Be Not Deceived

Forewordxvii

Prefacexviv

Acknowledgmentsxxiii

Glossaryxxvii

Section I: The Foundation - A foundation must be laid before a case can be built1

A. Misleading terminology clouds understanding1

B.The predominant prophetic worldview today is shaped by modern dispensationalism2

Section II: The Risk of Deception - Pretribulationism creates the risk of believers being deceived and falling away from the faith39

A. It is spiritually dangerous to fail to prepare for persecution39

B. It is important for all believers to be prepared to suffer persecution and to be faithful unto death40

C. The prewrath rapture position is an alternative, though it, too, has problems42

Section III: The Pillars - The pillars of pretribulationism must be compared to the biblical text43

A. Pillar 1. The seven years of the seventieth week of Daniel 9:24-27 are all a time of tribulation44

B. Pillar 2: All seven years of that tribulation are God's wrath in the day of the Lord45

C. Pillar 3. Believers are spared from God's wrath in the day of the Lord60

D. Pillar 4. The rapture is imminent77

Section IV: The Day of the Lord - The Day of the Lord is a unique biblical period of time81

A. The Day of the Lord has distinctive characteristics81

B. Signs will herald the onset of the day of the Lord90

C. Is the Day of the Lord the wrath from which believers are spared?95

D. The Day of the Lord does not fill the entire seventieth week but occurs only in the latter part of the second half of the seventieth week96

Section V: Believers on Earth During Daniel's 70th Week - Other reasons believers will be on the earth for at least a portion, if not most, of the seventieth week of Daniel141

A. The Lord has always had witnesses on the earth141

B. The church is not absent from Revelation after chapter 3162

C. The great tribulation will serve as God's cleansing, refining, and purifying of what is today's Laodicean/Thyatiran church, at least in America193

D. The prewrath rapture position is based upon the belief that the rapture will occur just prior to the commencement of the day of the Lord214

Section VI: "The Last Day" - Is "the last day" the millennium?223

A. The resurrection of the dead is associated with "the last day"224

B. There are differing opinions regarding the age of the creation227

C. What is the dispensationalist view of "the last day"?231

D. There are other problems with limiting "the last day" to the millennium236

Section VII: Conclusion - Believers cannot be complacent about deception241

A. Each believer will be accountable to God242

B. To avoid being deceived, each believer should study the Bible thoroughly, as the end of days draws ever closer244

Afterword257

Appendix A:Biblical Texts Regarding Expected Tribulation in This World259

Appendix B:Biblical Texts Regarding God's Testing of His People and in Afflicting Them as Punishment265

Appendix C: Biblical Texts Regarding God's Corrective Discipline and His Provision in Times of Testing273

Appendix D: Biblical Texts Regarding the Identity of Daniel's People, Israel277

Appendix E:Biblical Texts Regarding the Day of the Lord281