The LoC gets the word

kw: mayan history, eschatology, lectures

In Washington, D.C. yesterday, near noontime I made my way to the Madison Building of the Library of Congress for a lecture by Professor Mark Van Stone about the Maya and the alleged 2012 apocalypse. He has published a book and an iBook (not an eBook; it is only for iPad at present) on the matter. The event was a part of Hispanic Heritage Month at the LoC, and Dr. V was introduced by the Director, Barbara Tenenbaum.

Until recently, only one Mayan inscription had anything to say about the "13th Baktun", the year 13.0.0.0.0. in their calendar. The Mayas counted by twenties, so 13x20x20x20x20 = 2,080,000 days or nearly 5,695 years. The prior instance of a calendar reset would then have been some time in 3,684 BC (remember there is no year 0 between BC and AD). According to that single inscription, the two readable characters after the date tell us that a certain god is going to dress in a ceremonial costume. What ceremony? No data.

In June, a second monument was found, equally enigmatic. Considering that other Maya inscriptions discuss events they expected some 3,000 years further in the future—and perhaps much further—, at the very least we understand that they did not expect time to end, nor their civilization. However, their status as prophets is a bit suspect, for they did not foretell the end of their own dominance in the 900s, nor the Spanish conquest of the 1490s.

Anyway, once December 21, 2012 (or maybe the 23d or 24th; some scholars calculate differently) has come and gone, there is always the end of the Aztec calendar in 2027 to worry about, if you are a worry wart…except that the Aztecs also predicted some kind of dire event for the year 2039 (I'll be 92 by then, if I am still around).

Does the apparent path of the Sun crossing the Galactic equator have any significance? It happens that, on or near December 21, the Sun will appear to pass the center of the Galaxy—well, within about three degrees. Some folks state that precession of the equinoxes means this only happens every 22,000 years (4 sets of 13 Baktuns is 22,780 years). Actually, the Sun's crossing near the Galactic center has been going on for millions of years, every single year. This year is not even the closest pass, as the Earth's orbit slowly shifts. The date of this passage drifts around the calendar on the 22,000 year cycle. But it is a kind of "so what" sort of fact.

A good occasion and a very enjoyable lecture. A number of other prominent Mayanists were there, including at least a couple of folks who appear in videos inside the iBook, titled Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya. I guess Dr. V will have to get as much book selling done as he can in the next ten weeks. By Christmastime, there won't be any market for his book, whether time stops or not!

The last month?

kw: eschatology, biblical interpretation, false prophets

Has Family Radio gone off the deep end? Is the exhortation and interpretation presented by eBibleFellowship in any way accurate? While I believe it is not accurate, I is possible for God to bring about a change of the age at any time. Why not in 26 more days? The prediction is not that the whole world will end this May 21. Rather, that date they expect the rapture, followed by a five-month period of great torment for any left behind. The real end is to be in October.

I have maintained for decades that whenever someone makes a prediction of "the date" for the end of the age, it is guaranteed to be wrong. I still think so. But the conclusion of the exhortation is worth heeding: Pray together with your family members. Read the Bible. Forgive others. Be reconciled to the estranged ones. Whether this age ends this month or not, these are good ideas any time.

Is Easter for all?

kw: articles, faith, resurrection, eschatology

In the April 24, 2011 issue of Time, an article by Jon Meacham is titled "Is Hell Dead?" The issue's cover asks, "What if there's no Hell?" The article reports on the issues raised by Evangelical pastor Rob Bell's new book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. I have not read the book … yet. Meacham makes it clear that Bell is not denying the existence of Hell outright, but questioning its meaning and, particularly, who it is for and if it is permanent. (Note: The image is © Copyright 2011 Cipone, from Flickr, titled "Souls Rising to Heaven")

This is Easter Sunday, according to the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical calendar, followed by nearly all Protestants also. On a day commemorating such a joyous event, it is pertinent to ask, "Who is salvation for?" and "If heaven is for all, what is gained by receiving Jesus?" As I am musing here, this is not a theological treatise, and I'll quote Bible verses with little or no attribution; those who are interested can find the references at Bible Gateway. I quote the NIV.

Firstly, if Jesus is quoted accurately, and if he meant what He said, He plans to send some to eternal fire: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” I have read and heard a number of times that this verse in Matthew 25 shows that Hell is not primarily for humans but for angels (Satan is an angel), and that any humans that wind up there have chosen to follow the devil. But let us back up a little. This is the close of Jesus's discussion of sheep and goats. Here opinions differ. Some think that the sheep accepted Jesus and the goats didn't. However, Jesus makes it clear that the sheep took care of His persecuted followers and the goats did not. Neither the sheep nor the goats are followers of Jesus, but people who act out of common humanity to reduce the suffering of others, or do not. The sheep become citizens of the kingdom of God.

Think a moment. All the followers of Jesus are promised royalty, to be kings with Him. All the Old Testament saved ones, the descendants of Abraham by Isaac, are promised an eternal priesthood. If only these are in the heavenly kingdom, whom do the kings govern, and whom do the priests lead in worship to God? There need to be citizens who are not kings or priests. The sheep are at least one source of citizens, and it is a given that the citizens outnumber their rulers and leaders. Jesus also said, “…if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Secondly, what and where is the eternal kingdom? In at least two places in The Revelation, it is stated that the New Jerusalem, that golden city with gem-adorned walls and pearls for gates, comes down from heaven to the Earth. Passages in the prophetic books speak of a city of God and of the “kings of the Earth” who bring tribute to it. Heaven is temporary. The City of God in Heaven is being prepared to become an earthly dwelling place of God and His people, the center of His government over all the Earth and its citizens.

Thirdly, consider the phrase “child of God.” You were once a child (maybe you still are). When a boy child grows up, he becomes a man; a girl child becomes a woman. Who or what does a God child grow up to be? Jesus is well known as the “only begotten Son,” but he is also called “firstborn of many brothers” in Romans. Many theologies do speak of the deification of believers.

These threads come together to show the following:

• Hell is probably permanent, but its human residents are expected to be few (I don't expect Stalin or Mao will ever get out).
• Citizenship in the kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven) is earned by good works, particularly by caring for persecuted believers. This message is called the Eternal Gospel in The Revelation.
  
• This kingdom will be on the Earth, not in some off-Earth heaven.
• Those who receive Jesus do gain something special: Deification and Royalty. These can only be received by faith, but training for the faithful exercise of godhood and kingship takes a lifetime.
  

Judgment not deferred

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, eschatology, american future

More than 120 years ago, Mark Twain wrote in Life on the Mississippi of the shortening of the river's path over some 140 years. He joked that, were this trend to continue another couple of centuries, future generations would be able to walk between St Louis and New Orleans; they would become twin cities. And he calculated that "in the Old Oolitic Silurian, just two million years ago last January, the Mississippi must have stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a flyrod." (Quoted from memory; doubtless inexact) Thus he lampooned the common practice of making too much of a trend that appears linear. Yesterday's high in these parts was 81. Today's was barely 75. Give it a week, and we'll have snow! Most trends are in reality parts of cycles.

A human lifetime is too short for one person to experience an entire historical cycle. The 4-5 year "business cycle", which some claim has shortened by half lately, seems long to many. But the cycles of empires that rise and fall take several generations to work themselves out. The four "great empires" of ancient history, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, swept back and forth across the Mediterranean landscape over a period of nearly a thousand years.

When the Biblical prophets spoke of things happening in "the last days," they were looking at distant events whose relationships were necessarily distorted by their very distance. It is analogous to a New Yorker's view of the U.S., as portrayed in a cartoon I saw years ago (and couldn't find to reproduce here): The lower quarter of the image is Manhattan and the Hudson; another section is east-central New Jersey; then comes the Midwest and the rest of "flyover country"; and a thin rim at the top is California, with the main feature being Hollywood.

In these times, at the other end of history from men such as Daniel, Ezekiel and Zechariah, it is hard to understand the profound difference between their viewpoint and ours. Are we really very, very near the edge of this conceptual continent, or are we really in an early ripple of the Wasatch mountains of Utah, thinking we must be nearly to the Coast Ranges, when there are really four more mountain ranges in between.

One of the early Plymouth Brethren, perhaps J.N. Darby, wrote, "Prophecy was not given to enable us to predict the future, but for us to recognize the hand of God in events as they come to pass, and take warning." (Another near-quote from memory) With this in mind, let us consider Mark Hitchcock's recent book, The Late Great United States: What Bible Prophecy Reveals about America's Last Days. This is but one of several books to take advantage of Hal Lindsey and Carole Carlson's The Late Great Planet Earth.

The basic thesis is threefold. First, a series of long chapters dwell on the idea that the Americas, particularly the U.S., are too important on the world stage to have been ignored by Biblical prophecy. The author successively discharges one idea after another that has been put forward to fill this supposed lack, before stating the second thesis: The U.S. is not mentioned in end-time prophecy because it will not be a world power by the time these events come to pass.

The third thesis is that the judgment of God which will lead to the downfall of the U.S. has begun already, and could be accomplished very swiftly; however, the nation will not become totally impotent until the very, very end, because Israel is seen as a flourishing nation right up to Armegeddon, and that requires U.S. military support to continue.

It is fascinating that he connects the final downfall of North America and the U.S. with the "rapture", the "taking away" of the people of God. In his understanding of eschatology (the study of prophecy), that event shortly precedes a 7-year period called the Tribulation. Consider just this fact: the number of serious Christians in the U.S. is some 60 or 70 million. If all of these good people vanish one day, the economic and social fabric of the nation will unravel.

Whenever the "taking away" occurs, it will cause tremendous social upheaval, there is no doubt. While I expect a different time line, I agree with the basic thesis. And I agree that God's judgment on this nation has begun. His analysis of Romans 1, with God "giving them up" in more than one way, in succession, provides an outline of my generation and the one to follow. What was once too shameful to speak of has become mainstream, considered normal. This is not a cause of judgment, it is a symptom that judgment has begun.

But let us remember that the list of sins that follow God's judgment in Romans 1 is much longer than just the sexual sins: "filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, senseless, faithless, affectionless, merciless…" A society characterized in this way, such as ours, is already being judged, and these things are the evidence. The unjust punish one another.

I began this post intending to dwell on my own rather different timeline for the end times. I think it not necessary at this time. The details of the process are less important than the bigger view. The U.S. is well into a long period of decline, but will retain sufficient power and influence to continue to protect Israel until God sees fit to fulfill prophecies that "all nations", probably including the U.S., will turn against Israel and attack. But I think there is a certain role for the nation to play, which is hinted at in Revelation 12 (a passage Hitchcock does not mention):

To paraphrase, a universal and glorious woman, being pregnant, is being confronted by a dragon. When her son is born, he is immediately taken up to heaven. The angels of God fight against the angels of the dragon, and the dragon is cast to the earth. He attacks the woman, who is carried to "the wilderness" upon eagles' wings. She is preserved there for 3.5 years. The dragon first fights "the remnant of her seed." Then the dragon stands by "the Sea" and in the following chapter, the Beast's career is outlined. Interpreted:

• The woman represents all of God's people, among whom a smaller, stronger portion is pressing toward birth. The dragon represents Satan.
  
• This stronger portion, her son, is elsewhere called "the overcomers", which are taken up earlier than the rest.
• The arrival of the overcomers in heaven triggers the celestial battle that leads to Satan being deprived of access to heaven.
• Thrust to the earth, Satan attacks the people of God that remain. These are mostly able to escape to "the Wilderness", which I believe refers to America or the Americas. There, they are safe for the 3.5 year duration of the worst of the troubles.
• The "remnant of her seed" then refers either to those left behind when the overcomers were taken up, or to those who could not escape the empire of the Beast to come.
• The taking up and the resurrection of the majority of God's people occurs at the end of the 3.5 years. This is not detailed in Rev. 12, but in 1 Corinthians 15, where the general taking up is said to occur "at the last trumpet". This is the seventh trumpet that immediately precedes the fearful Bowl judgments that close the Tribulation period.

A few pieces of the alternate timeline that I prefer do show up above, but the point to gain is this: I think it most likely that the American hemisphere will provide a refuge for God's people during the times of distress that immediately precede the end. This is not a doctrine, and time will tell. God has plenty of surprises in store for us. Pray for the continued blessing on God's people, while prayer is possible to you.

The unrevealing of Revelation

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, eschatology, polemics, religion

Just a week ago I reviewed a book specifically confronting the theology and eschatology of the Left Behind books. Here I consider a work with a broader scope: A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization by Jonathan Kirsch. While Kirsch takes issue with the Left Behind books, his target is the apocalyptic phenomenon in general.

The author makes it clear he is not a Bible believer, at least not in any way similar to those who would call themselves "Bible believers." In other words, he is no literalist, and in whatever way he may use the Bible spiritually, he feels free to pick and choose what to trust and what to attribute to human error. Today's Fundamentalists do certainly take their literalism too far, but we must consider that God actually has had a hand in the writing, preservation, collecting, and distribution of the 66 (and perhaps 72) books considered to be the "word of God" by millions worldwide.

The thesis is this: Revelation is failed prophecy. It uses metaphorical language to describe current events and the writer's less-than-pious revenge fantasies. Now, since generation after generation has passed away and the world has "failed to end on time," Bible believing Christians, particularly literalists, must cope with this: either admit that its predictions are false, spiritualize all meaning out of them, or devise an eschatological theory that lets time be very, very flexible in God's hands.

There is actually strong support for the idea that certain periods of time "don't count" on God's calendar. The clearest example is the statement in 1 Kings 6:1, that the period from the Exodus to the Kingdom was 480 years. If you add up all the times in the historical books that go before, you find 612 years, and this is the period Josephus also used. However, during the time of the Judges, if you add up the times that the Midianites and others ruled over the Israelites, you get 132 years. 612-132=480. Many conclude that God's clock doesn't run when Israel is subject to others. It seems the most logical explanation. Such considerations are ignored by Kirsch, and maybe he knows nothing of them.

The chapters of the book outline the history of Revelation, from the time of its writing to the present day. He bases much on Augustine's dichotomy: Some read Revelation "carnally", some "spiritually". The writer, probably John the son of Zebedee (though Kirsch strongly disputes this), announced at the outset that Jesus "made it known by signs" (in KJV, "signified it"). Kirsch rightly emphasizes this term. I recall one speaker saying, "Let's not be too busy about counting heads or toes (the latter referring to Nebuchadnezzar's dream), but about how we are to live."

Like many others, the author expresses surprise and disgust at a book about God's vengeance. Nearly every other part of the New Testament emphasizes God's goodness, love, and caring. Yet this same God said in Deuteronomy 32:35 "Vengeance is mine and so is retribution", which Paul quoted when he wrote in Romans 12:19. Without Revelation and a few shorter passages in Daniel and Zechariah, we gain no insight into when and how He will avenge. When God is love, He is really loving, and when He is severe, He is really severe! Let us realize that, just as we are complex, God is more complex and has ranges of emotion we cannot imagine.

The bulk History of the End is a detailed survey of the various foibles of people who have read Revelation "carnally". The modern focus that most exercises the author is the popularity of the "Left Behind" series of books, and the recent elevation to office of four "born again" Presidents in succession, at least three of whom clearly declared their belief that we are living in "the end times."

Revelation seems to have become a peculiarly American phenomenon. While European christendom was being lulled to sleep, spiritually, in the 19th and 20th Centuries, American Christians have increasingly focused popular theology in the horror stories that result from a too-literal reading. Two groups emerged by the late 19th Century. Many people, millennialist and fundamentalist, took an almost passive stance toward society except for their duty to "preach salvation to a doomed world." They saw no value in social "improvement".

Others, considering the millennium to refer to an earthly condition God's people might bring about, agitated against slavery and for humane social works. Up until 1914, they thought they were making good progress, but the "war to end all wars" disabused them of that notion, and the second great War less than a generation later pretty much killed that idea off...for a time. We actually see a revived "social gospel" these days, in spite of the threat from resurgent Islam; these people think they can reason with the insane.

What do I think? I am of the flexible-timeline persuasion. Those parts of Revelation that seem most amenable to literal interpretation, wedded with parts of Daniel, certain things Paul and the Evangelists wrote, and the last part of Zechariah, produce this rough outline:

• The first four seals have likely been opened.
  
• The world gets worse and worse. Finally, God is ready to reply to the martyrs' call for vengeance.
  
• A major European or Euro-African coalition arises.
  
• Its leader makes a treaty with Israel, with a 7-year duration. Perhaps it includes permission to erect a Temple. This leader, whether a person or a coalition, we can call the Beast (nowhere is Antichrist used in Revelation).
  
• It is most likely that the Beast is a person, a man, whose origin is somewhere in the Macedonia-Bulgaria region. He is not a Jew.
  
• Natural disasters are supplemented, then replaced, by disasters that beggar the imagination. The worst ones, though, do not exceed "one third", which could have various meanings.
  
• Eventually, the Beast breaks the treaty and attempts to subjugate Israel and their religion. Three and a half years have passed.
  
• The first "taking away" (AKA rapture) of "those who are ready" occurs. The timing is uncertain, whether this is before the prior item, or even if they are simultaneous.
  
• There may be two literal prophets speaking in Jerusalem from this point on. About this time, an angel preaches "the eternal gospel." It is according to this gospel that the people remaining alive at the end are judged.
  
• Disasters now take on a supernatural element, and spread to worldwide scope. One is a long drought. Euphrates dries up.
  
• Mongolia is the only possible source of 200 million horsemen, if these are indeed a literal cavalry. Their progress toward Palestine takes about 13 months (a day, a week, a month, and a year).
  
• Other armies also gather to attack. It is not clear whether their target is the Jewish people or the Beast.
  
• The two prophets are killed, to arise and ascend 3.5 days later. Their ascension should be just after the second "taking away" of the rest of the believers, the one that occurs "at the last trumpet".
  
• The final battle follows. Christ intervenes. I don't think the horse or the sword-tongue are literal, but God can do anything...
  
• Supposing the 1260 days refers to the period just ended, the 1290 and 1335 days mentioned by Daniel probably indicate that cleaning up the mess from the battle takes thirty days in Jerusalem and 75 days elsewhere. Then the thousand-year kingdom begins.
  
• Just before the cleaning-up period, Christ will judge those who didn't participate in the battle (all the soldiers are condemned), according to the "eternal gospel." This is the "sheep and goats" judgment referred to in Matthew 25. Many, the sheep, will have secretly defied the Beast and helped the persecuted Christians and Jews during the last three-plus years. For the persecuted ones, this period was their chance to finish "getting ready". Most Christians hate this idea...they don't want to chance being there.
  

It may be that every one of these points has a spiritual applicaition only. That is OK, it is God's responsibility only. But in the light of God's evident desire to destroy "the destroyers of the earth" at least some of these events are probably literal.

It is instructive to see how the eschatology I've been taught is viewed by various "outsiders". These are things we must not insist on. Eschatological doctrine is the most divisive kind. Let us remember that in Jesus' longest prayer (John 17), he prayed three times "that they all may be one." Until that is fulfilled, the rest is moot.

Biblical snake oil...on both sides

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, religion, eschatology, polemics

When I saw the book's title, The New Brothers Grimm and their Left Behind Fairy Tales, I thought at first the subject was literary and historical, perhaps something to do with lost or lesser known tales by the Grimms. Then I saw the cover illustration, a cut from "Horsemen of the Apocalypse" by Dürer.

David T. Morgan, a retired professor of history with a religious bent, is the latest to take on the Left Behind mythology of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. For any who don't know, the series is a fictional portrayal of the last seven years of this age, based on "premillenial dispensationalism", the belief system that this age (this "dispensation") will end with a 7-year period of terrible judgments, followed by a thousand-year earthly kingdom under Christ (the "millenium").

There is pretty good support in the Bible for this as a general view, but the details are rather fuzzy. Dr. Morgan takes the view that the theological system itself, and the specific predictions made on that basis, are "spiritual snake oil". He is at least partly right.

I wish he were a better expositor. He is a good historian, but less adept as a theologian. Dispensational theology is clearly the best way to understand the Bible, but there are numerous versions, and many overdo the point. For example, the Scofield system, with seven "dispensations", is useful but overly-detailed. One must stretch to make one's point. The simplest way to divide up history is based on Romans 5:14a and 17b: "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses,...how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life".

Focus on "death reigned from Adam to Moses" and "those [with] grace...reign in life". The first phrase refers to the time before the Law, the second to the time since the Cross, which brought in Grace. There is thus a third period of time, from Moses until Christ. We can call these the Age before Law, the Age of Law, and the Age of Grace. If the promise of a thousand-year kingdom is literal, that is a fourth age, the Age of the Kingdom. Thus, four time periods.

The term "dispensation" is one way to translate a Greek word usually translated "economy". It refers to the definition of the word: "to dispense scarce resources". Dispensing of resources. That is Economy. The roots of the word mean "law of the home" or "...of the household", so God's economy is how God runs his "house".

What is God's house today? It is the church. What was it from Moses' time to the coming of Christ? The nation of Israel, focused on the temple. What was it prior to Moses? It was those people who desired to serve God, such as Adam, Noah, and Abraham. God spent four hundred years producing a corporate "people of God" from the descendants of Abraham's grandson Jacob/Israel, but prior to their production of the tabernacle, God's house was Moses' tent.

Such a view helps one when choosing how to apply the Bible, and how to understand how it applies to today's people of God, both Jews and Christians.

Dr. Morgan clearly thinks any sort of dispensational view is hogwash. He appears to follow Protestant theology, which makes no useful distinction between Old and New Testament truth. I guess he's never read Hebrews, for that is its primary subject. He also frequently protests against God's judgments, often in very disparaging language. I agree that the authors of Left Behind are much too bloodthirsty, but we must remember, when God is loving, He is very loving, but when He is severe, He is very severe. Morgan's view of God is based on unmingled sentimentality.

The book is marred throughout by a sarcastic, derisive tone. Harsh irony seems to be the gentlest weapon in the authors's arsenal. He exposes many clear errors made by "the New Brothers Grimm" as he calls LaHaye and Jenkins. He is right that the books are more fantasy than anything else. However, I am embarrassed by him as an purported expositor of Christian faith.

It is a pity. We need clear analysis of Left Behind and its errors, both theological, historical, and moral. Dr. Morgan's diatribe doesn't cut it.

Coda: A few things come to mind, as I consider Left Behind series, which I've read in its entirety.

• The "taking away", too often called "the Rapture", and wrongly so, must be understood according to Jesus's word, "I come as a thief." Couple this with God's righteousness: there will be no "unmanned vehicles", no pilotless aircraft, no surgeons snatched from the operating table. Christ will gather His precious ones in secret. I expect Him to take his time, stealing His lovers away like an elopement, not some magical vanishing act. There is no manifested, visible "coming of the Lord" until much later. And as to timing, it will occur primarily "at the last trump", the seventh trumpet near the end of the "tribulation" period, however that transpires. Some are promised to be "taken from the hour of trial." This most likely refers to an early "taking".
  
• Subpoint: harvesting in biblical times was in stages; firstfruits, general harvest, and gleaning. The Revelation uses harvesting terms, so it is logical that the taking away occurs in stages. Certainly the two witnesses that die in Jerusalem, lie rotting for three days, then arise and ascend, are taken away at a different time from others.
  
• The word Rapture comes from Latin raptus, meaning theft or kidnapping (it was used for both). Its meaning has been mightily changes since the early Brethren coined the term in the 1820s. By the way, the leading expositors were JN Darby and BW Newton; both were part right, part wrong. The two disagreed, and excommunicated one another, but a proper understanding is a synthesis of both their teachings.
  
• The Beast of Revelation is nowhere called Antichrist. Those who teach that Jesus is not divine, or that he is inferior to God, are called antichrists, but only by John in his Epistles. You'd think, if he wanted to use that word for the Beast, he'd have done so, since he coined the word. That Beast is some kind of Caesar, and is probably the one called "the man of sin" by Paul, writing to the Thessalonians.
  
• The frequent use of 216 in Left Behind books is never explained by their authors, nor by Morgan. It is the cube of six, that is, 6x6x6. Clever, but too clever by half.
  
• The Left Behind books contain much too much derring-do, more than I could stomach. God doesn't need this kind of trashy behavior from His children.
  
• The "kingdom of the Beast" is described in a way that points to Europe, or Europe plus Palestine and North Africa, as the limits of its sovereignty. It is never stated that the Beast rules the whole earth. Rather, he pursues continual warfare with nations that remain outside his kingdom.
  
• It is a very difficult puzzle to determine which prophetic passages in Daniel, Zechariah, and other Old Testament books refer to events found in Revelation. In particular, which verses might refer to the Beast, such as whether he is also the "little horn"; and which refer to Antiochus IV; which to Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem and was later Titus Caesar; and which to other wicked kings God addresses with symbolic language. It is likely that all commentators have at least a few mistaken attributions.
  
• Is there anyone out there willing to allow God the right to surprise you? It was Darby who first wrote clearly that "prophecy is given, not so that we may prophesy, but that we may recognize events prophesied when they transpire, and act according to their warnings." (My paraphrase; I don't recall the exact quote.)
  
• Do you think you have it right, cover to cover? I regard doctrinal fixity to be a deadly disease. God pity us!

Theology as a contact sport

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, theology, eschatology

prescript: I used NIV for most Bible quotations in this article

When the Left Behind novels began appearing about ten years ago, they caused a minor sensation, and made a lot of money for Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Then 9/11 happened, lots of people realized we just might be in the midst of WW3, uncertainty abounded and, predictably, the ongoing series, originally slated for seven books but with a ninth volume just released, was expanded to twelve (now fifteen with three prequels), and Messrs. LaHaye and Jenkins got rich. So far as I know, only a handful of people actually believed in Jesus as a result of reading any of the books. Mainly, lots of more-or-less lukewarm Christians got their attitude adjusted. However, the basically Arminian message primarily affected those who were uncertain of their standing in the first place.

My own stance about the series is that its theology is very narrow, and after the first volume, there is just too much derring-do! I'll give a summary of my understanding later, but I want to get to the book on the table. In Left Behind? The Facts Behind the Fiction LeAnn Snow Flesher, a professor at American Baptist Seminary, strips the Left Behind message to its essentials and shows how it distorts Biblical texts.

Tim LaHaye's theology is dispensational, futurist, and pre-millennial; a development (an over-develoment, I'd say) of John N. Darby's dispensationalism as popularized by C. I. Scofield. In the process, she compares it to the eschatology of Protestant theology, which is mainly supersessional, historical, and preterite (I couldn't tell whether millennial or not). Professor Flesher does a good job of outlining the theological points, though her continued use of the epigram "Darbyite, futurist, premillennial" and variations thereof strikes me as ad hominem name-calling. I am very familiar with Darby's theology, and Scofield's, and she is actually reporting an extreme over-literalism attributable to later generations.

As an aside, Darby developed two valuable tools for understanding the Bible: Dispensationalism and Typology. Both must go together, or you get a one-sided theology. Tim LaHaye's error is disregarding typology. I believe the error of Protestant supersessional theology is disregarding dispensations.

OK, rough slogging ahead: let's unpack some of these terms.

Dispensation: one translation of οικονοµιa, which most naturally translates "economy". The related verb means "to dispense resources". Theologically, a dispensation is a particular method that God uses to deal with people to carry out His overarching purpose; while a particular time period may be characterized by a particular economy, the time period is not the dispensation.

For example, in Romans 5:14 Paul wrote "...death reigned from Adam until Moses...", then in 5:21, "...as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign thorough righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Thus, prior to Moses, who introduced the Law, was one period, and that after Jesus came is another; we know that between these, God dealt with Israel according to the Law given by Moses, as John wrote (1:17), "For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ." In these three periods—pre-Law (or Conscience), Law of Moses, Grace in Christ—God and His people related to one another in three different ways. Today, God relates to people who have heard of neither Christ or Moses via the Conscience, to Israel (primarily the Jews) according to Moses' Law, and to the church according to Grace, but his principle economy in this, the church age, is Grace. Though each age has its characteristic economy, they can thus exist simultaneously.

Supersession: the principle that the church supersedes Israel, and God has done away with the Law as a principle in dealing with Israel. Typically, this includes the belief that the responsibilities and blessings of Israel now inhere to the church, and probably has a lot to do with most churches' reliance on a professional clergy (priests, by any name), which is more in accord with the Israelite economy. John 1:17 is used to support supersession, but this interpretation is countered by Romans 9-11, particularly 11:1, "...has God cast away his people? Absolutely not!..." Supersessionism and dispensationalism are mutually exclusive.

Futurist and Historical: ways of interpreting predictions by the Biblical prophets. Futurists believe many or most predictions have yet to occur, sometimes invoking "partial fulfillment". Historicists believe nearly all predictions were fulfilled in times future to the prophet, but it our own past. An example of "partial fulfillment" is the "little horn" of Daniel 8: actions of the tyrant Antiochus IV fulfilled part of the prophecy, but not all; those of Titus in AD 70 did not add to the fulfillment, so futurists look to a future tyrant to complete the prophecy. Some historicists state that the portions of the prediction that Antiochus didn't fulfill constitute a mistaken prediction, others that we must be missing something in the historical account that would show all things were fulfilled. Preterite refers to a mainly Historical approach.

Millennialism: belief in a period of a thousand years (literal or spiritual) during which Christ will reign. Pre-millennialists believe that period is a literal 1000-year future kingdom of Christ on earth, post-millennialists (properly intra-millennialists) believe it refers to the church age with Christ ruling in the hearts of His people, and amillennialists or non-millennialists believe "the thousand years" mentioned seven times in Revelation (and nowhere else) is a figurative expression only.

Typology: the emphasis on figurative, metaphorical, and allegorical language, particularly in the Old Testament, as instructions for later ages. In other words, in Genesis 24, for example, Abraham sent a servant to find a bride for Isaac. This is explained typologically as God the Father sending the Holy Spirit to gain the Church to be the bride of Christ. Typologists (I am one) point to Paul's language in Romans 5:14: "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come." The Greek word for pattern is tυpος or "typos". Paul frequently used typology and allegorical interpretation of the Old Testement.

There is an added element here, the matter of the Rapture. This is the whole point of the first "Left Behind" book. The verb "caught up" in 1 Thess. 4:7 is rapto in Latin. From this we get "raptor", describing hawks and other birds that snatch up their prey. The emotion of rapture means being caught up in a feeling. Many Christians believe God's people (or some of them) will be snatched off the earth by God at the end of this age.

Then there is the matter of timing. Jesus spoke of a time of distress, saying in Matt. 24:29: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again." The KJV and other versions say "great tribulation", whereas NIV uses that term only in Rev. 7:14, though the Greek is the same. Will the rapture occur before this great distress, during it, after it, or some combination? Ms Flesher apparently doesn't believe in a literal rapture, and devotes a chapter to showing that the verses that are used to support both rapture and the timing thereof don't all refer to the same thing. Her reasoning is sharp and clear, showing that it takes a mixing of portions of NT texts into OT texts to make the case as LaHaye would have it. Such amalgamation is not "rightly dividing" the word!

LaHaye and Jenkins promote the rapture of every "true believer" just prior to a 7-year "tribulation". The definition of such true believers, however, is performance based. The basis of one's status with God is godly behavior, not possession of God's life. Perhaps they assume conversion must produce rapid spiritual advancement, or it isn't genuine. As a result their viewpoint is seen as Arminian, even though I suspect they think of themselves as Calvinists.

They also promote a literal world ruler they call the Antichrist, and build a plausible-sounding case for the events that culminate with a "last battle" and the public appearing of Christ. The author of Left Behind? clearly shows the shortcomings of the narrow theology underlying the series. Actually, after the third volume, I thought the theology was getting pretty thin on the ground, with more and more emphasis placed on the exploits of the Tribulation Force. Ms Flesher shows how LaHaye's theology gets him into a few "can't have it both ways" pinches, and shows that it is destructive of faith. In its place, however, she has little to offer.

As I mentioned above, Protestant theology sees little or no distinction between Israel and the church, while extreme dispensational theology makes too great a distinction, not between Israel and the church, but in the application of verses that are meant literally for the one and typologically for the other.

Leaving out a clutter of verses, here is a (very sparse) sequence of events according to a balanced dispensational theology:

• Time runs out for the current world order. A ruler arises who unites many nations in Europe (both Western and Balkan), the Middle East (primarily Turkey), and north Africa; whether politically or economically doesn't really matter. Eventually, he makes a significant treaty, which may refer to Jerusalem, but may not. I'll call this united territory "Therionia", using the Greek word for "wild beast," and call its ruler Therion.
  
• Christians are in various conditions, some more mature and faithful, and others more selfish and childish. Many "still have a lot to learn." Christ snatches away the spiritually mature, leaving others to be taken later. This is to be understood according to the principle of firstfruits and harvest.
  
• Therionia prospers (It is centered in Rome, not Babylon/Baghdad). At some point Therion takes a blow to the head and dies, but arises again (maybe three days later, maybe not). As a result, an associate of Therion promotes him as a god and demands he receive worship. This false prophet we can call Pseudas.
  
• Most likely, the Jews received permission or took the initiative to rebuild the temple. Perhaps the Dome of the Rock was destroyed in a battle, and Saudi Arabia wasn't strong enough to retake its site. This will become eminently possible once the oil economy of the world winds down in another generation or two, and could happen any time should the Saudi oil fields be subject to widespread terrorist attack. However, the "desolation of the temple" may have a meaning we haven't guessed yet. Whatever, a shocking sacrilege is perpetrated by Pseudas and Therion.
  
• Religious persecution ensues. Not just against Jews and Christians, but against all faiths. Refugees will flock to a place called "the wilderness", somewhere that Therion has no authority. This could be in Asia, Africa, or the Americas, but my bet is on North America because this flood of refugees could be better assimilated there (low population), and the culture is the most tolerant. It may be everywhere outside Therionia, however, according to capacity.
  
• God begins to respond overtly with supernatural disasters: burning 100-lb hailstones, bloody lakes and rivers, etc. The Western hemisphere and Asia(+Southern Africa?) are two parts of the world. I believe Therionia is "the third part" mentioned in the Trumpet plagues. This period begins with the arrival of the two witnesses.
  
• The Bowl plagues follow, covering a rather short period of time, certainly a year or less. They extend the Trumpet plagues to all the earth. Jesus had warned that if this time were not cut short, not even the elect could survive.
  
• The two witnesses are killed. 3.5 days later they arise; probably they are killed by stealth, at night, but arise at midday, for they are seen to ascend to the sky. This is the most likely time for the remaining people of God to be caught up, just preceded by the first resurrection, which includes all Old and New Testament people of God who have died.
  
• Christ's people appear before his judgment seat, where he chooses those who will accompany him into battle, and who will be remanded for further maturation.
  
• Christ and his bride ride into battle, but nobody fights. He speaks, and it is all over. Therion and Pseudas are sent straight to the lake of fire, and those who followed them against Christ die. Satan is bound in "the abyss", wherever that may be. Christ gathers the remaining people, all who are not His already, to separate sheep and goats, depending on how they treated the refugees ("my brothers") who fled Therionia, and those who couldn't escape. The sheep become citizens of the millennial kingdom.
  
• The millennium begins, and Christ reigns with His bride at his side. This is also called the "wedding feast of the lamb." Whether the thousand years are literal or not is unimportant. Primarily, it is also the period when the people of God who received salvation but didn't grow spiritually can grow to maturity. They are outside the city, Jesus called it "outer darkness." This is not for condemnation, but for discipline and training.
  
• I'll skip the condition of this kingdom age; large swaths of the Old Testament refer to it.
  
• At the end of this period, Satan is released, to give the citizens of the kingdom a final test; those who fail die of divine fire. Satan is cast into the lake of fire.
  
• The dead arise in the second resurrection to be judged. The "dead in the sea" refers to the demons. At this point, you'd think everyone whose name is not in the book of life is already with Christ. Anyway, each individual is checked against the book of life, and away they go to the fire.
  
• Though the earth has been beautified, "the old heaven and the old earth pass away" and a new heaven and new earth appear. The new Jerusalem descends from the new heaven to rest on the newe earth. By inference we understand that at this point, everyone who needed further instruction during the kingdom age has become full grown, and all God's people are with Him. Thus begins eternity, not in heaven but on earth.

In the above points, I would not be at all surprised to find that some things I expect to occur literally turn out to be types or antitypes (meaning fulfillment of a type, not its opposite). Darby once wrote that prophecy is not given to enable us to prophesy, but to recognize events as they unfold. Nobody living in the year 9BC would have guessed that Quirinius was about to require a census that required people to register in the town they were born in, forcing a young couple just a year or two later to visit Bethlehem for a few weeks, thus fulfilling seemingly conflicting prophecies, that the Nazarene would be from Bethlehem! Matthew probably didn't get its significance until Jesus told him. How sad that, though the scribes in Jerusalem knew the prophecies, none of them went with the Eastern astrologers to see if the celestial sign they had seen indicated the Messiah had been born. How many will recognize the genuine signs of the end?

Also, I do not call the evil ruler Antichrist. This term is used only in the epistles of 1 John and 2 John, referring to those who teach a non-divine Christ.

The hardest part of all the above for most Christians is the "outer darkness" matter. Nearly all Christians are taught that this term refers to hell. They don't consider that the lake of fire won't be dark, not by any means! Part of genuine hell is being seen for what you really are!! Also, with the sun shining seven times its present brightness, the moon as bright as the sun, yet the holy city needing neither sun nor moon because of the brightness of God and the Lamb, that "darkness" is a relative term. When you are in a glorified body, made to endure—even to revel in—almost infinite brightness, anything less is quite a letdown!

I think of it like this. I was a rather poor college student for two years. I dropped out and worked. A year of this adjusted my attitude, and I returned to college part time, working first full time, then half time. I had quite a mishmash of transferred courses when it came time to declare my intention to graduate at Cal State. Just days before graduation, my most recent adviser discovered that I was missing a required course in History! I had 240 credits under my belt (124 were sufficient), but I needed a lousy 2-credit course to finish. Well, I had to take that course. I like history, and it was not arduous, nor even particularly difficult, but it was in its own way a real suffering. I'd been in the class of 1969; I graduated in 1972. Those three years, particularly that last semester, were like a thousand! Happy Millennium!!!

Sometimes a younger believer will come for counseling about some distressing matter, usually a recurring sin. I can tell there is a certain slackness of attitude, at least in this one area. I give advice I was once given in a similar situation, "You have to be transformed," referring to Romans 12:2 and 2 Cor. 3:18. My response had been, "It took Jacob 100 years to get transformed." The answer was, "He did not have the benefit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. You do. In this matter, at least, it should take at most a few months." The brother was right. So when I get the expected response, I know what to say. On occasion, however, someone will say, "I don't think I can get through on this, not even in fifty years." Then I respond, "OK, do you think a thousand years is enough?"

Left Behind? does a valuable service to the Christian community, but I was disappointed in the alternative presented.

God's Illegal Immigrants

kw: opinion, immigration, end times, eschatology

Amid the current controversy about people who enter the U.S. illegally, I stepped back to take a larger view. I and many others have wondered why our national leaders are so blind to the danger of our overly-open borders. But I wonder no more. If we really are in the End Times, it is part of the preparation for the times of tribulation predicted by Jesus and His apostles.

Go grab whatever Bible you have, and read Revelation chapter 12. I'll summarize the main points of verses 1-9:

• vv 1-2: "A great sign", a woman clothed with sun, moon, and stars, is in labor, birthing a child.
• vv 3-4: "Another sign", a great dragon in front of the woman, is ready to devour her newborn.
• vv 5-6: Her child is born, a male child "who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod", and is caught up to God; she flees to "the wilderness" prepared by God to hide her for 1,260 days.
• vv 7-9: War in heaven, Michael and his angels against the dragon and his angels. Michael wins, and the dragon is cast to the earth. In v 9 the dragon is named Satan.

In later verses (13-16), we see more details of v 6: the dragon chases the woman, who is given two eagle wings to fly to "the wilderness". The dragon tries to flood her, but the earth swallows up the flood.

Verse 17 is the key to understanding the chapter: "And the dragon became angry with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus." "The rest of her seed" refers to the woman's children other than the male child of v 5. Setting aside the dragon, we have three entities here, three corporate persons: the woman, the male child, and the rest of her seed.

Christian literature is full of controversy regarding these three. The majority, according to my study, interpret these as Mary, Jesus, and all the Christians believers. However, the chapter ends (v 18) with the dragon standing on the seashore, and the following chapter begins with the Beast rising from the sea, then another Beast rising from the earth, and the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

Therefore, a better interpretation is that the woman represents the universal church, including all the people of God, of Old and New Testament, both living and asleep; the male child represents the overcomers, those who diligently follow Christ and are caught up to God on His throne just prior to the arising of the two Beasts; and the rest of her seed represents the living people of God, both Jews (who keep the commandments of God) and Christians (who have the testimony of Jesus). They remain during the Great Tribulation.

Yes, you guessed it, I believe in partial rapture, or rather, that God's people will be caught away in stages. The promise to the church in Philadelphia is that those who have "kept the word of My endurance" will be kept out of the hour of trial (Rev 3:10). These are the male child. The promise in 1 Cor 15, that after the dead in Christ rise, "at the last trumpet...we shall be changed", and in 1 Thes 4 that "we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up...to meet the Lord in the air" both refer to an event at the end of the Great Tribulation ("the last trumpet"). The "rapture" is a series of events, mainly a partial reaping of "firstfruits" and a later, general harvest.

How does this have any connection with immigration? The woman's flight into the wilderness indicates that many of God's people will flee to a place "prepared by God" for their protection during the Great Tribulation. Its duration is 1,260 days, or 3½ years of 360 days (3 years, 5½ months by our calendar).

What is "the wilderness"? The two wings are a clue. North America is the continent that is emphatically situated between two oceans. The U.S. has often been pictured as an eagle with the Atlantic and Pacific as her wings. Though the apostles did not know of this continent, God surely did, and I belive He put this image in Rev 12 as a clue. The language of the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl visions in Revelation, and of Daniel's last vision, indicate that the authority of the Beast, the "man of sin", (whom many wrongly call Antichrist) extends only over the territory of the Roman empire at its height: southern Europe, northern Africa, and most of the Middle East.

When the astounding level of religious persecution that characterizes the Beast's reign begins, I believe many Jews and Christians will flee to America. Though the U.S. is very strong, her borders at least must be weak, and her people accommodating, to absorb such a surge of immigration. This will be the shining hour for American Christians, to extend hospitality to these "angels in disguise."