Are We Really in the Last Days? A Bible Scholar Answers

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0:00 Clinton was also an atheist heading to MIT to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a scientist astronaut yet he too encountered evidence that his logical mind could not refute it stopped him in his tracks and changed the trajectory of his life today this Cambridge trained Bible scholar is the associate director of the biblical Research Institute let's find out what evidence he found that was compelling enough to turn his life around please welcome to Hope at night Dr Clinton Wen nice to be here thank you so much for being here happy to be here now I've got to ask you a question what role did prophecy have in your life that changed the direction of your life from being an atheist to being a believer in Jesus it was the main thing I mean I didn't believe the Bible I didn't believe in God but when I saw that prophecy was fulfilled I you know I checked history I I I double- everything it was irrefutable now why does God use prophecy why is that a tool he utilizes in in reaching people of convincing people of Bible truths I think because he's it's objective this passage in the Bible is very important to me Isaiah 46: 9 and 10 he says look at the former things That's History I am God and there is none else declaring the end from the beginning from ancient times the things not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure so he he challenges us look at history look at what I've said and see how it has happened exactly as I said it would what in history convinced you the Bible was telling the truth well some of the prophecies that were already mentioned with Daniel chapter 2 Daniel chap 7 but the most amazing prophecy of all that

2:04 Just blew me away completely was Daniel chapter n because here's a prophecy about the Messiah you know it's a Jewish book Jewish Bible everyone's you know the Jews were looking for the Messiah to come and it says right there the Messiah would be cut off he would die and yet that was something that the Jews at the time of Jesus didn't expect they thought that by putting they would prove he couldn't be the Messiah and in fact they proved that he was because not only did it say he would die it says exactly when he would die and um this was hundreds of years in advance Daniel lived in the 6th Century BC so you're telling me it clearly precisely foretells not just the role that Jesus would play in his sacrifice but the Year this took place absolutely it says from the going forth of the Commandment to restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah the prince will be 69 weeks and and this and then says in the midst of the last week he'll be cut off and so this convinced you that the Bible is true that God is real absolutely absolutely what changed after that moment I thought to myself you know if the Bible's true if God exists I better know this book a lot more than I do I didn't know anything but then prophecy also blew me away in the New Testament second Peter chapter 3 it says in the last days scoffers will come and say where is the promise of his coming for since the father fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation and that was exactly what I was telling my Christian friends in high school you know I mean Jesus said he's coming back where is he why why hasn't he come and here it was in the Bible it it was talking about me the very denial of the second coming or the very mockery of it absolutely was

4:07 Something you found yourself doing and then you found out wait a minute this is actually talking about me it was it was amazing so there are many people outside the Bible you know who claim to have known prophecies predictions about the future everything from psychics to Nostradamus to other individuals have claimed to foretell coming events how do we distinguish true Prophecy from false prophecy are there some principles guiding principles that we should be aware of well first of all we need to know what is what the true prophecy looks like because it's it's just like you know when you've got a counterfeit of something it's knowing the true that is able to detect what is false and so what the Bible says about prophecy is very important it will it will come to pass it's not so uh abstract cloaked in mystery that it could be filled a fulfilled a number of different ways it's so specific that we know whether it's going to be fulfilled or not some of these other you know prophecies Nostradamus the deli Oracle and so on very ambiguous very ambiguous right are there some prophecies not fulfilled yet in scripture well yeah sure the most famous one is the coming of Jesus the second coming that has yet to be fulfilled but the fact is that that's part of a series of prophecies that have been fulfilled through history and so you see since that has been fulfilled obviously this one will be too you know we're talking about the second coming here and that is the topic of of many Christian books on Prophecy there's a lot of discussion pastors preach on the second coming there may be a guy on the corner you know Street reminding us the second coming is near right you name it right it's a topic the end of the world people wonder all about that are there some things Jesus warned us about regarding

6:11 His return regarding the second coming that we should be more aware of deceptions um uh counterfeits are there some things that are important for a Bible Believers to understand about the second coming absolutely he said that uh if it were possible the deceptions would be so great so as to deceive the very elect the the ones that know the Bible the best that that seem to know the Lord the most if it were possible they could be deceived I'm glad it it suggests that it really isn't possible but the deceptions would be so great we need to know the Bible Well um the Bible says 8:20 um to the law to the testimony they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them so we need to compare what people say with what the Bible itself says and when we detect there's a difference when we detect that it's it's not really according to the Bible then we know that this is someone we cannot believe cannot trust a number of years ago I I was I turned on this this Christian television platform and uh they were they were airing a movie it was called Left Behind and uh it was a it wasn't it was a newer version of this movie and uh I think it had like Nicholas Cage in it he's in every movie so the whole movie is is uh premise about this idea that many Believers will disappear before the actual Second Coming takes place there will be a time of tribulation and trials where uh supposedly Antichrist shows up or at least this is how it's depicted in the movie and then in this climactic battle between good and and evil um then the second coming takes place the return takes place what does the bible actually teach about this Rapture idea this secret Rapture what is scripture telling us um in regards to the return

8:15 Jesus well the word rapture comes from the Latin rapio it's used only once in the Latin Bible this is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and that passage talks about the coming of Jesus it says the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will ride rise first then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord the word caught up is repal this is the rapture idea we'll be caught up in the air but it's at the same time that the dead in Christ are raised so and someone has said that the the shout is so loud it wakes the Dead you know you know you've got all of this happening it's not secret you know the trumpet of God uh the Dead Rising us being caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air um this is not a secret event uh secondly uh Revelation 1 verse 7 says every eye will see him so it's not something that uh only some people will know about so what you're telling me is that when it comes to this this Rapture idea the actual Rapture or taking up of God's people is the second coming it's not this secretive event that take place before where does that come from then it actually comes from uh the idea of where Jesus talks about one will be taken another will be left uh but if you look at at that passage you know it's it's just talking about two different Destinies one uh will be with the Lord and one will will be left behind and that's that's true but that will happen and when Jesus comes visibly in the glory of of uh his father all the angels as Jesus says in Matthew chapter 24 some of course that those who do not uh believe in the Lord who not uh have the Assurance of Salvation it says they will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming the the glory the the brightness

10:20 Will will incinerate them is there anything that is potentially wrong or unhealthy even dangerous about believing a secret Rapture sure because if I think that some will be taken some will be raptured secretly um but there will be still some time period seven years and yeah that's the theory right yes that it's actually based on Daniel chapter 9 goes back to that but they separate the last week from the rest of it to put it at the end of time and there's no real reason to do that no idea in Daniel that that would happen so uh yeah when um you know when the idea being that when people are snatched away then well I'll have an opportunity still to be saved I'll know right that the Bible is true but the problem is if they wait till that time it'll be too late because the only Rapture is this visible one that I've talked about and if they wait till that time it'll be too late this is why Jesus talks about uh today yes is the day of salvation right not a future thing we hinge our hopes on because tomorrow's Promise to No Man absolutely now I've got to ask you a question that's on many people's hearts does the United States play a role in Bible prophecy because I'll tell you why I I remember watching a lot of these uh older Christian movies that were made and uh they show the United States on the the good side in the Armageddon at the very end right but does the United States play a role at the end it does and that was one of the things also that surprised me was in Revelation chapter 13 because you have um Revelation has a bunch of symbols that represent things that will uh take place and in Chapter 13 there are two beasts or animals that are described they they're

12:23 Obviously otherworldly animals because they don't match the things we see in the ISM in Revelation exactly and so this second beast it looks like a lamb has two horns like a lamb but it speaks like a dragon and Revelation 12 chapter 4 says the dragon of course is Satan so it looks chrisan it looks innocent and yet it speaks like the devil and this is a prophecy actually of the United States it it it was established on Christian principles it was established through uh as a place of Refuge for Christians fleeing persecution but that has drastically changed so what you're saying is that the Bible is essentially forecasting a time this this place this land of Freedom will eventually become a place of great oppression religious oppression yes and not just here but worldwide because that same chapter says that no one will be able to buy her cell except they have what it's termed the mark of the beast the a sign of worship of a a power that is not it seems to be Godly but it's actually from the devil okay I have many questions I'm excited about where this conversation is going to prophecy is exciting now I'd like to turn to our live in studio audience for some questions we have any questions here right over there Israel right now is such a hot is uh is this part of what is uh going on in Prophecy in the Bible is there prophecy about Israel right now actually um there is a lot in the Bible about Israel and many prophecies connected with Israel throughout the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament um the the modern state of Israel though is not a religious State I know we sometimes think of it that way but actually it's a

14:25 Secular State uh its Constitution is um a secular of a secular government they have uh beside in addition to Jews there are Christians Arabs um Muslims many different uh religious groups that live together um not always in the best way as we are reminded from time to time but um with regard to the prophecies about Israel there are many prophecies that portrayed um a wonderful Kingdom a Messianic Kingdom if they would accept Jesus they accept the Messiah unfortunately those prophecies could not be fulfilled because they didn't accept him when he came they didn't recognize him and there is um a chapter in Jeremiah chapter 18 that says that when God speaks concerning a nation and concerning the kingdom um if they uh Listen and Obey him then he will do according to what they he promised but if they don't those things will not be fulfilled and so in the case of Israel as a nation the things that God wanted to do for them could not be fulfilled and will not be fulfilled because of um their relationship to Jesus the Messiah does God still have a special place in his heart for Jewish people absolutely everybody Jews Christians Muslims Buddhists atheists agnostics everybody God is the Bible says he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance all should come to know him that uh if they would only come to a knowledge of the truth and this is the key when we understand who God is how much he loves us how he's done everything he can to save us but he won't Force us he won't drag us into the kingdom then um you know we recognize

16:30 It's it's left with us so who is the Israel of today when the Bible talks about Israel today in the New Testament who is Israel today well in Romans chapter 11 Paul and actually begins in chapter N9 chapters 9 to 11 of the book of Romans he talks about Israel and you know he says I I'm myself um uh an Israelite according to the flesh but he says they there are not they are not all Israel who are of Israel that is there are some who are natural born Israelites the um ethnic Israelites Jews and then there are those that are according to the promise he says in in um Romans 95 and six he says that um he Likens in chapter 11 uh the Jews and non-jews or or Gentiles to branches of an olive tree and the natural branches are the Jews these are the ones that naturally should believe be um followers of God and be saved in his kingdom that's the way it should be but because of unbelief they were broken off they can't continue be because Jesus is actually the root of that tree and if you don't believe in Jesus you're not part of that tree so they're broken off and Gentiles who non-jews who came to faith in Christ are Gra it in but then he says if um the uh natural branches or unnatural branches can be grafted in how much more the natural branches those who were Jews according to the flesh can be grafted back in again if they believe and and that's of course what God wants he wants everyone to be saved right to be of Christ is to be a true Israelite and he he even then promises and so all Israel will be saved those who believe in Jesus whether Jew or non-jew wonderful any other questions

18:35 Right over there so people have been saying for years that Christ is coming um what makes them so sure that it's going to happen in the very near future absolutely everyone since the time of Jesus believed that Jesus coming was soon Paul James John all the apostles they believed that they would see Jesus in their lifetime come back and of course that was didn't happen but as I mentioned earlier in Matthew 24 Jesus outlines a series of events that will take place leading up to a second coming so um there's a long period he talks about of the Great Tribulation and we know from prophecy that that lasted 1,260 years so that's most of Christian history right there Then There are other signs that would take place at the end of that period of time um uh the longest time prophecy of 200 300 years was fulfilled decades after that in Luke also chapter 21 talks about men's Hearts failing them for fear looking after the things coming on the earth well you know in the nuclear age when we can annihilate the whole planet with terrorism we don't know when it's going to strike at any moment it's notice I mean it struck fear into the hearts of everyone of course people are now are talking about World War I we're heading into places where there's we're not turning back the clock here one thing I can also add is when the prophecy that I studied with that young lady was Daniel chapter 2 this dream of Nebuchadnezzar and it started with his kingdom as this head of gold he dreamed of this statue Daniel interpreted for him so in this prophecy what you see is is you're the head of gold then after you another kingdom will arise of silver then another kingdom of bronze and then another kingdom of iron and then iron mixed with clay and then he says and a rock is cut out of a mountain without man's hands right and this rock hits the image on its feet and destroys the image so when you when you look at that he essentially says this is several kingdoms that will come which we know we

20:38 Have Babylon we have the mes and the Persians prophetically we can study that out and then the Greeks represent the brass and then the Romans the iron and then Rome is not conquered but divides itself and then the iron and the clay and then the Rock So if this prophecy is accurate and majority of this vision is concluded the only thing left to happen is this rock to be cut out and to strike this thing on its feet which we automatically associate with Jesus's return taking his kingdom consuming all the other kingdoms and consuming the world so what we see prophetically is if 95% of this prophecy is completed and the last event is Jesus coming and setting up his kingdom on this Earth and it consuming all other kingdoms it also prophetically gives us a sense of time that says all these other major events have happened this is the last one well this is the next event then we're living in that time and then you go to the signs of Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that say these are all the little markers along the way uh that tell you that and so one one example I can also share is when I was in bwana preaching I was sitting down in the inn and a lady hands me a newspaper and it says Jesus has returned on the newspaper 12-year-old boy says he's Jesus he has 12 disciples and Jesus said they will say he has returned Jesus is in the wilderness and you have to go see him in the wilderness Jesus said this was going to happen and here it is on the cover of a newspaper a national newspaper that Jesus has come back and people are claiming that he's there so this lets you know prophetically on a broad scale and even in very detailed prophecies that he gave these things are literally happening before our eyes that his coming is near Great excellent answer any other questions right over there there there are many cultures and religions that have predicted past events events that are currently happening now and future events what makes you resonate most with Christianity and have you explored any

22:41 Other religions so coming from atheism the the biggest difference that I found between Christianity and other religions is that Christianity is the only religion that allows you to evaluate without joining in participating in anything religious you can just analyze the Bible look at the prophecies go to archaeology with many other religions when I had Muslim friends I had people were Hindu seik I had people who were also agnostic and of course other intellectual Persuasions and a lot of these things it was never something you could evaluate in an external piece to say here's the evidence as to why my view of the world the creation of the world the origin of the world the morality of how you should live this is why here's the evidence and most of them when they present evidence like for example prophetically it's very general it's very generic but this is very specific after Babylon will be Meo Persia after this will be Greece after this will be Rome when you're talking about the Romans came from the atrans and these people were basically no man's people that they would eventually become the greatest Empire like no one would have believed you in the times of Babylon or or Meo Persia or even Greece Alexander the Great is one of the best Generals in the history of the world militarily speaking there's no way you're thinking they're going to get conquered and it's going to be even bigger than Alexander so when you when you look at the biblical evidence and the archaeology to support that no other religion can present that amount of evidence look at the the copies of the New Testament we have thousands 35,000 manuscripts of the Bible to say was this really happen did this did someone really write this book so when I've compared to other religions which I did do to answer that part of the question I did consider them but the resonation with Christianity was as an atheist as an intellectual I need something that not only speaks to my heart but also resonates with my mind I don't want to

24:44 Have to believe in a way that causes me to check out my intellect suspend belief for a moment and just walk in this and trust it and most of the time with my Hindu friends my sik friends my Muslim friends they would say you have to experience it you have to go to the mosque you have to listen to the Quran be read in its actual original language and then you will understand well for the Bible I can just evaluate I don't have to participate in that and that's a big reason why it resonated with me can see it in history you can weigh the evidence and you can know is that it's true that it happened um we don't see that in any other sacred book other than the Bible and there's a reason because there is no one who can predict the future other than God himself and he has only revealed himself in the Bible That's Right wonderful any other questions right over there this is more so a question for Sebastian I was wondering if you think there's any Middle Ground to be reached with A- religious philosophies that try to solve the problem of suffering so absurdism or existentialism come to mind do you think that there is some meeting place in the middle or do you think that there just sort of irreconcilable with each other the problem of suffering with a religious answers for example existentialism in living in the moment when you when you look at um sart and and and Camu and all these different people that went down that road you found that they've ended life with no hope right for them they thought they reconciled it but then existentially ironically that was not his experience that was not how he ended and so I I do believe there is an element in a religious intellectual uh Persuasions that somehow Echo elements of what the Bible says but to say that there's a middle ground I would say no because they would be superficially similar but fundamentally different the reason for that is in the Bible there's a great

26:47 Controversy which the book of Joe paints and that painting says that suffering isn't always based upon the consequence of evil immorality there's a suffering that comes because because of a greater conversation that's happening universally in terms of God and Satan and because of that no a religious entity would ever find middle ground with that perspective because you'd have to posit the existence of God and secondly the a religious intellectual Persuasions also typically are born out of an issue with the existence of God and suffering so their their whole fundamental issue is I don't I can't with God because if he's so good and so great why is all this pain when these these sort of Persuasions are simply trying to solve it without him but in order to posit the question at all you need God because the moment you say there's evil in the world you're saying there's such a thing as good well the moment you say that you have to have a standard to tell the difference that's a law in order for it to be a law there must be a lawgiver so and that's God but you're saying he doesn't exist he doesn't matter he's not relevant and I I remember having a conversation with a Jewish atheistic friend of mine a Jewish atheistic I'm putting all three of those categories go ahead and she was like I don't see why I need God to be moral I said well how do you determine what's wrong now mind you she's Jewish by Heritage right of the Flesh and so as she's telling me these things I don't need God to know right and wrong this and that and the third I said so how do you judge Germany for the Holocaust because when they were being interv interviewed the individuals who are part of the Nazi party said I broke laws that was the law in Germany if you were a Jew we arrest you and the inquis the person who was on the in inquiring party for the international Justice said well is there not a law above our laws and he said what law is that the supreme

28:50 Law in Germany is German law that's it there is no law above our laws and that moment she looked at me on the plane and said I don't know how to respond to that because I said the moment you posit what your grandmother went through in the Holocaust you can't just look at your grandmother and say there's no General sense that some things are just wrong and we got to figure out why we know that that's true but existentialism and absurdism and and um even Buddhist philosophy that suffering is a result of Desire because you love things because you're attached to them that's why you suffer none of those philosophies can explain something like the Holocaust none of them can explain and they don't provide adequate answers to that great tremendous any other questions right over there in what part do you see the United States where the Antichrist is becoming more apparent well when I first began to believe in Bible prophecy as I said some of these things didn't seem at all possible there there was a strong separation between religion and the government uh church and state um that of course doesn't exist anymore uh religion and politics are inseparable it seems um so that enables the possibility of religious persecution first of all secondly I thought well how can oppression happen here in the United States because we're free we Liberty is a strong value and then of course 911 took place and we realize that okay um every time we get on an airplane we realize who's really in charge and it's not us the government um reminds us that they're really in charge they're in control and um the government has become stronger and stronger not only within the United States but dictating worldwide through different policies through um you know sanctions and many

30:55 Many many things through through uh economic means and then I thought well how can it be you know that Revelation 13 talks about no one being able to buy or sell how can that possibly happen globally there's so many currencies well digital currencies Have No Boundaries no borders so everything that the Bible has to say about how this can come about has already been paved for us we can see that it's just a matter of a very short time before it happens uh the question with uh the Antichrist and all this stuff this is a a fascinating topic and we're gonna offer some study resources of course for that but I just think man this is as you guys are sharing and talking this is just really exciting really incredible um and uh it gives us hope you know that there there's a God who's coming back for his people whatever's happening around us we don't have to be afraid because Jesus is coming back for us absolutely we got time for one more question right over there how do we live in the now in in the face of all these prophecies or do we even try to live in now I think when you look at the Book of Daniel you find the first half of the book is narrative it's stories and the second half is predominantly prophecies Revelation is similar in a similar structure the first half of the book is very historical the seven churches all of these different things what you find is there are principles of how Daniel lived in chapter one where he refused to defile himself in that particular envir even though the environment was going corrupt he decided to stay faithful to God you see in Daniel chapter 2 the the power of prayer and having those friends in that community that you pray with that you seek God with and you believe that God can deliver you from any crisis and you go to Daniel chapter 3 and you see uh a character where I'm not afraid to stand and be counted when everyone is

32:59 Watching right and so you you deal with this being faithful to God in what you know to be true in anonymity as well as in publicity and in Daniel chapter 4 you see a character of a person who says I'm willing to tell you the truth and speak truth to power even when it's not popular and it may put my own life at risk so I I see some principles in the first half of Daniel's narrative that really drive home that point of how can I live in the light of these prophecies and that really comes down to character and who you decide to be and the principles you're going to live by right it definitely sounds like uh the experiences Daniel went through our our bit of a microcosm of what end time events be like and we see his faithfulness his trust in God his prayer life yeah things that sustained him that will sustain us too towards the end and we know that the world is not going to destroy itself Jesus is coming for us so these big picture um understandings help us not to be afraid also then um if we would zoom in to what who God is his character his love Jesus uh wanting us to be in a relationship with him knowing him day by day as I have trusted him throughout my life since believing I can see that there's no other way I would rather be I mean God can plan for me much better than I can plan for my myself he knows the end from the beginning and that includes in my own life and experience I have proved that he he is faithful