In my previous blog, I addressed some of the Biblical interpretation issues raised by the extremely popular Left Behind novels. Though these books are fictional, they nevertheless represent a certain theological approach to the book of the Revelation, and other apocalyptic texts in the Scriptures. This particular view is known as “Dispensationalism.” This view first emerged in the in the 1830’s, and is therefore relatively a “new” interpretative method. As I pointed out in reference to its approach to Revelation, it ignores the intended first century audience and the relevance of this book to them. It insists that this book had little purpose for the first century churches in Asia Minor, to whom it was explicitly written and only has true relevance for those of us living in the present day. For you more scholarly types, this means that the historical-grammatical principle of hermeneutics is ignored. Please understand I do believe that the book of the Revelation has relevance for us today, but we cannot forget that it was written to the seven churches located in Asia Minor, and what it would have meant to them. We apply this principle to interpreting Galatians, the Corinthian letters, Ephesians, etc.; why ignore it when we come to Revelation?
As I pointed out in the previous blog, Revelation 1:1 and 1:3 both show us that the intended audience in the first century was to expect the events described in the book to “soon take place” (Rev. 1:1), for the time was “near” (Rev. 1:3). These “time” words cannot be ignored or “spiritualized.” Philip Mauro, who once held to the prophetic system advocated by Tim LaHaye, but later abandoned it after a thorough study of the Bible, said this: “The very first verse [in Revelation] states that God’s purpose in giving the revelation to Jesus Christ was that he might ‘show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.’ These words are not at all ambiguous, and the simple minded would never suspect that they could have been intended to convey any other than their ordinary and apparent meaning, namely, that the things foretold in ‘this prophecy’ were to happen in the era that was just then beginning. The word here rendered ‘shortly’ means just that. It is variously translated in other Scriptures by the words quickly, speedily, soon. Thus in Acts 25:4, Festus, after commanding that Paul be kept at Caesarea, said that ‘he himself would depart shortly thither.’ In Philippians 2:19 Paul writes, “I trust to send Timotheus unto you shortly.’ And so also in I Timothy 3:14; Hebrews 13:23; and 2 Peter 1:14. In Galatians 1:6 we have, ‘so soon removed’; in Philippians 2:33, ‘so soon as I shall see how it will go with’; and in 2 Thessalonians 2:2, ‘That ye be not soon shaken in mind.’” [Taken from Things Which Soon Must Come to Pass: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation by Philip Mauro, (Swengel,PA: Reiner Publications, 1925) pages 24-25] As Philip Mauro has shown by comparing Scripture with Scripture, this word (Greek word -tachos translated as “soon” in the NAS) places the prophecy in a certain time frame, one that was about to occur.
Another issue “left behind” by Tim LaHaye and others, who hold to this dispensationalistic view of prophecy, are the “time frame reference” passages. This are the prophetic passages were Jesus, or others state that certain events will occur within a certain “time frame.” For instance, Jesus said that his disciples “would not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Matt. 10:23). Elsewhere, Jesus said: ”Truly, I say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom” (Matt. 16:28). In the Olivet discourse, that section of Scripture many Christians build there understanding of Bible prophecy around, Jesus says; “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt. 24:34). All of these point to a certain time frame in which these prophecies must be fulfilled, in order to be shown to be true. It is passages such as these, which cause the critics of the Bible to charge that Jesus was wrong. The critics, like many believers, mistakenly think that Jesus was speaking of the "Second Coming.” If it was the Second Coming that Jesus was referring to then He is a “false prophet,” which He most certainly is not.
Jesus was not prophesying His return at the end of history in these passages. Instead, He was prophesying His coming in judgment on Jerusalem, which occurred 40 years later in A.D. 70. This significant event, which included the destruction of the temple (Matt.24:2), brought an end to the Old Testament sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood. The Lord gave Israel one generation (40 years) in which to repent and accept their Messiah, before judgment would fall. This judgment plays a prominent place in the prophecies of our Lord, yet seemingly many Christians are not aware of that fact. It was the major focus of the Olivet discourse (Matt. 24:3-34), and Jesus referred to this event quite often (Matt. 10:23, 16:27-28, 23:36-38, 26:63-64; Mark 13:3-37; Luke 21:8-28, 23:31). His “coming “ was a coming in judgment, and His use of the phrase “coming on the clouds” (Matt. 24:30) was Old Testament prophetic imagery for His presence, judgment, and salvation (Ps.104:3; Isa. 19:1; Nahum 1:3).
Matthew 24:1-34 is not about a future event for us living in the 21st century, it is about a past event, which occurred in A.D. 70. Gary DeMar in his book entitled Last Days Madness says this, “Of course, a first-century, in contrast to a yet future, fulfillment changes the entire prophetic landscape cultivated by numerous contemporary date setters. Much of contemporary last days madness would be eliminated if Christians could be convinced, through a thorough study of Scripture, that Matthew 24:1-34 is a prophecy that was fulfilled in A.D. 70.”
If all this sounds strange to you, I suggest you read what such men as Matthew Henry, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and Charles Spurgeon had to say about Matthew 24:1-34. You will find it much different than what Tim LaHaye has to say on the matter. You will find that Brother Tim is expressing a view that these historical theologians and Bible commentators know nothing about.
Eusebius, one of the earliest historians in the Church, in his Ecclesiastical History, quotes from Matthew 24:19-21 and states: “These things took place under Vespasian in accordance with the prophecies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who by divine power saw them beforehand as if they were already present, and wept and mourned according to the statement of the holy evangelists.” What statement of the holy evangelists? Eusebius quotes from Luke’s description of the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19:42-44, 21:20, 23-24). The passages in Luke 21 parallel those in Matthew 24:1-34.
It has been my purpose in this edition to show that there is an alternate view to the one presented in the Left Behind novels. Allow me to recommend some books that will enable you to examine more deeply this subject:
The Last Days According to Jesus by R.C. Sproul (ISBN: 0-8010-1171-X)
Last Days Madness by Gary DeMar (ISBN: 1-56121-081-1)
An Eschatology of Victory by J. Marcellus Kik (ISBN: 0-87552-313-7)
Originally written in 2002
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
What the "Left Behind" Series Left Behind
Probably the most amazing phenomena of recent Christian publishing history has been the remarkable success of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ Left Behind book series. These novels have been outselling all other Christian literature, with the possible exception of the Bible itself.
It isn’t all that difficult to understand the popularity of this series. We live in uncertain times, a time of rapid change and considerable chaos. The Left Behind novels tap into the curiosity that many have about what the future holds, and what forces are controlling the course of world events. They present an apocalyptic worldview that many Christians have been indoctrinated in due to the influence of what is known as “dispensationalism.” Thirty years ago it was Hal Lindsey with his book, The Late Great Planet Earth, brought dispensational theology with its view of the events surrounding the Second Coming, to the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
A very central feature of dispensational theology is the belief that Christians will be raptured (“Beamed up” for you Star Trek fans) to heaven, while the earth will undergo seven years of tremendous conflict and turmoil (known as “The Great Tribulation”). Following this time of tribulation Jesus will return. This scheme of Biblical interpretation is relatively new. It first emerged on the scene in the 1830’s, but did not experience wide acceptance until the early 1900’s with the spread of the Scofield Bible. This was not the view of the early Church fathers, it was not the view of the Protestant Reformers, nor was it the view of the Puritans. It was not the view of John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, or Charles Spurgeon (just to name a few). But it is the view of Tim LaHaye, who is advancing it through the fictional Left Behind novels.
The Left Behind series borrows its title from passages like Luke 17:35, in which makes a prophetic statement about two women grinding meal at a mill. Jesus states that on the day that the “Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:30), one woman will be taken and the other left behind. A first-century audience would have understood this to mean one will be taken away in judgment, while the other will escape judgment by remaining where she is. This is clear from the context, which is about a coming judgment—a judgment that, in Jewish literature, everyone is expected to face. This is very different from saying one will be raptured and the other judged.
Of course, those who hold to this dispensational/Left Behind theology claim to base their thinking on the book of the Revelation, and other apocalyptic portions of both the Old and New Testaments. But I would argue that they have failed to take several things into account, in other words they have left some things behind.
For instance, they have left behind the historical context in which these books were written. It ignores the audience to whom these books were initially intended. This by no means negates their significance for future generations, but the intended audience was first of all, believers living in the first century. They understood it as written to them, addressing issues and situations they were facing. The idea that John, the author of Revelation, intended his message to be understood only by a late 20th or 21st century Western Christian audience is both arrogant and ignorant. It flies in the face of what John writes himself in Revelation 2-3. John states quite clearly that his intended audience is to be Christians living in Asia Minor in the first century. To ignore this is a hermeneutical injustice.
Take note of John’s words in the very first verse of the book of the Revelation. He writes: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place . . .” (Rev.1:1). The Revelation, therefore, is primarily concerned with the events that were in the near future for John and his initial readers. It must be stressed that the phrase “soon take place ” (KJV says “shortly take place ”) is the Greek word “tachos” (used in Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7, 22:18, 25:4; Rom. 16:20; Rev.22:6), which would not have been understood by a first century reader to mean anything but soon. The common futurist interpretation of Revelation is refuted in the very first verse.
In Revelation 1:3, to further amplify the issue of the nearness of time, we have John’s use of the phrase “for the time is near” (Greek word – eggus). This word is at times translated as “at hand” (John 2:13, 6:4, 7:2, 11:55). John is emphasizing to his first century audience the need to heed and obey the instructions of this book because the crisis was upon them.
The Left Behind novels, though they are not written as theology, represent a particular theological perspective. This perspective ignores the original historical context and distorts the book of the Revelation in to a cryptical message that could only be understood by a generation that was 1,900 years in the future after its writing. The idea, for example, that the book of Revelation has coded references to people, places, and events that where hundreds of years in the future (Saddam Hussein, Iraq, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden) would have made no sense at all to the original audience to whom it was written. All that this dispensationalist perspective proves is the old adage that “a text taken out of context can be a pretext for anything.” (Why are these dispensationalist interpreters always shown to be wrong in their predictions, yet there is never any public repentance for their “false prophecies”?)
One of the primary rules in interpreting the Scriptures, including the book of the Revelation, is “What it meant to the original audience is still what it means today.” It was God’s revelation to them first. It is our job to do the best we can to read such words in their original historical and theological context.
Originally written in 2002
It isn’t all that difficult to understand the popularity of this series. We live in uncertain times, a time of rapid change and considerable chaos. The Left Behind novels tap into the curiosity that many have about what the future holds, and what forces are controlling the course of world events. They present an apocalyptic worldview that many Christians have been indoctrinated in due to the influence of what is known as “dispensationalism.” Thirty years ago it was Hal Lindsey with his book, The Late Great Planet Earth, brought dispensational theology with its view of the events surrounding the Second Coming, to the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
A very central feature of dispensational theology is the belief that Christians will be raptured (“Beamed up” for you Star Trek fans) to heaven, while the earth will undergo seven years of tremendous conflict and turmoil (known as “The Great Tribulation”). Following this time of tribulation Jesus will return. This scheme of Biblical interpretation is relatively new. It first emerged on the scene in the 1830’s, but did not experience wide acceptance until the early 1900’s with the spread of the Scofield Bible. This was not the view of the early Church fathers, it was not the view of the Protestant Reformers, nor was it the view of the Puritans. It was not the view of John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, or Charles Spurgeon (just to name a few). But it is the view of Tim LaHaye, who is advancing it through the fictional Left Behind novels.
The Left Behind series borrows its title from passages like Luke 17:35, in which makes a prophetic statement about two women grinding meal at a mill. Jesus states that on the day that the “Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:30), one woman will be taken and the other left behind. A first-century audience would have understood this to mean one will be taken away in judgment, while the other will escape judgment by remaining where she is. This is clear from the context, which is about a coming judgment—a judgment that, in Jewish literature, everyone is expected to face. This is very different from saying one will be raptured and the other judged.
Of course, those who hold to this dispensational/Left Behind theology claim to base their thinking on the book of the Revelation, and other apocalyptic portions of both the Old and New Testaments. But I would argue that they have failed to take several things into account, in other words they have left some things behind.
For instance, they have left behind the historical context in which these books were written. It ignores the audience to whom these books were initially intended. This by no means negates their significance for future generations, but the intended audience was first of all, believers living in the first century. They understood it as written to them, addressing issues and situations they were facing. The idea that John, the author of Revelation, intended his message to be understood only by a late 20th or 21st century Western Christian audience is both arrogant and ignorant. It flies in the face of what John writes himself in Revelation 2-3. John states quite clearly that his intended audience is to be Christians living in Asia Minor in the first century. To ignore this is a hermeneutical injustice.
Take note of John’s words in the very first verse of the book of the Revelation. He writes: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place . . .” (Rev.1:1). The Revelation, therefore, is primarily concerned with the events that were in the near future for John and his initial readers. It must be stressed that the phrase “soon take place ” (KJV says “shortly take place ”) is the Greek word “tachos” (used in Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7, 22:18, 25:4; Rom. 16:20; Rev.22:6), which would not have been understood by a first century reader to mean anything but soon. The common futurist interpretation of Revelation is refuted in the very first verse.
In Revelation 1:3, to further amplify the issue of the nearness of time, we have John’s use of the phrase “for the time is near” (Greek word – eggus). This word is at times translated as “at hand” (John 2:13, 6:4, 7:2, 11:55). John is emphasizing to his first century audience the need to heed and obey the instructions of this book because the crisis was upon them.
The Left Behind novels, though they are not written as theology, represent a particular theological perspective. This perspective ignores the original historical context and distorts the book of the Revelation in to a cryptical message that could only be understood by a generation that was 1,900 years in the future after its writing. The idea, for example, that the book of Revelation has coded references to people, places, and events that where hundreds of years in the future (Saddam Hussein, Iraq, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden) would have made no sense at all to the original audience to whom it was written. All that this dispensationalist perspective proves is the old adage that “a text taken out of context can be a pretext for anything.” (Why are these dispensationalist interpreters always shown to be wrong in their predictions, yet there is never any public repentance for their “false prophecies”?)
One of the primary rules in interpreting the Scriptures, including the book of the Revelation, is “What it meant to the original audience is still what it means today.” It was God’s revelation to them first. It is our job to do the best we can to read such words in their original historical and theological context.
Originally written in 2002
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Playing the Eschatological Guessing Game
I have not written as much on my blog as I intended to this year. Nevertheless, I do want to post something that I wrote back in 2001. With Harold Camping announcing that the rapture of the Church will take place this Saturday (May 21st), we are reminded once again of the ridiculousness that Christians often engage in trying to predict the future based upon their eschatological interpretation. Harold Camping is an extreme example of this, but there have been many attempts to do similiar things.
There seems to an irresistible urge among many preachers to engage in a prophetic “guessing game” regarding current events. This desire apparently strikes the strongest when a national or world crisis occurs. Like the political pundits who rush forward to express their opinions on domestic, foreign or military policy; these prophetic pundits rush forward to show how the current events fit into an apocalyptic scenario. Immediately books are written, tapes are produced, and charts are revised to interpret the crisis, and where it fits in the eschatological puzzle. New candidates for the Antichrist emerge, the harlot of Babylon is re-examined, and the timetable for Armageddon re-written.
For those of us who have been around awhile, we’ve seen this before. The names of the players change, but the game remains. Yes prophecy fans, it’s “guessing time” again. Another opportunity to lose credibility. Fortunately, the pain of past losses are soon forgotten when a new season begins. The scars of past seasons have healed over and hope springs eternal that, “this time we’ve got it right.” The veterans of this game know the fans have a very short memory, and the rookies are fearless in their proclamation of “truth.” Money can be made: write a novel, produce a movie, start a TV program. Truly the opportunities are endless.
Undoubtedly, we will once again hear that familiar cry, “The Lord told me” coming forth from the charismatic players. While on the other side of the field our evangelical and fundamentalist brethren will declare “The Bible says.” The fans will line up behind their favorite players and debates will rage. The word “heretic” will fill the air, along with such terms as “scoffer” and “false prophet.” Too bad Ol’ Edgar “88 Reasons” Whisenant seems to have retired. Players like that only come along once in a lifetime. There was a player who was not afraid to “swing for the fences,” and even though he struck out, he refused to leave the batter’s box. His sequel “89 Reasons” was a revisionist classic, truly a hallmark of Christian literature.
This all would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad. It is not only the cults who have erroneously issued apocalyptic warnings. Christian leaders have time and time again, thrown away their credibility by playing this game. Unfortunately, the events of September 11th have kicked off a new round of speculations. I am not questioning the sincerity of the prognosticators, only their wisdom. Time has shown that there have been many sincere, God-loving, men and women who predicted future events based upon their interpretation of the Scriptures and been wrong. In fact, many times over the past one hundred years evangelical leaders have cried, “Wolf,” regarding Armageddon, the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, and various other so-called “end-time” events. I suggest we call for a moratorium on such declarations.
Dwight Wilson, (a premillennial, Assemblies of God minister and professor of history), has written an important book entitled Armageddon Now. He has chronicled the failed prophetic predictions of many well-known leaders since the turn of the last century. In writing this book he hoped to sound a warning to preachers, to avoid making the same mistake. Nevertheless, many of his peers seem to ignore such warnings and march in “where angels fear to tread.”
One of the best known forecasters stated in 1975 with great certainty, “The Soviet flag will fly over Independence Hall in Philadelphia by 1976.” Another popular preacher virtually guaranteed that the Tribulation would begin in 1982 following a Russian invasion of Israel. Still another prophecy teacher wrote, “ I am convinced that the Lord is coming for His Church before 1981.” All of these men are well-recognized leaders, and to my knowledge have never publicly repented for their “false prophecy.” In addition, it appears that these statements are quickly forgotten, or excused by most of the Body of Christ. We certainly were not so generous when the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Herbert W. Armstrong missed it.
But what is more harmful than simply the failed forecasts, is the way this causes the Bible to be viewed. The Bible is not a collection of predictions, like the writings of Nostradamus. It is not a “code book” through which we are to ascertain the future. Such an approach lowers the Bible from the place and purpose for which it was given. It is the record of God’s Covenant. The Covenant is the meaning of Biblical history. The Covenant is the meaning of Biblical law. The Covenant is the meaning of Biblical prophecy. The Old Testament prophets were not into “foretelling” the future as their primary task. Their task was to call Man back to the Covenant. The purpose of prophecy is not “prediction,” but evaluation of man’s response to the Covenant. Because the covenantal context of the Bible has been ignored; it has been reduced in the minds of many, to being nothing more than the basis for speculations. It is seen as an interesting book, in which many mysteries are hidden concerning the future of mankind, not unlike the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
Alas, I suppose the “eschatological guessing game” will continue. It’s become a pretty big business you know. Maybe someday soon we will be able to buy our “prophecy books” at the supermarket checkout counter, along with The National Inquirer.
There seems to an irresistible urge among many preachers to engage in a prophetic “guessing game” regarding current events. This desire apparently strikes the strongest when a national or world crisis occurs. Like the political pundits who rush forward to express their opinions on domestic, foreign or military policy; these prophetic pundits rush forward to show how the current events fit into an apocalyptic scenario. Immediately books are written, tapes are produced, and charts are revised to interpret the crisis, and where it fits in the eschatological puzzle. New candidates for the Antichrist emerge, the harlot of Babylon is re-examined, and the timetable for Armageddon re-written.
For those of us who have been around awhile, we’ve seen this before. The names of the players change, but the game remains. Yes prophecy fans, it’s “guessing time” again. Another opportunity to lose credibility. Fortunately, the pain of past losses are soon forgotten when a new season begins. The scars of past seasons have healed over and hope springs eternal that, “this time we’ve got it right.” The veterans of this game know the fans have a very short memory, and the rookies are fearless in their proclamation of “truth.” Money can be made: write a novel, produce a movie, start a TV program. Truly the opportunities are endless.
Undoubtedly, we will once again hear that familiar cry, “The Lord told me” coming forth from the charismatic players. While on the other side of the field our evangelical and fundamentalist brethren will declare “The Bible says.” The fans will line up behind their favorite players and debates will rage. The word “heretic” will fill the air, along with such terms as “scoffer” and “false prophet.” Too bad Ol’ Edgar “88 Reasons” Whisenant seems to have retired. Players like that only come along once in a lifetime. There was a player who was not afraid to “swing for the fences,” and even though he struck out, he refused to leave the batter’s box. His sequel “89 Reasons” was a revisionist classic, truly a hallmark of Christian literature.
This all would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad. It is not only the cults who have erroneously issued apocalyptic warnings. Christian leaders have time and time again, thrown away their credibility by playing this game. Unfortunately, the events of September 11th have kicked off a new round of speculations. I am not questioning the sincerity of the prognosticators, only their wisdom. Time has shown that there have been many sincere, God-loving, men and women who predicted future events based upon their interpretation of the Scriptures and been wrong. In fact, many times over the past one hundred years evangelical leaders have cried, “Wolf,” regarding Armageddon, the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, and various other so-called “end-time” events. I suggest we call for a moratorium on such declarations.
Dwight Wilson, (a premillennial, Assemblies of God minister and professor of history), has written an important book entitled Armageddon Now. He has chronicled the failed prophetic predictions of many well-known leaders since the turn of the last century. In writing this book he hoped to sound a warning to preachers, to avoid making the same mistake. Nevertheless, many of his peers seem to ignore such warnings and march in “where angels fear to tread.”
One of the best known forecasters stated in 1975 with great certainty, “The Soviet flag will fly over Independence Hall in Philadelphia by 1976.” Another popular preacher virtually guaranteed that the Tribulation would begin in 1982 following a Russian invasion of Israel. Still another prophecy teacher wrote, “ I am convinced that the Lord is coming for His Church before 1981.” All of these men are well-recognized leaders, and to my knowledge have never publicly repented for their “false prophecy.” In addition, it appears that these statements are quickly forgotten, or excused by most of the Body of Christ. We certainly were not so generous when the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Herbert W. Armstrong missed it.
But what is more harmful than simply the failed forecasts, is the way this causes the Bible to be viewed. The Bible is not a collection of predictions, like the writings of Nostradamus. It is not a “code book” through which we are to ascertain the future. Such an approach lowers the Bible from the place and purpose for which it was given. It is the record of God’s Covenant. The Covenant is the meaning of Biblical history. The Covenant is the meaning of Biblical law. The Covenant is the meaning of Biblical prophecy. The Old Testament prophets were not into “foretelling” the future as their primary task. Their task was to call Man back to the Covenant. The purpose of prophecy is not “prediction,” but evaluation of man’s response to the Covenant. Because the covenantal context of the Bible has been ignored; it has been reduced in the minds of many, to being nothing more than the basis for speculations. It is seen as an interesting book, in which many mysteries are hidden concerning the future of mankind, not unlike the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
Alas, I suppose the “eschatological guessing game” will continue. It’s become a pretty big business you know. Maybe someday soon we will be able to buy our “prophecy books” at the supermarket checkout counter, along with The National Inquirer.
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