Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem ... And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man."' (Revelation 21:1-3, ESV). In this comprehensive study, Gregory Beale argues that the Old Testament tabernacle and temples were symbolically designed to point to the end-time reality that God's presence, formerly limited to the Holy of Holies, was to be extended throughout the whole cosmos. Hence, John's vision in Revelation 21 is best understood as picturing the new heavens and earth as the eschatological temple. Professor Beale's stimulating exposition traces the theme of the tabernacle and temple along the Bible's story-line, also illuminating many texts and closely related themes. He shows how the significance and symbolism of the temple can be better understood in the light of contrasts to and similarities with Ancient Near Eastern assumptions, and offers new insights into the meaning of the temple in both Old and New Testaments.

The writers and chief actors of the Old Testament expressed a deep longing for the presence of God. This longing is symbolized through history in the Garden of Eden, the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle that housed it, the temple, and the ruins of the temple. In response to this longing, God shares his ultimate mission, in which his people play a part: the expansion of Eden - the temple of God's presence - to all peoples throughout the earth. The temple has always been a source of rich scholarship and theological reflection - but what does it mean for the church's ongoing mission in the world? Beale and Kim build a bridge from the world of biblical theology to our modern-day life. They help us to see clearly that the themes of Eden, the temple, God's glorious presence, new creation, and the mission of the church are ultimately facets of the same reality. Hence, from Eden to the New Jerusalem, God's people are his temple on the earth, the first-fruits of the new creation. God has always desired to dwell among us; now the church needs to follow its calling to extend the borders of God's kingdom and take his presence to the ends of the earth.

Of all the teachings of Christianity, the doctrine of hell is easily the most troubling, so much so that in recent years the church has been quietly tucking it away. Rarely mentioned anymore in the pulpit, it has faded through disuse among evangelicals and been attacked by liberal theologians. Hell is no longer only the target of those outside the church. Today, a disturbing number of professing Christians question it as well. Perhaps more than at any other time in history, hell is under fire. The implications of the historic view of hell make the popular alternatives, annihilationism and universalism, seem extremely appealing. But the bottom line is still God s Word. What does the Old Testament reveal about hell? What does Paul the apostle have to say, or the book of Revelation? Most important, what does Jesus, the ultimate expression of God s love, teach us about God s wrath? Upholding the authority of Scripture, the different authors in Hell Under Fire explore a complex topic from various angles. R. Albert Mohler Jr. provides a historical, theological, and cultural overview of The Disappearance of Hell. Christopher Morgan draws on the New Testament to offer three pictures of hell as punishment, destruction, and banishment. J. I. Packer compares universalism with the traditional understanding of hell, Morgan does the same with annihilationism, and Sinclair Ferguson considers how the reality of hell ought to influence preaching. These examples offer some idea of this volume s scope and thoroughness. Hell may be under fire, but its own flames cannot be quenched by popular opinion. This book helps us gain a biblical perspective on what hell is and why we cannot afford to ignore it. And it offers us a better understanding of the One who longs for all people to escape judgment and obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ."

This Interpretive Lexicon has two primary functions aimed at facilitating the exegetical and translational task, namely as a lexicon and also as an interpretive handbook. First, this book lists the vast majority of Greek prepositions, adverbs, particles, relative pronouns, conjunctions, and other connecting words that are notorious for being some of the most difficult words to translate. For each word included, page references are given for several major lexical resources where the user can quickly go to examine the nuances and parameters of the word for translation options. This book will save considerable time for students of the Greek New Testament text. For example, for the Greek preposition en (occurs 2,750 times in the New Testament) covers four pages of small print in the Bauer-Danker lexicon (BDAG). But Interpretive Lexicon digests those pages in just a few lines, with the page numbers and section references given for A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition (BDAG, 00) and 2nd Edition (BAGD, 79), Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Daniel B. Wallace), and Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament (Murray J. Harris). Thus, the translation options can be analyzed quickly. For words with a lower frequency of occurrence and fewer translation options, this book may be sufficient in itself as a lexicon. Secondly, these prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, and connecting words in Greek, as in every language, function as explicit discourse-level markers that are essential for ascertaining the main point(s) of a passage. Therefore, this Interpretive Lexicon also evaluates the discourse function(s) of each word that is defined and catalogued, and categorizes its semantic range into defined logical relationships. This feature of the lexicon adds an interpretive element, since translation must include interpretation, at least on a linguistic level. For example, en may be translated in many ways, but those ways are categorized broadly in this book into relationships such as locative (in, among, on), means-end (with, by), grounds (because, on account of), temporal (while, at), and so on. This interpretive feature of the book is tremendously helpful for the exegetical process, allowing for the translator to closely follow the logical flow of the text with greater efficiency. This Interpretive Lexicon is thus a remarkable resource for student, pastor, and scholar alike."

Should Christians be embarrassed by the book of Revelation? The Revelation of John has long confused and disturbed readers. The Apocalypse of John among Its Critics confronts the book's difficulties. Leading experts in Revelation wrestle honestly with a question raised by critics: Should John's Apocalypse be in the canon? (Alan S. Bandy) Was John intentionally confusing? (Ian Paul) Was John a bully? (Alexander E. Stewart) Did John delight in violence? (Dana M. Harris) Was John a chauvinist? (Külli Tõniste) Was John intolerant to others? (Michael Naylor) Was John antisemitic? (Rob Dalrymple) Did John make things up about the future? (Dave Mathewson) Did John advocate political subversion? (Mark Wilson) Did John misuse the Old Testament? (G.K. Beale) Engaging deeply with Revelation's difficulties helps the reader understand the book's message--and respond rightly. The book of Revelation does not need to be avoided or suppressed. It contains words of life.

The heart of the biblical understanding of idolatry, argues Gregory Beale, is that we take on the characteristics of what we worship. Employing Isaiah 6 as his interpretive lens, Beale demonstrates that this understanding of idolatry permeates the whole canon, from Genesis to Revelation. Beale concludes with an application of the biblical notion of idolatry to the challenges of contemporary life.

A New Testament scholar shows how God has used irony throughout history in order to put his own wisdom and glory on display, using what is weak and foolish to accomplish his purposes.

This book explores the variety of ways John contextually uses the Old Testament in the Apocalypse. The introduction surveys and evaluates recent studies, which have been divided over the issue of whether or not John uses the Old Testament with sensitivity to its original literary context (Beale, Fekkes and Bauckham argue in the affirmative, while Ruiz and Moyise contend that this was not John's focus and see implications for 'reader-response criticism'). The remainder of the book looks at various ways in which John uses the Old Testament and argues that there is a reciprocal interpretative relationship between the Old Testament and the Apocalypse. Studies of special interest concern the bearing of the Old Testament on Revelation's eschatology, on the issue of the millennium, and on the thorny problem of the grammatical solecisms.

Examines recent postmodern efforts to redefine the traditional evangelical view of scriptural authority and counters with sound logic that supports inerrancy.

Due to recent popular challenges to evangelical doctrine, biblical inerrancy is a topic receiving an increasing amount of attention among theologians and other scholars. Here G. K. Beale attempts vigorously and even-handedly to examine the writings of one leading postmodernist, Peter Enns, whose writings challenge biblical authority. In support of inerrancy, Beale presents his own set of challenges to the postmodern suppositions of Enns and others.

How can the Bible be historically inaccurate while still serving as the authoritative word on morality and salvation? Beale concludes that it cannot, and his work will aid all who support biblical inerrancy in defending their position against postmodern attacks. This is an issue that affects the entire body of Christ.