Category Archives: Revelation

THE POWER OF FICTION FOR PRETERISM

Revelation March 17, 2017 Comments: 2

PMT 2017-022 By Brian Godawa

If you are like me, a postmillennial redemptive-historical preterist, you have been deeply disturbed by the past huge success of Left Behind, as well as the current financial siphon of speculative novels on the book of Revelation. Is this concern because of greed or envy for the success of others? May it never be. My sadness is because I think it represents the spirit of the age: a hunger for conspiracy theories. In this world of obsession with narrative over facts, even Christians are more drawn to sensational fantasies of the end times than to the real-world glory of the Gospel in the Kingdom of God. Futurists (like Left Behinders) seem more interested in the coming of the “Antichrist” than in the coming of Christ, or rather, than in the current reign of Jesus Christ over all (Eph 2:20-22). Continue reading →

REVELATION COMMENTARY COVER VOTE

Revelation January 16, 2017 Comments: 77

three-coversSpecial Survey

I am interrupting my Postmillennial Primer series for a one-time special survey.

Tolle Lege, the publisher of my forthcoming commentary on Revelation, has typeset vol. 1 and is working on typesetting vol. 2. Not only so, but they are now looking into cover designs.

We are going to test the waters with three options. If you would like to vote on your favorite cover, please let me know which you would prefer. I will only display the cover to vol 1;  the cover to vol 2 would copy the design of the first one while replacing the graphic image with a related one.

UPDATE!

On the afternoon of 1/17/17 from all sources of our survey the votes were:

#1 = 34%
#2 = 33%
#3 =  33%

On 1/18/17 at 6:00 AM the votes have changed remarkably:

#1 = 29%
#2 = 29%
#3 = 40%

It looks like we might have to go to the Electoral College after checking the hanging chads! I wonder if the Russians are doing this to make matters more difficult?

Book covers are important because people actually do judge a book by its cover. The cover of a book must capture the eye on a store shelf containing scores of other books. Otherwise, a potential reader/buyer might walk on by, not picking up the book and surveying its Table of Contents to see what it is about. (If they had taken my course on Righteous Writing, they would know how important it is to look at a book’s Table of Contents to help evaluate the book.)

By the way, I will not be posting the high-resolution version. So they will not seem as clear as the final result. But I think you will be able to figure it out. Continue reading →

REVELATION COMMENTARY UPDATE

Preterism, Revelation January 6, 2017 Comments: 13

revelation-commentary-typesetPMT 2016-003 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

A number of my readers have expressed interest in the Revelation commentary I have written. I have finally received notice from the publisher that vol. 1 has been fully typeset. The commentary will be titled: The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation.

The first of two volumes is 880 pages long and covers Introduction through Revelation 9. Of these pages, 208 are the “Introduction.” Introducing the distinctive approach to the commentary is vitally important, hence the depth of the material therein. Continue reading →

THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH (4)

Israel, Revelation November 9, 2016 Comments: 4

ancient-jews-jerusalemPMT 2016-082 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the fourth and final article in a series exploring the meaning of “those who dwell on the earth” in Revelation. I am arguing that “earth” should be translated “Land” (i.e., of Israel), and that the phrase refers to the Jews in Israel. So let’s continue!

We find the second clear reference in our text in 6:10. Here we read: “They cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth [tōn katoikountōn epi tēs gēs]?’” (6:10). That the Land-dweller phrase clearly applies to Jews in Israel appears on the following evidence. Continue reading →

THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH (3)

Israel, Revelation November 4, 2016 Leave a comment

key-of-davidPMT-2016-81 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In Revelation we have an interesting phrase that occurs time and again, and which plays an important role in the drama. This is the third in a short series analyzing the phrase and its significance for the redemptive-historical preterist view of Revelation that I hold.

But now let’s continue by beginning to consider the issue directly as we look at:

The “Land-dwellers” in Revelation

Of the twelve appearances of gē linked with katoikia, four of them quite clearly refer to the Jews in the Land of Israel (3:10; 6:10; 11:10 [2x]), two of them (13:7–8 and 14:6) seem strongly to refer to Israel, and two (17:2, 8) could very well do so. The remaining four references could go either way, but in light of the clearer allusions and John’s using the phrase as a recurring technical designation, they surely designate the same people. Continue reading →

THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH (2)

Israel, Revelation, Uncategorized November 2, 2016 Leave a comment

dead-seaPMT 2016-080 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the second article in a short series on a recurring phrase in Revelation, generally translated “those who dwell on the earth.” I am arguing that it should be translated “those who dwell in the Land,” i.e., of Israel. For brevity I translate the whole phrase as “Land-dwellers.” In this article I will begin with:

“The Land” in Revelation

Before discussing the Land in Rev I would remind the reader of Rev’s strongly Judaic character. As I argue in the Introduction (as per most commentators) Rev is wholly saturated with OT allusions, strongly expressed in terms of Hebraic syntactical peculiarities, and brightly colored by Judaic images. John also presents his work as a forensic drama wherein he is presenting a covenant lawsuit from God. All of this prepares us for recognizing the possible use of the Land as an important image in this remarkable work and the Land-dwellers as the recipients of most of its judgments. Continue reading →

THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH (1)

Interpretation, Revelation October 28, 2016 1 Comment

rev-6-vv-9-10PMT 2016-079 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In Revelation we frequently read about “those who dwell upon the earth.” This is an important recurring phrase that serves as a terminus technicus for John. It occurs twelve times in seven closely related grammatical forms (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10 [2 x]; 13:8, 12, 14 [2x]; 14:6; 17:2, 8). The form we have here at 6:10 is: tōn katoikountōn epi tēs gēs. Elsewhere we find the following: Continue reading →