Truth Only Bible Ministries – August 2025 update

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Sound biblical scholarship is an increasingly scarce commodity in today’s rapidly automating world. My goal, as the founder and head of Truth Only Bible Ministries, is to be an independent, biblical voice in the midst of our world of AI-generated content, fake news, political biases, increasing spiritual darkness, and scholarship which seeks to undermine the authority of Scripture.

How am I doing this, and what is unique about my ministry? One of the main projects I am currently working on is an in-depth commentary on the book of Revelation that is scholarly but readable by a general audience. (See this information sheet and these draft chapters: Introduction, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Excursus on Babylon the Great, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.) One of the main distinctives of this commentary is its identification of Babylon the Great with the United States of America, which I have also written about in blog articles (here and here) that have together received more than 140,000 views. When Christian leaders attempt to present a biblical perspective on current events, they generally leave out the crucially important perspective of Bible prophecy, and this is a gap that I am seeking to fill (e.g., with these articles on Israel, Gog, and technology).

I believe in the importance of teaching the entire Bible, and for that reason I have published an 8-volume Interpretive Guide to the Bible. The first three volumes have been revised and translated into Spanish, and I plan to revise and translate into Spanish the remaining five volumes.

Since all of my work is available for free electronically, it is reaching a wide audience. Besides the books and articles mentioned above, my various articles, books, and videos on Darius the Mede have together been viewed around 100,000 times. Likewise my articles on Aramaic have been viewed more than 90,000 times. See the About page for more details about these and other current projects.

One of the challenges of an independent ministry is financial support. I am looking for both new monthly supporters (here or here) and new one-time donations. For those who don’t need a U.S. tax deduction, Buy Me a Coffee and PayPal are easy donation options. For tax-deductible donations, my ministry is registered with the New Horizons Foundation. As a small ministry (only me and a Spanish translator), our financial needs are not that large, and receiving full support for our work is an achievable goal. Without additional support, it will be difficult for us to continue our work.

There are many other ways to support our ministry. First, I truly believe that prayer has limitless power (cf. Matt 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 16:24), and prayer is the most important way that people can support us. (There is a newsletter subscription form at the bottom of this page.) Second, a few professionals with specialized training have volunteered to help with translation, editing, and other support work. Third, I always appreciate hearing about ministry opportunities, such as invitations to speak at conferences or to minister in foreign countries. Fourth, you can help by spreading the word—telling others about my commentary on Revelation and my Interpretive Guide to the Bible, and mentioning my need for financial support to potential donors.

Thank you for your support of and participation in this ministry!

Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 4 – Technology

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This post is the fourth and final part in a four-part series on how Bible prophecy relates to current events in January 2025. The subject of this article is how some recent technological developments relate to Bible prophecy. While technological advances are usually viewed as a positive thing, any optimism that comes with technological advances should be tempered with the realization that the world lies in spiritual darkness. Thus, while there are aspects of technology that make the world a better place, on balance technological advances result in greater prevalence of wickedness because sinful men will always leverage technology to do greater evils.

Digital currency

Cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, continued to rise in value in 2024. President Trump campaigned on the promise of a crypto-friendly administration, though he disappointed cryptocurrency industry leaders at a pre-inauguration party by blindsiding them with the launch of a meme coin for the sole purpose of making a small fortune overnight. That was in addition to Trump launching a cryptocurrency business this past September with shady and inexperienced business partners. Trump issued an executive order on cryptocurrency shortly after his inauguration, but it “did not go nearly as far as many in the crypto industry had hoped.”

I would suggest that what fits best with Bible prophecy is not the continued proliferation of cryptocurrencies, but rather the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the United States. While Trump is currently opposed to the creation of a CBDC, his views on digital currency are changeable—he used to deride Bitcoin as a “scam.” Perhaps Trump or his Treasury Secretary will come to see how a CBDC backed by the U.S. government could be a powerful tool to enrich the United States and control the world. It is also possible that other countries will launch CBDCs that begin to have success, and the United States will feel compelled to launch its own CBDC in order to compete. Or perhaps this will not happen under Trump, but under a future president. In any case, I believe that a CBDC backed by the U.S. government will eventually become the world’s new standard currency, replacing both cryptocurrencies and national currencies.

First, it should be noted that the term “cryptocurrency” is not synonymous with the term “digital currency.” A cryptocurrency, which is one type of digital currency, relies on a decentralized network of computers to verify transactions using encryption and blockchain technology. There is no central bank or third party that processes Bitcoin transactions, and there is no single entity that issues Bitcoin, which has made Bitcoin very difficult to regulate. Some of the weaknesses of Bitcoin are: (1) the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is far more volatile than the U.S. dollar, making cryptocurrencies impractical for a regular savings account, or for business contracts; (2) Bitcoin is often stored in cryptocurrency exchanges and digital wallets, which have been hacked many times, resulting in significant thefts of Bitcoin; (3) one-fifth of all Bitcoin (about $350 billion, based on a value of Bitcoin at $100,000) has been permanently lost through the loss of passwords or the use of incorrect sending addresses. Unlike credit card purchases or bank transfers, there is no way to reverse or cancel a bad Bitcoin transaction, with the result that large numbers of people are continually losing Bitcoin through user errors. Since Bitcoin is not stored in a central bank, it cannot be recovered once lost.

Unlike cryptocurrencies, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be issued by a central bank, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, and the central bank would process all the transactions. Depending on how the CBDC is structured, people might be able to hold the digital currency and send and receive money without a traditional bank account. A CBDC issued by the United States’ central bank would be very attractive worldwide, and people in foreign countries would be able to buy CBDC money without the legal restrictions placed on U.S.-dollar bank accounts. A U.S. government-backed CBDC would likely be widely accepted worldwide for payment, with no need for currency conversions. Many people will have much greater confidence in the value and stability of the U.S. CBDC than in the value and stability of their own country’s currency, and could move their savings to a CBDC account, which they could manage on their phones without dealing with a bank. This would result in a sharp rise of the CBDC and a corresponding weakening of national currencies, creating a self-reinforcing cycle in which everyone who can moves his money to the CBDC in a mad rush. Eventually governments around the world would deem it necessary to replace their national currencies with the U.S. CBDC—not just due to the decline of national currencies, but likely due to threats from Trump or his successor of being cut off from the whole financial and economic system if they do not eliminate their national currencies. Thus, once a CBDC is issued by the United States’ central bank it could quickly become the world’s primary currency.

Returning to prophecy, when the CBDC issued by the U.S. government becomes the world’s sole currency, this will enable the implementation of the mark of the beast, without which no one can buy or sell (Rev 13:16-18). Well before the mark of the beast is implemented, the United States will control the universal currency—the CBDC—which will give it considerable control over the entire world (Rev 17:18; cf. Zech 5:5-11). After the destruction of the United States by the antichrist (Rev 17:16-17), the antichrist and/or the false prophet will gain control of the CBDC and begin to plan for the implementation of the mark of the beast, which is likely a tattoo accompanied by a tiny implant or imprint through which one’s CBDC account can be accessed. (Israel may have an arrangement with the U.S. government to administer the CBDC if the U.S. government collapses, and the false prophet will apparently be the Israeli head of state [cf. Rev 13:11] who signs a treaty with the antichrist [Dan 9:27].)

One of the major problems that would result from the creation of a CBDC by the U.S. government is that the United States would then have two official currencies—the U.S. dollar and the CBDC. (This would also be a problem for other countries that start using the CBDC.) Legal and financial contracts in the U.S. are based on the dollar, and it is not clear whether payments could somehow be made with the CBDC instead of with the dollar. (Since the U.S. government’s national debt was issued for repayment in dollars, perhaps the digital currency will help with the government’s debt problem by lowering the value of the dollar.) Perhaps the government will rapidly eliminate the dollar after launching the CBDC. It is also not clear what will happen to banks if people move their money to a digital account administrated by the Federal Reserve; perhaps money will still be held in private bank accounts, but transactions will be processed by the Federal Reserve. Credit cards might also become a thing of the past, since credit cards are mainly used to facilitate electronic payments; the CBDC would be an inherent electronic-only system. The U.S. government has prepared various options for a CBDC, but it remains to be seen which options will be chosen.

Many seemingly good reasons can be put forth for the use of a CBDC: digital money cannot be counterfeited, burned, or misplaced; criminal activity can be tracked and thwarted much more easily if all transactions are processed digitally by a central bank; global commerce and travel will become much smoother without the need for currency conversion; currency value will remain stable worldwide; and people will be able to send and receive money easily without bank accounts. However the argument that the government needs to be able to monitor and control all transactions to prevent criminal activity has a fatal flaw: the government could abuse this control and could itself engage in highly unethical and oppressive activity.

A CBDC would dovetail perfectly with Trump’s America First agenda and desire for world domination, as it would give the U.S. government direct control over the global economy and global financial system, and it would give the United States a means of reaping huge profits from this system. It would also give the U.S. government significant power to repress dissent and opposition (both internal and external). Since all CBDC transactions must be processed by the central bank, the U.S. government (which oversees the central bank) could instantly freeze the account of any U.S. individual or foreign entity, blocking all transactions. This power could be used not just to stop actual criminal activity, but also to cut off dissidents from the whole financial system—as will be done during the tribulation period with the mark of the beast. The power to monitor all transactions can be used to track criminal activity and identify suspicious behaviors, but can also be used to identify networks of dissidents and their supporters. Further, when the central bank process transactions (e.g., anytime money is sent from one account to another), it will levy a transaction fee similar to those currently charged by credit card companies. If the U.S. government levies a 2-4% tax on all the financial transactions (not just purchases) that are made worldwide, this may well be sufficient to eliminate the income tax in the United States, further enriching Americans and providing a means to eliminate budget deficits. The United States would also profit by having the sole power to digitally “print” new money. While such a system might sound like a dream come true for Trump and his supporters, in fact it would be nothing less than the diabolical oppression of all the peoples of the world, motivated by the greed of the richest country that has ever existed.

Many other potential abuses of a CBDC have been suggested, though it is as yet uncertain exactly how the CBDC would work, and what guardrails would be built into the system. If the U.S. government has a record of all money transfers, financial transactions, and account balances of everyone in the world, it could use this information to disrupt the lives of those it wants to persecute. Possibly the IRS could automatically take taxes and fines directly out of CBDC accounts, without the consent of account holders. Then people who can legitimately claim certain income as tax-exempt, or who can take legal tax deductions, might have to go to court to try to prove that they do not owe what the IRS said they owed.

There has also been some discussion of making the CBDC programmable in order to shape social and economic behavior and to give the central bank a more effective tool of responding to economic crises. For example, rather than cutting interest rates to encourage consumer spending the Federal Reserve might put an expiration date on 10 percent of all the money in everyone’s CBDC accounts, meaning that the money would be reclaimed by the Federal Reserve or “deleted” if it is not spent by a certain date. The Federal Reserve might also be able to restrict the use of a certain amount of CBDC money to specific retailers or economic sectors, in order to encourage spending in those sectors. Alternatively, if there is a repeat of the situation during the pandemic when hoarding of goods resulted in shortages, the Federal Reserve could limit the amount of each person’s CBDC money that could be spent on those goods each month. It should be noted, however, that while it is possible to create a programmable CBDC, it is not yet known whether the actual CBDC that will be issued by the Federal Reserve will be programmable in this way.

Once the entire world starts using the CBDC and the U.S. government begins to abuse its control of the CBDC, it will be too late for the rest of the world to go back to using cash. The use of physical currency depends on a large and complex physical infrastructure that will be nearly impossible to rebuild once governments, banks, and retailers dismantle this infrastructure and begin to exclusively use the CBDC. (Retailers are already discouraging the use of cash and checks.) The U.S. government could also threaten to freeze CBDC transactions in any country that attempts to continue using another currency, or that attempts to launch a competing currency. The U.S. government could also threaten a full trade blockade, sanctions, a travel ban, or even military action. Normally such threats would be considered an act of war, but other countries have no hope of winning a war against the United States and so will have to comply.

Prophecy teachers have long spoken about a transition to a cashless society and a one-world currency in association with the mark of the beast. In the secular world, financial and technology experts have long advocated going cashless. Now at last the theories and proposals are on the verge of becoming reality. This will occur when the United States launches its CBDC and the new digital currency quickly becomes the world’s standard currency, replacing all physical currency. (Cryptocurrencies will apparently fail or be banned.) It must be recognized that this is an extremely dangerous and ominous development. While the mark of the beast will cause great trouble for Christians during the final 3½ years before Christ’s second coming, the United States will certainly use the CBDC system to persecute Christians before the tribulation period as well (cf. Rev 17:6, 18; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

Also connected with the mark of the beast, some tech-savvy people have been experimenting for years with computer chips implanted in their hands, which they use to open doors, make payments, and so forth. To date these implants have not been widely adopted, outside of Sweden. However, one of the major weaknesses of e-commerce and digital platforms is their susceptibility to fraud and hacking, caused both by mistakes on the part of users and mistakes on the part of software engineers. The processing of CBDC payments by means of a chip implant could be promoted as more convenient and secure than phone apps or a CBDC card. While the mark of the beast will not be implemented until the midpoint of the tribulation period, it could take advantage of an existing system of imprints or implants, and simply expand this system to make it a universal requirement for accessing CBDC accounts while creating a new imprint or implant that couples each person’s ID with a permanent tattooing or branding of the antichrist’s name or number. In any case, for the CBDC system to be made truly universal and accessible to the poor, one’s CBDC account must be accessible through a card or an implanted chip, and not merely through a smartphone app. The use of a card or chip will also give the U.S. central bank sole power over the CBDC, as tech companies and credit card companies will not be able to block access to CBDC accounts.

Energy and communications

A curious feature of the tribulation period is that, despite all the wars and calamities and plagues which occur, the electronic payment system that is connected with the mark of the beast never goes down—the mark continues to be the only means of buying and selling all the way until the second coming of Christ. In today’s world, even a minor disaster such as severe weather results in widespread power outages. Many parts of the world also have unreliable electricity and problems with power generation. Internet and cell phone outages are also common. How is it that a digital payment system could continue to function in spite of the great plagues that come upon the earth during the tribulation period?

One problem in today’s world is that there is no ideal method of generating electricity; every method currently in use has drawbacks and must be supplemented by other methods. However, great progress has been made recently on a new form of power generation, which is nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion has the potential to cheaply generate almost unlimited amounts of electricity with no chance of a major radiation leak. This could potentially provide the power to fully electrify all the countries of the world, replacing older, costlier, and less reliable forms of power generation. Other advances in power generation, such as better solar panels, are also likely.

As for why the electronic payment system never goes down, one possibility is that there will be great breakthroughs in battery technology, to such an extent that homes and businesses might be able to run on battery power for months. Perhaps someday power lines will be taken down, and the electric company will simply replace a building’s batteries periodically. Or perhaps buildings themselves may no longer be wired for electricity some day in the future, with all electrical devices powered by batteries, and various methods of replacing or recharging the batteries.

As for why internet connectivity appears to remain stable throughout the tribulation period, this must be due to redundancies in the system—a vast network of fiber optic cables, wireless transmitters, and tens of thousands of satellites. The construction of internet infrastructure in space has already begun with Starlink, and various other companies are planning to launch their own satellite constellations soon. Satellite internet and satellite cell phone coverage means that the network will cover even the most remote and underdeveloped parts of the planet. If there is a disaster in space, possibly a network of drones powered by advanced batteries could keep internet signals functioning.

The internet

The internet is the most transformative technological innovation of the past 50 years, and there is no doubt that it has greatly increased sin, evil, and temptation in the world. One thing that about the internet and cell phones that has changed significantly over the past 5-10 years is that their use is no longer optional. The tech companies have set up a satanic system in which everyone has to (or will have to) use devices connected to the internet in order to function in society.

Internet-connected devices give people 24/7 access to all forms of pornography, which has made sexual temptation, sin, and perversion more pervasive than ever before in human history. The internet is also full of violent content, occultic content, satanic music, and slanderous lies against Christianity and the Bible. Video games, which are played via the internet, are usually full of explicit violence, sex, satanism, and satanic music. Online gambling and sports betting have become pervasive. Online forums and encrypted messaging apps are also commonly used for sinful or criminal purposes, such as meetups for immoral purposes, buying and selling drugs, buying and selling guns, sharing designs of 3D printed guns, hiring hit men, and so forth. The internet is also inherently addictive and is a huge distraction from useful work, as people spend large amounts of their free time watching movies, following sports, reading social media, and messaging friends. When Christians seek to use the internet for good purposes, such as to find news or useful information, they are generally directed to anti-Christian sources and exposed to all sorts of evil content. For all the conveniences created by the internet, it can be said that the internet is probably the single most destructive force in the history of the world, both spiritually and politically (by enabling totalitarianism).

Sinful music has also become pervasive through the internet and electronic devices. Such music is played incessantly in nearly every public space, and most people have this music playing incessantly in private—in their homes, their cars, and their headphones. Modern forms of sinful music are themselves enabled through technology—through electric guitars and amps, huge speaker systems, microphones, and video productions.

Technology and the internet have also largely destroyed privacy and freedom of speech. All of one’s movements and activities are now tracked, and in many cases people’s conversations are continuously being recorded. Many people have internet-connected cameras inside and outside their homes. All new cars are equipped with camera systems and tracking systems, with the potential for cars to be able to be controlled remotely (e.g., for cars to be repossessed by automatically driving themselves back to the dealership). “Smart” homes give tech companies control over one’s thermostat, doorbells, door locks, televisions, lights, and many other devices. The result is a looming totalitarianism like nothing ever before seen or imagined—there can be no private conversations or activities, no hiding from the authorities, and no ability to survive if the tech companies (primarily American tech companies) cut one’s access to their platforms. Further, this totalitarianism can for the first time be truly global in scope, since the internet is a global communications network.

The worldwide extent of the internet presents another problem, which is the reuniting of the human race. In Genesis 11:1-9, only 100 years after God destroyed the world by means of a global Flood, mankind was on the fast track to another all-out rebellion. They had defiantly built a city and a temple-tower to exalt themselves instead of God. If God did not interpose to check man’s activity and divide man’s unity, it would not be long before He would be compelled to wipe out the entire human race once again. Mercifully, God intervened by destroying the linguistic unity of the human race, resulting in the scattering of peoples far and wide across the globe, and the emergence of hundreds of distinct nations which competed with each other instead of working together. Today we are witnessing a reversal of the judgment at Babel—a reuniting of the human race. Global trade and travel, a global financial system, and a global communications system are all breaking down the barriers between peoples and nations that have been in place since Babel. A key component of this is linguistic unity. Already English has become the world’s lingua franca, as it is the language most needed for success in business and education, and much of the internet is in English. In addition, AI-powered automatic translation, while far from perfect, is improving rapidly and is already allowing at least limited communication and understanding across languages. While this is usually presented as a positive development, in fact world unity will always result in mankind working together to oppose God and the people of God, and to give the fullest possible expression to their sinful desires (cf. Gen 6:5; 8:21; Ps 2:1-3). World unity means collective apostasy, though it does also present the opportunity for worldwide revival (cf. Rev 7:9-17).

The internet and the new emerging unity of the human race behind the leadership of the United States/Babylon the Great and its corporations is ushering in the great eschatological rebellion of the last days. The last days will feature unprecedented opposition to God in the unbelieving world (2 Thess 2:3; 2 Tim 3:1-9, 13; 2 Pet 3:3-6; Jude 17-19; Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2), and also a falling away within the church (Rom 11:19-22; 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Tim 4:3-4; Rev 3:14-22). When the entire unbelieving world worships the antichrist and takes his mark in the face of extraordinary signs from heaven, this will be the result and culmination of an unprecedented worldwide rebellion against God that began well before the start of the tribulation period.

Once systems are moved online, it becomes virtually impossible to go back to old ways of doing things before the existence of the internet—the old infrastructure has been dismantled. The internet is now necessary for financial transactions (using credit cards), government systems, medical and insurance systems, educational systems, and most other things. This has led to yet another evil associated with the internet—now that there is no alternative to using technology, the tech companies are charging ever-increasing amounts for their products. Online services that used to be free increasingly require payment and come with ads and the sale of user data. Software products that used to be a one-time purchase now require a paid subscription. Most recently, software companies have justified another significant price hike for their products by integrating AI features, which are underwhelming. Technology is one of the main driving factors behind the increased cost of living in recent years, and forms an especially large part of people’s budgets in low-income countries. No longer can people simply “live off the land” or be self-sufficient; all are dependent on the tech companies, and all need money in order to live. The tech companies charge far more than would be necessary to break even, and their handsome profits go to enrich the wealthiest people on the planet, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and hedge fund investors. It is a sinful system through and through. Technology, which is heralded as man’s greatest servant, has become man’s most dreadful master.

Artificial intelligence

The year 2024 also saw breakthroughs in so-called artificial intelligence (AI), which immediately opened up a Pandora’s box of misinformation. In the coming years and decades it will be increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction, and to find reliable and truthful sources. AI is already writing books and articles, creating videos, and guiding the decision-making of judges, politicians, investors, and corporate executives. AI is being integrated with traditional software to such an extent that from now on most of the things that most people write or create will be largely written or created by AI, and people’s way of thinking will be guided by AI. Companies and governments are replacing customer service agents with AI-powered bots, and the past summer’s Olympics featured some AI announcers for recaps of the day’s events. People ask AI-powered bots such as Alexa for answers to their questions, and can now even converse with these bots. “Deepfake” videos generated by AI, in which people appear to be saying and doing things that they never said or did, are very difficult to distinguish from authentic recordings.

Social media is exacerbating the problem of unreliable sources by spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation. Popular non-experts with social media talents spread fake news and half-baked ideas supported by faulty research, now often with the aid of AI. “Official” sources and academic experts, on the other hand, tend to reflect anti-biblical presuppositions and may also be using AI to do some of their writing and research. Compounding the problem further, a small number of antichristian tech companies control and filter the information people see online, and censorship will only increase in the years ahead. Even publishers of print books, including most Christian publishers, are hostile to certain aspects of biblical truth (e.g., the literal interpretation of prophecy and the use of the generic masculine [cf. Gen 5:2]). As forgeries and deceits become ever more prevalent and convincing, spiritual warfare in the coming decades will increasingly become focused on a battle for truth and clarity. What can we trust? Where can we find truth? Only the Word of God (the Bible) is one hundred percent trustworthy; it has passed all tests and is still standing after thousands of years of attacks and after all the scientific and archaeological discoveries of the modern era. The world is literally covered by evidence of God’s past judgment of the world by a global Flood, which puts the lie to atheism and uniformitarianism and verifies the Bible’s promise that Jesus Christ will soon return to judge the world a second time (2 Peter 3). Thus, we must judge all things by God’s Word—anything that contradicts a biblical affirmation or principle cannot be true, no matter how convincing the forgeries may appear. Conversely, we must believe in everything the Bible says, even if we may not understand everything or be able to explain everything. All we need to do to prove that something is false is to show that it contradicts the Bible.

When evaluating competing truth-claims, it is also important to evaluate the character of those making the claims, as a court of law would do with witnesses. The character of those who attack the Bible is always bad—the Bible’s critics manifest the sin nature and the character of Satan. Due to their character problems, we should not believe everything they tell us. AI, though impersonal, is trained on sources which are largely anti-Christian, and it is usually programmed to reflect secular beliefs and assumptions. On the other hand, the character of God as revealed in the Bible is perfectly righteous, and therefore the claims made in the Bible are completely trustworthy—God cannot lie or deceive (Num 23:19; Tit 1:2).

The need for quality Bible scholarship will become acute as pastors, publishing houses, and seminary professors continue to adopt secular values and increasingly rely on AI—and as official persecution of Christians develops and intensifies, resulting in the elimination of many good pastors, seminaries, and Bible teachers. Also, while AI translation is much-improved, it is not, and never will be, good enough to produce a high-quality translation of complex works in the area of biblical studies. Thus, I continue to do my own original research for my commentary on Revelation and other writings, and I continue to work with human translators for the Spanish version of my interpretive guide to the Bible. This is time-consuming and expensive, but is the only way to produce a high-quality end product. AI is no substitute for human scholarship in the humanities, especially in the realm of biblical studies.

Healthcare

With low birthrates in most of the world (outside of Africa), demographers currently project that world population will peak at 10 billion in the year 2085, and will subsequently crash. However, Revelation 9:13-21 describes a major war in which a fully mechanized army of 200 million men originating in the east (East/Southeast/South Asia) launches a massive invasion of Russia and the countries allied with Russia. This seems to imply a large population increase, along with an economic boom in order to finance such a large military buildup. The main driving factor behind this population increase is likely a sharply declining death rate, rather than increasing birthrates.

Medical breakthroughs are likely on the near horizon which will enable people to live much longer and healthier lives. We know from Genesis 5 and 11 that it is possible for men to live nearly 1,000 years—the genes are there but need to be identified and activated. Noah begat children as late as his 500th year of life, and if people’s childbearing years can be extended this will significantly increase birthrates. AI could possibly identify the now-dormant genes for longevity, and gene editing techniques could activate these genes in adults. It is also likely, though unfortunate, that many babies of the future will be “designer babies” whose genes are edited in a laboratory (after in vitro fertilization) in order to produce supposedly ideal physical traits and sharp minds. Conversely, the rate of babies with birth defects and conditions such as Down Syndrome has fallen sharply due to the ability to identify these conditions during pregnancy, and the choice of most mothers to abort “defective” babies. With more babies and young children who have perfect health, this will further decrease death rates. It will also result in many more healthy young and middle-aged people who are fit for military service.

A decline in death rates also seems to imply better access to healthcare worldwide, apparently prompted by economic growth and development. Healthcare may become less expensive if cures arise for conditions that currently require long and expensive treatments or unending medications, therapy, and caregiving. Gene editing is already curing congenital disorders. Also, more governments may provide universal healthcare coverage for their citizens. Better sanitation, cleaner air, and safer tap water would also contribute to improved health and longer lives.

Conclusion

This article is the fourth and final one in a series on prophecy and current events in January 2025. Unlike most prophecy teachers, while I believe in the pretribulational rapture I do not hold to the doctrine of the imminence of the rapture, nor do I believe that the Bible prophesies a specific date for the rapture. However, I do believe that the Bible prophesies specific events that will occur before the rapture. Thus, I am not predicting the return of Christ in 2025 or even within the next decade; too many prophesied events must occur first. However, enough prophesied events are now in process so that we can know with certainty that we are living close in time to the end of the age.

In spite of the fact that we are living in the end times, it is rare that a Bible teacher can accurately connect contemporary events with Bible prophecy. Within academia, making such connections is essentially prohibited and ridiculed. Yet large sections of the Bible are prophetic, and those who are living in the last days ought to be able to connect Bible prophecy with the state of the world around them. As time passes and more is fulfilled, these connections will become more obvious and more widely accepted among believers—especially the identification of the United States with Babylon the Great.

Many of the events which will unfold in the world in 2025 and in the decades beyond will be extremely troubling for Bible-believing Christians. The world is entering a period of profound spiritual darkness, with fierce persecution coming for those Christians who refuse to bow the knee to Baal (or Babylon the Great). However, these events also contain great hope, because they imply that God’s program is driving toward its conclusion, and the return of Christ is drawing nearer. As Satan’s fury rages, knowing his time is short, Christians will have the opportunity to shine as brighter lights, proclaiming the truth of God’s Word to a world full of lies and darkness.

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Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 3 – Babylon the Great

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This post is the third in a four-part series on how Bible prophecy relates to current events in January 2025. The subject of this article is how the election of Donald Trump and other recent events in the United States relate to biblical prophecies of Babylon the Great.

Babylon the Great

Revelation 17:1–19:5 describes an entity called Babylon the Great which is a superpower that dominates the world of the end times. Babylon the Great is the greatest country the world has ever seen; not only are its wealth and military power unparalleled, its economic and moral/cultural powers are also unparalleled. Babylon the Great is especially noted for corrupting the entire earth through its materialism, which has both economic and spiritual aspects. It is also clear that Babylon the Great exerts a degree of control over the other countries of the world through a financial regimen—evidently a universal digital currency (Rev 17:18). Babylon the Great shapes the economy, financial system, culture, and spirituality of the world of the end times, and God holds it responsible for the state of extreme spiritual corruption in which the world exists at the start of the tribulation period—including a global campaign of savage martyrdom of Christians (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2). God judges Babylon the Great, ironically, through the antichrist, who cannot become preeminent in the world while Babylon the Great exists. The antichrist will destroy Babylon the Great in a massive nuclear strike very early in the tribulation period (Rev 17:16-17; 18:8). Control of the global digital currency will subsequently pass to the antichrist or his henchman, the false prophet, who will require all to receive a mark without which they cannot buy or sell (Rev 13:16-18).

The nature and scope of Babylon the Great’s dominance is such that only one entity of its kind could ever exist in the history of the world, and there is no doubt that the United States of America is this entity, or is in the process of becoming this entity. The United States is already the world’s only true superpower, and its economic and military power are far beyond that of any other country. As the engine of the global economy and possessor of the world’s primary reserve currency, it is and will continue to be responsible for the great era of wealth creation among the nations in the last days (Rev 18:3, 9). It also is uniquely imposing sinful aspects of its culture—especially a materialistic worldview—on all the nations of the world. While some aspects of the prophecy remain to be fulfilled—most notably the prophecies of Babylon the Great’s attempts to put Christians to death worldwide—enough aspects already match so as to leave no doubt as to the fulfillment of the rest. For more information about Babylon the Great, see this post.

The second term of Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s reelection to the presidency only four years after seeking to overturn an election result is the most startling political resurrection in the long history of American politics, perhaps comparable to Adolf Hitler’s election following his imprisonment for leading the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. While there are some important policy differences between Trump and Hitler, it is interesting that in both instances their political resurgence was fueled by a personality cult, a new nationalism, economic malaise, conspiracy theories, and big rallies that included spectacular shows and grandiose speeches. Trump appears to be aiming for something close to dictatorial control of both the United States and the world—in contradiction of both the United States Constitution and the UN Charter.

Trump’s first term was largely a recovery from the Obama presidency, guided and constrained by such steady hands such as Mike Pence, John Kelly, Bill Barr, and John Bolton. Trump was also constrained by fierce establishment opposition, both in the government and in corporate America. Trump’s attitude changed dramatically with his loss of the 2020 election and his ensuing legal problems. He became angry, vindictive, dismissive of legal restraints, and demanding of absolute personal loyalty. Trump also moved to the left on the key issues of abortion and homosexual rights. Conversely, opposition to Trump has weakened greatly because (1) the opposition is exhausted and diminished; (2) Trump’s leftward shift has made him more palatable to the establishment; (3) business executives and politicians fear Trump’s wrath if they oppose him; and (4) Trump is only appointing sycophants who are personally loyal to him. In short, there are far fewer checks on Trump’s powers now than there were during his first term, and Trump has adopted a much more strident attitude and a radical agenda.

There is nothing specifically about Donald Trump in prophecy, and it remains to be seen exactly what Trump will do in his second term. (This post was published a few days after Trump’s inauguration.) However, there is no doubt that Trump’s return to the presidency is an extraordinary event in the history of both the United States and the world. My purpose in this post is to highlight connections between actions that Trump has indicated that he will or might take, and biblical prophecies of the end times.

Making America Greater

The slogans Trump used in his campaigns and rallies fit very well with the prophecies of Babylon the Great: “Make America Great Again,” “Make America Rich Again,” and “Make America greater than ever before.” Although America already is the greatest superpower the world has ever seen, I believe that Trump and his successors will succeed in making it much greater. America will become a much richer country, and will exert greater control over the world economic and financial system. Trump has a history of personally abusing power and flouting rules and regulations, and it is likely that he will direct the U.S. government to do the same, in order to enrich the United States. Trump and his supporters also believe they should glorify America as much as possible (cf. Rev 18:7); Trump has announced his intention to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America,” among other things. While there are some people who think that China will replace the United States as the world’s greatest superpower, this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that in the era of world history leading up to the tribulation period the United States will dominate the world economically and culturally (spiritually), and Trump’s second term should go a long way toward making this happen.

Trump and his supporters place great emphasis on patriotism, and this is an area where Christians must be cautious. While the New Testament commands obedience to governmental authorities, it does not glorify Rome. Christians have a heavenly citizenship and allegiance (Acts 5:29; Phil 3:20), and should never put country ahead of God or swear absolute allegiance to a country or its ruler. Also, Americans are not intrinsically better than anyone else by virtue of being citizens of the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. In fact, American Christians who have resources have a moral obligation to use these resources to help poor Christians in other countries (cf. Acts 11:29-30; Rom 15:25-27; 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:1-15; Gal 2:10).

Trump and many of his supporters have a prosperity theology, in which they talk about God blessing them and blessing the United States, with the material prosperity of the United States presented as evidence that the country is specially favored by God. Trump also points to his physical protection as proof that he is specially favored by God. However, Trump is completely unwilling to accept biblical rebukes and submit to God. In fact, most of the rich and powerful countries and men throughout history have been wicked, while many of the best have been poor. The mere fact that God has brought Donald Trump to power does not mean that Trump is a good man or that he will govern in accordance with biblical principles, nor does the material prosperity of the United States mean that it is a just nation. It should be remembered that God raised up Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire, who destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple.

Materialism

Trump’s second term can be expected to inaugurate a new era of materialism in the United States. This will include not just unparalleled wealth, but also unparalleled covetousness, arrogance, selfishness, and self-sufficiency. Material things will increasingly be viewed as the substance of life (against Luke 12:15); covetous Americans will be godless idolators (Col 3:5), and will continue to spread this idolatry throughout the world. The things of God and eternal things will be despised, since they hinder the pursuit of the material and the temporal. Attitudes such as “greed is good,” “the ends justify the means,” and “friends and allies are disposable” will become more commonplace as materialism is exalted as a virtue.

Many people who read Genesis 19 assume that Sodom was destroyed because of rampant homosexuality (sodomy). However, this is what Ezekiel 16:49-50 says: Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; and she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me: therefore I took them away when I saw it. The greatest sins of Sodom were pride and materialism; sexual immorality (“abomination”) was a secondary cause of God’s judgment. Likewise, Babylon the Great’s foremost sin is identified as materialism (Rev 17:2, 4; 18:3, 9, 23; 19:2), which it spreads throughout the world through economic intercourse (“prostitution”). Sexual immorality and perversion only constitute one aspect of a materialistic value system that puts man in place of God and sees the accumulation of material things and physical pleasure as the substance and goal of life. Trump and his followers (including many professing Christians) consider both materialism and self-promotion to be virtues (against 1 Tim 6:6-10). Where the world looks to America and sees a great economic success story, God sees a spiritually corrupt system—a self-sufficiency and self-worship that is intended to replace God. No wonder, then, that the persecution of Christians is the other major cause of God’s judgment of the country called “Babylon the Great” in the book of Revelation (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

Assisted suicide, euthanasia

Another aspect of Trump’s materialism is that he only sees value in people who are healthy, beautiful, and strong. He does not see value in disabled people, since he does not value the spiritual. It seems that Trump would prefer not to have any seriously disabled people around, as (1) he does not enjoy seeing them; (2) he (wrongly) thinks they are unhappy; and (3) he sees them as a financial drain to the economy. He does not see the moral and spiritual value of disabled people. Trump has already ended federal hiring preferences for people with disabilities, who often struggle to find employment, and his associates have announced their intention to make cuts to Medicaid. Trump’s America will give preference to the rich and the strong.

Trump has suggested various times in the past that disabled people would be better off if they were euthanized. This correlates with a general shift in public opinion, as Trump was the people’s choice. Society in general has a much harsher view toward death than before; the majority of Americans are cremated when they die, many with no funeral service. Some U.S. states have already legalized assisted suicide, and it seems inevitable that this will become national policy. Nearly five percent of all deaths in Canada last year were caused by assisted suicide, and that number will greatly increase in 2027, when Canada will legalize assisted suicide for depression. (Depressed people often wish to die, but are glad years later that they did not.) Assisted suicide is already legal in many countries for non-terminal conditions, such as chronic pain. It is likely that involuntary euthanasia (killing a person without his consent for supposed medical or financial reasons) will eventually become legal. When a person becomes too bothersome or costly to society, he will be executed without a trial.

It became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic that governments have considerable emergency powers, and Trump has already declared two (fake) national emergencies—one at the southern border, and another in the energy sector. It is not hard to see how this could be applied at some point in the future to biblical Christianity. Certain Christian beliefs could be classified as a mental illness, a public health emergency could be declared, and Christians could be subjected to forced euthanasia due to their supposedly incurable mental illness.

Trump’s depreciation of human life is also seen in his love of violence, as he regularly attends UFC fights and suggests that torture is okay. Perhaps America will someday hold Roman-style gladiator fights again. It is also possible that police violence, torture, and arbitrary detention of the type seen in many authoritarian countries will be seen in the United States someday. Legal forms of slavery could also expand in the United States, in accord with Trump’s concept of American privilege and superiority and his desire to punish his opponents (cf. Rev 6:15; 13:16; 18:13).

The Bible teaches that human life has intrinsic value because man is created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27; 5:1; 9:6; James 3:9). In addition, 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” The true church consists mainly of those who are weak, poor, and lowly in this world (1 Cor 1:26-31). Christians should not be impressed with people’s wealth, health, good looks, or noble birth; we should value character and fidelity to God’s Word.

The Constitution

Though it remains to be seen exactly what actions Trump will take, some of his supporters have been calling for a new constitutional convention in order to rewrite the Constitution according to current right-wing priorities. Trump is frustrated by many of the Constitution’s restrictions on what he can do, and if Trump’s agenda is blocked by the courts and Congress, he may well seek to call a constitutional convention.

Article V of the Constitution states that a constitutional convention can be called by two-thirds of the states, but says little about how the convention would be run. Some people think that enough states have already proposed constitutional conventions for various purposes so that the President could legally convene one at any time. A constitutional convention would quickly become a runaway train in the hands of the President who runs it, who would decide the rules (e.g., one vote per state, with a representative appointed by the governor of each state in consultation with the President). The convention would have the power not just to approve new amendments to the Constitution, but to gut the Constitution in its entirety and promulgate a new Constitution. Unlike in other countries, there would be no popular vote on the resulting document before it comes into effect. Constitutional scholar Peter Prindiville calls a constitutional convention “the ultimate high-risk gathering,” due to the uncertainties surrounding what might happen at the convention. However, if Trump is sure of his ability to control the convention, for him the risk would be low and the potential for power would be great.

Far from solving the country’s problems, calling a new constitutional convention would very likely result in the end of freedom of religion, free speech, and freedom of the press. For example, the new Constitution could allow the President to suspend certain freedoms and could prohibit “unpatriotic” speech. (Trump’s nominee for head of the FCC has pledged to revoke the broadcast licenses of anti-Trump television channels.) Many of the checks and balances on presidential power might be eliminated. Trump could also include in a constitutional rewrite a requirement that every U.S. citizen must swear an oath of loyalty to the United States or take the pledge of allegiance. Whatever might be in the final document, a new Constitution would mean the end of America as we have known it and the beginning of a new country which will look increasingly like the Babylon the Great described in Revelation 17:1–19:4.

Religious freedom and moral issues

With regard to religious freedom, a Trump administration will likely be better in the short term than Biden-Harris, though this is not certain; Trump has shifted both himself and the Republican Party away from strong opposition to abortion and homosexuality. Trump is against transgender, but supports homosexual rights and homosexual “marriage,” and transgendering is a form of homosexuality. The weakening of the Republican Party on moral/spiritual issues is of great concern, as until now only the Republican Party has stood in the way of the radical LGBTQ+ agenda. Trump and many of his associates also believe that life should be lived for one’s personal pleasure, with little or no regard for sexual mores. What it means to be “conservative” or “right wing” now, on a wide range of issues, is far different than what it meant to be conservative in the 1990s, or even in 2016.

The Trump administration will likely be the most corrupt administration in history, since Trump believes the ends justify the means—and the ends that he wishes to achieve are materialistic and self-interested. Trump is using his position as president to enrich himself, shamelessly marketing Bibles, guitars, and other Trump-branded items, along with his social media platform and cryptocurrency. The family business is eagerly pursuing lucrative deals in foreign countries. Many of his appointees have a history of legal, ethical, and moral problems, of which they have not repented. Wealthy donors and supporters are openly granted special access and privileges. Federal employees and military leaders are fired or promoted on the basis of loyalty to the president and his agenda. Trump is pledging to punish his political opponents, and has already cowered tech companies and billionaires into supporting him. Conversely, he has issued mass pardons to his cronies, and he could potentially use groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers as private militias to intimidate or eliminate opponents. Trump has little regard for either the United States Constitution or international law, and intends to abuse power to get what he wants. Time will tell exactly what he does, but he cannot be trusted to preserve civil and religious liberties.

Too many evangelical Christians who used to say “character counts” now say that Trump’s character flaws don’t matter—only his policy positions matter. Nothing could be further from the truth—the personal character of the President of the United States matters a great deal. If the president is selfish, egoistic, and greedy, these vices will be reflected in the president’s official actions, policies, and appointees. The influence of Trump’s materialistic, self-interested attitude on American evangelicals is particularly concerning, as these are the main sins of Babylon the Great enumerated in Revelation 17–18.

Foreign policy

Trump’s foreign policy is based on his America First principle, which could also be said to be a “money first” principle, or just plain selfishness. Trump’s foreign policy is neither isolationist nor internationalist—it is imperialist. Essentially, Trump believes in using other countries for the material benefit of the United States, with little regard for treaties, traditional allies, human rights, or the freedom of other peoples.

Trump believes that defense alliances are financially disadvantageous to the United States, and are unnecessary for national security because the United States has the strength to defend itself on its own. If the United States does deploy forces to another country, it should demand repayment in full. The plight of oppressed or threatened peoples in other countries is of no concern. One of Trump’s first acts as president was to freeze all foreign aid, which many poor countries depend on. It is likely that Trump will withdraw from NATO and will close many U.S. military bases overseas. He may also cancel mutual defense agreements with countries such as the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea; in any case, he cannot be relied upon to uphold such agreements in the event of a war. Trump also intends to use tariffs to financially benefit the United States at the expense of other countries.

Not only will Trump likely withdraw from friendly defense alliances, he has threatened to invade friendly countries for the financial benefit of the United States. Trump has threatened to seize Greenland and Panama by force for economic exploitation of key resources. Panama is virtually defenseless, as it has no army, and no other country would attempt to fight off the United States military on Panama’s behalf. Greenland, by contrast, is a territory of a NATO member (Denmark), but is too far away from the European mainland to be effectively defended from a U.S. invasion force. While the United States certainly has the military power to seize control of Greenland, or the economic power to force Denmark to part with it, such an act would have severe repercussions for relations between the United States and Europe. Henceforth, Europe will view the United States as a threat, rather than as a protector. The United States would almost certainly have to leave NATO, and relations between the U.S. and the EU would sour. (For these reasons and/or others, deep resentment toward the U.S. will build over time in Europe and will lead to the destruction of the U.S. by the EU, as described in Revelation 17:16-17). If Trump seizes control of the Panama Canal by force and raises the price for ships to pass through, this will also have serious consequences for the way in which foreign governments view the United States. Doubtless many world leaders will feel compelled to maintain good relations with the U.S. and profess loyalty to Trump in order to protect their countries economically and politically, but the United States will be viewed as a bully, not as a friend.

For Americans like myself who have grown up proud of the fact that our country is the defender of the free world, it will be a great shock if we wake up one day with the realization that we are now living in an aggressor state, with our own personal freedoms slipping away fast.

Trump has also declared his intention to pressure Canada into becoming part of the United States, since Canada is a wealthy and majority-white country. Regardless of whether that happens, the world appears to be entering a new era of imperialism or rule by the strong, in which the United States, Russia, and possibly China seek to conquer or control weaker countries for the benefit of their own countries or to settle vendettas. According to Revelation 17:18, the United States will successfully establish an economic regimen that controls the entire world to a certain degree—probably a digital currency controlled by the U.S. government. There are also strong indications that at some point in the future the United States will pressure other countries into a systematic campaign of persecution against Christians (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

As for the world’s other great powers, according to Ezekiel 38, Russia will be the leader of a coalition of countries which seem to include nearly the entire former Soviet Union, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and most of the rest of Africa (outside of Egypt, which is not named in Ezekiel 38:5). (For details, see this post.) The European powers have now largely withdrawn from Africa, and Trump does not see much value in Africa for both racial and economic reasons. A coalition of east/south/southeast Asian countries that is presumably led by China and India is spoken of in Daniel 11:44, Revelation 9:13-16, and Revelation 16:12. This indicates Trump’s America First foreign policy will open the door for big, aggressive countries such as Russia and China to solidify their authoritarianism and to dominate alliances in Eurasia and Africa, where many free peoples will fall under the oppressive rule of harsh regimes.

It is interesting that although Hindus comprise less than one percent of the U.S. population, Trump has elevated a number of Hindus to positions of prominence: Kash Patel, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard, Sriram Krishnan, and the second lady (Usha Vance). He has also nominated Harmeet Dhillon (a Sikh originally from India) and Jay Bhattacharya (a Christian originally from India) for prominent positions. This points to Trump possibly being sympathetic toward the Hindu nationalist party of Prime Minister Modi of India as a counterweight to China.

Trump has pledged to be pro-Israel (though he just pressured Israel into accepting a ceasefire that seems advantageous to Hamas) and to work toward peace in the Middle East, which will also fulfill prophecy, as described in this post.

Takeaways

There are many questions as to what exactly Trump will do in his second term, and how successful he will be in doing these things. What is certain is that Christians who believe that the United States is God’s chosen nation and that Trump will save it have a worldview that is squarely at odds with the Bible. Just as Democrats have made the United States more like Babylon the Great through secularization and the enactment of an explicitly anti-Christian LGBTQ+ agenda (among other things), the new Republican president will also make the United States look more like the prophesied Babylon the Great. He will do so through an aggressive, materialistic America First agenda, and he may even promulgate a new Constitution that will mark a clear division between the era in which America was a free country and the era of Babylon the Great.

Let me make these suggestions to Christians: give your time, talents, and treasure to God’s work, not to the work of a political party and an earthly hope. If you are working for God, not only are you doing something that will make a profound and eternal difference in the world, you are working for the side which is certain to triumph in the end. If you work to turn America around morally and spiritually through politics, you will surely lose in the long term, and you may become spiritually compromised in the process; but work for God, and you will surely march onward, forward, and upward to victory. Also, do not invest all of your time and energy in America—lift up your eyes, and look to the rest of the world. Remember that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20), and our call is to make disciples of Jesus throughout the whole world (Acts 1:8). Given the clear direction that America is heading, it is foolish for Christians and Christian organizations not to be thinking about moving to some other country which will offer greater religious freedom for Christians whenever such freedom is lost in the United States. After all, America was originally founded by Christians who left their European homelands in search of greater freedom to serve God according to their conscience. Pursuit of the American dream, by contrast, reflects the deceptiveness of materialism and is untenable for Christians who are realistic about the prophetic future of the United States.

As mentioned above, it is possible that the Trump administration may replace the dollar with a digital currency that allows the U.S. government to control all financial transactions in the world, eventually leading to the mark of the beast. More about this in the next post.

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Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 2 – Gog from the land of Magog

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This post is the second in a four-part series on how Bible prophecy relates to current events in January 2025. The subject of this article is how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine relates to the prophecy of Ezekiel 38–39.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, shortly after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Russia launched a massive invasion of Ukraine in response to Ukraine’s attempt to break free of Russian control. This invasion was envisioned as the opening phase of a campaign of conquest, by means of which Vladimir Putin would reconquer the countries of the former Soviet Union, and then go beyond it as far as possible, seeking to install pro-Russia regimes around the world in order to make Russia the world’s dominant superpower. Although the Russian invasion force was sizable, it was unprepared for a major war; the Russian plan was to quickly occupy Ukraine while encountering only minimal resistance. This was to be accomplished by moving long columns of armored vehicles toward Ukraine’s major cities, accompanied by missile strikes and airborne assaults. Russia was surprised by the scale and determination of Ukrainian resistance, which also exposed the vulnerability of armored vehicles to new weapons systems. Though Russia swiftly occupied large swaths of Ukrainian territory, the Russian army had to withdraw from northern Ukraine in early April 2022 due to heavy losses and logistical failures; in November 2022, Russia had to withdraw from territory occupied west of the Dnipro (Dnieper) River for the same reason.

The momentum and character of the war have changed many times since the initial invasion, with Ukraine deploying advanced weaponry from Western countries and their own drones, while Russia has tried to counter these developments and has used missiles, drones, artillery, glide bombs, mines, chemical weapons, conscription, and suicidal attacks to maintain pressure on Ukraine. Both sides have suffered tremendous losses, though Russia’s have been disproportionately larger. With greater U.S. support, Ukraine could have already won the war, and in fact could have turned back the initial Russian invasion in 2014. However, successive American administrations have only offered enough support to keep Ukraine from losing the war, rather than providing the support needed to win a decisive victory and overthrow the Putin regime. At present, Russia is running low on resources and is weaker than is commonly believed, but is trying to maintain pressure and project strength.

At the time of the publication of this post, just before the accession of Donald Trump, it can be said that the conflict is about to change dramatically. While President Zelensky of Ukraine and his advisors are skillfully seeking to win the continued support of the United States during the upcoming Trump administration, in fact Trump and many of his supporters (including J. D. Vance) have been largely pro-Russia (pro-Putin) in their rhetoric. Trump’s pro-Russia stance is rooted in his American nationalism and his penchant for authoritarianism, though his position is not just principled but also personal, as a reaction to Democratic opposition to Russia for Russia’s support of Trump in 2016. Trump no longer sees America as the defender of the free world, and in fact seems to admire the brutality and authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin. Trump believes that national interests should take precedence over international law and the rights of other peoples, and therefore he regards it as “smart” to forcibly seize strategically important countries and territories, even at the cost of hundreds of thousands of human lives. Some American conservatives welcome Russian expansionism, as they oppose European progressivism and view Russia as representing similar right-wing values. Of course, most of these conservatives are quite ignorant of the true character of the Russian regime and the superficiality of its state church. The attitude of the American public toward Russia has also changed significantly since the end of the Cold War; most Americans no longer feel threatened by Russia and do not feel the need to protect other countries from Russian expansionism. Indeed, most Americans would strongly oppose American participation in a major war to defend Europe or Africa from a Russian attack. Trump and many Americans view NATO as an alliance that solely benefits Europe at the cost of the United States, and they do not think Europe is worth defending.

Ukraine is reliant on support from the United States to sustain its war efforts; without American support it is likely that Russia will eventually take all of Ukraine, if Ukraine cannot produce or acquire nuclear weapons. If a country as large and powerful as Ukraine falls to Russia, smaller or more isolated countries will have no chance—Moldova, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, to name a few. Russia will certainly need time to rebuild and modernize its forces after the war, and to recover economically and socially, but with the lifting of U.S. sanctions Russia may be able to make significant strides quickly. As for where Russia may seek to expand next, after the collapse of the Assad regime Russia has shifted military assets to Libya and Sudan, and Russian forces are also heavily involved in conflicts elsewhere in Africa, with the goal of controlling most or all of Africa (outside of Egypt) through Russian-backed regimes. With the African continent’s vast resources and the population of Africa projected to reach 25 percent of the world’s population by 2050, Russian control of Africa would have significant geopolitical implications.

Ezekiel 38–39

Ezekiel 38–39 prophesies the invasion of the land of Israel, along with the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and Kuwait (Ezek 38:13), by the well-equipped armies of a large coalition of countries led by “Gog from the land of Magog.” This is one of the best-known prophecies in the Bible, and many Christians have long identified Gog as Russia. Given the fact that we are currently living in the end times, as shown by the reestablishment of the state of Israel and the rise of Babylon the Great, this identification seems virtually certain. (See the discussion below.)

Ezekiel 38–39 is a lengthy passage, and deserving of a more detailed exposition than what can be achieved in the present article. One of the key interpretive issues is the time when this prophesied invasion will take place (see the comments in my Interpretive Guide to the Major Prophets for other views). Through an analysis of Ezekiel 38–39 and a comparison with other prophetic passages, it is clear that the invasion takes place at the midpoint of the tribulation period, at the conclusion of the sixth trumpet judgment that is described in Revelation 9:13-21. The sixth trumpet judgment is a major war in which a fully mechanized army of 200 million originating in the east (East/Southeast/South Asia) launches a massive invasion of Russia and countries allied with Russia, after which the Russian coalition responds with a powerful counterattack. During this war, which likely lasts between six months and a year, a full third of mankind is killed (Rev 9:18). This can only mean that Russia and its allies will brutally slaughter billions of civilians in the population centers of Asia. At the same time, the Asian countries will respond by massacring the civilian populations of the Russian-allied territories they are able to attack. When both sides decide that the war is too costly, a truce is agreed, and the armies led by Russia withdraw from Asia. On their way back, as the armies of Russia and its allies pass through Iran, rather than taking the highways north toward Russia they make a sudden detour into the Middle East in order to loot the prosperous but now-undefended countries of the Arabian Peninsula as well as Israel. Since the antichrist is treaty-bound to protect Israel (Dan 9:27), this invasion is described in Daniel 11:40 as an attack on the antichrist, though the antichrist reneges on his treaty obligations by refusing to protect Israel. Yahweh then shows Himself to be Israel’s true God and Savior by raining down fire from heaven on the invaders while they are in the land of Israel. The Jewish people respond by believing in Jesus as their Messiah and rejecting the antichrist and the false prophet (Ezek 39:22, 28-29). The antichrist responds by invading Israel, setting up the abomination of desolation in the temple, and savagely persecuting the Jewish people. He proceeds to invade the African countries in Russia’s coalition, since Russia is too weakened to protect them (Dan 11:40-43).

It is clear from Ezekiel 38–39 that Russia will become a great world power once again, and that it will build a strong alliance that is capable of fighting effectively against the China-India alliance, as well as posing a substantial threat to Europe. As for the countries named in Ezekiel 38:2-6, “Gog” is the largest and most powerful country in the coalition, and therefore must be Russia. Gog is also described as a country at the northernmost extremity of the Eurasian landmass (Ezek 38:15; 39:2), which also corresponds to Russia. “North” in the prophecy means “north of Israel,” and Moscow is almost exactly due north of Jerusalem; there is no other country north of Israel that could be considered a superpower. “The land of Magog” (Ezek 38:2) appears to be a reference to territory of Russian-speaking or Russian-influenced peoples. The word “Magog” is related to the word “Gog,” and its prophetic reference may be “Russians” or “Russian-speakers.” Thus, “Gog, from the land of Magog” likely means “Russia, from the region of Russian-speakers,” which indicates that Gog has cultural control over an area much more extensive than its own borders. (It is generally agreed that in Ezekiel’s day “Gog” and “Magog” referred to peoples or regions to the north of Israel, though their exact identities are disputed. However, Ezekiel is prophesying of a day in the far future, so these ancient names really stand as fillers for the names of eschatological entities which will exist in the general vicinity or direction of the earlier entities, or which will consist of their descendants.)

“Rosh,” which appears in some English Bible versions in Ezekiel 38:2-3 and 39:1, is likely a mistranslation. This word (רֹאשׁ) occurs nearly 600 times in the Old Testament and means “head” or “chief.” A nation called “Rosh” is not mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament, which makes a reference to it in Ezekiel 38–39 dubious. Also, the other nations named in Ezekiel 38:2-3 are mentioned in the table of nations (Gen 10:2; 1 Chr 1:5), but Rosh is not. Certainly “Rosh” is not a reference to Russia—Russia is to be identified with Gog, which is the strongest nation of the invading coalition.

Meshech and Tubal (Ezek 38:3) are powerful countries that are closely aligned with Russia. In Ezekiel’s day these countries were located in the mountainous region to the southeast of the Black Sea, but also represented the northern extremity of the world then known. As prophetic entities, they may refer collectively to the Caucasian states (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and possibly Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and the Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan).

Persia, Cush, and Put (Ezek 38:5) correspond to Iran, Sudan, and Libya, respectively, which are countries in which Russia currently has heavy involvement. Cush and Put were the most distant African countries known in Israel or Babylon in the sixth century BC, so they could actually stand for most of the African continent. Since Daniel 11:40 mentions “the king (kingdom/coalition) of the south” as allied with “the king (kingdom/coalition) of the north” in the invasion of Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation period, it appears that Russia will subjugate much of the African continent, with the exception of Egypt (assuming that Egypt is not included with Cush in Ezekiel 38:5). Possibly Egypt will demilitarize with international treaty protection, or possibly Egypt will continue to possess the most powerful military in Africa and so will be able to resist Russian control. It is possible, but less likely, that “Persia” also stands for lands beyond itself, specifically Pakistan and/or Afghanistan.

Gomer and Beth-togarmah (Ezek 38:6) are currently the two most ambiguous references in the prophecy. Possibilities include Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus. Gomer can be identified with the ancient Cimmerian people on the north shore of the Black Sea, though by Ezekiel’s day the Cimmerians were in Asia Minor (western Turkey). If Russia annexes Ukraine, perhaps Gomer is Turkey and Beth-togarmah “in the far reaches of the north” is Belarus. Alternatively, Ukraine could be Beth-togarmah. The role of Turkey in the tribulation period is unclear, but Turkey is likely part of the coalition led by Russia, rather than the antichrist’s European coalition.

Thus, it is clear from Ezekiel 38:2-6 that Russia will eventually control a large coalition of countries from the former USSR, parts of the Middle East, and Africa. This coalition is already taking shape through Russia’s war in Ukraine and its aggressive foreign policy elsewhere, though the militaries of Russia and its allies are far from being the fearsome force that they will become by the time of the tribulation period. The population of Russia and its allies will also likely greatly increase before the tribulation period, so that the hosts of Gog and the “many peoples” with it will come upon Israel “like a cloud to cover the land” (Ezek 38:9).

How prophecy is being fulfilled

The invasion described in Ezekiel 38–39 will not take place until the midpoint of the tribulation period, which is some distance in the future. However, present events are setting the stage for what will happen during the tribulation period. In the time leading up to the tribulation period, Russia will become the leader of a large and powerful coalition of antisemitic Eurasian and African countries whose expansion is checked in the west by the European Union or its successor body, in the east by China and India, and in the Americas by the United States. The central part of the Middle East will become a partly demilitarized zone whose security is guaranteed by international agreements.

The election of Donald Trump is highly relevant to the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39. First and foremost, with the outcome of the war hanging in the balance, Trump is likely to curtail or end support for Ukraine and enable Russia to win the war and continue its imperialistic campaign of conquest. Alternatively, Trump may force Ukraine into a peace agreement that is favorable to Russia, that will eventually force Ukraine back into Russia’s orbit and away from Europe. Trump’s view of NATO is similar to Putin’s; he is likely to pull out of NATO and may even invade Greenland, which is a territory of a NATO country and is much larger in land area than Ukraine. All of this will generate deep resentment between Europe and the United States, eventually leading to the destruction of the United States by the European Union or its successor body (Rev 17:16).

Trump also intends to negotiate a comprehensive Middle East peace that will eventually lead to Israeli disarmament (Ezek 38:8, 11), rendering the Middle East defenseless when Russia attacks it.

Trump appears to view Africa as a continent of little value, and will likely enable Russia’s ongoing attempts to bring the African continent under its sway. Trump may also view Russia as a useful counterweight to Chinese imperialism in Africa. Most African countries lack powerful militaries and do not have their security guaranteed by an alliance with a great power, leaving them vulnerable to Russian-backed militias, strongmen, and insurgencies.

Russia’s campaign of conquest is already touching off parallel campaigns of alliance-building, starting with Sweden and Finland joining NATO and Moldova and Ukraine seeking membership in the EU and NATO. If the United States and Turkey (and possibly Canada, which Trump wants to annex) withdraw from NATO, it is likely that NATO would merge with the EU and become a joint European defense force. Additionally, with Russia behaving very aggressively toward the Baltic states and other smaller countries on its border, European countries may consolidate into the ten political entities which become the ten component parts of the antichrist’s kingdom, as larger countries can present a stronger deterrant to attack than smaller ones (Dan 7:7-8, 24; Rev 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 9-14).

It is clear from prophetic passages that the antichrist’s Europe is at odds with the Russian-led coalition at the time of the tribulation period (Dan 11:40, 44). Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, his threats against Europe, Russian espionage, and European sanctions are driving a wedge between Europe and Russia, forcing Europe to strongly defend its border with Russia and to treat Russia as a hostile adversary.

Though China is currently a wary ally of Russia, the competing nationalistic ideologies of these two great powers will ultimately conflict, as they already are in North Korea. Russia’s campaign of conquest will likely infuriate China, which is competing with Russia for power and influence in the world. When Russia takes control (via proxies) of countries in Africa where China has made heavy investments, this is likely to drive a permanent wedge between Russia and China. The countries of Asia will also realize that they need to band together to protect themselves from Russian aggression and expansion, and some countries could be coerced into an alliance with China. This will eventually lead to the devastating war of the sixth trumpet judgment, in which a third of the world’s population is killed.

Another effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a great increase in military spending worldwide. Russia has transformed itself into a militarized state with a war economy, and the scale of the war in Ukraine has shown that most other countries lack the industry and munitions storage to sustain an all-out war for long. In addition, new weapons systems are rendering old ones obsolete. An arms race will ensue (and has already begun) that is financed by an unparalleled worldwide economic boom and unparalleled technological advancements, with the result that during the tribulation period the world will experience the most devastating wars in all of human history.

Conclusion and response

Russia has already begun the military buildup and campaign of conquest that will result in the large coalition of countries whose armies invade the land of Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation period (Ezekiel 38–39). While this campaign of conquest is extremely destructive and demonically motivated, Christians can nevertheless be encouraged by the fulfillment of prophecy, which shows that God is in complete control, and His plan is driving toward a conclusion—the second coming of Christ. The fulfillment of prophecy also gives believers assurance that the Bible is the Word of God and is worthy of our complete confidence. Also, the way in which events line up with a literal interpretation of prophecy shows that the literal hermeneutic is the correct way to interpret the Bible—the literal meaning is not an allegory meant to teach spiritual principles. As the world in which we live looks more and more like the world described in prophecies of the tribulation period, we can have confidence that the return of Christ is drawing nearer (the second coming will be preceded by the rapture, which occurs seven years earlier).

Some evangelical Christians are pro-Russia, and may view the prophecies of Russia’s expansion as an indicator of God’s blessing on Russia. In fact, however, the Bible also prophesies the rise of the antichrist and his empire, and God has historically raised up wicked rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar and the Pharaoh of the exodus in order to serve a greater purpose or to bring judgment. The fact that Russia is prophesied to greatly expand its military power and political influence does not mean that Russia is doing what is right, or that Russia will be a safe haven for born-again Christians. In fact, the spiritual evaluations of Russia in Ezekiel 38–39 are entirely negative. God is “against” Gog (Ezek 38:3; 39:1) and He will destroy the armies of Gog in His fury, because Gog is “against” God’s people Israel (Ezek 38:12-22). Even apart from that passage, it should be obvious to any Christian who views the reports of the atrocities that the Russian regime commits on a daily basis—both against Ukrainians and against the Russian people themselves—that the Russian regime is wicked and is driven/deluded by a strong Satanic influence. No one should make the mistake of thinking that the Russian government is righteous, or that it is fighting for the cause of Christ, simply because some of Putin’s political viewpoints align with right-wing political viewpoints in the United States and Europe. The book of Revelation describes two times in which major wars were provoked by demons (Rev 9:14-15; 16:13-14; cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23; 2 Chr 18:18-22; Rev 20:7-10), and Vladimir Putin appears to have launched the invasion of Ukraine under the influence of demons on his mind, deluding him into thinking that victory would come quickly and easily. The way in which Russia continues to throw men and matériel headlong into Ukrainian lines also appears to reflect a destructive Satanic impulse and an irrational compulsion to win the war at all costs.

Aside from these general applications, Christians should also have a biblical understanding of how events in the world will unfold going forward, in order to plan for the changes that will occur. Christians in countries of the former Soviet Union and Africa should be aware that Russia will come to dominate most of the former Soviet Union (with the likely exception of the Baltic states) and large parts of the African continent and may seek to overthrow the governments of non-aligned countries. When and how this will happen and the exact boundaries of the future Russian alliance is not stated in Ezekiel 38; it is not yet known, for example, whether all of Ukraine will fall to Russia or whether part of it might be preserved and integrated into the European Union. Nor is it yet known whether there will be a ceasefire in the current war or whether the fighting will continue unabated. Also, geopolitical events tend to have ups and downs, so it is possible that Russia’s campaign of conquest will include a mixture of failures and successes rather than a straight run of victories. Finally, it is not known to what extent Russia will control the internal policies of the countries in its confederation with regard to evangelical Christianity.

Looking at the larger picture, it is apparent that most countries in the world depend on the goodwill of superpowers to maintain their sovereignty and independence. Increasingly, the superpowers appear inclined to meddle in other countries’ internal affairs and even to disregard the UN Charter by launching invasions of other countries. While Russia is currently the only major power in the world that is using military force to conquer other countries, it should be recognized that the world’s other major powers have imperialistic ambitions. China wants to conquer Taiwan and pull all the countries of Asia into its orbit, while expelling the United States from the region. Europe wants to make other countries adopt its political and economic system and moral values—an effort that will culminate in the antichrist’s demand that the whole world worship him as a god. The left wing in the United States is antichristian and wants to “cancel,” punish, and destroy all who oppose their radical LGBTQ+ agenda. The incoming president, Donald Trump, though center-right, is authoritarian and aggressively nationalistic. While he wishes to avoid major wars due to their financial cost, he is not averse to military operations against smaller countries and also wants to set up the world’s economic and financial system to further enrich the United States. At the start of the tribulation period, there will be four major superpowers/alliances—the United States (Babylon the Great, Dan 11:39; Rev 17:1–19:4), the European Union (the ten horns of the beast/latter-day form of the Roman Empire, Dan 7:7-8, 23-24), the Russian-led confederation (the king of the north + the king of the south, Ezek 38:1-6; Dan 11:40, 43-44), and the Asian confederation (the kings of the east, Dan 11:44; Rev 9:13-16; 16:12), presumably led by China and India. All four of these superpowers/alliances are given a very negative spiritual evaluation in prophecy. The central part of the Middle East appears to be a neutral region which lies between the great powers (Ezek 38:10-13; Dan 11:41-42), and so may be the place in the world where countries have the greatest degree of sovereignty and independence.

While governments in Europe and (currently) the United States are right to oppose Russia’s invasion as a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, Western countries do not represent the cause of righteousness in a more general sense. At the start of the tribulation period, it appears that nearly the entire world is very wicked and very hostile to evangelical Christianity. Currently evangelical Christians in Russia experience a degree of persecution but the majority of evangelical churches still operate openly and legally. However, life under the rule of a brutal, repressive regime is unpredictable; unsuspecting, innocent people can be conscripted, jailed, or executed at any time. Nationalistic governments and autocratic rulers demand absolute loyalty to the state, which inevitably conflicts with Bible-believing Christians’ absolute loyalty to God.

As a concluding application, Christians should remember that our warfare is not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12), and Christ’s kingdom does not arise from the kingdoms of this world (John 18:36). While Christians in Ukraine and other countries that are attacked by Russia certainly have the right to defend their countries and fight for their freedom, they should not make the mistake of thinking that they will prevail simply because their cause is just; evil and injustice will increasingly prevail in the world until the second coming of Christ. In general, the church should direct its energies toward proclaiming the gospel and the truth of God’s Word, rather than attempting to transform governments and countries through politics and warfare. It is inevitable that Russia’s imperialistic expansion will continue for awhile, within limits; yet this expansion should not be viewed as a positive development, for it is a violent expansion of a regime of violence and lies, whose god is itself.

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Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 1 – Israel

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Many Christians have a sense that recent events in the world are related to Bible prophecy, but are not sure exactly how they are related or what will happen next. Events of particular prophetic importance in 2024 include (1) Israel’s spectacular victories over its enemies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran; (2) the continuation of brutal Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere; (3) the election of a newly-emboldened Donald Trump; and (4) continued technological innovations, including breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI). The present article will deal with the first of these themes, which is Israel.

The clearest proof that we are living in the end times is the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and the success of the modern state of Israel. Ezekiel 34–37 describes how there will be a physical restoration of the nation of Israel at the end of the age—a national renewal—that prepares the Jews for spiritual restoration—national acceptance of Jesus as their King. (For details, see my Interpretive Guide to the Major Prophets and this post.) Israel’s national renewal began with the Zionist movement in the nineteenth century, which itself was a surprising byproduct of the European Enlightenment, rationalism, higher criticism, and liberal theology. The Pharisees, who represented rabbinic Judaism, came to dominate Judaism after the destruction of the temple in AD 70, and all the Jewish communities of the Middle Ages practiced Orthodox (rabbinic/Pharisaical) Judaism. The power of the rabbis, who kept the Jews in spiritual darkness, finally began to be broken with the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), which led to Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Free-thinking Jews from these groups founded the Zionist movement and have shown greater openness to Christianity while still preserving their Jewish identity. The modern state of Israel officially came into existence, paradoxically, shortly after the Holocaust, when Western countries finally realized that the Jewish people needed a homeland. In spite of the entire Arab world immediately declaring war on the vulnerable new nation, God has miraculously protected and prospered the Jews.

The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent attacks on Israel by Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran, defy logic but have a clear spiritual explanation. Satan is trying to prevent the coming of Christ’s kingdom by killing the Jews and/or driving them out of their land—he does not want a peace deal that allows the state of Israel to continue to exist or that allows Jews to continue to live in the land of Israel. If Satan could wipe out all the Jews, God’s kingdom could never come. Jesus came to reign as King of the Jews, and His kingdom will be an Israelite kingdom (Matt 2:2; Acts 1:6). Likewise, all the Bible’s prophecies of the tribulation period reveal a focus on the Jewish people and the land of Israel at the end of history. The rapture could not happen and the tribulation period could not begin without a stable and strong Jewish state in the land of Israel and a rebuilt temple.

Israel’s dramatic victories over Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran in the face of significant regional and global opposition can only be explained by the hand of Almighty God supernaturally protecting and prospering His people. God’s plans and purposes cannot be frustrated. Ironically, the unending attacks on Israel by its enemies have given the Israelis a new resolve to do whatever it takes to eliminate their enemies, ignoring international and regional opposition, while demonstrating in full their impressive military capabilities.

As for what comes next, Ezekiel 34–37 repeatedly describes the Jews as reoccupying “the mountains of Israel,” which includes the West Bank. The October 7 attacks and the ongoing intransigence of the Palestinians has shifted Israeli public opinion from support for a Palestinian state to support for the annexation of part or all of the West Bank, possibly with the expulsion of the Palestinian population, as Israelis have realized that the Palestinians will never cease to seek their destruction. It is quite possible that Donald Trump and members of his incoming administration would support the Israeli government in these efforts. Indeed, it is likely that one of the reasons why God caused Donald Trump to win the election was because he will be much more favorable to Israel than Kamala Harris would have been.

Trump has also declared his intention to make a concerted effort to negotiate a comprehensive Middle East peace. This fits with Ezekiel 38:8, 11, which describes Israel living without defenses, without walls, and without a military at the time of the tribulation period (see also this post). Clearly some extraordinary change must take place in the Middle East to convince the Israelis that they no longer need a military and can tear down all their border walls and fences. It is possible that Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and possibly the countries of the Arabian peninsula will also disarm as part of a regional peace deal, as there is no mention of them making war during the tribulation period. (Jordan appears to have a strong military at the time of the tribulation period, but is favorable to Israel [Dan 11:41; Rev 12:6, 14].) After the Palestinian issue is definitively resolved, presumably through the annexation of the West Bank and the expulsion of the Palestinian population from Israel, and very likely through the collapse of the Iranian theocracy and/or the collapse of Islam in general, the Middle East will change its character from being a place of violence to being a place of peace, prosperity, and brotherhood. There must be some strong international agreements in place, perhaps guaranteed by the United States, that will prevent an external invasion of the Middle East prior to the midpoint of the tribulation period.

The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem must also come about at the conclusion of the current conflict, as there clearly is such a temple in existence during the tribulation period (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14; 2 Thess 2:4). Again, due to the intransigence of the Palestinians, Jews increasingly view the Temple Mount as an exclusively Jewish sacred space, and they (rightly) view Gentile Muslims as intruders. Israeli leaders have shown an unprecedented boldness in the past year, and this must be leading up to the time when they will at last take possession of the Temple Mount.

In light of Ezekiel’s prophecies, I expect to see Israel continue to win victories over its enemies (possibly with some temporary setbacks) until it has won complete and total victory. I expect this victory to include annexation of the West Bank and the settlement of the West Bank by Jews. Perhaps Israel will find a way to expel most of the Palestinians. This may be followed by a new wave of immigration to Israel, which will become very peaceful and prosperous. I expect Israel to tear down the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to build the Third Temple where the Dome of the Rock now stands. I expect the countries around Israel to continue making peace with Israel, and I expect the conflicts that have consumed the region for the past 75 years to finally come to an end (prior to the midpoint of the tribulation period). I expect both regional and world opinion of Israel to become much more favorable, enabling a peace that is not merely political but also social. Finally, I expect Israel to draw closer to Europe over time, as the tribulation period begins with the ratification of a treaty between the state of Israel and the antichrist, who is an Italian who leads the European Union or its successor body. This treaty apparently makes Israel a member of the EU and guarantees its protection by the antichrist during a planned seven-year period of integration.

Teaching on the relationship between Bible prophecy and current events in Israel is seldom heard from pulpits today, and is almost never heard in seminary classrooms or published in academic publications. This is because the view of Israel that is currently held by a large majority of professing Christians, including most of those who control publishing houses, seminaries, and other Christian institutions, is called “replacement theology.” Replacement theology is the anti-Semitic false doctrine that God has forever washed His hands of the Jewish people due to their rejection of Jesus, and therefore all of the eschatological blessings promised to Israel have been transferred in a “spiritual” or allegorical sense to the church. This false teaching is rooted in the allegorical hermeneutic, as the only way to explain away the Bible’s prophecies about Israel is to say that the text does not mean what it literally says. However, replacement theology also had a pragmatic aspect, as it was developed in a historical context in which it appeared from a human point of view as if the Jews would never reestablish a state in the land of Israel or accept Jesus as their Messiah; interpreters who did not believe that God would ever restore Israel attempted to find an alternate explanation of the Bible’s prophecies about Israel’s eschatological restoration. It is incredible that scholars who should know better continue to strenuously insist on this view in the context of contemporary events. Even many scholars from traditions that historically rejected replacement theology have recently tried to incorporate replacement theology into their eschatology (“progressive dispensationalism”) and/or have sought to downplay the significance of the modern state of Israel by appealing to a strong view of the doctrine of imminence.

While it is often claimed that prophecy is an unimportant side issue, many churches that hold to replacement theology have a long history of anti-Semitism, and continue to oppose Israel to the present day—in part, perhaps, because they are irked by the way in which dispensationalists point to the success of the modern state of Israel as proof of the error of replacement theology. In spite of the current popularity of replacement theology in both nominal Christianity (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, liberal Protestantism) and among Reformed-leaning or liberal-leaning evangelicals, this view is no longer tenable not only on biblical grounds but also on practical grounds—Israel is too big to ignore, and churches which oppose God’s people cannot expect to receive God’s blessing. As events in the world continue to unfold in a way that clearly matches biblical prophecy, I expect to see a resurgence of “classic” dispensationalism, which makes a clear distinction between Israel and the church.

Returning to Ezekiel’s prophecies of Israel’s eschatological restoration, Ezekiel 38–39 describes the moment when the vast majority of the nation of Israel will finally believe in Jesus as their promised Messiah. That prophecy will be the theme of the next article in this series.

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Messianic prophecy and typology

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The following is an excerpt from the new edition of volume 3 of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible (print book; pdf).

Many verses in the Psalms are quoted in the New Testament as prophecies of the Messiah (Christ). In some instances, such as Psalm 2 and Psalm 110, the psalms quoted are direct prophecies of future events. See the comments on these psalms for challenges to the view that they are direct prophecies. However, in many other instances a psalm in which David is describing his personal experiences is quoted in the New Testament as a prophecy of Christ’s experiences. For example, in Acts 2:25-31 Peter quotes Psalm 16:8-11 as a prophecy of the resurrection of Christ, even though that psalm seems to be describing David’s experiences. It should be noted that Peter’s quotation of this psalm was not his own invention, but was likely an interpretation which Jesus taught the disciples directly after His resurrection (Luke 24:44-47), and certainly was something Peter was led by the Holy Spirit to teach. Some Christian interpreters have tried to argue that all the messianic prophecies in the Psalms are to be understood as speaking exclusively of Christ and not of David. Evangelicals who are influenced by higher criticism often argue that these psalms were intended only to speak of David (or an anonymous “psalmist”) in their original context, which seems to make the New Testament references to them as prophecies erroneous. However, there is a better way to make sense of both these psalms and their New Testament quotations.

Definition of typology

The seemingly indirect prophecies of the Messiah in the psalms are best understood through the hermeneutics of prophetic typology. Typology is the study of types. The English word “type” is derived from the Greek word τύπος, which means “pattern.” However, this Greek word is not used in the New Testament as a technical hermeneutical indicator of typological structures the way the English word “type” is used. Further, even this hermeneutical sense of the word “type” is outdated in modern English; the word “prototype” (or “archetype”) would be clearer, but “type” is still the word used in hermeneutical discussions. A good working definition of typology comes from Horne’s nineteenth century work:

A type, in its primary and literal meaning, simply denotes a rough draught, or less accurate model, from which a more perfect image is made; but, in the sacred or theological sense of the term, a type may be defined to be a symbol of something future and distant, or an example prepared and evidently designed by God to prefigure that future thing. What is thus prefigured is called the antitype.

Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (4th ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823), 2:649.

The validity and importance of typology

The numerous citations of typological relationships in the NT shows that typology is indeed a valid mode of interpretation, for which we need only discover its governing hermeneutical principles. There are some passages in the NT wherein a typological relationship is explicitly recognized, such as that of Melchizedek and Christ (Heb 5:10; 7:1-17), David and Christ (Acts 2:25-34), and Christ and the Passover lambs (John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor 5:7). At other times, a typological relationship is not explicitly stated, but a parallel is drawn between an OT reality and an NT reality such as the tabernacle and sacrificial system (cf. Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). Typology is particularly important for understanding how the Old Testament foreshadows and anticipates the person and work of the Messiah.

The Old and New Testaments are linked through the fulfillment of OT promises in the NT, which verifies that Christianity is the continuation of the Jews’ religion in a perfected form, not a heretical cult. Typological relationships form part of this linkage. Much of the Old Testament points to and is fulfilled in the New Testament, and the New Testament is dependent on the Old Testament.

One reason why the Bible uses typology is that object lessons are a particularly helpful teaching tool. It is easier for people to understand theological truth when they can see a model of that truth, rather than being taught the principles or prophecies abstractly. Typology also shows how God uses historical events to prepare the world for future events in His plan.

Identification of biblical types

Three characteristics are shared by all legitimate types in the Bible: promise-fulfillment, functional correspondence, and historicity.

First, the promise-fulfillment criterion means that the antitype must in some way fulfill the type. This implies that:

  1. There must be a prophetic promise which links type and antitype. This promise must be left unfulfilled or partially unfulfilled by the type. The historical role of the type must be incomplete and look toward a future fulfillment. A genuine OT typological structure must contain specific promises which point to a fulfillment in a specific antitype, and not just general promises which could have many potential fulfillments. Excessive typology tends to overlook this criterion. Many interpreters identify types on the basis of similarities and patterns, without the presence of an associated prophecy.
  2. Typological indicators should be present in the original OT context. The only way the NT can legitimately claim fulfillment of an OT type is if the typological structure is recognizable from exegesis of the OT text using the literal hermeneutic. The NT simply recognizes what was intended in the OT text all along. If a type can only be recognized on the basis of NT revelation, then in what sense is it a prefigurement? Views of typology which define a type on the basis of a list of correspondences which can only be recognized retrospectively miss an “awareness of the fundamental direction in which revelation points.” (Philip E. Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology” [PhD dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1995], 175.)
  3. A type must precede its antitype in history. Since a type is a prophetic anticipation of an antitype, it must precede the antitype in history.
  4. A type must be prepared and designed by God to represent its antitype. Since a type is a prophetic object lesson, God must shape history in such a way that the type takes on essential characteristics of the antitype.

Second, the functional correspondence criterion means that the type must have the same historical function as the antitype. Specifically, the type must have the function, role, or office which is noted in the prophetic promise that connects the type with the antitype. As an example, a messianic type must occupy a messianic office or function, though the Messiah occupies this role in a greater and fuller way than the type. Thus, David and Melchizedek both occupied a messianic office/function. Functional correspondence is a necessary part of typology because a type must lack completion in itself and look forward to a goal to be fulfilled in an antitype, which is by definition greater and fuller than the type. When the antitype arrives, the need for the role played by the type is done away, and the antitype replaces the function of the type. An example of the way this works is that when Christ died, the whole sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law was fulfilled and ceased to operate in a legitimate manner. Excessive typology tends to focus on corresponding external elements between a proposed type and antitype while ignoring the need for identity in office/function and the inherent deficiency of the type. The retrospective recognition view of typology also encounters problems with the functional correspondence criterion, since the antitype seems to provide the model for recognizing the type. However, by the very definition of typology, “it is the type that points toward the antitype, not the antitype which points back toward the type” (Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 181), and therefore the type must have some function or office that is incomplete and awaits completion in an antitype.

Third, the historicity criterion means that both the type and the antitype must be real historical entities, not mere literary inventions. Historicity is a problem in modern critical scholarship, which tends to view supposed literary motifs almost as typological indicators. See further, W. Edward Glenny, “The ‘People of God’ in Romans 9:25-26” Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (Jan.–Mar. 1995): 56.

Categories of typology

Biblical types can be divided into three major categories: legal types, prophetical types, and historical types.

  1. Legal types are rituals or symbols in the Mosaic legal system that prefigured a future entity or event, usually the person and work of the Messiah. An example of a legal type is the lambs sacrificed on Passover, which foreshadowed Christ’s death on Passover as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor 5:7). The fulfillment of the types of the Law in the person and work of the Messiah is central to the theology of the NT, and forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New. It is evident that the sacrifices in the Law were functionally incomplete, since they had to be repeated every year. Hebrews 10:1-18 connects this functional deficiency with messianic prophecies to argue that Christ’s death is the antitype of the Mosaic sacrificial system.
  2. A prophetical type is an action or object lesson deliberately portrayed by a prophet to symbolize a future event. An example of this is Isaiah walking naked and barefoot to portray the captivity of Egypt (Isa 20:1-6). While all typology is prophetic, this category of typology refers to direct and deliberate portrayals of future events by a prophet. It can be debated whether prophetic object lessons designed to portray future events should be classified as types or symbols.
  3. Historical types are what most people think of when they think of typology. Horne defines historical types as “characters, actions, and fortunes of some eminent persons recorded in the Old Testament, so ordered by Divine Providence as to be exact prefigurations of the characters, actions, and fortunes of future persons who should arise under the Gospel dispensation” (Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures [4th ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823], 2:651). An example of a historical type is David’s experiences in Psalm 22 that are cited in the Gospels as fulfilled in Christ’s experiences (Mark 15:34; John 19:23-24).

Erroneous approaches to typology

The most common error made in recognizing types is the idea that parallels alone indicate the existence of types, with the result that interpreters find far too many types. Powers comments:

The greatest confusion in the area of biblical typology comes as a result of the broad application of the term to a variety of literary and historical situations simply because a recurring pattern is recognized. Thus any repetition of word, symbol, event, person, genre, or theological theme is prone to be explained by typology and all those characteristics associated with typological structure are then applied to elicit a new or fuller meaning of the original text. The problem becomes acute when those typological characteristics are attached to literary structures or historical situations creating meanings which are no longer supported by the textual evidence, and so are not a part of the author’s intended meaning. For some, typology has no bearing on the meaning of the text, but is simply a recognition of a pattern by subsequent interpreters. For others, typology is a method of exegesis; and for others still, it is not a method of exegesis, but part of the author’s intended meaning.

Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 293-94.

The main problem with identifying types solely on the basis of similarities between two entities is that it adds to the Bible a claimed meaning that is not stated in the biblical text (i.e., the criteria of promise-fulfillment and functional correspondence are not met). Such identifications of types are subjective decisions made by the interpreter, which cannot be validated objectively. Traditionally, one of the main motives for excessive typology (“hyper-typing”) has been the Christo-centric hermeneutic—the theological proposition that every portion of the Old Testament is designed to point to Christ. Because many portions of the Old Testament are not directly about Jesus Christ, interpreters have to posit typologies and allegories in these portions in order to find a prophetic link to Christ. However, the Bible nowhere affirms the Christo-centric hermeneutic, and this supposedly spiritually-minded method of interpretation is exegetically and theologically erroneous. There is a sense in which all of history before the cross was preparing the world for the incarnation of Christ, and all of history afterward is leading to Christ’s second advent, but most of the particulars in history do not directly foreshadow the person and work of the Messiah.

As a reaction to hyper-typing and extreme allegorism, Bishop Herbert Marsh, writing in the early nineteenth century, proposed the following rule: only types that are specifically recognized in the New Testament may be considered valid. This rule has been followed by many evangelical interpreters since Marsh’s time. However, this approach is problematic because it is too minimalistic. The recognition in the New Testament of types in various Old Testament passages points to the existence of typology in whole classes of passages, and not just ones specifically cited by the New Testament writers. In many instances, it seems that the NT writers are not recognizing types through direct revelation from God, but through the application of hermeneutical principles. Recognition of these principles should allow other interpreters to identify other types. For example, Colossians 2:17 and Hebrews 9:11 and 10:1 indicate that many aspects of the Mosaic Law point to the person and work of the Messiah, but do not individually list each type and antitype. Another example is the clear typological connection between Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the eschatological antichrist in Daniel 8 and 11, which is at best only alluded to in the New Testament. A further problem with both the maximalist and the minimalist approaches to typology is that they only recognize typology retrospectively, which reverses the direction of prophecy and revelation.

A third erroneous view of typology is the view of unbelieving or liberal Bible scholars, who reject the possibility of genuine prophecy because it would imply the supernatural activity of God. For these critics, therefore, all prophetic typology is invalid as authentic prophecy, and what is called “typology” is nothing more than allegory or analogy. Parallels between characters in the OT and characters in the NT are seen as merely accidental, and not as intentional prophetic foreshadowings. If the critics always stated their position as a stark denial of the supernatural, of course it would not attract evangelical adherents. However, critical Bible scholars often use language that sounds very similar to the language used by evangelical scholars, hypothesizing “typological” relationships based on an analysis of recurring words or motifs in order to find “the real meaning” of the text below its surface meaning. What they seldom say is that they do not believe the Bible is historically reliable, or prophetic of future events, or inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Too many evangelical scholars are analyzing the biblical text using critical methods of intertextual connections (source criticism) and motifs (literary criticism), among other methods that undermine literal interpretation and faith.

Too many evangelical scholars are also influenced by the claim of critical scholarship that the typological interpretation of Old Testament passages in the New Testament is an application of first century Jewish hermeneutical methods that were essentially allegorical. While an analysis of such Jewish hermeneutical methods as Pesher and omnisignificance would require a separate treatise, it may briefly be stated that the NT handles the OT differently than it is handled in the literature of rabbinic Judaism and the Qumran cult. The NT understanding of Scripture was shaped by the person and work of Jesus Christ, as the NT writers saw how Christ fulfilled prophecy and typology. Importantly, Jesus’ disciples learned how to interpret Scripture the way Jesus interpreted it, which was often different from the prevailing understanding of the Bible in contemporary Judaism. Wherever Jesus commented on a specific OT text, the apostles would follow His interpretation—and where He made general statements about Scripture, they applied the principles He gave to specific passages. Even the apostle Paul, who was thoroughly steeped in Judaism, says that immediately after his conversion he went away to Arabia to be taught directly by the Holy Spirit (Gal 1:16-17), and he says he counts his background in Judaism as loss for Christ (Phil 3:4-8). The NT views the Jewish interpretation of the OT as flawed because it fails to recognize the fulfillment of messianic promises in the person and work of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 3:14-16). One important difference between rabbinic exegesis and NT exegesis is that the NT use of typology takes into account the whole context of an OT passage. The linking of texts on linguistic similarities, apart from the historical setting and literal meaning of the texts, is not a characteristic of NT exegesis. In summary, the NT sees itself as a continuation of OT revelation, and sees a movement in revelatory history which culminated in the coming of the Messiah. The NT’s recognition of typology in the OT is therefore rooted in the meaning of the OT text and a belief in its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is far different from contemporary first century methods of Jewish exegesis.

Messianic typology in the Psalms

Several verses in psalms of David are cited in the New Testament as typological prophecies of Christ, most notably portions of Psalm 16 and Psalm 22. David functioned as a type of Christ because of the Davidic Covenant, in which God promised to David that his dynasty and throne would continue forever, implying that the Messiah would be one of his descendants and would rule from his throne. Peter states the typological connection directly in Acts 2:30-31. There are some personal experiences of David in the psalms that he described in metaphorical language that Christ experienced literally, such as having his hands and his feet pierced by his enemies (Ps 22:16). David’s son Solomon also appears to function as a type of Christ in Psalm 45, since he was a son of David who ruled Israel from David’s throne. It is noteworthy that the New Testament never cites a psalm ascribed to another author as typological of Christ. This shows that the New Testament writers have paid attention to the historical context of the material they are citing as typological, and are not merely citing convenient parallels. In fact, David had some experiences that were typological of the Messiah’s experiences, and he was led by the Holy Spirit to describe these experiences in language that was metaphorically true of himself but literally true of the Messiah.

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Profecía mesiánica y tipología

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Este post es un extracto de mi Guía interpretativa para la Biblia (libro impreso; pdf de Salmos).

Muchos versículos de los Salmos son citados en el Nuevo Testamento como profecías del Mesías (Cristo). En algunos casos, como el Salmo 2 y el Salmo 110, los salmos citados son profecías directas de eventos futuros. Ver más adelante los comentarios sobre estos salmos para una refutación del punto de vista de que no son profecías directas. Sin embargo, en muchos otros casos, un salmo en el que David describe sus experiencias personales es citado en el Nuevo Testamento como una profecía de las experiencias de Cristo. Por ejemplo, en Hechos 2:25-31 Pedro cita el Salmo 16:8-11 como una profecía de la resurrección de Cristo, aunque ese salmo parece estar describiendo las experiencias de David. Cabe señalar que la cita de Pedro de este salmo no fue su propia invención, sino que probablemente fue una interpretación que Jesús enseñó a los discípulos directamente después de Su resurrección (Lucas 24:44-47), y ciertamente fue algo que Pedro fue guiado por el Espíritu Santo a enseñar. Algunos intérpretes cristianos han tratado de argumentar que todas las profecías mesiánicas en los Salmos deben ser entendidas como hablando exclusivamente de Cristo y no de David. Los evangélicos que están influenciados por la alta crítica a menudo argumentan que estos salmos solo tenían la intención de hablar de David (o un “salmista” anónimo) en su contexto original, lo que parece hacer que las referencias a ellos en el Nuevo Testamento como profecías sean erróneas. Sin embargo, hay una mejor manera de dar sentido a estos salmos y sus citas en el Nuevo Testamento.

Definición de tipología

Las profecías aparentemente indirectas del Mesías en los Salmos se entienden mejor a través de la hermenéutica de la tipología profética. La tipología es el estudio de tipos. La palabra en español “tipo” se deriva de la palabra griega τύπος, que significa “patrón”. Sin embargo, esta palabra griega no se usa en el Nuevo Testamento como un indicador hermenéutico técnico de estructuras tipológicas de la forma en que se usa la palabra en español “tipo”. Además, incluso este sentido hermenéutico de la palabra “tipo” está desactualizado en el español moderno; la palabra “prototipo” (o “arquetipo”) sería más clara, pero “tipo” sigue siendo la palabra utilizada en las discusiones hermenéuticas. Una buena definición práctica de tipología proviene de la obra de Horne del siglo xix:

Un tipo, en su significado primario y literal, simplemente denota un borrador sin pulir o modelo menos exacto, a partir del cual se extrae una imagen más perfecta; pero, en el sentido sagrado o teológico del término, un tipo puede definirse como un símbolo de algo futuro y distante, o un ejemplo preparado y evidentemente diseñado por Dios para prefigurar ese algo futuro. Lo que de ese modo es prefigurado se denomina antitipo.

Traducido de Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (4.a ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823), 2:649.

La validez e importancia de la tipología

Las numerosas citas de relaciones tipológicas en el Nuevo Testamento muestran que la tipología es de hecho un modo válido de interpretación, por lo cual sólo necesitamos descubrir sus principios hermenéuticos rectores. Hay algunos pasajes en el Nuevo Testamento en los que se reconoce explícitamente una relación tipológica, como la de Melquisedec y Cristo (Hebreos 5:10; 7:1-17), David y Cristo (Hechos 2:25-34) y Cristo y los corderos pascuales (Juan 1:29, 36; 1 Corintios 5:7). Otras veces, no se establece explícitamente una relación tipológica, sino se dibuja un paralelo entre una realidad del Antiguo Testamento y una realidad del Nuevo Testamento, por ejemplo, entre el tabernáculo y el sistema de sacrificios (cf. Colosenses 2:17; Hebreos 10:1). La tipología es particularmente importante para comprender cómo el Antiguo Testamento prefigura y prevé la persona y obra del Mesías.

El Antiguo Testamento y el Nuevo Testamento están conectados a través del cumplimiento de las promesas del Antiguo en el Nuevo, lo cual corrobora que el cristianismo es la continuación de la religión de los judíos en una forma perfeccionada, no un culto herético. Las relaciones tipológicas forman parte de este vínculo. Gran parte del Antiguo Testamento apunta y se cumple en el Nuevo Testamento, y el Nuevo Testamento es dependiente del Antiguo Testamento.

Una de las razones por las que la Biblia usa la tipología es que los ejemplos prácticos son una herramienta de enseñanza particularmente útil. Es más fácil para las personas comprender la verdad teológica cuando pueden ver un modelo de esa verdad, en lugar de que se les enseñen los principios o las profecías de manera abstracta. La tipología también muestra cómo Dios usa los eventos históricos para preparar al mundo para eventos futuros en Su plan.

Identificación de tipos bíblicos

Todos los tipos legítimos en la Biblia comparten tres características: promesa y cumplimiento, correspondencia funcional e historicidad.

Primero, el criterio de promesa y cumplimiento significa que el antitipo debe cumplir de alguna manera el tipo. Esto implica que:

  1. Debe haber una promesa profética que conecta el tipo con el antitipo. El tipo debe dejar esta promesa incumplida o parcialmente incumplida. El rol histórico del tipo debe estar incompleto y orientarse hacia un cumplimiento futuro. Una estructura tipológica genuina del Antiguo Testamento debe contener promesas específicas que apuntan a un cumplimiento en un antitipo específico, y no solo promesas generales que podrían tener muchos cumplimientos potenciales. La tipología excesiva tiende a pasar por alto este criterio. Muchos intérpretes identifican tipos sobre la base de similitudes y patrones, sin la presencia de una profecía asociada.
  2. En el contexto original del Antiguo Testamento deben estar presentes indicadores tipológicos. La única forma en que el Nuevo Testamento puede afirmar legítimamente el cumplimiento de un tipo del Antiguo Testamento es si la estructura tipológica es identificable a partir de la exégesis del texto del Antiguo Testamento usando la hermenéutica literal. El Nuevo Testamento simplemente identifica la intención que tenía el texto del Antiguo Testamento desde el principio. Si un tipo solo puede identificarse sobre la base de la revelación del Nuevo Testamento, ¿en qué sentido es una prefiguración? Los puntos de vista de tipología que definen un tipo sobre la base de una lista de correspondencias que solo pueden identificarse retrospectivamente pierden una “conciencia de la dirección fundamental a la que apunta la revelación”. (Traducido de Philip E. Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology” [PhD disertación, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1995], 175.)
  3. Un tipo debe preceder a su antitipo en la historia. Dado que un tipo es una anticipación profética de un antitipo, debe preceder al antitipo en la historia.
  4. Un tipo debe ser preparado y diseñado por Dios para representar su antitipo. Dado que un tipo es un ejemplo práctico profético, Dios debe moldear la historia de tal manera que el tipo adquiere características esenciales del antitipo.

El segundo criterio, la correspondencia funcional, significa que el tipo debe tener la misma función histórica que el antitipo. Específicamente, el tipo debe tener la función, rol o posición que se indica en la promesa profética que conecta al tipo con el antitipo. Como ejemplo, un tipo mesiánico debe ocupar una posición o función mesiánica, aunque el Mesías ocupa este rol de una manera superior y más plena que el tipo. Así, tanto David como Melquisedec ocuparon una posición/función mesiánica. La correspondencia funcional es una parte necesaria de la tipología porque un tipo debe carecer de culminación en sí mismo y aguardar que la meta sea cumplida en un antitipo, el cual por definición es mayor y más completo que el tipo. Cuando llega el antitipo, se elimina la necesidad del rol desempeñado por el tipo y el antitipo reemplaza la función del tipo. Un ejemplo de la manera como esto funciona es que cuando Cristo murió, todo el sistema de sacrificios de la ley mosaica se cumplió y dejó de operar de manera legítima. La tipología excesiva tiende a centrarse en los elementos externos correspondientes entre un tipo propuesto y un antitipo, ignorando la necesidad de identidad en la posición/función y la inherente deficiencia del tipo. El punto de vista de comprensión retrospectiva de la tipología también encuentra problemas con el criterio de correspondencia funcional, ya que el antitipo parece proporcionar el modelo para identificar el tipo. Sin embargo, por la definición de tipología, “el tipo es el que apunta hacia el antitipo, no el antitipo el que apunta hacia el tipo (hacia atrás)” (traducido de Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 181), y por lo tanto el tipo debe tener alguna función o posición que está incompleta y espera ser completada en un antitipo.

El tercer criterio, la historicidad, significa que tanto el tipo como el antitipo deben ser entidades históricas reales, no meras invenciones literarias. La historicidad es un problema en la erudición crítica moderna, que tiende a ver los supuestos motivos literarios casi como indicadores tipológicos. Ver más, W. Edward Glenny, “The ‘People of God’ in Romans 9:25-26” Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (Jan.–Mar. 1995): 56.

Categorías de tipología

Los tipos bíblicos se pueden dividir en tres categorías principales: tipos legales, tipos proféticos y tipos históricos.

  1. Los tipos legales son rituales o símbolos en el sistema legal mosaico que prefiguraban una entidad o un evento futuro, generalmente la persona y obra del Mesías. Un ejemplo de un tipo legal es los corderos sacrificados en la Pascua, que presagiaban la muerte de Cristo en la Pascua como el Cordero de Dios que quita el pecado del mundo (Juan 1:29, 36; 1 Corintios 5:7). El cumplimiento de los tipos de la Ley en la persona y obra del Mesías es central para la teología del Nuevo Testamento y forma un puente entre el Antiguo y el Nuevo Testamento. Es evidente que los sacrificios en la Ley eran funcionalmente incompletos, ya que tenía que ser repetidos cada año. Hebreos 10:1-18 conecta esta deficiencia funcional con profecías mesiánicas para argumentar que la muerte de Cristo es el antitipo del sistema mosaico de sacrificios.
  2. Un tipo profético es una acción o demostración práctica representada deliberadamente por un profeta para simbolizar un evento futuro. Un ejemplo de esto es Isaías caminando desnudo y descalzo para representar el cautiverio de Egipto (Isaías 20:1-6). Si bien toda tipología es profética, esta categoría de tipología se refiere a representaciones directas y deliberadas de eventos futuros por parte de un profeta. Se puede debatir si las demostraciones prácticas proféticas diseñadas para representar eventos futuros deberían ser clasificadas como tipos o símbolos.
  3. Los tipos históricos son los que la mayoría de la gente piensa cuando piensan en tipología. Horne define los tipos históricos como “personajes, acciones y circunstancias de algunas personas eminentes registradas en el Antiguo Testamento, ordenadas por la Providencia Divina como para ser prefiguraciones exactas de los personajes, acciones y circunstancias de las personas futuras que deberían surgir bajo la dispensación del Evangelio” (traducido de Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures [4.a ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823], 2:651). Un ejemplo de un tipo histórico es las experiencias de David en el Salmo 22 que son citadas en los Evangelios como cumplidas en las experiencias de Cristo (Marcos 15:34; Juan 19:23-24).

Planteamientos erróneas sobre la tipología

El error más común que se comete en el reconocimiento de tipos es la idea de que los paralelos por sí solos indican la existencia de tipos, con la consecuencia de que los intérpretes encuentran demasiados tipos. Powers comenta:

La mayor confusión en el área de la tipología bíblica surge como resultado de la amplia aplicación del término a una variedad de situaciones literarias e históricas simplemente porque se reconoce un patrón recurrente. Por lo tanto, cualquier repetición de palabra, símbolo, evento, persona, género o tema teológico tiende a ser explicada por la tipología y todas aquellas características asociadas a la estructura tipológica son entonces aplicadas para obtener un significado nuevo o más completo del texto original. El problema se agudiza cuando esas características tipológicas se unen a estructuras literarias o situaciones históricas creando significados que ya no están respaldados por la evidencia textual y, por lo tanto, no son parte del significado concebido por el autor. Para algunos, la tipología no influye en el significado del texto, sino que es simplemente el reconocimiento de un patrón por parte de los intérpretes posteriores. Para otros, la tipología es un método de exégesis; y para algunos otros, no es un método de exégesis, sino parte del significado concebido por el autor.

Traducido de Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 293-94.

El principal problema con la identificación de tipos únicamente sobre la base de similitudes entre dos entidades es que añade a la Biblia un significado supuesto que no está declarado en el texto bíblico (es decir, no se reúnen los criterios de promesa y cumplimiento y correspondencia funcional). Las identificaciones de tipos de esa manera son decisiones subjetivas tomadas por el intérprete, que no pueden ser validadas objetivamente. Tradicionalmente, uno de los motivos principales para la tipología excesiva (“hiper-tipificación”) ha sido la hermenéutica cristocéntrica, la proposición teológica de que cada porción del Antiguo Testamento está diseñada para apuntar a Cristo. Puesto que muchas porciones del Antiguo Testamento no se refieren directamente a Jesucristo, los intérpretes tienen que plantear tipologías y alegorías en estas porciones para encontrar un vínculo profético con Cristo. Sin embargo, la Biblia en ninguna parte afirma la hermenéutica cristocéntrica, y este método de interpretación supuestamente de mentalidad espiritual es exegética y teológicamente erróneo. En cierto sentido, toda la historia antes de la cruz estaba preparando al mundo para la encarnación de Cristo, y toda la historia posterior conduce a la segunda venida de Cristo, pero la mayoría de los detalles de la historia no prefiguran directamente la persona y obra del Mesías.

Como reacción a la hiper-tipificación y al alegorismo extremo, el obispo Herbert Marsh, escribiendo a principios del siglo xix, propuso la siguiente regla: solo los tipos que son específicamente reconocidos en el Nuevo Testamento pueden considerarse válidos. Esta regla ha sido seguida por muchos intérpretes evangélicos desde la época de Marsh. Sin embargo, este enfoque es problemático porque es demasiado minimalista. El reconocimiento en el Nuevo Testamento de tipos en varios pasajes del Antiguo Testamento apunta a la existencia de tipología en clases enteras de pasajes, y no solo en aquellos específicamente citados por los escritores del Nuevo Testamento. En muchos casos, parece que los escritores del Nuevo Testamento no reconocen los tipos mediante la revelación directa de Dios, sino mediante la aplicación de principios hermenéuticos. El reconocimiento de estos principios debería permitir a otros intérpretes identificar otros tipos. Por ejemplo, Colosenses 2:17 y Hebreos 9:11 y 10:1 indican que muchos aspectos de la ley mosaica apuntan a la persona y obra del Mesías, pero no enumeran individualmente cada tipo y antitipo. Otro ejemplo es la clara conexión tipológica entre Antíoco IV Epífanes y el anticristo escatológico en Daniel 8 y 11, que a lo sumo, solo es aludido en el Nuevo Testamento. Otro problema tanto con el enfoque maximalista como con el minimalista de la tipología es que solo reconocen la tipología retrospectivamente, lo cual invierte la dirección de la profecía y la revelación.

Una tercera visión errónea de la tipología es la opinión de los eruditos bíblicos liberales o no creyentes, que rechazan la posibilidad de una profecía genuina porque esta implicaría la actividad sobrenatural de Dios. Para estos críticos, por tanto, toda tipología profética es inválida como profecía auténtica, y lo que es llamado “tipología” no es más que una alegoría o una analogía. Los paralelos entre los personajes del Antiguo Testamento y los del Nuevo Testamento se ven como meramente accidentales y no como prefiguraciones proféticas intencionales. Si los críticos siempre declararan su posición como una clara negación de lo sobrenatural, por supuesto esta no atraería seguidores evangélicos. Sin embargo, los eruditos críticos de la Biblia a menudo usan un lenguaje que suena muy similar al usado por los eruditos evangélicos, hipotetizando relaciones “tipológicas” basados en un análisis de palabras o motivos recurrentes para encontrar “el significado real” del texto debajo de su significado superficial. Lo que rara vez dicen es que no creen que la Biblia es históricamente confiable, o profética de eventos futuros, o inspirada por el Espíritu Santo de Dios. Demasiados eruditos evangélicos están analizando el texto bíblico utilizando métodos críticos de conexiones intertextuales (crítica de fuentes) y motivos (crítica literaria), entre otros métodos que socavan la interpretación literal y la fe.

Muchos eruditos evangélicos también están influenciados por la afirmación de la erudición crítica de que la interpretación tipológica de los pasajes del Antiguo Testamento por el Nuevo Testamento es una aplicación de los métodos hermenéuticos judíos del primer siglo que eran esencialmente alegóricos. Si bien un análisis de métodos hermenéuticos judíos como pésher y omnisignificación requeriría un tratado separado, se puede afirmar brevemente que el Nuevo Testamento maneja el Antiguo Testamento de manera diferente a como lo maneja la literatura del judaísmo rabínico y la secta de Qumrán. La comprensión de las Escrituras por el Nuevo Testamento fue moldeada por la persona y obra de Jesucristo, ya que los escritores del Nuevo Testamento vieron cómo Cristo cumplió la profecía y la tipología. Es importante destacar que los discípulos de Jesús aprendieron a interpretar las Escrituras de la manera en que Jesús las interpretó, lo que a menudo era diferente de la comprensión predominante de la Biblia en el judaísmo contemporáneo. Dondequiera que Jesús comentó un texto específico del Antiguo Testamento, los apóstoles seguirían Su interpretación, y donde Él hizo declaraciones generales sobre las Escrituras, ellos aplicaron los principios que Él dio a pasajes específicos. Incluso el apóstol Pablo, quien estuvo completamente inmerso en el judaísmo, dice que inmediatamente después de su conversión se fue a Arabia para ser enseñado directamente por el Espíritu Santo (Gálatas 1:16-17), y dice que cuenta su experiencia en el judaísmo como pérdida por Cristo (Filipenses 3:4-8). El Nuevo Testamento considera la interpretación judía del Antiguo Testamento como defectuosa porque no reconoce el cumplimiento de las promesas mesiánicas en la persona y obra de Jesucristo (2 Corintios 3:14-16). Una diferencia importante entre la exégesis rabínica y la exégesis del Nuevo Testamento es que el uso de la tipología en el Nuevo Testamento tiene en cuenta el contexto completo de un pasaje del Antiguo Testamento. La vinculación de textos sobre similitudes lingüísticas, aparte del contexto histórico y el significado literal de los textos, no es una característica de la exégesis del Nuevo Testamento. En resumen, el Nuevo Testamento se ve a sí mismo como una continuación de la revelación del Antiguo Testamento, y ve un recorrido en la historia reveladora que culminó con la venida del Mesías. El reconocimiento que hace el Nuevo Testamento de la tipología en el Antiguo Testamento se basa, por lo tanto, en el significado del texto del Antiguo Testamento y en una creencia en su cumplimiento en la persona y obra de Jesucristo. Esto es muy diferente de los métodos contemporáneos de exégesis judía del primer siglo.

Tipología mesiánica en los Salmos

Varios versículos de los salmos de David se citan en el Nuevo Testamento como profecías tipológicas de Cristo, sobre todo porciones del Salmo 16 y del Salmo 22. David funcionó como un tipo de Cristo debido al Pacto Davídico, en el cual Dios le prometió a David que su dinastía y trono continuarían para siempre, implicando que el Mesías sería uno de sus descendientes y gobernaría desde su trono. Pedro declara la conexión tipológica directamente en Hechos 2:30-31. Hay algunas experiencias personales de David en los Salmos que él describió en lenguaje metafórico que Cristo experimentó literalmente, como que sus enemigos le traspasaron las manos y los pies (Salmo 22:16). Salomón, el hijo de David, también parece funcionar como un tipo de Cristo en el Salmo 45, ya que fue un hijo de David que gobernó a Israel desde el trono de David. Cabe mencionar que el Nuevo Testamento nunca cita un salmo adscrito a otro autor como tipológico de Cristo. Esto muestra que los escritores del Nuevo Testamento han prestado atención al contexto histórico del material que están citando como tipológico, y no están simplemente citando paralelos convenientes. De hecho, David tuvo algunas experiencias que eran tipológicas de las experiencias del Mesías, y fue guiado por el Espíritu Santo a describir estas experiencias en un lenguaje que era metafóricamente verdadero para él mismo, pero literalmente verdadero para el Mesías.

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Arameo: la tercera lengua de la Biblia

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El arameo ha sido en cierto modo una lengua olvidada en los estudios bíblicos, excepto en un nivel académico muy alto. El Nuevo Testamento está escrito en griego; casi todo el Antiguo Testamento está escrito en hebreo, aunque la traducción griega del Antiguo Testamento (la LXX) es importante para los estudios bíblicos. Sin embargo, 268 versículos fueron escritos en una lengua llamada arameo.

Las porciones de la Escritura que fueron escritas en arameo son Esdras 4:8–6:18 y 7:12-26 (67 versículos), Daniel 2:4b–7:28 (200 versículos), Jeremías 10:11, así como varios nombres propios y palabras y frases aisladas dispersas por el Antiguo y el Nuevo Testamento. A pesar del hecho de que solo un pequeño porcentaje de la Escritura está escrito en esta lengua, la porción aramea de la Biblia es desproporcionadamente significativa debido a la importancia del libro de Daniel para la profecía bíblica. El arameo también es importante para los estudios del Nuevo Testamento, ya que varias citas directas de Jesús, y de otros, se conservan en el arameo original que fue hablado por los judíos palestinos del periodo del Segundo Templo. Los versículos del Nuevo Testamento que incluyen palabras arameas transliteradas por letras griegas son: Mateo 5:22; 27:46; Marcos 5:41; 7:34; 10:51; 14:36; Juan 1:42; 20:16; Hechos 9:36, 40; Romanos 8:15; 1 Corintios 16:22; Gálatas 4:6.

En el Antiguo Testamento, cuatro versículos hacen referencia directa a la lengua aramea: 2 Reyes 18:26, Esdras 4:7, Isaías 36:11 y Daniel 2:4. Cada uno de estos versículos llama «arameo» al arameo (אֲרָמִית, una forma adverbial de אֲרָמִי), unas pocas versiones en español lo traducen como «siriaco». El arameo es llamado «hebreo» (Ἑβραΐς o Ἑβραϊστί) en el Nuevo Testamento, ya que era la lengua de los hebreos (Juan 5:2; 19:13, 17, 20; 20:16; Hechos 21:40; 22:2; 26:14). Algunas traducciones más recientes traducen la palabra griega para «hebreo» en estos versículos como «arameo», lo cual reconoce que estos versículos se refieren a la lengua que ahora llamamos arameo.

El arameo era originalmente la lengua de los arameos, que estaban conformados por tribus que vivían junto al río Éufrates. Dos de las tribus más prominentes eran los sirios al noroeste, y los caldeos al sudeste. La palabra arameo deriva de Aram, un hijo de Sem que fue el progenitor de los arameos. En las etapas más tempranas de la historia del arameo, la lengua solo se hablaba en lugares arameos, incluyendo el área donde vivía Labán (cf. Génesis 31:47; Deuteronomio 26:5). Sin embargo, a medida que los sirios y los caldeos ganaron prominencia en el antiguo Oriente Próximo, su lengua se consolidó como una lengua internacional de comercio y diplomacia, desplazando gradualmente al acadio. El acadio seguía siendo la lengua oficial del Imperio neoasirio, aunque 2 Reyes 18:26 indica que el arameo ya se estaba consolidando como lingua franca del antiguo Oriente Próximo hacia el año 700 a. C. Cuando los caldeos posteriormente conquistaron Asiria, era natural que usaran su propia lengua ―el arameo― como la lengua administrativa del Imperio neobabilónico, en lugar de adoptar el acadio. Esa es la razón por la que Daniel 2:4 dice que los sabios de Babilonia se dirigieron al rey en arameo, y por eso la siguiente sección del libro de Daniel está escrita en arameo. Tras la conquista de Babilonia por Persia, los persas también eligieron el arameo como la lengua administrativa oficial de su vasto imperio. Es por eso que las porciones de Esdras que registran la correspondencia oficial están escritas en arameo.

En la época en que se escribieron los libros de Daniel y Esdras, la mayoría de los judíos hablaban y entendían tanto el hebreo como el arameo. Entendían el hebreo como la lengua hablada en el hogar, entre ellos y en la lectura de las Escrituras, mientras que el arameo era la lengua hablada en la sociedad en general. Con el tiempo, el arameo reemplazó al hebreo como la lengua principal hablada por los judíos que vivían en la tierra de Israel y regiones al este. Los judíos no habían aprendido arameo en la tierra de Israel (cf. 2 Reyes 18:26), pero tuvieron que aprenderlo en el exilio, ya que era la lengua de sus captores. Por lo tanto, las partes del Antiguo Testamento que fueron compuestas en arameo se escribieron en esa lengua como resultado del cautiverio babilónico.

Debido a esto, el arameo era la lengua materna de nuestro Señor; el hebreo rara vez se usaba como lengua hablada por los judíos del siglo I d. C. Hay varios lugares en los que los escritores del evangelio conservan citas de Jesús en el arameo original, entre ellos Su clamor desde la cruz: Eloi, Eloi, ¿lama sabactani? (Marcos 15:34). Estas palabras expresaron los sentimientos más profundos de Cristo en un momento de gran angustia y emoción personal. El hecho de que dijera estas palabras del Salmo 22:1 en arameo, en lugar del original hebreo o de la traducción griega de la Septuaginta, muestra que el arameo era la lengua que Él conocía más íntimamente. Así que, el Nuevo Testamento conserva palabras arameas porque el arameo era la lengua materna de los judíos palestinos en el siglo I d. C.

(Desde el descubrimiento de los Rollos del Mar Muerto se ha debatido hasta qué punto el arameo había desplazado al hebreo en Palestina en el siglo I d. C. Sin embargo, las inscripciones del siglo I d. C. en Palestina están casi exclusivamente en arameo (o griego), y Jesús usa constantemente el arameo, en lugar del hebreo. Jesús probablemente entendía hebreo, pero como una lengua literaria, más que hablada. También habría conocido el griego y lo habría hablado en algunas ocasiones (como cuando trataba con los gentiles), pero se habría sentido más cómodo en arameo.)

El griego del Nuevo Testamento fue influenciado por el arameo, por lo que contiene algunos modismos y formas de expresión arameas, como la frase «respondió y dijo». Aunque el grado de influencia aramea en el griego del Nuevo Testamento ha sido objeto de mucho debate, se puede decir que el estilo del griego del Nuevo Testamento está semitizado en un grado u otro. Pero no es cierto que partes del Nuevo Testamento hayan sido escritas originalmente en arameo, como algunos han afirmado. No se ha descubierto ningún manuscrito de ninguna parte del Nuevo Testamento que esté escrito en el dialecto arameo palestino judío que hablaban Jesús y los apóstoles.

Después de la resurrección de Jesús, el dialecto siriaco del arameo se convirtió en la lengua de la Iglesia siria. El arameo también siguió siendo una lengua importante para los judíos. Por eso existen dos importantes traducciones arameas del Antiguo Testamento: los Tárgumes (Targumim) judíos y la Peshitta siriaca. Existen varias versiones siriacas importantes del Nuevo Testamento. Gran parte de la literatura rabínica judía, y casi toda la literatura cristiana siria, fue escrita en arameo. Algunos de los Rollos del mar Muerto también fueron escritos en arameo.

Tanto el arameo como el hebreo son lenguas semíticas occidentales. Por lo tanto, el arameo y el hebreo comparten muchas de las características lingüísticas y modos de expresión. En general, la gramática y la morfología hebreas son más parecidas a las protosemíticas, especialmente en sus patrones de vocalización, aunque el arameo tiene un complemento más completo de diferentes formas verbales. Entre las características distintivas del arameo están el uso frecuente del participio para un verbo finito, la partícula polivalente דִּי, el uso de un signo postpositivo de determinación en lugar de un artículo definido prepositivo, y modismos como «hijo de hombre» (para «hombre») y «respondió y dijo» (para «dijo»). Debido a la importancia del arameo en el periodo del Segundo Templo, el hebreo comenzó a escribirse gradualmente en letras arameas durante esa época, y el hebreo ha usado la escritura cuadrada aramea desde entonces. Sin embargo, el siriaco y otros dialectos del arameo usan escrituras diferentes, mientras que los Tárgumes tienen un sistema de puntuación que difiere de la puntuación masorética del Antiguo Testamento.

(La escritura cuadrada aramea también es conocida como la «escritura judía», la «escritura cuadrada», la «escritura asiria» o el «alefato cuadrado». Las tres etapas del desarrollo de esta escritura en Qumrán se denominan «escritura arcaica» (250-150 a. C.), «escritura asmonea» (150-30 a. C.) y «escritura herodiana» (30 a. C. – 70 d. C.). A pesar de la prevalencia de la escritura cuadrada en la escritura hebrea, se encontraron doce fragmentos de Qumrán escritos en una escritura paleohebrea similar a la escritura hebrea original en la que se escribió la mayor parte del Antiguo Testamento, mientras que otros manuscritos de Qumrán utilizaban la escritura cuadrada para el texto del cuerpo principal y la escritura paleohebrea para el nomina sacra. Ver E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (3.a ed.; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 206-7.)

Una de las peculiaridades del arameo bíblico es que nunca se usa el nombre divino יהוה (Yahvé). Por alguna razón, este nombre solo fue usado en hebreo. Sin embargo, el término אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא (el Dios del cielo) aparece con mucha frecuencia en arameo, mucho más que en hebreo. También es interesante que no existen libros del Antiguo Testamento escritos completamente en arameo. Al parecer, se trata de mantener el carácter del Antiguo Testamento como un texto hebreo.

Debido a la larga historia lingüística del arameo, y al diverso número de grupos que lo han hablado, existe una gran variedad de dialectos arameos, de los cuales el siriaco es el más destacado. Alrededor del ochenta por ciento de los escritos arameos existentes están en siriaco, una lengua que aún se habla (en varios dialectos) y se usa en la liturgia de algunas iglesias orientales. También existen claras diferencias entre los distintos periodos cronológicos del arameo. Aunque los eruditos críticos han intentado negarlo durante mucho tiempo, el arameo tanto de Daniel como de Esdras es del dialecto arameo clásico que se usaba entre los siglos VI y IV a. C. Es distinto tanto del arameo de Qumrán como del arameo palestino judío del siglo I d. C.

Mientras que el hebreo se usaba con moderación fuera de la Biblia y de la nación de Israel, el arameo tenía un uso muy amplio. Existe un corpus enorme de literatura aramea. Desde aproximadamente el año 600 a. C. hasta el 700 d. C., el arameo fue la lengua comercial principal del antiguo Oriente Próximo. También era la principal lengua hablada en Palestina, Siria y Mesopotamia en la época de Cristo. El arameo solo fue desplazado por el árabe cuando los musulmanes conquistaron Oriente Próximo, aunque la lengua nunca se extinguió del todo y aún se habla en determinados lugares de Siria, Irak, Irán, Turquía y en comunidades de la diáspora de todo el mundo. El arameo es posiblemente la lengua con el registro escrito continuo más largo del mundo. Debido al amplio uso del arameo fuera de la Biblia, rara vez hay dudas sobre el significado de palabras o construcciones en arameo bíblico, ya que hay muchas oportunidades de investigar la lengua en la literatura extrabíblica.

Aunque solo existe una cantidad limitada de material bíblico compuesto en arameo, la influencia de la lengua aramea se siente en todo el Antiguo y el Nuevo Testamento, ya que estuvo presente en el trasfondo desde Génesis hasta Apocalipsis. El arameo también ocupó un lugar destacado en la Iglesia primitiva y en el judaísmo posbíblico. Pero en la medida en que se usa directamente en la Biblia, el arameo es la lengua del cautiverio y del Redentor.

Nota final: El arameo es una lengua mucho más transversal que el griego o el hebreo. Es de gran interés para los estudios del Antiguo Testamento, el Nuevo Testamento, los estudios intertestamentarios, los estudios judíos, la patrística, la teología histórica, la arqueología, la semítica, la historia del Oriente Próximo y los estudios sobre Oriente Medio. Como puente entre diversos campos de estudio y lengua original de partes importantes del Antiguo Testamento, el arameo es una lengua muy útil de conocer. Para consultar recursos recomendados para el estudio del arameo bíblico, ver este post. La siguiente es una bibliografía de recursos disponibles en español:

  • Ribera-Florit, Josep. Guía para el Estudio del Arameo Bíblico. 2.a ed. Madrid: Sociedad Bíblica, 2005. ISBN: 9788480830706. Ver más: Logos; WorldCat; sitio web del autor.
  • Greenspahn, Frederick E. Una Introducción al Arameo. 2.a ed. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 2003. Edición en español traducido y adaptado por David Baer y publicado bajo licencia de Society of Biblical Literature a Software Bíblico Logos. Disponible en Logos.
  • Fohrer, Georg. Diccionario del hebreo y arameo bíblicos. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982. ISBN: 9783112307366. Disponible de De Gruyter, Google Play, Amazon (US), Amazon (ES) y Barnes & Noble; ver WorldCat para la disponibilidad en bibliotecas.
  • Ortiz, Pedro. Léxico hebreo-español y arameo-español. Madrid: Sociedad Bíblica, 1997. ISBN: 8480830727. Disponible de archive.org y Logos.
  • Swanson, James. Diccionario de idiomas bíblicos: Arameo (Antiguo Testamento). Traducido por Alejandro Peluffo. Editado por Rubén Videira Soengas y Guillermo Powell. Lexham Press, 2014. Disponible en Logos.
  • Vocabulario Arameo Bíblico: Todas las palabras arameas del Antiguo Testamento. Lenguas de la Bíblia y el Corán. Andalus Publications, 2021. ISBN: 9798734586037. Disponible de Amazon (US) y Amazon (ES).
  • Ver también: Vega María García González, “Viscasillas y Goñi: el arameo bíblico en España entre el XIX y el XX”, disponible en Academia.edu.

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Update on my projects/raising support

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Happy 2024! In this post, I would like to share the projects I am working on in order to update my readers and seek support. My goal is to get to 50 members (monthly supporters) on Buy Me a Coffee, in order to enable me to keep moving forward on my projects. May 2024 update: my ministry can now be supported with tax-deductible donations through Truth Only Bible Ministries, a sponsored project of the New Horizons Foundation.

In 2023, my blog received 85,140 views and 63,867 visitors. Below are images of the most popular posts in 2023 and all-time, along with statistics about referrers.

The projects I am seeking support for are:

  1. I am writing what I believe is a groundbreaking commentary on the book of Revelation, which I intend to make available for free download. See this information sheet and these sample draft chapters: Introduction, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Excursus on Babylon the Great, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. I have seen an increasing need for teaching on biblical prophecy and would like to focus more of my time and energy on this subject. My article on Babylon the Great is currently getting more than 3,000 views per month, mainly from Google searches. People are coming to the conclusion on their own that the United States is Babylon the Great, and are searching Google for more information, since they don’t get help from their pastors or study Bibles or commentaries. People also have a sense that events in Israel and Ukraine are somehow related to biblical prophecy, and that God is somehow at work, and that His plan is in the process of being fulfilled, but they are not sure how to connect the dots.
  2. I would like to continue publishing revised editions and Spanish translations of my 8-volume Interpretive Guide to the Bible, which was originally published in 2014 and is available for free download. The first two volumes have been revised and translated into Spanish. April 2024 update: a revision of the third volume (Job-Song of Songs) has been published (Amazon; pdf) along with a Spanish translation.
  3. Because of the need for biblical teaching on prophecy at this critical time, I would like to not only publish a written commentary, but also write more blog articles, such as on the relevance of prophecy to current events in Israel and Ukraine, and the relationship of digital currency to the mark of the beast. To reach a wider audience, I would eventually like to begin publishing videos, on platforms such as YouTube, Rumble, and/or Telegram. (YouTube is by far the most popular, but has a history of restricting Christian content.) Some topics for my videos could include the identification of Babylon the Great with the United States, the identification of Darius the Mede, the origin of languages according to the Bible, and general Bible teaching (sermons). I could also potentially do livestreams on YouTube or Telegram to respond to questions.
  4. I do a lot of volunteer or low-pay ministry work. This includes teaching and preaching in churches, in both Spanish and English; academic presentations, including a presentation on Biblical Aramaic that I am preparing for this year’s translation consultant seminar at Bibles International; responding as I am able to comments on my blog and direct messages regarding various biblical and theological issues; and keeping certain blog posts regularly updated, such as my posts on Darius the Mede and Resources for Biblical Aramaic. I also recently did an interview for Daily Dose of Aramaic that is available on YouTube and Vimeo.

The main platform I have been using to receive donations is Buy Me a Coffee. One-time donations are much appreciated, but monthly memberships give me more consistent financial support and allow me to better plan large projects. My current goal is to get 50 monthly supporters or to raise monthly support of $1,000, which based on my current monthly expenses would allow me to dedicate about half of my time to volunteer projects. I can also receive contributions via PayPal, and I have an Amazon wish list.

Many thanks to all who donate, and to those who have donated in the past. All the work that I do is not just my work, but is a team effort, and my supporters are part of my team, for the glory of God! I receive messages on a weekly basis from people who say they have been helped by my materials; the books and articles on my blog, website, and Academia.edu page together receive well over 1,000 views per week. I hope that all of my supporters will feel that they are an integral part of this ministry.

“This is My body”: The symbolism of communion

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[Leer en español]

During the Last Supper, Jesus took a loaf of bread and broke it, saying to the disciples, “Take, eat; this is My body.” This story is told multiple times in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 26:26: “While they were eating, Jesus took [a loaf of] bread and blessed [it] and broke [it]; and giving [it] to the disciples, He said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body’ ” (cf. Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24). This article will examine the symbolism of communion (a.k.a. “the Lord’s Supper” or “the Eucharist”), with a special focus on the meaning of the phrase “this is My body.” But before explaining how communion is to be correctly understood, this article will examine a common but incorrect interpretation of communion, and will explain why it is erroneous.

The Catholic understanding of communion (Eucharist) is centered on a doctrine called “transubstantiation.” There is also a similar Lutheran doctrine called “consubstantiation.” According to the doctrine of transubstantiation, when the priest consecrates the bread and wine during the Mass, the bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ, changing their substance, while maintaining the appearance and taste of bread and wine. This doctrine claims to interpret literally the phrase “this is My body.”

There is, however, a linguistic problem with the argument that the only literal interpretation of the phrase “this is My body” is that the communion bread is literally transformed into the body of Jesus. The problem is that the semantic domain of the verb “to be” in English is not exactly the same as the semantic domain of the verb εἰμί in Greek. Ancient Greek did not have a verb equivalent to the English verb “to represent.” Because of this, the verb “to be” (εἰμί) is often used in Greek where in English we would use the verb “to represent.” In other words, the verb εἰμί in Greek includes the semantic function of the English verbs “to be” and “to represent.”

There are many examples of this use of the verb “to be” (εἰμί) in the New Testament. Galatians 4:25 is a clear example. In the NASB, that verse contains the phrase, “this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia.” Obviously Hagar is not literally Mount Sinai in Arabia—Hagar is a woman! For this reason, the CSB translates the phrase this way: “Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia.”

The book of Revelation frequently uses the verb “to be” (εἰμί) in the sense of “represent.” For example, Revelation 19:8 says in the NASB, “the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Obviously fine linen cannot literally be the righteous acts of the saints. Thus, the CSB translates this phrase, “the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.”

Another example is Revelation 17:12, which says in the NASB, “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings.” A king cannot literally be a horn, so the NABRE translates this phrase, “The ten horns that you saw represent ten kings.”

To cite only one more example from the book of Revelation, Revelation 17:15 says in the NASB, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.” Once again, it is not possible to interpret the metaphor literally, which is why the NABRE translates the verse this way: “The waters that you saw where the harlot lives represent large numbers of peoples, nations, and tongues.” See also Revelation 1:20; 17:9-10, 18.

Jesus also frequently used the verb “to be” (εἰμί) to make a metaphorical comparison, especially when interpreting His parables. An example is Mark 4:15-20, which says in the NASB, “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” The NLT changes the verbs to “represent”: “The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” See also Matthew 13:19-23, 37-39.

Thus, the use of the verb “to be” (εἰμί) in Greek with the meaning of “represent” is well documented. “This is My body” means “This represents My body,” since Christ distributed to the disciples pieces of a loaf of bread; the disciples did not cut off pieces of Christ’s body. It is also clear that the bread and wine in the Catholic Mass never loses the physical properties of bread and wine, which means it does not change its substance and become flesh and blood. Nevertheless, all English Bible translations have “this is My body” so as not to contradict the doctrines of transubstantiation and consubstantiation. In the same way, when Jesus said regarding the cup, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24), the meaning is, “This represents My blood of the covenant.”

The doctrine of transubstantiation is based on a simple linguistic error. The theologians of the Roman Catholic Church did not recognize the linguistic phenomenon whereby the Greek verb “to be” (εἰμί) is used to signify a metaphorical connection, and they also lacked the common sense to see that the literal interpretation of this metaphor does not make sense. Thus, the Catholic Church finally declared in the Council of Trent that “this is My body” must mean that the bread in the Eucharist is literally changed into the body of Jesus. Nevertheless, a basic understanding of language use and of the Greek language is sufficient to refute the supposed exegetical basis of the doctrine of transubstantiation.

Transubstantiation is not merely a theoretical error—it has significant practical implications, implications that have to do with salvation. A logical implication of transubstantiation would be that Christ is resacrificed every time that Christians celebrate communion. (This is why the bread and wine are placed on an altar in the Catholic Mass.) Moreover, if Christ is resacrificed in the communion service, this would imply that participation in communion is necessary in order to receive the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice, i.e., the forgiveness of sins. A person would have to physically eat the body of Jesus and drink His blood in order to receive God’s saving grace. These theological implications are clearly contradicted by many verses in the New Testament. Nevertheless, many people think that their participation in communion (or the Eucharist) gives them forgiveness of sins, and this is exactly what is said in the liturgy of some churches.

The Bible teaches clearly that we receive the forgiveness of all of our sins at the moment of our conversion, including all of our past, present, and future sins. Acts 10:43 says, “To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes on Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Acts 13:38-39 says, “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” There is no verse anywhere in the New Testament that says that forgiveness of sins is received through participation in communion.

The Bible teaches that God’s saving grace is received through faith, not through communion. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, so that no one may boast.” Romans 5:1-2 says, “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

The Bible also teaches that Christ was sacrificed once for all time, which means it is not possible to resacrifice Christ in a communion service. Hebrews 10:12-14 says, “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” First Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that He might bring us to God.” Romans 6:9 says, “knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.”

So the bread and the cup in the communion service are symbols, and the Bible explains the symbolism. When Christians eat the communion bread, they are portraying their spiritual union with the body of Christ. First Corinthians 10:17 says, “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” (In the first century, communion was celebrated with a single loaf of bread, which was broken apart, and a piece distributed to each believer.) When Christians drink from the communion cup, they are portraying their participation in the benefits of Christ’s death, especially the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:27-28 says, “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” (In the first century, communion was celebrated with a single cup, from which each believer drank a little.)

Thus, we do not participate in communion in order to receive God’s saving grace or the forgiveness of sins. Communion is a ritual for believers, that we do in order to show that we already are part of the body of Christ, and we already have full forgiveness of sins through the death of Christ. Communion is also something that we do in order to proclaim visually to the world the theological truths of the gospel. First Corinthians 11:26 says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

In conclusion: the bread and the cup are representations of the body and blood of Jesus; they are not the actual flesh and the actual blood of Jesus. Communion is a commemoration of the earthly life and death of Christ; it is not a resacrifice of Christ. Christ said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor 11:24-25), not “do this to resacrifice Me” or “do this to obtain forgiveness of sins.” We learn better when we can learn visually and physically, so it is a great blessing that Christ has given us a visual, tangible, and simple way to portray and proclaim the profound theological truths of the gospel. When we participate in communion, we are proclaiming that Christ delivered up His body and shed His blood in our behalf, we are saying that we have received complete forgiveness of sins through His death, and we are showing that we are part of the body of Christ—that is, the church.

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