by Harry Osborne
The ink was not yet dry on the peace accord signed by Israel and the PLO when the television evangelists and other proponents of premillennialism were already telling their listeners that this is the "clear" fulfillment of Bible prophecy about the end times. In listening to such people, I have heard more misused Scripture by prophetic speculators than I thought possible.
What bothers me most is the characterizations of their theories as the "clear" fulfillment of a passage, when that passage is always filled with symbolism and taken out of its context. If it was so "clear," why did they not tell us it was going to happen in advance? Haven't these same fellows claimed that a number of their failed theories were also "clear" fulfillments of prophecy?
Early in the last century, World War I gave rise to such speculation. Some premillennialists published books claiming Armageddon was just around the corner. All of them said the events of that time were the clear fulfillment of prophecies about "the end time."
The premillennial teachings about the tribulation, Armageddon, the rapture, and the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth were all supposed to become a reality within that generation. Of course, the fact that we are still here more than a generation later would strongly suggest that their predictions were incorrect.
World War II brought the premillennial speculators out in force again. Hitler was commonly viewed as "the Antichrist" whose destruction would initiate a thousand year reign of Christ upon the earth. Hitler's hatred of the Jews and his alliance with Mussolini (the successor to ancient Rome) fueled the speculation to a roaring flame.
Events of that time were again said to be the clear fulfillment of prophecies found in Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Revelation, and other Bible books. The predictions again failed to come true and it was back to the drawing board once again.
The establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine brought another round of speculation from premillennialists. They claimed this was the clear fulfillment of Bible prophecy regarding the return of Israel to Palestine. Actually, God had promised that only a remnant would return to the land following captivity (Isaiah 10:20-25). That return was to take place after seventy years of Judah's captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:10-14). The Bible recorded that fulfillment as completed in the 5th and 6th centuries before Christ (see the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and 2 Chronicles 36:17-23). God had previously kept His promise to give the Israelites all of the land promised to Abraham (Joshua 21:43-45; 23:14-16; 1 Kings 4:21; Nehemiah 9:7-9; Psalm 105:42-44).
In more recent time, the Middle East wars of 1967 and 1973 caused a rash of speculation. Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, was written during that time. Lindsey said forces led by Egypt and Russia would join to battle Israel in the great tribulation.
We were told that Russia would be the "King of the North" in a confederacy made up of Iran, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, "the Iron Curtain countries," and the Cossacks. We were further told that Egypt would be the "King of the South" in a coalition with the "Arabic nations" (which would include Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other such harmonious partners) along with the "countries of black Africa."
After Russia was wiped out, the Arabs and the Chinese were supposed to be allies in the battle of Armageddon. Lindsey's whole theory was predicated on the continuance of Nasser's pro-Soviet policies and Egypt's continued leadership in seeking the annihilation of Israel. Unfortunately for Lindsey's theories, Nasser's death brought a change in Egyptian policy. In its time, Lindsey's teaching was touted as the clear teaching of the Bible.
With the decline of Soviet domination, premillennialists seemed to become unsure about the Russians as the focus of the armies allied against Israel. As a matter of fact, the crumbling of Communism across eastern Europe and much of the world has dealt a severe blow to their theories. Their clear teachings from books of prophecy suddenly became very unclear.
The war with Iraq gave rise to much speculation attempting to relate the events to Bible prophecy. Many TV preachers were busy warning their audiences of an imminent cataclysm as we were clearly at the "vestibule to Armageddon."
"The Identity of the Antichrist" has been a pet topic of premillennialists. Over the past few decades, the list of leading candidates for "the Antichrist" included Henry Kissinger, Anwar Sadat, a Soviet president, the head of the European Common Market, and an unnamed man of "Roman descent." A few years ago, the premillennial quarters said that it was surely Saddam Hussein.
It seems to me that it would have been far easier for these preachers to have understood the truth on this matter than to change their predictions. After all "the Antichrist" is like "the unknown tongue." Both are an attempt to identify a particular one while the Bible usage is generic. In 1 Corinthians 14, any language foreign to a listener which he did not understand was "an unknown tongue." In John's use of the term "antichrist," he simply refers to one who opposed the person or teaching of Christ (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3, 7).
Instead of finally seeing the truth, our premillennial friends have stepped into the speculation ring time and again, receiving multiple bloody noses to their theories when the new clear teaching fails again. It is a common trait of man to think their time must be the end time. Unfortunately, it has been a common trait of the religious world to misuse the Bible to bolster such views.
Actually, these differing theories all have a common point - they are false! They all claim that the book of Revelation deals with events of our time, not a past time. When their predictions fail to come true, they simply change them and ask people to accept the new theories as the "clear" teaching of the book.
The premillennialists of this century have perverted and re-perverted the book of Revelation more than any people in religious history. If they would just look at the book and listen to its truly clear statement, they would abandon their absurd theories. Let's see what the book really says about when its prophecies were to be fulfilled:
Revelation 1:1 - "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass..."
Revelation 1:3 - "Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand."
Revelation 22:6 - "And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass."
Revelation 22:10 - "And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand."
From beginning to end, the book of Revelation declares its prophecies deal with things "at hand" and "which must shortly come to pass." Think about it. The book was written to people in the 1st century to give them hope during a time of their persecution. How could a book detailing events 2000 years in their future give them hope for deliverance from their persecutors?
The Bible's teaching is really clear. Don't be fooled by modern peddlers of speculative theories, but listen to God's teaching as declared in His truth. The premillennial theories will change and fail, but God's word remains constant and true regardless of the changes in the world (1 Peter 1:23-25).