Category Archives: Biblical Studies

December 18, 2025

Who Were the Wise Men?

By The Paleofundamentalist

In Matthew 2:1, “wise men from the east” came to the land of Israel in association with the birth of Jesus Christ.  Here, “wise men” is a translation of the Greek word, magoi.  Modern Bible translations tend to transliterate this word as magi, from which the English words magic and magician are derived, but in doing there is a danger that an occultic connotation might be associated with them.  It should be noted that the text/context of Matthew 2 suggests no such wicked association; indeed, they are the good guys in Matthew’s birth narrative.  Thus, the KJV translators properly translated magoi as “wise men”.  In contrast, the singular magos is translated as “sorcerer” relative to the “false prophet” who went by the name “Barjesus” (cf. Act13:6).

Recognizing these “wise men” as such is an important aid in their proper identification.  They came “from the east”, which is understood to be relative to Jerusalem and the land of Israel.  In Scripture, such a geographic designation generally denotes Babylon and/or Persia (cf. Gen11:2; Isa43:5; 46:11).  In Daniel 2:2, the advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon are designated as “magicians”, “astrologers”, “sorcerers”, and “Chaldeans”.  Certainly, “magicians”, “astrologers”, and “sorcerers” are all categories of occult practitioners; however, the “Chaldeans” are to be distinguished from these.  Strong’s Hebrew lexicon indicates that the “Chaldeans” (when used as a title, rather than a geographical designation) were “those persons considered to be the wisest in the land”.  After successfully interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Daniel was promoted by the king to be “chief over all the wise men of Babylon” (Dan2:48).  Daniel outlived the Babylonian empire, and “prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Dan6:28).  In Esther 1:13, we see that even during the Persian empire this caste of advisors to kings continued, characterized as “wise men, which knew the times”.  Research into extra-biblical literature indicates that these “Chaldean” wise men were an ancient and hereditary caste of scholars with particular expertise in astronomy and dream interpretation (which was undoubtedly why Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel the “chief” of their order).

That Daniel was made chief of these wise men “from the east”, and that they were experts at astronomy, provides the outline of a plausible explanation for why they knew what they knew, and why they came to Jerusalem when they did.  Balaam, the ancient prophet from Mesopotamia (cf. Deut23:4), who some suggest belonged to (or even began) their order, had long before prophesied that “there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel” (cf. Num24:15-17); that is, the arrival of a future Jewish king (i.e., the Messiah) would be heralded by a “Star”.  Observing an unusual “star”, they associated it with “he that is born King of the Jews” (Matt2:2).  That they were anticipating the season of His arrival was nearing can be inferred from the fact that they were undoubtedly in possession of, and revered, the Book of Daniel (their former chief) which predicted the very day of Messiah’s arrival (cf. Dan9:25).

To dispel common myths, they were not kings; this is erroneously supported by Psalm 72:10, which describes the millennial kingdom.  Coming from Persia, they would have ridden horses, not camels.  Nothing in the text of Matthew 2 indicates how many “wise men” there were, but there were likely many more than three.  Furthermore, having undertaken a journey of almost a thousand miles, they would have travelled in a sizable caravan that almost certainly included a military escort.  Such a large delegation from Persia arriving unexpectedly in Jerusalem was undoubtedly the reason “Herod … was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matt2:3).

Who were the “wise men”?  They were an hereditary caste of Babylonian/Persian scholars (not occultists) who had been influenced by the prophet Daniel to anticipate the coming of the Messiah who was to be the King of Israel, and who was to be “worship[ed]” by all (Matt2:2).

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November 19, 2025

The Translation of Enoch and the Rapture of the Church

By The Paleofundamentalist

In His Olivet Discourse, Jesus said, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt24:37). The Flood of Noah is a type of the coming Tribulation period (i.e., Daniel’s 70th Week). Noah and his family, who endured the judgment of the Flood on earth, but were Divinely preserved through it, are a type of the nation of Israel; Israel will endure the judgment of the Tribulation on earth, but will be Divinely preserved through it (Zech13:8-9; Rev12:6,14). In contrast, the translation of Enoch from earth to heaven (without dying; Gen5:24; Heb11:5) is a type of the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church (1Thess4:15-17; Rev4:1-2); the Church will be supernaturally removed from the earth before the judgment of the Tribulation begins (Luk21:36; 1Thess1:10; Rev3:10). In the translation of Enoch prior to the Flood, only a single person was removed from the earth; in the rapture of the Church prior to the Tribulation, the singular Body of Christ (i.e., the “one new man”; Eph2:15) will be removed from the earth (1Cor12:27; Eph1:22-23). Note also that Enoch was supernaturally translated from the earth to heaven, whereas Noah had to build an Ark according to God’s revealed specifications in order to be saved from the Flood; this comports with the fact that the Church will be raptured according to grace, whereas Israel was required to keep the Law delivered by God through Moses (Cp., Jn1:17).

Note that there was a gap of time between the translation of Enoch and the beginning of the “days of Noah”; from the translation of Enoch to the birth of Noah was 69 years. Since the “days of Noah” correspond typologically to the Tribulation, this observation is consistent with the expectation that there will be a gap of time between the rapture of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation (i.e., the rapture is not the event that begins the Tribulation; cf. Dan9:27). However, to conclude that there will be 69 years between the rapture of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation is almost certainly pressing the type too far; whereas the Flood was a type of the Tribulation, it lasted only slightly more than a year (not 7 years), and the “days of Noah” were 950 years (Gen9:29).

While the 69 year gap between the translation of Enoch and the beginning of the Flood likely has no literal connection to the gap of time between the rapture of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation, it may yet be found to have a typological significance.

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October 31, 2025

How Soon is “Shortly”?

By The Paleofundamentalist

The Book of Revelation opens, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass…” (Rev1:1a). The remainder of the book is a revelation of the details concerning the coming Rapture of the Church, the 7-year Tribulation period (i.e., Daniel’s 70th Week), the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom on this earth. When the Lord Jesus revealed these things to John the Apostle at the end of the 1st century, he said these were events that “must shortly come to pass”. To date, they have not come to pass, and almost two thousand years later we still await their fulfillment (to the scoffing of the world; Cp., 2Pet3:3-4).

Preterists connect the “shortly” of Revelation 1:1 with “this generation” of Matthew 24:34 and insist that the events of the Book of Revelation had to have occurred within the lifetimes of the Jews who were alive at the first coming of Christ. Clearly, that understanding of “shortly” cannot be valid, as the second coming of Christ did not occur in the 1st century in any literal sense. Thus, “shortly” did not mean within one generation. The question, therefore, remains, “How soon is shortly”?

The beginning of an answer to this question is found in the very passage in which the Apostle Peter warns of second coming scoffers who would arise “in the last days” (2Pet3:3-4). He goes on to conclude, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2Pet3:8; Cp., Ps90:4). The point is that God’s experience of time is not the same as ours, and this truth is observed throughout the scriptures.

Consider the following examples:

  • “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed” (Deut4:26). The LORD spoke these words through Moses c. 1400 BC. The first dispersion of the Jews from the Promised Land, the Babylonian exile, occurred c. 600 BC, followed by the Roman Diaspora in 70 AD. Thus, “soon” in this context meant at least ~800 years into the future, and perhaps ~1,500 years.
  • “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb” (Ps37:1-2). This psalm of David would have been written c. 1000 BC. The judgment of the wicked occurs at the Great White Throne, which takes place at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. Thus, “soon” in this context meant at least ~4,000 years into the future.
  • “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2Cor4:17). Here, the Apostle Paul characterizes the lifetime of a person (i.e., 70-80 years; Ps90:10) as “a moment”. In Psalm 90:10, a man’s life is said to be “soon cut off”.
  • “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen” (Rom16:20). The Apostle Paul spoke these inspired words in the 1st century. Depending on one’s understanding, the defeat of Satan will either come at the second coming of Christ, when Satan is bound in the bottomless pit (Rev20:1-2), or at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, when Satan is cast into the lake of fire (Rev20:10). Thus, “shortly” in this context meant at least ~2,000 years into the future, and perhaps ~3000 years.

Thus, when the Lord Jesus Christ told the Apostle John that the events of the Book of Revelation “must shortly come to pass” (Rev1:1), the fact that they were yet ~2,000 years into the future was entirely consistent with the way in which God characterizes time, from His perspective, throughout the scriptures (Cp., Hos5:15-6:2).

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September 20, 2025

Gentiles and the Abrahamic Covenant

By The Paleofundamentalist

In Genesis 12:1-3, God initiated what would become the Abrahamic covenant (for its full development, cf. Gen12:1-7; 13:14-17; 15:7-21; 17:1-8).  This covenant was made by the LORD with Abram (i.e., Abraham), and it was unconditional; in it God made commitments to Abraham and put no obligations on him in order to receive its promises other than the faithfulness of God Himself.  The question today is, what is the relationship of Jews and Gentiles to the covenant God made with Abraham?

First, the Jews are a party to the covenant and stand to inherit all of its promises in the most literal way.  In Genesis 12:2, God viewed Abraham as more than merely a man, but as the “nation” He intended to make from him.  Furthermore, God extended the covenant to Abraham’s son Isaac (but not Ishmael; cf. Gen17:19), then to Isaac’s son Jacob (but not Esau; cf. Gen28:13-14).  No distinction is made after Jacob, such that all of Jacob’s descendants are included in the covenant (cf. Ps105:8-11).  In Romans 11:28, the Apostle Paul says that “as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake”, where “the election” is Israel as God’s chosen nation (Isa45:4), and “the fathers” are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod4:5).  Today, the Jews are the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, some of which have been gathered to the nation of Israel reestablished in 1948, but many of which remain scattered throughout the world.

Second, the Gentiles are not a party to the covenant.  Nevertheless, their salvation is provided through it; namely, “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen12:3; Gal3:8), since “salvation is of the Jews” (Jn4:22).  Furthermore, in the covenant there is an obligation for the Gentiles to “bless” Abraham and his descendants (i.e., the Jews), for which they are promised a blessing from God, as well as a threat that those who “curse” Abraham and his descendants will be cursed by God.  At the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, He will judge the Gentiles who survive the 7-year Tribulation period alive according to this standard (cf. Matt25:31-46).  Those Gentiles who “blessed” the Lord’s “brethren” will be granted entrance into “the [Millennial] kingdom” (Matt25:34,40), whereas those who “cursed” them are not (Matt25:41).

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August 12, 2025

Who Are the Many?

By The Paleofundamentalist

The adjective/pronoun “many” occurs hundreds of times in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. In the vast majority of those instances, the immediate context makes clear to whom/what “many” refers. However, there are a small number of important instances in which there is no definite referent for “many” (e.g., Dan8:25; 9:27; 11:14,18,26,33,34,39; 12:10; Matt19:30; 20:16; 20:28; 22:14; 26:28; Mk10:31,45; 14:24; Luk14:16); it should be noted that these instances tend to occur primarily in the O.T. and the synoptic Gospels, whose focus is the nation of Israel under the Dispensation of Law. In these instances, the “many” refers to Israel. For a study of this issue, see the article Who Are the Many? Under the Biblical Studies tab.

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August 31, 2024

The Pre-Trib Rapture is the Sign

By The Paleofundamentalist

To the question of His disciples, “And what shall be the sign of thy coming” (Matt24:4), Jesus responded with the Olivet discourse (Matt24:4-41; Mk13:5-37; Luk17:26-37) in which He gave an expanded recounting of Daniel’s 70th Week (Dan9:27; which would be greatly expanded by the Apostle John in Revelation 6-19).  This recounting, as recorded by Matthew and Luke, ended with an allusion to a mysterious disappearance.  Jesus said, “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed [i.e., night]; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.  Two women shall be grinding together [i.e., morning]; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  Two men shall be in the field [i.e., afternoon]; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Luke 17:34-36).

Dispensationalists have long disputed the proper understanding of Matthew 24:36-42 and Luke 17:26-37 which relates a future event in which a multitude of persons around the world instantaneously disappear.  On its face, this event would seem to correlate with the Rapture of the Church (cf. 1Cor15:51-52; 1Thess4:13-17), yet the majority of Dispensationalists, especially those adhering to the revised Dispensationalism of Walvoord, Ryrie, and Pentecost, have argued that the Rapture of the Church has no logical place in Jesus’ Olivet discourse.  Rather, the Olivet discourse pertains only to the nation of Israel and has nothing to do with the Church, which at that time had not yet been revealed.  While it is admitted that the birth of the Church had not yet taken place, nor does Jesus refer to it by name, He most certainly referred to its Rapture at the end of the Olivet discourse.

Jesus’ Olivet discourse is not about the Church; rather, it is a message to the nation of Israel.  But its subject concerns the “sign” for which the nation of Israel should “watch” (cf. Matt24:42; Mk13:33-37) in order to know that the second “coming” of Christ is near (cf. Matt24:4).  While Jesus gave numerous signs throughout the discourse (e.g., “wars and rumors of wars”, “pestilences”, “earthquakes”, “the abomination of desolation”, and “false Christs, and false prophets”), He concluded the discourse with the ultimate “sign”; it is the “sign” that precedes all the other signs, and one which cannot possibly be missed by the nation of Israel (and the world), which is the unexpected, sudden, and instantaneous disappearance of a multitude of persons all around the world.  It awaited the writings of the Apostle Paul to fully reveal the doctrine concerning the Rapture of the Church which ends the parenthetical Dispensation of Grace, a temporary pause in God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel, but the Lord Jesus most certainly pointed to the event as the “sign” to the nation of Israel that the return of Christ was drawing near.

The moment after the Rapture of the Church, no believer will remain on earth.  And yet, 144,000 Jews will be converted and used by God to evangelize the whole world during the Tribulation (cf. Matt24:13; Mk13:10; Rev7:1-17).  How are these Jews converted?  Might not the sudden disappearance of millions of people around the world, for which Jesus exhorted the nation of Israel to watch, be the “sign” that triggers the conversion of the 144,000? Maranatha!

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August 9, 2024

Interpreting Scripture

By The Paleofundamentalist

Covenant (Reformed) Theology and Dispensational Theology have long debated the proper hermeneutic to use when interpreting Scripture.  While both use a literal method for much of Scripture, Dispensationalism (especially so-called Revised Dispensationalism under Charles Ryrie) has emphasized the consistent use of literal interpretation for all of Scripture.  This is seen most clearly in that both Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology interpret historical narratives literally, whereas Covenant Theology often interprets prophetic passages of Scripture allegorically.  Forgotten in this discussion is that Classical Dispensationalism as developed under the Plymouth Brethren, Scofield, Chafer, and especially Arno Gaebelein, while not denying the literal historicity of historical passages, also allowed for a typological understanding of them (see the CHART: Philosophies of Interpretation under the Biblical Studies tab).  They viewed many of the Bible’s historical accounts as establishing patterns having prophetic significance (cf. Eccl1:9-10; 3:15; Cp., Rom5:14; Col2:17; Heb8:5; 10:1; 11:19).  Indeed, the Apostle Paul affirmed that O.T. historical accounts “were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope” (Rom15:4), and that “all these things happened to them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1Cor10:11).  The word translated “ensamples” is from the Greek tupos (i.e., types). Typology is a rich and fruitful feature of Scripture that should not be neglected!

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June 4, 2024

The Identity of the 24 Elders

By The Paleofundamentalist

In Revelation 4:4, “four and twenty elders” are seen by the Apostle John sitting on “four and twenty [thrones]” in heaven.  The identity of these 24 elders has long been debated.  However, most Dispensationalists have traditionally held that the 24 elders represent the completed Church (i.e., the Body of Christ).  If that view is correct, the completed Church is in heaven before the 7-year Tribulation (i.e., the 70th Week of Daniel; Dan9:27) begins in Revelation 6, which all but necessitates a pre-tribulational rapture of the Church; such a conclusion is seemingly inescapable.  Hence, the correct identification of the 24 elders is pivotal to a proper understanding of the chronological sequence of eschatological events. A systematic analysis of the Identity of the 24 Elders can be found under the Biblical Studies tab.

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January 20, 2024

Noah and Adam

By The Paleofundamentalist

Noah and Adam are related, both seminally and typologically. In many ways, Noah typologically recapitulates Adam’s original fall and its consequences for humanity. For an outline of this connection, see Noah and Adam under the Biblical Studies tab.

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December 20, 2023

When Was Jesus Born?

By The Paleofundamentalist

Although Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, that is almost certainly not the correct month/date of our Savior’s birth. Actually, Scripture gives us a relatively clear indication of when Jesus was born; namely, in the September-October timeframe. See the new Chart: WHEN WAS JESUS BORN? under the Biblical Studies tab for an overview of the calculation using scriptural clues.

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