Will there be a worldwide revival before the end times?
A revival is a spiritual reawakening in which a church or community is brought out of a state of dormancy or stagnation, resulting in changed lives and a renewed pursuit of personal righteousness. In one sense, revival can only happen among believers, since it is a restoration to life. In common usage, however, the word…
Will there be a partial rapture?
There are some believers who hold that only faithful Christians will be taken in the rapture, with unfaithful Christians left on earth to suffer through the tribulation. The problem is that the Bible does not support such a concept. The passages which describe the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:50-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) definitely seem to apply…
Is the war in heaven in Revelation 12 describing Satan’s original fall or an end times angelic battle?
The last great angelic battle and Satan’s ultimate expulsion from heaven are described in Revelation 12:7–12. In this passage, John sees a great war between Michael and the angels of God and the dragon (Satan) and his fallen angels or demons that will take place in the end times. Satan, in his great pride and…
What is the millennial kingdom, and should it be understood literally?
The millennial kingdom is the title given to the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. Some seek to interpret the 1,000 years in an allegorical manner. They understand the 1,000 years as merely a figurative way of saying “a long period of time,” not a literal, physical reign of Jesus Christ on the…
What is the end times tribulation?
The tribulation is a future seven-year period when God will finish His discipline of Israel and finalize His judgment of the unbelieving world. The church, comprised of all who have trusted in the person and work of the Lord Jesus, will not be present during the tribulation (Got Questions Ministries takes a pretribulational approach to…
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the pretribulational view of the rapture (pretribulationism)?
In eschatology, it is important to remember that almost all Christians agree on these three things: 1) there is coming a time of great tribulation such as the world has never seen, 2) after the Tribulation, Christ will return to establish His kingdom on earth, and, 3) there will be a Rapture—a translation from mortality…
What does it mean that Jesus will come in the clouds (Revelation 1:7)?
Revelation 1:7 says, “‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen.” This verse brings together two other passages: Matthew 26:64, in which Jesus tells the Sanhedrin they will see the…
What does the Bible say about the end of the world (eschaton)?
The event usually referred to as “the end of the world” (eschaton) is described in 2 Peter 3:10: “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” This is the culmination of a series of events called “the day…
What is the great deception in the Bible?
Usually, when people speak of the “great deception,” they refer to 2 Thessalonians 2:11, which predicts that God will, in an end-times judgment, send “a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.” This great deception is associated with the satanic work of the Antichrist and his “displays of power through signs and wonders…
What are Gog and Magog?
Historically speaking, Magog was a grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:2). The descendants of Magog settled to the far north of Israel, likely in Europe and northern Asia (Ezekiel 38:2). Magog seems to be used to refer to “northern barbarians” in general, but likely also has a connection to Magog the person. The people of Magog…