Laying Out Revelation Part 2
This is where we run into our very first problem, along with our first blessing. And, as much as we want that blessing, that problem is an unsettling conundrum, which is why most pastors won’t talk very much about the Book of Revelation.
No one wants to get the Book of Revelation wrong.
However, events in our world appear to be accelerating towards something that looks an awful lot like what John the Apostle wrote. So, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring this book.
I’ve run into new questions about Revelation, questions that I don’t ever remember asking in quite this way. That has required some spiritual reflection. I have more questions than answers, but maybe some insights that I haven’t had before. Ultimately, this comes from unlocking Seal Six, which is the key reason why I began changing direction in 2021.
However, since Revelation is the most dangerous book in the Bible (Rev 22:18-19), we need to be extra humble in our approach to seeking insight into what is coming. Mishandling this book will have grave consequences for everyone affected. So, let’s try not to do that.
A civilization can survive almost anything, as long as its foundation remains unshaken. Take away its fundamental raison d’etre (reason for being), and it will die. Dissolve the glue that holds us together, and society falls apart.
That foundation, that reason for being, that glue… that made Western Civilization so successful …is gone. And, the final blow apparently came during the pandemic hysteria of the past three years.
Our Biblical world view has collapsed, and this means that our current civilization has finally died.
This might sound strange to some of you, so let me explain.
It’s time to start adding some visuals to what I’ve been talking about, and this seems to be the most important one to lead off with:
(Click The Image or HERE For Larger Version)
Why is this so important?
We have forgotten Israel and Jerusalem!
The idea that anyone would take a knife to the Bible, is horrifying. In fact, there is a question mark over the eternal destiny of all who do that. And no one does that more than the Preterists.
For them, all prophecy is history, and that is truly abhorrent. And, when you examine the roots of this awful eschatology, you’ll understand how they became what they are.
Like the pretrib fallacy, Preterism has its roots in a Jesuit attempt to deform the Reformation. So, let’s look into that, along with why Preterist Eschatology is so plainly wrong.
Before going after all the other purveyors of Bad Eschatology, I’d like to take a deep breath and talk about two reasons why the Last Days were always going to be impossible to understand.
God’s Purpose
Seal Six
And, I can tell you from personal experience how hard it has been to see even a little bit of what will happen in the Last Days. So, let’s take a moment to understand why this is so hard, and why we need to be a bit humble about what we know.
The Pretribulation Rapture theory arises from an honest mistake and a corrupt fable – at a time when advances in printing made crazy ideas accessible. Books were the Internet of their time, and an information-starved populace couldn’t get enough. And, when Scofield put Dispensationalism everywhere in his ‘study bible’, it was the final blow.
The Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventism, Communism, Eugenics, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, and the Flat Earth movement – all owe their rise to the steam-powered printing press and a 19th century desire for a good story.
My favorite pastors believe in a pretribulation rapture. I currently attend a church that holds to a pretrib eschatology. So, my disagreement with this view is no reflection upon anyone’s faithfulness to God. In fact, I normally like pretribbers more than post-tribbers.
However, as your brother in Christ, I am required to point out where you get things wrong, especially if such errors put you in harm’s way.
Just remember what I wrote last week about our tendency to blindness. We are all vulnerable to error, and it’s hard to undo the mistakes that we were taught.
It is normal to be blind to our own errors – even when people show them to us. Even when we struggle to find errors and misconceptions, it can take a lot of work to see what should have been obvious.
Unfortunately, most believers are not interested in ferreting out falsehood. Change is painful, and it’s much easier to trust the stories of a professional – their pastor. And, the pastor is the product of seminaries that are paid to produce cookie-cutter Christians.
Then, there are the fabulists that created the fables that we love so much.
So, let’s talk about why we can be so blind.
I dedicated much of my life to the Redemption of Israel. During my 15 years in Jerusalem, nothing was more important. It would be miraculous. It would be awesome. I wanted to be a part of that work of God. But then, our Lord dragged me off to Taiwan, and that’s when I began to see something serious:
The suffering and death of five billion people.
My hyper-positive focus on Israel had left me unable to see a vast catastrophe that would crush our civilization and kill billions. And, because of our bad eschatology, we aren’t able to see what’s coming.
Let’s dig in to all that badness.