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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

Why Flee to the Mountains?

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When trouble comes, you have two choices: fight or flight. Fleeing is the underrated choice. In these days of belligerence and bullying, the temptation is to fight or die. Yet Jesus told his disciples that there would be times when fleeing is the better option: Whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next. (Matthew 10:23) Contrary to what you may have heard, Jesus does not expect you to die for the cause. He died so that you might live, and sometimes that means running for your life. Live a life of authentic Christianity, and you will be persecuted, especially if you preach the gospel of grace. If you decide to fight whenever trouble comes, you won’t last long. “Endure to the end and be saved,” said Jesus, and the context – believe it or not – was running away. Consider the Apostle Paul. He experienced trouble almost everywhere he went and his usual response was to move away (e.g., Acts 17:10, 14, 20:1). He heeded the words of the Lord and lived. Imagine if he hadn’t. Imagine if Paul had been a fighter instead of a runner? He would’ve died in Iconium (Acts 14:5-6). Or Lystra (Acts [...]

The Eagles are Coming

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For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. (Matthew 24:28, NKJV) This is one of the strangest prophecies in scripture. It is also one of the most interesting. It is found in the middle of Christ’s warnings about the fall of Jerusalem. Jesus is basically saying there will be a dead body (the fallen city) and birds of prey will gather around it. But why eagles? Because that’s what the Romans carried on their aquila or ensigns, and it was the Romans who destroyed the city and burned the temple. But note that Jesus says eagles and not eagle. There’s more than one and this is particularly interesting once you understand the context of the temple’s history. When Herod built his temple he stuck a golden eagle on its gate, perhaps as a nod to Roman benevolence. It was a gorgeous sculpture, but the Pharisees didn’t like it one bit. “What blasphemy! Doesn’t Herod know we forbid the making of images?” The religious Jews loved the new temple but they hated the eagle, so a couple of scholars pulled it down. Herod was furious and had the two men burned alive. After that he let the [...]

Jesus for Jerusalem

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On the night he rose from the dead, Jesus instructed his disciples to preach a new message of unconditional forgiveness. Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46–47, NKJV) The message of grace and forgiveness was for all nations, but it was particularly for the Jews. “Beginning at Jerusalem,” said Jesus, as though he knew there would be some who would deny grace to his killers. “God’s grace is for all, but those in Jerusalem get to hear about it first.” Then, before he ascended to heaven, he said it again. “Be my witnesses in Jerusalem …” (Acts 1:8b). There is a reason why Jerusalem is considered the birthplace of Christianity and it is not just because Christ died there. By the Lord’s command Jerusalem was the first place evangelized with the gospel. By the Holy Spirit’s direction, Jerusalem was the location of Pentecost. And by the apostles’ obedience, Jerusalem was the birthplace of the church. Jesus did not wash his hands of Jerusalem. [...]

Free Book for Subscribers

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Escape to Reality is eight years old this week! To celebrate, I want to give you a free PDF copy of my latest book, AD70 and the End of the World: Finding Good News in Christ’s Prophecies and Parables of Judgment. This offer is limited to the first 1,000 subscribers, so get in quick. How to get your free book: 1. Got to the AD70 website 2. Click on PDF 3. Click “I want this” 4. Enter this offer code without any spaces: princeofpeace 5. After the price drops to $0, click “Get” Can’t find your download, check your spam folder? The price didn’t fall? This means the 1,000 free copies have been snapped up. Enjoy your new book! My deepest thanks to my patrons, whose generosity makes these giveaways possible. Patrons also get the inside track when it comes to promotions and fun giveaways like this. And thanks to you, dear reader, for sharing the journey. Grace and peace, Paul

What are the Shortened Days? (Matthew 24:22)

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If they made an historically-accurate movie about the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, two things would stand out. First, the magnitude of the city’s destruction would break your heart. (In a city home to 200,000, as many as a million people died. It was a unique and unprecedented genocide.) Second, if you were familiar with the scriptures, you would be amazed at the accuracy of Christ’s prophecies. Jesus made no less than 40 detailed predictions about the fall of Jerusalem, and every one of them came to pass in the time-frame he specified. In this extract from my new book, we will look at just one of those predictions, the one about the shortened days. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:22) Sieges could last years and Jerusalem was a tough nut to crack. When he erected his barricade around the city, the Roman general Titus could have expected to be camped outside Jerusalem for years. As it was, he penetrated the outer walls in a matter of weeks and was all done and dusted in a little over [...]

The Old is Good Enough (Luke 5:39)

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Here’s a verse that perplexes some folk: No one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, “The old is good enough.” (Luke 5:39) If the new wine is the new covenant, why would anyone prefer the old? People go with the law only because they haven’t tried grace right? The new covenant is better in every way – the Bible says so. Surely no one who has tried both would prefer the old. It doesn’t make sense. But it makes perfect sense to someone like me. The obsolete covenant Those of us who use desktop PCs occasionally get messages that say “this program is no longer supported by the developer.” This means the program has become obsolete, and we are supposed to download the newer and better replacement. Obsolete does not mean the program has stopped working, but it does mean we will no longer get support from the people who made it. The problem is some people resist change. If the old program is still working, we won’t replace it. We’ll keep using the old email program or the old browser and ignore the persistent reminders to upgrade. At first this is not a problem. Everything [...]

When is the Great Tribulation?

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In his time on earth only two things made the Son of God cry: the death of his friend Lazarus and the imminent destruction of Jerusalem. For Lazarus he shed tears, but for Jerusalem he wailed and sobbed (Luke 19:41-44). Here’s why: For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. (Matthew 24:21) Jesus sobbed because he could see what was coming. He saw the famine with its horrors and the legions with their swords. He saw the streets running with blood and the hills of unburied dead. He saw the end of his people and it wrecked him. The storm that was coming to Jerusalem was unlike any other. Although the city had been besieged before (by the Assyrians, Babylonians, etc.), the Roman siege of AD70 stands out for a couple of reasons. Inside the city was a larger than usual population of locals and pilgrims celebrating the Feast of Passover. Outside the city was the world’s most highly-trained army. The Jews were fired up by recent victories in their rebellion against the empire, while the Romans were utterly committed to extinguishing their insurrection. [...]

The Day and the Hour

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But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (Matthew 24:36) The disciples thought that the temple would come down when Jesus returned at the end of the age. To them, these events were connected. But history shows they are not. The temple has come down, but we are still looking forward to Christ’s triumphant return. The fall of the temple and the Second Coming of Jesus. The first event was predictable – Jesus gave the disciples forty signposts – but the second is a mystery. “But of that day and hour no one knows.” The former can be anticipated, but the latter “will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess 5:2). Mr. Preterist: “I disagree. Jesus is talking about one and the same day. The fall of Jerusalem was the day when Christ returned in judgment of that sinful city.” Mr. Futurist: “But one day is marked by signposts; the other day is unknown.” Mr. Preterist: “Jesus knew the fall of Jerusalem would happen within a generation but he didn’t know exactly when – not the day or hour. This is why he told [...]

When is the End of the Age?

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The disciples asked, “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). What did they mean by the end of the age? Jesus said, “The gospel would be preached all over the world then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). What end did he have in mind? Did he mean the end of the temple, or the end of the age, or both? Was Jesus answering the disciples’ question? It will help if we examine the original meaning of their words: The disciples: “When is the end (sunteleia) of the age?” Jesus: “Then the end (telos) will come.” When discussing the end of the age in verse 3, the disciples used a big word that means completion or consummation of a plan. God has a plan, and it comes to completion at the end or consummation of the age. In contrast, when discussing the fall of Jerusalem in verse 14, Jesus used a smaller word that simply means an ending or conclusion. Two words for two types of ending and the difference is a plan. If I crash my car, that’s the telos end of my car. But if I did it as [...]

When are the Last Days?

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Here’s a question that has been the subject of much debate: When are the last days? Mr. Futurist: “We’re living in them! Study the signs and you will see that we are the last generation.” Mr. Preterist: “The last days are the final days of the temple and AD70.” As you can see, the last day’s question is a contentious one. Are the last days now? Are they in the future? Or the past? The Bible provides an unequivocal answer. Altogether there are about a dozen last-days scriptures. Half of them are in the Old Testament and half of them are in the New. Here’s one: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews 1:1–2, NIV) When did God begin speaking through his Son? It wasn’t recently and it wasn’t in AD70. This passage is referring to the days when Jesus walked the earth. This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: “And it shall be in the last days,” God says, “That I will pour forth of my Spirit on all mankind …” [...]

A Grace-Based View of the End Times

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My new end times’ book has just launched and some of you don’t care. You don’t care because you’ve been burned by bad eschatological preaching. Or you’ve had unpleasant conversations. Discussing the end times is like discussing politics. No matter what you say, half the people in the room jump on you

“End times? Who needs it? Jesus wins, that’s all I need to know.”

This was certainly my view a few years ago.

But then some of you began asking me about the year AD70, signaling a growing interest in preterism. (Preterism, in contrast with futurism, is the view that Biblical prophecy has been fulfilled.) In the past three to four years, I have been asked more questions about AD70 than any other subject.

At first, I was reluctant to join the conversation. But then I thought, “Why not?” Surely if there is any subject in need of grace, it is the traditionally scary topic of what the future may hold.

Judgment Day, the rapture, the antichrist, and the great tribulation. The future is frightening. Which is puzzling, because if grace is good news today, how can it be bad news tomorrow? If the gospel is supposed to bring great joy, how can it inspire so much fear and anxiety?

Something doesn’t add up.

I decided to get some notes together, and by the time I was done I had written my biggest book. It’s forty chapters long, full of pictures, and covers 500+ scriptures. You already know the title – it’s called AD70 and the End of the World – but you may not know the subtitle: Finding Good News in Christ’s Prophecies and Parables of Judgment.

And yes, I do believe there is good news in Christ’s darker parables and prophecies.

In the new book I take a verse-by-verse look at Christ’s longest prophecy, and I unpack the good news treasures found in the parables of the vengeful landowner, talents, wedding banquet, and more. I also tackle big questions such as, when is the great tribulation, when is the Second Coming, and what happens when Christ returns?

“So are you a preterist, Paul?”

I get asked this question a lot, probably because of the book’s title. I also get asked if I’m a pre-trib amillennialist or a post-trib premillennialist or whatever other crazy combination of adjectives one can think of. It’s like a test. “Give me the right answer and we can be friends. Fail the test and I’ll diss you on Facebook.”

Full disclosure: I’m not interested in joining anyone’s eschatological club. However, I am passionately interested in exploring the beauty of Jesus and his wonderful words. What Christ said about the future is astounding. I didn’t know the half of it before I started writing the book. I have been so blessed reading his words through the lens of grace. Read this book and you’ll be blessed too.

“So what makes AD70 different from other end times’ books?”

For starters, it’s light hearted, because we all need to lighten up on our traditionally dim views of the last days and what God has in store for us.

“So this is not a serious book then?”

It is seriously good fun! If God has great dreams for us then end times books ought to be inspiring, don’t you think? Yet many are patronizing or hysterical. They reek of fear and pride. They boast of secret knowledge and higher learning when they ought to boast of Jesus.

“But which side do you lean towards? Preterism or futurism?”

Do you mean which gang am I affiliated with? Neither. Both. I dunno.

But I can tell you that AD70 and the End of the World may be the only end times’ book that has been endorsed by both preterists and futurists. Surely that counts for something.

“So what is the book about?”

It’s about the last days and the fall of Jerusalem. It’s about the great tribulation, the rapture, and the return of Christ. It’s about the prophecies and parables of Jesus that have for too long been used to stir up fear when they ought to have inspired trust in a good God. It’s about a Savior who is no spectator but an active player on history’s stage. It’s about a King who has come and is coming again.

“Sounds good. Where can I learn more?”

You can download a sample chapter from the book website: www.ad70.org

You can also check out the Look Inside feature on Amazon.

“I don’t live in America and the shipping on your books is expensive.”

International retailers who carry this book are listed here. (Caveat: Some retailers won’t ship the book until after the official release date of September 24. Some, like Amazon, will let you have it now.) You can also get the book on Kindle and iTunes. The cheapest option is PDF.

I hope you enjoy the new book!


“AD70 and the End of the World” – paperback out today!

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Amazon have ruined my plans.

I was going to release my new end times’ book on September 24 because some of you think the world is going to end on September 23. The timing would’ve been perfect.

But Jeff Bezos had other ideas. He must’ve read my book. “Have you read this?” he would’ve said to his minions. “It’s the best end times books ever. We need to launch this sooner rather than later, and definitely before the world ends in September.”

At least, that’s what I guess happened. Because despite my carefully-laid plans, Amazon decided to launch the paperback version of AD70 and the End of the World today. Not September, not August, but today. Thanks, Jeff.

I’ll tell you more about the new book on Thursday, but for now, here are some things others are saying about it:

  • “A breath of fresh air. Paul Ellis has done much to dispel the fear of end times.” – Tony Ide, Freedom Life Church
  • “Responsible, fair, and fun.” – Lucas Miles, Author of Good God
  • “Paul Ellis has written another book for the ages.” – Ken Spicer, New Creation Church
  • “I read this book and all confusing end time theology disappeared!” – Jun Yu, Jesus Faith Christian Fellowship
  • “A wonderful book for anyone interested in the end times or fearful about it.” – C. Rossman, Amazon review
  • “This book changed my life.” – S. Dickman, Amazon review

Get the paperback today from Amazon and you’ll get the Kindle version for free (through their matching program). Plus I’ll give you this awesome guarantee: If the world ends on September 23, I’ll refund DOUBLE your money. You can’t lose!

So why not grab your copy of AD70 and the End of the World today.

And tell your friends, especially those who are anxious about the future.


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