Sometime in January of 2017, I finally finished a project that I have been working on for 7 years. The results of my labor on the book of Revelation produced a commentary of about 490 pages. In the next few posts, I would like to share some of my reflections on this project. I would also like to hear from you. I generally do not enable comments on posts, but I will enable comments on this one. What are some of your questions on the book of Revelation that you would like for me to address in upcoming posts? If you have a question or an idea for a post or series of posts, please let me know.
I know that many of my readers are former students. I have been promising that this project would be done for several years. Why did it take so long? I will address this in my next post.
What is the significance of 3.5 years/42 months/1,290 days/time, times, and half a time in Revelation 11-13? Is this to be understood as referring to a literal 3.5 years, or does this number have some symbolic significance (as many numbers do in Revelation)? Related to this, is the number being drawn from the last half of Daniel’s 70th week in Dan. 9:27? Dispensationalists take it to refer to the latter half of the tribulation, but I do not see how this fits with Rev. 12 (where the time period appears in 12:14), unless perhaps one interprets the woman to be Israel in the end times. Thanks for any guidance you can give on this question!
Dr. Hoskins,
There have been many people throughout history that have attempted to reconcile Revelation with events, times and signs in the world. I would love to know what advice, warnings and opinions you have on looking at our present day world in light of eschatology. Should we avoid looking for signs? If not how do we practice good Biblical Theology and avoid the risk of bending Scripture to fit a modern day event or ‘phenomenon’?
Dr. Hoskins! I’ve been telling my students that the answer to their Revelations questions would be coming in the next year or so. So excited it’s on the way!
Topics that are interesting/useful to me
-The need to persevere to the end and how that affects soteriology
Topics that would be interesting to a broad audience (yeah, these might break facebook)
-Series on “who is (blank)”… Babylon, the beast, the dragon etc.
-Series on “what does the number (blank) stand for in revelation”… 4,7,12, etc
I’m really excited about the book. How do I get a copy?
This is not a particularly scholarly query but I am genuinely curious to hear your take. Is The Rapture biblical? How/why/when did it become so popular? Why does it appeal to folks?
What does it mean in Revelation 22:12-17 when it says that the kings and the nations will bring their honor and glory into the new Jerusalem? Does this mean that the good things about culture, the art that points to God, the music, the unique and good things about a culture will come into the New Jerusalem, as long as they are not detestable?
When a lay Christian hears about Revelation, she/he thinks it is going to be a very difficult series to learn, but she/he is normally very interested in knowing how/what she/he is expected to be as a Christian and what sign she/he should look for/ should not miss. Some people have this analogy of seven churches as a “godly” category; any church or any Christian can be categorized in one of those; which should help she/he to learn what God is telling her/him to fix and to be ready for so that she/he will be prepared for Christ coming. (Last year this was the preaching study series in one of the Baptist schools that I work for right now.) For some reason, some of those categories and messages sometimes sounds manipulated or interpreted by the speakers’ convenience/feelings. I wonder if you could list and dig down each as for the purpose of this book and what this book is suggesting to Christians.