Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church

by Gary DeMar

Gary DeMar sheds light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages, including Daniel 7:13-14; 9:24-27; Matt. 16:27-28; 24-25; Thess. 2; 2 Peter 3:3-13, and many more. DeMar identifies the Beast, the Antichrist, and the Man of Lawlessness and clears the haze regarding Armageddon, the abomination of desolation, the rebuilding of the temple, and the meaning of 666. This is the most thoroughly documented and comprehensive study of Bible prophecy ever written! LDM will be your survival guide and spiritual compass to insure you escape the paralysis of last days madness.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity

455 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 1999

About the author

Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. In 2007, he earned his Ph.D. in Christian Intellectual History from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped—both broadcasted and podcasted. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandson. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).

Reviews

[Natalie Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve studied eschatology a little bit in the past, but have wanted to study it more in depth for some time. I was spurred on to do so when I found myself disagreeing with some of the things being shared in a conversation with an ardent premillennialist. I asked Dad for a recommendation of a good book to start with (since he has studied the topic at some length in the past), and he suggested this one. I found myself almost giddy with excitement as I devoured page after page in this wonderful book! In fact, it was mostly due to the influence of this book that I started getting up early in the mornings to read through whole books of the Bible (like Daniel, Revelation, etc.) in order to gain a more complete understanding of what the Bible teaches in this area. While I still have much studying to do in this area, this book has given me a renewed vision for the importance of Christians influencing every sphere of our culture for the glory of God. There is one sentence that particularly grabbed my attention, and summarizes the fault with much of the modern eschatological teaching, “Perhaps because we are to such an extent ‘strangers to the past,’ we easily read into the events and circumstances of our own day a distinctiveness and uniqueness that may not actually be there.”

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT READ! The obsession with the "rapture" is certainly a madness. I believe the rapture theory is a misguided and misplaced concept of hope for believers. Our hope should be in Jesus Christ who is the resurrection and life and all of what that encompasses, not in a secret "catching away".
Away, with the sci-fi nonsense of so many dooms day writers, can we please just get back to the truth of the word of God! I want the truth, not fiction! If revealing truth means debunking the myth of the status quo- then so be it!
It is high time the followers of Christ require accountability from those who are suppose to be equipped to speak what thus says the Lord.

(BELOW IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT )

I heard the rapture preached just last night, however, just because we hear it does not make it truth. Many are repeating what they have heard without investigating for themselves. Let God be truth, and every man a liar… With that in mind we should search the scriptures diligently, daily.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a great deal on eschatology, but mostly on Revelation and the Olivet Discourse. What I appreciated most about this book is that while it focuses on the Olivet Discourse, DeMar shows how so many other passages in the New Testament should be read preteristically--meaning that the prophecies and things which the writers describe, while in their future, are in our past.

So much of what we've been taught about the "Last Days" has nothing to do with the end of the world, and should instead be understood in relation to the terminus of the Old Covenant age, the temple, and the destruction of Jerusalem. DeMar helps his readers get a bigger picture of what Scripture is actually teaching.

He spends a great deal of time arguing against futurists--primarily premillenial Dispensationalists, and much of the book seems repetitive at times, but this is very much a worthwhile read because of the wide range of biblical passages that he covers.

I highly recommend this book, especially for those just learning about eschatology--it will help inoculate its readers against the silliness that so-called prophecy experts teach.

[Jake Litwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read when tackling eschatology and hermeneutics. DeMar has a very clear writing style (though repetitive at times) and dives deep into a variety of topics mainly refuting futurism. Heavily footnoted and a great thorough primer to preterism.

What must be understood is your eschatology will affect how you read the entire Bible especially when it comes to the language of the Bible and time indicators. Eschatology is not just the last thing you read in a systematic theology and then you pick your view. Eschatology is connected to the thread of how you understand biblical theology and reading the Bible as a whole.

[J. Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this a couple years ago. Very good.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in a thorough examination of Biblical teaching on prophecy and end times (eschatology). It is well written and thoroughly documented with footnotes and biblical and historical references. The book challenges the popular end times theology that is so common today and popularized by bible teachers such as Charles Ryrie, C.I. Scofield, John MacArthur, Chuck Smith, David Jeremiah, J. Vernon McGee, Charles Stanley and others including Dallas Theological Seminary as well as popular authors such as Hal Lindsey, Timothy Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins. If you studied eschatology by any of these teachers or authors and want to consider a well-documented and carefully explained opposing view presented respectfully, read this book.

The book also provides a great reference in the searchable ePub edition. I started out reading this book analytically but after about 1/3 of the way through, I found the material familiar and adding very little to other books I've read by the same author. It does provide a more comprehensive and better organized focus on this topic however.

It should be clear that while this viewpoint is presently a minority view, Gary DeMar is certainly not alone in his scatological views. This view is also held by numerous present day bible scholars as well as a rich history within the Christian church all documented in the book. This book will remain a desk reference and a source of further research by exploration of the many references provided.

[John Jeffcoat iii · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many Christians live their lives thinking that the world is certainly coming to an end within their lifetime. While it is possible that the Lord could return in our lifetime ... to live one's life as though we are definitely "The Terminal Generation" is a very destructive approach to life. Such an outlook disregards long-term missions, and long-term personal goals (like saving up money for your newborn child's college education, or paying-off your 30-year mortgage, etc.) We must not live our lives in such a delusional state, but rather, we must assume that the world will very likely continue to go on for centuries more, as God's Plan unfolds within His creation... and His Word and Will are made more fully manifest around the world. The great preacher of the 1800's Charles Spurgeon also believed this when he said, "I do not think that the Holy Spirit would suffer the impugning of His reputation, in that He was unable to convert the world". The Kingdom of God must continue to grow until all the world has heard the message of The Gospel. Though many claim we have already reached that point... that is absurdly untrue, and we are still quite far from the point of fulfilling "The Great Commission" of Jesus Christ. We should also remember that the Bible tells us the Lord will not return until we fulfill that task

[Billy]

A must read book for every Christian. This book had caused me to realized the danger of Dispensationalism.

[Zachary Ianchis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly lengthy book with most of the material focusing on refuting the dispensational framework. Would recommend to those who haven’t studied the subject of eschatology too much.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book exposes the silliness of futurist end-times prognosticators like Hal Lindsey, Tim Lahaye, and Harold Camping, in fact having read it in the wake of Campings misguided May 21st rapture prediction and seeing the author's critique of Camping's past 1994 prediction it just seemed really timely. I also read this along with Gary DeMar's shorter book made for the public at large "End Times Fiction". What I like about the way Gary writes is that he is not overly dogmatic where Scripture is unclear, for example he provides several plausible options for the identity of "the beast" and "the man of lawlessness", admitting that while it definitely would have been clear to its original audience it is not plain to us, he provides a solid Biblical basis for each of the options put forth and leaves it open. DeMar is the good kind of biblicist in that he is willing to follow the logic of the Bible wherever it goes and he knows that to read the Bible literally means also to read it figuratively when figurative language is being used as in the prophetic books.

DeMar wants readers of the Bible to pay attention to the "time-texts" in the prophetic literature of the Bible. When the Bible says something is going to happen "quickly", "soon", "near", within a generation or that an event is "at hand", it does not mean thousands of years off. Much of the prophetic expectation in books like Revelation and in 1 and 2 Thessalonians points to a near fulfillment, namely, the day of the Lord is the coming judgment of national Israel in 70 A.D. during the siege of Jerusalem, that is what Matthew 24 speaks of and that ordeal fits within the historical context of the original audience of Scripture.

DeMar criticizes those who want to read newspaper headlines into the Scripture rather than let the Bible be its own interpreter. What I also appreciate about DeMar is that he is not one of those preterists who is simply an ancient headlines exegete, you will find a lot of Josephus' writings quoted in this book but DeMar shows from the Old Testament how the expectation of judgment on Israel and Jesus own words about the desolation and destruction of the temple are best understood as being completed in 70 A.D.

This book is packed with Scripture references and I plan to go through it again and mark up my Bible with some of those cross-references, this book has also spurred me to read through the complete works of Josephus to better understand the 1st century context that the New Testament was written in, particularly to read of Josephus account of the siege of Jerusalem, since he was actually present when it occurred. This book has also piqued my interest in understanding eschatology and the prophetic texts of Scripture and in so doing has left me with more questions than I started out with, but it also answered quite a few along the way, which makes it an all around good read.

[Justin Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUPERB book on preterist eschatology. Easily 5 stars. Gary Demar crafted a comprehensive, scriptural, thorough, smart, down to earth, helpful, informative volume. I had waited a long time for this one, and it was well worth the wait. I believe that the rapture-based dispensational premillennialism viewpoint is a dangerous, inconsistent, and fatalistic one... and frankly, the Left Behind theology needs to be left behind. ;) (This is coming from someone who previously not only read every book in that series but bought into all the fear-driven doctrine taught within that system.)

Last Days Madness takes on everything in a healthy, honest, and biblical manner. I like how Demar deals head on with every inconsistency in interpretation; every error in what is said to be the most literal eschatological camp out there; and every point about each facet of end times prophecies.

I think it would be well worth everyone's time to read this: from those who already hold fast to the historical fulfillment of the judgment and victory that Yeshua had promised would happen, to those who are still awaiting the Church to be swept off planet earth while those who remain endure unspeakable suffering at the hands of a still-angry God, to those somewhere in the middle or simply curious. It'd be in everybody's best interest, because where you think we're going matters. How you think things end up is significant to your living now. What you think about people's destiny determines how you look at and treat them now.

Plus, everybody should really, truly, honestly examine what they believe and why they believe it. We've got to study the Bible until we can't read anymore... Compare scripture with scripture and apply proper hermeneutics (relevance to a 1st century audience, Old Testament influence, etc)... Read a ton of history... Know the time texts and be real about the verbiage, format and style.

I (obviously) highly recommend this book. I could go on, but I'll just leave it at that. :)

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book chaged the course of my thinking about the bible more than any book at this point in my Christian walk. I had been lead down a path of thinking that was more fundamentalist and this book comes from a reformed postmillenial preterist outlook. Needless to say after reading this I saw the bible in a whole new light. Reading it in a historical, grammatical way. Taking the text in its original meaning but also seeing what scripture said in the old testament to better interpret what was said in the new. Whether you draw the same conclusions I did is not the point here but rather to try and move forward in our learning progression by being challenged on every belief we hold and seeing if we can defend why we believe what we believe. End times have caused a lot of anguish, a lot of false teaching, a lot of choas in families and churches so to say this subject matter isn't important is highly under stated. The first edition is better in my opinion though I read both.

[Megan Bullington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always struggled with "Last Days" teaching in most evangelical churches. Last days teaching seemed to need a special code that only certain people could understand. As I read through, "Last Days Madness", I began to understand why.
Unfortunately, church history is not taught so I would imagine that most "Left Behind" followers no nothing of the fall of Jerusalem and how Christians in AD 70 escaped because of Jesus' warnings.
Reading this book has given me a renewed love for scripture. I appreciate all of the time and research that Gary Demar put into writing this book.

[Jennifer Jeffryes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-Read the pre-2000 version of this book. And while it contained great insights, it seemed to be a bunch of stand-alone articles loosely stitched together as chapters... Which is to say there was A LOT of repeated information... I found myself often wondering if I was re-reading a chapter, as there was so much overlap with previous content. But still, a good, and convincing, read about the basics of post-millennialism.

[T.R. Estep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I disagree with DeMar's conclusion and the doctrine of the Post-tribulation view, this is a good book for studying this topic. Plus I attended a debate between Gary DeMar and Thomas Ice at Biola University and Gary DeMar is a great scholar of our time. We are lucky to have a Christian warrior of his stature.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal. This book really opened my eyes to the plethora of eisegetical views Christians have created concerning the field of eschatology. Dr. DeMar does a splendid job at taking on some of the most common misconceptions surrounding end-times conversations! Highly recommend as a must-read for all Christians.

Read again 2023. Still one of the best introductions to eschatology!

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way over my head. :) Requires more study...but I enjoyed it.

[Steven H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A POSTMILLENNIALIST CRITIQUES THE PRE-TRIB, PRE-MILL VIEW

Gary DeMar is the president of American Vision, and a popular writer on eschatology, Christian Reconstruction, and Americanism. He has written many other books, such as '10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed,' 'End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration Of The Left Behind Theology,' 'The Debate over Christian Reconstruction,' 'Christian Reconstruction: What It Is, What It Isn't,' 'God and Government,' 'America's Christian History: The Untold Story,' 'The Reduction of Christianity: Dave Hunt's Theology of Cultural Surrender,' etc.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1994 book, "today's speculative madness related to repeated failed attempts at predicting the end must be attributed to a gross misunderstanding of Bible prophecy... For centuries great Bible expositors had taught that many New Testament prophecies had already been fulfilled. They taught that many texts that are often futurized actually describe events in the first century. This literature made sense of the passages that millions of Christians struggle to understand. Moreover, I soon learned that today's prophetic scenario... has a short history. The system of prophetic interpretation that is familiar to most Christians had its beginning in 1830." (Pg. 3) He adds, "Last Days Madness was written to take a fresh look at the Bible. There is little that is new in the following pages... the views expressed herein have been around for centuries." (Pg. 6)

He notes, "Futurism mandates that a temple must be rebuilt to the events of Matthew 24 can be fulfilled again! History records that the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, with the events of Matthew 24 preceding its demise. Not one verse in the New Testament mentions the need for a rebuilt temple." (Pg. 78) He asks rhetorically, "Have there not been greater tribulations? In terms of the reasons given for the tribulation period of A.D. 70, there have been no greater tribulations. If this tribulation was localized... then NATIONAL Israel will never experience another one like it... The Great Tribulation is a description of what happened to Jews living in Israel in the first century. Over one million Jews dies at the hands of the Romans. Nothing will ever compare to it." (Pg. 110)

After quoting Prewrath Rapture of the Church about John Walvoord providing fifty arguments for a pretribulation rapture, without citing even one biblical text that explicitly teaches the doctrine. DeMar observes, "This is a bombshell! Not one explicit verse to support a position that millions of Bible-believing Christians hold with unbending reverence. In the first edition of The Rapture Question, John Walvoord had to confess that the evidence for either a pre-tribulational or a post-tribulational Rapture was not explicitly taught in the Bible. 'He deleted this statement in later editions of the book.' Why? It certainly was not because he found a verse that without a question supported the doctrine." (Pg. 179)

He recounts, "In a debate on eschatology with Dave Hunt, I challenged him to point to one verse that taught a pre-tribulational Rapture. He immediately appealed to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17... The idea of a pre-tribulational Rapture must be ASSUMED by the reader and imposed on the text... Postmillennialists and amillennialists see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 as relating to the general resurrection of the saints prior to Jesus' bodily coming. The text simply describes the raising of those who are 'in Christ.' No mention is made of the church being raptured either before or after a tribulation period. Nothing in the text even points to a tribulation period." (Pg. 186)

About the "Fig Tree = Israel" interpretation of Matthew 24:32, he says, "Let us assume that [Hal] Lindsey is correct by agreeing with him that the 'fig tree' IS a biblical symbol of national Israel. Let us go further and assert that Jesus is using the 'fig tree' illustration in Matthew 24:32 to identify national Israel. What would be the result of such a hypothesis? We should be reminded that the New Testament never even hints at national restoration for Israel. In fact, a study of ALL the New Testament texts that compare Israel to a fig tree teaches the opposite [Lk 19:39-40, Mk 11:13-14, Mt 21:19, etc.] ... If the nation of Israel is to be identified with the fig tree, then Jesus makes it clear that as a nation she will never produce fruit." (Pg. 304-305)

This book will be of great interest to anyone studying biblical prophecy---whether one agrees with all of DeMar's positions, or not.

[Desarae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fwew, I thought I would never make it through this book, it is a bit of slog for sure. The information and subject is absolutely important, and for that I rate it high, but honestly it was a hard read. DeMar repeats himself OVER and OVER and OVER again, making some of the same points he has already made multiple times. You can't fault him for not being thorough, there are verse references galore, and pages of notes from his sources at the end of each chapter, but gracious it felt redundant. I feel like this book could have been much shorter if he had hit his points hard and had the confidence in his readers that they could grasp the point without beating it to death from multiple different angles.

What I wish this book had that it didn't:
- A summary of the points and explanations that were discussed through the book, like "the beast = so and so", "man of lawlessness = so and so" because honestly the high points got lost in the ALLLLL of this book and I was left with, wait what was his explanation for that??

- While I feel this book makes a very tight case for Revelation having been fulfilled in the events of the AD 70 destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, debunking all the horrific end times prophetic doom and gloom that is accepted as writ in the evangelical community; it DOES still leave the reader with a "what now?" question. He does not address where that leaves us if there is no coming Great Tribulation and rapture of the church. I have read other books that go into this topic, but DeMar doesn't touch on it at all; nothing about dominion, or Jesus' return for the Church/Bride, or what our purpose is in the meantime, or what even the 'meantime' is for. I wish there had been more of that.

I will say one of the things I appreciated most from this author was a small section in the appendix about anti-semitism and the end times. He blew my mind with how he made the point that the traditional end times outlook (armegedon, great tribulation, church rapture etc.) that most Christians hold is actually a hugely anti-semitic belief system!!

Here we are trying to restore the people of Israel to their land, all for the sake of them being slaughtered again in an event that will wipe out 2/3 of their population?? While we 'Christians' get to say, "bye, see you later" as we are raptured out of it? How horrible! That belief actually pits Christians against Jews, giving them a sense of superiority because THEY are not the ones who will be punished. And when oppression comes against the Jewish peoples, it leaves us in that "oh well, this is what is supposed to happen, it was prophesied" response that creates a 'hands off' approach to any suffering or hardship they experience, because, well, God said. *shrug* This was actually a response that people had during WWII, many taking inaction against the atrocities enacted against the Jewish people.

No, it is actually much more gracious to hold the view that that discipline and judgement is past, that it fell upon the generation that rejected Jesus and proclaimed "let His death be upon us and our children." How much more merciful it is that only that generation who spoke those words and chose to hold on to religion instead of embracing their Messiah was judged for what they did to Jesus; that they were given time to repent and flee the destruction, instead of stretching it out through time and beating the Jewish people over and over again until a final, horrific punishment. That makes God out to be a horribly tardy Father with His discipline, choosing instead of torture His people with living under oppression and the suspense of waiting for punishment.

I personally think the commonly held end-times beliefs of evangelicals is a sad, ugly ugly deception that 1) creates untold fear 2) robs us of a future and purpose 3) divides people into chosen or unchosen, saved or abandoned fractions that robs us of true compassion for each other 4) vilifies and oppresses the Jewish people because we see them as a nation awaiting destruction and 5) vilifies other nations while also excusing THEIR behavior and treatment of Jewish people and the nation of Israel.

I definitely recommend this book for those seeking a different perspective on the interpretation of Revelation and the end-times doom and gloom that creates so much fear and harm. Strap yourself in for a long treck through this book, but it is worth it in the end.

[C.S. Wachter · Rating 5 out of 5]

To stand against mainstream premillennial dispensationalism is not easy these days, especially when it is hyped in movies and media. But is the Futurist Dispensational Premillennial perspective biblical? Demar’s convincing argument for the historical fulfillment (preterist perspective) of Jesus’ words in the Olivet Discourse prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem is strongly presented, rational, and biblical. Linking Old Testament prophecies with the New Testament words of Jesus opens a door on what we should take literally and what we should take figuratively. I hope more believers who hold to the premillennial/dispensational view would be willing to read a book like this with an open mind and an open Bible, allowing it to shed light on a complicated subject.

[Ronnie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I am not a Preterist, I found Mr Demar's book to be engaging and enjoyable. The prophecy mongering, date setting, sign chasing, rabid dispensationalist crowd has done a terrible disservice to the Church by pushing a hyper literal and unbiblical eschatology. Gary DeMar does a good job disproving their stance and calling the Church to a God glorifying understanding of Biblical prophecy through sound hermeneutics and biblical exposition.

[Matt Bye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting book. I pretty much agreed with every thing Demar proposed. I didn’t grow up in a dispensationalist worldview so this book was more or less a lesson in pre-trib dispensationalism and it’s downfalls. I’ve already been influenced by the likes of NT Wright and others so there wasn’t many new ideas here to me regarding eschatology, but always good to hear other thoughts and explanations. I thought Demar was overall compelling and used pretty sound logic to defend his points.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendously interesting read. As one who came up surrounded with dispensationalism then as I grew with, burdened with many questions, this book cogently & clearly addresses nearly every question I had. So logical, so reasonable, it is hard to understand how dispensationalism gained such a foothold. Will definitely read this again and will most certainly keep it handy as a reference.

[Ned · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary DeMar is helping me to rethink all my presuppositions and impressions gleaned from prophecy "experts" over the years in a good way. He encourages self study and homework - as any good teacher should. May the Lord grant me wisdom and insight.

[W.A. Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best information on the "Last Days" I have ever read. Want an explanation of Revelation? You will find it here. Excellent!

[Ryan Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great content. Terrible execution. Could have been 5 stars. I read an old version, I think newer ones were edited significantly.

[Joshua Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, helpful and worthy read.

[Henry Seufert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to follow and highly informative.

[Derek Herrema · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and understand. Highly recommend