eschatology-may-june-1994

Editor-in-Chief Michael S. Horton Publications Director Sara McReyn9lds Managing Editor Devron Byerly Art John Dearstyne Megan Giles John Newcombe Paul Swift CURE Board of Directors Douglas Abendroth John G. Beauman Cheryl Biehl Robert den Dulk Dr. W. Robert Godfrey Richard Hermes Michael S. Horton Dr. Robert Preus Dr. Luder Whitlock President Michael S. Horton Vice President Kim Riddlebarger Operations Manager Louise Johnson Office Manager Jo Horton Development Dan Bach Production Director Shane Rosenthal Production Assistant Mike De Fusco Shipping & Distribution Brant Wilcox Correspondence Alan Maben Bookkeeper Micki Riddlebarger CuRE is a non~profit educational foundation committed to communicating the insights of the 16th century Reformation to the 20th century church. For more information, call during business hours at: (714) 9 56~ CURE, or write us at: CHRISTIANS UNITED

for REFORMATION

2221 East Winston Road Suite K Anaheim, CA 92806

modernRE:FORMAll0N

MAY/JUNE 1994

ESCHATOLOGY

The Antichrist

4

Kim Riddlebarger

The Church and Israel

7

Michael S. Horton

We Shall Also Reign with Him

10

Rick Ritchie

A Present or Future Millennium 14 Kim Riddlebarger

The New Millenniulll

19

Michael S. Horton

1994 ?

22

A Critical Review Geoffrey Hubler

© 1994, CHRISTIANS UNITED for All rights reserved.

REFORMATION.

Glossary

SUBSCRIBE TO

Evangelical Dictionary of Theology Walter A. Elwell, Editor

Baker Book House

modemREFORMATION

8009562644

- - - --

------

--

modern REFORMATION

1rlle i\11ticllrist

erhaps no subject broached by contemporary Bible prophecy teachers engenders more speculation and less sound Biblical exegesis than does the subject of Antichrist.

This is certainly due to the mysterious nature of the subject itself, as well as to the fact that no other aspect of Bible prophecy lends itself so nicely to speculation regarding the identification of one specific individual who will become the very personification of evil and the archenemy of Jesus Christ and his gospel.

"Pin the tail" on the Antichrist is not merely an evangelical fascination. Indeed, such speculation has gone on almost from the beginning of Christianity.

Irenaeus (130-200) argued that Antichrist would be a Jewish born, satanically inspired, usurper of God's true glory, who would appear in the Jerusalem temple in connection with an end,times great apostasy.l The Protestant Reformers, of course, universally identified the papacy with the Antichrist, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1540) stating that "the papacy will also be a part of the kingdom ofAntichrist if it maintains that human rites justify (XV.18)." The Westminster Confession (1647) contends that the Pope is "that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God (XXV.6)." Rome, not to be outdone, has returned the favor, contending that antichristic Protestant "heresies have swept down from the North, where Calvin, Wycliffe, Luther and legions of Protestants are ravaging the flock of Christ."2 But there is no doubt that much of contemporary speculation has taken the concept of identifying the Antichrist to new extremes. One of my favorite possessions is a booklet passed on to me by my grandmother, entitled The Time of Jacob's Trouble

rZim Riddlebarger 4

•

MAY/JUNE 1994

(1939), wherein the author attempts to demonstrate that the revived Germany under Hitler in the pre, World War II years is the supposed last,days ten' nation confederacy predicted in Revelation '13. Of course, the author very deftly demonstrates how Mussolini is the false prophet and how Italian imperialism in Ethiopia is proof that Rome is the great harlot of Revelation 18 and compatriot of the German beast. I can still remember the fear instilled in me as a child, when I heard one preacher declare that Antichrist was then living somewhere in the Middle East, probably still a child playing stickball in some crowded dusty street, awaiting the day when he would be possessed by the devil and allowed to wreck havoc on the world after the rapture.

One local Bible prophecy "expert" has made a seminar and media career out of identifying King Juan Carlos of Spain as the Antichrist. Others have tabbed, at one time or another, virtually every leader of the Soviet Union, the Middle East and the European Economic Community as possibilities to become the archenemy of Jesus Christ. Perhaps more representative of modern speculators is Chuck Smith, founder and patriarch of Calvary Chapel. Smith has described Antichrist as one who will deceptively come bringing answers to all of the geopolitical upheaval in the world exacerbated by the removal of all Christians after the rapture. "At that time a man will come on the scene with some fantastic answers concerning peace. He'll be like a magician in his ability to get nations and people together." Concludes Smith, "He'll sign a covenant with the nation Israel, and Israel will accept it. He'll build his own powerful economic bloc and monetary system. All the world will wonder after this man and follow him and his schemes and programs. This man is the Antichrist."3 I am sure that many of you can identify with these prophetic schemes. After all, such is the predominant view in many evangelical and charismatic circles.

But is this really what the Bible says about Antichrist?

While it may come as a surprise to many, there are only four texts in Scripture (all in John's first two epistles: 1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn 7) where the term "antichrist" is actually used. And while there is, in my

modern REFORMATION

opInIon, a definite connection between John's "Antichrist", Paul's "Man of Sin" (2 Thes) and the "Beast" in John's Apocalypse (Rv 11:7; chapter 13 ),4 John's four texts set out a markedly different understanding of Antichrist than that given us by contemporary prophecy "experts." Therefore, it is most helpful to review them. ased on these texts, there are three critical points to be made related to John's treatment of Antichrist. It is amazing to me that merely raising these points so quickly demonstrates how far from the biblical data so many of the current discussions about Antichrist have wandered. First, John argues that Antichrist is not some mysterious individual who is only and finally revealed in the last days. In fact, John says just the opposite. Whatever (or whoever) the Antichrist is, it (or he or she as the case may be) was already present at the time of John's writing. John expressly states that the spirit of Antichrist, "even now is already in the world" (1 Jn 4:3b). As B. B. Warfield points out, "John makes this assertion with the utmost emphasis. This thing, he says 'is now in

B

the world already."'5 The Antichrist is a present reality for John. So while much of the current discussion about Antichrist isolates his appearance to the distant days immediately before the end, John instead describes him as a foe already existing when the epistle was written. In fact, writes John, "Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour" (1 J n 2: 18). The very presence of Antichrist is clearly an indication that the last hour has indeed already come. And since Antichrist was present in John's own lifetime, we can only conclude that we have been in the last hour since John composed his epistle. Therefore, we cannot ignore the present reality of Antichrist if we are to heed John's warning. he second important point regarding Antichrist, which is often overlooked by many, is also clear from the passage just cited. Not only has Antichrist already come, but John indicates that there is not merely one Antichrist, but a series

T

MAY/JUNE 1994 •

5

modern REFORMATION of such enemies of Jesus Christ. "Even now," he says "many antichrists have come." So it is quite erroneous to contend that Antichrist is limited to a specific individual, totally unknown to Christians until his revelation immediately before Jesus Christ's return.

Many Antichrists had already come in John's own lifetime. While it is certainly possible that this multitude of Antichrists will culminate in an Antichrist before Christ comes back, John (who alone among the New Testament writers even uses the term "Antichrist") does not say this. But he does explicitly state that many Antichrists have already come, and their present opposition to the infant Church is part of the struggle with the forces of unbelief about which John is attempting to warn the faithful. In other words, one of John's purposes in writing these epistles is to warn all Christians who worry that Antichrist is still to come in the last hour that, on the contrary, many Antichrists have already come, and so it is indeed already the last hour. he third point regarding Antichrist specifically concerns just what exactly it is that characterizes his evil operations. While most contemporary speculation centers on Antichrist's political activity, specifically his supposed seven,year peace treaty with the nation of Israel after the rapture (based, I believe, on a very, faulty reading of Daniel 9: 24-27, which was already fulfilled in amazing detail during our Lord's First Advent, thereby completing the "seventy,week" prophecy in its entirety), John's focus is squarely upon the heretical nature of these individual Antichrists and their false doctrine. "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son" (1 Jn 2:22). In his second epistle, John reaffirms all three of these points by stating "Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist (2 Jn 7)." Antichrist has already come.

There are many of them. And anyone who denies that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh (and also, by implication, who denies the doctrine of the Trinity) is an Antichrist! Antichrist is any heretic who denies the full humanity or deity of Christ! He was already present when John wrote his first epistle, and John warns us that he will be present throughout the life of the church. John identifies him as an Antichrist solely on the basis of his confession about Jesus Christ!

Given these very clear Biblical criteria, it is difficult to see just how King Juan Carlos of Spain

T

6

•

MAY/JUNE 1994

might qualify. But it is very easy to see how the neognostic Word,Faith teachers like Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland just might. If Antichrist is already present when John wrote his letter, if there are many of them, and if they are heretics, then just why, exactly, does so much of the current preoccupation with Antichrist focus upon a future appearance of this evil figure? Certainly this is due in part to the other images in Scripture which are likely related (Le., Paul's Man of Sin, John's Beast). These may indeed have future reference. But if anything is clear from John's use of Antichrist terminology, it is that his focus is certainly on the present danger facing the church from heretical false teaching and not on the rise of a nebulous future tyrant. And so while this series of Antichrists that John describes may indeed culminate in an Antichrist, the biblical evidence demonstrates that the primary thrust is doctrinal (the Antichrist is primarily a false teacher) and only incidentally political and economic (Le., people being prevented from buying and selling). Perhaps the Church would be better served if there were fewer books written trying to identify the Antichrist and speculating about geopolitical intrigue, and if instead there were more exegetical works treating what Scripture actually says about these men of evil. It is a shame that so many Christians can quite readily dialogue about the latest theory as to the Antichrist's identity, when at the same time they are often unable to defend the deity and humanity of Christ from the pages of Holy Scripture. t

1 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, V. xxiv,xxx.

2 Vincent P. Miceli, The Antichrist (Harrison N.Y.: Roman Catholic Books, 1981), p. 127.

3 Chuck Smith, What the World Is Coming To (Costa Mesa: Maranatha House Publishers, 1977).

4 See my "For He Must Reign" eschatology syllabus (pages 82,102) for my arguments on this point.

5 B. B. Warfield, "Antichrist" in Selected Shorter Writings, Volume 1, John E. Meeter, ed. (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing House, 1980), p. 358.

Kim Riddlebarger is a graduate of California State University in Fullerton and Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He is the executive vice,president of CuRE and a contributing author to Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation and Power Religion: The Selling out of

the Evangelical Church.

modern REFORMATION

The Church and Israel

~~~'<.JT 'he center of the entire prophetic D.\,.....;...;:z:....;...=....;..-.til

forecast is the State of Israel,"

declares prophetic pontiff, Hal Lindsey. On May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again and, writes Lindsey, "For this reason I am convinced that we are now in the ~m~~~~~ unique time so clearly and precisely forecast by the Hebrew prophets. Thus, all the various prophecies will come to pass during this generation."

Dispensationalists have maintained that the prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel regarding a future restoration of Israel are fulfilled in the recreation of that nation in 1948. What about this? Is that what the prophets had in mind? A further question must then be asked: Are the promises God made to Abraham fulfilled in the Zionist movement or in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? But first things first: 1948.

Ezekiel prophesies, "I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name" (39:25). Likewise, Daniel's prophecies which are delivered in 530 BC, just fifty,five years after Ezekiel's, also point to a future restoration of a now destroyed nation of Israel. During Ezekiel's ministry, the nation is dismantled and carried off into Babylonian captivity and both prophets are offering the people hope in the midst of tragedy. One hundred years later, the promises made through these two prophets are fulfilled as Nehemiah and Ezra are allowed to return to rebuild Jerusalem with released exiles. The walls are rebuilt, God's people return, and although the nations an imperial satellite, Babylon's rulers empty their own treasuries to assist in the rebuilding. Thus, the prediction that God would bring His people out of exile and back to Jerusalem is finally fulfilled. A new temple is even built with the assistance of the Persian king.

All of this was fulfilled within a century after the prophecy. The temple was rebuilt, sacrifices renewed, the city rebuilt, and the exiles came home. So much for 1948.

Of course, there are predictions made by Daniel

which require fulfillment beyond the return under Nehemiah. One example is the vision of the four kingdoms-Babylon and Medo,Persia (two empires which existed during Daniel's own lifetime), Greece (second century, BC), and Rome (first century, BC through fifth century AD). All of these world empires would collapse, two of which Daniel knew first, hand, while the latter two were fulfilled as late as the fifth century AD. These earthly empires would never outlast the empire of the coming One who will finally bring all of His scattered tribe (Jew and Gentile alike) home: "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd" (Ez 34:23). It was just this prophecy which Jesus proclaimed Himself to be fulfilling in His self,designation as the Good Shepherd inJohn chapter ten. Thus, Ezekiel is not about Jewish Zionism in 1948, but about the return of the exiles in 440 BC and ultimately about Jesus Christ as the Son of David.

What about the destruction of the temple? Was it not predicted in the New Testament that there would be a final destruction of the temple and the city? Indeed, it was: "Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings. 'Do you see all these things?' He asked. 'I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down'" (Mt 24:1-2). This is often taken to refer to a fulfillment in our own lifetime, and yet, when the disciples wanted to know what the signs of this would be, He said, "You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death." (Mt 24:9) Doesn't it sound like Jesus was preparing them for an immediate fulfillment? The fact is, this was fulfilled in 70 AD, when the city was destroyed by the Romans. Jews and Christians were slaughtered and scattered, and the temple was destroyed to the extent that "not one stone" was "left on another." The Roman emperor, proclaiming himself God, sat in the Holy of Holies,

Michael S. Horton MAY/JUNE 1994 â&#x20AC;˘

7

modern REFORMATION place ... " The prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel do not have to find their fulfillment in 1948 or in any other period which coincides with remarkable current events.

The second question, however, is of more central concern: Is the modem state of Israel and Zionism in general the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham? Classical Dispensationalism presents two programs of salvation, though recent revisions have toned down on the radical discontinuity. In classical Dispensationalism, God's ultimate program involves the nation Israel. The Church is a "parenthesis"-a sort of footnote or sidetrack in contrast to God's main mission to save ethnic, national Israel.

We believe that this position gravely misunderstands the plan of God and the clear teaching of the Scriptures. In so doing, it risks offering false hopes to modem Jews by way of a plan of redemption which, at least in temporal matters, does not require the mediation of the world's only Savior. If you think this is a caricature of the position, just attend the And There Was War in Heaven by Albrecht Durer annual National Prayer fulfilling the "abomination of desolation" predicted Breakfast in Honor of Israel in Washington, D.C. I did that one year and I remember fundamentalist in Daniel. And if-after years of the Dispensational teaching that the "abomination of desolation," takes preachers and prophecy"experts" leading the Jewish, place during the tribulation-it is difficult to accept Christian gathering in prayer "to our common this interpretation, just look at our Lord's own Father-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." remark: "So when you see standing in the holy place Now, if another group of Christians down the street 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken had a prayer service of Christians and Moslems, or Christians and Hindus, it would be considered a basic through the prophet Daniel-let the reader denial of the uniqueness of Christ and His mediatorial understand-then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." (Mt 24:15-16) Would not the work. But for these people, Jews evidently did not need the Gospel, for there was no reference to it even in original audience have clearly understood Jesus to be preparing them for events which were right around passing. Not one prayer ended with the name of Christ. the corner? "So when you see standing in the holy The Apostle Paul would call this the Galatian 8

â&#x20AC;˘

MAY/JUNE 1994

modern REFORMATION heresy. "Understand that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture predicted that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.' So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith . All who rely on observing the law are under a curse" (GaI3:6-10). Thus, there are not two programs.

Jews and Gentiles alike are "under a curse" and can only approach God and receive His promises by faith in Jesus Christ. To suggest that God is fulfilling promises to national Israel apart from Christ surely borders on heresy.

But God is not fulfilling promises to national Israel. The abomination that makes desolate in AD 70 did, in fact, make the temple desolate. So, while we rejoice with the persecuted Jews of the world now in their homeland, there is probably no prophetic significance to the year 1948. f we look very carefully at the promises made to Abraham (Gn 12:2-3), and the many warnings which follow throughout the Old Testament, the promise of the land is conditional upon Israel's obedience. The promise of a final Promised Land and resting place, however, is by faith alone. Thus, the Old Testament patriarchs were not as interested in a plot of land as modern Dispensationalists. "By faith [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country ... for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God ... And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky.... All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised" (Heb 11:9-13). What? They didn't receive the things promised? They were in the land, weren't they? But the Bible says that this was not the ultimate promise. "They admitted they were aliens and strangers on earth [even in the promised land]. People who say such things show that they are

looking for a country of their own" (Heb 11:13-14). But they had a country of their own! "If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one" (Heb 11:15­ 16).

So, you see, the promises made to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ and passed along to all those who belong to Christ by faith.

Whether Jew or Gentile, all who are relying on the works of the law are still under a curse and apart from the Messiah and there is no promise of anything but judgment.

"I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means!," writes the Apostle Paul, citing his own conversion to Christ as a Jew. "So too, at this present time [not some future time] there is a remnant chosen by grace" (Rom 11: 1,5). In this present age, God is grafting in with Israel branches from alien, Gentile trees and forming one single family in which "there is neither Jew nor Gentile....For all are one in Christ" (Gal 3:28). t

Jews and Gentiles

alil<e are "under a

curse" and can only approach God and receive His promises by faith in Jesus Christ.

I

Michael S. Horton is the president and founder of CURE and the author of Putting Amazing Back Into Grace, Made in America, The Law of Perfect Freedom, and Beyond Culture Wars. He is the editor of The Agony of Deceit, Power Religion, and Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, England.

In the MarchIApril issue of Modern Reformation, Michael Horton incorrectly listed Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute, as a supporter and signer of a document drafted by Richard Neuhaus, Evangelicals and

Catholics Together: The Christians Mission in the Third Millennium. We regret the error.

MAY/JUNE 1994 â&#x20AC;˘

9

modern REFORMATION

We Shall Also Reign

with Him

t is the first century. Some members of your trade guild ~~~a have convinced you that instead of there being many gods, there is one, and his name is Jesus Christ. You were baptized into Christ's name during a period of relative peace, but now everything has changed. Instead ofenjoying prosperity, your friends are being carted off to jail, and it looks as if things are only going to get worse. If God were to add one more book to the Scriptures for your sake, what kind of book would you need?

Would you need a book of obscure symbols foretelling a technological war occurring in some distant future? A book that you could perhaps take the time to chart while you wasted away in prison? No. You would need a book that showed that while enemies threaten the Church, Christ still reigns. Those who defy his will do not thwart his plan for his people.

Tribulation and Millennium The book of Revelation was originally addressed to the needs of Christians suffering persecution. From their earthly vantage point, all they could see was defeat. The book of Revelation was written to pull back the curtain, supplementing the earthly perspective with the heavenly. A plausible case can that the tribulation and the millennium symbolize these earthly and heavenly viewpoints respectively.

The distinction is not one of 'earlier versus later', but one of 'earthly versus heavenly'. The millennium is not after the tribulation, but above it. Both periods begin with the first coming of Christ, and end with the second.

It might be suspected that there are ulterior motives behind such a position. Perhaps those who would hold such a position do so because they are

Ricl( Ritchie 10

â&#x20AC;˘

MA YIJUNE 1994

afraid to apply the book of Revelation to the headline events of our day. They don't believe that God can be active in real history or foretell real events. Maybe this view is a clever disguise for disbelief in the supernatural. The motives are in fact different.

When we appeal to the conditions of the first century to throw light on the meaning of the book, this does not confine the relevance of the book to the first century; rather, it ensures that the book is applicable to all ages. It is a rigid focus on peculiarly twentieth~century conditions which would trivialize the book for most its readers through the ages. This view glorifies Christ by showing that he is sovereign Lord of the whole of human history, not just a seer capable of predicting a narrow slice of it.

Symbols in the Book of Revelation It is clear that those who hold the view that the tribulation and the millennium are the same period of time do not take the Bible 'literally,' because the tribulation is said to be a period of seven years, and the millennium a period of a thousand years. What besides unbelief could be the cause of such a position?

A careful reading of the appropriate passages in light of the rest of the book and the rest of Scripture.

In the first verse of the book of Revelation, we are told that God gave John the revelation in order "to show his servants what must soon take place" (Rv 1: 1). The words "to show" elsewhere mean to picture or to communicate by signs. In John 21: 19, this same Greek word is used to describe how Jesus, by means of an image, told Peter how he was to die. This word is also used in a Greek version of Daniel 2:45 to refer to Nebuchadnezzar's dream in which the future is shown to him symbolically in his sleep.

As believers in the authority of Scripture, we may depart from a literal interpretation of the text only where the text itself demands it. In the book of Revelation, the text does indeed demand a symbolic interpretation-in the very first verse! The book of Revelation demands to be seen as a book of signs, and the whole book is to be read accordingly.

I

modern REFORMATION /

The Tribulation as a Sign schemes are employed to order the events! Second, If the book of Revelation is a book of signs, then there is evidence in the book itself that the number it may not be necessary to take the number of years seven might have more than quantitative meaning. assigned to any period literally. The numbers may In addition to seven years of tribulation there are have symbolic meaning. seven churches, trumpets, plagues, bowls of wrath, Everyone agrees that some numbers in the book thunders, and Spirits of God. The abundant use of are used symbolically. Even the most literalistic the number, especially to refer to symbolic items, is reader of the book of enough to make us Revelation agrees wonder if the number that the number 666 is indicative of the does not refer to a character of the quantity, but to a tribulation rather name. The book calls than its duration. for the one with Now what is the wisdom to "calculate character of the the number of the tribulation, and beast" (Rv 13:18). where do we learn of The agreement as to it? It would be nice if the identity of the its interpretation beast is not, however, were spelled out like universal, and this the book's overall poses . a question for symbolic character the one who wishes right in the to depart from the beginning. In fact, it literal meaning of the is. No, not at the number seven as it , beginning ofthe book applies to t he of Revelation, but at tribulation. In the the beginning of the case of the number Bible, "In the 666, the meaning is beginning." Does it intentionally obscure, not make sense that requiring special God may not close wisdom. But in the his book in the same manner that he case of the passages dealing with the opened it? tribulation, there is In the book of no such expressed Genesis, seven days intention to obscure were used to meaning. If these represent the passages end up complete period of obscure, it will only Creation and its be as a result of our consummation. The insistence that we not A nuclear Armageddon in the Near East? first six days portrayed God's creative work, while the seventh and last day read them quantitatively, that is, in reference to a literal numb~r of years. How do we avoid the charge consummated it. This is a good pattern for interpreting of obscuring what is clear? the seven year tribulation. It is the complete period of judgement and its consummation. But where are First we must point out that the charge is not fair.

While the quantitative meaning of the word 'seven' the six days of Creation paralleled? In the seals (Rv is dear, its quantitative reading does not make the 6), trumpets (Rv 8), and bowls (Rv 15-16). In the book of Revelation clear as a whole. Among those first six ofeach of these items, we see God's judgement who agree on the "clear" quantitative meaning of the upon the enemies of his church. It is not a complete number seven, just look at how many different judgement, however, for there is leniency. Some of MAYIJUNE 1994.

11

modern REFORMATION the wicked are spared and given more time to repent.

This is a period of trouble for the Church when the saints are martyred and cry out "How long, 0 Lord?" and the world receives a foretaste of the Last Judgement to come. It is in the seventh seal, the seventh trumpet, and the seventh bowl that we see the final delivery of the saints and the Last Judgement of their enemies. As the wicked are called by the last trumpet to Judgement, the people of God are called to enter the sabbath rest which was intended for them on the last day in Genesis.

The Millennium as a Sign If the seven year ¡t ribulation pictures the apparent chaos on earth, the thousand year millennium pictures a cosmos where God reigns and Satan is bound. The Bible teaches that this time period began with Christ's ministry and therefore is simultaneous with the trouble the Church experiences in persecution.

Revelation chapter 20 tells us that Satan is bound for the thousand years and thrown into the abyss. Christ tells us that this happened during his ministry in Luke 10:17-18. He says "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." When he healed the demoniac, he said that for someone to carry off the strong man's possessions, the strong man must first be bound (Mt 12:29). Jesus did carry off the strong man's (Satan's) possessions, so He must have bound Satan first.

While throughout the church age Satan appears to be having a field day slaying the saints, God has fixed a limit to his activity.

For the believer, the present sufferings are not to be taken as a sign that God is deaf to the cries of his people or powerless to help. When we bear up under them, our sufferings are signposts telling us that we can expect

glory up ahead. As Paul told his readers, "If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Tm2:12 NIV).

The picture of the millennium in Revelation 20 shows us that the translation from suffering to reigning is immediate at the point of death, no waiting involved. If martyrdom is imminent, so much the more is glory.

But What about the Old Testament Promises?

One reason that some offer for a literal millennium is that there are unfulfilled Old Testament promises which must find their fulfillment in the future, and the millennium is the ideal period in which to expect their fulfillment. Perhaps the most obvious of these is the promise of a certain portion of land in Palestine to Abraham and his offspring. It is claimed that the Old Testament nation of Israel never extended as far as God promised, but that during the millennium it will.

The promise referred to, the Abrahamic covenant (see Gn 15 , especially verses 18-21), was a royal land grant covenant between God and Abraham. It involved a unilateral oath on the part of God, so that it cannot be claimed that the unfaithfulness of the people invalidated it. Therefore the only way to prove that this need not be fulfilled in the future is to prove that it was already fulfilled in the past. If we cannot do this, then the premillenialists are right, for God must keep his promises no matter what it might require to fulfill them. On the other hand, if this promise can be shown to have been fulfilled in the past, then an earthly millennium be ofno explanatory use for the promise.

What makes our task easier is the fact that Scripture itself tells us in clear words that this promise was fulfilled long ago: So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them. The Lord handed al their enemies over to them. Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. Oos

For the believer, the present sufferings are not to be tal<en as a sign that God is deaf to the cries of his people or powerless to help.

12

â&#x20AC;˘

MAY/JUNE 1994

21:43-45 NIV)

The promise referred to is clearly the promise to Abraham. It is Scripture's own interpretation of the facts that all the conditions of the promise were met.

This is much more certain than things would be if we had to hunt for the fulfillment of each element of the promise to prove that all was fulfilled, for we could always wonder if all territories were held at the same time.

modern REFORMATION Error in the System Another problem with the idea that the millennium is a future period of Christ's rule upon the earth is the problem of eviL Who will be capable of rebelling against Christ at the end of the thousand years? From where do these ' wicked people come?

It is the pretribulationists' own method of reading Scripture that gives rise to the problem.

Pretribulationists insist that the book ofRevelation must be read as a chronological account of the last days. If the book is read this way, then the events in Revelation 19 (the Second Coming of Christ and the Judgement of the Wicked) must precede the millennium. We know from other Scriptures that at the Last Judgement the wicked will be "weeded out" and there is no hint that this job will be left incomplete (See Mt 13). Could those who are left still rebel against Christ? No, for they will be glorified (See 1 Jn 3:2). What about their children?

Read Luke 20:35. They won't have any!

The idea that during the physical reign of Christ on the earth a host of people would mount a rebellion against him is unusual to begin with, but what is more serious, it is contrary to the data which suggest that these people would not have made it into the millennium in the first place.

If the Christian is lllartyred, he will not be left defeated in the grave. He will reign with Christ as a faithful soldier until his IZing claillls final victory.

~

them! He reigns even today and has a realm where they can reign with Him if they are killed in battle.

What can compare to this?

t

1 This word "forefathers" is used by Moses himself in referring to the land promise before the Sinaiatic covenant was ratified (Exodus 12:5). It is therefore most naturally applied to the promise made first to Abraham, then to his descendants, not to a promise to Moses.

2 In addition to being able to cite Scripture's claim that the land promise was fulfilled, we could, in fact, document the fulfillment of each element of the promise if it wer~ necessary. Check the NIV Study Bible's center column references for Genesis 15: 18~ 21. For an illustration of this territory, See map 5, Kingdom ofDavid and Solomon in the NIV Study Bible. This map shows Isreal extending form the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates, with colorcoding to show which kingdom had conquered which territory according to Scripture.

3 I have given the mere outline of this argument which is comprehensively by Arthur H. Lewis in The Dark Side of

the Millennium: The Problem of Evil in Revelation

20:1~10

(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980).

Revelation Glorifies God in All Ages If both the tribulation and millennium span the

entire Church age, then the teaching concerning

them is a comfort to a believer in any age. Instead of

the first~century Christian being bewildered by vague

descriptions of twentieth~century military hardware,

he is heartened by a vision of victory. The world may

be out to kill him, but it will not destroy the Church.

If the Christian is martyred, he will not be left

defeated in the grave. He will reign with Christ as a

faithful soldier until his King claims final victory.

Surely this makes the book of Revelation more

alive, not less so! It may be less thrilling for satisfied

twentieth~century Christians who just want to be

titillated by reading end~time speculation after Sunday brunch. But Christians in any age of persecution, it is a wonderful consolation. Their King fights for MA YIJUNE 1994.

13

modern R EFORMATION

A Millennium .

rican Evangelicals are firm committed to the idea that an earthly millennia age will begin immediat ly after our Lord Jesus rist's Second Adv . ~ince p eÂŤl ennialism is so do inant in American church circles, many 0 encounter historic Prote ism lrst time are quite surprised when they discover that all of the Protestant Reformers and the entire Reformed and Lutheran traditions are amillennial. Amillennialism is that understanding of eschatology which sees the millennium not as a future golden age as does premillennialism (the age of the church triumphant), but instead as the present course of history between the First and Second Advent's of our Lord (the age of the church militant). And indeed, I am sure that there are many readers who will express shock and disappointment upon learning ofmy own amillennial convictions. But I am convinced, however, that many readers simply do not understand the basic end~times scenario found in the New Testament.

Part of the problem is that dispensational premillennial writers have completely dominated Christian media and publishing. There are literally hundreds of books, churches, and parachurch ministries all devoted to taking premillennialism and the "pre tribulation" rapture idea to the masses.

And so, I can only lament the fact that my own tradition has done so little to produce popular books introducing and defending amillennialism. It is my guess that many who read this article will have never heard the case for the classical position held by the church regarding the return of Christ and the millennial age.

rZim Riddlebarger

14

â&#x20AC;˘

MAYIJUNE 1994

,

'

~

"IV~/\~ ~\~ \JO

' rNr~ji

Another pr em encou ered when examining' . iOns of it often generate a ~ rJ this subject is that dis great deal of heat but not very much light. One local prophecy pundit has quipped that the people in .\ heaven with the lowest IQs will be amillennial. Half\ "Late Great" Lindsey goes so far as to label ~ amillennialism as "anti~Semitic," demonic and heretical. 1 I t is not uncommon to hear prophecy teachers label amillennial Christians as "liberal" or to accuse them of not taking the Bible literally. The result of such diatribes is that American Christians cannot help but be prejudiced by such unfortunate comments, and many simply reject outright (without due consideration of the other side) the eschatology of the Reformers and classical Protestantism-an eschatology that is amazingly simple, biblical, and Christ centered. And so, if you should be in that camp, instead of simply turning me off at this point, please bear with me, hear my case, and then decide for yourself on the basis of Scripture.

Unfortunately, it is all too fashionable to interpret the Bible in light of the morning newspaper and CNN . Yes, it is fun to read the Bible through the filter of every geopolitical crisis that arises in our modern world. This adds relevance to the Bible, we are told.

It most assuredly sells thousands and thousands of books and provides for slick programs on Christian TV and radio documenting every move by the European Economic Community, and every possible technological breakthrough that may prepare the way for the coming Mark of the Beast. These sensational end~times dramas heighten the sense of urgency regarding the coming of our Lord. They supposedly give the church missionary zeal. But however fascinating these schemes may be, I do not believe that they accurately reflect the Biblical data.

There is, in addition, a quite serious side effect produced by this approach to Bible prophecy: The Bible no longer speaks for itself because it is twisted into a pretzel by each of its interpreters, who do their best to show that the upheaval of the nations described

\.J

1 ,.{rP\

Vv\

0 with the original reader in the first century struggling under Roman persecution, but is instead C."O., somehow related to the morning headlines. How 0)~.

'JI:: many times can we tell our hearers that Jesus is ~coming back soon (No, we really mean it this time!) and then tie that message to a passing despot like Saddam Hussein or a tenuous political figure like Mikhail Gorbachev? How do we keep those who need to hear about Christ's Second Advent the most from becoming increasingly cynical abo the messa e of his coming? But then again this too is a sign of the end, for scoffers will come and say "where is this 'coming' he promised?"

(2 Pt 3:3-4) How (

\

I

oJ

""'\S

tragic that prophecy speculators actually contribute to the very ske lClS they the m s e I v e s y sign of the end. The classical Protestant tradition has helpful

I

to etrl"cal another.

t OppOSl IOn on One age is te other is etern e stage IS characterized y unb ief and d "d th en s in JU ement; e is the age f the faithful an ho e to the redeemed.

answers to these problems, as it does to many other crises facing the modem Church that, by and large, have ~~~'r.tten by today's Evangelicals. ,r A" 11 the Protestant Reformers, were they to c e back to give us counsel in these areas, ould ins' /t that we must start with the notion that t itself must be read with the analogia fidei (the analogy of faith), meaning that Holy Scripture must be allowed to interpret Scripture. In other words, we must inductively develop a biblical model of eschatology by utilizing all of the passages that relate to the return of Christ, the resurrection, the judgement, the millennium, and so on. We should never study eschatology merely by finding Bible verses (often out of context) that we think describe current events. And so, by utilizing the analogy of faith, we begin with the clear declarations ofScripture regarding the coming of our Lord and use them to shed light on passages that are less clear. Following this method, we can clear up many of the bizarre mysteries fabricated by modem prophecy devotees, who insist upon making unclear and difficult passages the standard by which we interpret clear and certain

.n.

we will soon find that we can no longer interpret all of the Bible by the Book of Revelation. Instead, we must read the Book of Revelation through the rest of the Bible. Historic Protestants would also insist, for

example, that Revelation interprets the book of

Daniel and not vice versa. The New Testament must

be allowed to interpret the Old. There is nothing

particularly difficult or profound in this, and following this basic princi Ie of Bible study facilitates a clearer n erst nding Bible prophecy.

If(t? weO begin withclear passages of Scripture, ~we can construct a very simple, basic model to help us with the "weirder," tougher passages. One such approach is known as the "two~age" model.

Both Jesus and Paul, for example, speak of "this age" and the "age to come" as distinct eschatological periods of time (Mt 12:32; Lk

18:30; 20:34-35; Eph 1:21). For both our

Lord and the apostle, there are two contrasting ages in view. The first age (spoken of as "this age" in the New Testament) is the present period of time before the Second Coming of Christ. The second age, a distinctly future period of time, is referred to as "the age to come." When these two ages ("this age" and "the age to come") are placed in contrast with each other, we are able us to look at the qualities ascribed by the Biblical writers to each in such a way that we can answer questions about the timing of the return of Christ and the nature and timing of the millennium.

When we look at the qualities ascribed to "this age" by the biblical writers, we find that the following are mentioned: "homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields-and with them persecutions" (Mk 10:30); "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage" (Lk 20:34); the scholar, philosopher and such wisdom are of this age (1 Cor 1:20); secular and religious rulers dominate (1 Cor 2:6-8); "the god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds ofunbelievers" (2 Cor 4:4); this age is explicitly called "the present evil age" (Gal 1:4); ungodliness and worldly passions MAYIJUNE 1994.

15

modern REFORMATION are typical of it (Ti 2:12).

All of these qualities are temporal, and are certainly destined to pass away with the return of our Lord. "This age" is the age in which we live, and is the age in which we struggle as we long for the coming of Christ and the better things of the age to come.

By marked contrast however, "the age to come" has an entirely different set of qualities ascribed to it: There will be no forgiveness for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:32); it is preceeded by signs (Mt 24:3); it is characterized by eternal life (Mk 10:30; Lk 18:30); is also denoted as a time when there is no marriage or giving in marriage (Lk 20:35); and it is which is characterized by "life that is truly life" (I Tm 6:19). These qualities are all eternal, and are indicative of the,tstate of affairs and quality of life after the return of ~hrist. In other words, these two ages, the present ("this age") and the future (the "age to come") stand in diametrical opposition to one another. One age is temporal; the other is eternal. One stage is characterized by unbelief and ends in judgement; the other is the age of the faithful and is home to the redeemed. It is this conception of biblical history that dominates the New Testament. t is also imperative to see that the same contrasts which Jesus and Paul make between these two ages are in tum related to the one event that forever divides them, the return of Christ. This line of demarcation is expressly stated in Scripture.

"The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age... This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous" (Mt. 13:39-49). These statements are the type of clear and unambiguous texts mentioned earlier.

Notice that according to this text judgement occurs immediately at Christ's return, not after a one~ thousand year millennium (as in the premillennial scheme). This is not the only line of Biblical evidence, however, for in addition to this we can find other such statements about the coming of Christ that fit very clearly into the two-age model.

According to Scripture, the resurrection of both the just and the unjust occurs simultaneously. Jesus expressly states that he will raise believers up on the "last day" On 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24). Thus we told PNO qui te clearly that the resurrection of the just occurs on the last day, at the end of this age. In addition, Jesus also proclaims that "There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day" (John 12:48). Notice that the very same event is also said to be the time of judgment for those who reject Christ. Add to these important passages those additional verses that, relate the trumpet of God to the "last day" and to the return of Christ. The return of Christ will occur "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (1 Co. 15:52; cf. 1 Thes 4:16). Notice that there are no gaps of time indicated between the resurrection and the judgement.

These texts collectively speak of the resurrection, the judgment, and the return of Christ as distinct aspects of but one event, occurring at precisely the same time (cf. M t 25 :31-46). Premillennialists, who often chide amillennialists for not taking the Bible "literally" and who champion what they call the "literal" interpretation of Scripture, must now insert a thousand-year gap between the Second Coming of Christ (and the resurrection) and the Final Judgment to make room for the supposed future millennial reign of Christ! And this, ironically, when the clear declarations of Scripture do not allow for such gaps. hus, we can conclude that "this age"-the period of time Peter calls the "last days" (Acts 2: 17), and which Jesus characterizes as a period of birth pains of wars, earthquakes, famine, and distress (Mt 24, Mk 13 )-ends with the return of Christ, the resurrection and the judgement on the "last day." An event that, by the way, Peter describes like the "day of the Lord [which] will come as a thief.

The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare" (2 Pt 3:10). It is only after this

It is imperative to see that the same contrasts which Jesus and Paul

malce betweeni the ages are in turn related to the one event that forever divides them, the return of Christ.

I

16

â&#x20AC;˘

MAYIJUNE 1994

T

modern REFORMATION that the age to come will be a present and visible completely destroys much of contemporary evangelical reality. Notice that the focus is not upon a half,way prophetic speculation, which advocates a "secret" coming of Christ and the "rapture" of believers (and kingdom and somewhat improved temporal age on the earth. (Le., a future millennium) Instead the what text can be adduced to argue that Jesus comes biblical focus is upon the consummation and the back secretly?) a full seven years before the final judgement at Christ's bodily return. Does Jesus come summing up of all things with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth! The return of Jesus back once or twice, with one of them being secret?

Christ is the key event in biblical prophecy. For when Such speculation is nonsense when viewed in light of the clear gospel texts cited above, which universally our Lord Jesus Christ returns, the end of the age, the resurrection, the judgment, and the creation of the describe the return of Christ, the resurrection of the new heavens and the new earth are at hand! dead and the judgement of believers and unbelievers Thus the two,age model is very simple in its as parts of one event. This senario also destroys the structure and is based on texts that can only be idea of a future earthly millennial reign of Christ after described as clear and straight forward. This enables he returns in judgement. Since this supposed thousand-year reign occurs after the eternal destiny us to make the following conclusions about the nature of the New Testament's teaching regarding of all men and women is forever settled in the the return of Christ and the timing of the so' called judgement, the very thought of Jesus ruling over a "millennial age." world wherein there are still men and women in irst, the "last days" began with the coming of natural bodies repopulating the Earth is simply not Christ and will continue until Christ returns supported by clear texts (remember the one about no (Acts 2:17; Heb 1:2). This period of time, "this age," marriage?). If the millennial reign described in is destined to pass away, and is characterized by war, Revelation 20 is actually referring to a future period famine, environmental distress, persecution and even of time, another even more significant problem the martyrdom of God's people (Rv 20:4-6). While arises. At the end of the one thousand years, John there is every likelihood that this distress will increase tells us that there is a great apostasy (a second fall if in the period immediately before the return of Christ, you will) while Jesus is ruling the nations with the rod no one knows the day or the hour of our Lord's return. of iron (Rv 20: 7-10) . This sounds much more like something that would happen in this age, and when Further, Jesus' birth pain imagery most likely means that we should expect alternating periods of peace viewed against (2 Thes 2:1-12) an often overlooked and intensifying evil that will cause many to unduly parallel passage where a great apostasy occurs before the man of sin is revealed (v. 3), the case for a present speculate about the immanent return of Christ.

These are sharp, stabbing birth pains, but not they are millennial age becomes even stronger. Since there not the birth itself. Therefore, our preoccupation can be no people on earth in natural bodies after the should not be with signs of the end, but instead we judgment (which occurs when Christ comes back must be consumed with the . - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - ---... according to the clear texts task assigned to the church we have seen above), these

F

in the last days: the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom.

Second, the return of Christ clearly marks an end to the temporal nature of life as we know it- "this present evil age." At his return, Jesus will raise the believing dead, judge all men, and send the wicked into the fires of Hell. The elements of this Earth burn up and the new heavens and earth will be established. This scenario

"Th1-s age" 1-S the age -

h- h

1-

d

In w 1C we 1ve, an - th - h- h IS e age In W 1C w e 1 1 J:. strugg e as we ong lor the com.ing of Christ d th b than e etter 1ngs o f the age to COnle e

apostates can only be those same believers that Jesus raised from the dead at his return. In other words, if premillennialism is correct, then it is glorified saints follow Satan and revolt against Christ! But are we really to believe that evil is not finally conquered at Christ's return- even where Jesus is physically reigning and judgement has already occurred? Of course not, and this is self, evidently refuted by the MAY/JUNE 1994

.

17

modern REFORMATION analogy of faith, which expressly tells us that Jesus will destroy all of his enemies and hand the kingdoms of the world over to his Father (1 Cor 15:24) at his second coming. On closer investigation, we see that the events in Revelation 20 do not take place on the Earth at all, for the thrones described in that passage are in heaven, and not on the Earth. Furthermore, in a book such as Revelation, where numbers are always used symbolically, it makes much more sense to argue that the one thousand' years are symbolic of the period of time between the first and second comings of Christ, rather than see them as a literal future period with a second fall during Jesus' kingly rule after the judgment. Thus the existence of evil and the supposed apostasy of glorified believers in a future millennial age poses a very difficult problem for all forms of premillennialism.

ISSUE

I

Third, and most importantly, the two'age model places its entire focus upon Jesus Christ and his second coming and not on idle speculation regarding world events. In the classical Protestant model, the next event on the prophetic calendar is the return of Jesus Christ to Earth. In fact, Jesus may even return before you finish reading this article! The eschatological cry of Protestant orthodoxy has always been, "Maranatha Come quickly Lord Jesus!" As with many other things in life the simplest approach may be the best. The two,age model is clear, biblical, and Christ-centered. It refuses to allow undue speculation about current events to overturn the clear teaching of Scripture. It is a shame that it has been lost to so many Christians. t 1 Hal Lindsey, The Rapture (New York: Bantam Books, 1983), p. 30.

COVENANT POSITION

I

DISPENSATIONAL POSITION

PATTERl'i OF HISTORY

Covenant of Work:; with Adam; Cove­ nant of Grace with Christ on behalf of elect (some distinguish between Covenant of Redemption with Christ and Covenant of Grace with the elect).

Divided into dispensations (usually seven); e.g., Innocence (pre-Fall), Conscience (Adam), Human Govern­ ment (Noah), Promise (Abraham), Law (Moses), Grace (Christ's First Coming), Kingdom (Christ's Second Coming).

VIEW OF HISTORY

Optimistic: God Is extending His kingdom.

Pessimistic: the Last Days are mark.ed by increasingly worse wick.edness in the world and by apostasy in the church.

GOD' S PURPOSE IN HISTORY

I There Is a unified redemptive pur-

VIEW OF THE BIBLI­ CAL COVENANTS

I They are different administrations of

pose.

RELATIONSHIP BE­ TWEEN ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY

Acceptance of Old Testament teaching required unless specifically abrogat­ ed by New Testament.

I The church Is spiritual Isra';l. In contlnulty with true Israel of Old Testament.

I

CHURCH AGE

ROLE 'OF HOLY SPIRIT

I

I They onark off periods of tione during which God's specific demands of man ditTer. Old Testament prescriptions are not binding unless reaffirmed in New Testament.

I The church is the spiritual people of God, distinct from Israel, the physi­ cal people of God.

Refers to God's people, the church.

I Refers

God's redemptive purpose continued to unfold.

I There and

I I Thethroughout Holy Spirit indwells history.

BAPrISM

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

earthly (Israel), one heavenly (church).

the Covenant of Grace.

RELATIONSHIP OF OLD TESTAMENT TO NEW TESTA­ MENT

I There are two distinct purposes. one

God's people

Unified covenant generally used to support infant baptism.

Emphasizes "cultural mandate."

to ethnic Israel.

is a parenthesis between past

future manifestations of the Idngdom.

I TheonlyHoly Spirit Indwells God's people from Pentecost to the Rapture.

I,sraevchurch distinction often (but not always) used to support believers' baptism.

The only way to save the world is to save individuals; therefore evangel­ ism tak.es precedence over "social action."

ESCHATOLOGY

I Usually amlllennial; rarely postmillen­ nlal; occasionally premillennial.

I Premillennial,

MILLENNIUM

I Symbolic, age.

I Literal, earthly 1000-year reign Second Coming.

often identified with present

usually pretribulationaJ.

after

Chronological And Background Charts of Church History by Robert C. Walton. Copyright © 1986 by the Zondervan Corporation.

Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House,

modern REFORMATION

The New Millennium

any moons ago, I was absolutely certain that I would not live to see 1980. A leading prophecy expert wrote a book titled Jesus Is Coming Soon, and in it a whole series of signs-from the allignment of planets to the Common Market heralded the certain return of Christ in the year 1979. The man is still writing prophecy books and, worse still, those books are still being read-more eagerly, perhaps, than the texts he supposedly exegetes.

I remember hearing my Sunday school teacher startle us with stories of the locusts in Revelation being helicopters sent by the government to hunt down those who were too good to take the mark of the beast, but too bad to go up in the Rapture. Hal Lindsey wrote, "They're Cobra helicopters. They also make the sound of many chariots." The eagle assisting the woman in her escape in Revelation twelve is, according to Lindsey, the Sixth Fleet of the United States Navy and the leading end-times expert further argues that "For eighteen centuries, the mysteries of the Book of Revelation remained largely unexplored.

I t was not until the nineteenth century that the renaissance of Revelation took place." However, as we shall see in this article, the fascination with the apocalyptic mysteries has always cast its spell over the masses during times of enormous theological, spiritual, political and socio,economic crisis.

',,-----, '

Approaching Hoofbeats "You are wisely interested in the persecution of the coming Antichrist, as well as his power and origin," wrote Adso, Abbot of Montier,En,Der, to Queen Gerberga in AD 950. It seems the intrigue of the Man of Lawlessness held fascination for rogue and ruler alike as Europe approached the second millennium of Christendom.

For seers like Adso, the Antichrist was a literal person, but more often than not, he was the personification of the perceived enemy of the time. For Adso and his contemporaries, Moslems were the army of Antichrist occupying the Promised Land. And yet, a final European ruler would conquer the Moslems and offer a reign of peace, fooling Christendom and letting the filthy races of Gog and Magog in through the back door.

The medievalist Christopher Brooke marks the approach to the year 1000 as "the beginnings of a great religious revival, with a popular religious movement at its roots, at or near whose center lay a new fervor for saints and relics and pilgrimages, whose chief memorial and witness today are the remains of countless churches."

"Then, as on many occasions in the last two thousand years," Brooke concludes, "many folk confidently expected the end of the world; but they soon found it was necessary to wait a little longer." As Roman Catholic historian Ronald Knox pointed out, "All millenarian movements outlive the non,fulfillment of their prophecies; Archdeacon Ebel maintained his credit after the fiasco of the 'marriage feast' at Easter, 1823, and the Adventists were quick to discover a fault in their own calculations after the successive disappointments of 1843 and 1844."

History is littered with the skeletons offalse predictions and dashed hopes related to the second coming and our day is no different. In this issue, we will be taking a closer look at the biblical teaching on "last things" and in this article, I wanted to point out the larger history of false hopes. The purpose is not to burst bubbles or plant the seeds of cynicism, but to fix our eyes more firmly on the person and work of Christ Himself-including His second coming, not on the speculations of end,times profiteers.

There are obvious reasons why the dawn of a new millennium might spark speculations regarding the end of the age. And yet, there is nothing particularly sacred about the tum of a millennium, a period of time determined by custom rather than command.

Michael S. Horton MAY/JUNE 1994.

19

modern REFORMATION Where Did It All Come From?

Historically, millenarian movements were labeled "chiliasm" by the Church and were regarded as misleading. Of course, that does not mean that such movements are in error for that reason alone.

Nevertheless, it does alert us to earlier confrontations.

Montanism, the fountain of such movements throughout church history, gained a massive following in the last quarter of the second century. "The New Prophecy," as its adherents called it, began when Montanus and two women began to prophesy in Phrygia (now modem Turkey). Christians, Montanus taught, were to abstain from marriage and other worldly pleasures, devoting themselves to prayer and fasting in anticipation of the end. Nevertheless, the Church, after careful consideration, stamped "The New Prophecy" with the label "Phrygian Heresy."

The great father, St. Jerome, quipped of Montanism, "God, having failed to save the world by the first two dispensations came down through the Holy Spirit into Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla." T ertullian, an earnest but legalistic church father, embraced the movement and lent it a credibility which secured a permanent artery running through church history in sectarian and perfectionistic movements.

I

n the twelfth century, Christendom was besieged by yet another era of end, times speculation with the appearance ofthe Sicilian mystic, Joachim of Fiore (1135-1202). Unwilling to class himself with the inspired prophets of Scripture, Joachim added, "But that God who once gave the spirit of prophecy to the prophets has given me the spirit of understanding to grasp with great clarity in His Spirit all the mysteries of sacred scripture, just as the prophets who once produced it in the Spirit understood these mysteries." The most marked feature of Joachim's eschatology (end times scheme) is his division of history into three dispensations: The Dispensation of the Father (Law), The Dispensation of the Son (Grace), and The Dispensation of the Spirit (Revelation). From Adam to Christ, the Father reigned; the second dispensation began with King Josiah, climaxed in Christ, and continues in Joachim's day. But the third stage is the long,awaited apex, lingering just around the comer. It is the time of the monastic orders-a dispensation of holiness, purity, signs and wonders, and revelations from the Spirit of God. Through his commentaries on The Revelation, Joachim of Fiore became one of the most revered figures in popular Christendom, although he was condemned as a heretic by the University of Paris.

20

â&#x20AC;˘

MAY!JUNE 1994

Upon reading Joachim's work, one often forgets that what is being read was written in the Middle Ages-it reads like something from the pen of Hal Lindsey or John Walvoord. Allegories and symbolic presentations of the kingdom of God in Scripture are treated as though they held secrets about the future which could be confirmed by the morning news. In this period, each generation saw itself as the truly important, "terminal" generation. Joachim set the date for Christ's return at 1260.

T

he Spiritual Franciscans, an order which eventually broke off from the mainline Franciscans, declared itself the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit and proclaimed the Catholic Church carnal. Only the Spiritual Franciscans knew "the day and hour," and many of their mendicant preachers predicted dates throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Besides orders, revivalists like those of the so'called "Great Hallelujah" focused on end,times events for their conversions. And the end, times were not only an obsession of those on the edges: St. Bonaventure identified the coming of St. Francis of Assisi with the sixth seal in Revelation, and Pope Gregory IX began a bull with the words, "Since the evening of the world is now declining ..."

In the fifteenth century, the Italian preacher Savonarola became the moral overseer of Florence and in its enthusiasm to bum paintings, books, poems, cards and dice, and other vanities, he made predictions about the end of the age: "The tempter says, 'Many claim that a number of the things you foretold have not happened, and for this reason they do not believe the other things you predicted.'

I answer, 'Whatever I have publicly preached about things to come has either already taken place or certainly will take place. But note that when I spoke apart and privately, because I am a man and then spoke as a man, perhaps I let slip something that was less true, though I have no memory of such a thing.' " After enough "slips" of things that were "less true," Florence had had it with the guy and they burned him at the stake.

During the Reformation Throughout the Middle Ages, all the way to the dawn of the Reformation itself, the speculation was endless and it intensified just before this event. "The concept of the antichrist was a very meaningful one in the popular consciousness of the Middle Ages," observes Paul Althaus. Preachers would employ

modern REFORMATION powerful imagery to 'describe his life and his abuses in individual detail.' People were worried that he might come in the near future; and they therefore attempted to compute the time of his coming." But for the Reformers, the pressing issue at hand was not the identity of Antichrist, nor even the dating of Christ's return, but the recovery of Christian basics­ the Gospel, the Creed, the great doctrines of the faith which lay in obscurity while sensational preachers tickle ears, gather followings, and line their pockets with the hopes and fears of the masses. While the Middle Ages were looking for the Antichrist, the Reformation was looking for Christ Himself and until He came the second time, the Reformers would be content to find Him in the Scriptures, where He willed to be made known. Calvin warned his readers, "We know our flights of ingenuity and how vain curiosity tickles us to know more than we should. He wishes the day of His coming to be so hoped for that yet no one should dare to ask when it will come. He deliberately wished it kept hidden from us, that we should never be so carefree as to neglect our unbroken lookout. The chief part of our wisdom consists in keeping ourselves soberly within the bounds of the Word of God." Luther was once forced to endure a dinner engagement with one of the Weiss Preachers, a radical sect claiming that a date for Christ's return was delivered to Brother Weiss by a vision as he was accidentally locked in a wine cellar. The German reformer, unable to overlook an obvious straight~ line, replied, "Oh, yes, I too have had many of my best visions after being locked up in a wine cellar!"

Modern Millenarianism Of course, many more individuals and movements could be cited: some radical Anabaptist sects, the French Prophets of the 18th century, and the American millenarians. But in the middle of the last century, an Englishman named John Nelson Darby repeated the basic themes of millenarian speculation and enthusiasm. Deeply disillusioned with the spiritual climate of the established church, Darby left both it and his law practice, and became a part of a group of Christians who met for prayer and Bible study in homes. With Montanus, Adso, the Spiritual Franciscans, Savonarola, the Zwickau Prophets, and the French mystics, Darby made sharp distinctions between a Holy Spirit~guided church and the "man~ made systems" of the visible church, with its ordained ministry. Eventually, the fellowship ofhouse churches to which he belonged expelled him.

For Darby, the end would come in two stages, the first being in the "Rapture of the church," a concept unknown even to the millenarians of the past. This period would be followed by seven years of tribulation, and the final appearance of the Kingdom of God. Animal sacrifices would be revived along with temple worship.

In the early part of this century, dispensationalists were welcome allies against the threat of liberalism, but evangelicals are beginning to realize the underlying perfectionism and dualism of the system.

T

oday, we stand on the brink of yet a new millennium and wonder with Jeremiah, "The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved" (Jer 8:20). And yet, we know that "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Pet 3:8-9). The temptation during periods of powerlessness, affliction and anxiety about the future, is to seek an easy way out. And there are plenty of "experts" out there who will make you feel as though you are at the center of history, as though ours is "the terminal generation," the group that really counts.

We feel special. And maybe ours is the last generation.

Perhaps Jesus will come within the next few seconds.

But if He does not come within the next few seconds, or within my own lifetime, may this mortal life serve to publicize that which is truly important for the salvation and growth of God's elect.

If you are a dispensationalist, or someone who is attracted to the theories outlined here, read on and mark the way various texts are handled. Like many of you, I always thought that anyone who didn't believe in a Rapture or in other facets of the dispensational system simply had a low view of Scripture. I think you will see that it is dispensationalism which is a "man~made system" imposed on otherwise clear texts. If not, at least we hope you will give us a chance of scratching the surface of a truly mysterious, though profitable, subject. t

Michael S. Horton is the president and founder of CURE. He is the author of Putting Amazing Back Into Grace, Made in America, The Law of Perfect Freedom, and Beyond Culture Wars and the editor of The Agony of Deceit, Power Religion, and Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation.

MAYIJUNE 1994.

21

modern REFORMATION

1994?

A Critical Review

22

he book 1994? has caused a stir in many churches because a specific dating ofthe second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is being advocated by the co,founder, president and teacher of a generally respected ministry, Family Radio. Pastors who felt no particular need to invest time in answering the predictions of such people as the South Korean pastor Hyoo,go who predicted a 1992 second advent, suddenly are faced with the need to investigate the projections of Harold Camping. This is to adjust to its peculiarities.

The concerned pastor is left to plunge into a nearly opaque and ponderously written tomb of 550 pages.

It can be a frustrating work in the face of many day, to'day needs of the local church.

unexpectedly, no longer seem defensible if we are certain that he is coming back in September 1994.

This is precisely the effect this teaching is having on the ministry of Family Radio. In an interview for the Christian Research Journal, Camping responded to a question about how he is planning for the future, "Look, let's put it this way. My wife came to me and said we needed new linoleum in the kitchen. I told her that we should hold off on the effort and the expense of doing it until October or November of 1994-after the time I predict Christ's return. Now, while it is likely that Christ will return in September of '94, it is not absolute. That's why I take the position I do."2 But the conviction of Family Radio's president is having a far more deleterious effect beyond his kitchen floor. In the same article, an anonymous staffer at family Radio has cited the effect on the outreach:

The Danger While admitting not to know the day or the hour, Camping suggests that through biblical evidence the year and month may be discovered, "Last Day and return of Christ sometime on or between: September 15, 1994: Beginning of 1994 Jubilee year, and September 27, 1994: Last Day ofFeast ofTabemacles."1 One area of pastoral concern, and a reason for a careful examination of a work like 1994? is that it relieves this tension of expectation in its adherents.

Although, some have maintained a healthy realization that their own personal eschatology is only ever a breath away, the heart has gone out of works and preparations for works that are long range in focus.

Why attend seminary? Why build the new Christian education wing? It is too late to study a new language for the foreign mission field. It is wasteful to save for a child's education, or to plan for retirement. These things which are good stewardship if the Lord does not return in our day, and which are the sort of works that we wish to be found doing when he returns

"China is finally opening up to us, and this has been in the working for almost two years now. We had a meeting with the president of China and mapped out what we wanted to accomplish there, and submitted everything we wanted to distribute to the people for approval.

"After submitting the material, Harold said he was going to change some of it to include his 1994? information.

When we told him he couldn't do it-because officials would cancel the entire project, as happened earlier in Vietnam-he went ballistic. We had one of our biggest knockdown, drag,outs over it. See, this is the kind of thing that can kill what the ministry is trying to build, and it's causing the kind of turmoil you just can't believe."

"Furthermore, we were going to build a huge transmitter in Russia, with a greater ability to blanket Europe.

Everything was set, and Harold gave it away to a third party, even though Family Radio was still obligated to pay for it and build it. Why? Harold said, 'Well, Jesus is coming back, and we don't want to deal with this.' We wanted to buy a station that would cover Canada, but Harold refuses-not because we don't have the money, but because he feels Christ is coming back in September 1994, and it'll be totally useless to buy it."3

Geoffrey Hubler

This tragedy of lost opportunity and division is being repeated throughout the Church.

â&#x20AC;˘

MAY/JUNE 1994

I

'--../

modern REFORMATION

B

ut, what credit is there in guessing the right date of the Lord's return? Will Peter meet us at the pearly gates to hand out door prizes to those who guessed the right date? Is it not better to be found doing the Lord's work within his Church and be surprised by his --;dvent, than to be found forsaken or divided because Christians have elevated a conviction about the exact date of the Lord's return above the doctrines of salvation and church order which once drew them to a particular church. Is that a state in which we wish to be found when he returns?

Runners will tell you that it is best to run through the finish line in a race. An amateur may seek the extra inch by leaving his feet in a head first dive toward the tape. There is no evidence that such a strategy pays off even when the tape is correctly judged. Certainly the race is lost if it is misjudged. Yet if the Lord does not return in September 1994, Family Radio and many other Christians will be climbing back up off their faces, and the cause of Christ generally will have suffered.

Having touched on the effects of the conviction that the Lord will return in 1994, it is appropriate to examine the case made by Camping to inspire such conviction.

The Dates Camping admits that his evidence is circumstantial: As we continue, we will find many paths that home in on a certain year that looks increasingly like the year of Christ's return. Each of these paths are somewhat circumstantial in character. Even though they become exceedingly plausible because they constantly bring us to the same year, we would never dare to say that we have found absolute truth. We have to admit that we could have overlooked something in the Bible that could invalidate our conclusions. 4

These paths or are numerological calculations which lead to the year 1994. They seem strange to most bible students who are not accustomed to numerological interpretation.

The first is based upon the creation date of 11,013. To this Camping adds 13,000 years and arrives at 1988. To this date he adds 2300 days as a time of tribulation thereby arriving at 1994.

The second is based upon the world beginning anew after the flood of 4990 Be To this Camping adds 7000 years as a number of perfection less the shortening of the tribulation period of 17 years, 17 being a number for heaven.

The third is based upon the birth date of Jacob, 2007

Be To this he adds 4000 years arriving at 1994.

The fourth is based upon the date Jacob becomes Israel, 1907 Be according to Camping. To this the addition of 3900 years results in 1994.

The fifth bridge begins with the date Camping says Israel entered Egypt, 1877 Be To this Camping adds 3 x 1290 years arriving at 1994.

The sixth begins when Israel enters Canaan 1407 B.C. and reaches 1994 by adding 3400 years which is 2 x 17 (the number of heaven) x 100.

A seventh is counted from the year David became king 1007 Be. 3 represents the purpose of god so the addition of 3000 bring us to 1994.

An eighth path begins at 7 Be the date of Jesus' birth according to Camping. The addition of 2000 years results in the year 1994. 5

C

amping's paths are "somewhat circumstantial" because none of them is based upon clear statements in Scripture. These paths are traversed by means of significant numbers. To Camping the Scriptures contain numbers which have meanings; for example, 1 7 represents heaven. These numbers do not lose their meaning when zeroes are added to them. So 17, 170, 1700 still maintain the essential meaning of heaven. Since these meanings are not based upon any flat statement within the Scriptures, their meaning must be inferred. For example, Camping cites Joseph as a great figure of Christ. Joseph was 17 when he began to dream. These dreams showed him ruling over his brothers. "To reign over his brethren is surely a picture of Christ reigning over the Kingdom of Christ. Christ reigns from heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords; therefore, we can see that the number seventeen, Joseph's age at this time, may be identified with heaven."6 Then again the inference is less than clear. The number seventeen may be in the text simply because it was Joseph's age.

But Camping typically supports a significant number by heaping up several examples to make up in many the argumentative weight lacking in any one. Joseph saved his father Jacob from severe famine by bringing him into Egypt. Jacob, also named Israel, represents God's people, and Joseph represents the Savior. Since Jacob lived for 1 7 years in Egypt, the number 17 "points to heaven." "The seventeen years ofJacob under the care ofJoseph becomes equivalent to our spending eternity under the care of Christ."7 In spite of God's gracious provision for his covenant people it seems odd to equate Egypt with heaven in any case.

MAYIJUNE 1994

.

23

modern REFORMATION Finally, Camping turns to Jeremiah. In the face of the destruction of Judah, the prophet is instructed to purchase a field. This field becomes an object lesson.

Although the nation will be carried away captive, one day it would return. "Thus

"I tell you the truth, this generation will __ - nl certal y not pass away -I all th thuntl ese lngs have happened. H eaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

we see that the purchase of the land by Jeremiah relates to our salvation and the fact that we inherit the new heavens and the new earth."

Camping observes that the fact that the field was purchased for 17 shekels of silver. "In other words, the ....._ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _..1 value of our spiritual inheritance is typified by the prince of seventeen shekels of silver."8 In this example, 17 might better symbolize the atonement.

T

hese three examples hardly make a compelling case unless the reader is willing to accept Camping's presUppOSltiOn that the Bible is numerological in nature. Therefore, the force of his case in 1994? rests

upon assertions about the very nature ofbiblicalrevelation.

The first assertion is that the significant dates of salvation history can be calculated from the Scriptures.

The second is that these dates are interconnected by significant numbers. The prediction of 1994 is simply the logical projection of a pattern which is evident in the Bible.

The first assertion will be examined by looking at Camping's dating of the creation of Adam and the flood. These calculations were first published years ago in Adam When?9 Camping's dating begins with establishing the date of Adam's creation at 11,013 Be In order to arrive at this date Camping utilizes the genealogical tables of Genesis 5 and 11. He acknowledges that not every generation is listed in these tables. Indeed, the genealogies of the Bible have many gaps which are not clearly signaled in the text. 10 In a novel twist Camping insists that the running total of years in these tables is unbroken. The lists are intended to be a calendar. He argues that the life span numbers should be placed end to end. Each name represents a chosen patriarch time keeper, a sort of poster boy for the calendar. The year that the time keeping patriarch died, one of his descendants who 24

â&#x20AC;˘

MAYIJUNE 1994

was born in that very year would be selected as the new keeper, and the calendar would then be kept according to the year in his life. The mention of the year that the ancestor became the father of the descendant merely indicates the line from which that particular new time keeper came. The exceptions to this end to end calculation are those places in the genealogies where the phrase "and called his name" is used. This extra phrase ensures that the link

in the chain is one of the immediate father~son relationship, thus the entire life span of the father could not be counted in figuring chronology, but only the years up to the beginning of the son's life span.

The immediate weakness in this theory is that it is not found in the Bible. That is to say, we neither find these genealogies explained in such terms, nor do we see them used in that way. Where the Bible sets dates different methods are used; for example, "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord" begins 1 King 6; "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia" begins the book of Ezra; "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Quirinius was governing Syria," begins the second chapter of the Gospel according to Luke.

I

t is important to note that the fact that there are gaps in this particular genealogy had long been accepted without adopting Camping's view which places a gap between each of the names.

The link between Levi and Kohath is clearly that of father to son. It is very likely that Amram who married Jochebed is Levi's grandson (Nm3:9, 27 ~28).

The grandsons apparently become the reference heads of the divisions of the tribe of the Levi at the time of Aaron and Moses' births (Ex 6:20). No more specific references is made to the father and mother of Aaron and Moses than "And a man of the house of Levi went and took his wife a daughter of Levi" (Ex 2: 1). A single gap between Amram and Aaron would

modern REFORMATION place ... " The prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel do not have to find their fulfillment in 1948 or in any other period which coincides with remarkable current events.

The second question, however, is of more central concern: Is the modem state of Israel and Zionism in general the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham? Classical Dispensationalism presents two programs of salvation, though recent revisions have toned down on the radical discontinuity. In classical Dispensationalism, God's ultimate program involves the nation Israel. The Church is a "parenthesis"-a sort of footnote or sidetrack in contrast to God's main mission to save ethnic, national Israel.

We believe that this pos It lon grave I y misunderstands the plan of God and the clear teaching of the Scriptures. In so doing, it risks offering false hopes to modem Jews by way of a plan of redemption which, at least in temporal matters, does not require the mediation of the world's only Savior. If you think this is a caricature of the position, just attend the And There Was War in Heaven by Albrecht Durer annual National Prayer fulfilling the "abomination of desolation" predicted Breakfast in Honor of Israel in Washington, D.C. I did that one year and I remember fundamentalist in Daniel. And if-after years of the Dispensational teaching that the "abomination of desolation," takes preachers and prophecy"experts" leading the J ewish~ place during the tribulation-it is difficult to accept Christian gathering in prayer "to our common this interpretation, just look at our Lord's own Father-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Now, if another group of Christians down the street remark: "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken had a prayer service of Christians and Moslems, or through the prophet Daniel-let the reader Christians and Hindus, it would be considered a basic denial of the uniqueness of Christ and His mediatorial understand-then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." (Mt 24:15-16) Would not the work. But for these people, Jews evidently did not need original audience have clearly understood Jesus to be the Gospel, for there was no reference to it even in preparing them for events which were right around passing. Not one prayer ended with the name of Christ. the corner? "So when you see standing in the holy The Apostle Paul would call this the Galatian 8

â&#x20AC;˘

MAY/JUNE 1994

modern REFORMATION first coming of Christ, then utilizing the whole Bible and following the same methodology and the same kind of data, we may be able to find clues concerning the timing of the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. 14 Camping argues for two dates regarding the first coming of Christ. They are 7 BC and AD 33 The first he claims is the birth date of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The second is the year of his crucifixion and resurrection. It is not that either of these days alone is without support, but the use of both of these dates creates a problem. For by means of this calculation our Lord would have died on the cross at 39 years of age.

This runs counter to the information of the Gospel of John which presents three or four Passovers in the ministry of Jesus which when combined with the statement of Luke 3:23, "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at approximately thirty years of age," has lead to the estimation that Jesus was about 33 years old when he was crucified. 15 Clearly Luke could have written "about 35" or "about 40" if that were Jesus' age when his ministry began. Luke 3:23 mentions Jesus' age and begins the account of his genealogy. It is hard to imagine Camping interpreting "about 30" as 36 years old when he treats other genealogical dates with such precision. The other alternative for having Jesus 39 years of age at his crucifixion is to add years to the length ofJesus' ministry. While this is not impossible, it is without justification in the Gospels.

In order to set forth 7 BC as the birth year for our Lord Jesus, Camping argues as follows: Herod died in 4 BC; therefore, Jesus must have been born before 4 BC. Herod ordered the slaying of the children two years old and younger. Therefore, Jesus could have been born two years before that order.

Also a period of time may have elapsed between the time of the killing the babies and the death of Herod.

"Thus, we may be reasonably certain that on the basis of this evidence concerning Herod, Jesus must have been born between 9 BC and 6 BC."16 At this point Camping argues that the choice of 7 BC over 9, 8 and 6 BC depends upon his numerological indicators which point to 7 Be. "From Biblical data discovered in previous chapters that repeatedly focused on 7 BC, we know that Jesus must have been born in the year 7 BC. "17 Once again Camping's argument comes full circle. He seeks to demonstrate the reliability ofhis numerological method by the certainty of a birth date of 7 BC He attempts to demonstrate the certainty of the birth date of 7 BC by the reliability of 26

â&#x20AC;˘

MAY/JUNE 1994

his numerological method.

A perfectly reasonable alternative which takes into account Josephus' account of the death of Herod would suggest that he died in the early spring of 4 BC Jesus could reasonably have been between one and two years of age at the time of Herod's order to kill the children. We should note that Herod gives a range of age in his order because of either uncertainty as to the child's age, a desire to leave no room for error. We do not know how long beyond giving the infamous order Herod lived. It could have been a very brief time. It is not unreasonable to suggest that Jesus was born in 5 or 6 BC. This combined with the opening words of Luke which place the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar" which when his two or three year co,reign with Augustus is considered would place the beginning of John's ministry and soon thereafter our Lord Jesus' ministry in AD 26 or 27. This combined with a 5 or 6 BC birthdate would satisfy the statement of Luke that our Lord was about 30 at the beginning of his public ministry.

These suggestions are also speculative, but they offer a reasonable enough alternative to refute Camping's claim that, "We cannot deny that Nathanael's study accurately predicted 7 BC." There is not such certainty.

In order to establish the year AD 33 Camping examines the 70 weeks of Daniel 9. By beginning with the year 458, the year of the decree of Artaxerxes recorded in Ezra, Camping counts out 490 years to AD 33 Again, while his interpretation of the seventy weeks as years is not unusual, nor his beginning place of 458, his conclusion may be challenged. The cutting off of the Messiah does not come at week's end. It comes in the middle of the last week.

There shall be seven weeks and sixty,two weeks ... And after the sixty,two weeks Messiah shall be cut off ... Then he shall confirm a convenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. 18 Returning to our alternative then would yield the anointing of the Lord Jesus at the outset of the final week of years, or AD 26 The three,and,a,half years of ministry would bring his ministry to Passover AD 30 . Thus we have an alternative that meets every test that Camping's does and still maintains the integrity of Luke's "about thirty" information.

Nonetheless, 7 BC and AD 33 are the dates Camping aims to tie into his overall numerological

modern REFORMATION symmetry. To illustrate his method, Camping invents a mythical numerologist who lived several decades before the first coming of our Lord Jesus. This devout man he has named Nathanael. Nathanael traces out numerous paths. It is at this point that Camping betrays even more clearly that his methodology is unsupportable. For his mythical Nathanael finds nine paths which lead to the year AD 34 in addition to the three

We cannot deny that Nathanael's study accurately predicted 7 BC, and it was accurate concerning the importance of AD 33 Therefore, we are reluctant to conclude that our entire study is of no consequence. What are we to do with all this Biblical data that points to AD 34?

The solution would not have been available to Nathanael but it is available to US. 19

Here is the admission that even given Camping's timetable for the life of Christ, his numerology has failed. In order to keep from consigning it to the bin marked "no consequence" Camping introduces an extra,biblical source of revelation. It is an error in the Julian/Gregorian calendar. This calendar was produced long after the birth of Christ and beyond miscalculating the date of his birth it failed to account for the year zero.

Therefore, 1 Be was followed immediately by AD 1.

When calculating spans of time which cross these years, a total number of years cannot be calculated by simply adding the total of years BC and AD. The sum of years must be corrected by subtracting one.

C

amping points to this error as the answer to his nine faul ty paths. For if we calculate some of the paths by "actual" years and others by "calendar" years every path can be made to arrive at AD 33. At this point the "tilt" light would flash on a pinball machine.

When we realize that God rules the world, these difficulties can be explained. I am certain that these errors

w ere incorporated into the calendar that most of the world uses because ofthe express intent of God. 20 We thus see that this error that was built into our calendar was not accidental nor incidental. It was part of God's plan by which He demonstrates his truths. 21 The importance of this principle is very great. We saw that Nathanael had found three or four paths that led to AD 33 as the year that Christ was crucified in AD 33. There were eight or nine paths that led Nathanael to AD 34. This year is not accurate because, as we know from our vantage point, no part of the atonement occurred in AD 34.

However, if we recognize that these eight or nine paths are to be understood as calendar years rather than actual years, then all of these paths came to AD 33. 22 The importance of these words are clear.

More than simply providential, God's sovereign hand at work in the monastic error of omitting the year zero from the Julian calendar was a part of the progress of revelation. Without it the Old Testament revelation of the birth of Christ was incomplete. With it the Bible's information on the coming of the Messiah has become complete.

By allowing the development of a calendar with no zero between the Old Testament and the New Testament dates, God greatly increased the number of clues that point to the timing of the atonement. 23

Of course, a wag could suggest that the error in the calendar was a way God has enabled us to show that Camping has got all his paths wrong. For we could apply it and make all his paths lead to AD 34.

More importantly, if we take up Camping's own test MAY!JUNE 1994.

27

for the anticipation of the first coming as a test of his numerological method; then, we must conclude that he has failed to carry his burden of proof. Consider again the requirement.

If we can find strictly within the Old Testament information that gives us clues concerning the timing of the first corning of Christ, then utilizing the whole Bible and the following the same methodology and the same kind of data, we may be able to find clues concerning the timing of Christ and the end of the world. 24

Even before we return to Camping's remaining paths to 1994 we see that his wave has broken, and we have little more than foam at our feet. There is no justification for the saying that God has placed the actual dates ofkey events in redemptive history within our preview. There is no justification for suggesting that the Scriptures contain a sort of numerological symmetry which connects these dates. Camping therefore has no warrant for calculating the date of Christ's return, nor for connecting it with other dates.

The Denouement A final question remains, and that is of accountability.

If the Lord does not return in September 1994, what will Camping and his followers do? Will they simply return to their numerology and calculate a new date? Or will they acknowledge that their assertions about the very nature of the Bible are in error? Harold Camping in some places speaks of his certainty about 1994 as less than absolute, but in other places his claims approach the prophetic.

I believe there is much more in the Bible concerning the timing of the return of Christ than most theologians realize.

I also believe that it can be shown that we are very near the end oftime and therefore, it is time for additional understanding concerning Christ's return to be realized by the careful and faithful student of the Bible. God declares in Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."25 And, this is why, I believe, God has given the information written in this book.

Very little of it can be found in any commentary or theological treatise. This is not because the writer of this book is smarter than anyone else. It is simply because because we are living in a time close to the end. 26

Camping's accountability remains an open question.

In the mean time all would do well to attend to the Apostle Peter's words in 2 Peter 3: 13-14.

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace. t

1 Camping, Harold. 1994? Vantage Press. New York, 1992, p. 531.

2 Ferraiuolo, Perucci. "Could '1994' Be the End of Family Radio?" Christian Research Journal, Summer 1993, p. 5.

3 Ibid., p. 5.

4 Camping, p. 423.

5 Ibid., p. 506,507.

6 Ibid., p. 500.

7 Ibid., p. 501.

8 Ibid., p. 503.

9 Camping, Harold. Adam When? Family Stations, Inc. Oakland, CA 1974.

10 May readers will be familiar with the date suggested

by Bishop Ussher, 4004 Be The classic refutation of Ussher's approach is an article written by W. H. Green and published in Sacra Theologica in 1898 (see subsequent footnote for a modem source.) Green shows by comparing Scripture with Scripture that gaps are the rule not the exception in biblical genealogies.

11 Newman, Robert C. & Herman J. Eckelmann Jr. Genesis One & the Origin of the Earth. Inter,Varsity Press.

Downer's Grove, IL, 1977. Appendix 2 Primeval Chronology, William Henry Green.

12 Camping, 1994?, p. 276.

13 Ibid., p. 292.

14 Ibid., p. 333.

15 The Gospel of John mentions three Passovers during Jesus' ministry (John 2:13; 6:4; 12:1). A. T. Robertson's Harmony of the Gospels shows that John 5: 1 also refers to a Passover feast. Since Jesus began his ministry before the first of the four Passovers, the length of His ministry was three, and,one,half years, beginning sometime in the fall of A. D. 26 and concluding in the spring Passover season ofA. D. 30."

James 1. Packer, Merrill C. Tenney, William White Jr. The Bible Almanac. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville, TN, 1980, p. 64.

16 Camping, 1994?, p. 372.

17 Ibid., p. 372.

18 Daniel 9:25,2. New King James translation.

19 Camping, 1994?, p. 373.

20 Ibid., p. 374 21 Ibid., p. 376.

22 Ibid., p. 377.

23 Ibid., p. 377.

24 Ibid., p. 333.

25 Ibid., p. 313.

26 Ibid., p. 330.

Glossary ofTerms

Advent The season of the ecclesiastical year when the church prepares to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and engages in self-examination in expectation of his second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead. During the Middle Ages the period was marked by discipline and fasting, but in modem times this emphasis has not been prominent.

Antichrist Because Christ is not fully revealed, the Old Testament offers no complete portrait of Antichrist but furnishes materials for the picture in descriptions of personal or national opposition to God. In the New Testament references to Christ's opponent are neither numerous nor specific. The disciples are,warned that false Christs will attempt to deceive even the elect (Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22). The reformers equated Antichrist with the papacy, as had some medieval theologians. In the ideal or symbolic view Antichrist is an ageless personification of evil, not identifiable with one nation, institution, or individual. This idea gains support from the Johannine letters and has value in emphasizing the constancy of the warfare between Satan's manifold forces and Christ's.

Apocalyptic The word "apocalypse" (unveiling) is derived from Revelation 1: 1, where it refers to the revelation to John by the ascended Jesus of the consummation of the age. An apocalypse is a book containing real or alleged revelations of heavenly secrets or of the events which will attend the end of the world and the inauguration of the kingdom of God. Blasphemy In general the word means simply to slander or insult and includes any action as well as word that devalues another person or being, living or dead. This general secular idea was made more specific in religious contexts, where blasphemy means to insult, mock, or doubt the power of a god.

Eschatology Traditionally defined as the doctrine of "last things," in relation to human individuals (comprising death, resurrection, judgement, and the afterlife) or to the world. The biblical concept of time is not cyclical or purely linear; it envisions rather a recurring pattern in which divine judgement and redemption interact until this pattern attains its definitive manifestation. Eschatology may therefore denote the consummation of God's purpose whether it coincides with the end of the world or not, whether the consummation is totally final or marks a stage in the unfolding pattern of His purpose.

Rapture A phrase used by premillennialists to refer to the church being united with Christ at his second coming.

The main scriptural passage upon which the teaching is based 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17: "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, and the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord." The major divisions of interpretation of Paul's words center on the relationship of the time of the rapture to the tribulation period which marks the end of the age.

The Age to Come Terms characterizing the biblical concept of time. Biblical thought views time as linear (or horizontal) and contrasts the present age with a future age to come. The present age is characterized by the rulership of Satan (Eph 6:12; 2 Cor 4:4), the sin of men, and death (Eph 2:1-2). Followers of Christ are called to not be comformed to this age (Rom 12:2), but to be renewed by the Spirit in anticipation of the age to come.

Once this age is consummated, the coming age will be hallmarked by the rulership of Christ and eternal life.

Tribulation "Tribulation" is the general term in the Bible to denote the suffering of God's people. In the New Testament tribulation is the experience of all believers and includes persecution (1 Thes 1:6), imprisonment (Acts 20:23), derision (Heb 10:33), poverty (2 Cor 8:13), sickness (Rv 2:22), and inner distress and sorrow (Phil 1:17; Cor 2:4). Frequently tribulation is connected with deliverance, which implies that it is necessary through which God glorifies himself in bringing his people to rest and salvation.

â&#x20AC;¢

'"''<'

=,

.Who Does What i Salvation1 "A breathtaking workout. " -

I. I. PACKER

James Montgomery Boice Carl Ellis Jerry Falwell John Gerstner W. Robert Godfrey Bill Hull James D. Hunter Os Guinness Patrick Madrid Don Matzat Alister McGrath John Warwiclc

Montgomery I(en Myers Roger Nicole Tom Oden J. I. Paclcer

William Pannell Edith Schaeffer Robert Schuller R. C. Sproul

C

If you avoid theology,

your faith means nothing.

IZim Riddlebarger Mic11ael Horton Rod Rosenbladt

The White Horse Inn

RADIO TALK SHOW

l1Js

Angele~r

San Diego J)ortland Seattle LasV ~as Denver Colorado Springs Austin Chicago Golumbus Philadelphia Pittsbu'flfh Boston New York Washington CHRISTIANS UNITED for REFOR.\1ATION

Call 800-956-2644 for a free sample tape.

-

I

¡ i

i

e nonsense" "Horton's book is superb and timely."

Os Guinness, author of The American Hour

"A very pertinent message for today; one that I do not hear enunciated very clearly elsewhere."

C. Everett Koop,

Former United States Surgeon General

"One of the strongest critiques of the church that I have read. A significant work at a very crucial time in the history of the church.

If we digest this message then maybe all of society will benefit."

John Perkins, Urban Family Magazine

"An important and impassioned plea. With the unsparing fervor of a true reformer, Horton points out that the evangelical churches are in no position to confront the world with its unbelief since there is so little interest in the substance of the apostolic faith within their own ranks. He paints an uncomfortable por­ trait, but one that could ulti­ mately lead to a genuine return to the Bible, that book so often invoked and so seldom lived."

Edward Oaks, New York University

Available at your bookstore, or 1:r 1-800-956-2644

-Mark Noll, Wheaton College