Deeper Bible & Theology

Saturday Watchdog: What Does It Mean To Watch

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Watching Without Losing Your Mind

Scroll social media for five minutes and you’ll find someone announcing they’ve finally cracked the prophetic code. Look, a red moon! Wow, another war in the Middle East. Did you hear about that earthquake? A politician whose name could be a 666 code. Is AI the Beast of Revelation?

Apparently, every headline is the headline that proves Jesus is coming back next Tuesday at 3:17 p.m.

Yes, Jesus absolutely told His followers to watch the signs. He pointed to wars, earthquakes, persecution, deception, and upheaval as reminders that history is moving according to God’s grand plan and toward His appointed conclusion. But He never told us to become prophecy detectives obsessed with predicting dates or identifying every newsmaker as the Antichrist.

Instead, He said, “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” (Matthew 24:33, KJV)

Watch the signs, but don’t worship or obsess over the signs. They are road markers, not the destination. Their purpose isn’t to make us fearful, distracted, or addicted to doom-scrolling. Their purpose is to remind us that God keeps His promises and that His Kingdom is drawing nearer every day.

So What?

The real question isn’t, “Can I predict the day?” Jesus already answered that: Nope. The better question is, “If He returned today, would He find me faithfully following Him?”

It’s good to stay informed. It’s wise to think about and try to understand what biblical prophecy means for us today. But if we spend more time refreshing the news than reading God’s Word, we’ve probably started watching the wrong thing.

So yes, we’ll keep one eye on the headlines—but we’ll keep busy and focused on the work God is calling us to.

Love God. Love your neighbor. Speak the truth. Be an example and blessing to others. Pray and manifest power and healing by the spirit God has given you. That’s what watching looks like.

Because when the King does return, He isn’t looking for people who guessed the date. He’s looking for people who were faithful while they waited.

Armchair Apocalypse: Who Or What Is The Antichrist – Part One

Rick Tryon2 Comments

Say the word “Antichrist” and people picture a global supervillain, a smooth-talking dictator with a sinister smile, or the guy from every end-times movie ever made.

But what does the Bible say? The word “Antichrist” appears only FIVE times in the entire Bible.

The term “Antichrist” doesn’t appear anywhere at all in the books of Revelation or Daniel. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Surprised?

It’s only used in John’s letters. Here’s where:

1 John 2:18 – Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (KJV)

John tells believers that many antichrists had already appeared and says that they were living in the “last time” back in the first century. He also mentions that they had heard that an “Antichrist” was coming, but his emphasis is on the many antichrists already active in his own day.

1 John 2:22 – Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (KJV)

An antichrist is anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and rejects him as the only begotten son of the Father. There were lots of Jews and Gentiles at the time who would have fallen into that category, right? Of course, that has also been true ever since then, including in our own day and age.

1 John 4:3 – And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (KJV)

The “spirit of antichrist” is any teaching that refuses to confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, is who he claimed to be. And that spirit of antichrist was already present in the world over 2,000 years ago.

2 John 1:7 – For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. KJV

Those are the only four passages in the entire Bible that use the word “antichrist”, and only five occurrences of the word itself.

Notice that John isn’t describing a politician taking over the United Nations. He’s talking about false teachers denying the Messiah and spreading lies about Jesus.

What Does “Antichrist” Actually Mean?

The Greek word is ἀντίχριστος (antichristos).

It’s made from two parts:

  • anti (ἀντί) — against, opposed to, or in place of.
  • christos (Χριστός) — Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah.

So an antichrist is someone or something that opposes Christ or tries to replace Him.

That could be a false teacher or a counterfeit gospel. It could also refer to a movement that offers salvation without a Savior or to anyone pointing people away from the real Messiah.

John says that many antichrists already existed in the first century because deception didn’t start in the future—it started almost immediately after Jesus’ resurrection.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be powerful opponents of Christ in the future. Scripture certainly speaks about rebellion, lawlessness, and evil rulers. But we shouldn’t force every scary end-times passage to mean “the Antichrist.”

The Bible is only correctly understood when the historical context is understood and we should never read movie scripts, popular novels, or modern-day, ear-tickling preachers and prophecy peddlers into it.

So What?

Instead of letting Hollywood define your theology, let Scripture do it. This week, read 1 John from start to finish. It takes about 20 minutes, and you’ll learn more about the Antichrist from the apostle who actually used the word than from a dozen conspiracy videos.

Tuesday Watchdog: The Last Days Are Not What You Think

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Open your news feed for five seconds and you’ll find war, political chaos, AI anxiety, and another prediction that “the end is near.” Things are once again heating up in the Middle East, and U.S.-Iran tensions are at a fever pitch.

It seems like every generation for centuries has had voices claiming that theirs is the generation living in “the last days.” And today, as in every age, there are those who come up with prophetic timetables and predictions that “prove” that they—or we—will be the ones upon whom the end of the world will come.

But we have been in the Last Days since our Lord’s Ascension, and He will come again as a “thief in the night,” not as a Welcome Wagon representative with a 2:30 appointment on Friday so we can have the scones and tea laid out.

The apostle Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost about 2,000 years ago and declared that Joel’s prophecy about “the last days” was being fulfilled right then (Acts 2:16–17). The writer of Hebrews said that God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2 KJV). John even wrote, “Little children, it is the last time” (1 John 2:18 KJV). The New Testament wasn’t talking about some distant future—it described the era that began with Christ’s first coming.

Here’s another Bible fact that surprises people: the Greek word often translated “world” is aion, which frequently means “age” rather than the physical planet. When Jesus promised, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20 KJV), the phrase is more accurately understood as “the end of the age.” The Bible is focused on God’s unfolding plan through the ages—not merely the destruction of a globe.

So, let’s not obsess over predicting the end. Instead, let’s spend today living like our Lord could return at any time to usher in the new age

Armchair Apocalypse: Revelation Mail Call

Rick Tryon1 Comment

Before we imagine dragons, beasts, and mysterious numbers, picture something much more ordinary: a guy walking down a dusty Roman road carrying a scroll.

Most people picture Revelation as a mysterious book that somehow dropped out of heaven. It didn’t. It arrived by mail. Well… first-century Roman mail.

A Scroll Written in Greek

The Book of Revelation was almost certainly written in Koine Greek—the everyday language spoken across much of the Roman Empire. John didn’t type it on a laptop or print a paperback. It was carefully handwritten with ink on a long papyrus scroll.

The Original Delivery Guy

After John wrote Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos, someone he trusted—possibly a Christian or recently converted Messianic Jewish messenger or elder—likely carried the scroll across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus, the first church listed.

From there, the scroll would have traveled in the order given in Revelation:

Ephesus → Smyrna → Pergamum → Thyatira → Sardis → Philadelphia → Laodicea.

That’s basically a giant postal route through western Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).

At each church, the believers would gather in someone’s home, and one person would stand up and read the entire scroll out loud. Yes… the whole thing.

Imagine hearing Revelation for the very first time with no chapter numbers, no study Bible, and no YouTube prophecy channel telling you what every beast supposedly represents.

“Don’t Add or Take Away”—Why So Serious?

Revelation 22:18 says:

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” (KJV)

John wasn’t warning people not to make notes in the margins. He was warning against changing God’s message.

Since churches depended on handwritten copies, someone could intentionally—or carelessly—alter the text while copying or reading it. John makes it crystal clear: Don’t edit God’s Word to fit your opinions. Don’t soften it. Don’t improve it. Don’t weaponize it. Just pass it on faithfully.

How Long Did It Take?

The entire journey probably took several weeks, perhaps one to two months, depending on weather, sea travel, road conditions, and how long the messenger stayed at each church to read the scroll and allow scribes to begin copying it.

Today we can read Revelation in seconds on our phones, but the first Christians had to wait patiently for a single handwritten scroll to arrive—and when it did, they listened as though God Himself were speaking.

So What?

We don’t have to wait for the letter to arrive. We already have it at our fingertips, 24/7/365.

So, lets take our time and first try to understand what Revelation was saying to the people it was originally written to. If we are patient enough to do that, then we can begin to understand what Revelation means to us today.

Thursday Watchdog: Clear, Simple Eschatology

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Believing in an invisible return of Jesus, an invisible worldwide “scooping up” of believers to be taken away somewhere, followed by seven years of Hollywood apocalypse scenarios, then a third coming of Jesus, is a remarkable example of scriptural interpretive contortionism.

Where exactly does the Bible clearly and explicitly teach:

  • an invisible return of Jesus,
  • an invisible worldwide “scooping up” of believers to be taken away somewhere,
  • seven years of apocalypse scenarios,
  • then a third coming of Jesus,

as a comprehensive, clear eschatology?

You have to take each of those elements and mash them together through private interpretation, connecting dots that Scripture does not connect, and using convoluted charts and timelines to arrive at the Hal Lindsey/John Nelson Darby/Left Behind version of dispensational theology known as the Secret Rapture.

Fictional novels, ear-tickling, speculative end-time scenarios, and Hollywood treatments of Scripture shouldn’t influence our attempts to rightly divide and understand God’s Word when it comes to such important matters.

The return of Jesus Christ is a singular event, followed by the establishment of the promised Kingdom, and ultimately the eternal Kingdom. It’s simple, clear, and doesn’t require fifteen different eschatological formulas or confusing doctrines of human tradition to understand or anticipate with great hope.

Armchair Apocalypse: Revelation Was Written To Real People In Real Cities

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Imagine you’re 25 years old, living in Ephesus around A.D. 95—the same city that received one of the seven letters in Revelation.

You’re living in one of the richest, busiest cities in the Roman Empire. Merchants from around the world crowd the streets. The harbor is packed with ships. Money flows. So does corruption and idolatry.

The city is dominated by the massive Temple of Artemis—one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Religion isn’t just personal. It’s business. Priests, festivals, sacrifices, fortune tellers, and idol-makers all make a living from pagan worship.

The Roman emperor isn’t just the government. He’s increasingly treated like a god. Public festivals include burning incense before the emperor’s image as a sign of loyalty to Rome. Most people don’t think much about it. It’s just part of life.

Unless you’re a follower of Yeshua the Messiah .

The Jewish population in Ephesus has an established synagogue and centuries of history. Greeks and Romans make up most of the city’s population, bringing their own gods, philosophies, and customs. The first Christians come from both groups. Some are Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah. Others are former pagans who walked away from idol worship.

These folks don’t meet for ‘church’ in giant church buildings. They gather in homes. Someone with a larger house hosts twenty, maybe forty people. They pray, sing, read the Hebrew Scriptures, listen to letters from the apostles, share meals, and encourage one another. Rich people sit beside slaves. Jews worship beside Gentiles. In a world divided by race, status, and wealth, that is revolutionary.

Life Isn’t Easy

Roman persecution isn’t always constant across the empire, but it’s very real. Refusing emperor worship can cost someone business opportunities, social standing, prison—or even death. Local officials and hostile crowds often become the first source of pressure long before imperial authorities get involved.

Suddenly the Book of Revelation doesn’t sound like strange fantasy. It sounds like a message to ordinary people trying to stay faithful in an extraordinary world.

Revelation wasn’t written to some faraway future generation living in an apocalyptic hellscape. It was written to real people in a real place.

It was written to encourage and inspire the faithful in the midst of a corrupt and broken world and in the face of danger and persecution from a beastly world empire, and that’s still a message worth hearing.

Friday Watchdog Alert: Why God Allows The Earth To Shake

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Wednesday, Venezuela got rocked by two massive earthquakes—7.2 and 7.5—leaving at least 188 dead, thousands injured, and entire neighborhoods in rubble. Rescue teams are still digging through collapsed buildings, airports are shut down, and the country is in a full state of emergency.

So let’s talk about the question everyone asks when the ground moves: “Why would God allow this?”

I’ll be blunt: earthquakes aren’t “evil.” They’re part of how the planet works right now—tectonic plates shift, pressure releases, oceans move, rivers overflow. Nature isn’t broken; fallen humanity’s authority over it is.

According to the Bible, humanity originally had legal authority over creation. But when Adam bailed on God’s command, that authority transferred to someone else—“the ruler of this world,” Satan (see John 12:31).

Humanity handed over the keys, and the world has been groaning ever since.

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” – Romans 8:22-23

But here’s some good news; as believers today, we have authority in Jesus Christ and a restored spiritual connection with our Heavenly Father, so we can use that power and authority to mitigate and even overcome the consequences of those “natural disasters” which plague the world around us.

That’s not the end of the story, though. Jesus stepped in to reclaim what Adam lost. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” (Matthew 28:18). The takeover has already begun—but the full restoration is still ahead.

The purchase price has been paid. The legal documents have been signed and notarized. We’re just waiting for the effective date on the bill of sale to arrive so that the new Owner can move in and start the renovation.

In the meantime, God isn’t ignoring the pain. He’s promised to rebuild everything. Revelation 21:4 says He will wipe every tear, end death, and make all things new. Not patched. All things completely restored to their original condition of perfection and glory.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18

So when the earth shakes, don’t blame God. Blame the broken authority structure humanity created—and look to the One who’s already fixing it.

Pray, give, support relief efforts. Be part of the healing while we wait for the world God promised.

Tuesday Watchdog: Stop Following Your Heart

Rick TryonLeave a comment

One of the most popular pieces of advice in modern culture is: “Follow your heart.”

Yeah, it looks awesome on a coffee mug, sounds inspiring, and makes a great movie quote. In fact, last night I watched a kids’ movie with my grandkids in which “Just follow your heart” was a major theme.

The problem—and what prompted me to write this post—is that it’s terrible life advice, because your heart changes its mind every five minutes.

One day your heart wants to study. The next day it wants to binge‑watch videos until 2 a.m. One day it wants a healthy relationship. The next day it wants to text your ex. Your heart is a terrible GPS.

The Bible doesn’t teach us to follow our hearts. It warns us about them.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” — Jeremiah 17:9

Our emotions and feelings, while not always bad, are also not always reliable guides to truth. If you always follow your heart, you’ll end up wherever your latest desire takes you.

If you follow the objective truth that God sets forth in His Word, you’ll end up where you actually need to go, because God wants what’s best for each of us, and He’s been around a lot longer and knows a lot more than our fickle little hearts.

Adam and Eve followed their hearts right into a catastrophe. Rather than obeying God’s instruction not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they thought they knew better than God what was wrong and what was right. Big mistake.

God didn’t create you to be ruled by your impulses. He created you to know Him, walk in wisdom, and build a life on something stronger than feelings and more reliable than “Just follow your heart.”

Feelings make great passengers. They make terrible drivers.

So What?

The next time you’re making a decision, ask yourself: “Am I doing this because it’s true and right, or just because it’s what I feel right now?” Then choose truth over impulse.

Questioning The Assumptions Of Religious Tradition

Rick TryonLeave a comment

The Bible Rebel blog is a resource for those seeking original and curated content, including news and commentary, covering faith, biblical studies and interpretation, and the intersection of politics, culture, and the Bible.

Our Mission

  1. To monitor current news and events related to faith and culture.
  2. To provide an alternative viewpoint to the world’s pervasive climate of darkness, nihilism, and hopelessness for those seeking truth, light, and purpose.
  3. To examine and question the assumptions of religious tradition and provide a resource for information and inspiration for people of faith who have become dissatisfied with an increasingly lifeless and empty ‘churchianity’.
  4. To present the Biblical truths which reveal God’s nature and purposes and proclaim the lifechanging, world-altering, radical message of Yeshua the Messiah – Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior. and to help regular, everyday folks understand the Bible and apply it in their lives.

Contact us at in**@********el.com

Armchair Apocalypse: Why Revelation Feels So Jewish

Rick TryonLeave a comment

If you’ve ever tried reading Revelation and thought, “Why does this sound like a bizarre mashup of dragons, beasts, and ancient symbolism?” — you’re not alone.

Well, Revelation wasn’t written primarily for modern Americans scrolling social media. It was written to people who knew the Jewish Scriptures inside and out.

Why Are There So Many Old Testament References?

Revelation contains hundreds of references and connections to the Old Testament, yet it never directly quotes it. Why? Because John assumes his readers already know the background story.

The beasts come from Daniel. The plagues echo Exodus. The heavenly throne room resembles Ezekiel and Isaiah. The New Jerusalem points back to God’s promises throughout the prophets.

Think of Revelation as the Bible’s season finale. If you skip the previous seasons, you’ll miss half the plot.

John the Revelator isn’t inventing new ideas. He’s connecting the dots from Genesis to Revelation and showing how God’s grand plan reaches its climax.

Why Does When It Was Written Matter?

Most scholars place Revelation around A.D. 95 during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian. Others believe it was written earlier than that, before A.D. 70 when Rome sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish Temple.

Either way, the important point to remember is that Revelation was written during a time when Christians were facing persecution and pressure to worship the emperor as a god.

So some of the symbols and imagery make more sense when you understand a little bit about the history and culture of the time.

The beast isn’t just a random monster. It represents oppressive political power. Babylon isn’t ancient Babylon. It’s a symbolic picture of a corrupt world system standing against God.

The original readers weren’t asking, “Who is the Antichrist in 2026?” They were asking, “How do we stay faithful when the empire wants our loyalty and may kill us if we don’t bend the knee?”

What Is the Cultural, Geographic, and Historical Context?

John received the vision while exiled on the island of Patmos, a small rocky island off the coast of modern-day Turkey and it was sent as a letter to be read to seven real groups of believers in Asia Minor.

These churches, fellowships of the faithful, many of whom were recently converted Jews, lived in wealthy Roman cities filled with emperor worship, pagan temples, trade guilds, and cultural pressure.

So, we must try to read and understand the Book of Revelation from their point of view. How would those people have understood the letter they received?

Revelation isn’t mainly about predicting tomorrow’s headlines, what 666 really means, or who the Anti-Christ may be among current famous folks. It’s about encouraging believers in all times and places to remain faithful and focused on the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming kingdom, no matter what culture, government, or trend is demanding their allegiance.

So What?

The Book of Revelation is not a puzzle designed to confuse us. It’s a message of hope. The Jewish imagery tells us where the story came from. The historical setting tells us who first received it. The cultural context tells us why it mattered.

And the ending tells us who wins.

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” — Revelation 2:10 (KJV)