Revelation and the End Times Participant's Guide: Unraveling Gods Message of Hope

Having recently discovered the blog of the distinguished Ben Witherington III, I decided to download one of his books to further immerse myself in eschatology. I experienced a paradigm shift in my thinking as it became clear that the Bible emphasizes the new heaven and the new earth and resurrection, not dying and going to heaven. Going to heaven after death is an interim state while we await our bodily resurrection. Paul had very little to say about the interim state and much more to say about the new heaven and the new earth, our ultimate and permanent residence. The emphasis is not about us going up to heaven, but rather heaven coming down to us. While a short book compared to his more in-depth works, it gives you the scoop on themes involving the rapture, the end of this age, and the afterlife. I have since purchased more books by this author while experiencing a deeper hunger for the Bible and its historical context.

I work in law enforcement, and on topnof that, I'm a news junkie. But I have a strong faith that only grows stronger over the years as I dive deeper into scripture and discover what the Lord has done for us. Despite my training that over the years has taught be to soak in my surroundings and be aware of so much, as well as make connections from one event to another - Witherington gives a reader like me a chance to rewind, back up, dissect the true hope that is in our Lord, and rely on that HOPE. I needed this dose of optimism and hope, especially since the world has lost its ever-loving corporate mind since the year 2020. God bless this author for bringing some light to this reader's mind.

Used this for a bible study. Was hoping for a little more interaction with scripture plus it was a little scholarly for my group but all in all a great tool to get folks to look at popular Rapture/End Times theology from a different POV.

I wish this was required reading before anyone was allowed to talk about the book of Revelation or Daniel.

Great book by a great teacher.

I love Ben

In this short, popularly written book on the Revelation, distinguished New Testament scholar Ben Witherington, III, seeks to cover the major themes of that book. That is, this is not intended to serve as a complete chapter by chapter commentary on the book, nor does it. Witherington's position is premillenial. He sees the current age ending with the highly recognizable event of the return to earth of Jesus, the Christ. He presents his case against the dispensationalist position; against the expectation of a so-called rapture; and against the theory that God has plans for the Jewish people apart from the Church. For him, the appearing of Christ will be a singular parousia for both his followers and for the world. In these respects he differs from popular treatments of the end of the age, as these appear in the "Left Behind" films and in the messages of some TV and radio preachers about the last times.

I really love Dr. Ben's teaching, some of his other books, and have sat through some amazing presentations/preaching of his. Having lauded the man and his work I simply can not recommend this book to others. There is good information in it but it's a bit like breaking big rocks into small rocks with a 3 lb hammer. The reality is that dispensationalism which dominates American evangelical protestantism and the pre-tribulation rapture which goes along with many such reform-associated denominational understandings of Revelations is an overwhelmingly minority interpretation in world Christianity. Witherington's effort is a view outside of that perspective, a very Wesleyan and traditional understanding. I attempted to use this book as a companion piece in a group study of Revelations. Ultimately I apologized to those whom purchased it as no one but I seemed to gain much from it's reading. While not highly academic, less so than some of Witherington's other work, the piece comes off as jumbled or poorly organized, slow to make it's points, and meanderingly repetitive meanderingly repetitive meanderingly repetitive (see what I did there?). If you've got the patience it makes some wonderful points and teaches useful exegetical information helpful in increasing our understanding of Revelations and the people and time in which it was written. If you lack this patience avoid at all cost as few things are more costly than that which wastes one's time.

Absolutely love this author; he does a really good job at assuring the Christian that God will perform all His good will and that he is faithful to bring it to pass in His time.

This is an excellent book, well-written, researched and accurate to the Word of God. The author lays a good foundation in explaining the nature of prophecy. He then introduces the thought of our Lord's return to this earth with the picture given in Ps 24 - that of a victorious king returning home after conquering his enemy, and of how his people welcome him back. He then gives some teaching on Heaven and Hell, and then on Resurrection, giving Jesus' and Paul's views. This is followed by a section on the afterlife, and what we can expect to discover. Each of his five chapters end with a section which he calls, "And So?" in which he presents a challenge to the reader. The whole work is scholarly yet simply written and clear. I heartily recommend it as one of the very best books on this subject.