Posted on 07/24/2006 8:28:49 AM PDT by topcat54
Events in Israel are viewed by millions of evangelicals as a sure sign that the rapture is near. Again! Jerry Falwell, who stated on a December 27, 1992, television broadcast, that he did “not believe there will be another millennium . . . or another century,” has written on July 23, 2006:
It is apparent, in light of the rebirth of the state of Israel, that the present-day events in the Holy Land may very well serve as a prelude or forerunner to the future Battle of Armageddon and the glorious return of Jesus Christ.1Something similar happened in 1990. John F. Walvoord recycled and revised his Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis to fit with what was then considered to be the latest in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in our day. The 1974 edition opened with this declaration: “Each day’s headlines raise new questions concerning what the future holds.”2 As we now know, Walvoord’s book was guided by current events and not sound methods of biblical interpretation. Described as “the world’s foremost interpreter of biblical prophecy,” in 1991 he expected “‘the Rapture to occur in his own lifetime.’”3 While Walvoord didn’t invent the prophetic speculation game, as Frank Gumerlock points out it his The Day and the Hour, he did make a ton of money playing it.
Walvoord’s book was reprinted in 1976 and then sank without a trace until a revised edition appeared in late 1990. By August 1991, it had sold 1,676,886 copies.4 It was decisively predictive based on the events transpiring in the Gulf War:
The world today is like a stage being set for a great drama. The major actors are already in the wings waiting for their moment in history. The main stage props are already in place. The prophetic play is about to begin. . . . Our present world is well prepared for the beginning of the prophetic drama that will lead to Armageddon. Since the stage is set for this dramatic climax of the age, it must mean that Christ’s coming for his own is very near.5
Not many people realized that the basic content of the revised edition was nearly sixteen years old when it was reissued in 1990. When the Gulf War ended abruptly, the book was being remaindered for twenty-five cents a copy, if you bought it by the case!
Walvoord’s failed predictions have not deterred other prophecy writers from taking up the mantle of prophetic dogmatism by proclaiming that prophecy is being fulfilled today. And what about their past failed predictions that seemed so sure at the time? They simply moved on “without ever acknowledging their mistake.”6 This is because current events, not Scripture, serve as their interpretive grid.
In 1974, Thomas S. McCall and the late Zola Levitt wrote The Coming Russian Invasion in which they stated that “the Armageddon conflict grows out of the Russian invasion of Israel.” Now that the former Soviet Union no longer has super power status, a new prophetic theory had to be invented to fit current events. Since necessity is the mother of invention in the end-time speculation business, prophecy speculator Mark Hitchcock wrote The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel. But that was in 2002 and it’s old news. Now that Iran is threatening Israel again, prophetic publishers are looking for the next prophetic blockbuster to take advantage of the always gullible Christian market. Similar in title to Walvoord’s book that was first published in 1974, Hitchcock has written Iran—The Coming Crisis: Radical Islam, Oil, and the Nuclear Threat. How many unsuspecting readers will know that Hitchcock has traveled this prophetic road before in The Silver Kingdom: Iran in History and Prophecy published in 1994?
The only winners in the Armageddon game are the authors who tell us it’s near and the publishers who print their books by the truck load. The losers are the integrity of God’s Word and the poor souls who pin their hopes on prophetic speculations passed off as certainties that are always said to be near.
Gary DeMar is president of American Vision and the author of more than 20 books. His latest is Myths, Lies, and Half Truths.
Reprinted with permission: American Vision P.O. Box 220, Powder Springs, GA 30127, 800-628-9460.
Notes:
1. Jerry Falwell, “On the threshold of Armageddon?” (July 23, 2006): www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51180
2. John F. Walvoord and John E. Walvoord, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1974), 7.
3. Quoted in Kenneth L. Woodward, “The Final Days are Here Again,” Newsweek (March 18, 1991), 55.
4. Press Release, “Kudos,” Zondervan Publishing House (August 1991).
5. John W. Walvoord, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), 228.
6. Stephen D. O’Leary, Arguing the Apocalypse: A Theory of Millennial Rhetoric (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 191.
And what signs would that be? The invented signs of modern prophecy preachers whose imagination gave us 666 on bar codes, thermonuclear weapons and Cobra helicopters in the book of Revelation?
The same pop prophecy preachers whose "sounds like" game deduces that "Rosh" is Russia, "Meshech" is the city of Moscow and "Tubal" is the city of Tobolsk?
The fact is that the signs Jesus spoke of were all signs that could be readily identified by "this generation", that is His contemporaries in the 1st century. He told His disciples "when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies" they were to "flee to the mountains." This is precisely what the early Christians did in AD70 just before Rome sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple.
Well, that's quite an admission. It also says quite a bit about how gullible Christians are with this stuff.
"As others have noted, these books have one thing in common: they have all been wrong. Has that stopped the charade? Unfortunately not. In the anticipation of conflict, the Gulf War was linked with Armageddon, Saddam Hussein was associated with the Antichrist, and some of the same books were repackaged and resold. Indeed, sixteen years later Walvoord's book dealing with "the end of Western civilization" was recycled with very minor revisions and now featured a cover with a picture of a modern U.S. fighter jet. The result? 1.5 million more copies sold."
"Mesmerized" is a good word. Most of these guys are dazzled by the bright lights and gaudy baubles of end-time prophecies.
But at its core, it is a political gambit and is being used to push a political agenda.
The politics may even be correct. But certainly not for theological reasons.
Every time I hear about the third temple being built, I cringe.
Jesus Christ is the third temple.
Can't happen too soon for me. Especially since our country has been sold out, and our Congressional leaders are such excellent examples of greed gone wild...
Christ reigns today.
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -- John 16:33
God is in control, even if it sometimes feels like He's looking the other way.
Hey, TC, glad to see you're back.
As usual, we find an anti-premil stance rather than a pro-XYZ stance.
Someone needs to find an article that says, "Everything is gettin' better 'n better 'til it gets so doggone good, the Lord cain't hep but come back."
I'll help you look for it.
I agree 100% with your tagline...
"Tonto, we are surrounded by Indians!"
"What you mean we, paleface?
Perhaps, Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said when He addressed His warnings to the "this generation" He was speaking to. The advice he gave -- watch for trends, make a run for it when you get the chance, and don't try to save anything more than your life -- was excellent advice to THAT generation. Thousands of His saints heeded and obeyed the prophetic word He gave them, and escaped the fall of Jerusalem.
Good advice for citizens of a damned, doomed, and dying civilization. A generation that had committed history's greatest crime, by crucifying the Son of God. And reaped in full the consequences of that act.
However, 21st century America is not 1st century Israel. Those prophecies don't apply. We have other challenges to face.
One article does not a position make.
Someone needs to find an article that says, "Everything is gettin' better 'n better 'til it gets so doggone good, the Lord cain't hep but come back."
That's what we call history, son. Why don't you share with us what place and time in history you would prefer to be living other than the present.
Such a hypothetical is not really telling, but Jerusalem, 10 to 40 AD for starters.
:>)
If your desire was martyrdom, then perhaps that would be a good time to be living. Just ask Stephen, or the disciples who would put to death by Saul of Tarsus. Or perhaps you would prefer to not live as a Christian, and just go with the social/political/religion flow of the day?
Your life expectancy, even as an unbeliever, would be considerably less than what you enjoy today. You might look forward to contracting leprosy or any number of equally debilitating diseases. The mortality rate for your offspring would be around 50 percent. There would be a high probability that your wife would die in childbirth. The local tax collector had many techniques for making your life miserable. Your country was occupied by unscrupulous foreign soldiers. Shall I go on?
That's a real nice place to be. And that was the garden spot of the world, no?
Please don't assume to lecture me on biblical context. I'm well aware of the context of Jesus's Words. He also referred to some things in that same context which have not occurred yet - for example, the abomination of desolation.
As a "grafted in" Gentile, I believe that ALL of us can look at Jesus' words and take them for what they mean. Sure, he could mean "this generation" as in the one he was talking to or "this generation" as in the one who will experience the events described. I believe it is the latter. Apparently, you believe the former.
We will simply disagree.
Yes, it's nice, isn't it? It works on so many levels. I hope the courageous Mr. Rose is still in good health.
I do not recall Walvrood associating S.H. with the AntiChrist. that was another author. We who study Bible prophecy (as opposed to those who have put it on the back burner because they no longer believe it to be urgently relevant) see certain things leading up to certain fulfillment of Prophecy and the return of the Lord. It is our blessed hope. Some go to far, I admit. They get dogmatic on their speculations. But, that doesn't mean the general theme of history isn't marching to the close God prescribed.
Please demonstrate how this has not yet happened.
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house." (Matt. 24:15-17)
"So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." (Mark 13:14)
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." (Luke 21:20-22)
The parallelism is clear. The events described happened in AD70. Allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture is the best advise for solving these apparent issues.
A big hearty AMEN! to that - but it's not the close that you think...
The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."
- Psalm 110:1
Oh, I agree. The Bible plainly teaches that history is marching on to the second coming. But it could be another 100 or 1000 or even 10,000 years until that happens.
There is nothing definite to link "this generation" to the return of Christ. It's all speculation. See Walvoord as an example.
Or today. We don't know. Nobody knows.
What is that supposed to mean?
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