Eschatology

BACK TO THE FUTURE
Prophetic Previews
or
Coming Attractions and Un-attractions in Eschatology

pdf

Dr. Paul Manuel—2001

Because of the length of "Back to the Future" (91 pages) only the Contents and Preface are below. The entire paper is available as a pdf here.

Contents

	Preface	1
I.	Getting Our Bearings (Matt 24)	2
II.	Conflict of History (Dan 7; 9)	8
III.	Restoration of Israel (Ezek 36-48)	15
IV.	Jews and Gentiles (Zech 12-14)	20
V.	Resurrection of the Dead (1 Cor 15)	24
VI.	Day of the Lord (1 Thess 5; 2 Thess 2)	28
	The parousia of Jesus and the period of judgment	29
VII.	A Spiritual Struggle (Rev 12-14)	32
	Outline: The Structure of Revelation	33
	Rapture Review: Events That Occur Together	37
VIII.	Coming of the Messiah (Rev 19-20)	41
IX.	Eternity with God (Rev 21-22)	45
	Conclusion	47
	Live in the Light of What You Have Learned	47
	Appendix A: God’s Wrath and God’s People	49
	Appendix B: The Battle of Armageddon	50
	Bibliography	56
	Endnotes	57

Preface

One of the many limitations we have as human beings is time. We can recall the past, if we experienced it or if someone else related it to us, but we cannot see in the other direction, into the future. Nevertheless, we have an innate curiosity about what lies ahead. Solomon said,

[NIV] Eccl 3:11b [God] has…set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what [He] has done from beginning to end.

This curiosity is one of many things distinguishing us from animals, whose sense of time is even more limited than ours. They may prepare for the immediate future (e.g., next season), but they do not contemplate the distant future.¹ We alone have that interest, even fascination, sometimes obsession. It is our temporal nature that makes us wonder what the future holds, the immediate as well as what is more distant. Another reason the future interests us is that we have the potential to experience it. God has extended our existence beyond its natural span into eternity, a distinction He does not, as far as we know, accord animals.

To satisfy these two elements, our natural curiosity about the future and our actual potential to experience the future, we may seek answers about the future in a variety of ways.

• We may seek answers in superstition (e.g., occult).
• We may seek answers in imagination (e.g., science fiction).
• We may seek answers in revelation (e.g., Bible).

However entertaining such sources may be, only one of them is really satisfying, because only one source, scripture, is really reliable. That is the upside: The information God gives is reliable. The downside is that the information God gives is limited. There is not as much as we might like. Nevertheless, the little we do know is more valuable than the much we do not know, because it confirms how we should conduct ourselves in the present, wherever we are on the timeline of His program.

In this study, we will examine several passages of scripture that describe major eschatological episodes.² In the process, we will develop a chronology (timeline), examining specific signs, events, and circumstances to determine when they occur in relationship to each other. We will also determine the importance of these events by looking for instruction and not just information, because…

“God rarely gives information about the future

without some instruction for the present.”

During the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he devotes one of his instructional sessions to answering the disciples’ questions about the future. In this session, he provides a basic timeline, offering a general chronology of how the next stage in God’s plan will unfold. It is the fullest and most ordered description of this period in scripture, showing the reader where other treatments of specific events fit in the divine program. It is also where we will begin our study…

For the entire study along with its Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.