THE WORLD’S VIEW OF BIBLE PROPHECY
by Jackie Alnor
The Learning Channel’s recent airing of New Visions of the Future--Prophecies III, was cause for alarm as it portrayed Bible prophecy as just one of many methods for fortune telling. Christianity’s representative on the program was J. R. Church, author of Hidden Prophecies in the Psalms. He was shown uplifting the Psalms’ supposed hidden predictions for every year of the 20th century. The host, David McCallum, summed up Church’s statements with, "But past the millennium and then what? The Bible contains only 150 Psalms. If Church and Stearman [the man they associated with Church] are correct, and each Psalm corresponds to one year, then this roadmap to prophecy may dead end in the year 2050."
J. R. credited Psalm 91 with predicting the Gulf War and Psalm 93 with foreseeing floods around the world. He identified Psalms 101 to 107 as the years of the coming Tribulation with the preface, "If this is correct." Problem is is that in his 1986 book he identified 1988 to 1994 as the Tribulation period as seen in those hidden prophecies.
The Word of God, therefore, was put on the same level as Marian apparitions, astrology, precognition, and other soothsaying techniques. The Psalms Mr. Church cited had to be allegorized and taken out of context to apply to today’s skirmishes and rainfall. This promoted an occultic way of reading the Bible, where one would have to read things into it instead of exegeting the clear teachings the Word gives us.
In studying Bible prophecy there’s one thing we need to keep in mind that is extremely important. Prophecy isn’t given to us to tickle our ears. The difference between Bible prophecy and soothsaying is that true prophecy reveals God’s work in the redemption of mankind, outlining His plan from the fall of man (Genesis) to the final defeat of the enemy and the emerging of the eternal Kingdom (Revelation). With every prophecy given, God’s purposes in His relationship with His people are clearly evident.
On the other hand, man’s attempt at predicting the future reeks of his own interests. It attempts to answer man’s carnal concerns like, "What does the future hold for me, poverty or riches?" or "Are there any disasters heading my way?" or "Will I live happily ever after?" J. R. Church willingly plays into those interests.
I strongly feel that those of us who believe in the soon return of the Lord need to reprove, rebuke and exhort those in our midst who hurt the Bible’s reputation by using false and fallible means to discern the signs of the times. True Bible prophecy suffers from such things and stumbles many sheep from putting their faith in God’s infallible Word. We must publicly say "no" to those like Edgar Whisenant and Harold Camping whose false datesetting helped to create the atmosphere of the scoffers. (...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning of the creation" II Pet. 3:3-4.)
I think we have been reluctant to oppose strategies that seem to promote our own eschatology. The problem is in the long run they defeat our purposes in warning the wicked to repent and to turn to God before His wrath is poured out. The scoffers are given ammunition to tear down the clear and glorious prophecies of the Bible that will be fulfilled, every jot and tittle.
The book of Revelation warns us not to add to or take away from the prophecies in that book which is the very practice we see today as false prophets are on the rise. When it happens so close to home we really need to speak up and restrain this evil practice when it rears its ugly head within the church itself.
Certainly as we near the year 2000 and as the true signs of the times increase with wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines and the like, there will be more of a temptation to go beyond what is written in our zeal to see the conclusion of God’s plan in our lifetime. We need to help keep each other in check as we approach the turn of the millennium and to help each other not to fall into paranoia as the days grow darker. Perhaps the writer of Hebrews had us in mind when he wrote,
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Heb. 10:24-25).
