Colonize Mars?

If Elon Musk and his SpaceX company’s website is to be believed – if ¬– their goal is to build a ‘Mars base, from which we can build a thriving city and eventually a self-sustaining civilization on Mars’. Apparently, the idea is to ‘make life multiplanetary’, because becoming ‘a multi-planet species beats the hell out of being a single planet species’ (Musk 2017:8). How do these dreams square with God’s order, and with God’s mediatorial kingdom on earth?

Seventy Sevens

What will the “seventy sevens” of Daniel 9:24-27 achieve? When did this period begin, and when will the 70th seven end? What does this prophecy have to do with Christ’s first and second coming? The prophecy of the seventy sevens, or 490 years, is very important. This prophecy not only covers the time to Christ’s first coming, but it also covers the 70th seven – and immediately after this 7-year Tribulation Period, Christ will return to the earth. This time He will come as the king to establish the Messianic kingdom.

The Invisible Battle

During Christ’s first coming, Satan deployed his demonic forces on earth to try to thwart God’s plan (cf. Mat 2). At the time of Christ’s second coming to the earth, the same invisible battle will again clearly manifest itself. Matthew 2 and 24 describe incidents in a way that people are accustomed to, but in Revelation 12 God unveils events from the perspective of the invisible battle in the angelic world at the time of both comings of Christ.

The Men of Renown?

Was the union in Genesis 6:1–4 between the line of Seth and the line of Cain, or was it between fallen angels and the daughters of men? What really happened? Who are these ‘men of renown’? Why did God punish this intermarriage so severely?

People and Nations Are Being Misled

Paul warns: ‘See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ’ (Col 2:8). Although the context of Colossians 2:8 probably has reference to a proto-gnostic type of philosophy, the implications of Paul’s exhortation to ‘beware of philosophy’ are appropriately applied to other alien systems of thought that have invaded Christianity down through the centuries since then (Geisler 1999:3). False ideologies and false systems of thought not only try to deceive people, but also to conquer nations. These days not only are more people turning away from God and his Word, but more and more nations seem to be deceived. Who is orchestrating this deception behind the scenes? Why does it appear as if more nations are breaking ties with God? What do believers hope for?