Day of the Lord | Open Our Eyes, Lord!

In my first days as a Christian, they filled me in that the Soviet Union was predicted in Ezekiel 38-39 and that Russia and the Warsaw Pact countries would attack Israel at any time. Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth was the #1 bestseller; it had a chapter called “Russia is a Gog,” and said it was clear as could be that the Bible foretold a Soviet invasion more than 2500 years ago.[1] Google Magog and Russia and you will see how many “prophecy experts” take the Lindsey/Russia view as gospel, without ever checking on the basic facts. [2]

Where did this idea come from? From an amateurish reading of certain Hebrew terms.

Rosh – probably not in your Bible at Ezek 38:2 (unless you read the NKJV or the NASB), but the Hebrew word that is rendered “chief” or “prince” is Rosh = head. But others said, “Hey, think about it! Rosh…uh?? Roshuh? Russia, you see?”

Meshech – why, that must be Moscow!

Magog – was a Scythian city, and the Scythians later migrated into Russia, so Magog is Russia! (they did no such thing, I later found out, but that was the rumor at the time)

Tubal – this would have to be Tobolsk which, some speculated, was the eastern capital of Russia.

Gomer was East Germany.

To cap it all off, these enemies come “from the north,” and Russia, at least its extreme western frontier, lies due north from Israel.

This meant, then, that Russia and its Warsaw Pact allies would attack Israel, immediately before or after the rapture

“Gog is dead and I have seen his grave”

of the church, and that Israel’s enemies would be totally eliminated, perhaps by nuclear weapons. Imagine the chills this gave me in October 1973, when the United States and Russia very nearly intervened with A-bombs in the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt. (more…)

Published in:

on January 13, 2013 at 5:34 pm Comments (12)
Tags: Bible, China, Ezekiel, Gog, Magog, Meshech, prophecy, Russia

How to write a commentary when your library is 2000 miles away

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Last month, Zondervan published my commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians, a volume I’ve been working on since 2005 (click HERE). When I saw it on display at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, I heaved a sigh of relief, and not just because finishing a book, any book, lightens the spirit. (My 1 Corinthians commentary is available for free download HERE).

I was pleased because the whole production seemed like a gamble from the outset. I had to figure out how to write a commentary without a library. I felt like the first person to invent the flourless cake.

I teach at a Bible college and seminary located in Costa Rica. Most Americans know it as a land of natural wonders, with beaches, rafting, rainforests, volcanoes and of course, gold-standard coffee. We are located in San José, a city of a million: not exactly the “bush,” but I might as well be when I sit down to do my writing. (more…)

Published in:

on December 17, 2012 at 12:06 pm Comments (7)
Tags: Bible, Christian, commentary, ZECNT, Zondervan

My four decades in the Bible – Part II

Please read Part I before starting Part II; click HERE

Chapter Three – My Sojourn in Pentecostalism

Until I turned 14, the only charismatic person I knew anything about was JFK. Since then I have been charismatic (one year, give or take); then post-charismatic; anti-charismatic; teacher of charismatics; bridge-builder with charismatics; regular spokesman against neo-Pentecostals and Word of Faith teaching.

If you haven’t read Part I of my testimony, it might interest you to read Chapter One – I react against false teaching. While I was working through the life-and-death question of what it takes to be saved, in tandem for some months I was figuring out what it meant to be a charismatic believer. I am the only person I’ve ever met who was a practicing Adventist and a practicing charismatic at the same time; now Wikipedia tells me that there are thousands of people who have managed to combine the two.

After supper on September 15, it was warm enough to go to the local swimming hole for a dip. When I got back, I saw that someone had lent my mother a copy of Dennis Bennett’s The Holy Spirit and You: a guide to the Spirit filled life. This was 1972, and the charismatic movement had been moving outward from the Pentecostal churches and the Assemblies of God; people in many denominations began to pursue a more direct experience with the Spirit.

Days later and the news began to circulate around the Baptist church that “Gary got baptized in the Spirit!” My pastor said that I should read 1 Cor 12-14, a passage I devoured as being relevant to my life today. A few people from our church went to a Thursday night prayer meeting in a school across town, and they offered to take me. For about an hour and a half we would have choruses, Bible readings, and at some meetings someone would speak in tongues or give a “message” to the group. I learned later that it was a group of mainline charismatics, and in fact the Rocky Hill School was an Episcopalian prep school – so, no jumping around, no shouting or confusion, just a quiet and orderly time of worship. When someone spoke in tongues, they waited for someone to interpret.

My pocket Testament went where I went

It was there that someone gave me a pocket New Testament, which was a constant companion – I wore out a couple, and still have my last copy. (more…)

Were Thessalonians “meddling in divine matters”? 2 Thess 3:11 [Studies in Thessalonians]

Note – this is a highly technical study which requires at least a working knowledge of Greek. To download the paper as a pdf file, click here Periergazomai in 2 Thess 3 11 (more…)

Published in:

on November 5, 2012 at 4:33 pm Comments (10)
Tags: apostle, Bible, Christian, Paul, Thessalonians, work

Obamacare, microchips, the mark of the beast and March 23, 2013

Additional note: Now that the date has passed, and no-one seems to be implanting us with microchips, some bloggers are now saying that as of March 23 the government COULD implant chips. Of course, anyone COULD do ANYTHING – but the original prediction is that it WILL TAKE PLACE as of that date. I invite anyone who has made that prediction to retract it and to rethink their method of predicting the future, based as it was on wild speculation.

Under Obamacare, I keep hearing, everyone will have to have a tracking device planted under their skin. The rumor even gives a date: March 23, 2013! Another version has it that all newborns will receive an implanted microchip. People even quote the supposed page number of the House bill, H. R. 3200.

H. R. 3200 may be read HERE. (This or any bill of Congress may be read here on the official website of the US Government Printing Office: http://gpo.gov/).

[NOTE: readers should also go to this SITE about the persecution of Christians]

Is this chip part of your future?

The relevant paragraph of H. R. 3200 (more…)

Published in:

on October 1, 2012 at 11:30 am Comments (15)
Tags: 666, biochip, Christian, implant, mark of the beast, microchip, Newborn, Obama, obamacare

1 Corinthians and Thessalonians: My New Commentaries now available!

The English versions of my Thessalonian commentary is available from Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Thessalonians-Zondervan-Exegetical-Commentary-Testament/dp/0310243963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343856671&sr=8-1&keywords=shogren

And the English version of my 1 Corinthians is available on Logos software – http://www.logos.com/product/24079/first-corinthians-an-exegetical-pastoral-commentary

Blessings! Gary

Published in:

on August 2, 2012 at 12:22 pm Comments (1)
Tags: Bible, christianity, commentary, Corinthians, epistles, Greek, Thessalonians

FREE Commentary on 1 Corinthians! by Gary Shogren

The epistle was sent to a church stationed deep within pagan territory. In Corinth as in no other place to that date, the God of Jesus Christ was pitted against the god of this world. The church sprang up in a soil that was saturated with idolatry, philosophical posturing and social stratification, all driven by a service economy that provided opportunities for the clever and made many rich off the sweat of slaves and the poor. Here Christianity could show in stark relief how it might transform the arrogant, the oppressed, the hopeless, the corrupted and the dissipated.

In exchange for this free commentary, I would ask that you sign up for an Email Subscription, on the right side of this page (your email is safe with me). If after a day or two you don’t enjoy the blog, feel free to unsubscribe.

For a free pdf file click here – Shogren_1_Corinthians

It is also available on Logos Bible Software; it is fully integrated with other books and Bibles – http://www.logos.com/product/24079/first-corinthians-an-exegetical-pastoral-commentary

I also have a commentary that came out from Zondervan in November; you can order it here - http://www.amazon.com/Thessalonians-Zondervan-Exegetical-Commentary-Testament/dp/0310243963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343856671&sr=8-1&keywords=shogren

Published in:

on May 21, 2012 at 10:18 pm Comments (9)
Tags: Bible, Christian, Corinth, Corinthians, epistle, free commentary, missionary, Paul

An introduction to 1-2 Thessalonians [Studies in Thessalonians]

This is an article on these Pauline letters for a new Spanish-language Bible dictionary. The reader should note that a dictionary article is supposed to be ”descriptive,” that is, the author is expected to describe the state of the discussion, not argue for or against a particular viewpoint.

Zondervan will be publishing my exegetical-pastoral commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians in November, 2012.

Thessalonians CLIE Bible Dictionary Shogren

Oct 21, 2011 has passed, and Harold Camping is wrong again

On May 21, it was all over the news, that Harold Camping’s prediction of the rapture had not taken place and that a worldwide earthquake had not wracked the planet. We predicted on this blog that Camping would

Backpedal: for example, change the date, say that the earthquake was “symbolic” not literal
Denial: Jesus really did come for the faithful, you just can’t see it

In fact, he did what many false prophets have done throughout history, interpreted the rapture and the earthquake symbolically. Without a doubt, though, Christ would literally return on Oct 21, 2011.

This time I didn’t see Harold Camping on CNN (more…)

Published in:

on November 1, 2011 at 9:08 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Bible, Harold Camping, rapture

Open Our Eyes, Lord!

Gary Shogren's Blog

Studies in Thessalonians series

Gog of Magog is dead…and I have seen his grave

How to write a commentary when your library is 2000 miles away

My four decades in the Bible – Part II

Were Thessalonians “meddling in divine matters”? 2 Thess 3:11 [Studies in Thessalonians]

Obamacare, microchips, the mark of the beast and March 23, 2013

FREE Commentary on 1 Corinthians! by Gary Shogren

An introduction to 1-2 Thessalonians [Studies in Thessalonians]

Oct 21, 2011 has passed, and Harold Camping is wrong again

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