.” The principles that were true and necessary centuries ago for building nations are equally true and necessary today.

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Gary argues against Robert Reich’s proposal to nationalize SpaceX and Starlink, connecting private enterprise, constitutional limits, and government-run education. He also challenges common interpretations of the Constitution’s Three-Fifths Clause and says competition is essential to economic and educational performance.

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Whatever the Government Mandates Gets More Expensive, Less Efficient, and More Controlling

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 07:33:32 -0400

Have you noticed that the price of televisions, computers, and cell phones has decreased over the years while their functionality has increased? Early cell phones were the size of a brick and could make only calls. The first commercially available cell phone, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, was released in 1983 at a price of $3,995 (equivalent to approximately $12,400-$12,800 in 2026). At launch, it weighed about 2.5 pounds and offered only 30 minutes of talk time. Early cellular service was also expensive, with monthly fees around $50 and per-minute voice call costs ranging from 24 to 40 cents. The free market, technological advances, and competition changed everything.

Smartphones function as pocket-sized supercomputers that replace or consolidate numerous standalone devices, including GPS navigation systems, cameras, MP3 players, and wallets. They enable instant global communication via video calls, messaging apps, and email, while allowing users to manage finances through mobile banking, check deposits, and contactless payments.

Beyond communication, smartphones serve as comprehensive productivity and entertainment hubs. Users can stream 4K video, play games, read e-books, and control smart home devices like thermostats and lights. They also support specialized tasks such as scanning documents, monitoring health, translating languages, and working remotely through cloud-based collaboration tools.

The government had no role in these advances. The same is true with computers. Innovation and competition made them better and cheaper. This is never true of government programs. They take longer, always cost more, and produce inferior results. Education’s cost and performance results are a perfect example of education’s decline in the United States. Pick any government program, and the results will be the same.

Christian Economics in One Lesson

Christian economics must begin with the issue of ultimate ownership. This sets it apart from modern economic analysis, which begins with the issue of scarcity. Second, this leads to the issue of theft, which in turn raises the issue of ethics. The ultimate form of causation in human history is ethical: right vs. wrong. Modern economists do not share this view. In fact, it goes beyond this. They openly reject it. They proclaim economic analysis as value-free—this is self-deception. It is a variation of an ancient temptation: “Hath God said?” Yes, He has. “Thou shalt not steal.”

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Creating a supplemental retirement system called Social Security seemed like a good idea when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935. With the Great Depression still fresh in people’s minds, selling Americans on security was easy. Each month, the federal government took a small percentage from an employee’s paycheck. The employee’s employer would also be required to “contribute” an equal percentage. At retirement, anyone who paid into the system received a monthly check from the Social Security Administration until death. Other benefits existed, but Social Security was largely designed as a forced supplemental retirement program.

Monthly benefit payments began in January 1940, just five years after the program was implemented. On January 31, 1940, the Social Security Administration issued the first monthly check to Ida May Fuller, a retired legal secretary from Ludlow, Vermont. She received her first check for $22.54. Fuller continued to receive benefits until she died in January 1975 at the age of 100. During her 35 years as a beneficiary, she received more than $22,000. For Fuller, Social Security proved a great investment because her total “contribution” to the program was only $22.00.

Miss Fuller’s windfall is Social Security’s inherent problem. In 1935, the highest amount an employee had to pay was one percent of $3,000. The employer’s portion was also 1 percent of the first $ 3,000 of wages, for a total of $60 per year. Today, employees and employers each pay 6.2 percent of Social Security taxes, for a total of 12.4 percent, up to $184,500.

Even with rate increases and a higher top rate, Social Security still faces fiscal problems. The early 1980s provided a quick fix. To raise revenue for future recipients, Congress revised the law and brought more people into the system.

Prior to 1983, many state and federal workers were exempt from Social Security. The same applied to non-profit organizations and churches. In fact, before 1984, Congress exempted itself from the program and developed its own private retirement system.

Under the new legislation, new state and federal employees and all nonprofit groups (excluding ministers who could opt out) had to join the program. This immediately added billions of dollars of new revenue to the program to pay present and future recipients. Of course, the infusion of money was only temporary. Because the program added more people to meet immediate cash needs, those added payers will one day become payees. Who will pay them?

Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators

In Productive Christians: A Biblical Response to Socialist Economics, David Chilton exposes the follies and fallacies of socialism, but he also systematically outlines the biblical alternative — an alternative that lays the groundwork for real justice, progress, prosperity, and freedom for the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. First published nearly half a century ago, it is more relevant and more prescient than ever. Chilton’s crystalline prose and take-no-prisoners style is as entertaining as it is informative. This is the way books on economic issues should be written: biblical, understandable, and practical. This new edition also includes a 23-page appendix that Chilton wrote 43 years ago. "Studies in Amos" is an eight-part article series originally released in 1980.

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In 1935, there were 45 people paying into SS for every one person receiving benefits. Today, that ratio is about three to one. By 2030, it will be two to one. Is it any wonder Social Security has been described as the “world’s biggest chain letter”? Dr. Gary North wrote the following.

Social Security works like a chain letter. Some people have described SS as a “Ponzi scheme,” named after Charles Ponzi, a con artist who bilked people of a lot of money. How did he do it? He would tell people that he would pay them a huge return on their investment within a few months. Then he would take their money and pay off the previous investors. It worked great for the first ones to (unknowingly) get in on the scheme. Ponzi then used his early “investors” as testimonials to attract new “investors.” After a time, the number of investors ran out, and so did Ponzi with their money. Ponzi had worked the “pyramid scheme”: the people at the top (those who get in early) receive the benefits that are being paid in from those at the bottom (those getting in late).

The following appeared in Parade Magazine (March 28, 1976): “Social Security is a wonderful plan. People say it’s going bankrupt. Don’t believe them. It works. I know. My uncle reached 65 and he sent in the appropriate forms. In a week he received a wonderful letter: ‘Dear Mr. Gold. Welcome to the Social Security System. Attached is a list of ten names. Just send $100 to each name on the list and retype up a new list with your name at the bottom. But remember, don’t break the chain!’”

The promises made by the Social Security “retirement program” likely gave people a false sense of security. Maybe they thought they didn’t have to invest because their Social Security payments would take care of them. Of course, they didn’t count on inflation devaluing their money.

In 1981, employees of Galveston County, Texas, chose to leave SS for a private alternative. At first, not everyone supported the innovative idea. It’s called the “Galveston Plan.” The unions (naturally) opposed it. Employees deposited approximately the same amount of money in private accounts. Since inception, the funds have achieved an average annual rate of return of 8.64 percent. Many of these retirees became millionaires, living off the interest and free to pass on their savings to their children when they die. This can never happen under Social Security. Consider this scenario: A man and his wife have paid into SS since they started working, 45 years of payments. They both reach retirement age on the same day. On the way to the mailbox to pick up their first checks, they are killed by a drunk driver. Their estate gets nothing. The Social Security Administration takes over the money that was paid for 45 years.

The Paralysis of Pessimism

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 06:46:24 -0400

Does it matter if we live fearfully or hopefully? Very much so, as Gary points out in this important talk from several years ago.

In applying all the Bible to all of life, those “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) must have a “new heart” and a “new spirit” so they can rightly understand God’s Word and the world He created for our use (1 Cor. 1:18–25). The “heart of stone” must be removed and replaced with a “heart of flesh,” that is, a heart and mind open to God speaking through His Word. This is God’s work. God’s Spirit must be in us before we can “walk in” His “statutes.” The result will be that we “will be careful to observe” His “ordinances” (Ezek. 36:26–27). The New Testament summarizes it this way: “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). All of this requires a belief in the sovereign work of God. Only God can make dead men live (John 11:25–26).

In a similar way, only God can bring a dead culture back to life. Cultural “resurrections” are made possible when people are “resurrected” (Eph. 2:6) and then apply their new faith to all of life. “New creatures” (2 Cor. 5:17) mean new societies. Noted scholar and author Rousas J. Rushdoony summarizes it this way:

The key to remedying the [modern] situation is not revolution, nor any kind of resistance that works to subvert law and order. The New Testament abounds in warnings against disobedience and in summons to peace. The key is regeneration, propagation of the gospel, and the conversion of men and nations to God’s law-word.
****
Clearly, there is no hope for man except in regeneration.

Politics, a conservative economic policy, and other social-oriented agendas are not in and of themselves the answer to man’s sinful condition. Because we are sinners, we cannot make proper evaluations of how we ought to live in the world until we have a new heart that guides a new mind. But once this happens, God’s Word in all its fullness begins to make sense. We learn to love God’s law (Psalm 119:47, 97, 113, 127, 159), because it is “a lamp to [our] feet, and a light to [our] path” (119:105; Prov. 6:23) so that we can shine it on a world that shows the effects of sin.

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths takes a closer look at God's Word and applies it to erroneous misinterpretations of the Bible that have resulted in a virtual shut-down of the church's full-orbed mission in the world (Acts 20:27). Due to these mistaken interpretations and applications of popular Bible texts to contemporary issues, the Christian faith is being thrown out and trampled under foot by men (Matt. 5:13).

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Christianity is a future-oriented worldview. Who inherits what we leave behind? How does our view of the future affect our attitude towards the future? God is the Author of the past, the present, and the future. He owns everything, including time. Does it matter if we live fearfully or hopefully? Very much so, as Gary points out in this important talk from several years ago.

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Episode 114: Joel v. Joel—Antisemitism and Replacement Theology

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:21:41 -0400

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 114

Gary addresses misconceptions about preterism, replacement theology, and the future of Israel, emphasizing biblical exegesis and historical context.

Joel McDurmon’s work is original. He goes where few commentators have gone before. As he shows in page after page of tightly argued points, there is a unity to the prophetic message of the gospels and the rest of the New Testament. It’s about new wine in new wine skins. Everything about the old covenant was planned obsolescence. Jesus was always in view, from the first promise of a savior in Genesis 3:15 to the revelation that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” in Revelation 19:10.

So much of modern-day prophecy commentary is an attempt to rebuild what was never meant to be rebuilt. The Jews who met Jesus face to face should have known this from everything their Scriptures had told them about the coming redeemer (Luke 24:27, 44). Instead, like today, there is said to be significance in a new stone temple, a revitalization of a strip of land, and the division of the people of God, one chosen because of blood ties (John 1:13; 8:33) and the other by adoption (Rom. 8:14-16). The parables, as Joel makes abundantly clear, serve to show that the breaking down of the dividing wall was on the horizon for them and the world with the result that there would be “one new man” in Christ (Eph. 2:11-22). The destruction of Jerusalem and the dismantling of the temple’s stones were a foregone conclusion because Jesus had always been the reality over the shadow (John 2:19). (from the Foreword by Gary DeMar)

[In this book] I have also not consulted commentaries or other men’s interpretations except in a few rare circumstances. I realize this opens me to the criticism that I should have consulted the wisdom of other scholars, but of course had I filled the book with footnotes and references to the works of other men, I would then be liable to the charge that I should have stuck to the pure words of Scripture. I think the honest and charitable reader will see that this latter is what I have done. It was my goal to look purely to the words of Scripture in the original texts, studied in their verse-by-verse context, in order to understand what Jesus meant throughout these sections of Scripture. Perhaps more than any other field, the study of Bible prophecy suffers from assumptions built on conjectures papered-over with proof texts pulled from context fused with current events and professionally-produced paranoia. There are a few exceptions providing detailed exegesis, and I pray the reader will find this book helpful among those few. (Author’s Preface)

Jesus v. Jerusalem: Jesus' Lawsuit Against Israel

Most people don’t realize that many, if not most, of Jesus’ parables were intended not as general morality tales, but as particular pronouncements of coming judgment and change. Jesus was warning Jerusalem to repent and to accept its new King (Jesus), or else fall under the ultimate condemnation of God. In fact, much of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels pertains primarily to that pre-AD 70 crowd, and without reading it in this light, we misunderstand it. And when we misunderstand it, we misapply it.

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Gary addresses misconceptions about preterism, replacement theology, and the future of Israel, emphasizing biblical exegesis and historical context. He refutes charges of antisemitism and clarifies the biblical portrayal of Jerusalem and Israel’s role in prophecy.

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The World was ‘Waxing Worse and Worse’ in Timothy’s Day

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:51:52 -0400

A response to one of my Facebook posts stated, “It’s coming; fortunately, I’m 77; IT SHALL WAX WORSE (2 Tim. 3:13).” What does prophecy speculation do? It ties people to the present with no earthly future for God’s people. The ‘rapture’ is the next prophetic event, and it’s going to happen “soon.” I’m 76, and the work at American Vision is to prepare people for the future. What should we tell teenagers? Everything will get worse, and you can’t or shouldn’t do anything about it. It’s hopeless. And if the ‘rapture’ does not happen in 50 years, another generation will be lost to Last Days Madness, while the secularists and Islamists, who believe in an earthly future, will dominate society.

Last Days Madness

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Larry Poston wrote the following: “ Islam is practical. It is considered a this-worldly religion in contrast to Christianity, which is perceived as abstract in the extreme. Muhammad left his followers a political, social, moral, and economic program founded on religious precepts. Jesus, however, is said to have advocated no such program; it is claimed that the New Testament is so preoccupied with his imminent return that it is impractical for modern life.”[1]

What a person believes about the future—good, bad, or indifferent—determines how he or she lives in the present and whether they plan, innovate, and build for the future (Prov. 6:6-11).

Here is my response to the 77-year-old doomsayer:

Jesus’ coming was “near” in Timothy’s day, as James pointed out (James 5:7-9), and it wasn’t the end of the space-time universe. Yes, “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” In the same chapter we find the following: “But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also” (2 Tim. 3:9). In the meantime, Paul told Timothy: “YOU, however, continue in the things YOU have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom YOU have learned them, and that from childhood YOU have known the sacred writings which are able to give YOU the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (vv. 14-17).

Paul described what was happening then, in Timothy’s day, and how Timothy should handle himself as the pagan world collapsed around them. Here we are, 2000 years later!

He responded with Luke 19:13: “And he called ten of his own slaves and gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with this money until I come.’” I responded with the following:

What else do we find in Luke 19? There’s this: “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If YOU had known on this day, even YOU, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from YOUR eyes. For the days will come upon YOU when YOUR enemies will put up a barricade against YOU, and surround YOU and hem YOU in on every side, and they will level YOU to the ground, and throw down YOUR children within YOU [Luke 21:23], and they will not leave in YOU one stone upon another [Luke 21:6; Matt. 24:2], because YOU did not recognize the time of YOUR visitation’” (Luke 19:41-44). The “you” was them and referred to Jesus’ coming before their generation passed away [Luke 21:32].

Similar language is found in Luke 17. Most people don’t realize that many, if not most, of Jesus’ parables were intended not as general morality tales, but as pronouncements of coming judgment and change. Jesus warned Jerusalem to repent and accept its new King (Jesus), or else fall under God’s ultimate condemnation. In fact, much of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels pertains primarily to that pre-AD 70 crowd, and without reading it in this light, we misunderstand it. And when we misunderstand it, we misapply it. See Joel McDurmon’s book Jesus v. Jerusalem.

Jesus v. Jerusalem: Jesus' Lawsuit Against Israel

How many students of Bible prophecy have viewed the parables of Jesus as rich in prophetic material? Not many have, except those who see them as a series of end-time events that seem to be always on the prophetic horizon. Certainly, you will find this or that prophecy writer who finds a prophetic gem here or there, but few, if any, have noticed that most of Jesus’ parables are a rich source of predictive material that deal with a particular subject—the future of Israel as Jesus saw it for that generation.

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Taking Matthew 24 as the standard, Luke places the Noah’s ark analogy (Matt. 24:37-39) before the events of Matthew 24:17-18 (“let him who is on the housetop not go down”), verse 27 (“for just as the lightning comes from the east”), and verse 28 (“wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather”). If the five prophetic events of Matthew 24 found in Luke 17:22-37 are numbered 1-2-3-4-5, Luke’s numbering would be 2-4-1-5-3.[2] Both chapters refer to the events of AD 70, as this chart shows.

Let’s get our heads and hearts out of the clouds. Follow Paul’s instructions to Timothy.

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith. But they will not advance much further. Just as with Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone. You, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance, my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:8–13)

Those evil men are long gone. Evil men and women still exist in the world today. Let’s embrace Paul’s action plan with vigor and hope.

[1] Larry Poston, “The Adult Gospel,” Christianity Today (August 20, 1990), 24-25.

[2] See the chart in Gary DeMar, Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times, updated ed.(Powder Springs, GA: American Vision Press, 2024), 307.

God and Government: A Quick Course in Biblical Politics

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 08:16:16 -0400

In a year where politics are as inevitable as the change of seasons, Gary DeMar dives deep into the pivotal question: What role should Christians play in politics?

The notion that Christians should avoid government is mistaken both logically and biblically. In fact, government is about much more than what we call “politics.” Government is much broader and encompasses self-government, family government, church government, and civil government.

The Foundations of Government

Reflecting on his foundational work—God and Government—DeMar outlines how these different layers of governance interact. He emphasizes that family governance is crucial as it teaches children self-governance, which then translates into their roles within the church and civil society.

God and Government

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This interconnectedness is not just philosophical; it has practical implications for how we understand our roles within society. Effective civil governance is built upon the principles established in families and churches.

Biblical Insights on Civil Government

Scripture is far from silent on these issues. The Bible includes many books on domestic and civil governance; there’s even two books in the OT called “Kings.” Gary points to the biblical basis for civil government, referencing Exodus 18, where Moses learns the importance of decentralized governance. In today’s context, this translates to recognizing the layered structure of authority in the U.S., from local to federal levels.

However, Christian involvement in civil government isn’t to empower and enlarge the state; the goal is to decrease its overreach and self-proclaimed sovereignty. Jesus is King, not the state. While we cannot impose Christianity on others, we can and should work to see Christianity inform every decision being made by the state.

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Just Like the Days of Noah

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:33:34 -0400

To help His listeners better understand the timing and circumstances of the events leading up to, and including, the destruction of the temple before their generation passed away, Jesus draws on two familiar Old Testament judgment events: the flood and the judgment on Sodom. Jesus, teaching by analogy, shows that the coming of the flood waters parallels His own coming, as described in the Olivet Discourse and elsewhere in the Gospels (Matt. 10:23; 16:27-28; 24:30-34; Luke 17:20-37; 19:28-44; Mark 13). In Noah’s time we read about “those days which were before the flood” and “the day NOAH ENTERED THE ARK” (Matt. 24:38). Similarly, there were days before the coming of the Son of Man and the day of the coming of the Son of Man.

The same people were involved in both the “days before” and “the day of ” the Son of Man. Those who “were eating and drinking” and “marrying and giving in marriage” were the same people who were shut out on “the day that Noah entered the ark.” Noah entered the ark on a single day, like the way Jesus, as the Son of Man, came on the “clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30), a day and hour known only to the Father (24:36). “Some shall be rescued from the destruction of Jerusalem, like Lot out of the burning of Sodom: while others, no ways perhaps different in outward circumstances, shall be left to perish in it.”[1]

Jesus says that His coming “will be just like the days of Noah” (24:37). The people were doing normal things—“eating and drinking” and “marrying and giving in marriage.” Jesus tells His audience that life will be going on as usual when He returns in judgment. People in Noah’s day had no thought of a coming judgment because there were no signs. Noah was told to prepare for “things not yet seen” (Heb. 11:7). Jesus is not describing evil behavior like drunkenness and sexual sins like “‘exchanging mates’ or ‘wife swapping,’” contrary to what M. R. DeHaan and Jack Van Impe claim.[2] “Marrying and giving in marriage” describes, well, “marrying and giving in marriage” (see Matt. 22:30). Men and women marry, and parents give their daughters away in marriage all the time. D. A. Carson’s comments are helpful:

[T]hat the coming of the Son of Man takes place at an unknown time can only be true if in fact life seems to be going on pretty much as usual—just as in the days before the flood (v. 37). People follow their ordinary pursuits (v. 38). Despite the distress, persecutions, and upheavals (vv. 4-28), life goes on: people eat, drink, and marry. There is no overt typological usage of the Flood as judgment here, nor any mention of the sin of that generation.[3]

Support for Carson’s interpretation can be found in Luke’s account of the time just before Sodom’s destruction: “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:28). Buying, selling, planting, and building describe life going on as usual without any regard to an impending judgment or that the judgment is to be global. As we read in Matthew 24:16, Lot escaped on foot by fleeing to the mountains (Gen. 19:17) because, in both cases, the judgment was local.

Are dispensationalists willing to say that these activities “connote moral corruption”? Darrell L. Bock attempts this interpretation even though he admits that the idea of “moral corruption … is not emphasized in Luke’s description.”[4] No one disputes that Noah and Lot lived in a time of moral corruption that would bring judgment. Jesus’ point is that the people in Noah and Lot’s day went on with their lives as if the promise of imminent judgment was a lie. The same is true of those who were told that Jesus would return in judgment within a generation (see 2 Peter 3:3-4).

Many futurists claim the phrase “took them all away” (24:39) refers to a rapture still in our future. On the contrary. “In the context of 24:37-39, ‘taken’ presumably means ‘taken to judgment’ (cf. Jer. 6:11 NASB, NRSV).”[5] The phrase ties the judgment of the world in Noah’s day with the judgment of the Jews’ world in Israel’s day that took place with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Who was taken away in the judgment of the flood? Not Noah and his family. They were left behind to carry on God’s work.

Left Behind: Separating Fact from Fiction

In Left Behind: Separating Fact From Fiction, Gary DeMar takes a critical look at the theology behind this popular fiction series and challenges readers to consider a different interpretation. With confidence based on years of biblical study, DeMar carefully examines eleven major components of the pre-tribulation rapture theology and offers clear, convincing alternatives to the interpretations of Bible prophecy presented in Left Behind.

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John Gill writes in his commentary on this passage: “the whole world of the ungodly, every man, woman, and child, except eight persons only; Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives….” were taken away in judgment. And what does Gill say about those in the field? They shall be taken away “by the eagles, the Roman army, and either killed or carried captive by them.” The Bible comments on the meaning of “took them all away” in Luke 17:27, 29: “Destroyed them all” is equivalent to “took them all away.” Consider the meaning that dispensationalist John Walvoord gives to “took them away.”

An argument advanced by Alexander Reese and adopted by [Robert] Gundry is that the references in Matthew 24:40, 41 should be interpreted as referring to the rapture. These verses state, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one shall be taken and the other left.”

Gundry and Reese violate the rule that context should determine a passage’s interpretation. They concede that the context concerns judgment, as it was understood in Noah’s time. According to Matthew 24:39, those living at that time “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” Those taken away were taken away in judgment.

* * * * *

Claiming that those taken in verses 40 and 41 are taken away in the rapture, Gundry in discussing the parallel passage in Luke 17:34-37 ignores verse 37. There two are pictured in the same bed, with one taken and the other left. Two are grinding together, and one is taken and the other left. Two are in the field, one is taken and the other left. Then, in verse 37, the question is asked, “Where, Lord?” The answer is very dramatic: “And He said unto them, Wherever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” It should be very clear that the ones taken are put to death and their bodies are consumed by the vultures. If the ones taken are killed, then verses 40, 41 of Matthew 24 speak of precisely the same kind of judgment as occurred in the flood where the ones taken were taken in judgment.[6]

Robert Young made the following comment on Matthew 24:40: “‘two men’ … be taken away (by the Romans), and the one shall be let alone,’ none touching him.”[7]

Young's Concise Critical Commentary of the New Testament

A literal translation of the Bible is very helpful. Robert Young (1822-1888) published several editions of his Literal Translation of the Bible (YLT). He also published the Concise Critical Bible Commentary that was "Specially Designed for Those Teaching the Word of God." It’s his New Testament version of his Concise Critical Bible Commentary that American Vision has republished. It’s an eye-opener when it comes to words often mistranslated and sometimes not translated in popular Bible translations, and you don’t need to know Greek to benefit from his commentary.

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But like Reese and Gundry, Walvoord ignores the time and audience references that run throughout Matthew 24-25, claiming that they refer to a distant coming of Christ and future audience. Since there was a judgment where Jews were in fact “taken away in judgment,” it makes much more sense to place the timing of such an event at the closest event that does not require a rebuilt temple and the restoration of animal sacrifices: Jerusalem’s judgment and the temple’s destruction in AD 70. We find something similar in 2 Kings 25, where some were “carried away in exile” and “some of the poorest of the land” were left behind (vv. 11-12).

[1] Thomas Newton, Dissertations on the Prophecies, Which Have Remarkably Been Fulﬁlled, and at This Time are Fulﬁlling in the World (London: J.F. Dove, 1754), 379.

[2] Jack Van Impe, The Great Escape: Preparing for the Rapture, the Next Event on God’s Prophetic Clock (Nashville, TN: Word, 1998), 127.

[3] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, gen. ed., Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), 8:509. Also see N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1996), 365-366.

[4] Bock, Luke: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), 2:1432-1433.

[5] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 115.

[6] John F. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation: A Historical and Biblical Study of Posttribulationism (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976), 89, 90. Walvoord wrote elsewhere: “Because at the rapture believers will be taken out of the world, some have confused this with the rapture of the church. Here, however, the situation is the reverse. The one who is taken, is taken in judgment. This is in keeping with the illustration of the time of Noah when the ones taken away are the unbelievers.” John F. Walvoord, Matthew: The Kingdom Come (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), 193.

[7] Concise Critical Comments on the Holy Bible (London: Pickering & Inglis, n.d.), 25.

Can Your Pastor Answer These Questions?

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 07:24:22 -0400

Gary discusses the biblical perspectives and the responsibilities of pastors in addressing controversial issues.

While the Bible may be believed in principle, it is too often denied in practice. When we are told that “Christians must address ‘issues’ in the society,” the following disclaimer is often given: “but not institutions.” How does one address issues but not institutions since “issues arise within institutions and cannot be properly addressed unless one has some idea of what an institution in God’s world should be like”? The key to fighting any evil is to understand how God’s world works. Without that understanding there is no possibility of changing anything. There must be a model. That model must come from the person who designed the model. God has designed the world, and the Bible is the Owner’s Manual on how it works. “Without a model, we draw our options over issues from the alternatives presented by the society.” This is exactly what the church has done. Prevailing anti-Christian ideologies have shaped the church’s view of the world.

This approach leaves the Christian with few regulations. “A diversity of cultural contexts and political structures” mitigates the application of a narrowly focused law system, even if it’s from God. The absence of specific biblical regulations means an ethical free-for-all. If the Christian’s life is not regulated by “detailed regulations,” then we can’t expect much from the Bible to be applied to the world at large.

We have moved from specific guidelines to being “moved by the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit and the Word are never in opposition. Much has been done in the name of the Holy Spirit, and not all of it can be supported by Scripture. But what does it mean, for example, to “pay your taxes”? Is the State free to tax citizens at any rate? Are there biblical norms for taxation? If there are no “detailed regulations,” then the State is free to confiscate all our income by an appeal to the general law “pay your taxes.” Keep in mind that the prohibition regarding abortion is found with those laws Dr. Henry says are no longer obligatory during the New Testament era (Ex. 21:22–25). There’s no direct prohibition of abortion in the New Testament, although it is certainly possible to infer such a prohibition (Luke 1:41), but only because the Old Testament is more specific. Neither will you find a prohibition of bestiality in the New Testament (cf. Ex. 22:19; Lev. 18:23–25).

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths

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Gary discusses the biblical perspectives and the responsibilities of pastors in addressing controversial issues. He critiques the arguments made by James Talarico, emphasizing the need for a clear understanding of the Bible’s stance on abortion and the importance of teaching these principles in churches. The unborn child is considered a human being in biblical texts and pastors should be teaching these topics from the pulpit.

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Episode 113: Are Christians Who Believe Jesus is Coming Soon 'Born Yesterday'?

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:32:17 -0400

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 113

Using the movie Born Yesterday as an example, Gary discusses the history of prophetic speculation, its inaccuracies, and how to interpret biblical prophecy correctly.

At first reading, the New Testament seems to teach that the temple would be destroyed (Matt. 23:38; 24:2), Jerusalem would come under siege (Matt. 22:7), and the Old Covenant order would come to an end before the last disciple died (Matt. 10:23; 16:27–28; cf. John 21:18–23). Jesus prophesied that a series of devastating events would take place before that first-century generation passed away (Matt. 24:34). But how could this be? Hal Lindsey and other prophecy writers presented what seemed to be compelling evidence that “famines, pestilences, and earthquakes” (24:7), the rise of “false prophets” (24:11), and the gospel being preached “to all the nations” (24:14) were end-time events that were taking place in our day. I was confused.

I looked for an answer in the Bible. Steadily, I began to see that the Bible really is its own best interpreter. Jesus said there would be famines before the generation to whom He was speaking would pass away. A famine hit the Roman Empire “in the days of Claudius Caesar” (Acts 11:28), who ruled from A.D. 41 to 54. Luke describes the famine as being “throughout all the world,” that is, encompassing the borders of the Roman Empire since the Greek word oikoumene (“inhabited earth” or “known world”) and not kosmos (“world”) is used.

Was the “gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world for a witness to all the nations” prior to the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70? I learned that the Greek word translated “world” in Matthew 24:14 is the same Greek word used in Luke 2:1 to describe a “world-wide” census that took place during the time of Jesus’ birth and is best translated “inhabited earth” or “known world” (cf. Acts 11:28). Paul states unequivocally that the gospel “was preached to every creature under heaven” (Col. 1:23) in his day. The gospel had “been made known to all nations” in his day (Rom. 16:26). Those who are mesmerized by end-time speculation will insist that this did not happen. Their argument is with the Bible, not me. Paul’s language is clear.

Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Wars and rumors of wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes. These are the biblical signs. All of them are realities of planet earth each days. Is Jesus coming back soon? Did Jesus provide an exact, predictable scenario as so many modern prophecy writers advocate? The answer to these questions will shock the majority and ambush the sentries of the end-times status quo. Readers of Is Jesus Coming Soon? will no longer be bound by the idol of eschatology tradition which has paralyzed the Church and minimized the impact of Christianity on our world. Don't be disturbed by what you read, because the truth is about to set you free!

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Using the movie Born Yesterday as an example, Gary discusses the history of prophetic speculation, its inaccuracies, and how to interpret biblical prophecy correctly. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the context and warns against falling for false predictions about the end times.

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Do Roman Coins Reveal When Revelation Was Written? (Part 2)

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:06:09 -0400

In my first part of this article, I addressed a claim Joel Richardson made on a podcast about a coin struck by Domitian around AD 82-83. He argued that the coin proved Revelation was written during Domitian’s reign and that Revelation 1:16, 20 referred directly to that coin. I showed that numerous coins with stars, some with seven stars, were struck before AD 70 and after AD 95, when Richardson claims Revelation was written. Nero is the better candidate for several reasons I outline in Part 1.

Nero commissioned a 100-foot bronze statue of himself, the Colossus Neronis, that represented him as the sun god. Nero’s successors later modified it into a statue of the sun god Sol, Colossus Solis. Nero’s crown featured sun rays radiating outward and upward. An earthquake probably toppled it in the fifth century, or the sack of Rome in AD 410 destroyed it.

David Chilton (1951-1997) wrote a commentary on Revelation that has been in print since 1987. He was a well-known preterist. The following are some of his comments on Revelation 1:16. Richardson should have read more widely before making such a dogmatic claim.

The symbolic use of the seven stars was quite well known in the first century, for the seven stars appeared regularly on the Emperor’s coins as symbols of his supreme political sovereignty. At least some early readers of the Revelation must have gasped in amazement at St. John’s audacity in stating that the seven stars were in Christ’s hand. The Roman emperors had appropriated to themselves a symbol of dominion that the Bible reserves for God alone—and, St. John is saying, Jesus Christ has come to take it back. The seven stars, and with them all things in creation, belong to Him. Dominion resides in the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ.[1]

The Days of Vengeance

A biblical and scholarly exposition of Revelation is laid out for readers to soak up and begin to view the world with renewed hope and optimism. Chilton skillfully shows in detail that Christians will overcome all opposition through the work of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation is not about the antichrist, the devil, microchips, or bar codes. It is, as the very first verse says, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ."

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As a preterist, Chilton believed Revelation was written before AD 70. This means he explained that Revelation 1:16 referred to star symbols that existed before AD 70 and would have applied after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and to this day. He points out that “the seven stars appeared regularly on the Emperor’s coins as symbols of supreme political sovereignty.” Domitian’s seven-star coin was not unusual, and neither were similar coins struck long after. Today, nations use the sun (Japan), the moon (Islamic nations), and stars (the United States of America) on their flags and coins. The European Union flag and coins contain stars.

Grant R. Osborne says something like what Chilton wrote but doesn’t link it to Domitian because stars on coins, even seven stars, weren’t unusual.

Some scholars see an astrological reference here, perhaps to the Pleiades cluster (linked in the Hellenistic world with the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione), or as in Jewish writings with seven members of this solar system (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) linked with the seven branches of the menorah. In this sense an interesting suggestion is made by Krodel [2] (1989:95) that this could be intended to contrast with “the pretensions of Roman emperors who asserted their cosmic rule with the symbols of planets surrounding them.” In the ancient world stars were frequently seen as powers (usually the gods) that could influence the course of history and determine the destiny of humankind.[3]

Note this comment by Osborne: “as in Jewish writings with seven members of this solar system.” John could easily have had Job 9:5-9, 38:31-33, and Amos 5:8 in mind rather than any emperor. Craig R. Koester’s Revelation commentary mentions the Domitian coin, in that it “depicts the emperor’s deceased son as young Jupiter, sitting on the globe in a posture of world dominion.”[4] But this would conflict with his claim that 666 and 616 refer to Nero Caesar. Gordon Franz’s comment sounds a lot like what Richardson claims but is less dogmatic:

I cannot help but use my sanctified imagination and wonder if John did not have this coin in front of him when he penned, “and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to His feet … He had in His right hand seven stars’ (Rev. 1:13,16).”[5]

This is not biblical exegesis. Imagining what a biblical writer was doing or thinking is not how we should interpret the Bible. The biblical approach is to let the Bible speak for itself, and enough internal and external evidence supports the view that God revealed Revelation to John before the temple’s destruction.

The Bible provides the best and most reliable evidence. Revelation 11:1-2 states that the temple was still standing when John received the contents of Revelation: “measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there” (11:1). George Edmundson states this in his 1913 work, The Church in Rome in the First Century:

The opening verses of chapter xi. imply that the Temple of Jerusalem was still standing, and that there was no expectation of the destruction of the Shrine itself. But the outer court was to be given to the nations, who for a period represented by 42 months would trample it underfoot. [Rev. xi. I, 2. See Daniel, vii. 25, three and a half years or 42 months. It is the time of the duration of the Fourth Kingdom or Roman Empire]. This statement must have been made at the time when the legions of Titus were already closing round Jerusalem and its doom was sealed, but before it was known that the desperate character of the defence would carry with it the entire destruction of the city and its world-famous sanctuary. That Jerusalem was not destroyed when the words (xi. 8) were written—‘their dead bodies lie in the street of the Great City, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified’ — is evident. In 95 A.D. the city was in ruins.

[T]he baleful figure of Nero dominates the entire picture of the struggle between the forces of good and evil. The wild beast, [Rev. xiii. i. At a short distance from Patmos the island of Thera or ‘the Wild Beast’ rises out of the sea.] coming up out of the sea with its seven heads and ten horns, and the imagery connected with it, was suggested to the Seer by the apocalyptic visions of Daniel vii., the fourth kingdom of Daniel being identified by him with the Roman Empire. The name of the beast [Rev. xiii. i8] is expressed by a number —‘the number of a man’ —and the number is Six Hundred and Sixty-Six…. [I]t is only when the Apocalypse is treated historically as a Neronian document that any satisfactory interpretation can be found for the imagery of certain difficult passages.[6]

Notice that Revelation 11:1 does not say, “measure a future rebuilt temple and the altar and those who will worship there.” Richardson presupposes “a future temple and a future restoration of Jerusalem.” The New Testament says nothing about a future temple or a future restoration of Jerusalem, only the temple’s destruction (Matt. 24:2). Like Domitian’s coin, Richardson and other theorists are reading into Revelation what they need to prove.

By the time the Domitian coin had been struck, the temple in Jerusalem had been in ruins for more than a decade. Not one stone was left upon another, as Jesus predicted (Matt. 24:2). Richardson appeals to archaeology, but when the date of Revelation is at stake, the strongest physical evidence is the temple’s ruins, confirmed by eyewitness accounts and archaeological findings. For his theory to carry any weight, he must find a New Testament verse stating that the temple under construction in Jesus’ day (John 2:13-22) and destroyed within a generation will be rebuilt again. There isn’t one.

Nero Caesar, who reigned from AD 54 until his suicide in 68, makes for a better candidate for the early date than Domitian based on Revelation 17:10: “There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.” “[T]he ‘five’ are Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius, who have already “fallen” (i.e., are dead). We know, therefore, that the sixth one ‘is’ (estin) the reigning emperor, Nero,” who was alive when Revelation was written. And “the other who has not yet come” is the seventh, Galba, who will only ‘remain a little while.’”[7] He reigned for only seven months, from June 8, AD 68 to January 15, 69.

The seven stars are described as the “angels” (messengers) of the seven churches—held safely in Jesus’ right hand of power and protection. The two-edged sword from His mouth symbolizes His judging word (cf. Heb. 4:12). Jesus conquers by proclamation, not by a physical sword. Jesus Himself interprets the imagery, showing that Revelation uses symbols with clear referents, not random fantasy or unbridled imagination. The “angels” may be heavenly representatives or, more likely, human messengers/overseers of each church. The key point is that Jesus Christ holds their leaders in His right hand and walks among their congregations. Before He judges Jerusalem and the nations, He first evaluates and purifies His own church and warns the seven churches that what was about to befall Jerusalem and the temple could happen to them. In Revelation 2:5, the phrase “remove your candlestick” (or lampstand) signifies the withdrawal of a church’s spiritual authority, presence, or status within the community of believers because of unrepentant sin.

Ten Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered

Millions of books have been sold proclaiming countless false prophecies. Many Christians are beginning to take a second look at the biblical prophetic record. A seismic shift in biblical eschatology is taking place around the world because Christians, some for the first time, are willing to challenge what they have been taught based on what the Bible actually says. Gary DeMar has taken on the task of exposing some of the popular myths foisted upon the public by prophetic speculators.

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Domitian and Roman emperors before and after him borrowed from God’s creation and corrupted its original meaning (Rom. 1:18-28). The sun, moon, and stars are signs of God’s creating power and sovereignty (Gen. 1:14-19). The Bible does not borrow from pagan cultures; pagan cultures borrow from the true God. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God / And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psalm 14:1). Kings, emperors, and presidents have no glory. They exist at God’s discretion. They owe their existence to God. “And let all kings bow down before him / All nations serve Him” (72:11).

Excursus

I’ve checked some premillennial commentaries that hold to a late date to see what, if anything, they say about Domitian and his coin as a date for Revelation’s composition.

• “There is no warrant for connecting the seven stars with the seven planets or with images on Domitian coins (Stauffer).”[8]

• “That Jesus holds the seven stars in his right hand means that he is in control of the churches, and that he is among the lampstands means that he is present with the churches.”[9]

• While John F. Walvoord mentions the Domitian coin and Stauffer’s comments, he states, “The mystery of the seven stars is defined in the Scriptures; however, in verse 20: ‘The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.’”[10]

• “The ‘seven stars’ which John says are the angels of the seven churches are held in His right hand. In his Gospel, John said that the believer is secure in Christ’s hands. This is also true of the church (John 10:28-30).”[11]

• “In his strong hand he held ‘seven stars’—symbolical of the destiny of the churches as it lay in the pastors.”[12]

• “In the phrase ‘in his right hand he held seven stars,’ the right hand is the place of power and safety, and the ‘seven stars’ Christ held in it are identified with the seven angels of the seven churches in Asia (v. 20). This is the only detail in the vision that is identified. Why the symbolism of stars? This probably relates to the use of ‘angels’ as those to whom the letters to the seven churches are addressed (chs. 2-3). Stars are associated in the OT and in Revelation with angels (Job 38:7; Rev 9:1) or faithful witnesses to God (Da 12:3). The first letter (that to Ephesus) includes in its introduction a reference to the seven stars (2:1), and in 3:1 they are associated closely with the ‘seven spirits of God.’”[13]

• “Verse 16. In his right hand he held seven stars. This signifies his care of the churches (1:20; see John 10:28).”[14]

• “Taking a clue from Revelation 1:20, we understand this to mean that Christ is present in the midst of the congregation and holds them in his control.”[15]

• “The image of the seven stars in Christ’s right hand would have also spoken to the people of John’s time in other ways. First, this is an anti-astrology message. The stars do not control our destiny and are not to be feared. Christ is the Lord who holds the stars in his hand. Second, the symbol of the stars challenges the divine claims of certain Roman Caesars. To illustrate, the young son of the Emperor Domitian died in A.D. 83. Domitian proclaimed the child a god and minted coins picturing his mother, Domitia, as queen of heaven, and the child holding the stars in his hands. In Revelation 1, John removes the stars from human hands and places them where they rightfully belong—in the hand of Christ. He thus declares the Roman Caesars to be false imitations of the true cosmic ruler, who is Christ the Lord.”[16]

• “In his right hand seven stars” The stars are afterwards interpreted as representing the seven angels, messengers, or bishops of the seven Churches. Their being in the right hand of Christ shows that they are under his special care and most powerful protection.”[17]

• “There is no need to search for a mythological or astrological background such as Pleiades (the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, placed by Zeus among the stars) or the seven planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). [For a presentation of this idea, see M. Wojciechowski, “Seven Churches and Seven Celestial Bodies,” Biblische Notizen, 45 (1988), 48-50.] That Christ has the full complement of stars in his right hand indicates his sovereign control over the churches [Roloff comments that ‘in the ancient world the stars were viewed as powers that determine the course of the world and control human destiny in a variety of ways. Dominion over them thus means supreme power and authority that encompasses everything” (36).] It may also imply protection (John 10:28: ‘no one can snatch them out of my hand’).”[18]

• “Let the churches know that their risen Redeemer is mighty; is crowned with glory and honor and set over the realm of nature and the empire of the world, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Let them have no fear as to the final triumph of his cause.”[19]

[1] Chilton, The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Dallas, GA: Dominion Press, 1987), 75-76. Also see Michael Barber, Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and Applying its Lessons Today (Stubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2005), 47.

[2] “The seven stars in his right hand contrast with the pretensions of Roman emperors who asserted their cosmic rule with the symbols of planets surrounding them. Moreover, in astrological magic the stars, or planets, were believed to determine the destiny of people and nations. Christ holding the seven stars in his right hand appears as the one and the only one who controls the fate of each individual and of the cosmos as a whole. Moreover, an ironic interpretation will turn the stars into ecclesiastical angels who are subject to censure and praise (v. 20).” Gerhard A. Krodel, Revelation, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1989), 95.

[3] Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 92.

[4] Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries) (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 253.

[5] “Propaganda, Power, and Perversion of Biblical Truths: Coins Illustrating the Book of Revelation,” Biblical Archaeology (November 15, 2021). https://bit.ly/4xLq6ts

[6] (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1913), 172-173, 174.

[7] Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation, 2 vols. (Acworth, GA and Vallecito, CA: Tolle Lege Press and Chalcedon Foundation, 2024), 2:1341.

[8] Alan F. Johnson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: with The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 34.

[9] James M. Hamilton, Jr., Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 51.

[10] The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966), 45.

[11] John P. Newport, The Lion and the Lamb: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation for Today (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1986), 137.

[12] Ray Summers, Worthy Is the Lamb: An Interpretation of Revelation (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951), 105.

[13] Alan F. Johnson, “Revelation,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation, eds. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 13:606.

[14] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), 33.

[15] Robert H. Mounce, What Are We Waiting For? A Commentary on Revelation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2004), 6.

[16] Christopher A. Davis, Revelation, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub., 2000), 121.

[17] Adam Clarke, Revelation 1:16.

[18] Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 59.

[19] Henry Cowles, The Revelation of John; With Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Practical (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1871), 64.

Creating a "Just" Society

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 09:00:53 -0400

Gary responds to a recent article by Christian apologist Greg Koukl about Christians being involved in culture and politics.

The objection from Christians that religion and politics do not mix can be answered in at least four ways. First, it’s true that the Bible’s primary concern is not politics. Of course, the same could be said about the family and church not being the Bible’s primary concern. And yet, there are few Christians who would maintain that Christians should not be involved in developing biblical models for the family and church.

Second, because there is sin in the world, God has created temporal ways of dealing with it. In family government, God has designated mothers and fathers as rulers (governors) to admonish and discipline their children because children tend to disobey their parents (Eph. 6:1–3). The “rod of correction” is one instrument of discipline (Prov. 13:24). In the church, depending on the ecclesiastical governmental structure, bishops (Episcopalian), elders (Presbyterian), and deacons (Congregational) have ecclesiastical authority in their respective churches and/or denominations. The reason for church government, including its laws and discipline, is the reality of sin even among Christians (e.g., 1 Cor. 5–6). Paul outlines ways for churches, as ecclesiastical governments with real and necessary authority, to handle disputes among members (1 Cor. 6:1–11).

Third, civil government has been given authority to maintain order in society, to punish evildoers, and to promote the good (Gen. 9:5–6; Rom. 13:1–6; 1 Pet. 2:13–14). Essentially, civil governments have jurisdiction over what people do of a criminal nature (theft, rape, murder, etc.). As Thomas Jefferson put it, “the legislative powers of government reach actions only.” But what actions deserve punishment? Left to itself, history has shown us that civil governments can be notoriously unjust and tyrannical. Genocide has been committed against racial and ethnic groups with the full approval of civil governments. With no moral reference point outside the State, civil governments are not bound by ethical constraints. For example, “In 1933, it was officially declared in Germany that the final authority as to the principles of the State and the law is the National Socialistic German Workers’ Party; that no other political party could be formed; and that the Fuehrer should make its laws.”

Fourth, politics, because it deals with civil government, is not a necessary evil; it’s necessary because of evil (Gen. 4:4–15, 23–24; 9:5–7). The sword is the State’s God-ordained instrument of “wrath.” This is why the “law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers” (1 Tim. 1:9–10). Since civil government has the power of the sword, it is incumbent upon Christians to get involved in politics to ensure that political officials use it wisely and with restraint.

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths

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Gary responds to a recent article by Christian apologist Greg Koukl about Christians being involved in culture and politics. Koukl strangely recommends not using Scripture to make arguments in moral debates, but instead using “common grace and natural revelation.” Gary points out that this is a) nothing new, and b) begging the question because who gets to define what’s “common” or “natural”? It’s essentially every man for himself.

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Do Roman Coins Reveal When Revelation Was Written?

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 08:46:48 -0400

Podcaster and author Joel Richardson recently claimed that Revelation’s content was revealed to John around AD 95,[1] during Domitian’s reign (AD 81-96), based on a coin the Emperor struck. The coin features the Latin legend Divvs Caesar Imp[eratori] Domitiani F[ilivs] (“The Divine Caesar, Son of the Emperor Domitian”) on the face. The reverse depicts a naked infant seated on a globe surrounded by seven stars. Minted around AD 82-83, the coin honors Domitian’s deceased infant son, Flavius Caesar. (None of the images of the coins in this article are AI-generated.)

Coins for deceased emperors and empresses often feature heavenly bodies, including sun rays, the moon, and stars. The seven stars primarily symbolize immortality and deification.

According to numismatic evidence, there were several imperial coins prior to Domitian that contained the seven stars on the reverse side. For example, Robert S. McIvor points to three types of coins that were minted on the island of Crete during the reigns of Caligula and Claudius (i.e., between 37 and 54 CE) to celebrate divine Augustus.[2]

Joel Richardson claims the Domitian coin “settles the late dating of the book of Revelation” by arguing that the seven stars refer to a coin struck around AD 82-83 by Domitian. Richardson challenges those who date the composition of Revelation to before AD 70 based on the Domitian coin. (For a comprehensive study of the dating issue, see Greg L. Bahnsen’s unfinished article “The Historical Setting of the Writing of Revelation.”)[3] Richardson bears the burden of proof for his claim, since nothing in Revelation links the following verses to Domitian or to coins.

• In His right hand He [Jesus] held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength (1:16).

• As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (1:20).

• To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands” (2:1).

The Days of Vengeance

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The Bible is clear: “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” We know this for certain because Revelation 1:20 explains the meaning. Everything else is speculation, either good or bad.[4] Richardson said the following in his podcast of September 2026:

I’ve never heard anyone who holds to the early dating even attempt to explain this. In my opinion, anyone who is honest, anyone who examines the evidence, is going to go, “Yeah, that’s pretty strong evidence. That’s a pretty clear explicit connection.” Does it prove it? Absolutely, 100% no.

It is not “a pretty clear explicit connection.” What evidence does he offer beyond speculation? I’m not opposed to speculation, but speculation is not evidence. It’s an opinion based on a minimal study of the subject.

He is correct on one point. His argument does not prove the late date 100 percent. In fact, there is no way to prove that Revelation 1:16, 20, and 2:1 refer to Domitian and his coin, mainly because Revelation does not tell us when John was exiled to Patmos (1:9), who exiled him, or whether a coin with seven stars is a key interpretive factor for the date of Revelation.

If coins with seven stars are interpretive keys for the dating of Revelation, then seven-star coins before AD 70 and after AD 95 are equally important and ruin Richardson’s claim. Richardson has found no new evidence from the Domitian coin that points, directly or indirectly, to Revelation’s date.

He gives the impression, intentional or not, that his claim is a new discovery. It’s not. The first place I saw it is in Ethelbert Stauffer’s book Christ and the Caesars: Historical Sketches, first published in German in 1952 and later in English in 1955. Stauffer states, “We see [seven stars] from early imperial times on provincial coins from Crete. Crete is the home of the myth of Zeus. There Zeus was born, and there he lies buried. So the seven planets appear on Cretan coins, now with the Zeus child at play on the heavenly globe, now with the heavenly king with his sceptre, and occasionally, too, along with the deified Augustus.”[5] The Greeks’ Zeus became the Romans’ Jupiter.

Other coins show seven stars before AD 70. Many Roman coins include seven stars. A coin from Lucius Lucretius Trio, struck during the Roman Republic and dating to around 76 BC, features an upward-pointing crescent moon surrounded by a ring of seven stars, possibly representing the constellation Ursa Major, like the Domitian coin. This coin could just as easily support a pre-AD 70 date for Revelation, since the prophecy looks back, and these coins had been circulating for decades.

The DIVVS IVLIVS (Divine Julius) coin below is a silver denarius minted by Augustus (c. 19-18 BC) that commemorates the deification of Julius Caesar. The design references Caesar’s Comet of 44 BC amid seven stars, which appeared during Caesar’s funeral games. The Romans interpreted it as a sign that his soul had ascended to the heavens. These coins served as political propaganda, reinforcing Augustus’s status as a son of god (Divi Filius).

Several Roman coins celebrating prominent deceased personalities reproduced seven stars on their reverse: for instance, Divus Augustus, Diva Faustina, Diva Paulina.

Coincidentally, Halley’s comet (considered a star like the planets) passed over Jerusalem in AD 66, four years before the temple’s destruction and around the time Revelation was revealed to John. According to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the comet’s appearance was a dire omen that foretold the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Josephus described “a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year” (The Jewish War, 6.5.3.289). The print below is cataloged as “Comet of 66 AD (Halley) over Jerusalem,” from Stanisław Lubieniecki’s Historia universalis omulum cometarum, published in Amsterdam in 1666.

The coin below depicts the bare head of Caligula (Gaius, AD 37-41), with a scepter over his left shoulder. The reverse shows the radiate head of Divus Augustus, surrounded by seven stars, symbolizing the deified emperor. This design appears on silver denarii and gold aurei minted in AD 37 to honor Augustus, whose Temple Caligula dedicated early in his reign. Following Richardson’s interpretive logic, this coin depicts what we find in Revelation 1:16, 20, and 2:1.

The coin below depicts an Emperor with sun rays emanating from his head and flanked by two stars.

Hadrian (AD 117 to 138) issued silver denarii between AD 125 and 128 that feature a crescent moon accompanied by seven stars. The stars represent the Big Dipper, while the moon was associated with various goddesses, linking the emperor to divine protection and eternity.

Coins struck by Septimius Severus (AD 193 to 211) feature the seven-star and lunar motifs, accompanied by legends such as SAECVL FELICIT (Happy Times) or AETERNITAS AVS (Eternal Augustus). Some coins from Nikopolis ad Istrum, a major Roman and Early Byzantine city, show six stars surrounding one large star within the crescent moon:

This is a Roman silver denarius issued for Julia Maesa, grandmother of the emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander (c. AD 160-217), with the legend IVLIA MAESA AVG (Julia Maesa Augusta). The reverse legend SAECVLI FELICITAS (“Happiness of the Age”) surrounds a crescent moon and seven stars.

Using the sun, moon, and stars to describe people or nations is nothing unusual. Abraham was promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of heaven (Gen. 22:17). In Genesis 37, we read about Joseph’s dream of the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing to him. Jacob immediately interprets the celestial bodies as his family members: the sun represents himself, the moon represents Joseph’s deceased mother Rachel, and the eleven stars represent Joseph’s eleven brothers. Revelation 12:1 uses similar language: “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of stars indicate the demise of nations (e.g., Isa. 13:10; 24:23; 34:4; Ezek. 32:7-8; Joel 2:2, 31; 3:15; Amos 5:20; 8:9; Zeph. 1:5). “Isa 14:12 reads, ‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn.’”[6] Jesus borrowed this language directly from Scripture and applied it to the judgment that would befall Jerusalem before that first-century generation passed away (Matt. 24:29, 33-34). It’s not surprising that Roman rulers would elevate themselves in lofty, stellar ways, driven by arrogance and self-importance. They may have considered themselves gods or sons of the gods, but they died as all men do (Psalm 82:7). “He who sits in the heavens laughs/The Lord scoffs at them” (2:4).

The Book of Revelation Made Easy

With 22 chapters of symbolism, mysterious characters, and apocalyptic drama—all told in “picture language” unmatched in the rest of Scripture—the book of Revelation is difficult enough on its own. But in ignoring the Apostle John’s clear directives for interpreting his prophecies, contemporary theologians have wrested Revelation away from its first-century context and perverted its significance for the church—then and now—often turning the book into a stumbling block. Now in its second edition, Kenneth Gentry’s The Book of Revelation Made Easy seeks to pry John’s narrative of the victory of Christ’s bride out of the grip of speculative futurists, and put it back in the hands of everyday Christians.

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John, the recipient of the revelation, could just as easily have been thinking about past Roman rulers, like the Divine Julius and Caligula, whose coins were struck before AD 70. Here’s a Nero coin with two stars.[7]

Notice the spelling NEPON (Nerōn).[8] When the name Neron Caesar is transliterated into Hebrew letters as Neron Qesar(נרון קסר), the sum of its letter values (Nun=50, Resh=200, Vav=6, Nun=50, Q=100, Samekh=60, Resh=200) equals 666 (see the chart below),[9] a figure associated with the number of the beast in Revelation 13:18 that coincides with the timing of events (1:1, 3: 22:6, 10) since there were no “soon” and “near” prophetic events after AD 95. An alternative spelling, the Latin-derived name and title Nero Qesar (נרו קסר), yields 616, which accounts for the number found in some ancient manuscripts. In both cases, Nero is the identified sea beast (13:1-10).

Craig R. Koester has analyzed the Number of the Beast (666) from Revelation in his 2016 article in the Journal of Early Christian History.[10] Koester supports the “Nero Caesar” interpretation, which argues that 666 is a gematria code for the name “Nero Caesar” written in Hebrew characters. This should not surprise us since the Revelation is written against the literary background of the Old Testament, and Jews would be the ones to decipher the number. “Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast …” (Rev. 13:8). He validates this theory by examining recently published papyri, graffiti, and inscriptions from ancient sites including Smyrna, Oxyrhynchus,[11] Ketef Jericho, Murabba‘at, Sardis, and Dura Europos. Additionally, Koester discusses textual variant 616, its interpretive history, and how it entered the textual tradition of Revelation, citing early church figures such as the second-century Greek bishop and Church Father Irenaeus of Lyons.

Click here to read Part Two

[1] Richardson also claims that a great persecution occurred during Domitian’s reign, and this was evidence of a late date. Historic premillennialist George Eldon Ladd admits, “there is no evidence that during the last decade of the first century there occurred any open and systematic persecution of the church.” George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), 197.

[2] Sanghwan Lee, “Jesus, the Holder of the Seven Stars in His Right Hand: An Examination of Rev 1:16a in Light of Numismatic Evidence,” Brill (June 6, 2022). Link here.

[3] “In 1872 James Glasgow asserted that the defenders of the early date ‘have so established the early date of the Apocalypse as no writer of the Domitianic school can successfully meet. They find it much easier to speak lightly of what they cannot answer.’” James Glasgow, The Apocalypse Translated and Expounded (Edinburgh: T.O.T. Clark, 1982), 41. Quoted by Bahnsen in “The Historical Setting of the Writing of Revelation.”

[4] J. Nelson Kraybill, who begins with the claim that Revelation was written during Domitian’s reign, states that “a coin from the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96), most likely the emperor when John wrote Revelation, features an icon of the infant son of the emperor seated on a globe.” Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2010), 37. He begins with an assumption and then argues from an unproven premise.

[5] Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars: Historical Sketches, trans. K. and R. Gregor Smith (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, [1952] 1955), 152.

[6] David E. Aune, Revelation 1-5, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1997), 52A: 107-108.

[7] The reverse side is translated as “ΤΑΒΗΝΩΝ (Tabēnōn), of the people of Tabae” (that is, from the city of Tabae).

[8] The uppercase r (rho) in Greek is written as ‘P.’

[9] For a comprehensive study about Nero being the Sea Beast of Revelation 13, see Jay Rogers’ book Nero Caesar: The Sixth Head of the Beast (Clermont, FL: Media House International, 2021).

[10] Craig R. Koester, “The Number of the Beast in Revelation 13 in Light of Papyri, Graffiti, and Inscriptions,” Journal of Early Christian History (2016), 1-21. Link here.

[11] J. K. Elliott, “Seven Recently Published New Testament Fragments from Oxyrhynchus,” Novum Testamentum 42, no. 3 (2000), 209-213.

Government Schools and Bogus History Books Have Corrupted Young Minds

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 05:45:50 -0400

Each Columbus Day (or is it now ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ commemorating the bloodlust of the Aztecs and Incas?), Christopher Columbus is hammered for his voyages of exploitation of native peoples. See the first chapter in Mary Grabar’s Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation Against America and Jeff Fynn-Paul’s Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in the New World. In the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon’s character recommends Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States as a “real history book” that will “knock you on your ass,” contrasting it with traditional academic texts.

J. Soprano from HBO’s The Sopranos does his homework at the kitchen counter. He tells his parents that his history teacher compared Christopher Columbus to Slobodan Milošević. His father, Tony, fumes, “Your teacher said that?” A. J. responds, “It’s not just my teacher—it’s the truth. It’s in my history book.” The camera pans to A. J. holding a copy of A People’s History.

Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s Zinn’s “history” that has corrupted millions of young people who are most likely some of the crazies voting for Communists and Islamists.

The Case for America's Christian Heritage

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Many history books get a lot of history wrong, and we are left with the consequences. Consider the claim that Christians taught that the earth was flat because that’s what the Bible teaches. That couldn’t be further from the truth, yet the claim often appeared in our history books. In the eleven-volume Our Wonder World, first published in 1914, the editors offered the following undocumented claims: “All the ancient peoples thought the earth was flat, or, if not perfectly flat, a great slightly curving surface,” and “Columbus was trying to convince people that the earth was round.”[1]

Even as recently as 1961, the Encyclopedia Britannica perpetuated the myth that Columbus’s voyage was about proving the earth was round: “Before Columbus proved the world was round, people thought the horizon marked its edge. Today we know better.” The people knew better in Columbus’s day.

A 1983 textbook for fifth graders reported that Columbus “felt he would eventually reach the Indies in the East. Many Europeans still believed that the world was flat. Columbus, they thought, would fall off the earth.”[2] A 1982 text for eighth graders said that Europeans “believed … that a ship could sail out to sea just so far before it fell off the edge of the sea…. The people of Europe a thousand years ago knew little about the world.”[3]

The late evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould admitted that Christians did not believe the earth was flat. “Virtually all major Christian scholars affirmed our planet’s roundness. The Venerable Bede referred to the earth as orbis in medio totius mundi positus (an orb placed in the center of the universe).”[4] Roger Bacon (1220-1292) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) also believed that Earth is round.

Prominent scholars like John D. Bernal (1901-1971), in his four-volume Science in History (1954), and Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004), prize-winning author and Librarian of Congress from 1975 to 1987, propagated the myth without any historical substantiation. Boorstin spills a great deal of ink inventing a history of flat-earth beliefs that he traces to an obscure sixth-century monk, Cosmas Indicopleustes, a 6th-century Greek merchant, traveler, and later a monk from Alexandria, Egypt, who, according to medieval scholar Jeffrey Russell, “had no followers whatever: his works were ignored or dismissed with derision throughout the Middle Ages.”[5]

Earlier attempts to present Columbus as a scientific iconoclast can be found in two standard nineteenth-century anti-Christian works pitting science against religion. John William Draper claims Christians had no interest in scientific discovery. Instead, “they originated in commercial rivalries, and the question of the shape of the earth was finally settled by three sailors, Columbus, De Gama, and, above all, by Ferdinand Magellan.”[6]

While Columbus and other informed sailors who regularly sailed beyond the horizon believed in “the globular figure of the earth,” such an idea was, “as might be expected . . . received with disfavor by theologians.”[7] A similar argument appears in Andrew D. White’s A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom.[8]

The “shape of the earth” was not in question in Columbus’s day. “Columbus, like all educated people of his time, knew that the world was round….”[9]

The myth is widely held that scholars of the Renaissance believed that the Earth was flat and Columbus had to prove them wrong by sailing west to “India.” Makes a great story, except that it’s categorically false. Since the dawn of recorded history, people realized that the Earth was a sphere. Aristotle came to this conclusion through geometry; Roman scholars were also clear on this point. Documented accounts take note of how the mast of a ship stays visible after the body disappears over the horizon. Even ancient sailors had to be aware of the Earth’s curve. (JSTOR)

The image above is from a 1550 edition of a reproduction of the work On the Sphere of the World, originally written around 1230. Below is a coin struck during the reign of Domitian around AD 82-83 that depicts Earth as a globe.

The Flat-Earth Culprit

How and when did the flat-earth myth get started? The earliest claim that “the myth that a flat earth was part of Christian doctrine in the Middle Ages appears to have originated with Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who wrongly claimed that geographers had been put on trial for impiety after asserting the contrary.”[10]

He revised this claim in his 1620 book Novum Organum. Contrary to Bacon’s original claim, “no major church council declared heretical either the roundness of earth or the antipodes.”[11]

But the myth entered popular history and textbooks when Washington Irving published his three-volume History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828). Irving, best known for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” used his fiction-writing skills to invent a supposed confrontation between Columbus and churchmen who claimed the Bible taught the earth was flat. No such encounter ever took place. Samuel Eliot Morison, a noted Columbus biographer, describes Irving’s story as “misleading and mischievous nonsense, … one of the most popular Columbian myths.”[12]

Irving’s fictionalized account of Columbus describes him as being “assailed with citations from the Bible and the Testament: the book of Genesis, the psalms of David, the orations of the Prophets, the epistles of the apostles, and the gospels of the Evangelists. To these were added expositions of various saints and reverend Commentators…. Such are specimens of the errors and prejudices, the mingled ignorance and erudition, and the pedantic bigotry, with which Columbus had to contend.”[13] Irving’s account has only one problem: “It is fabrication, and it is largely upon this fabric that the idea of a medieval flat earth was established.”[14]

Like maps today, medieval maps were flat. “The mappae mundi [below] interpreted the world in spiritual as well as geographical terms, and included Biblical illustrations as well as portrayals of Classical learning and legend. As pictorial descriptions of the outside world, these impressive maps were also educational; they were used for teaching natural history and classical legends, and reinforcing religious beliefs.”

History 101: Lessons from the Past

History 101 is an overview course designed to help Christians understand their place in the historical timeline. With study materials in audio, video, and print, History 101 will give the student of history much to think about. This course will point the way forward by revealing how we got where we are. You will be entertained and encouraged by the stories from ancient and not-so-ancient history.

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A critic of Russell’s book claims that evidence for the belief in a flat earth can be found in the Hereford Cathedral in England and the 13th-century Hereford Mappa Mundi. This would be like an archaeological dig a thousand years from today, finding a cache of maps hanging in public schools from the 1960s and concluding that people in the 20th century believed in a flat Earth. Why are geopositioned satellites needed if Earth is flat? Three satellites would be enough for triangulation if Earth were flat. Mappa Mundi is no different from how schoolchildren study geography today, using flat maps.

Boorstin asserted that from AD 300 to at least 1300, Europe suffered under what he describes as “scholarly amnesia” due to the rise of “Christian faith and dogma [that] suppressed the useful image of the world that had been so slowly, so painfully, and so scrupulously drawn by ancient geographers.”[15] He also claimed that the scientific advances made by the Greeks were dismantled by Christians based on an appeal to the Bible. It is the Bible, independent of any competing cosmology, which supports the empirical data that the earth is a globe:

Religion enforced the scientific demonstration of the earth’s rotundity; God made the earth a sphere because it was the most perfect form. In the Old Testament there is a reference to this in Isaiah xl.22: “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth”—“circle” being the translation of the Hebrew khug, sphere.[16]

The image below is from the Psalter World Map, Mid-13th Century.

Of course, not all Christians appealed to the Bible for their views of the shape of Earth. In fact, the Bible says little on the subject. Nothing in the Bible, however, contradicts the empirical data. For example, Venerable Bede (673-735), a monk of Jarrow (in present-day Tyne and Wear, England) and “the Father of English history,” maintained “that the earth is a globe that can be called a perfect sphere because the surface irregularities of mountains and valleys are so small in comparison to its vast size.” He specifies that the “earth is ‘round’ not in the sense of ‘circular’ but in the sense of a ball.”[17] Earth is smoother than a bowling ball, but it is not rounder. It is an oblate spheroid.

In Columbus’s day, the debate wasn’t about whether Earth was flat or round. “The issue was the width of the ocean; and therein the opposition was right.”[18] Columbus underestimated Earth’s circumference and the ocean’s width by many miles. “In fact, the distance Columbus was planning to cover [based on accurate maps] was 10,600 miles by air.”[19] Providentially for Columbus and his edgy crew, the Americas stood in his way.

Even considering his mistaken conclusions about measurements, “Columbus always rates the highest accolades from scholars when it comes to seamanship. He was, without question, the finest sailor of his time.”[20] Virtually every student of Columbus accepts Bartolomé de Las Casas’s (1484-1566) opinion, written in his Historia de las Indias, that “Christopher Columbus surpassed all of his contemporaries in the art of navigation.”[21]

The Columbus myth is another example of historical revisionism, the attempt by secularists to cast the Church in a negative light. Liberal historians relish the fact that schoolchildren all over the country are being taught that Christians are ignorant, flat-earthers who will not listen to history, reason, and science. However, when we accurately survey the facts of history, we discover that true science never conflicts with the Bible. Scientific misinformation is never promoted through an accurate understanding of the Bible. Instead, people manipulate truth only outside the biblical worldview.

[1] Howard Benjamin Grose, ed., Our Wonder World, 11 vols. (Chicago: George L. Shuman & Co., [1914] 1918), 1:1, 5.

[2] America Past and Present (Scott Foresman, 1983), 98. Quoted in Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth, 3.

[3] We the People (Heath, 1982), 28-29. Quoted in Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth, 3.

[4] Stephen Jay Gould, Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998), 114.

[5] Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians (New York: Praeger, 1991), 4. See Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers: A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself (New York: Random House, 1983), chaps. 11-14.

[6] John William Draper, History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1875), 159.

[7] Draper, History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science, 160.

[8] Andrew D. White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (New York: George Braziller, [1895] 1955), 108.

[9] Zvi Dor-Ner, Columbus and the Age of Discovery (New York: William Morrow, 1991), 72.

[10] James Hannam, The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution. Hannam references John Henry, Knowledge is Power: How Magic, the Government and an Apocalyptic Vision Inspired Francis Bacon to Create Modern Science (Cambridge: Icon Books, 2003), 85.

[11] Michael Newton Keas, Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion (Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2019), 55.

[12] Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1942), 89.

[13] Quoted in Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth, 53.

[14] Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth, 53.

[15] Boorstin, The Discoverers, 100.

[16] Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), 6.

[17] Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth, 20.

[18] Morison, Admiral of the Sea, 89.

[19] Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (New York: Crown Publishers, 1990), 6.

[20] Robert H. Fuson, The Log of Christopher Columbus (Camden, ME: International Marine Publishing Co., 1987), 29.

[21] Quoted in Fuson, The Log of Christopher Columbus, 29.

Episode 112: Why Don't Literalists Interpret Ezekiel 38-39 Literally?

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 06:55:15 -0400

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 112

Gary points out that many Bible prophecy writers, who claim to interpret the Bible “literally,” don’t actually do so.

Applying the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 to modern-day nations is contrary to the historical context. No nation today had any part in Israel’s exile 2600 years ago.

The prophecy begins with instructions given to Ezekiel to set his “face toward Gog of the land of Magog” (38:2). Who is Gog and what is the land of Magog? The most popular interpretation is that Gog is modern-day Russia. Magog, a people group that first appears in Genesis 10:2, is thought to be an alliance of nations that join Russia in a failed end-time invasion of Israel. Added to the mix, a leader of this confederation is said to be the “prince of Rosh,” the leader of Russia.

In 1972, Carl Johnson wrote Prophecy Made Plain for Times Like These, in which he includes a lengthy quotation from a message Jack Van Impe gave at Canton Baptist Temple in Canton, Ohio, sometime in 1969. Like so many who claim to know what’s on the prophetic horizon, Van Impe made his case for an imminent war with Russia on what the newspapers of 1969 were reporting. This war was so close, he charged, “that the stage is being set for what could explode into World War III at any moment.” The passage of more than half of a century hardly seems like “at any moment.”

History shows that when the headlines reflect a change in the political climate, many of the interpretations of the prophetic parts of the Bible change with them. The repeated failure of the interpretive history of Ezekiel 38 and 39 over the centuries is prime evidence that modern-day prophecy writers are not “profiling the future through the lens of Scripture” but through the ever-changing headlines of today’s news. This is why revised prophecy books continue to be published.

The Gog and Magog End-Time Alliance

My library is filled with books that attempt to make the case that the events predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39 are on our prophetic horizon, and it seems that each month new books and articles appear insisting that “given the current world situation, nuclear war is inevitable” based on what we read in Ezekiel’s prophecy. What if we read Ezekiel 38 and 39 literally? Is it possible that the Gog and Magog alliance that was designed “to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children” has already taken place? That’s exactly what The Gog and Magog End-Time Alliance attempts to show.

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Gary points out that many Bible prophecy writers, who claim to interpret the Bible “literally,” don’t actually do so. This is especially true of the so-called Battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39. This battle is said to be fought with primitive weapons in ancient countries, with the goal of plundering gold, silver, cattle, and goods. The literalists seldom take these details literally.

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