Revelation 11

Dr. Couch, what is going on in Revelation 11?

ANSWER: To measure the temple means that God is about to do something with it. There will be a rebuilt temple in the messianic kingdom when Christ returns. This measuring is telling us that the Lord is going to restore the activity in the temple during that period.

The second half of the tribulation is described with the "forty-two months" as mentioned in v. 2. The tribulation lasts seven years. The two witnesses are given authority to testify by doing incredible things on the earth. The entire world apparently will see those things. When the two witnesses are killed the whole world sees their dead bodies. See verse 9. This would have to be by television.
Two witnesses are important because the Old Testament speaks of the necessity of two witnesses in order to confirm a testimony. See Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Num. 35:30.
You mentioned the fact that there are many views about chapter 11 but more than likely they do not take the Bible literally. By taking it literally, we come to the right answers.

The "kingdom of the world" would be the antichrist's kingdom mentioned in Dan. 7:23. Christ's kingdom will replace it when He comes back.

Don't listen or read the covenant guys. Only premillennialists and dispensationalists take the Bible at fact value. The others cannot be trusted. Thanks for asking. --Dr. Mal Couch (3/12)

Post-Tribulation and the Rapture

Dr. Couch, it seems as if the post-tribers are against the rapture doctrine because they say that Psalm 110:1 teaches that Christ remains in heaven until His enemies are subdued and then He comes back to earth again. What do you say?

ANSWER: They practice what I call "wooden-headed" interpretation. The Psalm 110 passage has to do completely with the issue of His coming to earth to reign. They cannot prove by the passage that He never leaves heaven to gather upwards His church saints in order to get them out of the way for the tribulation. They have a problem, I don't! All of the rapture passages are clear. (Look in the archives in this website. I have an exegesis on almost all of the rapture passages!)

God gathers His own up to Himself. And again, don't mix dispensations. Psalm 110 has to do with His coming millennial kingdom reign. The rapture issue has to do with the church.

The post-tribers have to answer what it means when Paul says "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (the resurrected) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17). I can read! And I know the difference between up and down. He does not come down to reign. We go up to meet Him in the air. We take the Bible verses where we find them. We OBSERVE, OBSERVE, OBSERVE!

The reason we go up is obvious from 5:9. Paul writes, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." The church does not go through the wrath. And the wrath is the entire seven year period, not just the last half. We know this from Jeremiah 30:6-7. The "Birth Pangs" (v. 6) refer to "that day." And "that day" is "great" in a singular sense (v. 7). The church does not go through part, any part of, the tribulation. We are rescued from all of it! This is further explained in 1 Thessalonians 1:10: "Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come," all of it!

Only premillennialists practice good hermeneutics and sound observation. The other guys get very sloppy! And remember, when you work so hard to deny the obvious, you have a hidden agenda. What is their agenda? Usually, it is that they just don't like the doctrine of the rapture, and, they just don't like dispensationalism, though they really can't tell you why.

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch

Suppress Prophecy

Dr. Couch, are Christians saved who seem to suppress prophecy? ANSWER:  Yes, of course. Why would they not be? Salvation is not dependent on one's interpretative skills. But they are certainly blinded by what the Bible is teaching. You asked, why do they undermine normal interpretation. I believe Satan works overtime in fooling people as to the message of the Word of God. This does not mean they are not saved, it just means that they are being fooled. You also asked, do they deliberately suppress prophecy like unbelievers suppress all Scripture?    The unbeliever often denies the entire scope of the Bible, especially about personal faith in Christ for salvation. The amillennialist denies the coming kingdom reign of Christ. They have been brainwashed. And they are cutting out of their thinking almost half of the Scriptures. Premillennialists believe the Bible as it was written and as Christ taught it. To be premillennial means one knows that the Word of God is teaching that the Lord comes "before" His millennial reign. This is what the pious Jews believed. There is no question about this issue.    You also asked, how can a born again believer deny the normal interpretation of Scripture? Again, being born again has nothing to do with what they believe about prophecy. Thanks for asking, Dr. Mal Couch (7/10)

Application of the Parables

Dr. Couch, you have said that the parables of Matthew 13 have nothing to do with the church today. Does this mean that the parables of the sower, and the wheat and tares, apply strictly to Israel and the Jews? ANSWER: All of the parables in Matthew 13 have to do with Israel. It is said ten times in the chapter that Christ is teaching about "the kingdom of heaven," or simply "the kingdom." Now is the "kingdom of heaven" the church? It is not. All of Jewish history tells us that "the kingdom of heaven" and "the kingdom of God" are two descriptions of the messianic reign of Christ on earth; the Davidic rule of the Lord during the millennium. This in no way can be the church age! I believe the best treatment of this issue is found in my Classic Evangelical Hermeneutics book (Kregel), chapter 17. There, I deal with each parable and explain that Christ is speaking about things not revealed about the kingdom in the OT. I will not take the space here to repeat what I explain in detail in my book, except simply to give the three views about Matthew 13. (1) The Allegorical/Amillennial view. Ellicott says of this: "The interpretation of the parable lies almost on the surface. Here again the sower is the Son of Man; but the seed in this case is not so much the "word," as the Christian society, the Church." (2) New Program of the kingdom: "This view is held by the premillennialist J. Dwight Pentecost and others who claim that there is an added dimension to the kingdom not revealed in the OT. The kingdom would be seen in a new spiritual form, specifically including the church age." (3) To reveal new truths concerning the messianic kingdom: But not including anything about the church age! Toussaint writes: "This view states that the King is giving new revelation concerning the kingdom promised to the Jews. The truths relate to the time of the establishing of the kingdom, the preparation for it, and other such material which had never before been revealed. This approach is best." And I agree! This third view fits the context, and the words of Christ in the chapter. I hope this helps. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch (Feb.,10)

Bible Interpretation

Dr. Couch, I do not see many premillennialists writing about the history of Bible interpretation, but I see a lot of the covenant advocates doing this. Can you help? I can see you have not purchased some of my books that really deal with this issue nor have you read some that have already been written by others. To be quite frank I find it just the opposite. I know none in the allegorical camp who can really hold a candle to their view from a historical point and make any sense.    There are three books that you need: Dr. Pentecost's Things to Come (Zondervan) has an extensive chapter on the history of interpretation. Excellent! You need my Introduction to Classical Evangelical Hermeneutics (Kregel) that goes even deeper than Dr. Pentecost on some very important historical points. And, you need my Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (Kregel) that covers the writings of Philo, Origen, and Augustine on this subject.    Reading my Dictionary no one could be foolishly tempted again to believe in allegorical, fuzzy, non-literal interpretation. I have all of the interpretation volumes by the allegorical guys. None of them are consistent with their own principles and views. They have to fudge somewhere along the line, and of course they do that when it comes to "trying" to interpret biblical prophecy. I really don't see how they can live with themselves and look themselves in the mirror in the morning! They really are intellectually dishonest!    What I still do not understand is why most people do not see through their inconsistent theories. I really believe deep down many people do not like the idea of a Jewish kingdom that is yet to come. They are anti-Semitic at heart!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

Why is There Such Divergent Views About the Bible?

Dr. Couch, why is it that there are such divergent views about the Bible, such as between premillennialists and amillennialists? Both camps seem to have pretty smart people in them. 

 

    The answer is easy. For the most part, the amillennial/allegorical Covenant Reformed guys come to the text with a preconceived systematic theology. I believe my systematic theology must come from my exegesis and my careful observations of what the text says. I do not give you a biblical answer as a “dispensational” answer (though the Bible is dispensational). I give you an answer to the text from a literal, normal system of interpretation—starting from Genesis all the way through Revelation. The Covenant guys foist an interpretative system (preconceived Covenant allegorical) over and upon the Bible. For example, often in their OT interpretation, Israel is the church. And the kingdom is allegorized to mean the church. I don’t have to do that! Israel means Israel, and the church means the church! 

    Of course the allegorical guys have the right to be wrong! And indeed, they are! I appreciate much that Reformed allegorist Hendriksen writes in his commentary series, but on the rapture of the church in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 he says, “Premillennialists, according to which Christ comes first for his saints, and seven years later with his saints. The coming is one; but it is a coming both with and for his saints” (p. 94). This is a cop out! It cannot be both. The two prepositions carry different thoughts. Hendriksen is determined to get rid of the rapture that is so plainly taught in this passage. 

    Amillennialist and allegorist A. T. Robertson does a “both and”. He calls this Thessalonian passage a rapture passage but then says that Paul is not clear on his meaning. He writes, “This rapture of the saints (both risen and changed) is a glorious climax to Paul’s argument of consolation. This is the outcome, to be forever with the Lord, whether with a return to earth or with an immediate departure for heaven Paul does not say” (pp. 32-33). 

    How can Robertson say that? Paul does not address the issue of Christ’s return to earth here to judge. The catching up to heaven is something unique for those “in Jesus,” or those “in Christ.” 

    On 1 Thessalonians 5:9, when Paul says church saints are not destined “for wrath,” Hendriksen makes this wrath the wrath of the final judgment. But the context is about the “destruction which will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs” (v. 3). This is a quote from Jeremiah 30 where the prophet is writing about the wrath of the tribulation that will come upon Israel and the world. The “birth pangs” are not about the final judgment of the lost! Hendriksen cops out and violates the context and the discussion that is under way in the passage. 

    I stay with the context! Most of the allegorical guys do not because they have a preconceived agenda. They are Replacement in their eschatology. They replace the church with Israel. In their view God is finished with the Jewish people! 

Thanks for asking.

Dr. Mal Couch

What Is Happening In The Middle East?

Dr. Couch, what is your take on what is now happening in the Middle East, as it may relate to Bible prophecy? 

 

    There is no question that what is happening is another piece of the prophetic larger picture. We do not want to be a date setters but only a fool, or an amillennialist, would deny the significance of where this is all going. 

    In a Waco, TX newspaper, a crowd of pastors interviewed made it clear they did not believe in a coming apocalyptic period on earth. They allegorize the Word of God and lambaste those who take the Scriptures in their normal, literal interpretation. 

Dispensationalists and premillennialists are daily being proven right concerning Israel and her role in Bible prophecy. Again, it must be clear, that we are not saying what is happening are “fulfillments,” but they are indeed steps toward the great tribulation, the wrath of God upon a sinful and denying world. 

    Doubters need to read Jeremiah 30. The “birth pangs” section is quoted by both Christ in Matthew 24, and the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5. The tribulation, the birth pangs, is yet future, and it they only take place when God has regathered Israel back into the land in the last days. 

   Thanks for asking,

   Dr. Mal Couch