Abomination of Desolation. In a most important prophecy, the angel Gabriel revealed to Daniel a chronology of seventy sevens of years (Dan. 9:24-27). There is apparently an ongoing break between the 69 sevens of years and the final, or 70th seven of years. There is a "prince who is to come" who is the subject of Daniel 9:27. He is necessarily connected with a revived Roman Empire. We know this because "the people of the prince who is to come" would be the ones to "destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan. 9:26). This was fulfilled when the Roman army under General Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. This yet future prince "will make a firm covenant with the many for one week" (i.e., a defined period of seven years). "The many" apparently refers to the people of Israel. Yet "in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering" (Dan. 9:27). Gabriel continued, "and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." This rather cryptic statement denotes something abominable that desolates the temple.

     In a preliminary fulfillment of this prophecy, the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Jerusalem in 168 B.C. He erected an idol of Zeus and sacrificed a sow on the altar, thus desecrating it (see Constable's Notes on Daniel, p. 93). This idol became known to Jewish people as "the abomination of desolation." But Antiochus' abominable actions did not exhaust this prophecy. Jesus, in His "Olivet Discourse" concerning the end of the age, stated, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains" (Matt. 24:15-16). Flight would be necessary because then there will be "great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will" (Matt. 24:21). Jesus' prediction means that there will be a yet future fulfillment of the "abomination of desolation." Some contend that the destruction of the temple by Titus in A.D. 70 fulfilled Jesus' prediction. But the evidence does not support their claim.

     The Apostle Paul spoke further about this sinister event. He spoke of the revealing of "the man of lawlessness" also identified as "the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God" (2 Thess. 2:3b-4). So the ultimate fulfillment of the "Abomination of Desolation" will take place when the future False Messiah (Antichrist) enters a rebuilt Jewish temple and seats himself therein describing himself as "God come in the flesh," a diabolical misrepresentation of the True Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Thus violating his seven-year peace treaty with Israel, this man of lawlessness will embark upon a ferocious persecution of Israel. This apparently will take place during the last half of the Tribulation period.

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Abraham.  Father of the people of Israel; father of Arabs who are descendants of Ishmael; spiritual father of all who believe in God and His Son Jesus.  His initial name, Abram, means “Exalted Father.”  God gave him the name Abraham, “Father of Multitudes,” when he had only one son, Ishmael, who was not the child of promise.  Abraham was the man God singled out through whom He would bless the world.  The ultimate descendant of Abraham through whom God would bless the world is Jesus.

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Abrahamic Covenant.  God’s eternal, legal commitment to Abraham to bless him to bless the world through his descendants in their land. Go here for a complete discussion of the Abrahamic Covenant.

The foundation of the Abrahamic Covenant is God's promise as found in Genesis 12:1-3. (1) Abram was to depart for the land Yahweh would show him (Gen. 12:1).  (2) He would make of Abram a great nation (descendants) (Gen. 12:2). (3) He will bless Abram, and Abram is to be a blessing. He will bless those who bless Abram, and He will curse those who curse him. In Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:2-3).

Once Abram settled in the land of Canaan (Gen. 13:12), Yahweh told him to look in all directions. All the land he could see, Yahweh gave to him  and his descendants forever. Yahweh would make Abram's descendants as innumerable as the dust of the earth. He was to walk through the length and breadth of the land (Gen. 13:14-17).

After Abram's daring rescue of Lot (Gen. 14), Yahweh promised to protect and reward him (Gen. 15:1). When Abram queried his lack of a biological heir, Yahweh promised him descendants as innumerable as the stars (Gen. 15:2-6). Then Yahweh declared he had brought Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans to give him "this land to possess it" (Gen. 15:7).  Abram asked how he could know this was going to happen (Gen. 15:8). Yahweh responded by formalizing His promise to Abram through a blood covenant (Gen. 15:9-11) in which Yahweh obligated Himself alone to fulfill it (Gen. 15:17). This means that the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional. The  features of this covenant were the northeastern and southwestern borders of the land which Yahweh had given to Abram's descendants (Gen. 15:18). It also specified the ethnic cleansing this would entail (Gen. 15:19-21).

When Abram was ninety-nine, Yahweh appeared to him and instructed him to walk before Him in blamelessness. Then Yahweh said that He would establish, in the sense of confirm, or implement His covenant with Abram. As a  sign of Yahweh's working, his name would be changed to Abraham, meaning "Father of a Multitude." This would be appropriate because He would make Abraham's descendants so numerous he would become "father of a multitude of nations." Nations and kings would issue forth from him (Gen. 17:1-6). The covenant Yahweh was establishing with Abraham and his descendants "throughout their generations" was to be an "everlasting covenant" (Gen. 17:7). Yahweh would give to Abraham and his descendants "all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8). In turn, Abraham and his male descendants and slaves were to bear the sign of circumcision in their male organs "for an everlasting covenant" (Gen. 17:10-14). God then revealed another sign. Sarai ("My Princess") was to have her name changed to Sarah ("Princess") in honor of the fact that royalty would issue from her. God would bless her and give Abraham a son by her. Then He would bless her and she would become a mother of nations and kings (Gen. 17:15-16). Laughing, Abraham requested that his son Ishmael might live before God. God said, "No." He revealed that Sarah would bear a son whom Abraham was to name Isaac ("he laughs"). God would establish His covenant with Isaac "for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him" (Gen. 17:17-19). Having heard Abraham's request, God would indeed bless Ishmael, multiplying him exceedingly, but His covenant He would establish with Isaac, whom Sarah would bear next year (Gen. 17:20-21). Later on, God authorized a parting of the ways between Abraham and Sarah and Isaac, on the one hand, and Hagar and Ishmael, on the other (Gen. 21:1-14). Comforting Abraham, who was deeply distressed, God assured him that it was through Isaac that his descendants would be named. Still, God would make a nation of the "son of the maid" because he also was a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 21:12-13).

As Yahweh had revealed (Gen. 17:15-21), Isaac was the Divinely chosen son of Abraham, and it was he who inherited the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 26:1-6). Isaac was to stay in the land. If he stayed in the land, Yahweh would bless him. He would give Isaac and his descendants "all these lands," establishing with him the oath He had made with his father Abraham. He would multiply Isaac's descendants as the stars of heaven, and would give his "descendants all these lands." By Isaac's descendants "all the nations of the earth" would be blessed."

When Jacob was fleeing to Syria to save his life and find a wife, Yahweh appeared to him in a dream as the God of Abraham and Isaac. He told him  that the land on which he lay, He would give to Jacob and his descendants. His descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and in him and his descendants all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 28:10-15).

The Abrahamic Covenant is the foundational covenant for both the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant. It would be with the descendants of Abraham's grandson Jacob that Yahweh would establish the Mosaic Covenant, the Law, known in Hebrew circles as the Torah.

Go here for a complete discussion of the Abrahamic Covenant.

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Abyss. A deep unbounded place, location unknown, that serves as a temporary prison for certain fallen angels. Abyss is usually translated “bottomless," frequently in conjunction with "pit” in the AV. Evidently most fallen angels, also known as demons, are free to roam the earth. Certain demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss when He cast them out of the demoniac of the Gerasenes (Luke 8:31). Locust-like demons are presently imprisoned in the abyss, awaiting their release upon the earth in the Tribulation (Rev. 9:1-12). The false messiah, or Antichrist who is to rule the world briefly, is described as coming out of the abyss (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). Satan is thrown into the abyss and chained there for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3, 7), the duration of Christ’s Millennial reign. All fallen angels will ultimately be cast into eternal fire (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

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Adoption.  The act whereby God claims as sons all those who trust in Jesus.

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Advent.  The coming of Jesus Christ into this world. 

First Advent. The First Coming of Jesus Christ into this world. At His First Advent, Jesus came to be Savior.  He was supernaturally conceived within and born of the virgin Mary, a descendant of King David,  in the town of Bethlehem just as had been predicted (Isa. 7:14; Micah 5:2; 2 Sam. 7:8-17; Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20; Matt. 1:18-25). He became the Jewish Messiah when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Isa. 11:1-2; 42:1; 61:1) at His baptism (Matt. 3:16-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:32-34). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus passed with flying colors every temptation wherewith Satan attempted to disqualify Him (Matt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, He went everywhere in Galilee and Judea proclaiming, as God's ultimate Prophet, the Good News of the Kingdom, urging the Jewish people to repent preparatory to entering His Kingdom (Matt. 4:17, 23; 9:35; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43; 8:1). He healed the sick and cast out demons (Matt. 4:23-25; 8:16; 9:35; 14:14; 15:30; 19:2; 21:14; Mark 1:34; 3:10; Luke 4:40; 7:21; Acts 10:38). But only a few of the Jewish people accepted Him as their Messiah (John 1:10-13), though multitudes were enthralled with His words and His miracles (Matt. 4:25; Mark 3:7-8; Luke 6:17; John 11:47-48; 12:17-19). The people as a whole remained noncommittal, and the hostile Jewish leaders, including the chief priests, scribes, and most of the Jewish Sanhedrin (Ruling Council), persuaded a mob to call for His crucifixion (Matt. 27:22-23; Mark 15:13-14; Luke 23:18-23; John 19:6, 15). Jesus died on the Jewish Passover (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24-25; Luke 23:33; John 19:16-23) as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36). After three days, God miraculously raised Him from the grave (Matt. 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-14; Luke 24:1-48; John 20:1-29). He showed Himself alive to selected followers, commissioned His followers to be His witnesses (Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8), and ascended to heaven (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11), where He sits in power at the Father's right hand, awaiting the moment when He is given the signal to return to earth, where His enemies will be made a footstool for His feet (Psalm 110:1; Dan. 7:13-14; Matt. 26:64; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20-22; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:8; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; Rev. 19:11-21).

Second Advent. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ into this world. At His Second Advent, Jesus will return as Sovereign.  Jesus’ Second Advent is in two stages.  First, He will come to claim the Church as His Bride and take her back to heaven to be with Him.  This event is commonly called the Rapture.  After at least a seven-year hiatus, called the Tribulation, Jesus will return with His Bride to conquer His enemies and reign as King of Israel and King of the world. See The Second Coming of Christ for a much more extensive treatment of the subject.

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Advent Season. That portion of the liturgical year which celebrates the First Advent of Jesus Christ into this world. The Advent Season begins on the fourth Sunday before December 25, the Sunday between November 27 and December 3 inclusive. Many churches use an Advent wreath with four Advent candles, the first of which is lit on the first Sunday, with an additional candle being lit each succeeding Sunday of Advent. Appropriate Scriptures are read in connection with the birth of Jesus, and appropriate Christmas carols are sung.

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AIDS.  Acquired Immune Deficiency Sindrome.  Each person inherits a sin nature from his parents, traceable all the way back to Adam and Eve, our first parents.  Because of our inherited sin nature, each of us has a built-in tendency to sin, to violate God’s standards.  Sin leads inevitably to death.  There is only one cure, being born again through the power of God’s Spirit into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ (John 1:11-13; 3:1-8, 16-18).

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Aliyah. The return of Jewish people to the land of Canaan, promised by God in perpetuity to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. 

Amillennialism.  The theological position that denies the existence of a literal one thousand year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:1-6) upon the present earth from the present day city of Jerusalem.  The prefix “a” means “not” or “non.”  Amillennialism necessitates “spiritualizing” passages that expound prophetic themes.  Prophetic passages which speak of the glories of Christ's future kingdom (such as Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:1-10; 60:1-22; 61:1-9; 65:20-23; 66:18-23)  are said to be “figurative,” "metaphorical," "ideal," or “symbolic.” 

For example, there are those who claim that we are presently in Christ's kingdom here on earth, and that the reference to a thousand-year reign of Christ in Rev. 20:1-7 is merely a "symbolic number". (See "The Amillennial View of the Binding of Satan" by Rev. Carl A. P. Durham, employing that explanation in that passage.) (I might counter that, though numbers in Revelation may have some further significance in certain cases, all the numbers are meant to be taken literally. For example, seven angels means seven angels, not six or eight; seven churches means seven churches, not nine or ten; twenty-four elders means twenty-four elders, not thirty; and so one thousand years means one thousand years, not nearly two thousand and still counting.) 

Amillennialists use a hermeneutic based on their presupposition of New Testament priority over the Old. They thus take the position that any New Testament Scripture trumps Old Testament Scripture on any prophetic events. In this way they deprive the Old Testament prophecies of the distant future of their real significance. It is more accurate to say that NT Scriptures can expand on and amplify OT prophecies, but they cannot either alter or invalidate the promises and predictions asserted in the Old.

Amillennialists often lump many O. T. "eschatological" prophecies into the same time frame. This unfortunately results in irreconcilable anomalies, such as the portrayal of a detailed physical  temple in Ezekiel 40-46 versus the portrayal of no physical temple whatsoever as predicted in Revelation 21:22. C. J. H. Wright (The Message of Ezekiel, pp. 341-342) dismisses this irreconcilable difficulty as follows: "...it seems to me that Christian interpretations of Ezekiel which insist that there will yet be a literal and physical fulfillment of his vision by the actual building of another temple in Jerusalem, with accompanying miraculous transformations in the geography of Palestine to enable a river to flow down to the Dead Sea, are out of line with the New Testament’s own interpretation, which relates the prophetic hope to its messianic fulfillment in Jesus." In so doing he simply dismisses the irreconcilable anomaly with a wave of his theological wand of symbolism.

Amillennialism results in “Replacement Theology,” in which the present nation of Israel has no meaningful relationship to end-time events since, in the view of Amillennialists, the Church has forever replaced Israel.  Another term for "Replacement Theology" is "Supersessionism," which holds that the Church has superseded Israel. It is difficult to read Paul's apology for Israel in Romans 9-11 and make any sense out of it if, in fact, the Church has permanently superseded Israel.  If Amillennialism is true, countless passages like Isaiah 2:1-4; Isa. 11; Isa. 60, Zechariah 12-14, and Revelation 6-22 cannot be taken at face value – they mean something other than what the writers or the readers in the day they were written would have taken them to mean.  In the view of WordExplain, Amillennialism results from a faulty, inconsistent hermeneutic, or method of interpreting the Scriptures.

For a fairly succinct portrayal of eschatology and the end times from an Amillennial view point (written September, 1989), see "The 'End Times': A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism" - A Report on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. WordExplain does not agree with this study. For a presentation of "Inaugurated Millennialism," see The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testament Commentary) by Gregory K. Beale of Wheaton College. His lengthy title for Revelation 20:1-15, as found on p. xv of the Table of Contents, reads as follows: "The Millennium Is Inaugurated during the Church Age as God Limits Satan’s Deceptive Powers and as Deceased Christians Are Vindicated by Reigning in Heaven. The Millennium Is Concluded by a Resurgence of Satan’s Deceptive Assault against the Church and the Final Judgment." As can be readily seen, Beale does not employ the term "Millennium", which means "thousand years" literally, as, according to him, the "Millennium" has already been inaugurated and we are living in it today. Already, according to Beale, we have been in the "Millennium" for nearly two thousand years, and we are still counting, for Christ has not yet returned. That, according to him, is the "Inaugurated" sense of the Millennium. Use whatever term he wishes, Beale is, nonetheless, Amillennial, since he denies Christ's future reign on the present earth from present-day Jerusalem for a thousand years. WordExplain, of course, does not agree with Beale's position.

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Analogical Day Theory. A non-literal approach to the days of Genesis 1:1-2:3.  "God created the world in six days of work followed by one day of rest - but these days of divine work are an analogy rather than an identity with days of human work.... According to the Analogical Day interpretation the description of creation represents an analogy between the work of God stretching over six divine days followed by a day of rest, and the work of humans in understandable terms, laying groundwork for both the Sabbath day and the Jubilee year commanded in Leviticus. God speaks and teaches through analogy and thus accommodates his revelation to human understanding" (quoting Science, Faith and Vern Poythress 2).

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Angel. A messenger of God.  Angels serve God by carrying out His will and informing men of God’s will.  When angels appear to humans, they often look like men.  Yet they have a supernatural aura about them that makes men fearful.  Angels have supernatural power.  There are different ranks of angels, including cherubim and seraphim.  Jesus appeared infrequently in the Old Testament as the Angel of Yahweh.  Satan was created as a cherub, a good angel.  But Satan became self-obsessed, prideful, and rebellious.  He drew other angels with him in his rebellion.  The elect angels have remained true to God. 

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Angelology.  The study of angels, based on evidence derived from Scripture.  Angelology examines angels in the Old and New Testaments, the tasks of angels, the various categories of angels, the nature of the Angel of Yahweh in the Old Testament, and the ministry of angels in relation to Christ.

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Anointed One.  A literal translation of the Hebrew Messiah and the Greek Christos.  In the Old Testament there were priests, prophets, and kings who were anointed.  Typically, the term “Anointed” referred to the king.  The ultimate reference is to the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.  The Anointed One is seen as the ultimate King whose reign will never end.  His kingdom will extend around the world, and will last for a thousand years.  In the final analysis the Anointed One will return the kingdom back to the Father.  The two will reign as Co-Regents from the throne in New Jerusalem, the capital of New Earth (Rev. 21-22).

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Anthropology. The study of man based on information derived from the Bible.  Anthropology deals with the origin of man, the origin of the world in which he lives, the nature of man as being created in the image of God, the nature of Adam as federal head of the human race, and the nature of man’s dominion over the earth.

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Antichrist.  The Greek anti means, in this case, both instead of and against the true Christ, or Messiah.  The actual term “antichrist” is used only by the Apostle John in his first and second letters.  There is the specific Antichrist (1 John 2:18), but down through the Church Age there are those who continually exhibit the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 2:22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7).  The Antichrist will be a charismatic, Satanically inspired world leader who will emerge on the world scene at the beginning of the Tribulation from a revived Roman Empire.  Through diplomatic success he will gain international attention and power.  He will begin the seven-year Tribulation period by finalizing a seven-year peace treaty with Israel (Dan. 9:27) and, perhaps, the “Palestinians.”  Mid-way through the seven years he will break the treaty, and set himself up as the true Christ, God come in the flesh in the temple in Jerusalem (2 Thess. 2:3-4).  The Bible describes him as “the man of lawlessness” who will be able to deceive the world with his miraculous powers (2 Thess. 2:1-12).  He is also described as a beast who will develop a totalitarian empire in which he briefly gains control of the entire world, limiting commercial transactions to those only who subscribe to his numbering system and worship him (Rev. 13).  Christ will destroy him at His return, depositing him and his false prophet mouthpiece in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:19-20).

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Antisupernaturalism.  The view of atheism, secular humanism, and scientific naturalism, that there is no such thing as the supernatural.  Everything that exists can be explained in terms of natural, observable phenomena.  Sometimes antisupernaturalism shades over into religion and the study of the Scriptures.  Theological antisupernaturalists deny the existence of the supernatural in the Bible.  Consequently they deny the historicity of Genesis 1-11, which includes such supernatural events as creation, the fall of man, the flood, and the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel.  They deny the reality of any miracles, such as the ten plagues of Moses or the miracles of Elijah and Elisha or Christ and the apostles.  They deny the reality of predictive prophecy, and seek to “late-date” books so that the events ostensibly predicted occurred after the writing of the book.  The book of Daniel for example, which claims to be written in the 6^th century B. C. by Daniel has extensive prophecy, especially including chapter 11, much of which has been fulfilled with unerring accuracy through the intrigues of the Ptolemies and Seleucids.  Antisupernaturalists, denying the possibility of predictive prophecy, late-date the book of Daniel to 175 B.C., after the fulfillment of the events predicted by Daniel.  Theological antisupernaturalists classify much of the Bible as myth, by which they mean it contains a nice story with theological value, but that it cannot be regarded as having substantial historical value.  They essentially take the position, in fact, that nothing in the Bible is to be believed unless it can be verified or corroborated by secular history.  Needless to say, Antisupernaturalism is outside the pale of orthodoxy, for the Bible is filled with the supernatural from the first page to the last.  Antisupernaturalists’ view of Scripture is sharply at variance with that of Jesus, who said, “until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Matt. 5:18).”

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Apocalypse.  Another name for the book of Revelation.  Apocalypse is a transliteration of the opening Greek word of the book of Revelation, Apokalupsis, meaning, “unveiling.”  Understood properly, the book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ in all His heavenly glory, and it is also an unveiling of the future by Him.

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Apocalyptic Literature."Symbolic visionary prophetic literature ... consisting of visions whose events are recorded exactly as they were seen by the author and explained through a divine interpreter, and whose theological content is primarily eschatological." This definition is culled from Ralph Alexander, Abstract of “Hermeneutics of Old Testament Apocalyptic Literature,” doctor’s dissertation, p. 1, as quoted by John F. Walvoord, in his Introduction to his commentary on Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. 

    J. Dwight Pentecost, in his Introduction to his commentary on Daniel , The Bible Knowledge Commentary, OT, p. 1323, discussed  the "Literary Form" of Daniel, "the first great book of apocalyptic literature in the Bible. The Greek word apokalupsis, from which comes the English 'apocalypse,' means an unveiling, a disclosing, or a revelation." According to Pentecost, "Apocalyptic literature in the Bible has several characteristics: (1) In apocalyptic literature a person who received God's truths in visions recorded what he saw. (2) Apocalyptic literature makes extensive use of symbols or signs. (3) "Such literature normally gives revelation concerning God's program for the future of His people Israel. (4) Prose was usually employed in apocalyptic literature, rather than the poetic style which was normal in most prophetic literature."

    Pentecost continued, "In addition to Daniel and Revelation, apocalyptic literature is found in Ezekiel 37-48 and Zechariah 1:7 - 7:8. In interpreting visions, symbols, and signs in apocalyptic literature, one is seldom left to his own ingenuity to discover the truth. In most instances an examination of the context or a comparison with a parallel biblical passage provides the Scriptures' own interpretation of the visions or the symbols employed. Apocalyptic literature then demands a careful comparison of Scripture with Scripture to arrive at a correct understanding of the revelation being given."

    I would add one caveat to Pentecost's characteristic #3.  While the future of Israel is in view in the Book of Revelation, it is not only the future of Israel that is in view. Revelation records the future of Israel, of the Church, of the redeemed of all ages, and of the unredeemed of all ages. It also reveals God's systematic judgment of the people and of the planet Earth, and, indeed, of the entire cosmos. It records the unmitigated doom of God's arch-enemy, Satan. It records the eternal horror of the unredeemed of all ages, and it records the eternal bliss of the redeemed of all ages in New Jerusalem in association with New Earth in New Cosmos.

     Unfortunately, I have seen the term "Apocalyptic Literature" misused and abused. For more information on apocalyptic literature, go to "The Use and Abuse of Apocalyptic Literature."

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Apocrypha. Books revered by the Jewish people, but never considered on a par with Scripture. The word apocrypha means that which is "hidden" or "concealed." There are various lists of Apocryphal books, numbering from twelve to fifteen. One such list includes the following books which appear in the Septuagint (abbreviated as LXX), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament and other "sacred" writings: 1 Esdras, Judith, Tobit, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Sirach (Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus), Psalms of Solomon, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, Epistle of Jeremiah, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. (This list of Apocryphal books appearing in the LXX is obtained from Bibloi 8.02 [Bible software], published by Silver Mountain Software copyrighted May 27, 2007. 2 Esdras (the Greek translation of Ezra) is not Apocryphal, because it incorporates Biblical Ezra-Nehemiah in one book.) Some parts of the Apocryphal books are labeled variously as didactic (teaching) (Wisdom of Solomon), religious novel (Tobit), romantic novel (Judith), historical (1 Maccabees), and legendary (Bel and the Dragon), or in some cases, a combination of genres.  Jesus Christ did not include the Apocryphal books in His canon of Scripture as revealed in Matt.  23:35 and Luke 11:51. Historically, the early church understood that these Apocryphal books did not have the status of Scripture. It was not until during the tri-partite Council of Trent (1545-1563) on April 8, 1546 that the Roman Catholic Church officially canonized the Apocryphal books as being Deutero Canonical (meaning a second canon, or standard of Scriptures). Some modern versions, such as the Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version also incorporate the Apocrypha. Credit for some aspects of this glossary entry goes to Robert J. Sargent and his article, Canonization: The Apocrypha. There are several on-line renderings of the Septuagint. One of them is the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS).

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Apostasy. A specific time of global rebellion against Yahweh and His Messiah. The English word apostasy comes from the Greek apostasia (646), which is used only twice in the NT. In the first instance, Luke used it in Acts 21:21, where it was being reported that Paul was "teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs" (emphasis mine). There apostasia referred to a departure from Moses, circumcision, and the customs of Judaism. In the other instance, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, it refers to the future, specific, global departure from any semblance of Judeo-Christianity and associated values.  Paul termed it "the apostasy." The spirit of that apostasy has always been present. The Psalmist spoke of it in Psalm 2:1-3:

Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”

So the spirit of that apostasy has always been present. Presently, during the Church Age, the Holy Spirit in the Church has been restraining that spirit of lawlessness. But at the end of the Church Age, God will remove His Spirit from the earth as indwelling the Church, and there will be nothing left to prevent that great Apostasy. The world will throw off all restraints. The world will be primed to accept the charismatic leadership of a rising world leader the Bible variously terms as "The Prince who is to Come" (Dan. 9:26), "The Lawless One" (2 Thess. 2:8), "The Man of Lawlessness" (2 Thess. 2:3), "The Beast" (Rev. 13:1-4, 12, 14-15, 17-18; 19:20; 20:10) and "The Antichrist" (1 John 2:18). He will facilitate the global apostasy, proclaiming Himself to be God and elevating himself above anything that is called God (2 Thess. 2:4). His revelation, or unveiling (2 Thess. 2:3, 6, 8), will begin the Tribulation, to which Paul referred as "the Day of the Lord" (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2).

Jesus Christ will terminate this great Apostasy when He returns in Retribution (Zech. 14:1-15; 2 Thess. 1:7-10; 2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19:11-21).

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Armageddon. The place of the Final World War on earth before Christ’s return. Appearing only in Revelation 16:16 in the Bible, the name is transliterated from Greek, which in turn is transliterated from two words in Hebrew, Har Magedon, which means Mount or Hill of Megiddo. There is no known Mountain of Megiddo, but there are many hills in that area which overlook the Plain of Megiddo, also known as the Great Plain of Esdraelon, about sixty miles north of Jerusalem. The Plain of Esdraelon (Megiddo) stretches NW to SE bounded on the SW by the Carmel Range and on the NE by Mt. Gilboa and Mt. Tabor. Har Megiddo is “generally identified as the fortress overlooking a pass through the Carmel Range into Galilee” (Friberg Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament). More than two hundred battles have been fought in that region. In Revelation 16, it is said that demonic spirits will lure “the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty…. And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon” (Rev. 16:14, 16). Apparently in the process, the Euphrates River will have been dried up by the contents of the sixth angel’s bowl in order to enable the “kings from the east” to move into the holy land to this colossal battle (Rev. 16:12). It would seem that the motivation of the world’s kings is to summarily dispose of Israel. God’s over-arching plan, however, is to seduce the armies of the earth’s nations to deploy into Israel in order that He might destroy them Himself (Zech. 12:1-9) preparatory to Jesus’ reign as King of Israel and King of the World (Zech. 14:1-9). In popular thinking, Armageddon has come to mean the end-time cataclysm(s) marking the end of the age and civilization as we know it, but that does not really fit the Biblical representation.

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Asceticism.  A legalistic self-denial of legitimate pleasure (1 Tim. 4:1-5).  Asceticism is inspired by demons and is incompatible with the grace of God.

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Atonement.  In the Old Testament the word kaphar means, “to cover.” Since the natural consequence of sin is death, only death can atone for sin (Lev. 17:11).  Animal sacrifices “covered” Israelis’ sins in the Old Testament, but could never pay for them. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is God’s perfect lamb that was sacrificed to pay for the sins of the entire world.  Because Jesus is man, His death can pay for human sin.  Because He is God, He was able to live a sinless life.  His death has infinite value and can pay for all human sin.  The atonement, of course, is of value only to those who, through faith in Jesus, accept it.

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