II Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
Many believe that we are moving quickly toward the end of this age. This, I believe, is not only the sentiment of those who study and love the Bible, but we see it in the literature and movies of the day. There is a general sense that we are moving rapidly toward something but many don't know what that something might be. Can the world continue at this accelarated pace toward lawlessness, sensuality, perversion, violence and development of destructive weapons, or does there have to be an end to it all? I believe there is a general feeling of impending something, most likely doom.
As I have been reading the Book of the Revelation it has been amazing to me to see many things fall into place and many scrptures intricately knit together from various parts of the Bible to demonstrate this incredible flow to the Bible even with so many authors were invovled in writing it over such a long period of time.
The quote from above that says God is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance recently came alive to me as I looked at the sequence of events during the seals, trumpets and bowls described in Revelation. At the sounding of the sixth trumpet there are 3 plagues that are released on the earth through which a third of mankind is killed. After these plagues in Revelation 9:20,21 we are told that the rest of mankind did not repent, once in verse 20 and once in verse 21. God is not willing that any should perish!! What I saw in this passage is that the seventh trump does not sound, which ushers in the kingdom of Jesus on the earth and the final wrath of God on the nations, until no one on earth wants to repent. Let me say it this way, God does not pour out His final wrath on the nations at the end of this age nor does He return to overthrow the kingdoms of this world until everyone that would want to repent repents! At the end, mankind simply refuses to repent. When all that are left refuse to repent then the final wrath will come. He wants all to come to repentance. The circumstances at the end bring enough crisis to the earth to reveal every heart for what is really in it, and at the end no one else will even want to repent. He does not want any to perish, if they don't want to!!


On a little different note, I remain concerned about popular end time theological teaching because it teaches us to believe in events that the scriptures specifically warns against. When Jesus talked about his return in Matthew 24:26, 27 He warned us not to believe anyone who would tell us that He will come in secret. He says His return will be seen by everyone, both here and in Revelation 1:7, and yet the most popular end-time teaching in American Christianity is that Jesus will snatch away a bunch of people secretly and everyone left will be saying what happened? That is taught even though Jesus said when He returns to catch His beleivers in the air (I Thess. 4 13-17) it will be with a trumpet and a shout and in these other references that it will be visible to everyone on earth. Of course popular teaching divides these scriptures into separate events, but why didn't Jesus tell us about these separate events when He taught about His own return. Also the first resurrection according to Rev 20:5 is when the dead are raised to rule and reign with Jesus. Note this is the first resurrection. I Thess. 4 tells us that the dead in Christ resurrect when Jesus retrns to catch up His believers in the clouds. Is this a resurrection before the first resurrection or is it the first resurrection when those raised begin to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. If there is a secret resurrection and catching away it would have to be before the first resurrection which would make the first resurrection the second resurrection or some such thing.
So the first resurrection is when the believer's are raised to rule for a thousand years with Christ. Nowhere does it say that there is a pre first resurrection 7 years before that when the dead in Christ rise. I Thess. 4 and Rev 20 must be describing the same event.


The second popular teaching is that the antichrist will not appear until the Church is taken out of the earth because the Church in the earth and the Holy Spirit in the Church are what is preventing the antichrist from being revealed. However, Paul instructs the Thessalonians to not believe that the Day of the Lord has come until they SEE the man of lawlessness revealed. Paul directly told the Thessalonians to not let anyone deceive you (II Thes. 2:3) that it will not come unless you see the antichrist appear. Not he will appear after you are taken away, but you will see him. If we are taken away and then he appears we will not see him. That is in direct contradiction to this passage. (If you read II Thess. the first chapter you will see that Paul explains to these gentile believers that when the Lord returns he will reward the righteous among them and punish the wicked who are opposing them. He does not say you will be taken out of the way to receive your reward so the antichrist can come and then 7 years later Jesus will return to punish the wicked. He talks of one return with both rewards and puishments.)


So two of the things the scriptures warns us not to be deceived about have actually become two of the pillars of the end-time teaching of our day. I guess the reason He warned us is because of the likelihood that we would be deceived in these two areas. Remember to read what the scriptures actually say and not cram your theory into a few proof texts to verify the conclusion you have reached because you like the idea. I once believed the teachings that I am renouncing today until I simply read the Bible for what it said. Someone simply said show me where it says the Church will be raptured before a 7 year tribulation. I read the Bible and could not find those statements anywhere. Matt. 24:29-31, "But immediately after the tribulation of those days...He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather His elect..."