A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

From Soothsayers of the Second Advent

by William Alnor (1989, Fleming Revell, Old Tappan, NJ)

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

As we consider the future - not in a highly speculative manner, but in a sane, biblically informed way - we need to consider our reactions to the teachings we've discussed. Do we really wish to allow ourselves to be led in all directions by the horror stories or fancies of a few? Or will we decide to close the prophetic portions of Scripture because we find them "too hard to understand" and don't want to get into controversial issues?

Neither of these options is right for the responsible Christian. God has given us prophecies to guide us in our Christian lives, especially in times like these. Though a few people may have abused that, we cannot avoid His commands merely out of a desire to be "safe."

If we know what the Scriptures - all the Scriptures - say about prophecy, and if we carefully discern what those who claim to have a word from God have based their teachings on, we can save ourselves much pain, and we can more effectually do the work God has left for us - until He comes!


WHERE IT'S ALL LEADING TO

South Carolina radio preacher Brother R. G. Stair was whipped into apocalyptic fever in early 1988. In his "Overcomer" radio broadcast, heard over fifty stations nation-wide, he thundered that God has appointed him "God's end-time prophet to America," and that he had anointed the end-time "Elijah" - a young Russian man - several years earlier.

Furthermore, God had spoken directly to him, and the jig was up for America. Before "April" was over, the United States would face an economic collapse, followed by the forcible removal of President Ronald Reagan from office. Then a limited nuclear war would strike the United States before the end of the year, wiping out every major city.

A way to escape the horrors to come was to get out of the cities and flee to the countryside, Stair roared, sometimes altering his voice to sound as if God were speaking through him. Stair then announced that he was building "cities of refuge" (farms) throughout the rural south, from which the "remnant" could weather the great tribulation.

His radical claims struck a chord. People from all over the United States began selling their homes and started sending money to Stair's Faith Cathedral Fellowship, located near Walterboro, South Carolina. As contributions came in Stair was able to extend his daily message of fear to almost 100 radio stations nationwide.

In Philadelphia three local churches eagerly tuned in to the message, and members started selling their possessions. Before May was out, about ten church members jointed Stair at his commune, turning all their money over to him in exchange for living quarters in his commune. Obviously the economy didn't collapse, Reagan finished his term, and doomsday never came. Despite the failures, many of Stair's new converts stayed with him, accepting his explanation that God had changed His mind.

But one couple that exited, months after joining, left deeply wounded. The wife had joined Stair's commune while she was well along in her pregnancy, and Stair had discouraged the use of medicine and modern doctors. As a result the couple's ten-pound, twelve-ounce baby boy was born dead in Stair's commune on July 6 at the hands of unlicensed midwives - sect members. The next day Colleton County Coroner Bob Bryan investigated the death and ruled the baby dies of "anoxia," or an absence of oxygen caused by a prolonged delivery. Though no criminal charges were filed, he ruled the death could have been prevented.

My wife and I covered the unfolding story of this cult for the Delaware County Daily Times, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania; we wrote more than thirty stories on Stair and the local doomsday cults seeking to join him. Two things because very clear as we researched the stories: It was Stair's message of fear that seemed to draw his followers, and he reinforced that fear through his monthly newsletters. Among the fantastic stories it contained were:

Descriptions of the "New Age conspiracy."
Accounts of the coming Antichrist.
Tales of the "Beast computer" in Brussels.

References to fiber-optic wires, connected to your television set, that could allow the Antichrist to control your life, watch you twenty-four hours a day, and ill you in your own home.

A lot of that may sound familiar - much of Stair's material came from prophecy teachers we've talked about. In the March, 1988, issue, Stair even used one of Southwest Radio Church's photographs and reprinted part of their article to scare people into believing the three-story "Beast computer" is already here.

However, becoming disillusioned with biblical prophecy because of people like Brother Stair does not solve our problem with prophecy. After all, about 30 percent of God's Word is prophecy. Do we really want to ignore one-third of the Bible?


THROWING PROPHECY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER?

Yes, there have been many false and ill-advised interpretations of biblical prophecy, and we have to be careful what we believe. After all, Christianity has never said that you should accept everything you hear - that's in no way a biblical principle. But neither should you give up in despair when you see the results of false prophecies. After all, doesn't God promise to bring confusion to those who so misapply His Word?

Jesus is Coming!

Despite all the date setting, prediction, and speculation, nothing can change the fact that Jesus will come. He promises it in His Word; and just as He came the first time, fulfilling a host of prophecies, He will come again, fulfilling many more.

After the Ascension, the angels told the Apostles, ". . . This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). We cannot ignore or overspiritualize His Second Coming. Instead we need to look for Him, as Jesus Himself told His disciples: "'Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. . . . So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him'" (Matthew 24:42, 44).

A WISE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO DATE SETTERS

Picture yourself living in the year 2010, and imagine that Christ has not yet returned. Will you throw out your faith because you believed He would come back before the year 2000? If prophecy teachers continue to proclaim that the coming of the Lord will occur around the year 2000, there may be a lot more laughter and scoffing if it doesn't happen. Could this lead to more defections from the faith?

There is time to head off some of the scoffing and the alienation that results from a failed prophecy. Responsible prophecy teachers need to make a pact to carefully investigate all prophecy statements, so the truths of the Lord's Second Coming will not suffer ill repute, and then take date setters to task. The ministries spreading dangerous, false rumors about the end times must be stopped. Perhaps we need to heed this biblical injunction: ""They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach - and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:11).

I think all prophecy teachers and ministers who teach prophecy should sign the "Manifesto on Date Setting," drafted in 1988 by Springfield, Missouri, prophecy teacher David A. Lewis. It states:

Whereas the Scripture clearly says that no man can know the day or hour of the Lord's coming, thus indicating that date setting serves no good purpose,

And whereas date setting has historically always proven to be false prophecy which is damaging to the cause of Christ,

And whereas we are living in the last days and nothing must be allowed to detract from the nobility and power of the message of end-time Bible prophecy;

Therefore we, the undersigned, hereby demand that all date setting and date suggesting cease immediately. Let abstinence from this type of speculation prevail until the Lord comes.

We absolutely must stop this type of activity or there will be few who will take the message of prophecy seriously.

If Jesus should tarry until the year 2000 we envision that by 2001 the message of Bible prophecy will be scorned, attacked and possibly outlawed by legal means --thus giving the New Age Movement a clear field for the introduction of their occult humanist messiah.

"BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO READS"

In November, 1886, Christian theologians from around the world gathered together in Chicago for the Prophetic Studies of the International Prophetic Conference, to exchange ideas about the long-neglected subject of eschatology. World-renowned Bible teacher D. L. Moody sent in his contribution, being unable to attend personally. The speeches were gathered in a one-volume book. The preface reads: The conference gave no opportunity for modern prophets to ventilate their calculations or speculations. It was rather an occasion for students of prophecy to present the weighty matters found in the written word concerning "last times" and "last things." The brethren who were appointed to bring to the conference the results of prayerful and careful Bible study are neither idle star-gazers, erratic time-setters, nor theological adventurers.
These men understood the importance of correctly handling the word of truth with reverence, "'. . . for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy'" (Revelation 19:10). Without prophecy, we would have no Bible. If the devil could discredit Bible prophecy, he could eliminate Christianity.

Because of the carelessness of the soothsayers today, many Christian leaders have thrown the baby out with the bath water and have discouraged their flocks from reading the book of Revelation and other prophetic books of the Bible.

Prophecy teacher David Lewis laments, "The tragedy is that the message [of prophecy] has been attacked by its enemies, eroded by its friends and ignored by everybody else."

Yet the book of Revelation comes with a blessing for those who read it: "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near" (Revelation 1:3).

The remarkable accuracy of the Bible in foretelling the future is one of the proofs that the Bible is God's inspired Word. Since the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ's first coming were fulfilled to the letter, we can have confidence that the prophecies related to His return and the inauguration of the 1,000-year millennial age will take place.

When my wife was a nonbeliever, it never occurred to her to read the Bible. She thought it was an outdated book with no relevance for today, just full of old-fashioned "thou shalt nots." When she heard that the Bible taught that Jesus was going to return to planet earth in the not-so-distant future, she realized that Christianity wasn't just a religion of the past.

The discovery that God had a preordained plan for the consummation of the ages caused her to reconsider the claims of the Bible. Somehow knowing that the many authors of the Bible accurately foretold events that had taken place in her day proved its divine origin. After brushing the cobwebs off her Bible, she came face-to-face with the person of Jesus Christ, who alone could bring her safely into His kingdom.

So the prophetic message brought her hope for the future in spite of the fearful events taking place all around her. Having put her trust in the God who controls the future, she no longer had to be afraid of bringing children into a world she thought was on the brink of destruction. She could latch on to the promise given to the church in Philadelphia, "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth" (Revelation 3:10).

So Bible prophecy is a faith builder, and living during a time that is witnessing the "beginning of sorrows" need not frighten the child of God. The signs of the times serve as a reminder to continue to contend for the faith and enter boldly into every open door for evangelism while there is still time. We are instructed by the Word of God to keep alert and watch for the return of the Bridegroom. The anticipation itself transforms and purifies our lives: ". . . We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself . . ." (1 John 3:2, 3).

David Lewis summarized what our attitude toward the Second Coming of Jesus Christ should be: "It is better to live as if Jesus were coming today and yet prepare for the future as if He were not coming for a long time. Then you are ready for time and eternity."

Many scoffers of Bible prophecy point out the fact that throughout church history groups have come and gone who have claimed that Jesus was to return in their day. That may well be true; however if they lived with the daily expectancy of their Lord's arrival, then their hope was not in vain and their lives reflected the good fruit of their faith.

But today is different from the past 2,000 years for one very good reason: the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. Before this historic event took place, the prophecies of the end times could not occur. So in a sense all ancient speculations were invalid - and careless. Biblical literalists predicted the return of the Jews long before it became a reality in 1948.

James J. Brookes, in his 1878 book, Maranatha or the Lord Cometh, cited Jeremiah's prophecy of the restoration of the Jews to their land and pointed out:

Their dispersion is conditional, made to depend upon their obedience, but, blessed be God, their restoration is unconditional, made to depend upon His sovereign grace and unchangeable purpose. . . . Turning . . . to Jeremiah, we find numerous predictions of utter desolation coming upon Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel for the sins of the people, foretelling the seventy years of captivity in Babylon, their partial restoration, their continued iniquity, their banishment into all countries, and their final return in connection with the glorious advent and reign of their Messiah.

This literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy, coupled with the ever-increasing signs of the times, tells us we should lift up our heads, for our redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28).

There's no need to reach for the National Enquirer or to turn on the "Morton Downey Jr. Show" to find the signs of the times. They are all around us. Jesus gave a description of the condition of the world just prior to His return, in Matthew 24:37: "'As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.'" The days of Noah are described in Genesis 6:5: "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."

In Matthew 24 Jesus predicts an increase of wickedness (v. 12), after saying, "'Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people'" (v. 11). He warns of false Christs that will perform great signs and miracles in order to deceive (v. 24). He describes wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, as well as famines and earthquakes all coming upon the earth like birth pangs upon a woman in labor.

The future tribulation is described in verses 21 and 22: For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

The Lord promises to intervene before mankind destroys himself and the planet. So when we hear about the horrors of the greenhouse effect, the hole in the ozone layer, the air, land, and water pollution, we can rest, knowing that God will eventually deliver this planet from the destroyers.

To many this may sound negative. But one only has to watch the daily newscast to get even more alarmed at the increase in wickedness. The rise in brutal crime is startling. The popularity of slasher-type violent movies appeals to the same brutality in man that was evident in the Roman coliseum, when the Christians were thrown to lions amidst the cheers of the spectators. In our society it's quite legal for doctors to kill babies in their mother's wombs, even though they are prosecuted for murder when the aborted babies are delivered alive and allowed to die. Evidence of the increase of evil is only too obvious.

Dave Hunt defends true Bible prophecy:
The Great Tribulation and Armageddon leading up to Christ's justified and necessary intervention on planet earth to stop the destruction and set up His kingdom are also part of God's outworking of His will in human history. These events are clearly prophesied in Scripture, and to present them as a warning to the world is not "gloom and doom" but simply faithfulness to the truth.

The time is coming when all the things the prophets spoke of will come to pass with 100 percent accuracy. There is coming seven years of the greatest tribulation man has ever seen. Man's arch-enemy the devil will take possession of a man known as the Antichrist, and his false prophet will cause the whole world to come under a one-world economic system, using a mark on the hand or forehead in order to buy or sell.

We may be closer to that time than we think. The world is headed toward Armageddon, and the signs of the times indicate that we are speedily rushing toward the final chapter of history, although we cannot know the exact day or hour. The person destined to be the false messiah, the Antichrist, could be alive today. The European Economic Community could well be the power base from which the Antichrist will arise. The Soviet Union could even be "Gog," described in Ezekial 38, and someday - perhaps sooner than we think - her vast army could invade Israel and be destroyed. Or it might be another, as yet unidentified, nation.

No doubt these events will occur to some generation at some time and will come upon the world like a thief in the night. But we are told we will know when it's even at the door (but we will now know the day or the hour or even the times and the seasons), and we are told to watch and pray and occupy until He returns. We as Christians have this assurance: "But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day . . . (1 Thessalonians 5:4, 5).

Just because some have improperly used Bible prophecy for soothsaying and sensationalism doesn't mean we should abandon the study of eschatology. Rather we need to rescue it and use it as an encouragement as we see the signs increase. The Word of God will not fail; every jot and tittle will be fulfilled, or else our Bible has errors and is worthless. We can trust God when He declares: '"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please'" (Isaiah 46:10).

THE GOOD NEWS

Although I have focused on prophecy error, the good news is that many good prophecy teachers around today don't play fast and loose with the truth. Although I don't think Hal Lindsey should have implied a forty-year generation between the creation of Israel and the rapture, in his classic book, The Late Great Planet Earth, this prophecy book and others he has written still have much value in them. (It is also true that Lindsey agrees with this. He has publicly stated that he was premature in setting a time limit on a generation.) It is amazing that this twenty-year old book remains as relevant today as it was when it was written.

In a recent issue of Moody Monthly, Garry Friesen reevaluated Late Great upon Israel's forty-year anniversary and noted, "Rereading Late Great, however, has reminded me of its power. It communicated a complex subject so well that both believers and unbelievers kept turning the pages and opening their Bibles."

Only eternity will reveal how many people came to know Jesus Christ as a result of reading that book. According to the Moody article, more than 25 million copies have been printed in thirty languages, and the book is in its one hundredth printing.

Speaking of the last generation, according to God's Word, He does not want any to perish, and He is long-suffering (2 Peter 3:9). His delay is grace to the unbelievers. Even as the last days are compared to the days of Noah, it is interesting to note that the flood occurred after the death of Methuselah, the longest-living person in history. God in His mercy allowed Methuselah to live just under 1,000 years, and then the flood came.

God has the divine option to do the same for our generation. When Peter asked Jesus what He would do with John the Beloved, Jesus responded, "'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? . . . '" (John 2:22). God is quite able to do that today if He indeed meant the fig tree to represent the restoration of the Jews to the land of Israel. So in Matthew 24:34, when Jesus said ". . . this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened," He wasn't bound by the normal life expectancy of man.

With that much said, I can recommend most works of other prophecy teachers like John Walvoord, David Lewis, David Breese, Chuck Smith, and others.

I hope the ministries examined in this book will not allow a perceived attack to prevent them from reevaluating their unscriptural practices. More than anything I wish to see them use their considerable talents in a balanced way that honors God and His Word. In Matthew 24:44 Christ said He'll come". . . at an hour when you do not expect him." As long as soothsayers predict dates, He'll not likely return on those dates. The Scriptures teach that He will not allow the word of a soothsayer to come to pass regarding His plans:

". . . I am the Lord who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them.'" Isaiah 44:24-26

Since the heart of God desires that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance, we should have this same attitude - hoping that the door of grace will remain open long enough for our loved ones to be saved. We certainly don't wish the great tribulation to come upon those we love.

Many soothsayers, instead of admitting their error in setting dates for the rapture, claim that God simply changed His mind as He did with Jonah at Nineveh. Of course, after the great fish spit Jonah onto the ground, and he prophesied destruction to Nineveh, the people repented in sackcloth and ashes and begged for God's forgiveness. The Lord relented. Jeremiah understood God's justice and wrote:

"If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." Jeremiah 18:7-10

The Scriptures do not give license to date setters or visionaries with divine messages to fall back on Jonah to explain away their rash calculations - not unless there is repentance.

Soothsayers also often misuse Amos 3:7 to justify their date setting: "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets." Those using this passage fail to see that God has already revealed the events of the end to His servant, the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos, and before him, the other Apostles. After showing John what would happen in the last days, the angel gave a solemn warning:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Revelation 22:18, 19

With such a dire warning, it would be advisable for today's soothsayers and prophets to take heed before carelessly proclaiming, "thus saith the Lord," when referring to extrabiblical revelation concerning the coming of the Lord and His judgments.

There would not be soothsayers and unbiblical sensationalists today if a ready audience did not demand their teachings. Those who seek after unbiblical revelation and are not satisfied with studying God's Word are just as responsible for the Bible being discredited. This prophecy has indeed been fulfilled in our day:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3,4

So when will the Lord return? At the end of the age "'. . .you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven'" (Matthew 26:64).