An obvious question would be: “Why do we need another book about the Bible, hasn’t there been enough written already?” Well, at one time I started reading some of those books in order to help with the goal of understanding End Times. What I discovered was mass confusion followed by frustration on my part. It seems that there is a very high interest in the topic of End Times and a vacuum like that will always draw a multitude of thought. Much of that thought has been published at one time or another and therein lies the problem. In order to be able to sort through the confusion, with a measure of objectivity, and to make some sense of the End Times topic, I recommend to you the following steps:

1. Discover, catalog, and evaluate the various thought offerings on the topic.
2. Read the entire Bible through (more than once) with the idea (and prayer) that God’s Word will speak to you and reveal the proper understanding.
3. Record your thoughts in a daily journal first, then, collect those thoughts and insights into a treatise that summarizes what you learn on your way.
4. Have discussions with trusted advisors who can add to the depth of your overall concepts and understanding.
5. Finally, publish, or print and share, your results to expose your work to a broader group for critique.

Granted, most people will never go to the trouble of the above process. I think the main reason for this is that it's commonly thought that the Bible is such a difficult book that you must attend a seminary for many years to be able to come to a proper understanding of Scripture. However, if that were true, today’s confusion wouldn’t exist, amid all the schools of Theology that are out there and are well attended.

One main theme of this book is that the Bible can be understood and you don’t need a PhD for that to happen. In fact, a PhD may be detrimental to a sincere desire to understand many of the topics in God’s Word. The reason is that, historically, entire systems of interpretation have been developed over the years and any errors have been magnified by the sheer numbers of people influenced by a formalized educational system. In that setting one is not encouraged to challenge and correct a given scenario and the result is that there is very little new thought offered and incorporated. On the contrary, the educational format penalizes those who discover a different slant on the course material and rewards those who learn and accept a given system of thought with an A+ on the final exam.

My college years were back in the early sixties and as an English major, the courses I took didn’t lend themselves to much debate. As a result I didn’t personally, then, find opposition of the above kind. My son, however, studied Economics in the late nineties and faced opposition due to his challenging much of what he was being taught. Needless to say, in a spirit of trying to learn, he was made to feel uncomfortable for not readily accepting all the course material. On one occasion he stayed after class to pursue a particular area, with the professor, and after winning out with his point of view, was told by the professor that the course couldn’t be corrected accordingly, because of the flack he would receive from higher up. I believe this same thing has been going on since man was put on this earth by the Creator. It’s part of the learning process.

This book is the result of my going through the steps above over about a twenty year span of time. Over those years as I tested out what I was learning, with various members of the clergy and laity, I experienced much opposition to any new thoughts I came across. Let me offer an example. One afternoon my wife and I were at a friend’s house for a graduation party for their daughter. There were many others in attendance from the church we all attended, that was mentioned in the preface. At one point a man at the table, I was sitting at, made a reference to the future coming of Christ. I simply asked him: “How many more comings of Christ are there?” Immediately, another person at the table, supposedly a friend of mine, snapped: “Oh Fred, you’ve been reading too many books!” I tried to respond with gentleness (a little sarcasm crept in) and said: “Maybe so, but the Book I spend the most time in is called the Bible.” The discussion abruptly ended when someone else changed the subject. Had a discussion ensued I would have had an excellent opportunity to share something, about the rapture that will precede our Lord’s Second Coming that I had learned and was excited about. The church body represented, that afternoon, didn’t believe that there is going to be a rapture, and therefore, the thought that there is going to be a Coming, preceding, and in addition to the Second Coming, was considered heresy. I have learned that the average population, out there, doesn’t want to enter into a discussion involving Biblical concepts, because it might take them out of the comfort zone of what they were taught. Any true seeker yearns for these types of discussions and many times is hard pressed to find them. It all goes back to what I said earlier, in that; it isn’t politically correct to challenge established thought.

Let me give you a word of encouragement, however. People can be wrong, about many things, much of the time. That is why we can’t cap off truth and stop looking for light to be shed on any certain topic. There has always been opposition to truth in an endless tale of persecution and even death in some eras. Fortunately, we now live in a time setting, in our country, that doesn’t involve shooting the messenger. At least, I hope (with a small grin on my face) that isn’t the case. Seriously, there has always been and always will be resistance to anyone who rocks the boat with new and different ideas.

If a book can be called a journey, then this one would be a journey taken to understand what the Bible teaches about End Times. The journey begins with the thought that God put the prophetic program, and thus the kingdom church, on temporary hold in the mid-part of the book of Acts. This one thought alone helped me to eliminate as error the written thought that looks to headlines in the newspapers for insight as to where we are in God’s overall plan. If you will prayerfully read this entire book, in as few sittings as possible, I trust that the next time you read the Bible through you will be thrilled at how it will open up to you. I have endeavored to keep this book brief enough for it to be read (or reread) in two to three hours of time.

In Part 1, following this introduction, there is a reprint of a Bible tract written over fifty years ago by a man who did: “...earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). In that time setting there was fierce opposition to the “...preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery" (Romans 16:25). As a result, the tract is a no nonsense, hard pounding treatise during a time of the recent recovery of: the truth of the distinctive message and ministry of the Apostle Paul. I will offer a chronicled chart of this and other truths lost and recovered in Part 2.

One final thought before we begin our journey: “All the Bible is for us, but it is not all addressed to us or written about us, and if we would really understand and enjoy it; if we would really know how to use it effectively in service for Christ, we must be careful always to note who is addressing whom, about what and when and why.”¹