Expert: Todd Tyszka - 3/30/2011

Question
Hello Todd I have heard that the Book of Revelation should not have been included in the Biblical cannon.Im not saying I belive this ,however not counting the rapture do any other books of the bible describe anything else that will be a deffinate sign of christs return. I am not talking about wars and rumors of wars ,ect that mathew and mark mention because there have always been wars and rumors of wars ect. I mean somthing that will be fulfilled from the New testement only that will be a deffinate sign that all will see before christs return thank you.

Answer
Hi Joe,
Thank you for the question. As you may know, there are huge lists of prophecies re: Christ and His return. As far as Revelation, I don't know who told you it should not be included in the Canon but it passes every requirement to be included, and almost all Bible scholars have agreed from the beginning. As far as specific signs of His return, Christ is going to come to rapture those who have been genuinely converted at any moment, and later Christ will return with all of those who have been converted throughout history after the Tribulation. I am not sure which return you are referring to. A lot of these specific prophecies ARE what you refer to in the Gospels (many claiming to be Christ, many wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution, wickedness, cold love, gospel preached to the whole world...), these are pretty specific and it's not that they will occur, it's that they will occur more often than ever before. If you've been watching the news, you have seen the increase of these events. More natural disasters, the 20th century was the bloodiest in all of recorded human history, the Gospel hasn't been preached to the entire world yet but we are close, many are claiming to be Jesus Christ and false teaching is more prevalent than ever. We have entire networks pushing prosperity, cult teachings, etc. throughout the world and the Internet is flooded with it. Persecution is greater than ever before... I could go on and on. There are also entire sections in the New Testament (e.g. 2 Thess. 2 and 2 Timothy 3:1-9) which refer to what will happen, how people will act, etc. Then there are verses scattered throughout the New Testament which refer to some things. The prophecies in Revelation concerning the Tribulation, seals, etc. would also apply since Christ is returning right after this. There is also a lot of prophecy in the Old Testament concerning this (e.g. Genesis 49, Ezekiel (e.g. the temple rebuilt), Daniel 12, etc.) which you shouldn't dismiss either. You asked for a definite sign that everyone will see before His return. Everyone will be able to see indications and the pieces of the puzzle coming together as we get closer. If you are referring to the Rapture, the Bible doesn't mention something everyone will see other than Christ Himself, people raptured, and the things I've mentioned here. But I'm afraid that when everyone sees Christ, it will be too late as He will already have come. However, if you are talking about His Second Coming, the book of Revelation is EXTREMELY specific, as well as other placed I mentioned, including the OT.

As you can see, there's a lot of prophecies and specific details throughout the Bible concerning Christ's returns, the End Times, etc. I encourage you to do some homework and investigate this more, read some books on the subject, and keep watch as events are leading up to this. Most importantly, I hope you are in a good Bible-believing church that is feeding you spiritually. Keep reading and studying your Bible, and I will keep you in prayer. I hope this helps and thanks for the question.

Todd