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End Times/Prophecies

I am in a Christian discussion zone and we have been going over end times etc. I have been getting a number of answers from these pages, they are very helpful. I was asked about the BEMA SEAT. One of the people I was talking with gave me this explanation: The Bema seat isn't for Christians to find out their verdict, but for them to be given rewards. It is very different from the White Throne of Judgment.

I have heard this term before and assumed it was in reference to judgment, if not what is it and what is our stance?

Bema is simply a Greek word for "speakers platform." It can refer to the place where a judge sits--what we in English would call "the bench." Among the passages in which it occurs in this sense are Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10. Many millennialists try to divide the biblical passages about judgment into different categories of judgment that take place at different times for different people, some before the millennium, some after the millennium, etc.. The Bible teaches only one great day of judgment, the day of Christ's return on the Last Day. At this time judgment will take place for all people. Some passages may discuss one aspect of this judgment, while others discuss other aspects of it, but all of these acts of judgment occur on one day. Christ is coming one more time, not several more times.

The need to create multiple judgments is created by the false teaching of a 1000 year kingdom on this earth before the last day. If Christ is returning only once, they need for multiple judgments vanishes. Various aspects of millennial teaching are discussed in the section of the Q&A page on the last things.

I don't know much about the book series / movie Left Behind. And I don't know much of anything about the differences of opinion regarding what will actually take place in the end times. I noticed in a recent question the writer wrote about the "rapture". Although I did not make much sense out of the answer, since I am not at all knowledgeable in this area, I was wondering if you could in simple terms, explain to me what it is that WELS Lutherans believe about the end times? What do you believe in contrast with other Christians, such as the creators of this series?

One could give a detailed and therefore quite lengthy answer to this question, but it would be more suitable for you to ask one of our pastors for resource material. This would also allow you to ask for specific clarifications in person. To get you off on a good start, however, you may go to the home page of this WELS web site, click on "Beliefs" then click on "This We Believe" and then click on "IX. Jesus' Return and the Judgment." May the Lord bless your study and review of his truth!

I am concerned by your recent response to a question about the rapture and the "Left Behind" movie coming out in February, as well as all the WELS teachings I've heard on the subject. I don't personally know much about the teachings of those who believe in the rapture/millenialism, so maybe you can clear some of those up for me.

My concern comes from the fact that all the Bible verses you cited in response to the question are assumed to be speaking of Jesus' next coming. How do we know they aren't talking about Jesus' final coming, but that there will be a second coming in between His first coming and His final one? In short, where in the Bible are we led to believe that Jesus will only come one more time for a total of 2 times?

A second question concerning millennialism. The WELS rejects the teaching that there will actually be 1000 years between Christ's comings because everything else in that part of Revelation (I'm not sure offhand where it is found) is speaking figuratively.

While I definitely agree that the rest of it is figurative, how do we know that it wasn't that way because it had to be? What I mean is this: all the characters (the beast, the woman, etc.) had to be shown to John figuratively because it was the only way for God to effectively convey the things he wanted to get across. The period of time in which this takes place, however, would not have to be figurative. God could effectively convey 1000 years by saying "this will happen for 1000 years." as he did in Revelation.

Thank you in advance for clearing up these issues, both of which have been boggling my mind for some time.

The one Bible passage that enumerates the comings of Christ is Hebrews 9:26-28. We also maintain that there will be one return of Christ since it is so often linked to the end of the world, the resurrection of all mankind, and the judgment of all mankind -- all together. Further, there is no information given that necessitates more than one future return of Christ. Also, all schemes that assume a double (or triple) return of Christ invariably run counter to other portions of Scripture.

Your observation is correct that God could have used the term "1,000 years" to denote an actual 1,000 year period even if the context of the statement involves the use of symbolic language. (And Revelation 20, the source of the term, is as you already said, quite symbolic.) The real question is not "Could God have done this?" but "What did God do in this specific reference?" We do well never to deny what God could or might have said, but to listen to his statements in their immediate contexts and in the light of the rest of Scripture.

We maintain that the use of the "1,000 years" is a symbolic use of numbers for a number of reasons: First, it is a common occurrence in apocalyptic literature to use numbers symbolically. Second, the book of Revelation had already used numbers symbolically (10s, 12s, 7s, 144,000, etc.) so it fits the wider context well. Third, viewing the time period as a complete, full time as God determines (10 times 10 times 10) fits the immediate context well. I suppose one could also add this point: the period of time is that between Christ's first and second comings, and once we got past 1,000 A.D., it became obvious that the number was being used symbolically.

What verses in the Scripture could be used to show that the teaching of the rapture is false. I think this will get to be a big deal again in the coming months with the release of a movie called "Left Behind." It is scheduled to come out in theaters February 2 and they are calling for all Christians to support the opening of this movie and even sponsoring a theater in your town. I would appreciate a response.

It is admittedly difficult to reduce arguments in eschatological and millennial issues to a focus on few Bible verses. The complexity of premillennial and postmillennial schemes (compared to the comparatively simple view of amillennialism) obviously complicates the picture. One's chosen or prevailing hermeneutic principles for the interpretation of Scripture also cry out for discussion and clarification at these times. Also, it's not simply a matter of identifying or clarifying the Bible verses, but a matter of integrating the texts into a more comprehensive teaching of the last things. Finally, concerning the so-called rapture itself, the prevalence of pretribulationist, midtribulationist, posttribulationist, and partial-rapture positions advocated shows the need carefully to diagnose someone's specific views prior to offering a specific antidote.

For the most part, however, it may useful to focus on the following points when responding to the more popular and sensationalistic advocates of millennialism and rapture theology like Tim LaHaye and Hal Lindsey:

1. The false teachings on the rapture require more than one return of Christ, more than one bodily resurrection, and more than one judgment in the future (and an additional one in the case of pretribulationist thought). This is contrary to John 5:28-29, Matthew 25:31ff., and many other places where these events are identified as happening onetime, not multiple times.

2. The false rapture theories ultimately make the Last Day known, which is again a concept contrary to Scripture (Mt. 24:36ff.) Depending on the preferred placement of the rapture in relation to a seven-year period of great tribulation, the Last Day would follow 1,007, 1,003.5 or 1,000 after the rapture.

3. False rapture ideas, particularly of premillennialism, are usually inseparable from forms of dispensationalism that maintain wrong distinctions between "Israel" and "the Church" regarding how God desires to work among them for salvation purposes.

4. False rapture ideas require a secret or unrecognized coming or return of Christ, which is a concept contrary to Acts 1:11 and parallel verses that describe his return as visible and obvious to all mankind. Even 1 Thessalonians 4, from which (through the Vulgate) the term "rapture" is derived (1 Th. 4:17) says the event is accompanied by loud command, voice of archangel, and trumpet (v. 16).

5. Millennialism in general and false rapture ideas share the weakness of leading people to become preoccupied with literalistic (as opposed to literal) views of Bible texts. Too often people are led to a preoccupation with end times at the expense of gospel work at the present. The tendency is to try to scare people into God's kingdom with a law-oriented warning rather than to win them through the gospel.

The pastoral task of dealing with souls in the wake of popular media distortions of Bible truth is a challenging privilege. This was true regarding exorcism and Satanism with the release of The Exorcist in the 1970s and will likely be true to a degree with Left Behind. If it stimulates our people to search the Scriptures and our pastors to teach eschatology to people who have a renewed interest in it, we may be thankful.

I have recently started a serious personal study of the end times and different views and interpretations of scripture that have been promoted over the centuries. I've never given the end times much thought other than the fact that Christ is coming back and that we should live with that fact in mind.

I've come across something disturbing in my studies. The Preterist view. I always believed all Christians believed Christ was coming back. If I am understanding this view correctly, they believe the prophecies of the New Testament were fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and that Christ returned at that time. Again, if I am understanding correctly, they don't believe that there is an "END" or if there is its nothing like what people have imagined, or interpreted from scripture.

While I think I see several key scriptures that can refute this view, they, like those that believe in the rapture and the millennium, have lots of scripture to back up what they are saying. In the preterist case, the imminence passages, (this generation, some will not see death, I am coming soon, etc) are their biggest "proof".

What I guess I'm looking for is a good book or reference that specifically and biblically refutes this view. I am also looking for the same thing in regard to the rapture and the millennium.

The preterist view believes that the "prophecies" of the New Testament about the End referred to events that were supposed to happen during the lifetime of that generation but that by and large these prophecies were not fulfilled (except for the destruction of Jerusalem). Most forms of the preterist view could be classified as a liberal form of interpreting Scripture which denies the truthfulness of Scripture.

The End is, of course, near for all of us since the day of our death is near. But the passages which refer to the nearness of Christ's coming (such as James 5:7-9, 1 Peter 4:7, Revelation 1:3, 22:10,12) do not seem to be pointing so much to the day of our death as to the day of Christ's appearing. If nearly 2000 years have passed, how could this event be said to be "near" already in the days of the apostles. Certainly, one factor is that God's way of looking at time is not the same as ours (2 Peter 3:8-9). But a more important factor from our perspective is that the Bible treats everything since Christ's first coming as "the last days" (Acts 2:17, Hebrews 1:2). To put it another way, we could say "Christ's return is near" means "everything is ready for Christ's return." All of God's plans for salvation have been completed except for the one event that remains, Christ's return.

The passages that refer to "this generation" (Matthew 24:24) are most likely pointing to the fall of Jerusalem which was a foreshadowing of Judgment Day that was in effect the End for Israel. Other commentators understand them as meaning that the Jewish people will remain until Judgment Day (see the NIV footnote).

Since most misinterpretations of the End flow from a misinterpretation of Revelation a good starting point is Siegbert Becker's commentary on Revelation available from Northwestern Publishing House. A pamphlet that gives a nice overview of key issues is The End Times: A Study of Eschatology and Millennialism by the commission on theology of the Missouri Synod.


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