Andrew Meredith’s Reviews > Paradise Restored: A Biblical Theology of Dominion > Status Update
Andrew Meredith
is on page 62 of 318
Chapter 6: The Garden and the Howling Wilderness
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Chapter 7: The Fiery Cloud
Two for one this time! In the first, Chilton traces the themes of land, garden, exile, and wilderness through Scripture. In the second, he traces the theophany ("manifestation of God") of the Holy Spirit known as the glory cloud.
— Jan 29, 2026 10:40AM
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Chapter 7: The Fiery Cloud
Two for one this time! In the first, Chilton traces the themes of land, garden, exile, and wilderness through Scripture. In the second, he traces the theophany ("manifestation of God") of the Holy Spirit known as the glory cloud.
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Andrew’s Previous Updates
Andrew Meredith
is on page 163 of 318
Chapter 19: A Brief Summary of the Revelation
Revelation is not impossible to understand, but it is extraordinarily deep. One could easily fill multiple volumes exploring the book fully. Thus, this survey will be just that, a thousand foot flyover. The next few chapters will zoom in to cover important symbols within the book, but first, getting the lay of the whole land is necessary.
— Feb 10, 2026 10:52AM
Revelation is not impossible to understand, but it is extraordinarily deep. One could easily fill multiple volumes exploring the book fully. Thus, this survey will be just that, a thousand foot flyover. The next few chapters will zoom in to cover important symbols within the book, but first, getting the lay of the whole land is necessary.
Andrew Meredith
is on page 157 of 318
Chapter 17: Interpreting Revelation and Chapter 18: The Time Is at Hand
There are two problems that confront us when we seek to interpret the Book of Revelation: (1) What checks and controls should we use to ensure that we do not force God's Holy Word into a mold of our own inventions and (too often) our runaway imaginations? (2) What do we do then with what we have learned? These chapters seek to tackle the first.
— Feb 08, 2026 04:02AM
There are two problems that confront us when we seek to interpret the Book of Revelation: (1) What checks and controls should we use to ensure that we do not force God's Holy Word into a mold of our own inventions and (too often) our runaway imaginations? (2) What do we do then with what we have learned? These chapters seek to tackle the first.
Andrew Meredith
is on page 140 of 318
Chapter 16: The Consummation of the Kingdom
The Last Day and the Last Judgment are synonyms. Biblically, they happen at the same time. This should be obvious, but there are only two resurrections: (1) Jesus as the firstfruits, and (2) the (simultaneous) Resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked on the Last Day (Dan 12:2; Jn 5:26-29; Acts 24:15; Rev 20:11-15).
— Feb 07, 2026 03:11AM
The Last Day and the Last Judgment are synonyms. Biblically, they happen at the same time. This should be obvious, but there are only two resurrections: (1) Jesus as the firstfruits, and (2) the (simultaneous) Resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked on the Last Day (Dan 12:2; Jn 5:26-29; Acts 24:15; Rev 20:11-15).
Andrew Meredith
is on page 133 of 318
Chapter 15: The Day of the Lord
Okay, so "the Last Days" are behind us, "The Great Tribulation" is behind us, "the Antichrist" is behind us, "Christ's coming on the clouds" is behind us... All were fulfilled in AD 70. Is there anything actually left to be fulfilled? And if so, how can we meaningfully distinguish it from all the stuff that has already happened?
— Feb 06, 2026 02:40AM
Okay, so "the Last Days" are behind us, "The Great Tribulation" is behind us, "the Antichrist" is behind us, "Christ's coming on the clouds" is behind us... All were fulfilled in AD 70. Is there anything actually left to be fulfilled? And if so, how can we meaningfully distinguish it from all the stuff that has already happened?
Andrew Meredith
is on page 125 of 318
Chapter 14: The Restoration of Israel
The last few chapters have been pretty bleak for the nation of Israel. They have by-and-large been excommunicated, cut off from the vine, and placed under cataclysmic judgment. But this presents us with a serious problem. What about God's promise to Abraham that the patriarch's seed would be established "throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant" (Gen 17:7)?
— Feb 05, 2026 02:30AM
The last few chapters have been pretty bleak for the nation of Israel. They have by-and-large been excommunicated, cut off from the vine, and placed under cataclysmic judgment. But this presents us with a serious problem. What about God's promise to Abraham that the patriarch's seed would be established "throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant" (Gen 17:7)?
Andrew Meredith
is on page 117 of 318
Chapter 13: The Last Days
"The Last Days," "The Latter Times," and "The Last Hour," is the period between Jesus's Life and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Early Church was living at the end of the old age (the aready "obsolete" Old Covenant) and the beginning of the New (Heb 8:13).
— Feb 04, 2026 02:31AM
"The Last Days," "The Latter Times," and "The Last Hour," is the period between Jesus's Life and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Early Church was living at the end of the old age (the aready "obsolete" Old Covenant) and the beginning of the New (Heb 8:13).
Andrew Meredith
is on page 109 of 318
Chapter 12: The Rise of the Antichrist
We tend to think of the Apostolic era as a golden age of healthy, explosive Church growth, and while this is substantially correct, we must also seek to do justice to the rampant outbreak of heresy and apostasy that accompanied it. One of Jesus's given indications for the Last Days was a dramatic rise in falling away and false teachers culminating in the great Apostasy.
— Feb 03, 2026 02:41AM
We tend to think of the Apostolic era as a golden age of healthy, explosive Church growth, and while this is substantially correct, we must also seek to do justice to the rampant outbreak of heresy and apostasy that accompanied it. One of Jesus's given indications for the Last Days was a dramatic rise in falling away and false teachers culminating in the great Apostasy.
Andrew Meredith
is on page 101 of 318
Chapter 11: Coming on the Clouds
For most, what I've said so far sounds strange but fairly plausible on the surface (at least not heretical, I hope). Unfortunately, Matthew 24:29-31 just clearly doesn't work within the interpretation being offered here. It's really quite the insurmountable hurdle because isn't it obvious to anyone with eyes to see that none of what Jesus predicts in this passage has happened yet?
— Feb 02, 2026 10:25AM
For most, what I've said so far sounds strange but fairly plausible on the surface (at least not heretical, I hope). Unfortunately, Matthew 24:29-31 just clearly doesn't work within the interpretation being offered here. It's really quite the insurmountable hurdle because isn't it obvious to anyone with eyes to see that none of what Jesus predicts in this passage has happened yet?
Andrew Meredith
is on page 91 of 318
Chapter 10: The Great Tribulation
Scripture interprets Scripture. We must not seek for authoritative interpretations of Scripture's meaning anywhere outside the Bible itself. This to say, the Bible was not dropped from the sky in the twenty-first century. Now, with this in mind, let's tackle "The Great Tribulation." It's actually not that difficult to understand.
— Feb 01, 2026 08:38AM
Scripture interprets Scripture. We must not seek for authoritative interpretations of Scripture's meaning anywhere outside the Bible itself. This to say, the Bible was not dropped from the sky in the twenty-first century. Now, with this in mind, let's tackle "The Great Tribulation." It's actually not that difficult to understand.
Andrew Meredith
is on page 81 of 318
Chapter 9: The Rejection of Israel
The constantly used imagery of the people of God as a "vineyard" in both the OT and the NT has an obvious direct connection with the idea of the Garden. Israel was a garden planted, watered, and tended to by Yahweh (Ps 80; Is 5). This is an important concept when reading one of Jesus's most striking parables: the story of the Wicked Vinegrowers (Matt 21:33-39).
— Jan 31, 2026 05:37AM
The constantly used imagery of the people of God as a "vineyard" in both the OT and the NT has an obvious direct connection with the idea of the Garden. Israel was a garden planted, watered, and tended to by Yahweh (Ps 80; Is 5). This is an important concept when reading one of Jesus's most striking parables: the story of the Wicked Vinegrowers (Matt 21:33-39).
The second traces the glory cloud that sheltered and led Israel through the wilderness, landed on top of Mount Sinai, filled the Tabernacle and the Temple, and is represented by a bird hovering or a flame.
When Israel passed through the Red Sea and out into the desolate wilderness toward Sinai, the Glory Cloud hovered over them and led them. When describing this event in his last speech, Moses uses the Hebrew words "tohu" for "wasteland" and "rachaph" for "hovering" (Deut 32:10-11). The only other time he ever uses either of these words in his writing is together in Genesis 1:2 when the Spirit of God was "hovering" over what was yet "formless" during creation.
Israel, brought through the waters of baptism (1 Cor 10), is a new creation, a new Adam. And just as Adam, the Son of God, received instruction from God and was placed in a garden, so too Israel, the corporate Son of God (Hos 11:1), received the Law and was led to the promised land. Both lost it upon disobedience.
Ultimately, Jesus is the true and better Adam and the true and better Israel. When He passed through the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father declared His Sonship over Him. The Spirit then led Jesus out into the wilderness where He overcame the trials Israel could not by relying upon Scripture. He then ascended the mountain and, as God, both affirmed and gave the true meaning of the Law. Where Adam and Israel's covenant unfaithfulness led to their condemnation, Jesus's covenant faithfulness led to justification, both for Himself and for all who are Spirit-ually united to Him (His Body). Raised from death, He has inherited the whole earth (Matt 28; Ps 2; 110).