1. Amos chapter 5 is a prophecy against Israel. The “Day of the Lord” is to bring “darkness and not light” (vs. 18-20). I am not asking you to study this chapter, I wish to make only one point, it is the same point that I have made in the last several lessons:
2. This Day of the Lord is not the end of the world. Verse 27 tells us that after the Day of the Lord, the people will “go into captivity”… life goes on after the Day of the Lord, the planet is not incinerated.
3. We have devoted several lessons to one substantial chunk of meat. We now know that there have been many “days of the Lord”. The phrase refers to a military disaster. We have seen that God uses human armies to punish societies for their sin. We can say with certainty that in the Old Testament passages that we have looked at, the phrase “Day of the Lord” does not refer to the end of world.
4. We know that Old Testament prophets often use vivid poetic language. In particular we have noted that it is common to refer to these days of the Lord as times when the sun, moon and stars go dark.
5. Since we encounter this same kind of vivid poetic language in New Testament prophesy it seems prudent to consider the possibility that when Jesus says that the stars will fall before his return, maybe we should not take his words literally. And maybe, when Peter says that the sun will go dark and the moon turn to blood, maybe we should not take his words literally either.
6. We have laid a foundation; we are ready to study Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. But first, I would like to tell you about two resources:

• It is often difficult to understand Old Testament prophecy. God shrouded His Old Testament words in mystery, but He revealed the mystery in the New Testament. Blair L. Martin has written a scholarly book that you should read if you want to dig into this topic. I recommend his book: Behind the Veil of Moses.
• Lessons 1 to 6 emphasized the fact that the New Testament writers were expecting Jesus to return in the first century. There is much information available on that subject, so if you would like more passages to contemplate, I suggest that you read David A. Green’s 101 time-indicator passages found at www.preteristcosmos.com.

There is the p-word that I did not use in Bamboozled Believers and that I avoid using in this website. I do not like the label “preterist”. It is a perfectly good word, but to my ear it sounds ugly and that label has been used against me in the most irrational, hateful way.

I prefer to call myself a “Bible-believing Christian”. I am happy to discuss Scripture with anyone, but the futurists in my little church are afraid to discuss God’s word with me. They prefer name-calling; they use the words “preter`ist” and “heretic” interchangeably and then they feel justified in lying to me and lying about me. Their response to my rational arguments has been a classic ad hominem. They attack my character because they cannot refute my reasoning. And they cannot refute my reasoning because it is true.

Dear reader, I will not discuss heresy and the church’s legacy of hared in these lessons, but chapter 7 of Bamboozled Believers shows the origin of the misguided hatred that some Christians direct at those with whom they have theological differences.