DEFINITIONS
Angels
Heavenly Messengers. Delivers messages, carries out God's will, praises God, or guards God's throne.
Apostasy
Greek --> apostasia --> "to stand away from". The act of turning away, rebelling against, forsaking, abandoning from what one has believed. Very serious problem with God. Even more serious when the Apostate is a minister or teacher. (II Thess; I Tim; Luke; Acts; Heb; Jude)
Apostolic
Of or pertaining to the work and teaching of the Apostles.
Apocalypse
Means Revelation -->> In Greek: Apo = "from"; Kaplipsis - "that which is concealed". i.e. Revealing that which has previously been concealed/hidden.
Armageddon
The place on the earth for the final battle of Christ and his armies and the forces of the Antichrist. The Tribulation is over.
Babylon
Old reference to the Roman Empire.
Church, The
NOT a building or organization. Absolutely a living organism (body of Christ). ALL believers are joined with Jesus Christ and each other.
Dispensation
Term as used in the study of Revelation refers to the a philosophy which goes back to 1830 when Margaret McDonald of the Plymouth Brethren Church. She had a vision which depicts the return of Jesus as a two stage event. Jesus would "catch up in the air" all the believers; then Jesus would have a final Revelation afterwards.

This vision idea was drawn upon by two church leaders, John Nelson Darby and C.I.Scofield. The concept was God set up seven time periods called dispensations with the seventh being the millennial reign of Christ. Scofield identified in more detail the seven dispensations as:
  1. Innocency (Gen 1:28): Period of time in the Garden of Eden
  2. Conscience (Gen 3:23): Period of the awakening of human conscience and the expulsion from the garden
  3. Human Government (Gen 8:20): Period of the new covenant made with Noah, bringing about human government
  4. Promise (Gen 12:1): The new covenant made with Abraham
  5. Law (Exod 19:8): Period of acceptance of the Jewish law
  6. Grace (John 1:17): Begins with the death and resurrection of Jesus
  7. Kingdom (Eph 1:10): Constitutes the final rule of Christ.
Darby extended past the seventh dispensation as follows:
  1. Two stage coming of Christ - rapture and parousia
  2. Seven years of tribulation - Tribulation for those not raptured. The last 3-1/2 years time of ANTICHRIST rule. However, 144,000 Jews will accept Christ and become evangelists.
  3. Christ will return - with the church, conclude the battle of Armageddon, and rule for 1000 years
  4. Belief in unconditional covenant with Israel - God working through Israel and Church. In millennium, national Israel will be restored.
  5. All Old Testament prophecy will be fulfilled literally.
Eschatology
Greek "last" or "final". This usually refers to the last things in world history or the end of world history. The most common approach to this teaching focuses on the final events, which have not occurred, referred to Jesus' return, the millennium, the last judgment, the final resurrection, and the heaven and hell. Can relate to prophecy.
Heavens
Atmospheric (surrounds Earth); Celestial (moon and stars); Believers (abode of God).
Justification
Process by which an individual is brought into an unmerited, right relationship. Can be between people or people and God. God made a bridge in Christ to go over the chasm of sin. This is reconciliation. Reconciliation brings justification to us.
Millennium
Millennium: Means 1000. Refers to the length of time (1000 yrs) in which Christ will rule the earth with a "rod of iron". Satan is bound. Earthly peace. Church is meant to lead world to conversion.

Three interpretations pertaining to the time the Second Coming will occur in relation to the Millenia:
  • Pre-Millenialism - Christ comes before the 1000 years starts -This is the most accepted interpretation. Christ MUST conquer the evil forces on earth before He can rule. Evil will arise again toward the end of the millennium. Classified as dispensational (see above).
  • AMillenialism - There will be no specific 1000 years on Earth. Is Satan now bound? (No!). The Millennium is now. Generally, this refers to everyone who interprets earthly peace in a spiritual manner. Concentrates on the heavenly destiny of the individual rather than the future of the world.
  • Post-Millenialism - Christ comes after the 1000 years. This requires the millennium to be a definable era of human history. This expects religious and social activity to pay a large role in establishing God's kingdom. History and society will be brought increasingly under Christ's rule even though evil will sometimes have the upper hand.
Note: Salvation has nothing to do with choice
Numbers
Numbers of most significance in the Bible:
  • 3 --> Sometimes completeness (air, earth, underground), Trinity, Sanctuary had 3 parts (vestibule, nave, inner sanctuary, Jesus in grave 3 days and nights, triads such as faith, hope and charity
  • 4 --> Sacred, 4 corners of the earth, 4 living creatures surrounding God, four horsemen
  • 7 --> Completeness, perfection
  • 12 and multiples of 12 --> Numbering systems, number of Tribes of Israel, number of Apostles, 24 Elders around God in Heaven
  • 40 --> Most important multiplier of 4; 40 days in the wilderness, 40 years of wandering (representing a generation), rain flooding the earth
  • 666 --> Proper name symbol, generally, the value of the ANTICHRIST; in some writings, this symbol is the greatest IMPERFECTION (the counterfeit trinity). Some times the number 616 may be seen. Since the 666 is very often the numerical value of Nero Caesar, the value 616 is the value of Neron Caesar.
  • 1260 --> Total of number of days in 3-1/2 years (30 days/mo X 12 mos/yr X 3-1/2 yrs = 1260). Used in Revelation with significance.
Gematria
Gematria --> System of numerology. Thought to be a numbering system primarily in use as a system to hidden meanings. 666 is the value of a reverse gematria referring to Nero (Nero Caesar in Hebrew characters). One form of the "code" in English is: a=1 --> j=10; k=20, l=30, --> s=100; t=200, u=300 --> z=800
Parousia
Greek ("presence" or "coming") term. In the New Testament generally refers to the coming or appearance of Christ in the events surrounding the second coming.
Rapture
Time when both dead and alive believers of Christ, "people of God", will "in the twinkling of an eye" rise up to meet Christ in the air (1 Thess 4:13-18). Both will be transformed into spiritual and immortal bodies for the living with God.
Revelation
To make known what was hidden. Greek -->> "A Revelation ......"; KJV -->> "The Revelation of Saint John the Divine"
Saints
Greek --> the holy ones. Those who accept Christ in their heart as both Savior and Lord. They are justified and declared forgiven on the basis of Christ's death.
Second Coming
Refers to the time when Christ will come again to lead the people in peace.
Seventieth Week
Within the Book of Daniel, he has a vision which describes the destruction of the Temple, the Tribulation, the Abomination of Desolation, and the Coming of Christ. The generally acceptable calendar time for the 'seventy weeks of seven years' is 490 years (70 X 7 years). Daniel separates the 490 years into seven weeks (49 years) which the time associated with the rebuilding of the Temple, sixty-two weeks (434 years) which is the intervening time before a cutting off of the Anointed One, and one week (7 years) which is the time connected with a covenant between a ruler and Jerusalem which is violated in the middle of the 7 years. Daniel 8:25; 8:25[commentary]; Daniel 9:27; 9:27[commentary]; Daniel 12:7; 12:7[commentary]
Soul
A discussion of the human soul will give a better understanding of the concepts of eschatology. The soul is vital existence of a human being. The Hebrew word nephesh is a key Old Testament term (used 755 times) referring to human beings. In the New Testament, the term psyche retreats behind the ideas of body, flesh, spirit to characterize human existence. In the Bible, a person is a unity. Body and soul or spirit are not opposite terms, but rather terms that supplement one another to describe aspects of the inseparable whole person.

Such a holistic image of a person is maintained also in the New Testament even over against the Greek culture that, since Plato, sharply separated body and soul with an analytic exactness. The soul was the valuable, immortal, undying part of human beings. In the Old Testament, the use and variety of the word is much greater. In the New Testament its theological meaning appears much stronger.

The soul designates the physical life. The soul means the entire human being in its physical life needing food and clothing (Matt. 6:25). At times, the soul can be interchanged with life(Prov. 7:23; 8:35-36) and can be identical with blood (Deut. 12:23). A person does not have a soul. A person is a living soul (Gen. 2:7). That means a living being owes life itself to the Creator just as does the animal (Gen. 2:19). For this life or soul, one gives all one has (Job 2:4). Satan is permitted by God to take health, that is flesh and blood, but Satan cannot take the bare life of a person (Job 2:5-6).

The Soul designates the feelings, the wishes, and the will of humans. The soul can be incited, embittered, confirmed, unsettled, or kept in suspense (Acts 14:2,22; 15:24; John 10:24). The word mirrors the entire scale of feelings under the influence of the human being, even the psychological.

The soul also knows positive emotions. The soul rejoices, praises, hopes, and is patient. Never in these cases is only one part of the human being meant. It is always the powerful soul as an expression of the entire personality (Ps. 33:20). In the command to love (Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:30), the soul stands next to other expressions for the human being to emphasize the emotional energy and willpower of the human being all rolled into one.

The soul designates the human person. Soul is not only a synonym with life. One can also speak of the life of the soul (Prov. 3:22). Every human soul (Acts 2:43; Rom. 2:9) means each individual person. The popular expression used today "to save our souls" goes back to this biblical way of thinking (1 Pet. 3:20). It means to save the entire person. At times, soul simply replaces a preposition such as the expression "let my soul live," which means "let me live" (1 Kings 20:32).

Life is the highest good when it is lived according to God's intentions and not used up in search for material and cultural goods (Mark 8:34-37). This life is stronger than death and cannot be destroyed by human beings (Matt. 10:28). The soul does not, however, represent a divine, immortal, undying part of the human being after death as the Greeks often thought. Paul, thus, avoids the word soul in connection with eternal life. Something very important to remember is eternal life is not ours because we have the inherent power to live forever; eternal life and immortality are ours only because God chooses to give them to us. There is a continuity between the earthly and the resurrected life that does not lie in the capabilities or nature of mortal humans. It lies alone in the power of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 15:44). According to the Bible, a human being exists as a whole unit and remains also as a whole person in the hand of God after death. A person is not at any time viewed as a bodyless soul.
Time and Times and 1/2 time
A time term used regularly in the Bible. Interpreted as one year plus two years plus 1/2 year (3 1/2 years).
Tribulation
A period of seven years in which the ANTICHRIST will rule the world. See also Millennium and Rapture.

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