2/11/06

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Seven Huge Lies About Bible Prophecy

by Dr. Edward Hindson (2004 article)

Studying Bible prophecy is one of the most exciting and most fulfilling things that we can do. Yet in the area of prophetic study, there are always those who will disagree on certain issues. That is not a problem. Good people sometimes take a slightly different look at how certain things ought to be interpreted prophetically.

But in the study of Bible prophecy, there are some ideas that are simply wrong. We want to look at “Seven Huge Lies About Bible Prophecy” that are often taught as though they were true. But in reality, thy completely distort everything the Bible is saying about prophetic truth and the end times.

1. Rapture Is Not in the Bible

The first lie is the assertion that the rapture is not really in the Bible. Some-body will always bring up the argument, “If you look up the word ‘rapture’ in the concordance, it isn’t there.” So, they conclude that the Bible really doesn’t teach the idea of the rapture.

Remember that a concept can be taught in the Bible without the word actually appearing. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in the Bible — the Triune God, consisting of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But there is no reference to the word “Trinity” in the Bible. The same is true of the word “Sunday,” which is referred to as “the Lord’s Day.”

The idea of the rapture is clearly taught in Scripture. In I Thessalonians 4:13-17, the Scripture says, “The dead in Christ will be raised up, and we that are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The term “caught up” is a reference to the rapture. In the original language of the Greek New Testament, it is the word harpazo. Harpazo means to be “caught away” or “snatched away” — to literally disappear. That word is used in the Bible for the rapture. The English word “rapture” comes from the Latin translation of the Greek word harpazo as rapere or rapto in Latin. It refers to the same idea, the catching away of the people that are part of the Bride of Christ.

The concept of the rapture is clearly taught in the Bible. It does not matter what your view of eschatology is; at some point you have to include the rapture. You might differ as to whether you think it is pre-, mid-, or post-tribulational. But there has to be a rapture. I Thessalonians 4 says there must be a time when the dead in Christ, a unique term for the Bride of Christ, the Church, are raised, and we who are alive and remain are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

2. Satan Is Already Bound

A second lie that is often taught in the area of Bible prophecy is the idea that Satan is already bound. Revelation 19:20 through 20:2 tells us that when Christ returns and wins the battle of Armageddon, He will cast the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire. Then He will bind Satan in the abyss, the bottomless pit, for 1,000 years. The passage goes on to describe the binding of Satan. Revelation 20:3 says that he is shut up. A seal is set over him, he is chained down, and he cannot get out.

Unfortunately, there are those who try to say, “Satan is bound by the power of the crucifixion. Jesus’ death on the cross has defeated the power of Satan.” And there certainly is a sense in which that is true. But it does not mean that Satan is inactive in the present age. Many claim that Satan is bound today because the Gospel can be freely preached in the world. They will refer to a passage like II Peter 2:4, which says that he angels that were cast down were reserved in chains until the day of judgment. Yet Peter, the same writer, says in I Peter 5:8 that the devil is wandering about like a roaring lion, “seeking whom he may devour.” Satan is not chained down at all. He is restlessly on the loose, on the offensive, looking to attack and devour people.

Preterists, amillennialists and postmillennialists try to explain this away by saying that Satan is on a long chain. But that is not how he is described in Revelation 20. He is chained down, the lid is shut, there is a seal put over it, and he cannot get out to deceive the nations. The nations are still in deception today. The vast majority of people still have not come to faith in Jesus Christ. Not only is Satan moving around as a roaring lion, but the Apostle Paul refers to his attack on his own personal life. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 12:7 that his physical problems were “the messenger of Satan to buffet me” — to keep him down. In I Thessalonians 2:18, Paul said that “Satan hindered us” in his ministry to the Thessalonians.

It does not sound like Satan is already bound or limited at all. He is limited only in the sense that he cannot touch the Bride of Christ. He is limited in the sense that he cannot steal your salvation. But he still roams freely on the Earth. The world is certainly under his attack and his influence. He is still the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).

3. We Are Already in the Millennium

There are also those who try to say that we are already in the millennium. The whole Church Age is supposedly the Millennial Age, and Jesus Christ is reigning and ruling in our hearts and lives. But the Bible depicts Him reigning and ruling literally on earth in Revelation 20. It depicts believers reigning and ruling with Him. How could we already be in the millennium if the lion and the lamb are not lying down with each other, if the world is not at peace, and if the nations are not beating their weapons into plowshares? Certainly the implication of Scripture is that the future millennium is not yet a reality.

The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus Christ one day will reign and rule on earth — literally, not just figuratively or symbolically. Christ is coming back to win the battle of Armageddon, and to set up His kingdom on earth. The whole emphasis in Revelation 20 is that Jesus is coming back to bind Satan, throw him into the bottomless pit, and lock him in so that he cannot get out. Then He will set up His 1,000 year kingdom on the earth, in which the saints of God will reign and rule with Him.

If we are already in the Millennium, then we have to ask the honest question, why do we not have world peace as a reality today? Jesus is not in Jerusalem sitting on David’s throne. He is not reigning and ruling over the nations of the earth with a rod of iron. Not at all! He reigns and rules from heaven in the hearts of believers. For us, the kingdom of God is within us. But the kingdom is not literally reigning and ruling on the earth in the sense that Christ has eliminated human governments.

Remember the prophecy in the Book of Daniel, where the great statue crumbles to dust. The wind blows it away. The stone that represents the kingdom of Christ then fills the entire world (Daniel 2:35). That has not yet occurred. We still have human government in the world today. Satan has not yet been bound. We are not experiencing the blessings of the millennium at the present.

4. The Church Replaces Israel

The fourth lie, or distortion, about Bible prophecy, that is so often taught today, is the idea that the Church replaces Israel. This view teaches that all of the covenant promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament are conditional. Advocates of this doctrine believe that because Israel failed, and rejected the Messiah, God has given the kingdom blessings to the Church. So the Church is literally the kingdom of God on earth today, and we can claim kingdom authority.

Sometimes, there is confusion between the unconditional prophecies of the Old Testament, and the conditional prophecies. God said to Abraham, “I will bless you unconditionally. I will make a great nation of you, a great name, and a great people, and you will be a blessing to all nations” (Genesis 12:1-3). God cut the covenant with Abraham. “I will make this happen.” It is an unconditional covenant. The promise to give that land to the nation of Israel is an everlasting promise. It is not conditional.

If the promise of the everlasting covenant of the land to Israel is not everlasting, then what right do we have in the New Testament to believe that the promise of everlasting life is everlasting? Is that also conditional? Is that also something that God can take away? No! The Bible makes it very clear in Romans 11:1, God has not cast away His people Israel.

5. The Church Goes Through the Tribulation

Another deception in the area of Bible Prophecy is that the Church will go through the tribulation period. People ask, “Why should the Church be exempt from persecution and suffering? Why should we expect to go up in the rapture before the time of tribulation?” The Church is not exempt from persecution, martyrdom, pain, sorrow, rejection and misrepresentation. But the Church is exempt from the wrath of God. The Bible says of the believer:

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 5:9). But the tribulation period is the time when the wrath of God is poured out on unbelievers. When the seals are opened in Revelation, the nations are shaking their fists in the face of God. They are actually shouting out, “Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb who sits on the throne!” They know that hey are under the wrath of the Lamb. Still, they do not repent.

I would remind you, the Church is not the object of the wrath of Christ. She may be disciplined by Christ. She may be judged by Christ. God may allow us to go through suffering, heartache, problems and even persecution and martyrdom, but not His wrath. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the wrath of God for us. In those final, terrible moments on the cross, when He shouted, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” it was because the wrath of God fell on Him at that moment. Jesus died in our place, taking the wrath and judgment for us (Isaiah 53:4-6).

The Church does not go through the time of tribulation. In fact, those who are suffering are described in the Book of Revelation as unbelievers. They are symbolized by the great harlot (Revelation 17), whereas the Church is the Bride of Christ. She is not told anywhere in the New Testa-ment to be watching for the tribulation to begin. Rather, believers are told to “keep watching” for Jesus to come for them (Matthew 24:42; John 14:1-3).

6. Antichrist Can Be Identified Today

Deception number six is the idea that the Antichrist can be presently identified. I cannot recall how many times people have written me a letter or sent me a book, saying, I know who the Antichrist is. It’s Gorbachev: he’s got that mark on his forehead; it’s the mark of the beast. Or they may say it’s Prince Charles of England because he descends from a royal line, and he’s backed by the flag of Wales, which has a red dragon on it. These types of speculation have gone on for centuries. People have identified the Antichrist as Nero, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. Everybody and anybody has been suggested as candidates for the Antichrist. Some have even suggested that it is Bill Clinton and Hillary is the False Prophet!

Let me simply state that nobody knows who the Antichrist is. It is a waste of time trying to figure out who the Antichrist is, because Satan cannot make a move to indwell someone to be the Antichrist until after the rapture — after the restrainer is removed. Satan’s hands are tied by the very sovereignty of God. He cannot make his move until first of all, God makes His, and calls the Church home to heaven.

7. We Can Predict the Date of the Rapture

The seventh lie that we hear so often is that we can predict the date of the rapture. After all, God would certainly want to reveal to His own children that He love, that special knowledge whereby we could figure out the date of His coming, wouldn’t He? Yet Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, “No one knows the time of My coming, not even the angels in Heaven.” If the angels do not know, Satan does not know, and you and I certainly do not know.

Jesus tells us in verse 42 of that chapter to keep watching for Him to come. In I Thessalonians 1:10, we are told to be waiting for the Son of God from Heaven. In Luke 19:13, He says, “Occupy till I come.” In I Corinthians 11:26, in the communion service, we read, “ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” The New Testament leaves us in anticipation of the fact that Jesus could come at any moment. So don’t waste your time trying to guess the time. Instead, be ready all the time!

Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle-- Psalm 144 NKJV

Remember --- we should examine current events in light of Bible Prophecy, rather than try to shoehorn current events into prophecy...trying to "read them into the Bible" ...Dr Ed Hindson