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    The Great Tribulation And The Day of the Lord: Reconciling the Premillennial Approach to Revelation
    The Great Tribulation And The Day of the Lord: Reconciling the Premillennial Approach to Revelation
    The Great Tribulation And The Day of the Lord: Reconciling the Premillennial Approach to Revelation
    Ebook155 pages2 hours

    The Great Tribulation And The Day of the Lord: Reconciling the Premillennial Approach to Revelation

    By Greg Baker

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    About this ebook

    For many, trying to understand Revelation is an exercise in futility. So much has been written on the subject in growing complexity that the average layman finds himself conflicted in trying to decide which approach to Revelation is correct. Not only do the various approaches drastically conflict with each other, but proponents of the same approach often vehemently disagree with each other, fighting over verses like dogs over a bone.

    The author found that to be the case in Premillennialism. There are seemingly dozens of camps within this particular belief, but in his own study, he finally realized that nearly all—if not all—of them have the exact same foundational belief that, unfortunately, is the cause of nearly all their differences and the source of most of their contradictory views. After all, if you don’t begin well, you can’t expect to end well. Seemingly across the board, the erroneous belief of what the Great Tribulation and The Day of the Lord actually are has been the basis for all the flawed doctrines within the various Premillennial camps. Defining them scripturally, not only allows the Scripture to be read line up line and precept upon precept, but a significant portion of the contention over certain verses is eliminated.

    Amazingly, once these terms are defined biblically, the study of Revelation suddenly becomes almost ridiculously simple. Oh, there will always be areas that may confuse the Christian or that are disagreed over, but imagine reading Revelation exactly the way we read the rest of the Bible! Revelation is only complex because people have made it so. This book will help you to see the simplicity in it and provide the right foundational approach to Revelation. If you get the beginning right, you are more inclined to stay on the right path.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGreg Baker
    Release dateJan 3, 2014
    ISBN9781310499999
    The Great Tribulation And The Day of the Lord: Reconciling the Premillennial Approach to Revelation
    Author

    Greg Baker

    Ryan Yellowlees is a Canadian clinical counselor and Christian social media content creator.

    Read more from Greg Baker

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      Book preview

      The Great Tribulation And The Day of the Lord - Greg Baker

      As a young pastor just getting started, I was filled with ambition for the Lord and a desire to build a strong work. Naturally, as most preachers do eventually, I turned to Revelation since I knew that people were instinctively interested in this prophetic book. I had hopes that teaching the book would draw people to the church.

      I began teaching a year-long series of Bible studies on this most fascinating book. Having grown up hearing and studying Baptist doctrine, I held to the basic premillennial (futuristic) belief of Revelation. This belief stated that Jesus will return one day in the future, rapture out the saints, and then throw the world into a chaotic seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation. Following this Great Tribulation, Jesus would return once again and throw Satan in prison for 1,000 years while He ruled and reigned on this earth.

      There are, naturally and unfortunately, many differing beliefs in this regard. Even within the futuristic take on Revelation, there are various and conflicting beliefs. All told, these differing opinions can create tremendous confusion to the Bible student or layman who finds these beliefs confusing, contradictory, convoluted, and inconsistent.

      My purpose with this book is not to be the definitive work on the subject. I’ll leave that to more intelligent folk than I. In some respects, I will be adding to the myriad of beliefs out there and thus once again prove that even likeminded people can have differing viewpoints—and still be Christians. No, my purpose is to provide a perspective that aligns more closely with the Scriptures as we read them. Finding this consistent alignment of Scripture has ever been the problem with the study of Revelation—regardless of the viewpoint you approach it with. In our study, we often re-interpret Scripture to make it fit a certain approach or perspective. This is the problem I want to avoid in this book.

      What I want to accomplish is a means by which you, the reader, can study the book of Revelation in a simple manner, without all the hype, convolution, and bizarre attempts to connect the dots.

      I hope you will forgive any bias on my part. I do have a bias; I think every person does, but I want to be upfront and honest about it. My hope is that you’ll take this honest evaluation of the Scriptures to heart and see that Revelation is not as complicated as people have made it. This work will not be an exhaustive study of the End Times. Rather, this book is meant to be a starting point that will make all your other studies of the subject fall into perspective easier and more in line with Scripture.

      Chapter One – A Historic / Futuristic Approach

      Most scholars agree that there are four basic approaches to the book of Revelation.

      Historicist Approach– This view believes that most all of the events in Revelation have already happened throughout history. Amillennialism finds a home in this approach.

      Preterist Approach– This position believes either thatallthe events in Revelation speak of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. or they speak of events that have already happened in the Roman Empire.

      Futuristic Approach– This point of view believes that the events in Revelation are yet to happen. This group includes both Premillennialism and Postmillenialism beliefs. A subset of Premillenialism is the Pre-tribulation, Mid-tribulation, and Post-tribulation Rapture beliefs.

      Idealist Approach– This approach which is also known as the Spiritual Approach, believes that Revelation is mostly symbolic and is more representative of concepts and ideas of Christianity.

      Of course, there are those who differ some with my definitions, but in large part, you would encounter these four perspectives in studying the book of Revelation from outside source material. I believe, for most people, their approach to the book of Revelation is colored by larger doctrinal issues. How a person falls on what is considered to me more core or central doctrinal issues will largely determine which approach is taken toward Revelation. This is not true across the board, but it is true enough.

      Because I believe in salvation by faith and through grace, a literal interpretation (not metaphorical) of the events in the Old Testament, a real Heaven, a real Hell, I tend to hold more to a futuristic perspective of the book of Revelation—as literal events that are yet to happen.

      Depending upon your spiritual upbringing, you may have a different set of core doctrinal beliefs. This in turn would favor you toward one or another of the approaches to Revelation that may differ from mine. This book is for those who believe that the events in Revelation are largely still to come. My bias finds too many contradictions and faults with the other perspectives when compared to my beliefs.

      However, my own study has shifted me somewhat into a combination of a historical and a futuristic perspective. And it is this study, specifically on the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord that I want to share with you.

      Problems with the Futuristic and Idealist Approaches

      My study quickly pointed out several flaws in the futuristic approach. Having been reared in traditional Baptist beliefs, I began fortifying myself with the Scriptures to back up what I believed—and that is when I started running into problems.

      It began with Revelation 4:1 which states:

      Revelation 4:1 – After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

      For most of my church life and, indeed, through my Bible college years, I was taught that this verse marked the Rapture in Revelation—as, undoubtedly, many who are reading this book have been taught. Now, I happen to believe that all Scripture agrees, and that Scripture ought to back up Scripture. I didn’t just want to gloss over the verse based on what I had always been taught. I wanted to back it up.

      When I set out to do it, I could not. There were too many contradictions, loopholes, assumptions, presumptions, and twisting of the Scriptures to make it work. I called pastor after pastor asking for their input, advice, material, and teachings as I sought additional scriptural proof that Revelation 4:1 was indeed the Rapture. The more I talked to people, the more confused I became. It seemed that nearly every preacher with whom I talked had a different idea of what the verses meant exactly. Many disagreed with each other, which did not help me at all. I pointed out the verses that confused me, listened to their explanations, and came away shaken at how often I felt even more confused than helped.

      I never swayed from my belief in a futuristic approach to Revelation, but I did find fault with ALL of the prevailing subset beliefs in this approach. There are two basic futuristic approaches to Revelation:

      Premillennialism– This belief holds that Jesus’ Second Coming will happenbeforea literal 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ. His coming will be the start of that reign.

      Postmillenialism– This belief purports that through the preaching of the Gospel, the world will eventually be Christianized and thus usher in the reign of Christ. Those who take this stance believe that the Second Coming of Christ will occur at the end of this period.

      My study began to reveal flaws in both beliefs, which I found disturbing. What’s more, within this belief, there are a variety of opinions regarding the Rapture. And I found both faults and validation for all three of the Rapture theories within Premillennialism.

      The word ‘Rapture’ is not found in the Bible. This descriptive term means a snatching away. The word is used to describe the belief that, at some point, Jesus will not only return, but take His saints out of this world. There has been (and will no doubt continue to be) much debate among Premillennialists as to when this snatching away will actually occur. My initial study found validation and flaws for all three of the prevailing beliefs, which are as follows:

      Pre-Tribulation Rapture– The Rapture of the saints happensbeforethe seven years of tribulation.

      Mid-Tribulation Rapture– The Rapture of the saints happenshalfwaythrough the tribulation period.

      Post-Tribulation Rapture– The Rapture of the saints happensafterthe seven years of tribulation.

      With these descriptions in mind, let me break down

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