Category Archives: Bible prophecy

Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 4 – Technology

28 Tuesday Jan 2025

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This post is the fourth and final part in a four-part series on how Bible prophecy relates to current events in January 2025. The subject of this article is how some recent technological developments relate to Bible prophecy. While technological advances are usually viewed as a positive thing, any optimism that comes with technological advances should be tempered with the realization that the world lies in spiritual darkness. Thus, while there are aspects of technology that make the world a better place, on balance technological advances result in greater prevalence of wickedness because sinful men will always leverage technology to do greater evils.

Digital currency

Cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, continued to rise in value in 2024. President Trump campaigned on the promise of a crypto-friendly administration, though he disappointed cryptocurrency industry leaders at a pre-inauguration party by blindsiding them with the launch of a meme coin for the sole purpose of making a small fortune overnight. That was in addition to Trump launching a cryptocurrency business this past September with shady and inexperienced business partners. Trump issued an executive order on cryptocurrency shortly after his inauguration, but it “did not go nearly as far as many in the crypto industry had hoped.”

I would suggest that what fits best with Bible prophecy is not the continued proliferation of cryptocurrencies, but rather the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the United States. While Trump is currently opposed to the creation of a CBDC, his views on digital currency are changeable—he used to deride Bitcoin as a “scam.” Perhaps Trump or his Treasury Secretary will come to see how a CBDC backed by the U.S. government could be a powerful tool to enrich the United States and control the world. It is also possible that other countries will launch CBDCs that begin to have success, and the United States will feel compelled to launch its own CBDC in order to compete. Or perhaps this will not happen under Trump, but under a future president. In any case, I believe that a CBDC backed by the U.S. government will eventually become the world’s new standard currency, replacing both cryptocurrencies and national currencies.

First, it should be noted that the term “cryptocurrency” is not synonymous with the term “digital currency.” A cryptocurrency, which is one type of digital currency, relies on a decentralized network of computers to verify transactions using encryption and blockchain technology. There is no central bank or third party that processes Bitcoin transactions, and there is no single entity that issues Bitcoin, which has made Bitcoin very difficult to regulate. Some of the weaknesses of Bitcoin are: (1) the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is far more volatile than the U.S. dollar, making cryptocurrencies impractical for a regular savings account, or for business contracts; (2) Bitcoin is often stored in cryptocurrency exchanges and digital wallets, which have been hacked many times, resulting in significant thefts of Bitcoin; (3) one-fifth of all Bitcoin (about $350 billion, based on a value of Bitcoin at $100,000) has been permanently lost through the loss of passwords or the use of incorrect sending addresses. Unlike credit card purchases or bank transfers, there is no way to reverse or cancel a bad Bitcoin transaction, with the result that large numbers of people are continually losing Bitcoin through user errors. Since Bitcoin is not stored in a central bank, it cannot be recovered once lost.

Unlike cryptocurrencies, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be issued by a central bank, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, and the central bank would process all the transactions. Depending on how the CBDC is structured, people might be able to hold the digital currency and send and receive money without a traditional bank account. A CBDC issued by the United States’ central bank would be very attractive worldwide, and people in foreign countries would be able to buy CBDC money without the legal restrictions placed on U.S.-dollar bank accounts. A U.S. government-backed CBDC would likely be widely accepted worldwide for payment, with no need for currency conversions. Many people will have much greater confidence in the value and stability of the U.S. CBDC than in the value and stability of their own country’s currency, and could move their savings to a CBDC account, which they could manage on their phones without dealing with a bank. This would result in a sharp rise of the CBDC and a corresponding weakening of national currencies, creating a self-reinforcing cycle in which everyone who can moves his money to the CBDC in a mad rush. Eventually governments around the world would deem it necessary to replace their national currencies with the U.S. CBDC—not just due to the decline of national currencies, but likely due to threats from Trump or his successor of being cut off from the whole financial and economic system if they do not eliminate their national currencies. Thus, once a CBDC is issued by the United States’ central bank it could quickly become the world’s primary currency.

Returning to prophecy, when the CBDC issued by the U.S. government becomes the world’s sole currency, this will enable the implementation of the mark of the beast, without which no one can buy or sell (Rev 13:16-18). Well before the mark of the beast is implemented, the United States will control the universal currency—the CBDC—which will give it considerable control over the entire world (Rev 17:18; cf. Zech 5:5-11). After the destruction of the United States by the antichrist (Rev 17:16-17), the antichrist and/or the false prophet will gain control of the CBDC and begin to plan for the implementation of the mark of the beast, which is likely a tattoo accompanied by a tiny implant or imprint through which one’s CBDC account can be accessed. (Israel may have an arrangement with the U.S. government to administer the CBDC if the U.S. government collapses, and the false prophet will apparently be the Israeli head of state [cf. Rev 13:11] who signs a treaty with the antichrist [Dan 9:27].)

One of the major problems that would result from the creation of a CBDC by the U.S. government is that the United States would then have two official currencies—the U.S. dollar and the CBDC. (This would also be a problem for other countries that start using the CBDC.) Legal and financial contracts in the U.S. are based on the dollar, and it is not clear whether payments could somehow be made with the CBDC instead of with the dollar. (Since the U.S. government’s national debt was issued for repayment in dollars, perhaps the digital currency will help with the government’s debt problem by lowering the value of the dollar.) Perhaps the government will rapidly eliminate the dollar after launching the CBDC. It is also not clear what will happen to banks if people move their money to a digital account administrated by the Federal Reserve; perhaps money will still be held in private bank accounts, but transactions will be processed by the Federal Reserve. Credit cards might also become a thing of the past, since credit cards are mainly used to facilitate electronic payments; the CBDC would be an inherent electronic-only system. The U.S. government has prepared various options for a CBDC, but it remains to be seen which options will be chosen.

Many seemingly good reasons can be put forth for the use of a CBDC: digital money cannot be counterfeited, burned, or misplaced; criminal activity can be tracked and thwarted much more easily if all transactions are processed digitally by a central bank; global commerce and travel will become much smoother without the need for currency conversion; currency value will remain stable worldwide; and people will be able to send and receive money easily without bank accounts. However the argument that the government needs to be able to monitor and control all transactions to prevent criminal activity has a fatal flaw: the government could abuse this control and could itself engage in highly unethical and oppressive activity.

A CBDC would dovetail perfectly with Trump’s America First agenda and desire for world domination, as it would give the U.S. government direct control over the global economy and global financial system, and it would give the United States a means of reaping huge profits from this system. It would also give the U.S. government significant power to repress dissent and opposition (both internal and external). Since all CBDC transactions must be processed by the central bank, the U.S. government (which oversees the central bank) could instantly freeze the account of any U.S. individual or foreign entity, blocking all transactions. This power could be used not just to stop actual criminal activity, but also to cut off dissidents from the whole financial system—as will be done during the tribulation period with the mark of the beast. The power to monitor all transactions can be used to track criminal activity and identify suspicious behaviors, but can also be used to identify networks of dissidents and their supporters. Further, when the central bank process transactions (e.g., anytime money is sent from one account to another), it will levy a transaction fee similar to those currently charged by credit card companies. If the U.S. government levies a 2-4% tax on all the financial transactions (not just purchases) that are made worldwide, this may well be sufficient to eliminate the income tax in the United States, further enriching Americans and providing a means to eliminate budget deficits. The United States would also profit by having the sole power to digitally “print” new money. While such a system might sound like a dream come true for Trump and his supporters, in fact it would be nothing less than the diabolical oppression of all the peoples of the world, motivated by the greed of the richest country that has ever existed.

Many other potential abuses of a CBDC have been suggested, though it is as yet uncertain exactly how the CBDC would work, and what guardrails would be built into the system. If the U.S. government has a record of all money transfers, financial transactions, and account balances of everyone in the world, it could use this information to disrupt the lives of those it wants to persecute. Possibly the IRS could automatically take taxes and fines directly out of CBDC accounts, without the consent of account holders. Then people who can legitimately claim certain income as tax-exempt, or who can take legal tax deductions, might have to go to court to try to prove that they do not owe what the IRS said they owed.

There has also been some discussion of making the CBDC programmable in order to shape social and economic behavior and to give the central bank a more effective tool of responding to economic crises. For example, rather than cutting interest rates to encourage consumer spending the Federal Reserve might put an expiration date on 10 percent of all the money in everyone’s CBDC accounts, meaning that the money would be reclaimed by the Federal Reserve or “deleted” if it is not spent by a certain date. The Federal Reserve might also be able to restrict the use of a certain amount of CBDC money to specific retailers or economic sectors, in order to encourage spending in those sectors. Alternatively, if there is a repeat of the situation during the pandemic when hoarding of goods resulted in shortages, the Federal Reserve could limit the amount of each person’s CBDC money that could be spent on those goods each month. It should be noted, however, that while it is possible to create a programmable CBDC, it is not yet known whether the actual CBDC that will be issued by the Federal Reserve will be programmable in this way.

Once the entire world starts using the CBDC and the U.S. government begins to abuse its control of the CBDC, it will be too late for the rest of the world to go back to using cash. The use of physical currency depends on a large and complex physical infrastructure that will be nearly impossible to rebuild once governments, banks, and retailers dismantle this infrastructure and begin to exclusively use the CBDC. (Retailers are already discouraging the use of cash and checks.) The U.S. government could also threaten to freeze CBDC transactions in any country that attempts to continue using another currency, or that attempts to launch a competing currency. The U.S. government could also threaten a full trade blockade, sanctions, a travel ban, or even military action. Normally such threats would be considered an act of war, but other countries have no hope of winning a war against the United States and so will have to comply.

Prophecy teachers have long spoken about a transition to a cashless society and a one-world currency in association with the mark of the beast. In the secular world, financial and technology experts have long advocated going cashless. Now at last the theories and proposals are on the verge of becoming reality. This will occur when the United States launches its CBDC and the new digital currency quickly becomes the world’s standard currency, replacing all physical currency. (Cryptocurrencies will apparently fail or be banned.) It must be recognized that this is an extremely dangerous and ominous development. While the mark of the beast will cause great trouble for Christians during the final 3½ years before Christ’s second coming, the United States will certainly use the CBDC system to persecute Christians before the tribulation period as well (cf. Rev 17:6, 18; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

Also connected with the mark of the beast, some tech-savvy people have been experimenting for years with computer chips implanted in their hands, which they use to open doors, make payments, and so forth. To date these implants have not been widely adopted, outside of Sweden. However, one of the major weaknesses of e-commerce and digital platforms is their susceptibility to fraud and hacking, caused both by mistakes on the part of users and mistakes on the part of software engineers. The processing of CBDC payments by means of a chip implant could be promoted as more convenient and secure than phone apps or a CBDC card. While the mark of the beast will not be implemented until the midpoint of the tribulation period, it could take advantage of an existing system of imprints or implants, and simply expand this system to make it a universal requirement for accessing CBDC accounts while creating a new imprint or implant that couples each person’s ID with a permanent tattooing or branding of the antichrist’s name or number. In any case, for the CBDC system to be made truly universal and accessible to the poor, one’s CBDC account must be accessible through a card or an implanted chip, and not merely through a smartphone app. The use of a card or chip will also give the U.S. central bank sole power over the CBDC, as tech companies and credit card companies will not be able to block access to CBDC accounts.

Energy and communications

A curious feature of the tribulation period is that, despite all the wars and calamities and plagues which occur, the electronic payment system that is connected with the mark of the beast never goes down—the mark continues to be the only means of buying and selling all the way until the second coming of Christ. In today’s world, even a minor disaster such as severe weather results in widespread power outages. Many parts of the world also have unreliable electricity and problems with power generation. Internet and cell phone outages are also common. How is it that a digital payment system could continue to function in spite of the great plagues that come upon the earth during the tribulation period?

One problem in today’s world is that there is no ideal method of generating electricity; every method currently in use has drawbacks and must be supplemented by other methods. However, great progress has been made recently on a new form of power generation, which is nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion has the potential to cheaply generate almost unlimited amounts of electricity with no chance of a major radiation leak. This could potentially provide the power to fully electrify all the countries of the world, replacing older, costlier, and less reliable forms of power generation. Other advances in power generation, such as better solar panels, are also likely.

As for why the electronic payment system never goes down, one possibility is that there will be great breakthroughs in battery technology, to such an extent that homes and businesses might be able to run on battery power for months. Perhaps someday power lines will be taken down, and the electric company will simply replace a building’s batteries periodically. Or perhaps buildings themselves may no longer be wired for electricity some day in the future, with all electrical devices powered by batteries, and various methods of replacing or recharging the batteries.

As for why internet connectivity appears to remain stable throughout the tribulation period, this must be due to redundancies in the system—a vast network of fiber optic cables, wireless transmitters, and tens of thousands of satellites. The construction of internet infrastructure in space has already begun with Starlink, and various other companies are planning to launch their own satellite constellations soon. Satellite internet and satellite cell phone coverage means that the network will cover even the most remote and underdeveloped parts of the planet. If there is a disaster in space, possibly a network of drones powered by advanced batteries could keep internet signals functioning.

The internet

The internet is the most transformative technological innovation of the past 50 years, and there is no doubt that it has greatly increased sin, evil, and temptation in the world. One thing that about the internet and cell phones that has changed significantly over the past 5-10 years is that their use is no longer optional. The tech companies have set up a satanic system in which everyone has to (or will have to) use devices connected to the internet in order to function in society.

Internet-connected devices give people 24/7 access to all forms of pornography, which has made sexual temptation, sin, and perversion more pervasive than ever before in human history. The internet is also full of violent content, occultic content, satanic music, and slanderous lies against Christianity and the Bible. Video games, which are played via the internet, are usually full of explicit violence, sex, satanism, and satanic music. Online gambling and sports betting have become pervasive. Online forums and encrypted messaging apps are also commonly used for sinful or criminal purposes, such as meetups for immoral purposes, buying and selling drugs, buying and selling guns, sharing designs of 3D printed guns, hiring hit men, and so forth. The internet is also inherently addictive and is a huge distraction from useful work, as people spend large amounts of their free time watching movies, following sports, reading social media, and messaging friends. When Christians seek to use the internet for good purposes, such as to find news or useful information, they are generally directed to anti-Christian sources and exposed to all sorts of evil content. For all the conveniences created by the internet, it can be said that the internet is probably the single most destructive force in the history of the world, both spiritually and politically (by enabling totalitarianism).

Sinful music has also become pervasive through the internet and electronic devices. Such music is played incessantly in nearly every public space, and most people have this music playing incessantly in private—in their homes, their cars, and their headphones. Modern forms of sinful music are themselves enabled through technology—through electric guitars and amps, huge speaker systems, microphones, and video productions.

Technology and the internet have also largely destroyed privacy and freedom of speech. All of one’s movements and activities are now tracked, and in many cases people’s conversations are continuously being recorded. Many people have internet-connected cameras inside and outside their homes. All new cars are equipped with camera systems and tracking systems, with the potential for cars to be able to be controlled remotely (e.g., for cars to be repossessed by automatically driving themselves back to the dealership). “Smart” homes give tech companies control over one’s thermostat, doorbells, door locks, televisions, lights, and many other devices. The result is a looming totalitarianism like nothing ever before seen or imagined—there can be no private conversations or activities, no hiding from the authorities, and no ability to survive if the tech companies (primarily American tech companies) cut one’s access to their platforms. Further, this totalitarianism can for the first time be truly global in scope, since the internet is a global communications network.

The worldwide extent of the internet presents another problem, which is the reuniting of the human race. In Genesis 11:1-9, only 100 years after God destroyed the world by means of a global Flood, mankind was on the fast track to another all-out rebellion. They had defiantly built a city and a temple-tower to exalt themselves instead of God. If God did not interpose to check man’s activity and divide man’s unity, it would not be long before He would be compelled to wipe out the entire human race once again. Mercifully, God intervened by destroying the linguistic unity of the human race, resulting in the scattering of peoples far and wide across the globe, and the emergence of hundreds of distinct nations which competed with each other instead of working together. Today we are witnessing a reversal of the judgment at Babel—a reuniting of the human race. Global trade and travel, a global financial system, and a global communications system are all breaking down the barriers between peoples and nations that have been in place since Babel. A key component of this is linguistic unity. Already English has become the world’s lingua franca, as it is the language most needed for success in business and education, and much of the internet is in English. In addition, AI-powered automatic translation, while far from perfect, is improving rapidly and is already allowing at least limited communication and understanding across languages. While this is usually presented as a positive development, in fact world unity will always result in mankind working together to oppose God and the people of God, and to give the fullest possible expression to their sinful desires (cf. Gen 6:5; 8:21; Ps 2:1-3). World unity means collective apostasy, though it does also present the opportunity for worldwide revival (cf. Rev 7:9-17).

The internet and the new emerging unity of the human race behind the leadership of the United States/Babylon the Great and its corporations is ushering in the great eschatological rebellion of the last days. The last days will feature unprecedented opposition to God in the unbelieving world (2 Thess 2:3; 2 Tim 3:1-9, 13; 2 Pet 3:3-6; Jude 17-19; Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2), and also a falling away within the church (Rom 11:19-22; 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Tim 4:3-4; Rev 3:14-22). When the entire unbelieving world worships the antichrist and takes his mark in the face of extraordinary signs from heaven, this will be the result and culmination of an unprecedented worldwide rebellion against God that began well before the start of the tribulation period.

Once systems are moved online, it becomes virtually impossible to go back to old ways of doing things before the existence of the internet—the old infrastructure has been dismantled. The internet is now necessary for financial transactions (using credit cards), government systems, medical and insurance systems, educational systems, and most other things. This has led to yet another evil associated with the internet—now that there is no alternative to using technology, the tech companies are charging ever-increasing amounts for their products. Online services that used to be free increasingly require payment and come with ads and the sale of user data. Software products that used to be a one-time purchase now require a paid subscription. Most recently, software companies have justified another significant price hike for their products by integrating AI features, which are underwhelming. Technology is one of the main driving factors behind the increased cost of living in recent years, and forms an especially large part of people’s budgets in low-income countries. No longer can people simply “live off the land” or be self-sufficient; all are dependent on the tech companies, and all need money in order to live. The tech companies charge far more than would be necessary to break even, and their handsome profits go to enrich the wealthiest people on the planet, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and hedge fund investors. It is a sinful system through and through. Technology, which is heralded as man’s greatest servant, has become man’s most dreadful master.

Artificial intelligence

The year 2024 also saw breakthroughs in so-called artificial intelligence (AI), which immediately opened up a Pandora’s box of misinformation. In the coming years and decades it will be increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction, and to find reliable and truthful sources. AI is already writing books and articles, creating videos, and guiding the decision-making of judges, politicians, investors, and corporate executives. AI is being integrated with traditional software to such an extent that from now on most of the things that most people write or create will be largely written or created by AI, and people’s way of thinking will be guided by AI. Companies and governments are replacing customer service agents with AI-powered bots, and the past summer’s Olympics featured some AI announcers for recaps of the day’s events. People ask AI-powered bots such as Alexa for answers to their questions, and can now even converse with these bots. “Deepfake” videos generated by AI, in which people appear to be saying and doing things that they never said or did, are very difficult to distinguish from authentic recordings.

Social media is exacerbating the problem of unreliable sources by spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation. Popular non-experts with social media talents spread fake news and half-baked ideas supported by faulty research, now often with the aid of AI. “Official” sources and academic experts, on the other hand, tend to reflect anti-biblical presuppositions and may also be using AI to do some of their writing and research. Compounding the problem further, a small number of antichristian tech companies control and filter the information people see online, and censorship will only increase in the years ahead. Even publishers of print books, including most Christian publishers, are hostile to certain aspects of biblical truth (e.g., the literal interpretation of prophecy and the use of the generic masculine [cf. Gen 5:2]). As forgeries and deceits become ever more prevalent and convincing, spiritual warfare in the coming decades will increasingly become focused on a battle for truth and clarity. What can we trust? Where can we find truth? Only the Word of God (the Bible) is one hundred percent trustworthy; it has passed all tests and is still standing after thousands of years of attacks and after all the scientific and archaeological discoveries of the modern era. The world is literally covered by evidence of God’s past judgment of the world by a global Flood, which puts the lie to atheism and uniformitarianism and verifies the Bible’s promise that Jesus Christ will soon return to judge the world a second time (2 Peter 3). Thus, we must judge all things by God’s Word—anything that contradicts a biblical affirmation or principle cannot be true, no matter how convincing the forgeries may appear. Conversely, we must believe in everything the Bible says, even if we may not understand everything or be able to explain everything. All we need to do to prove that something is false is to show that it contradicts the Bible.

When evaluating competing truth-claims, it is also important to evaluate the character of those making the claims, as a court of law would do with witnesses. The character of those who attack the Bible is always bad—the Bible’s critics manifest the sin nature and the character of Satan. Due to their character problems, we should not believe everything they tell us. AI, though impersonal, is trained on sources which are largely anti-Christian, and it is usually programmed to reflect secular beliefs and assumptions. On the other hand, the character of God as revealed in the Bible is perfectly righteous, and therefore the claims made in the Bible are completely trustworthy—God cannot lie or deceive (Num 23:19; Tit 1:2).

The need for quality Bible scholarship will become acute as pastors, publishing houses, and seminary professors continue to adopt secular values and increasingly rely on AI—and as official persecution of Christians develops and intensifies, resulting in the elimination of many good pastors, seminaries, and Bible teachers. Also, while AI translation is much-improved, it is not, and never will be, good enough to produce a high-quality translation of complex works in the area of biblical studies. Thus, I continue to do my own original research for my commentary on Revelation and other writings, and I continue to work with human translators for the Spanish version of my interpretive guide to the Bible. This is time-consuming and expensive, but is the only way to produce a high-quality end product. AI is no substitute for human scholarship in the humanities, especially in the realm of biblical studies.

Healthcare

With low birthrates in most of the world (outside of Africa), demographers currently project that world population will peak at 10 billion in the year 2085, and will subsequently crash. However, Revelation 9:13-21 describes a major war in which a fully mechanized army of 200 million men originating in the east (East/Southeast/South Asia) launches a massive invasion of Russia and the countries allied with Russia. This seems to imply a large population increase, along with an economic boom in order to finance such a large military buildup. The main driving factor behind this population increase is likely a sharply declining death rate, rather than increasing birthrates.

Medical breakthroughs are likely on the near horizon which will enable people to live much longer and healthier lives. We know from Genesis 5 and 11 that it is possible for men to live nearly 1,000 years—the genes are there but need to be identified and activated. Noah begat children as late as his 500th year of life, and if people’s childbearing years can be extended this will significantly increase birthrates. AI could possibly identify the now-dormant genes for longevity, and gene editing techniques could activate these genes in adults. It is also likely, though unfortunate, that many babies of the future will be “designer babies” whose genes are edited in a laboratory (after in vitro fertilization) in order to produce supposedly ideal physical traits and sharp minds. Conversely, the rate of babies with birth defects and conditions such as Down Syndrome has fallen sharply due to the ability to identify these conditions during pregnancy, and the choice of most mothers to abort “defective” babies. With more babies and young children who have perfect health, this will further decrease death rates. It will also result in many more healthy young and middle-aged people who are fit for military service.

A decline in death rates also seems to imply better access to healthcare worldwide, apparently prompted by economic growth and development. Healthcare may become less expensive if cures arise for conditions that currently require long and expensive treatments or unending medications, therapy, and caregiving. Gene editing is already curing congenital disorders. Also, more governments may provide universal healthcare coverage for their citizens. Better sanitation, cleaner air, and safer tap water would also contribute to improved health and longer lives.

Conclusion

This article is the fourth and final one in a series on prophecy and current events in January 2025. Unlike most prophecy teachers, while I believe in the pretribulational rapture I do not hold to the doctrine of the imminence of the rapture, nor do I believe that the Bible prophesies a specific date for the rapture. However, I do believe that the Bible prophesies specific events that will occur before the rapture. Thus, I am not predicting the return of Christ in 2025 or even within the next decade; too many prophesied events must occur first. However, enough prophesied events are now in process so that we can know with certainty that we are living close in time to the end of the age.

In spite of the fact that we are living in the end times, it is rare that a Bible teacher can accurately connect contemporary events with Bible prophecy. Within academia, making such connections is essentially prohibited and ridiculed. Yet large sections of the Bible are prophetic, and those who are living in the last days ought to be able to connect Bible prophecy with the state of the world around them. As time passes and more is fulfilled, these connections will become more obvious and more widely accepted among believers—especially the identification of the United States with Babylon the Great.

Many of the events which will unfold in the world in 2025 and in the decades beyond will be extremely troubling for Bible-believing Christians. The world is entering a period of profound spiritual darkness, with fierce persecution coming for those Christians who refuse to bow the knee to Baal (or Babylon the Great). However, these events also contain great hope, because they imply that God’s program is driving toward its conclusion, and the return of Christ is drawing nearer. As Satan’s fury rages, knowing his time is short, Christians will have the opportunity to shine as brighter lights, proclaiming the truth of God’s Word to a world full of lies and darkness.

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Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 3 – Babylon the Great

23 Thursday Jan 2025

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This post is the third in a four-part series on how Bible prophecy relates to current events in January 2025. The subject of this article is how the election of Donald Trump and other recent events in the United States relate to biblical prophecies of Babylon the Great.

Babylon the Great

Revelation 17:1–19:5 describes an entity called Babylon the Great which is a superpower that dominates the world of the end times. Babylon the Great is the greatest country the world has ever seen; not only are its wealth and military power unparalleled, its economic and moral/cultural powers are also unparalleled. Babylon the Great is especially noted for corrupting the entire earth through its materialism, which has both economic and spiritual aspects. It is also clear that Babylon the Great exerts a degree of control over the other countries of the world through a financial regimen—evidently a universal digital currency (Rev 17:18). Babylon the Great shapes the economy, financial system, culture, and spirituality of the world of the end times, and God holds it responsible for the state of extreme spiritual corruption in which the world exists at the start of the tribulation period—including a global campaign of savage martyrdom of Christians (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2). God judges Babylon the Great, ironically, through the antichrist, who cannot become preeminent in the world while Babylon the Great exists. The antichrist will destroy Babylon the Great in a massive nuclear strike very early in the tribulation period (Rev 17:16-17; 18:8). Control of the global digital currency will subsequently pass to the antichrist or his henchman, the false prophet, who will require all to receive a mark without which they cannot buy or sell (Rev 13:16-18).

The nature and scope of Babylon the Great’s dominance is such that only one entity of its kind could ever exist in the history of the world, and there is no doubt that the United States of America is this entity, or is in the process of becoming this entity. The United States is already the world’s only true superpower, and its economic and military power are far beyond that of any other country. As the engine of the global economy and possessor of the world’s primary reserve currency, it is and will continue to be responsible for the great era of wealth creation among the nations in the last days (Rev 18:3, 9). It also is uniquely imposing sinful aspects of its culture—especially a materialistic worldview—on all the nations of the world. While some aspects of the prophecy remain to be fulfilled—most notably the prophecies of Babylon the Great’s attempts to put Christians to death worldwide—enough aspects already match so as to leave no doubt as to the fulfillment of the rest. For more information about Babylon the Great, see this post.

The second term of Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s reelection to the presidency only four years after seeking to overturn an election result is the most startling political resurrection in the long history of American politics, perhaps comparable to Adolf Hitler’s election following his imprisonment for leading the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. While there are some important policy differences between Trump and Hitler, it is interesting that in both instances their political resurgence was fueled by a personality cult, a new nationalism, economic malaise, conspiracy theories, and big rallies that included spectacular shows and grandiose speeches. Trump appears to be aiming for something close to dictatorial control of both the United States and the world—in contradiction of both the United States Constitution and the UN Charter.

Trump’s first term was largely a recovery from the Obama presidency, guided and constrained by such steady hands such as Mike Pence, John Kelly, Bill Barr, and John Bolton. Trump was also constrained by fierce establishment opposition, both in the government and in corporate America. Trump’s attitude changed dramatically with his loss of the 2020 election and his ensuing legal problems. He became angry, vindictive, dismissive of legal restraints, and demanding of absolute personal loyalty. Trump also moved to the left on the key issues of abortion and homosexual rights. Conversely, opposition to Trump has weakened greatly because (1) the opposition is exhausted and diminished; (2) Trump’s leftward shift has made him more palatable to the establishment; (3) business executives and politicians fear Trump’s wrath if they oppose him; and (4) Trump is only appointing sycophants who are personally loyal to him. In short, there are far fewer checks on Trump’s powers now than there were during his first term, and Trump has adopted a much more strident attitude and a radical agenda.

There is nothing specifically about Donald Trump in prophecy, and it remains to be seen exactly what Trump will do in his second term. (This post was published a few days after Trump’s inauguration.) However, there is no doubt that Trump’s return to the presidency is an extraordinary event in the history of both the United States and the world. My purpose in this post is to highlight connections between actions that Trump has indicated that he will or might take, and biblical prophecies of the end times.

Making America Greater

The slogans Trump used in his campaigns and rallies fit very well with the prophecies of Babylon the Great: “Make America Great Again,” “Make America Rich Again,” and “Make America greater than ever before.” Although America already is the greatest superpower the world has ever seen, I believe that Trump and his successors will succeed in making it much greater. America will become a much richer country, and will exert greater control over the world economic and financial system. Trump has a history of personally abusing power and flouting rules and regulations, and it is likely that he will direct the U.S. government to do the same, in order to enrich the United States. Trump and his supporters also believe they should glorify America as much as possible (cf. Rev 18:7); Trump has announced his intention to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America,” among other things. While there are some people who think that China will replace the United States as the world’s greatest superpower, this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that in the era of world history leading up to the tribulation period the United States will dominate the world economically and culturally (spiritually), and Trump’s second term should go a long way toward making this happen.

Trump and his supporters place great emphasis on patriotism, and this is an area where Christians must be cautious. While the New Testament commands obedience to governmental authorities, it does not glorify Rome. Christians have a heavenly citizenship and allegiance (Acts 5:29; Phil 3:20), and should never put country ahead of God or swear absolute allegiance to a country or its ruler. Also, Americans are not intrinsically better than anyone else by virtue of being citizens of the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. In fact, American Christians who have resources have a moral obligation to use these resources to help poor Christians in other countries (cf. Acts 11:29-30; Rom 15:25-27; 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:1-15; Gal 2:10).

Trump and many of his supporters have a prosperity theology, in which they talk about God blessing them and blessing the United States, with the material prosperity of the United States presented as evidence that the country is specially favored by God. Trump also points to his physical protection as proof that he is specially favored by God. However, Trump is completely unwilling to accept biblical rebukes and submit to God. In fact, most of the rich and powerful countries and men throughout history have been wicked, while many of the best have been poor. The mere fact that God has brought Donald Trump to power does not mean that Trump is a good man or that he will govern in accordance with biblical principles, nor does the material prosperity of the United States mean that it is a just nation. It should be remembered that God raised up Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire, who destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple.

Materialism

Trump’s second term can be expected to inaugurate a new era of materialism in the United States. This will include not just unparalleled wealth, but also unparalleled covetousness, arrogance, selfishness, and self-sufficiency. Material things will increasingly be viewed as the substance of life (against Luke 12:15); covetous Americans will be godless idolators (Col 3:5), and will continue to spread this idolatry throughout the world. The things of God and eternal things will be despised, since they hinder the pursuit of the material and the temporal. Attitudes such as “greed is good,” “the ends justify the means,” and “friends and allies are disposable” will become more commonplace as materialism is exalted as a virtue.

Many people who read Genesis 19 assume that Sodom was destroyed because of rampant homosexuality (sodomy). However, this is what Ezekiel 16:49-50 says: Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; and she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me: therefore I took them away when I saw it. The greatest sins of Sodom were pride and materialism; sexual immorality (“abomination”) was a secondary cause of God’s judgment. Likewise, Babylon the Great’s foremost sin is identified as materialism (Rev 17:2, 4; 18:3, 9, 23; 19:2), which it spreads throughout the world through economic intercourse (“prostitution”). Sexual immorality and perversion only constitute one aspect of a materialistic value system that puts man in place of God and sees the accumulation of material things and physical pleasure as the substance and goal of life. Trump and his followers (including many professing Christians) consider both materialism and self-promotion to be virtues (against 1 Tim 6:6-10). Where the world looks to America and sees a great economic success story, God sees a spiritually corrupt system—a self-sufficiency and self-worship that is intended to replace God. No wonder, then, that the persecution of Christians is the other major cause of God’s judgment of the country called “Babylon the Great” in the book of Revelation (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

Assisted suicide, euthanasia

Another aspect of Trump’s materialism is that he only sees value in people who are healthy, beautiful, and strong. He does not see value in disabled people, since he does not value the spiritual. It seems that Trump would prefer not to have any seriously disabled people around, as (1) he does not enjoy seeing them; (2) he (wrongly) thinks they are unhappy; and (3) he sees them as a financial drain to the economy. He does not see the moral and spiritual value of disabled people. Trump has already ended federal hiring preferences for people with disabilities, who often struggle to find employment, and his associates have announced their intention to make cuts to Medicaid. Trump’s America will give preference to the rich and the strong.

Trump has suggested various times in the past that disabled people would be better off if they were euthanized. This correlates with a general shift in public opinion, as Trump was the people’s choice. Society in general has a much harsher view toward death than before; the majority of Americans are cremated when they die, many with no funeral service. Some U.S. states have already legalized assisted suicide, and it seems inevitable that this will become national policy. Nearly five percent of all deaths in Canada last year were caused by assisted suicide, and that number will greatly increase in 2027, when Canada will legalize assisted suicide for depression. (Depressed people often wish to die, but are glad years later that they did not.) Assisted suicide is already legal in many countries for non-terminal conditions, such as chronic pain. It is likely that involuntary euthanasia (killing a person without his consent for supposed medical or financial reasons) will eventually become legal. When a person becomes too bothersome or costly to society, he will be executed without a trial.

It became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic that governments have considerable emergency powers, and Trump has already declared two (fake) national emergencies—one at the southern border, and another in the energy sector. It is not hard to see how this could be applied at some point in the future to biblical Christianity. Certain Christian beliefs could be classified as a mental illness, a public health emergency could be declared, and Christians could be subjected to forced euthanasia due to their supposedly incurable mental illness.

Trump’s depreciation of human life is also seen in his love of violence, as he regularly attends UFC fights and suggests that torture is okay. Perhaps America will someday hold Roman-style gladiator fights again. It is also possible that police violence, torture, and arbitrary detention of the type seen in many authoritarian countries will be seen in the United States someday. Legal forms of slavery could also expand in the United States, in accord with Trump’s concept of American privilege and superiority and his desire to punish his opponents (cf. Rev 6:15; 13:16; 18:13).

The Bible teaches that human life has intrinsic value because man is created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27; 5:1; 9:6; James 3:9). In addition, 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” The true church consists mainly of those who are weak, poor, and lowly in this world (1 Cor 1:26-31). Christians should not be impressed with people’s wealth, health, good looks, or noble birth; we should value character and fidelity to God’s Word.

The Constitution

Though it remains to be seen exactly what actions Trump will take, some of his supporters have been calling for a new constitutional convention in order to rewrite the Constitution according to current right-wing priorities. Trump is frustrated by many of the Constitution’s restrictions on what he can do, and if Trump’s agenda is blocked by the courts and Congress, he may well seek to call a constitutional convention.

Article V of the Constitution states that a constitutional convention can be called by two-thirds of the states, but says little about how the convention would be run. Some people think that enough states have already proposed constitutional conventions for various purposes so that the President could legally convene one at any time. A constitutional convention would quickly become a runaway train in the hands of the President who runs it, who would decide the rules (e.g., one vote per state, with a representative appointed by the governor of each state in consultation with the President). The convention would have the power not just to approve new amendments to the Constitution, but to gut the Constitution in its entirety and promulgate a new Constitution. Unlike in other countries, there would be no popular vote on the resulting document before it comes into effect. Constitutional scholar Peter Prindiville calls a constitutional convention “the ultimate high-risk gathering,” due to the uncertainties surrounding what might happen at the convention. However, if Trump is sure of his ability to control the convention, for him the risk would be low and the potential for power would be great.

Far from solving the country’s problems, calling a new constitutional convention would very likely result in the end of freedom of religion, free speech, and freedom of the press. For example, the new Constitution could allow the President to suspend certain freedoms and could prohibit “unpatriotic” speech. (Trump’s nominee for head of the FCC has pledged to revoke the broadcast licenses of anti-Trump television channels.) Many of the checks and balances on presidential power might be eliminated. Trump could also include in a constitutional rewrite a requirement that every U.S. citizen must swear an oath of loyalty to the United States or take the pledge of allegiance. Whatever might be in the final document, a new Constitution would mean the end of America as we have known it and the beginning of a new country which will look increasingly like the Babylon the Great described in Revelation 17:1–19:4.

Religious freedom and moral issues

With regard to religious freedom, a Trump administration will likely be better in the short term than Biden-Harris, though this is not certain; Trump has shifted both himself and the Republican Party away from strong opposition to abortion and homosexuality. Trump is against transgender, but supports homosexual rights and homosexual “marriage,” and transgendering is a form of homosexuality. The weakening of the Republican Party on moral/spiritual issues is of great concern, as until now only the Republican Party has stood in the way of the radical LGBTQ+ agenda. Trump and many of his associates also believe that life should be lived for one’s personal pleasure, with little or no regard for sexual mores. What it means to be “conservative” or “right wing” now, on a wide range of issues, is far different than what it meant to be conservative in the 1990s, or even in 2016.

The Trump administration will likely be the most corrupt administration in history, since Trump believes the ends justify the means—and the ends that he wishes to achieve are materialistic and self-interested. Trump is using his position as president to enrich himself, shamelessly marketing Bibles, guitars, and other Trump-branded items, along with his social media platform and cryptocurrency. The family business is eagerly pursuing lucrative deals in foreign countries. Many of his appointees have a history of legal, ethical, and moral problems, of which they have not repented. Wealthy donors and supporters are openly granted special access and privileges. Federal employees and military leaders are fired or promoted on the basis of loyalty to the president and his agenda. Trump is pledging to punish his political opponents, and has already cowered tech companies and billionaires into supporting him. Conversely, he has issued mass pardons to his cronies, and he could potentially use groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers as private militias to intimidate or eliminate opponents. Trump has little regard for either the United States Constitution or international law, and intends to abuse power to get what he wants. Time will tell exactly what he does, but he cannot be trusted to preserve civil and religious liberties.

Too many evangelical Christians who used to say “character counts” now say that Trump’s character flaws don’t matter—only his policy positions matter. Nothing could be further from the truth—the personal character of the President of the United States matters a great deal. If the president is selfish, egoistic, and greedy, these vices will be reflected in the president’s official actions, policies, and appointees. The influence of Trump’s materialistic, self-interested attitude on American evangelicals is particularly concerning, as these are the main sins of Babylon the Great enumerated in Revelation 17–18.

Foreign policy

Trump’s foreign policy is based on his America First principle, which could also be said to be a “money first” principle, or just plain selfishness. Trump’s foreign policy is neither isolationist nor internationalist—it is imperialist. Essentially, Trump believes in using other countries for the material benefit of the United States, with little regard for treaties, traditional allies, human rights, or the freedom of other peoples.

Trump believes that defense alliances are financially disadvantageous to the United States, and are unnecessary for national security because the United States has the strength to defend itself on its own. If the United States does deploy forces to another country, it should demand repayment in full. The plight of oppressed or threatened peoples in other countries is of no concern. One of Trump’s first acts as president was to freeze all foreign aid, which many poor countries depend on. It is likely that Trump will withdraw from NATO and will close many U.S. military bases overseas. He may also cancel mutual defense agreements with countries such as the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea; in any case, he cannot be relied upon to uphold such agreements in the event of a war. Trump also intends to use tariffs to financially benefit the United States at the expense of other countries.

Not only will Trump likely withdraw from friendly defense alliances, he has threatened to invade friendly countries for the financial benefit of the United States. Trump has threatened to seize Greenland and Panama by force for economic exploitation of key resources. Panama is virtually defenseless, as it has no army, and no other country would attempt to fight off the United States military on Panama’s behalf. Greenland, by contrast, is a territory of a NATO member (Denmark), but is too far away from the European mainland to be effectively defended from a U.S. invasion force. While the United States certainly has the military power to seize control of Greenland, or the economic power to force Denmark to part with it, such an act would have severe repercussions for relations between the United States and Europe. Henceforth, Europe will view the United States as a threat, rather than as a protector. The United States would almost certainly have to leave NATO, and relations between the U.S. and the EU would sour. (For these reasons and/or others, deep resentment toward the U.S. will build over time in Europe and will lead to the destruction of the U.S. by the EU, as described in Revelation 17:16-17). If Trump seizes control of the Panama Canal by force and raises the price for ships to pass through, this will also have serious consequences for the way in which foreign governments view the United States. Doubtless many world leaders will feel compelled to maintain good relations with the U.S. and profess loyalty to Trump in order to protect their countries economically and politically, but the United States will be viewed as a bully, not as a friend.

For Americans like myself who have grown up proud of the fact that our country is the defender of the free world, it will be a great shock if we wake up one day with the realization that we are now living in an aggressor state, with our own personal freedoms slipping away fast.

Trump has also declared his intention to pressure Canada into becoming part of the United States, since Canada is a wealthy and majority-white country. Regardless of whether that happens, the world appears to be entering a new era of imperialism or rule by the strong, in which the United States, Russia, and possibly China seek to conquer or control weaker countries for the benefit of their own countries or to settle vendettas. According to Revelation 17:18, the United States will successfully establish an economic regimen that controls the entire world to a certain degree—probably a digital currency controlled by the U.S. government. There are also strong indications that at some point in the future the United States will pressure other countries into a systematic campaign of persecution against Christians (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

As for the world’s other great powers, according to Ezekiel 38, Russia will be the leader of a coalition of countries which seem to include nearly the entire former Soviet Union, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and most of the rest of Africa (outside of Egypt, which is not named in Ezekiel 38:5). (For details, see this post.) The European powers have now largely withdrawn from Africa, and Trump does not see much value in Africa for both racial and economic reasons. A coalition of east/south/southeast Asian countries that is presumably led by China and India is spoken of in Daniel 11:44, Revelation 9:13-16, and Revelation 16:12. This indicates Trump’s America First foreign policy will open the door for big, aggressive countries such as Russia and China to solidify their authoritarianism and to dominate alliances in Eurasia and Africa, where many free peoples will fall under the oppressive rule of harsh regimes.

It is interesting that although Hindus comprise less than one percent of the U.S. population, Trump has elevated a number of Hindus to positions of prominence: Kash Patel, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard, Sriram Krishnan, and the second lady (Usha Vance). He has also nominated Harmeet Dhillon (a Sikh originally from India) and Jay Bhattacharya (a Christian originally from India) for prominent positions. This points to Trump possibly being sympathetic toward the Hindu nationalist party of Prime Minister Modi of India as a counterweight to China.

Trump has pledged to be pro-Israel (though he just pressured Israel into accepting a ceasefire that seems advantageous to Hamas) and to work toward peace in the Middle East, which will also fulfill prophecy, as described in this post.

Takeaways

There are many questions as to what exactly Trump will do in his second term, and how successful he will be in doing these things. What is certain is that Christians who believe that the United States is God’s chosen nation and that Trump will save it have a worldview that is squarely at odds with the Bible. Just as Democrats have made the United States more like Babylon the Great through secularization and the enactment of an explicitly anti-Christian LGBTQ+ agenda (among other things), the new Republican president will also make the United States look more like the prophesied Babylon the Great. He will do so through an aggressive, materialistic America First agenda, and he may even promulgate a new Constitution that will mark a clear division between the era in which America was a free country and the era of Babylon the Great.

Let me make these suggestions to Christians: give your time, talents, and treasure to God’s work, not to the work of a political party and an earthly hope. If you are working for God, not only are you doing something that will make a profound and eternal difference in the world, you are working for the side which is certain to triumph in the end. If you work to turn America around morally and spiritually through politics, you will surely lose in the long term, and you may become spiritually compromised in the process; but work for God, and you will surely march onward, forward, and upward to victory. Also, do not invest all of your time and energy in America—lift up your eyes, and look to the rest of the world. Remember that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20), and our call is to make disciples of Jesus throughout the whole world (Acts 1:8). Given the clear direction that America is heading, it is foolish for Christians and Christian organizations not to be thinking about moving to some other country which will offer greater religious freedom for Christians whenever such freedom is lost in the United States. After all, America was originally founded by Christians who left their European homelands in search of greater freedom to serve God according to their conscience. Pursuit of the American dream, by contrast, reflects the deceptiveness of materialism and is untenable for Christians who are realistic about the prophetic future of the United States.

As mentioned above, it is possible that the Trump administration may replace the dollar with a digital currency that allows the U.S. government to control all financial transactions in the world, eventually leading to the mark of the beast. More about this in the next post.

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Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 2 – Gog from the land of Magog

08 Wednesday Jan 2025

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This post is the second in a four-part series on how Bible prophecy relates to current events in January 2025. The subject of this article is how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine relates to the prophecy of Ezekiel 38–39.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, shortly after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Russia launched a massive invasion of Ukraine in response to Ukraine’s attempt to break free of Russian control. This invasion was envisioned as the opening phase of a campaign of conquest, by means of which Vladimir Putin would reconquer the countries of the former Soviet Union, and then go beyond it as far as possible, seeking to install pro-Russia regimes around the world in order to make Russia the world’s dominant superpower. Although the Russian invasion force was sizable, it was unprepared for a major war; the Russian plan was to quickly occupy Ukraine while encountering only minimal resistance. This was to be accomplished by moving long columns of armored vehicles toward Ukraine’s major cities, accompanied by missile strikes and airborne assaults. Russia was surprised by the scale and determination of Ukrainian resistance, which also exposed the vulnerability of armored vehicles to new weapons systems. Though Russia swiftly occupied large swaths of Ukrainian territory, the Russian army had to withdraw from northern Ukraine in early April 2022 due to heavy losses and logistical failures; in November 2022, Russia had to withdraw from territory occupied west of the Dnipro (Dnieper) River for the same reason.

The momentum and character of the war have changed many times since the initial invasion, with Ukraine deploying advanced weaponry from Western countries and their own drones, while Russia has tried to counter these developments and has used missiles, drones, artillery, glide bombs, mines, chemical weapons, conscription, and suicidal attacks to maintain pressure on Ukraine. Both sides have suffered tremendous losses, though Russia’s have been disproportionately larger. With greater U.S. support, Ukraine could have already won the war, and in fact could have turned back the initial Russian invasion in 2014. However, successive American administrations have only offered enough support to keep Ukraine from losing the war, rather than providing the support needed to win a decisive victory and overthrow the Putin regime. At present, Russia is running low on resources and is weaker than is commonly believed, but is trying to maintain pressure and project strength.

At the time of the publication of this post, just before the accession of Donald Trump, it can be said that the conflict is about to change dramatically. While President Zelensky of Ukraine and his advisors are skillfully seeking to win the continued support of the United States during the upcoming Trump administration, in fact Trump and many of his supporters (including J. D. Vance) have been largely pro-Russia (pro-Putin) in their rhetoric. Trump’s pro-Russia stance is rooted in his American nationalism and his penchant for authoritarianism, though his position is not just principled but also personal, as a reaction to Democratic opposition to Russia for Russia’s support of Trump in 2016. Trump no longer sees America as the defender of the free world, and in fact seems to admire the brutality and authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin. Trump believes that national interests should take precedence over international law and the rights of other peoples, and therefore he regards it as “smart” to forcibly seize strategically important countries and territories, even at the cost of hundreds of thousands of human lives. Some American conservatives welcome Russian expansionism, as they oppose European progressivism and view Russia as representing similar right-wing values. Of course, most of these conservatives are quite ignorant of the true character of the Russian regime and the superficiality of its state church. The attitude of the American public toward Russia has also changed significantly since the end of the Cold War; most Americans no longer feel threatened by Russia and do not feel the need to protect other countries from Russian expansionism. Indeed, most Americans would strongly oppose American participation in a major war to defend Europe or Africa from a Russian attack. Trump and many Americans view NATO as an alliance that solely benefits Europe at the cost of the United States, and they do not think Europe is worth defending.

Ukraine is reliant on support from the United States to sustain its war efforts; without American support it is likely that Russia will eventually take all of Ukraine, if Ukraine cannot produce or acquire nuclear weapons. If a country as large and powerful as Ukraine falls to Russia, smaller or more isolated countries will have no chance—Moldova, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, to name a few. Russia will certainly need time to rebuild and modernize its forces after the war, and to recover economically and socially, but with the lifting of U.S. sanctions Russia may be able to make significant strides quickly. As for where Russia may seek to expand next, after the collapse of the Assad regime Russia has shifted military assets to Libya and Sudan, and Russian forces are also heavily involved in conflicts elsewhere in Africa, with the goal of controlling most or all of Africa (outside of Egypt) through Russian-backed regimes. With the African continent’s vast resources and the population of Africa projected to reach 25 percent of the world’s population by 2050, Russian control of Africa would have significant geopolitical implications.

Ezekiel 38–39

Ezekiel 38–39 prophesies the invasion of the land of Israel, along with the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and Kuwait (Ezek 38:13), by the well-equipped armies of a large coalition of countries led by “Gog from the land of Magog.” This is one of the best-known prophecies in the Bible, and many Christians have long identified Gog as Russia. Given the fact that we are currently living in the end times, as shown by the reestablishment of the state of Israel and the rise of Babylon the Great, this identification seems virtually certain. (See the discussion below.)

Ezekiel 38–39 is a lengthy passage, and deserving of a more detailed exposition than what can be achieved in the present article. One of the key interpretive issues is the time when this prophesied invasion will take place (see the comments in my Interpretive Guide to the Major Prophets for other views). Through an analysis of Ezekiel 38–39 and a comparison with other prophetic passages, it is clear that the invasion takes place at the midpoint of the tribulation period, at the conclusion of the sixth trumpet judgment that is described in Revelation 9:13-21. The sixth trumpet judgment is a major war in which a fully mechanized army of 200 million originating in the east (East/Southeast/South Asia) launches a massive invasion of Russia and countries allied with Russia, after which the Russian coalition responds with a powerful counterattack. During this war, which likely lasts between six months and a year, a full third of mankind is killed (Rev 9:18). This can only mean that Russia and its allies will brutally slaughter billions of civilians in the population centers of Asia. At the same time, the Asian countries will respond by massacring the civilian populations of the Russian-allied territories they are able to attack. When both sides decide that the war is too costly, a truce is agreed, and the armies led by Russia withdraw from Asia. On their way back, as the armies of Russia and its allies pass through Iran, rather than taking the highways north toward Russia they make a sudden detour into the Middle East in order to loot the prosperous but now-undefended countries of the Arabian Peninsula as well as Israel. Since the antichrist is treaty-bound to protect Israel (Dan 9:27), this invasion is described in Daniel 11:40 as an attack on the antichrist, though the antichrist reneges on his treaty obligations by refusing to protect Israel. Yahweh then shows Himself to be Israel’s true God and Savior by raining down fire from heaven on the invaders while they are in the land of Israel. The Jewish people respond by believing in Jesus as their Messiah and rejecting the antichrist and the false prophet (Ezek 39:22, 28-29). The antichrist responds by invading Israel, setting up the abomination of desolation in the temple, and savagely persecuting the Jewish people. He proceeds to invade the African countries in Russia’s coalition, since Russia is too weakened to protect them (Dan 11:40-43).

It is clear from Ezekiel 38–39 that Russia will become a great world power once again, and that it will build a strong alliance that is capable of fighting effectively against the China-India alliance, as well as posing a substantial threat to Europe. As for the countries named in Ezekiel 38:2-6, “Gog” is the largest and most powerful country in the coalition, and therefore must be Russia. Gog is also described as a country at the northernmost extremity of the Eurasian landmass (Ezek 38:15; 39:2), which also corresponds to Russia. “North” in the prophecy means “north of Israel,” and Moscow is almost exactly due north of Jerusalem; there is no other country north of Israel that could be considered a superpower. “The land of Magog” (Ezek 38:2) appears to be a reference to territory of Russian-speaking or Russian-influenced peoples. The word “Magog” is related to the word “Gog,” and its prophetic reference may be “Russians” or “Russian-speakers.” Thus, “Gog, from the land of Magog” likely means “Russia, from the region of Russian-speakers,” which indicates that Gog has cultural control over an area much more extensive than its own borders. (It is generally agreed that in Ezekiel’s day “Gog” and “Magog” referred to peoples or regions to the north of Israel, though their exact identities are disputed. However, Ezekiel is prophesying of a day in the far future, so these ancient names really stand as fillers for the names of eschatological entities which will exist in the general vicinity or direction of the earlier entities, or which will consist of their descendants.)

“Rosh,” which appears in some English Bible versions in Ezekiel 38:2-3 and 39:1, is likely a mistranslation. This word (רֹאשׁ) occurs nearly 600 times in the Old Testament and means “head” or “chief.” A nation called “Rosh” is not mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament, which makes a reference to it in Ezekiel 38–39 dubious. Also, the other nations named in Ezekiel 38:2-3 are mentioned in the table of nations (Gen 10:2; 1 Chr 1:5), but Rosh is not. Certainly “Rosh” is not a reference to Russia—Russia is to be identified with Gog, which is the strongest nation of the invading coalition.

Meshech and Tubal (Ezek 38:3) are powerful countries that are closely aligned with Russia. In Ezekiel’s day these countries were located in the mountainous region to the southeast of the Black Sea, but also represented the northern extremity of the world then known. As prophetic entities, they may refer collectively to the Caucasian states (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and possibly Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and the Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan).

Persia, Cush, and Put (Ezek 38:5) correspond to Iran, Sudan, and Libya, respectively, which are countries in which Russia currently has heavy involvement. Cush and Put were the most distant African countries known in Israel or Babylon in the sixth century BC, so they could actually stand for most of the African continent. Since Daniel 11:40 mentions “the king (kingdom/coalition) of the south” as allied with “the king (kingdom/coalition) of the north” in the invasion of Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation period, it appears that Russia will subjugate much of the African continent, with the exception of Egypt (assuming that Egypt is not included with Cush in Ezekiel 38:5). Possibly Egypt will demilitarize with international treaty protection, or possibly Egypt will continue to possess the most powerful military in Africa and so will be able to resist Russian control. It is possible, but less likely, that “Persia” also stands for lands beyond itself, specifically Pakistan and/or Afghanistan.

Gomer and Beth-togarmah (Ezek 38:6) are currently the two most ambiguous references in the prophecy. Possibilities include Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus. Gomer can be identified with the ancient Cimmerian people on the north shore of the Black Sea, though by Ezekiel’s day the Cimmerians were in Asia Minor (western Turkey). If Russia annexes Ukraine, perhaps Gomer is Turkey and Beth-togarmah “in the far reaches of the north” is Belarus. Alternatively, Ukraine could be Beth-togarmah. The role of Turkey in the tribulation period is unclear, but Turkey is likely part of the coalition led by Russia, rather than the antichrist’s European coalition.

Thus, it is clear from Ezekiel 38:2-6 that Russia will eventually control a large coalition of countries from the former USSR, parts of the Middle East, and Africa. This coalition is already taking shape through Russia’s war in Ukraine and its aggressive foreign policy elsewhere, though the militaries of Russia and its allies are far from being the fearsome force that they will become by the time of the tribulation period. The population of Russia and its allies will also likely greatly increase before the tribulation period, so that the hosts of Gog and the “many peoples” with it will come upon Israel “like a cloud to cover the land” (Ezek 38:9).

How prophecy is being fulfilled

The invasion described in Ezekiel 38–39 will not take place until the midpoint of the tribulation period, which is some distance in the future. However, present events are setting the stage for what will happen during the tribulation period. In the time leading up to the tribulation period, Russia will become the leader of a large and powerful coalition of antisemitic Eurasian and African countries whose expansion is checked in the west by the European Union or its successor body, in the east by China and India, and in the Americas by the United States. The central part of the Middle East will become a partly demilitarized zone whose security is guaranteed by international agreements.

The election of Donald Trump is highly relevant to the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39. First and foremost, with the outcome of the war hanging in the balance, Trump is likely to curtail or end support for Ukraine and enable Russia to win the war and continue its imperialistic campaign of conquest. Alternatively, Trump may force Ukraine into a peace agreement that is favorable to Russia, that will eventually force Ukraine back into Russia’s orbit and away from Europe. Trump’s view of NATO is similar to Putin’s; he is likely to pull out of NATO and may even invade Greenland, which is a territory of a NATO country and is much larger in land area than Ukraine. All of this will generate deep resentment between Europe and the United States, eventually leading to the destruction of the United States by the European Union or its successor body (Rev 17:16).

Trump also intends to negotiate a comprehensive Middle East peace that will eventually lead to Israeli disarmament (Ezek 38:8, 11), rendering the Middle East defenseless when Russia attacks it.

Trump appears to view Africa as a continent of little value, and will likely enable Russia’s ongoing attempts to bring the African continent under its sway. Trump may also view Russia as a useful counterweight to Chinese imperialism in Africa. Most African countries lack powerful militaries and do not have their security guaranteed by an alliance with a great power, leaving them vulnerable to Russian-backed militias, strongmen, and insurgencies.

Russia’s campaign of conquest is already touching off parallel campaigns of alliance-building, starting with Sweden and Finland joining NATO and Moldova and Ukraine seeking membership in the EU and NATO. If the United States and Turkey (and possibly Canada, which Trump wants to annex) withdraw from NATO, it is likely that NATO would merge with the EU and become a joint European defense force. Additionally, with Russia behaving very aggressively toward the Baltic states and other smaller countries on its border, European countries may consolidate into the ten political entities which become the ten component parts of the antichrist’s kingdom, as larger countries can present a stronger deterrant to attack than smaller ones (Dan 7:7-8, 24; Rev 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 9-14).

It is clear from prophetic passages that the antichrist’s Europe is at odds with the Russian-led coalition at the time of the tribulation period (Dan 11:40, 44). Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, his threats against Europe, Russian espionage, and European sanctions are driving a wedge between Europe and Russia, forcing Europe to strongly defend its border with Russia and to treat Russia as a hostile adversary.

Though China is currently a wary ally of Russia, the competing nationalistic ideologies of these two great powers will ultimately conflict, as they already are in North Korea. Russia’s campaign of conquest will likely infuriate China, which is competing with Russia for power and influence in the world. When Russia takes control (via proxies) of countries in Africa where China has made heavy investments, this is likely to drive a permanent wedge between Russia and China. The countries of Asia will also realize that they need to band together to protect themselves from Russian aggression and expansion, and some countries could be coerced into an alliance with China. This will eventually lead to the devastating war of the sixth trumpet judgment, in which a third of the world’s population is killed.

Another effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a great increase in military spending worldwide. Russia has transformed itself into a militarized state with a war economy, and the scale of the war in Ukraine has shown that most other countries lack the industry and munitions storage to sustain an all-out war for long. In addition, new weapons systems are rendering old ones obsolete. An arms race will ensue (and has already begun) that is financed by an unparalleled worldwide economic boom and unparalleled technological advancements, with the result that during the tribulation period the world will experience the most devastating wars in all of human history.

Conclusion and response

Russia has already begun the military buildup and campaign of conquest that will result in the large coalition of countries whose armies invade the land of Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation period (Ezekiel 38–39). While this campaign of conquest is extremely destructive and demonically motivated, Christians can nevertheless be encouraged by the fulfillment of prophecy, which shows that God is in complete control, and His plan is driving toward a conclusion—the second coming of Christ. The fulfillment of prophecy also gives believers assurance that the Bible is the Word of God and is worthy of our complete confidence. Also, the way in which events line up with a literal interpretation of prophecy shows that the literal hermeneutic is the correct way to interpret the Bible—the literal meaning is not an allegory meant to teach spiritual principles. As the world in which we live looks more and more like the world described in prophecies of the tribulation period, we can have confidence that the return of Christ is drawing nearer (the second coming will be preceded by the rapture, which occurs seven years earlier).

Some evangelical Christians are pro-Russia, and may view the prophecies of Russia’s expansion as an indicator of God’s blessing on Russia. In fact, however, the Bible also prophesies the rise of the antichrist and his empire, and God has historically raised up wicked rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar and the Pharaoh of the exodus in order to serve a greater purpose or to bring judgment. The fact that Russia is prophesied to greatly expand its military power and political influence does not mean that Russia is doing what is right, or that Russia will be a safe haven for born-again Christians. In fact, the spiritual evaluations of Russia in Ezekiel 38–39 are entirely negative. God is “against” Gog (Ezek 38:3; 39:1) and He will destroy the armies of Gog in His fury, because Gog is “against” God’s people Israel (Ezek 38:12-22). Even apart from that passage, it should be obvious to any Christian who views the reports of the atrocities that the Russian regime commits on a daily basis—both against Ukrainians and against the Russian people themselves—that the Russian regime is wicked and is driven/deluded by a strong Satanic influence. No one should make the mistake of thinking that the Russian government is righteous, or that it is fighting for the cause of Christ, simply because some of Putin’s political viewpoints align with right-wing political viewpoints in the United States and Europe. The book of Revelation describes two times in which major wars were provoked by demons (Rev 9:14-15; 16:13-14; cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23; 2 Chr 18:18-22; Rev 20:7-10), and Vladimir Putin appears to have launched the invasion of Ukraine under the influence of demons on his mind, deluding him into thinking that victory would come quickly and easily. The way in which Russia continues to throw men and matériel headlong into Ukrainian lines also appears to reflect a destructive Satanic impulse and an irrational compulsion to win the war at all costs.

Aside from these general applications, Christians should also have a biblical understanding of how events in the world will unfold going forward, in order to plan for the changes that will occur. Christians in countries of the former Soviet Union and Africa should be aware that Russia will come to dominate most of the former Soviet Union (with the likely exception of the Baltic states) and large parts of the African continent and may seek to overthrow the governments of non-aligned countries. When and how this will happen and the exact boundaries of the future Russian alliance is not stated in Ezekiel 38; it is not yet known, for example, whether all of Ukraine will fall to Russia or whether part of it might be preserved and integrated into the European Union. Nor is it yet known whether there will be a ceasefire in the current war or whether the fighting will continue unabated. Also, geopolitical events tend to have ups and downs, so it is possible that Russia’s campaign of conquest will include a mixture of failures and successes rather than a straight run of victories. Finally, it is not known to what extent Russia will control the internal policies of the countries in its confederation with regard to evangelical Christianity.

Looking at the larger picture, it is apparent that most countries in the world depend on the goodwill of superpowers to maintain their sovereignty and independence. Increasingly, the superpowers appear inclined to meddle in other countries’ internal affairs and even to disregard the UN Charter by launching invasions of other countries. While Russia is currently the only major power in the world that is using military force to conquer other countries, it should be recognized that the world’s other major powers have imperialistic ambitions. China wants to conquer Taiwan and pull all the countries of Asia into its orbit, while expelling the United States from the region. Europe wants to make other countries adopt its political and economic system and moral values—an effort that will culminate in the antichrist’s demand that the whole world worship him as a god. The left wing in the United States is antichristian and wants to “cancel,” punish, and destroy all who oppose their radical LGBTQ+ agenda. The incoming president, Donald Trump, though center-right, is authoritarian and aggressively nationalistic. While he wishes to avoid major wars due to their financial cost, he is not averse to military operations against smaller countries and also wants to set up the world’s economic and financial system to further enrich the United States. At the start of the tribulation period, there will be four major superpowers/alliances—the United States (Babylon the Great, Dan 11:39; Rev 17:1–19:4), the European Union (the ten horns of the beast/latter-day form of the Roman Empire, Dan 7:7-8, 23-24), the Russian-led confederation (the king of the north + the king of the south, Ezek 38:1-6; Dan 11:40, 43-44), and the Asian confederation (the kings of the east, Dan 11:44; Rev 9:13-16; 16:12), presumably led by China and India. All four of these superpowers/alliances are given a very negative spiritual evaluation in prophecy. The central part of the Middle East appears to be a neutral region which lies between the great powers (Ezek 38:10-13; Dan 11:41-42), and so may be the place in the world where countries have the greatest degree of sovereignty and independence.

While governments in Europe and (currently) the United States are right to oppose Russia’s invasion as a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty, Western countries do not represent the cause of righteousness in a more general sense. At the start of the tribulation period, it appears that nearly the entire world is very wicked and very hostile to evangelical Christianity. Currently evangelical Christians in Russia experience a degree of persecution but the majority of evangelical churches still operate openly and legally. However, life under the rule of a brutal, repressive regime is unpredictable; unsuspecting, innocent people can be conscripted, jailed, or executed at any time. Nationalistic governments and autocratic rulers demand absolute loyalty to the state, which inevitably conflicts with Bible-believing Christians’ absolute loyalty to God.

As a concluding application, Christians should remember that our warfare is not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12), and Christ’s kingdom does not arise from the kingdoms of this world (John 18:36). While Christians in Ukraine and other countries that are attacked by Russia certainly have the right to defend their countries and fight for their freedom, they should not make the mistake of thinking that they will prevail simply because their cause is just; evil and injustice will increasingly prevail in the world until the second coming of Christ. In general, the church should direct its energies toward proclaiming the gospel and the truth of God’s Word, rather than attempting to transform governments and countries through politics and warfare. It is inevitable that Russia’s imperialistic expansion will continue for awhile, within limits; yet this expansion should not be viewed as a positive development, for it is a violent expansion of a regime of violence and lies, whose god is itself.

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Bible prophecy and current events in January 2025: Part 1 – Israel

01 Wednesday Jan 2025

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Many Christians have a sense that recent events in the world are related to Bible prophecy, but are not sure exactly how they are related or what will happen next. Events of particular prophetic importance in 2024 include (1) Israel’s spectacular victories over its enemies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran; (2) the continuation of brutal Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere; (3) the election of a newly-emboldened Donald Trump; and (4) continued technological innovations, including breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI). The present article will deal with the first of these themes, which is Israel.

The clearest proof that we are living in the end times is the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and the success of the modern state of Israel. Ezekiel 34–37 describes how there will be a physical restoration of the nation of Israel at the end of the age—a national renewal—that prepares the Jews for spiritual restoration—national acceptance of Jesus as their King. (For details, see my Interpretive Guide to the Major Prophets and this post.) Israel’s national renewal began with the Zionist movement in the nineteenth century, which itself was a surprising byproduct of the European Enlightenment, rationalism, higher criticism, and liberal theology. The Pharisees, who represented rabbinic Judaism, came to dominate Judaism after the destruction of the temple in AD 70, and all the Jewish communities of the Middle Ages practiced Orthodox (rabbinic/Pharisaical) Judaism. The power of the rabbis, who kept the Jews in spiritual darkness, finally began to be broken with the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), which led to Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Free-thinking Jews from these groups founded the Zionist movement and have shown greater openness to Christianity while still preserving their Jewish identity. The modern state of Israel officially came into existence, paradoxically, shortly after the Holocaust, when Western countries finally realized that the Jewish people needed a homeland. In spite of the entire Arab world immediately declaring war on the vulnerable new nation, God has miraculously protected and prospered the Jews.

The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent attacks on Israel by Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran, defy logic but have a clear spiritual explanation. Satan is trying to prevent the coming of Christ’s kingdom by killing the Jews and/or driving them out of their land—he does not want a peace deal that allows the state of Israel to continue to exist or that allows Jews to continue to live in the land of Israel. If Satan could wipe out all the Jews, God’s kingdom could never come. Jesus came to reign as King of the Jews, and His kingdom will be an Israelite kingdom (Matt 2:2; Acts 1:6). Likewise, all the Bible’s prophecies of the tribulation period reveal a focus on the Jewish people and the land of Israel at the end of history. The rapture could not happen and the tribulation period could not begin without a stable and strong Jewish state in the land of Israel and a rebuilt temple.

Israel’s dramatic victories over Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran in the face of significant regional and global opposition can only be explained by the hand of Almighty God supernaturally protecting and prospering His people. God’s plans and purposes cannot be frustrated. Ironically, the unending attacks on Israel by its enemies have given the Israelis a new resolve to do whatever it takes to eliminate their enemies, ignoring international and regional opposition, while demonstrating in full their impressive military capabilities.

As for what comes next, Ezekiel 34–37 repeatedly describes the Jews as reoccupying “the mountains of Israel,” which includes the West Bank. The October 7 attacks and the ongoing intransigence of the Palestinians has shifted Israeli public opinion from support for a Palestinian state to support for the annexation of part or all of the West Bank, possibly with the expulsion of the Palestinian population, as Israelis have realized that the Palestinians will never cease to seek their destruction. It is quite possible that Donald Trump and members of his incoming administration would support the Israeli government in these efforts. Indeed, it is likely that one of the reasons why God caused Donald Trump to win the election was because he will be much more favorable to Israel than Kamala Harris would have been.

Trump has also declared his intention to make a concerted effort to negotiate a comprehensive Middle East peace. This fits with Ezekiel 38:8, 11, which describes Israel living without defenses, without walls, and without a military at the time of the tribulation period (see also this post). Clearly some extraordinary change must take place in the Middle East to convince the Israelis that they no longer need a military and can tear down all their border walls and fences. It is possible that Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and possibly the countries of the Arabian peninsula will also disarm as part of a regional peace deal, as there is no mention of them making war during the tribulation period. (Jordan appears to have a strong military at the time of the tribulation period, but is favorable to Israel [Dan 11:41; Rev 12:6, 14].) After the Palestinian issue is definitively resolved, presumably through the annexation of the West Bank and the expulsion of the Palestinian population from Israel, and very likely through the collapse of the Iranian theocracy and/or the collapse of Islam in general, the Middle East will change its character from being a place of violence to being a place of peace, prosperity, and brotherhood. There must be some strong international agreements in place, perhaps guaranteed by the United States, that will prevent an external invasion of the Middle East prior to the midpoint of the tribulation period.

The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem must also come about at the conclusion of the current conflict, as there clearly is such a temple in existence during the tribulation period (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14; 2 Thess 2:4). Again, due to the intransigence of the Palestinians, Jews increasingly view the Temple Mount as an exclusively Jewish sacred space, and they (rightly) view Gentile Muslims as intruders. Israeli leaders have shown an unprecedented boldness in the past year, and this must be leading up to the time when they will at last take possession of the Temple Mount.

In light of Ezekiel’s prophecies, I expect to see Israel continue to win victories over its enemies (possibly with some temporary setbacks) until it has won complete and total victory. I expect this victory to include annexation of the West Bank and the settlement of the West Bank by Jews. Perhaps Israel will find a way to expel most of the Palestinians. This may be followed by a new wave of immigration to Israel, which will become very peaceful and prosperous. I expect Israel to tear down the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to build the Third Temple where the Dome of the Rock now stands. I expect the countries around Israel to continue making peace with Israel, and I expect the conflicts that have consumed the region for the past 75 years to finally come to an end (prior to the midpoint of the tribulation period). I expect both regional and world opinion of Israel to become much more favorable, enabling a peace that is not merely political but also social. Finally, I expect Israel to draw closer to Europe over time, as the tribulation period begins with the ratification of a treaty between the state of Israel and the antichrist, who is an Italian who leads the European Union or its successor body. This treaty apparently makes Israel a member of the EU and guarantees its protection by the antichrist during a planned seven-year period of integration.

Teaching on the relationship between Bible prophecy and current events in Israel is seldom heard from pulpits today, and is almost never heard in seminary classrooms or published in academic publications. This is because the view of Israel that is currently held by a large majority of professing Christians, including most of those who control publishing houses, seminaries, and other Christian institutions, is called “replacement theology.” Replacement theology is the anti-Semitic false doctrine that God has forever washed His hands of the Jewish people due to their rejection of Jesus, and therefore all of the eschatological blessings promised to Israel have been transferred in a “spiritual” or allegorical sense to the church. This false teaching is rooted in the allegorical hermeneutic, as the only way to explain away the Bible’s prophecies about Israel is to say that the text does not mean what it literally says. However, replacement theology also had a pragmatic aspect, as it was developed in a historical context in which it appeared from a human point of view as if the Jews would never reestablish a state in the land of Israel or accept Jesus as their Messiah; interpreters who did not believe that God would ever restore Israel attempted to find an alternate explanation of the Bible’s prophecies about Israel’s eschatological restoration. It is incredible that scholars who should know better continue to strenuously insist on this view in the context of contemporary events. Even many scholars from traditions that historically rejected replacement theology have recently tried to incorporate replacement theology into their eschatology (“progressive dispensationalism”) and/or have sought to downplay the significance of the modern state of Israel by appealing to a strong view of the doctrine of imminence.

While it is often claimed that prophecy is an unimportant side issue, many churches that hold to replacement theology have a long history of anti-Semitism, and continue to oppose Israel to the present day—in part, perhaps, because they are irked by the way in which dispensationalists point to the success of the modern state of Israel as proof of the error of replacement theology. In spite of the current popularity of replacement theology in both nominal Christianity (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, liberal Protestantism) and among Reformed-leaning or liberal-leaning evangelicals, this view is no longer tenable not only on biblical grounds but also on practical grounds—Israel is too big to ignore, and churches which oppose God’s people cannot expect to receive God’s blessing. As events in the world continue to unfold in a way that clearly matches biblical prophecy, I expect to see a resurgence of “classic” dispensationalism, which makes a clear distinction between Israel and the church.

Returning to Ezekiel’s prophecies of Israel’s eschatological restoration, Ezekiel 38–39 describes the moment when the vast majority of the nation of Israel will finally believe in Jesus as their promised Messiah. That prophecy will be the theme of the next article in this series.

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Messianic prophecy and typology

08 Monday Apr 2024

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The following is an excerpt from the new edition of volume 3 of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible (print book; pdf).

Many verses in the Psalms are quoted in the New Testament as prophecies of the Messiah (Christ). In some instances, such as Psalm 2 and Psalm 110, the psalms quoted are direct prophecies of future events. See the comments on these psalms for challenges to the view that they are direct prophecies. However, in many other instances a psalm in which David is describing his personal experiences is quoted in the New Testament as a prophecy of Christ’s experiences. For example, in Acts 2:25-31 Peter quotes Psalm 16:8-11 as a prophecy of the resurrection of Christ, even though that psalm seems to be describing David’s experiences. It should be noted that Peter’s quotation of this psalm was not his own invention, but was likely an interpretation which Jesus taught the disciples directly after His resurrection (Luke 24:44-47), and certainly was something Peter was led by the Holy Spirit to teach. Some Christian interpreters have tried to argue that all the messianic prophecies in the Psalms are to be understood as speaking exclusively of Christ and not of David. Evangelicals who are influenced by higher criticism often argue that these psalms were intended only to speak of David (or an anonymous “psalmist”) in their original context, which seems to make the New Testament references to them as prophecies erroneous. However, there is a better way to make sense of both these psalms and their New Testament quotations.

Definition of typology

The seemingly indirect prophecies of the Messiah in the psalms are best understood through the hermeneutics of prophetic typology. Typology is the study of types. The English word “type” is derived from the Greek word τύπος, which means “pattern.” However, this Greek word is not used in the New Testament as a technical hermeneutical indicator of typological structures the way the English word “type” is used. Further, even this hermeneutical sense of the word “type” is outdated in modern English; the word “prototype” (or “archetype”) would be clearer, but “type” is still the word used in hermeneutical discussions. A good working definition of typology comes from Horne’s nineteenth century work:

A type, in its primary and literal meaning, simply denotes a rough draught, or less accurate model, from which a more perfect image is made; but, in the sacred or theological sense of the term, a type may be defined to be a symbol of something future and distant, or an example prepared and evidently designed by God to prefigure that future thing. What is thus prefigured is called the antitype.

Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (4th ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823), 2:649.

The validity and importance of typology

The numerous citations of typological relationships in the NT shows that typology is indeed a valid mode of interpretation, for which we need only discover its governing hermeneutical principles. There are some passages in the NT wherein a typological relationship is explicitly recognized, such as that of Melchizedek and Christ (Heb 5:10; 7:1-17), David and Christ (Acts 2:25-34), and Christ and the Passover lambs (John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor 5:7). At other times, a typological relationship is not explicitly stated, but a parallel is drawn between an OT reality and an NT reality such as the tabernacle and sacrificial system (cf. Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). Typology is particularly important for understanding how the Old Testament foreshadows and anticipates the person and work of the Messiah.

The Old and New Testaments are linked through the fulfillment of OT promises in the NT, which verifies that Christianity is the continuation of the Jews’ religion in a perfected form, not a heretical cult. Typological relationships form part of this linkage. Much of the Old Testament points to and is fulfilled in the New Testament, and the New Testament is dependent on the Old Testament.

One reason why the Bible uses typology is that object lessons are a particularly helpful teaching tool. It is easier for people to understand theological truth when they can see a model of that truth, rather than being taught the principles or prophecies abstractly. Typology also shows how God uses historical events to prepare the world for future events in His plan.

Identification of biblical types

Three characteristics are shared by all legitimate types in the Bible: promise-fulfillment, functional correspondence, and historicity.

First, the promise-fulfillment criterion means that the antitype must in some way fulfill the type. This implies that:

  1. There must be a prophetic promise which links type and antitype. This promise must be left unfulfilled or partially unfulfilled by the type. The historical role of the type must be incomplete and look toward a future fulfillment. A genuine OT typological structure must contain specific promises which point to a fulfillment in a specific antitype, and not just general promises which could have many potential fulfillments. Excessive typology tends to overlook this criterion. Many interpreters identify types on the basis of similarities and patterns, without the presence of an associated prophecy.
  2. Typological indicators should be present in the original OT context. The only way the NT can legitimately claim fulfillment of an OT type is if the typological structure is recognizable from exegesis of the OT text using the literal hermeneutic. The NT simply recognizes what was intended in the OT text all along. If a type can only be recognized on the basis of NT revelation, then in what sense is it a prefigurement? Views of typology which define a type on the basis of a list of correspondences which can only be recognized retrospectively miss an “awareness of the fundamental direction in which revelation points.” (Philip E. Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology” [PhD dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1995], 175.)
  3. A type must precede its antitype in history. Since a type is a prophetic anticipation of an antitype, it must precede the antitype in history.
  4. A type must be prepared and designed by God to represent its antitype. Since a type is a prophetic object lesson, God must shape history in such a way that the type takes on essential characteristics of the antitype.

Second, the functional correspondence criterion means that the type must have the same historical function as the antitype. Specifically, the type must have the function, role, or office which is noted in the prophetic promise that connects the type with the antitype. As an example, a messianic type must occupy a messianic office or function, though the Messiah occupies this role in a greater and fuller way than the type. Thus, David and Melchizedek both occupied a messianic office/function. Functional correspondence is a necessary part of typology because a type must lack completion in itself and look forward to a goal to be fulfilled in an antitype, which is by definition greater and fuller than the type. When the antitype arrives, the need for the role played by the type is done away, and the antitype replaces the function of the type. An example of the way this works is that when Christ died, the whole sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law was fulfilled and ceased to operate in a legitimate manner. Excessive typology tends to focus on corresponding external elements between a proposed type and antitype while ignoring the need for identity in office/function and the inherent deficiency of the type. The retrospective recognition view of typology also encounters problems with the functional correspondence criterion, since the antitype seems to provide the model for recognizing the type. However, by the very definition of typology, “it is the type that points toward the antitype, not the antitype which points back toward the type” (Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 181), and therefore the type must have some function or office that is incomplete and awaits completion in an antitype.

Third, the historicity criterion means that both the type and the antitype must be real historical entities, not mere literary inventions. Historicity is a problem in modern critical scholarship, which tends to view supposed literary motifs almost as typological indicators. See further, W. Edward Glenny, “The ‘People of God’ in Romans 9:25-26” Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (Jan.–Mar. 1995): 56.

Categories of typology

Biblical types can be divided into three major categories: legal types, prophetical types, and historical types.

  1. Legal types are rituals or symbols in the Mosaic legal system that prefigured a future entity or event, usually the person and work of the Messiah. An example of a legal type is the lambs sacrificed on Passover, which foreshadowed Christ’s death on Passover as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor 5:7). The fulfillment of the types of the Law in the person and work of the Messiah is central to the theology of the NT, and forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New. It is evident that the sacrifices in the Law were functionally incomplete, since they had to be repeated every year. Hebrews 10:1-18 connects this functional deficiency with messianic prophecies to argue that Christ’s death is the antitype of the Mosaic sacrificial system.
  2. A prophetical type is an action or object lesson deliberately portrayed by a prophet to symbolize a future event. An example of this is Isaiah walking naked and barefoot to portray the captivity of Egypt (Isa 20:1-6). While all typology is prophetic, this category of typology refers to direct and deliberate portrayals of future events by a prophet. It can be debated whether prophetic object lessons designed to portray future events should be classified as types or symbols.
  3. Historical types are what most people think of when they think of typology. Horne defines historical types as “characters, actions, and fortunes of some eminent persons recorded in the Old Testament, so ordered by Divine Providence as to be exact prefigurations of the characters, actions, and fortunes of future persons who should arise under the Gospel dispensation” (Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures [4th ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823], 2:651). An example of a historical type is David’s experiences in Psalm 22 that are cited in the Gospels as fulfilled in Christ’s experiences (Mark 15:34; John 19:23-24).

Erroneous approaches to typology

The most common error made in recognizing types is the idea that parallels alone indicate the existence of types, with the result that interpreters find far too many types. Powers comments:

The greatest confusion in the area of biblical typology comes as a result of the broad application of the term to a variety of literary and historical situations simply because a recurring pattern is recognized. Thus any repetition of word, symbol, event, person, genre, or theological theme is prone to be explained by typology and all those characteristics associated with typological structure are then applied to elicit a new or fuller meaning of the original text. The problem becomes acute when those typological characteristics are attached to literary structures or historical situations creating meanings which are no longer supported by the textual evidence, and so are not a part of the author’s intended meaning. For some, typology has no bearing on the meaning of the text, but is simply a recognition of a pattern by subsequent interpreters. For others, typology is a method of exegesis; and for others still, it is not a method of exegesis, but part of the author’s intended meaning.

Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 293-94.

The main problem with identifying types solely on the basis of similarities between two entities is that it adds to the Bible a claimed meaning that is not stated in the biblical text (i.e., the criteria of promise-fulfillment and functional correspondence are not met). Such identifications of types are subjective decisions made by the interpreter, which cannot be validated objectively. Traditionally, one of the main motives for excessive typology (“hyper-typing”) has been the Christo-centric hermeneutic—the theological proposition that every portion of the Old Testament is designed to point to Christ. Because many portions of the Old Testament are not directly about Jesus Christ, interpreters have to posit typologies and allegories in these portions in order to find a prophetic link to Christ. However, the Bible nowhere affirms the Christo-centric hermeneutic, and this supposedly spiritually-minded method of interpretation is exegetically and theologically erroneous. There is a sense in which all of history before the cross was preparing the world for the incarnation of Christ, and all of history afterward is leading to Christ’s second advent, but most of the particulars in history do not directly foreshadow the person and work of the Messiah.

As a reaction to hyper-typing and extreme allegorism, Bishop Herbert Marsh, writing in the early nineteenth century, proposed the following rule: only types that are specifically recognized in the New Testament may be considered valid. This rule has been followed by many evangelical interpreters since Marsh’s time. However, this approach is problematic because it is too minimalistic. The recognition in the New Testament of types in various Old Testament passages points to the existence of typology in whole classes of passages, and not just ones specifically cited by the New Testament writers. In many instances, it seems that the NT writers are not recognizing types through direct revelation from God, but through the application of hermeneutical principles. Recognition of these principles should allow other interpreters to identify other types. For example, Colossians 2:17 and Hebrews 9:11 and 10:1 indicate that many aspects of the Mosaic Law point to the person and work of the Messiah, but do not individually list each type and antitype. Another example is the clear typological connection between Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the eschatological antichrist in Daniel 8 and 11, which is at best only alluded to in the New Testament. A further problem with both the maximalist and the minimalist approaches to typology is that they only recognize typology retrospectively, which reverses the direction of prophecy and revelation.

A third erroneous view of typology is the view of unbelieving or liberal Bible scholars, who reject the possibility of genuine prophecy because it would imply the supernatural activity of God. For these critics, therefore, all prophetic typology is invalid as authentic prophecy, and what is called “typology” is nothing more than allegory or analogy. Parallels between characters in the OT and characters in the NT are seen as merely accidental, and not as intentional prophetic foreshadowings. If the critics always stated their position as a stark denial of the supernatural, of course it would not attract evangelical adherents. However, critical Bible scholars often use language that sounds very similar to the language used by evangelical scholars, hypothesizing “typological” relationships based on an analysis of recurring words or motifs in order to find “the real meaning” of the text below its surface meaning. What they seldom say is that they do not believe the Bible is historically reliable, or prophetic of future events, or inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Too many evangelical scholars are analyzing the biblical text using critical methods of intertextual connections (source criticism) and motifs (literary criticism), among other methods that undermine literal interpretation and faith.

Too many evangelical scholars are also influenced by the claim of critical scholarship that the typological interpretation of Old Testament passages in the New Testament is an application of first century Jewish hermeneutical methods that were essentially allegorical. While an analysis of such Jewish hermeneutical methods as Pesher and omnisignificance would require a separate treatise, it may briefly be stated that the NT handles the OT differently than it is handled in the literature of rabbinic Judaism and the Qumran cult. The NT understanding of Scripture was shaped by the person and work of Jesus Christ, as the NT writers saw how Christ fulfilled prophecy and typology. Importantly, Jesus’ disciples learned how to interpret Scripture the way Jesus interpreted it, which was often different from the prevailing understanding of the Bible in contemporary Judaism. Wherever Jesus commented on a specific OT text, the apostles would follow His interpretation—and where He made general statements about Scripture, they applied the principles He gave to specific passages. Even the apostle Paul, who was thoroughly steeped in Judaism, says that immediately after his conversion he went away to Arabia to be taught directly by the Holy Spirit (Gal 1:16-17), and he says he counts his background in Judaism as loss for Christ (Phil 3:4-8). The NT views the Jewish interpretation of the OT as flawed because it fails to recognize the fulfillment of messianic promises in the person and work of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 3:14-16). One important difference between rabbinic exegesis and NT exegesis is that the NT use of typology takes into account the whole context of an OT passage. The linking of texts on linguistic similarities, apart from the historical setting and literal meaning of the texts, is not a characteristic of NT exegesis. In summary, the NT sees itself as a continuation of OT revelation, and sees a movement in revelatory history which culminated in the coming of the Messiah. The NT’s recognition of typology in the OT is therefore rooted in the meaning of the OT text and a belief in its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is far different from contemporary first century methods of Jewish exegesis.

Messianic typology in the Psalms

Several verses in psalms of David are cited in the New Testament as typological prophecies of Christ, most notably portions of Psalm 16 and Psalm 22. David functioned as a type of Christ because of the Davidic Covenant, in which God promised to David that his dynasty and throne would continue forever, implying that the Messiah would be one of his descendants and would rule from his throne. Peter states the typological connection directly in Acts 2:30-31. There are some personal experiences of David in the psalms that he described in metaphorical language that Christ experienced literally, such as having his hands and his feet pierced by his enemies (Ps 22:16). David’s son Solomon also appears to function as a type of Christ in Psalm 45, since he was a son of David who ruled Israel from David’s throne. It is noteworthy that the New Testament never cites a psalm ascribed to another author as typological of Christ. This shows that the New Testament writers have paid attention to the historical context of the material they are citing as typological, and are not merely citing convenient parallels. In fact, David had some experiences that were typological of the Messiah’s experiences, and he was led by the Holy Spirit to describe these experiences in language that was metaphorically true of himself but literally true of the Messiah.

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Profecía mesiánica y tipología

08 Monday Apr 2024

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Este post es un extracto de mi Guía interpretativa para la Biblia (libro impreso; pdf de Salmos).

Muchos versículos de los Salmos son citados en el Nuevo Testamento como profecías del Mesías (Cristo). En algunos casos, como el Salmo 2 y el Salmo 110, los salmos citados son profecías directas de eventos futuros. Ver más adelante los comentarios sobre estos salmos para una refutación del punto de vista de que no son profecías directas. Sin embargo, en muchos otros casos, un salmo en el que David describe sus experiencias personales es citado en el Nuevo Testamento como una profecía de las experiencias de Cristo. Por ejemplo, en Hechos 2:25-31 Pedro cita el Salmo 16:8-11 como una profecía de la resurrección de Cristo, aunque ese salmo parece estar describiendo las experiencias de David. Cabe señalar que la cita de Pedro de este salmo no fue su propia invención, sino que probablemente fue una interpretación que Jesús enseñó a los discípulos directamente después de Su resurrección (Lucas 24:44-47), y ciertamente fue algo que Pedro fue guiado por el Espíritu Santo a enseñar. Algunos intérpretes cristianos han tratado de argumentar que todas las profecías mesiánicas en los Salmos deben ser entendidas como hablando exclusivamente de Cristo y no de David. Los evangélicos que están influenciados por la alta crítica a menudo argumentan que estos salmos solo tenían la intención de hablar de David (o un “salmista” anónimo) en su contexto original, lo que parece hacer que las referencias a ellos en el Nuevo Testamento como profecías sean erróneas. Sin embargo, hay una mejor manera de dar sentido a estos salmos y sus citas en el Nuevo Testamento.

Definición de tipología

Las profecías aparentemente indirectas del Mesías en los Salmos se entienden mejor a través de la hermenéutica de la tipología profética. La tipología es el estudio de tipos. La palabra en español “tipo” se deriva de la palabra griega τύπος, que significa “patrón”. Sin embargo, esta palabra griega no se usa en el Nuevo Testamento como un indicador hermenéutico técnico de estructuras tipológicas de la forma en que se usa la palabra en español “tipo”. Además, incluso este sentido hermenéutico de la palabra “tipo” está desactualizado en el español moderno; la palabra “prototipo” (o “arquetipo”) sería más clara, pero “tipo” sigue siendo la palabra utilizada en las discusiones hermenéuticas. Una buena definición práctica de tipología proviene de la obra de Horne del siglo xix:

Un tipo, en su significado primario y literal, simplemente denota un borrador sin pulir o modelo menos exacto, a partir del cual se extrae una imagen más perfecta; pero, en el sentido sagrado o teológico del término, un tipo puede definirse como un símbolo de algo futuro y distante, o un ejemplo preparado y evidentemente diseñado por Dios para prefigurar ese algo futuro. Lo que de ese modo es prefigurado se denomina antitipo.

Traducido de Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (4.a ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823), 2:649.

La validez e importancia de la tipología

Las numerosas citas de relaciones tipológicas en el Nuevo Testamento muestran que la tipología es de hecho un modo válido de interpretación, por lo cual sólo necesitamos descubrir sus principios hermenéuticos rectores. Hay algunos pasajes en el Nuevo Testamento en los que se reconoce explícitamente una relación tipológica, como la de Melquisedec y Cristo (Hebreos 5:10; 7:1-17), David y Cristo (Hechos 2:25-34) y Cristo y los corderos pascuales (Juan 1:29, 36; 1 Corintios 5:7). Otras veces, no se establece explícitamente una relación tipológica, sino se dibuja un paralelo entre una realidad del Antiguo Testamento y una realidad del Nuevo Testamento, por ejemplo, entre el tabernáculo y el sistema de sacrificios (cf. Colosenses 2:17; Hebreos 10:1). La tipología es particularmente importante para comprender cómo el Antiguo Testamento prefigura y prevé la persona y obra del Mesías.

El Antiguo Testamento y el Nuevo Testamento están conectados a través del cumplimiento de las promesas del Antiguo en el Nuevo, lo cual corrobora que el cristianismo es la continuación de la religión de los judíos en una forma perfeccionada, no un culto herético. Las relaciones tipológicas forman parte de este vínculo. Gran parte del Antiguo Testamento apunta y se cumple en el Nuevo Testamento, y el Nuevo Testamento es dependiente del Antiguo Testamento.

Una de las razones por las que la Biblia usa la tipología es que los ejemplos prácticos son una herramienta de enseñanza particularmente útil. Es más fácil para las personas comprender la verdad teológica cuando pueden ver un modelo de esa verdad, en lugar de que se les enseñen los principios o las profecías de manera abstracta. La tipología también muestra cómo Dios usa los eventos históricos para preparar al mundo para eventos futuros en Su plan.

Identificación de tipos bíblicos

Todos los tipos legítimos en la Biblia comparten tres características: promesa y cumplimiento, correspondencia funcional e historicidad.

Primero, el criterio de promesa y cumplimiento significa que el antitipo debe cumplir de alguna manera el tipo. Esto implica que:

  1. Debe haber una promesa profética que conecta el tipo con el antitipo. El tipo debe dejar esta promesa incumplida o parcialmente incumplida. El rol histórico del tipo debe estar incompleto y orientarse hacia un cumplimiento futuro. Una estructura tipológica genuina del Antiguo Testamento debe contener promesas específicas que apuntan a un cumplimiento en un antitipo específico, y no solo promesas generales que podrían tener muchos cumplimientos potenciales. La tipología excesiva tiende a pasar por alto este criterio. Muchos intérpretes identifican tipos sobre la base de similitudes y patrones, sin la presencia de una profecía asociada.
  2. En el contexto original del Antiguo Testamento deben estar presentes indicadores tipológicos. La única forma en que el Nuevo Testamento puede afirmar legítimamente el cumplimiento de un tipo del Antiguo Testamento es si la estructura tipológica es identificable a partir de la exégesis del texto del Antiguo Testamento usando la hermenéutica literal. El Nuevo Testamento simplemente identifica la intención que tenía el texto del Antiguo Testamento desde el principio. Si un tipo solo puede identificarse sobre la base de la revelación del Nuevo Testamento, ¿en qué sentido es una prefiguración? Los puntos de vista de tipología que definen un tipo sobre la base de una lista de correspondencias que solo pueden identificarse retrospectivamente pierden una “conciencia de la dirección fundamental a la que apunta la revelación”. (Traducido de Philip E. Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology” [PhD disertación, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1995], 175.)
  3. Un tipo debe preceder a su antitipo en la historia. Dado que un tipo es una anticipación profética de un antitipo, debe preceder al antitipo en la historia.
  4. Un tipo debe ser preparado y diseñado por Dios para representar su antitipo. Dado que un tipo es un ejemplo práctico profético, Dios debe moldear la historia de tal manera que el tipo adquiere características esenciales del antitipo.

El segundo criterio, la correspondencia funcional, significa que el tipo debe tener la misma función histórica que el antitipo. Específicamente, el tipo debe tener la función, rol o posición que se indica en la promesa profética que conecta al tipo con el antitipo. Como ejemplo, un tipo mesiánico debe ocupar una posición o función mesiánica, aunque el Mesías ocupa este rol de una manera superior y más plena que el tipo. Así, tanto David como Melquisedec ocuparon una posición/función mesiánica. La correspondencia funcional es una parte necesaria de la tipología porque un tipo debe carecer de culminación en sí mismo y aguardar que la meta sea cumplida en un antitipo, el cual por definición es mayor y más completo que el tipo. Cuando llega el antitipo, se elimina la necesidad del rol desempeñado por el tipo y el antitipo reemplaza la función del tipo. Un ejemplo de la manera como esto funciona es que cuando Cristo murió, todo el sistema de sacrificios de la ley mosaica se cumplió y dejó de operar de manera legítima. La tipología excesiva tiende a centrarse en los elementos externos correspondientes entre un tipo propuesto y un antitipo, ignorando la necesidad de identidad en la posición/función y la inherente deficiencia del tipo. El punto de vista de comprensión retrospectiva de la tipología también encuentra problemas con el criterio de correspondencia funcional, ya que el antitipo parece proporcionar el modelo para identificar el tipo. Sin embargo, por la definición de tipología, “el tipo es el que apunta hacia el antitipo, no el antitipo el que apunta hacia el tipo (hacia atrás)” (traducido de Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 181), y por lo tanto el tipo debe tener alguna función o posición que está incompleta y espera ser completada en un antitipo.

El tercer criterio, la historicidad, significa que tanto el tipo como el antitipo deben ser entidades históricas reales, no meras invenciones literarias. La historicidad es un problema en la erudición crítica moderna, que tiende a ver los supuestos motivos literarios casi como indicadores tipológicos. Ver más, W. Edward Glenny, “The ‘People of God’ in Romans 9:25-26” Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (Jan.–Mar. 1995): 56.

Categorías de tipología

Los tipos bíblicos se pueden dividir en tres categorías principales: tipos legales, tipos proféticos y tipos históricos.

  1. Los tipos legales son rituales o símbolos en el sistema legal mosaico que prefiguraban una entidad o un evento futuro, generalmente la persona y obra del Mesías. Un ejemplo de un tipo legal es los corderos sacrificados en la Pascua, que presagiaban la muerte de Cristo en la Pascua como el Cordero de Dios que quita el pecado del mundo (Juan 1:29, 36; 1 Corintios 5:7). El cumplimiento de los tipos de la Ley en la persona y obra del Mesías es central para la teología del Nuevo Testamento y forma un puente entre el Antiguo y el Nuevo Testamento. Es evidente que los sacrificios en la Ley eran funcionalmente incompletos, ya que tenía que ser repetidos cada año. Hebreos 10:1-18 conecta esta deficiencia funcional con profecías mesiánicas para argumentar que la muerte de Cristo es el antitipo del sistema mosaico de sacrificios.
  2. Un tipo profético es una acción o demostración práctica representada deliberadamente por un profeta para simbolizar un evento futuro. Un ejemplo de esto es Isaías caminando desnudo y descalzo para representar el cautiverio de Egipto (Isaías 20:1-6). Si bien toda tipología es profética, esta categoría de tipología se refiere a representaciones directas y deliberadas de eventos futuros por parte de un profeta. Se puede debatir si las demostraciones prácticas proféticas diseñadas para representar eventos futuros deberían ser clasificadas como tipos o símbolos.
  3. Los tipos históricos son los que la mayoría de la gente piensa cuando piensan en tipología. Horne define los tipos históricos como “personajes, acciones y circunstancias de algunas personas eminentes registradas en el Antiguo Testamento, ordenadas por la Providencia Divina como para ser prefiguraciones exactas de los personajes, acciones y circunstancias de las personas futuras que deberían surgir bajo la dispensación del Evangelio” (traducido de Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures [4.a ed.; London: T. Cadell, 1823], 2:651). Un ejemplo de un tipo histórico es las experiencias de David en el Salmo 22 que son citadas en los Evangelios como cumplidas en las experiencias de Cristo (Marcos 15:34; Juan 19:23-24).

Planteamientos erróneas sobre la tipología

El error más común que se comete en el reconocimiento de tipos es la idea de que los paralelos por sí solos indican la existencia de tipos, con la consecuencia de que los intérpretes encuentran demasiados tipos. Powers comenta:

La mayor confusión en el área de la tipología bíblica surge como resultado de la amplia aplicación del término a una variedad de situaciones literarias e históricas simplemente porque se reconoce un patrón recurrente. Por lo tanto, cualquier repetición de palabra, símbolo, evento, persona, género o tema teológico tiende a ser explicada por la tipología y todas aquellas características asociadas a la estructura tipológica son entonces aplicadas para obtener un significado nuevo o más completo del texto original. El problema se agudiza cuando esas características tipológicas se unen a estructuras literarias o situaciones históricas creando significados que ya no están respaldados por la evidencia textual y, por lo tanto, no son parte del significado concebido por el autor. Para algunos, la tipología no influye en el significado del texto, sino que es simplemente el reconocimiento de un patrón por parte de los intérpretes posteriores. Para otros, la tipología es un método de exégesis; y para algunos otros, no es un método de exégesis, sino parte del significado concebido por el autor.

Traducido de Powers, “Prefigurement and the Hermeneutics of Prophetic Typology,” 293-94.

El principal problema con la identificación de tipos únicamente sobre la base de similitudes entre dos entidades es que añade a la Biblia un significado supuesto que no está declarado en el texto bíblico (es decir, no se reúnen los criterios de promesa y cumplimiento y correspondencia funcional). Las identificaciones de tipos de esa manera son decisiones subjetivas tomadas por el intérprete, que no pueden ser validadas objetivamente. Tradicionalmente, uno de los motivos principales para la tipología excesiva (“hiper-tipificación”) ha sido la hermenéutica cristocéntrica, la proposición teológica de que cada porción del Antiguo Testamento está diseñada para apuntar a Cristo. Puesto que muchas porciones del Antiguo Testamento no se refieren directamente a Jesucristo, los intérpretes tienen que plantear tipologías y alegorías en estas porciones para encontrar un vínculo profético con Cristo. Sin embargo, la Biblia en ninguna parte afirma la hermenéutica cristocéntrica, y este método de interpretación supuestamente de mentalidad espiritual es exegética y teológicamente erróneo. En cierto sentido, toda la historia antes de la cruz estaba preparando al mundo para la encarnación de Cristo, y toda la historia posterior conduce a la segunda venida de Cristo, pero la mayoría de los detalles de la historia no prefiguran directamente la persona y obra del Mesías.

Como reacción a la hiper-tipificación y al alegorismo extremo, el obispo Herbert Marsh, escribiendo a principios del siglo xix, propuso la siguiente regla: solo los tipos que son específicamente reconocidos en el Nuevo Testamento pueden considerarse válidos. Esta regla ha sido seguida por muchos intérpretes evangélicos desde la época de Marsh. Sin embargo, este enfoque es problemático porque es demasiado minimalista. El reconocimiento en el Nuevo Testamento de tipos en varios pasajes del Antiguo Testamento apunta a la existencia de tipología en clases enteras de pasajes, y no solo en aquellos específicamente citados por los escritores del Nuevo Testamento. En muchos casos, parece que los escritores del Nuevo Testamento no reconocen los tipos mediante la revelación directa de Dios, sino mediante la aplicación de principios hermenéuticos. El reconocimiento de estos principios debería permitir a otros intérpretes identificar otros tipos. Por ejemplo, Colosenses 2:17 y Hebreos 9:11 y 10:1 indican que muchos aspectos de la ley mosaica apuntan a la persona y obra del Mesías, pero no enumeran individualmente cada tipo y antitipo. Otro ejemplo es la clara conexión tipológica entre Antíoco IV Epífanes y el anticristo escatológico en Daniel 8 y 11, que a lo sumo, solo es aludido en el Nuevo Testamento. Otro problema tanto con el enfoque maximalista como con el minimalista de la tipología es que solo reconocen la tipología retrospectivamente, lo cual invierte la dirección de la profecía y la revelación.

Una tercera visión errónea de la tipología es la opinión de los eruditos bíblicos liberales o no creyentes, que rechazan la posibilidad de una profecía genuina porque esta implicaría la actividad sobrenatural de Dios. Para estos críticos, por tanto, toda tipología profética es inválida como profecía auténtica, y lo que es llamado “tipología” no es más que una alegoría o una analogía. Los paralelos entre los personajes del Antiguo Testamento y los del Nuevo Testamento se ven como meramente accidentales y no como prefiguraciones proféticas intencionales. Si los críticos siempre declararan su posición como una clara negación de lo sobrenatural, por supuesto esta no atraería seguidores evangélicos. Sin embargo, los eruditos críticos de la Biblia a menudo usan un lenguaje que suena muy similar al usado por los eruditos evangélicos, hipotetizando relaciones “tipológicas” basados en un análisis de palabras o motivos recurrentes para encontrar “el significado real” del texto debajo de su significado superficial. Lo que rara vez dicen es que no creen que la Biblia es históricamente confiable, o profética de eventos futuros, o inspirada por el Espíritu Santo de Dios. Demasiados eruditos evangélicos están analizando el texto bíblico utilizando métodos críticos de conexiones intertextuales (crítica de fuentes) y motivos (crítica literaria), entre otros métodos que socavan la interpretación literal y la fe.

Muchos eruditos evangélicos también están influenciados por la afirmación de la erudición crítica de que la interpretación tipológica de los pasajes del Antiguo Testamento por el Nuevo Testamento es una aplicación de los métodos hermenéuticos judíos del primer siglo que eran esencialmente alegóricos. Si bien un análisis de métodos hermenéuticos judíos como pésher y omnisignificación requeriría un tratado separado, se puede afirmar brevemente que el Nuevo Testamento maneja el Antiguo Testamento de manera diferente a como lo maneja la literatura del judaísmo rabínico y la secta de Qumrán. La comprensión de las Escrituras por el Nuevo Testamento fue moldeada por la persona y obra de Jesucristo, ya que los escritores del Nuevo Testamento vieron cómo Cristo cumplió la profecía y la tipología. Es importante destacar que los discípulos de Jesús aprendieron a interpretar las Escrituras de la manera en que Jesús las interpretó, lo que a menudo era diferente de la comprensión predominante de la Biblia en el judaísmo contemporáneo. Dondequiera que Jesús comentó un texto específico del Antiguo Testamento, los apóstoles seguirían Su interpretación, y donde Él hizo declaraciones generales sobre las Escrituras, ellos aplicaron los principios que Él dio a pasajes específicos. Incluso el apóstol Pablo, quien estuvo completamente inmerso en el judaísmo, dice que inmediatamente después de su conversión se fue a Arabia para ser enseñado directamente por el Espíritu Santo (Gálatas 1:16-17), y dice que cuenta su experiencia en el judaísmo como pérdida por Cristo (Filipenses 3:4-8). El Nuevo Testamento considera la interpretación judía del Antiguo Testamento como defectuosa porque no reconoce el cumplimiento de las promesas mesiánicas en la persona y obra de Jesucristo (2 Corintios 3:14-16). Una diferencia importante entre la exégesis rabínica y la exégesis del Nuevo Testamento es que el uso de la tipología en el Nuevo Testamento tiene en cuenta el contexto completo de un pasaje del Antiguo Testamento. La vinculación de textos sobre similitudes lingüísticas, aparte del contexto histórico y el significado literal de los textos, no es una característica de la exégesis del Nuevo Testamento. En resumen, el Nuevo Testamento se ve a sí mismo como una continuación de la revelación del Antiguo Testamento, y ve un recorrido en la historia reveladora que culminó con la venida del Mesías. El reconocimiento que hace el Nuevo Testamento de la tipología en el Antiguo Testamento se basa, por lo tanto, en el significado del texto del Antiguo Testamento y en una creencia en su cumplimiento en la persona y obra de Jesucristo. Esto es muy diferente de los métodos contemporáneos de exégesis judía del primer siglo.

Tipología mesiánica en los Salmos

Varios versículos de los salmos de David se citan en el Nuevo Testamento como profecías tipológicas de Cristo, sobre todo porciones del Salmo 16 y del Salmo 22. David funcionó como un tipo de Cristo debido al Pacto Davídico, en el cual Dios le prometió a David que su dinastía y trono continuarían para siempre, implicando que el Mesías sería uno de sus descendientes y gobernaría desde su trono. Pedro declara la conexión tipológica directamente en Hechos 2:30-31. Hay algunas experiencias personales de David en los Salmos que él describió en lenguaje metafórico que Cristo experimentó literalmente, como que sus enemigos le traspasaron las manos y los pies (Salmo 22:16). Salomón, el hijo de David, también parece funcionar como un tipo de Cristo en el Salmo 45, ya que fue un hijo de David que gobernó a Israel desde el trono de David. Cabe mencionar que el Nuevo Testamento nunca cita un salmo adscrito a otro autor como tipológico de Cristo. Esto muestra que los escritores del Nuevo Testamento han prestado atención al contexto histórico del material que están citando como tipológico, y no están simplemente citando paralelos convenientes. De hecho, David tuvo algunas experiencias que eran tipológicas de las experiencias del Mesías, y fue guiado por el Espíritu Santo a describir estas experiencias en un lenguaje que era metafóricamente verdadero para él mismo, pero literalmente verdadero para el Mesías.

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How many people will be saved?

05 Friday May 2023

Posted by in Bible prophecy, Missions

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Jesus famously said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. For narrow is the gate and constricted is the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” True believers have always comprised a small minority of the world’s total population. But how many people will spend eternity on the new earth that is described in Revelation 21:1–22:5? Will the new earth be filled with people, or will it be sparsely populated? Conversely, how many people will spend eternity in the lake of fire (Rev 20:15)?

The first step to finding the answer to these questions is to calculate how many people have ever lived. A frequently cited study by Toshiko Kaneda and Carl Haub claims that there were about 100 billion people born between 4000 BC and AD 1900. From 1900 to 2022, there have been about 12.5 billion live births. The study’s estimate of population in recent times is quite accurate, due to the availability of census figures and written records of births and deaths. The study’s estimate of population in ancient times is based more on archaeological studies than on written records. For very ancient history, the study is based on evolutionary assumptions. These assumptions create inaccuracies, but the study may nevertheless be used to reasonably approximate the number of births in the ancient world. The study doesn’t recognize that the human race began with the creation of Adam and Eve around 4174 BC. It doesn’t recognize that there was a huge population boom in the 1,656 years of antediluvian history, during which physical conditions were ideal and people had the genetic potential for extremely long lifespans, though this potential was somewhat offset by the violence which filled the earth (Gen 6:11). The study doesn’t recognize that global population was reduced to eight people in the Flood in 2518 BC, or that the population of the world boomed again after the Flood and the dispersion of the nations from Babel. Nevertheless, the study’s assumption of a sizable and gradually increasing world population from 4000 BC to 2000 BC might result in a similar overall birth count as actually occurred in the two cycles of population booms from a single initial family. For now, the study by Kaneda and Haub furnishes the best available estimate of live births from 4000 BC to AD 1900. If anything, its numbers are likely to be on the low side, since population estimates by archaeologists are consistently far lower than written records of population size, including the censuses recorded in the Bible. The study by Kaneda and Haub also excludes miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions. If children are given a soul at conception, miscarriages alone would greatly increase the total human population in eternity, since some modern studies estimate that as many as 30 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. More will be said later in this article regarding the eternal destiny of persons who died as babies or as young children.

It is harder to estimate how many people will be born between 2022 and the second coming of Christ. There are currently 140 million births per year, and global population growth is slowing. On the other hand, advances in medical technology may significantly lower death rates. Revelation 9:13-21 describes how an alliance of Asian countries will deploy a 200-million man mechanized army at the midpoint of the tribulation period, which indicates that global population will expand significantly between 2022 and the tribulation period. There are good reasons to believe that we are currently living in the end times, but that some prophesied changes must occur in the world before the rapture will happen. If the second coming were to occur about 100 years from today, after a significant world population increase, perhaps there will be a total of 140 billion births from creation to the second coming.

Before we try to estimate the population of the world during the millennium (the 1,000 years between the second coming of Christ and the final judgment), let us try to calculate how many persons from the era of world history before the second coming will be saved. Although initially Adam and many of his descendants were believers, the people of the earth rebelled against God as their numbers began to multiply, and in the end only Noah and his family were spared the judgment of the world in the Flood (Genesis 6). The number of believers from the antediluvian era must therefore be numerically small, perhaps around 50,000. After the Flood, the entire world initially had knowledge of the true God, but when their population increased they rebelled against Him at Babel and were scattered to the points of the compass (Gen 11:1-9). Most of the world quickly fell into the darkness of paganism, with a minority of true believers remaining in the ancient Near East. God chose Abraham to be the progenitor of a people set apart unto Himself, who would preserve truth in a world of darkness and would be the people of the promised Messiah. Thus, from the time when Jacob and his family entered Egypt until the death of Christ the majority of believers in the world were likely Jewish, although at most times in the history of the nation of Israel only a minority of the Jews were truly saved. The population of believers in the world was thus very small during the Old Testament period—a minority of a nation which comprised only a small percentage of the earth’s total population. By the time of the New Testament, there were synagogues throughout the Mediterranean world and the Near East, and there were many Gentile proselytes, but they were still likely outnumbered by Jews. If there were an average of 20,000 new believers every year from 1900 BC to AD 33, this would result in about 40 million believers from this era. We could estimate the number of believers from the era from Adam to Christ as somewhere between 10 million and 50 million, the majority of these being Israelites.

Christianity started small, but spread quickly thanks to the work of Holy Spirit and the missionary zeal of the apostles who had seen the resurrected Christ. In spite of fierce persecution, Christians comprised around 10 percent of the Roman Empire—6 million persons—by the year AD 300. There were also millions of Christians outside of the Roman Empire, in places such as Armenia and Mesopotamia. By the mid-fourth century Christians were the majority in the Roman Empire, numbering more than 30 million, and their numbers continued to climb during the Byzantine Period, although these statistics may include large numbers of heretics, such as Arians. As Late Antiquity gave way to the Medieval Period, the number of professing Christians continued to grow, but the gospel preached by the church (both Western and Eastern) was corrupted, and an ever-decreasing percentage of those who professed Christianity were genuinely saved. Medieval Christians eventually evangelized all of Europe, though largely with a false gospel. Christian communities existed in parts of Asia and Africa, but these groups were generally small in number and some were heretical sects. Over time, the majority of historically Christian communities in the Middle East and North Africa became predominantly Muslim, and vast portions of the globe remained completely unevangelized. The number of true believers from the Middle Ages was likely quite small (cf. Rev 3:1), less than the number of true believers in the early church and the Byzantine church. From the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 until the Protestant Reformation, perhaps there were 100 million to 400 million true believers.

The age of discovery and colonization providentially coincided with the Protestant Reformation and the rediscovery of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith, apart from works. As it became possible for Westerners to travel to the farthest reaches and deepest interiors of the globe, Protestants launched great missionary endeavors. As a result, the number of evangelical Christians in the world greatly increased in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, in spite of government persecution and opposition from false churches and cults. As of May 2023, Operation World estimates that 32.3 percent of the world’s population (2.6 billion) is nominally Christian and 7.9 percent of the world’s population (635 million) is evangelical, of whom Charismatics and Pentecostals comprise a large proportion. However, counting the number of people who will go to heaven is not as simple as adding up the number of evangelicals, since many people who identify as evangelical Christians are not truly saved, and there are some genuine believers who are not members of evangelical churches. Nevertheless, it may be said that there are more true believers alive in our day than in any previous era of world history, both because world population has grown exponentially, and because the true gospel has been preached to all the nations. Possibly there have been around 1 billion people saved from the Protestant Reformation to 2022.

It is obvious that hostility to Christianity, the Bible, and God is greatly increasing in the world today. This opposition is led by powerful forces centered in the United States, including America’s big tech companies, its financial corporations, its other global corporate powerhouses, and the United States government. The Bible foretells a great worldwide rebellion in the last days, like the rebellions which led to the Flood and the mixing up of human language at Babel (2 Thess 2:3; 2 Tim 3:1-9, 13; 2 Pet 3:3-6; Jude 17-19). The Bible also warns of a falling away within the church in the last days (Rom 11:19-22; 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Tim 4:3-4; Rev 3:14-22). The book of Revelation also prophesies a murderous worldwide campaign of persecution against Christians which is driven by Babylon the Great/the United States (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2). Thus, the percentage of true believers in the world is likely near its peak, and can be expected to decline in the future. Perhaps there will be another 500 million people saved between 2022 and the start of the tribulation period. Fortunately, the world will be reevangelized during the first half of the tribulation period (Matt 24:14; Mark 13:10; Rev 7:1-8; 14:6-11). While some of these new converts will survive the tribulation period, the number who are martyred just during the first part of the tribulation period is reported by John to be greater than any man could count (Rev 7:9)—and therefore greater in number than the army of 200 million that he later reports (Rev 9:16; cf. Rev 5:11). Possibly there will be 1-2 billion new converts during the tribulation period.

It is thus clear that the vast majority of believers from creation until the second coming of Christ will be saved near the end of this age of world history. The total number of believers from Adam to the second advent may be about 3-4 billion, comprising about 2-3 percent of the total human population. While 3-4 billion is a sizable number of people, it is a small proportion of the total human race.

The population of the world from creation to the second coming of Christ is not the entire human population, however—there will be an additional 1,000 years of world history, the millennium, in which Jesus Christ will rule the world from the throne of David. Believers who survived the tribulation period (cf. Zech 14:16; Matt 25:34) will bear abundant offspring, repopulating the earth. The earth’s population will grow exponentially during the millennium, as there will be very little death and high fertility rates (cf. Isa 65:20-22; Mic 2:12; Zech 2:1-4; 8:4-5). Infant mortality will likely be almost nonexistent during the millennium. By the end of the 1,000 years, the earth will likely be at its saturation point (cf. Gen 1:28; 9:1, 7; 22:17; Rev 20:8). The vast majority of the people in the nations of the world will follow Satan in a rebellion at the end of the millennium, revealing that they are unbelievers (Rev 20:7-10). However, all the Jews will remain loyal to God, since the New Covenant will guarantee the salvation of all the Jews during the millennium (Jer 31:31-34; 32:38-40; Ezek 11:19-20; 36:25-27; Zeph 3:13; Rom 11:26-27; Rev 20:8-9).

As for what the population of the millennial earth may be, we can only make an educated guess. According to Zechariah 13:8-9, one-third of the Jews will survive the tribulation period (and will accept Jesus as the Son of God and the promised Messiah). If there are around 12 million Jews in land of Israel at the start of the tribulation period, this means 4 million will survive. While the survival rate of Gentile Christians will presumably be lower (cf. Matt 24:22; Mark 13:20), there will also be a much greater number of Gentile converts in the tribulation period (Rev 7:9-17). Presumably there will be somewhere between 10 million and 50 million Gentile Christians who survive the tribulation period and enter the millennium in mortal bodies. This number may be higher if babies and young children who had unbelieving parents also enter the millennium. Calculating a 5 percent annual population growth rate over 1,000 years from an initial population of 20 million would result in a final population of 33 billion. This is calculated as 20,000,000 x (1 + 0.05)1000; see the Population Growth Calculator. This figure does not seem too high for a recreated earth in which virtually the entire planet is habitable and food is abundant; in fact the millennial population could be even higher than this.

The rebellion at the end of the millennium will show that only a small remnant of the Gentiles who are born in the millennium will be true believers; however, all the Jews will remain faithful to their God. If there are 30 billion people alive on the earth at the end of the millennium, perhaps 3 billion of these are Jews, leaving 27 billion Gentiles. If between 7 and 8 percent of the Gentiles are truly saved and refuse to join the final rebellion, this would add another 2 billion believers. According to this scenario, there would be about 5 billion believers and about 25 billion unbelievers alive on the earth at the end of the millennium. The number of people who die during the millennium will presumably be much lower than the number who are alive at the end.

There is, however, one more factor to consider when calculating the number of people from the total human population who will inhabit the new earth. There are various biblical indications that babies and children who die before reaching the age where they could understand the gospel clearly will be saved (2 Sam 12:23; Job 3:11-19; 10:18-22; Eccl 6:3-5; 1 John 2:2); nowhere does the Bible say that persons who die as babies will spend eternity in the lake of fire. The reason why the Bible never states directly that babies and young children who die will be saved is because the practical implications of such a statement would be disastrous. If the Bible had stated explicitly that infants who die will go to heaven, many people would justify infanticide on this basis. If people knew that children would go to heaven if they died before reaching the age of accountability, but would go to hell if they died without responding to the gospel after reaching the age of accountability, some professing Christians would kill babies and children as a means of saving their souls. Some Christian kings in the Middle Ages would have slaughtered pagan infants; some Christian soldiers in pagan lands would have no compunction about killing the children of unbelievers; some Christian social activists might advocate the abortion of atheists’ babies; and perhaps some Christian parents would even kill their own rebellious children to ensure they get to heaven.

Before modern times, about one-third of children died in infancy or in early childhood. It is unknown how God calculates the “age of accountability,” but it is noteworthy that before the twentieth century about half of all children died before reaching puberty. It is clear from these statistics that children who have died in the womb, in infancy, or before reaching the age of accountability are far more numerous than adult believers from creation until the second coming of Christ. (Infant mortality will presumably be very low in the millennium, and may also have been low in the antediluvian era.) There may be 50 billion persons who died as babies or children from creation until the second coming of Christ, and these will receive eternal life in the new earth. There will also likely be about 100-200 million babies and young children below the age of accountability at the end of the millennium. Because of these children, the population of the new earth will be impressively high and diverse—there will be tens of billions of glorified saints, including persons from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation and from every era of history. The number of people who will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity is almost certainly higher, but probably only by a ratio of 2:1 or 3:1—not by the 20:1 or 50:1 ratio that might be the case if only adult believers were granted entrance into the new earth. Thus, a significant portion of the human race will live for eternity on the new earth, and children who died before reaching the age where they could reasonably be expected to comprehend and believe the gospel will comprise the bulk of the population of the new earth in eternity. However, adult believers will receive rewards which those who lacked the capacity to believe will not receive.

To answer the question posed at the beginning of this article, an estimate of the number of saved people who will inhabit the new earth for eternity is approximately 60 billion, calculated as follows: 40 million believers from the Old Testament era + 300 million believers from the day of Pentecost to the Protestant Reformation + 1 billion believers from the Protestant Reformation to 2022 + 500 million believers from 2022 to the start of the tribulation period + 1.5 billion believers from the tribulation period + 5 billion believers from the millennium + 50 billion who died before reaching the age of accountability. The number of people in the new earth may thus be about a third of the total number of people who will ever live, which I have estimated to be around 180 billion. If miscarried babies are to be included, both the number of inhabitants in the new earth and the number of people who have ever lived should be about 30-40 billion higher—about 100 billion persons in the new earth, out of a total human population of about 220 billion. A disproportionate number of the adult believers in the new earth will be Jews, who will likely number several billion by the end of the millennium, which explains why the New Jerusalem has such enormous dimensions (Rev 21:16). But these are only very rough estimates; we will learn the true numbers in the by-and-by.

Postscript: The material in this article is taken from my research for a commentary on Revelation that I am writing. I am currently looking for more monthly supporters or one-time donations to help further this work. Sample chapters: Revelation 16 and Revelation 20. I intend to make the entire commentary available for free download when it is finished.

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Why I believe in the pretribulational rapture

29 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by in Bible prophecy, Theology

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The rapture is one of the most important, most controversial, and most poorly understood eschatological doctrines. In this post, I would like to explain from the Bible the reasons why I believe in the pretribulational rapture of the church.

The word “rapture” refers to a “carrying away” or a “snatching away.” The English word “rapture” comes from the Latin noun raptura, which is etymologically related to the Greek verb ἁρπάζω that is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The rapture is an event in which Christ will descend from heaven to the sky above the earth, accompanied by a trumpet blast and the shout of the archangel Michael (1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:16). Both living and deceased Christians will instantaneously be given glorified resurrection bodies and will be caught up into the clouds, where Christ will lead them back to heaven. Only Christians will see Christ at that time, though the entire world may hear the trumpet blast.

As its name suggests, pretribulationism teaches that the rapture of the church will occur just before the start of the tribulation. The tribulation is a seven-year period corresponding to Daniel’s seventieth week that occurs immediately prior to the second coming of Christ. Before establishing the timing of the rapture, it is imperative to first establish that the coming of Christ for the rapture of the church is an event that is distinct from the second advent, and therefore the rapture is not posttribulational. There are three passages in the New Testament that teach about a return of Christ that is different from the second coming. These three passages are John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (see also Rev 4:1).

John 14:1-3

In the Upper Room discourse, which begins in John 13:31, Jesus is preparing the eleven disciples for His departure. At the end of John 13, Jesus mentions that He is going away, which prompted a confused reaction from Peter, who did not understand why he could not go with Jesus. Jesus proceeds to explain in John 14:1-4 that He is not going on an earthly journey, but on a journey to the Father, where He will prepare a place for them, and where they will be reunited forever. In John 14:2-3, Jesus says, In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again, and will take you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus says He will take the disciples (who are Church Age believers) to Himself and will take them to the place where He is, to His Father’s house. The Father’s house is the place where God the Father dwells, which is heaven. In other words, Jesus will come to earth, will resurrect the disciples and (by extension) all those who are part of the church (He is not just coming for the Eleven—cf. John 12:26), and will take them to heaven. In contrast, at the second coming, Jesus will come to the earth and stay on the earth. He will establish an earthly kingdom, and therefore will not take the saints back to heaven with Him, but will instead give them an earthly inheritance. These contrasts demonstrate that it is impossible that John 14 is speaking of a resurrection at the second advent.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

The second of the three major rapture passages is 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. That passage reads as follows: Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. In verse 51, Paul says that the resurrection of believers he describes in these verses is a “mystery,” meaning that it is something that was not previously revealed. It cannot therefore occur in conjunction with the second advent, which is spoken of throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The rapture was not revealed in the Old Testament, even if it could be deduced by implication, because it is something that is specifically for the church, and not for Israel. Thus, the translation of living saints to heaven is never revealed in the Old Testament, either. These verses also add the important detail that both dead and living believers will be raised, which creates a serious problem for posttribulationism—there would be no one left to enter the millennium in a mortal body if all believers are given glorified bodies and all unbelievers are killed. More will be said about this problem later on, as it is one of the chief difficulties in the posttribulational system. Thus, there are three reasons why 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 must be speaking of the rapture: it is presented as a mystery; it includes the resurrection of Church Age saints (“we”); and it includes the resurrection both of the living and the dead. Note that the “last trumpet” is not the seventh trumpet, which is sounded at the midpoint of the tribulation (Rev 11:15), nor is it the trumpet that is sounded at Christ’s second coming (Matt 24:31)—it is rather the last trumpet for Christians, or the trumpet blast which signals the end of the Church Age.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The last of the three major rapture passages is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Verse 13 reads, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve as do the rest, who have no hope. The Thessalonians, like the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:12, 18), did not know that dead believers would be resurrected. This is interesting in light of 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:1-2, which state that the Thessalonians were fully aware of apostolic teaching concerning the second coming of Christ, and they were in fact waiting for His coming. Thus, they correctly understood that living believers would be saved alive at the second coming, but they did not know what would happen to those who died beforehand. Paul teaches them about the rapture because that is when all Church Age believers will be raised.

Verse 14 continues: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. The term “in Jesus” refers only to the church, not to OT saints. Thus, this passage is describing a resurrection of Church Age believers only. This is different from the second coming, since Daniel 12:1-3 asserts that OT saints are raised at the end of the tribulation period. Verse 15: For we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Again, this is a resurrection in which both living and dead believers are raised, so if it was posttribulational there would be no one left to populate the millennial kingdom with mortal bodies. Verses 16-17: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord. Notice that in the coming of Christ that Paul describes, believers will meet the Lord in the air. This is in contrast to descriptions of the second coming, in which the saints are portrayed emerging from heaven to return to the earth with Christ (Rom 8:19; Col 3:4; 1 Thess 3:13; Jude 14-15; Rev 19:14). How could the saints come from heaven with Christ if they are not raptured until He comes? First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says we will meet the Lord in the air after He has already descended from heaven. The rapture therefore must happen at a different time than the second advent, before the second advent.

Finally, in v. 18, Paul writes, Therefore comfort one another with these words. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the nation of Israel is warned about the sufferings they will endure during the tribulation period. The church is not. When Paul tells the Christians in Thessalonica that the coming of the Lord will be a great comfort to them, he does not say anything about it being preceded by the tribulation period, which would not be so comforting. He does not warn them to be on the alert for Christ’s coming lest they be judged, or to watch for the signs Christ is just about to return, or to prepare to endure the turmoil of the tribulation period—which is completely unlike the Olivet Discourse and other second coming passages.

It is also interesting that Paul says the Thessalonians were ignorant about Christ’s coming for His church, yet he says in the very next paragraph that they were not ignorant about the second coming. He says in 5:1-3, But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. When they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, as labor pains on a pregnant woman; and they will not escape. Paul also referenced the second coming twice before in this letter, in 1:10 and 3:13, and he speaks as though the Thessalonians knew about it. This demonstrates that the rapture is an event that is distinct from the second coming.

None of the rapture passages contains any description whatsoever of the judgment of the wicked, or indicates that there is a judgment of the world at the time of the rapture. There is no indication that Christ is coming to set up His kingdom at that time. There is no judgment of Satan, Israel, the nations, the antichrist, or the false prophet. The world and the universe are not destroyed. All that happens is the resurrection of Church Age saints. On the other hand, every passage that describes the second coming describes the cataclysmic judgment associated with it, while none of the second coming passages describes a resurrection of living believers or even a resurrection of Church Age saints. All of the major second coming passages are set in the context of the end of the tribulation period, while none of the rapture passages says a word about the tribulation period. The rapture and the second coming are therefore two distinct events, and the rapture is not posttribulational. Other distinct characteristics of the rapture include its description as a mystery and the return of Jesus Christ to heaven afterwards.

The distinction between Israel and the church

Having established, then, that the rapture is an event that is distinct from the second advent, and that precedes the second advent, let us now consider the evidence that the rapture occurs before the tribulation period, i.e., immediately prior to the start of Daniel’s seventieth week. One of the strongest arguments for this is the distinction between Israel and the church. Israel is still God’s chosen people (Gen 17:7-8, 19; Isa 49:14-15; 54:10; Jer 31:35-37; 33:23-26; Rom 11:1, 28-29). He has not abandoned them—in fact, He has brought them back to their land and protected them there. But during the Church Age—the time from Pentecost until the rapture—Christ is building His church primarily through Gentiles (Acts 13:45-48; 28:28; Rom 10:20-21). The church is never called “Israel” in the Bible, and Israel is never called “the church,” since these are two distinct entities, although of course some Jews are also part of the church.

Daniel 9:24-27 outlines God’s program for the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem from the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the messianic kingdom. The length of His program is seventy weeks of years, or 490 years: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city. . . ” (Dan 9:24). Sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years, completed the time from the issuing of the decree until the crucifixion of Jesus by the Jewish people and their leaders (cf. Zech 12:10; Matt 27:24; Acts 2:36; 4:10). After Israel rejected the Messiah, God temporarily switched the primary dispensational focus of His program to the Gentiles, who form the bulk of the church. Since Daniel 9:24-27 is a prophecy of God’s program for Israel, the Church Age is not included in the seventy weeks; there is only an indefinite gap. According to Daniel 9:27, God’s program for Israel is finished in one week, the seventieth week, which is the tribulation period. Hence, God will resume His program for Israel seven years before the second advent, or at the beginning of the period we call the tribulation. The resumption of God’s program for Israel implies the removal of the church, for God has made the church the focus of His salvific program in this age. Pretribulationism is the only view of the rapture that maintains the unity of Daniel’s seventieth week as a time when the dispensational focus of God’s program returns to Israel.

According to Romans 11:25-26, Israel has experienced a partial hardening “until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.” After that, their hearts will no longer be hardened, and “all Israel will be saved.” The fulness of the Gentiles comes in when the church is taken to heaven at the rapture. Hence, God will resume His program for Israel immediately after the rapture. That this is immediate is proved by the use of the word “until” (ἄχρι) in Romans 11:25: if Israel’s partial hardening occurs only until the rapture, then it is taken away immediately afterward (“. . . and so all Israel will be saved”—v. 26).

That God will resume his program for Israel immediately after the rapture can be deduced logically, even apart from Romans 11:25-26. God would not remove the church unless there were some people of God to replace it with, for He will not cease to work His program. There is only one candidate for the replacement of the church, and that is Israel (Rom 11:23-24). Hence, when the church is removed, its role is restored to Israel. Again, Daniel 9:27 shows that God’s program for Israel is finished in one week, or seven years.

All the biblical descriptions of the tribulation period show that it is focused on Israel, not on the church, and therefore the church must be removed at the start of the tribulation. The first three chapters of the book of Revelation mention the church some 19 times, yet the church is not mentioned one time in Revelation 4–19, which describes the tribulation period. However, 144,000 evangelists from the twelve tribes of Israel are given a prominent place in Revelation 7 and 14, and Revelation 11 describes ministry of the two witnesses in the city of Jerusalem. Satan singles out Israel for special persecution in Revelation 12, and Israel is specially protected by God. The main battle at the end of the tribulation period is centered in the land of Israel (Rev 16:16). Zechariah 12–14 speaks of ethnic Jews living in Jerusalem at the time of the final battle, with Christ returning to rescue His people and destroy their enemies (cf. Dan 12:1). Passages in Revelation 4–19 contain many references to “saints” and “the elect,” but not to “the church” or those who are “in Christ.” Revelation 19 refers to the bride of Christ, but this is a reference to saints who are in heaven, not on earth. The indication, then, is that the focus of God’s program will return to Israel in the tribulation period. This is confirmed by the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21) and numerous passages in the Old Testament that describe the tribulation as a time of great persecution for Israel. Not one of the many passages in the Bible which describes the tribulation even mentions the church. Zechariah 12–13 describes how many Jews will die in the tribulation, but a remnant will repent and be saved. Daniel 9:24-27 presents the tribulation as the final seven years of God’s program for Israel in this age. Jeremiah 30:7 calls the tribulation “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” How can the tribulation be called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” if it is really the time of the church’s trouble? Both the OT and the NT warn the nation of Israel time and again of the things it will suffer during the tribulation period, yet the church is not warned one time.

Because of these problems, most posttribulationists are not dispensational, and those who are have to hold that there is a gradual transition between the Church Age and a return to the time of God’s primary dispensational focus on Israel. Only pretribulationism makes a clear distinction between dispensations and allows for a Jewish millennium.

Posttribulationism

The major alternative to pretribulationism is posttribulationism. The ideas of a midtribulational rapture, a partial rapture, and a pre-wrath rapture have not enjoyed the widespread support accorded to both pretribulationism and posttribulationism because there is no hint anywhere in Scripture of a coming of Christ during the tribulation period. A coming that ends the tribulation period is clearly taught, but posttribulationism denies that this is a separate event from the rapture. One reason why posttribulationism has been so popular over the centuries is that it is required by the amillennial and postmillennial systems of theology. If the church is defined as believers of all ages, then those who have “fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thess 4:14) includes Old Testament saints. Thus, there can be no special rapture for those saved after the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. There is no separate rapture in eschatological systems other premillennialism. On the other hand, the dispensational understanding of Scripture requires some point at which the Church Age ends and God’s program reverts back to Israel.

The arguments given above for pretribulationism are implicitly arguments against posttribulationism. However, a few problems specific to the posttribulational scheme may be noted.

Probably the largest problem with posttribulationism is that it does not allow for unresurrected people to enter the millennial kingdom, because all believers are raised at the rapture and all unbelievers are killed at the second advent. There are a great number of passages which assert that only believers will enter the kingdom, e.g., Ezek 20:33-38; Matt 5:20; 25:31-46; John 3:3; 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Thess 5:3. Possibly the clearest passages are Matthew 13:40-43 and Matthew 25:31-46. The rapture passages assert that both dead and living believers are raised and glorified (1 Cor 15:51-52; 1 Thess 4:16-17). Hence, if the rapture occurs at the end of the tribulation, everyone who enters the millennium does so in an immortal resurrection body.

This is a problem because there are many passages that indicate the presence of people in unresurrected bodies in the millennium. Isaiah 65:20 speaks of people dying in the millennium. Isaiah 65:23 and Ezekiel 47:22 speak of people in the millennial kingdom begetting children, and this is implied in various other verses (Isa 11:6-8; 61:9; Jer 30:19-20; 31:8, 13, 27, 34; Ezekiel 46:16-18; Zech 2:4). Ezekiel 44:22 describes men taking wives in the kingdom. According to Matthew 22:30, marrying and begetting offspring cannot be done in the resurrection body. Various verses describe sacrifices for sin in the millennium (Ezek 40:39; 43:18-27; 44:29; 45:13-25), and acts of sin the millennium (Zech 5:1-4; 14:17-19), showing that there are people in the kingdom who have not yet experienced the perfect sanctification that comes with glorification. Revelation 20:7-9 describes a great rebellion at the end of the millennium in which an innumerable number of people will turn against Christ and assault Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of all those who have rebelled. This rebellion shows not just that there are mortal men in the millennium, but also that there are unsaved mortal men. The only way the unbelievers could have gotten into the kingdom is by procreation, since only the saved will enter the millennium.

Besides these problems, there are passages that directly state that some people will survive the tribulation period and the second coming. Zechariah 14:5 describes believers fleeing on foot after Christ has returned at the second advent. Daniel 12:1, Zechariah 14:16, and Micah 4:2-3 also refer to survivors of the tribulation period.

Posttribulationists have never been able to resolve the problem of how mortal men enter the millennium, nor can they, for their scheme simply falls apart at this point. The suggestion that some Jews repent as Christ is descending contradicts various verses which teach that there can be no repentance after the midpoint of the tribulation is reached or a person receives the mark of the beast (2 Thess 2:9-12; Rev 14:9-12). When the second coming begins, it is too late to repent; men’s fates are sealed (Matt 7:21-23; 25:10-12, 41-46; Rev 6:12-17).

The major biblical argument for posttribulationism is the claim that the Bible only presents one return of Christ. However, the passages analyzed above describe a return of Christ that is not visible to the entire world, in which Christ does not return all the way to the earth and does not judge the earth. Another argument for posttribulationism that is that pretribulationism is a recent invention, and the church has always believed in posttribulationism. Walvoord notes that “in offering this argument, posttribulationists generally ignore the fact that modern forms of posttribulationism differ greatly from that of the early church or of the Protestant Reformers and are actually just as new or perhaps newer than pretribulationism” (John Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation, 145). Specifically, the strain of posttribulationism that holds that the tribulation is a future seven-year period of time differs from the historic view of most theologians in church history, who spiritualized the tribulation and held that the entire Church Age is the tribulation period. Also, while John Nelson Darby claimed to have developed his teaching on the pretribulational rapture directly from the Bible, it is clear that there were other pretribulationists before Darby, such as a Baptist preacher named Morgan Edwards. Farther back in time, in the early Middle Ages, a document called Pseudo-Ephraim expresses a belief in the pretribulational rapture. Beatus of Liebana, who published the final edition of his Commentarius in Apocalypsin in 786, mentions the “rapture” as if it were common knowledge. See also Francis Gumerlock’s 2002 article and 2013 article, and William Watson’s book Dispensationalism before Darby. On the other hand, prophecy tends to become clearer as the time of fulfillment nears, so the increased popularity of pretribulationism in our day should not be surprising.

Posttribulationists claim that the doctrine of a pretribulational rapture rests on very shaky grounds because it is based largely on inference. However, inferences are different than assumptions, and posttribulationism rests on many unsupported assumptions or assertions. Posttribulationists assume that the church will go through the tribulation period, even though none of the terms that are typically used to refer to the church is used with reference to the saints who are alive during the tribulation period. Posttribulationists have never been able to explain why New Testament writers such as Paul do not warn the church to prepare for the tribulation period, with all of its perils. It seems that the passages in which Paul describes the rapture ought to include a description of the terrible tribulation that will precede it, if indeed the rapture is posttribulational. Another assumption made by posttribulationism is that saints will rise from the dead to meet Christ as He is coming down from heaven. This is never explicitly stated, and in fact Revelation 20:4-6 proves that dead tribulation saints will not be raised until the judgment which follows the second coming. If the rapture is posttribulational, then there is no reference whatever to it in the book of Revelation, in spite of the lengthy, detailed, and sequential presentation of end time events in that book.

Another problem with posttribulationism is that it cannot explain the differences between descriptions of the second coming and descriptions of the rapture. These differences have already been noted. The differences between the coming of Christ for the church and the second advent are very significant, and posttribulationists have not given an adequate explanation for how they can be considered identical.

A final problem with posttribulationism is that it contradicts the premillennial dispensational understanding of Scripture, which is based on a literal understanding of Scripture. If the rapture is posttribulational, it is impossible for there to be people with mortal physical bodies in the millennium, and therefore it is impossible for there to be a literal, physical thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. No one who believes in a literal millennium can accept a posttribulational rapture without a serious contradiction. Denying the millennium is a major problem, because both the Old and New Testaments are filled with descriptions of a lengthy, literal, earthly kingdom, and Revelation 20 says no less than six times that it will last one thousand years. A denial of the millennium also has much more serious consequences in terms of one’s view of God’s fulfillment of His covenants with Israel, and the completion of Christ’s redemptive work.

Posttribulationism also contradicts dispensationalism in that there is no clear break between the end of the Church Age and the renewal of Israel as the focus of God’s dispensational program. No posttribulationist theologian makes a clear distinction between Israel and the church, which is the sine qua non of dispensationalism. In no way can a dispensationalist accept a posttribulational rapture without seriously contradicting himself.

Posttribulationism also has major practical implications. Should we start digging bunkers and building up a seven-year supply of food to survive the tribulation? Should we try to figure out if the tribulation has already started and whether we should be looking for signs that the second coming is about to happen? Posttribulationism also leads logically to a denial of premillennialism and dispensationalism, thereby undermining a literal approach to interpreting Bible prophecy. I will close with a quote from John Walvoord: “The evident trend among scholars who have forsaken pretribulationism for posttribulationism is that in many cases they also abandon premillennialism. . . . It becomes evident that pretribulationism is more than a dispute between those who place the rapture before and after the tribulation. It is actually the key to an eschatological system. It plays a determinative role in establishing principles of interpretation which, if carried through consistently, lead to the pretribulational and premillennial interpretation” (Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation, 166).

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Practical implications of the identification of Babylon the Great with the United States of America

27 Monday Sep 2021

Posted by in Bible prophecy

≈ 9 Comments

This post is the sixth one in a series on how biblical prophecy relates to the United States of America in 2021. The first post described how the election of a Democratic president and Congress in the United States will further the implementation of a radical Leftist agenda that is diametrically opposed to biblical Christianity. The second post provided a basic introduction to biblical prophecy, which is necessary due to the lack of teaching on biblical prophecy in churches today. The third post argued from biblical prophecy that we are currently living in the end times, i.e., close in time to the tribulation period, which makes it possible to identify many prophetic entities with entities in the contemporary world. The fourth post put forth the argument that the United States of America is the entity called “Babylon the Great” in the book of Revelation—a highly significant entity which shapes the world of the end times, to which more than two chapters of prophecy are devoted (Rev 17:1–19:5). The fifth post dealt with the most common objection to this identification, which is the imminence of the rapture—the idea that we cannot identify prophetic entities in our own time, because the rapture may not happen for thousands of years in the future.

The conclusions reached in this study—that Babylon the Great is the United States of America, and that the rapture will happen in the relatively near future, but not today, and not as a complete surprise—have enormous practical implications. This article will address these practical issues in four sections. The first section describes the future of the United States and how this will affect Christians both in the United States and around the world. The second section addresses the all-important question of what American Christians ought to do in light of biblical prophecy. The third section takes a longer view, describing some of the things that will happen as the rapture draws nearer, especially addressing the question of whether the rapture will happen at an unexpected moment. The fourth section briefly summarizes the conclusions of this study.

The future of the United States

For most American Christians, it would be a great shock if the United States government actually closed down Christian non-profit organizations, colleges, seminaries, and churches; this is not something they expect to happen. People understand that there are threats to religious liberty due to the LGBTQ agenda, but many Christians are currently (in September 2021) more concerned about pandemic-related restrictions and requirements. Christian organizations have 20-year or 40-year plans, with endowments and estate planning that assume they will continue to operate for decades or even centuries into the future. Churches encourage individuals to follow financial plans that assume they will retire in the United States decades from today, without losing access to the U.S. financial and legal system due to their religious beliefs. Most American Christians never even think about the possibility of their pastors being arrested and jailed. It would be almost unimaginably shocking to most if a situation occurred in which the U.S. government required every citizen to sign a pro-LGBTQ affirmation or face incarceration. Yet the book of Revelation reveals that what is coming in the United States is not mere legal problems or workplace restrictions for Bible-believing Christians, but is rather the mass murder of all biblically faithful Christians. Further, the United States government will not just kill Christians within its own borders, but will seek to kill Christians around the world (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

There were many countries in the twentieth century that prohibited evangelical Christianity and persecuted evangelical Christians, and there still are in the twenty-first century. (I have specified “evangelical,” because most countries allow for a state-sanctioned “church” that replaces certain aspects of biblical theology with government ideology.) There were many countries in the twentieth century in which evangelical Christians once worshiped freely and had networks of churches, but when communists took power they destroyed all the church buildings and jailed and killed evangelical Christians. There have also been many countries in the recent past in which a political party or strongman has destroyed its political opponents—such revolutions are commonplace in history, even in democracies. With regard to the United States, however, there are two special problems. The first problem is that the United States has protected religious freedom for 250 years, and American Christians are so unprepared to lose this freedom, they do not want to even think about alternatives or contingency plans.

The second problem is that United States is more powerful than all the other countries that have persecuted Christians in the past. The United States and its cultural and economic forces (especially big tech) truly have power over the entire world in a way that no country ever has had before. The radical Leftist political movement in the United States is closely connected to politics in countries around the world, and the U.S. government and corporations strongly promote Leftist policies in other countries, with the result that the Left’s militant homosexual agenda and drug-legalization agenda is being imposed in countries around the world. To restate the problem, as the United States goes bad, it is taking the whole world down with it. When the Soviet Union banned Christianity and missions work, it could only do so in the countries under the control of its armed forces; the church actually expanded in Latin America and Africa due to the work of American missionaries. However, when the United States bans Christianity, both the U.S. government and American corporations will seek to impose this ban worldwide, with considerable success.

The United States is also different from Russia or China in that it has been the center of world Christianity for over a hundred years. Many churches, pastors, missionaries, and seminaries around the world depend on the United States for financial support and academic scholarship. When the church in the United States is shut down, many Christian institutions in other countries will collapse immediately due to a lack of funding, and many pastors, seminary professors, and missionaries will find themselves in desperate financial straits which may preclude them from continuing in ministry.

The United States is in deep trouble, spiritually and politically, and the rest of the world is in trouble with it. There is a real war against Christians, God, and the Bible in the United States, and the antichristian faction is determined to make biblical Christianity illegal throughout the whole world, replacing it with an antichristian value system. The bad news is that the United States will never get out of trouble; no politician can save it, and sin will run its course. The good news is that the world is ripening for the return of Jesus Christ, and the gates of hell will never prevail against Christ’s church.

What American Christians should do

Bible prophecy was given so that believers can know what will happen before it happens, and so they can plan and prepare accordingly. Thus, it is critical to ask and answer this question: What should American Christians do, in light of the realization that the United States of America is Babylon the Great?

An opportunity to survive the coming persecution

The book of Revelation reveals that the antichristian movement in the United States will culminate in a program of official persecution in which Christians will be killed in large numbers for their faith. Often in the Bible and throughout church history, Christians have fled from places where they are being persecuted to places where they can live and worship freely. In fact, many of the original colonists of the United States were Christians who left their home countries in Europe in search of religious freedom. In the book of Acts, the original group of Christian believers was concentrated in Jerusalem, until persecution came and forced many to disperse. Acts 8 shows that this dispersion resulted in the spread of the gospel to new regions, in fulfillment of the Great Commission. Early on, the Jerusalem church was comfortable and growing, but insular and non-missional; it took persecution to force Christians to leave in large numbers and proclaim the gospel of Christ to other nations. Within the book of Revelation, while some of the churches in Revelation 2–3 were called to endure persecution, the nation of Israel is called to flee from its land at the midpoint of the tribulation period to a place of refuge where it will be protected from the antichrist (Rev 12:6, 13-17; cf. Matt 24:15-16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20-21).

Most people have an innate desire to protect their own lives and the lives of their family and friends, so if they were given a clear-cut ultimatum between being jailed and executed in their own country, or moving freely to another country, they would choose to move to another country. The main difficulties are: (1) most American Christians are hoping that a severe persecution will never come. (2) Christian leaders refuse to make contingency plans, even if they think it is likely that their churches or institutions will be closed by the government in the foreseeable future. (3) Most American Christians love the material comforts of their country, and do not want to give them up. (4) It is very disruptive to move to a different country where one does not already have friends, family, and community. Thus, until sizable groups of American Christian emigrants are established in other countries, it will be hard for the less adventurous to leave.

Aside from the motive of self-preservation (both physically and spiritually), strong humanitarian and evangelistic arguments can be made in favor of American Christians emigrating. The mass movement of American Christians to other countries around the world would help spread the gospel, especially if American Christians rediscover old methods of evangelism that resulted in large numbers of converts during an era when there was more cultural openness to the gospel. Even if American Christians do not regain a fervency for evangelism, they will do what they do well, which is to establish well-developed infrastructure—churches, schools, universities, seminaries, publishing houses, and other parachurch organizations, all with impressive physical campuses and comfortable homes nearby. While American Christians have the financial means to fund such infrastructure through donations, even more potential exists in the assets held by Christian organizations and churches in the United States. Since property values and salaries are many times higher in the United States than in less developed countries, a Christian organization that liquidated all of its assets in the United States could build much bigger and better overseas, with money left over for an endowment. On the other hand, to allow all of those assets to be confiscated by the government, rather than moving at least parts of the organizations and their assets overseas, seems like an unnecessary waste. In addition, while the courageous suffering and martyrdom of Christians is not without value, it would seem better for the global church to preserve as many lives of Christians as possible.

Revelation 18:4 – A warning to flee from evil

Revelation 18:4-5 gives a direct command to Christians who are living in Babylon the Great. Those verses read as follows: Then I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not participate in her sins, and so that you will not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” These verses clearly command Christians who are living in Babylon the Great to leave, warning them that they risk both participation in her sins and sharing in her judgment if they do not. The key interpretive question is whether the command to come out of Babylon the Great is given only to Christians who are living in Babylon the Great during the tribulation period, or whether it is also directed to Christians who are living in Babylon the Great before the tribulation period.

Certainly it makes sense that Christians who are living in Babylon the Great during the tribulation period ought to flee for their lives as soon as possible, before their country is destroyed in judgment (cf. Gen 19:12-15). The gospel will be preached to the whole world during the first half of the tribulation period (Matt 24:14), resulting in an innumerable multitude of converts from every nation (Rev 7:9-17), which implies that there are converts from Babylon the Great. However, since the destruction of Babylon the Great apparently occurs as part of the first seal judgment (Rev 6:1-2), all believers who are in Babylon the Great during the tribulation period will be new converts who are saved immediately after the rapture, who must flee right after their conversion, as there are perhaps only a few weeks between the rapture of the church and the total annihilation of Babylon the Great by the antichrist (God’s instrument of judgment).

However, the reasons given in Revelation 18:4 as to why Christians should flee Babylon the Great are broader than an appeal to tribulation saints to seek to preserve their physical lives because of the imminent judgment of Babylon the Great. These reasons are “so that you will not participate in her sins, and so that you will not receive of her plagues.” The command to flee so as not to participate in the sins of Babylon the Great would seem odd if applied only to a context in which believers are saved a few days or weeks before the judgment falls; it must apply to a much longer time period prior to the rapture, and stands as a warning regarding the great pressure to apostatize that will be applied to those who attempt a “normal life” in Babylon the Great. Various other verses in the book of Revelation refer to the judgment of God on those who participate in Babylon the Great’s sins, even if they are not destroyed at the same time as she is (Rev 14:8; 17:2; 18:3). Participation in the sins of Babylon the Great therefore implies receiving of her plagues. Applying the warning to the current situation of Christians in the United States, there an increasingly grave danger in attempting to participate in the economic and cultural life of the United States as a Christian, due to way in which the whole American system is being set up to directly oppose the Word of God.

The fact that a command is given to leave Babylon the Great implies that there are a considerable number of Christians living in Babylon the Great, who need to be warned to leave. To the reader of the book of Revelation this may be surprising, given the fact that Babylon the Great is so thoroughly wicked and murders Christians (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2). However, the command to leave would make more sense if there is a large population of Christians in Babylon the Great before the mass arrests and executions of Christians begin. In the context of the tribulation period, the rapture will be a powerful testimony to the truth of Christianity, and may lead to the salvation of a considerable number of new converts immediately afterward. Those who are saved within Babylon the Great right after the rapture certainly would need to be informed that their country is about to be destroyed, and that they should flee for their lives immediately.

Another implication of the command to leave Babylon the Great is that Christians have the ability to leave Babylon the Great. Once again, this implies a window of opportunity between the time that Christians should realize their country is Babylon the Great and the time when they can no longer leave because they are in jail or on death row.

An interesting aspect of the command to leave is that it is open-ended. Revelation 18:4 does not give a specific moment to leave, nor does the text specify where Christians who leave should go (contrast Matt 24:15-16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20-21). In the context of imminent judgment early in the tribulation period, evangelists will likely warn new converts to leave immediately, and to go to some faraway place. However, with regard to the application of this command to believers living in Babylon the Great prior to the tribulation period, the indefiniteness of the command gives individual Christians some leeway as to when to leave and where to go. It is still a command which must not be put off in perpetuity, but different individuals have different circumstances which affect their ability to leave. That said, the day will come in which faithful Christians will be arrested and will not be allowed to leave the United States. Thus, it is not wise to plan to wait until the last possible moment to leave, especially since the complexity of international real estate and finance entails a long and complicated moving process for Americans who move overseas.

It is interesting that persecution is not mentioned in Revelation 18:4-5 as a reason to flee Babylon the Great. Persecution was also not mentioned as a major concern in the letter to the church at Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). Larger than the threat of the loss of one’s life is the threat of the loss of one’s soul—the overwhelming pressure to conform to the sinful, materialistic system of morality promulgated by Babylon the Great. It is no secret that while the church has been growing in some less developed parts of the world, the evangelical church in the United States has been in a long decline. Large numbers of young people who grew up in Christian homes have renounced Christianity, large numbers of Bible colleges and seminaries have closed, and many of the young people who are still in the church have a very weak commitment to the Word of God. There are no longer large numbers of new converts, and the churches that remain are growing ever-weaker in doctrine and practice. However, while the spiritual threat is the main one, it is connected to the pressures of persecution, and there will come a day when it will be difficult or impossible for faithful American Christians to emigrate from their country. Thus, the command to leave Babylon the Great does imply that it should be obeyed before persecution closes the door to emigration. As for new converts after the persecution starts, most will probably be able to leave the United States if they do so immediately after their conversion and can join supportive communities of Christians elsewhere in the world—although these communities must beware of frauds who will seek to harm them.

Revelation 18:5 begins with the word “for” (Gk ὅτι, hoti), which gives an explanation as to why the sins and plagues of Babylon the Great mentioned in verse 4 are such a great danger. By the time this oracle is spoken, Babylon the Great’s accumulated “sins have piled up to heaven,” metaphorically speaking (cf. Gen 18:21; 2 Chr 28:9; Ezra 9:6; Jer 51:9; Jonah 1:2; also Gen 15:16; Rev 14:18), and because of this “God has remembered her iniquities.” When God “remembers” Babylon the Great’s iniquities, this means He brings into view all of the wicked things she has done in order to pour out just judgment on her (cf. Pss 109:14; 137:7; Jer 14:10; Hos 8:13; 9:9). This is something that happens very early in the tribulation period, when the physical destruction of Babylon the Great is imminent. However, it happens again at the end of the tribulation period, when God judges all the nations of the world for participation in Babylon the Great’s sins (Rev 16:19). Thus, the warning that judgment will fall on Babylon the Great in the future for her extreme sinfulness is a reason to flee Babylon the Great well before her destruction, in order to avoid the moral and spiritual corruption to which nearly all who live in such a thoroughly wicked place will succumb.

What Christians should not do

It is a great tragedy that many pastors and other Christian leaders today speak prolifically about current events without ever relating them, or relating them properly, to Bible prophecy. Many seek to ignore prophecy altogether. When evangelical Bible scholars and pastors do speak about prophecy, all too often it is only to plant a twisted (spiritualized) view of prophecy in the minds of their hearers, and to denounce those who read Bible prophecy literally. Nevertheless, it is widely recognized that the United States is in the process of eliminating religious freedom and freedom of speech by means of imposing a radical homosexual agenda which attempts to force all institutions and individuals to actively support homosexuality. Christian leaders are reacting to this trend in a variety of ways, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

The worst reaction to the new Leftism among evangelical Christians has been to show sympathy with the Leftist agenda, and to join with the Leftist cause. A sizable minority of evangelicals actually voted for Joe Biden and rejoiced when he became president. These evangelicals are likely to comply with government regulations that will require the admission of homosexual students, homosexual church members, homosexual seminary professors, and so forth. Behaving in a way that is so obviously and openly contrary to both the Word of God and other Christians raises questions about the salvation of those in this group.

Probably the most common evangelical reaction to the progress of the Leftism in the United States is denial—a refusal to accept the fact that the Leftism will continue to tighten its grip over U.S. culture and politics until it has eliminated its Christian opponents. This group of evangelicals responded to the 2020 election results by saying, “We are just going to keep on doing the things we have always been doing! We will have faith, not fear!” The Christian leaders in this camp are releasing master plans for the long-term future of their ministries; they are investing huge sums of money in permanent physical infrastructure, with new building campaigns; and they are encouraging their donors to leave estate gifts in order to impact future generations for Christ. However, this reaction refuses to accept the clear signs—and, more importantly, the biblical prophecies—that the U.S. government will not allow churches and Christian institutions to continue to operate according to biblical standards for much longer. In other words, it will not be possible to “keep doing what we have always been doing,” because the government will not allow this in the future. This attitude also assumes that there are no significant problems with what the church has been doing, and refuses to self-evaluate in order to identify and own up to failures—especially the failure to pay proper attention to biblical prophecy, which is a symptom of the failure to pay proper attention to the Word of God.

A related reaction is the call for political and social activism in order to “protect our liberties” and “turn America back to God.” Evangelicals of this sort are “battling for America’s soul” on social media, in law courts, in politics, in schools, and on television. They are telling people that America is at a critical point right now, but if Christians just pour enough money and effort into the cause of defending freedom, the country can still be turned around. This reaction of course ignores political and societal realities, but, more importantly, it is accompanied by a mistaken view of biblical prophecy. By far the prevailing view of eschatology among Bible scholars and pastors today is that the end could come suddenly at any moment, that no one knows when this will happen or what events will precede it, and that there are no specific references in biblical prophecy to anything that is happening in the world today—the point of view that I have called “eschatological agnosticism.” This is the view of most Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Baptists, regardless of whether they may be amillennial or premillennial. Thus, all of these Christian leaders are completely in the dark with regard to how God is working His plan in the world today, what will happen, and how Christians ought to respond. In fact, they are vehemently opposed to attempts to understand what the Bible prophesies about events in the world today. They assume that it is possible for Bible-believing Christian institutions to continue to function normally in the United States, either because the rapture could happen before the government shuts down churches, or because the United States could be turned around spiritually and politically. While there is nothing sinful about engaging in legal political activism in an effort to protect Christian freedoms, Christian leaders ought to recognize that these efforts will ultimately prove futile, and that severe persecution of Christians in the United States will inevitably come, in accordance with the prophecies concerning Babylon the Great. Pouring money into politics and lawsuits is not the best stewardship of resources. The best course of action, in accordance with Revelation 18:4, is to peacefully leave the United States and seek refuge in countries where Christianity has better legal protections. This is something that Christian leaders have refused to consider, though the trends are clear even without understanding that the United States is Babylon the Great.

Yet another common way in which Christian leaders in America are reacting to government threats is to say, “They are just going to have to shut us down and put us in jail!” This attitude presents an either/or choice between yielding to antichristian government demands or going to jail, while ignoring the fact that a third option exists—moving to a friendlier country. The end result of this attitude will be a huge number of American Christians being needlessly jailed and, eventually, executed. All the financial investments that American Christians have made in their country will be forfeited, as the government takes over Christian institutions. American Christians have the resources to move both themselves and their institutions overseas, and there are many Christian communities in less economically developed countries that would love to have American-style institutions. It seems that some American Christians have a view of patriotism that requires them to die fighting for the U.S. Constitution and other political ideals, rather than abandoning their earthly citizenship out of love for their heavenly citizenship. Others are so comfortable with life in America that they would not consider leaving. Yet if Christian institutions are being shut down and Christians are being jailed, there will be no physical comfort for Christians in the United States, unless they sacrifice their souls.

A major problem underlying all of these misguided reactions is that most Christians have never heard prophecy explained clearly and correctly, and so they are completely unaware of what the Bible says about the United States. A related problem is that no Christian leader has even suggested making contingency plans to move overseas if the government announces its intention to close Christian institutions, and most individual Christians are currently unwilling or unable to leave on their own, without following a leader. If this situation continues, there is likely to be a chaotic, panicky, and uncoordinated exodus of evangelical Christians from the United States whenever large numbers of Christians begin to be arrested for their faith.

Conclusion

American Christians need to let go of the American Dream. America is no longer the place where they, their children, and their grandchildren can pursue their dreams of “the good life” that rewards honest work with economic and social advancement. This is because faithful Christians and churches will come under increasing pressure until they are outlawed and exterminated. While I believe in respecting authorities and obeying the law insofar as it does not require me to sin, there is a danger in holding such a fondness for America that prevents one from even thinking about moving to another country or abandoning the mainstream American way of life, like the fondness that Lot and his wife held for life in Sodom. In truth, the American Dream has always been a dubious pursuit from a spiritual perspective; Christians ought instead to live a life of service and sacrifice for the Lord. We need to remember that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20), and our call is to make disciples of Jesus throughout the whole world (Acts 1:8).

When should American Christians leave the United States, and where should they go? The answer to that question will be different for different people. But every American Christian should realize that he will not be able to continue to live freely in the United States for many decades to come. The exact date when the United States will begin to jail and execute large numbers of Christians is not in biblical prophecy, although it may coincide with the writing of a new constitution or the passage of the equal rights amendment, or with the loss of a key court case. For now, the persecution continues to build gradually. In any case, American Christians need to face the reality that their country is going to harm them sooner or later if they refuse to accept homosexuality. The prudent and biblical response is to make plans to move overseas. In the short term, there are still many countries in the world in which Christianity is fully legal, although Christians must be wary of the progress of the militant homosexual agenda in other countries as well. It is wise to prefer countries with conservative moral values over those with abundant wealth and physical comforts, and to be willing to live under a different political system than that of the United States. Also, there are some countries in which Christianity is not currently fully legal which may grant Christianity full legal protection in the future. Christians should be especially attentive to events in the Middle East, since that is where God’s program is focused at the end of the age.

There are many American Christians, both leaders and laymen, who believe they are in the process of losing their religious freedoms. They also realize that American culture is having a significant negative impact on the spiritual health of the church. The exodus of young people from the church has been well documented, as has the involvement of Christians in sin and the doctrinal weakening of the church due to cultural influences and pressures. The anti-Christian agenda of mainstream American institutions is also well known. In spite of all these things, nearly every Christian is planning to stay in the United States for the rest of his life. Virtually no one is making contingency plans to leave for a friendlier country or a better environment, and no leader or group is calling for an organized, coordinated exodus. Why not? It makes no sense. It is like a group of people standing on the beach waiting for a tsunami to come in. These people document in detail all the signs that the tsunami is coming, and they are filled with anxiety as they see it build, step by step. Yet people just keep discussing how bad it will be, and how much damage it may do. Some are frantically piling up stones to try to stop its advance. But no one is running to higher ground, which is the obvious solution.

Looking to the end of the age

The New Testament speaks repeatedly of the extreme difficulty believers will face in the end times, in the period leading up to the rapture of the church (2 Thess 2:3; 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Tim 3:1-9, 13; 4:3-4; 2 Pet 3:3-6; Jude 17-19; Rev 3:14-22). It calls this period “difficult times” (2 Tim 3:1)—strong language when considering all the persecutions and false teachings that have beset the church since its inception. The Bible expressly teaches that there will be a great, worldwide rebellion against God at the end of the present age (2 Thess 2:3), and that this rebellion will make inroads in the church as well as the world (2 Tim 4:3-4). The multitude of martyrs in Revelation 7:9-17 shows that the whole world is vehemently anti-Christian throughout the first half of the tribulation period, before the antichrist sets up his image in the temple. Surely the mass murder of Christians in the first half of the tribulation period does not come out of nowhere, but simply continues and strengthens a policy of severe persecution against Christians that was already in place throughout most of the world before the tribulation period (cf. Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2). The world’s rebellion against God culminates in the second half of the tribulation period with open worship of the antichrist and the devil by the entire unsaved world, with the death penalty imposed on those who refuse to comply (Rev 13:4, 8, 15-18). Most of the unbelieving world will repudiate the gospel in spite of many astonishing signs from heaven and even the preaching of angels. For these things to happen during the tribulation period, the world must first become incredibly hardened and spiritually deluded in the era leading up to the tribulation period.

It should be noted that these prophecies of a great worldwide rebellion could not be fulfilled if the United States, as the world’s wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential country, were to experience a genuine spiritual awakening at the end of the age. If the world as a whole will rebel against God at the end of the age, this rebellion must be led by the country which acts, more than any other, as the leader of the world—the United States of America. In fact, the United States will become so irremediably wicked, and will accrue so much guilt for its actions, that God will destroy it utterly at the beginning of the tribulation period, as the firstfruits of His destruction of all the nations of the world at the end of the tribulation period.

While there are clear indications that we are now living in the end times, it is also clear that the world has not yet matured to the state in which it is found at the beginning of the tribulation period. The mass murder of Christians in the United States and around the world is an example that has already been cited. Some other examples include: (1) there will be a ten-nation confederation in Europe, with the antichrist rising to power within it (Dan 7:7-8, 24; Rev 17:12). (2) There will be a temple in Jerusalem (Dan 9:27; 2 Thess 2:4). (3) Israel will be at peace with its neighbors and disarmed (Ezek 38:8, 11). (4) The nations of Asia will be capable of equipping an army of 200 million men (Rev 9:13-21). It was argued earlier in this study that Daniel 9:27 proves that there is no gap between the rapture and the start of the tribulation period. That verse also proves that the rapture will not come as a surprise, for it shows that the beginning of the final seven years of God’s program for Israel in this age is simultaneous with the inception of the seven-year treaty between the antichrist and the state of Israel—a treaty that will surely be negotiated and publicized before it is formally ratified.

If the rapture were to occur without warning today, it would be a chaotic disaster. Cars, trucks, and buses driven by Christians would suddenly veer out of control and cause great injury and loss of life. Planes piloted by Christians would plummet from the sky, plunging passengers to their deaths. Children and babies would be left alone, abandoned by their parents. Is this truly the way a merciful and gracious God would act? I think not. The Bible clearly indicates that the rapture marks the dividing line between the Church Age and the tribulation period, and that the tribulation period begins with the ratification of a seven-year treaty between the antichrist and the state of Israel (Dan 9:27). The Bible gives enough information about the antichrist for Christians to be able to identify him before the rapture, and Christians will be able to follow the progress of the peace negotiations between the antichrist and the state of Israel. Likely a date will be set for a signing ceremony when the treaty will come into effect, and Christians can prepare for the rapture to happen at that specific date and time. Many other details will come into clearer focus as end-time events continue to unfold.

Summary – the United States of America is Babylon the Great

The United States of America is no insignificant entity. It is the prime player in today’s world, which is the world of the end times. It can hardly be imagined that the United States could be passed over in prophecies of the tribulation period. Even as a passive actor, simply suffering destruction, the fall of the United States would not be a minor event, or one with only a minor effect on the world economy and the balance of power in the world. The Bible has much to say about Gentile nations, especially if they have something to do with prophetic history. It can hardly overlook the United States, the most powerful and prosperous nation in all of human history, and the dominant force in the modern world. American Christians who have been looking only to the Middle East to find events of prophetic significance have overlooked their own country. The United States differs in its greatness and scope of action from the great powers of the past; its power and luxury are on a different order of magnitude, both in terms of their advanced stage of development, and in their truly global reach. Never before has one nation been able to stamp its own image upon the whole world. Only in America’s sin is there a close kinship to world kingdoms of the past, though even in this the United States has managed to plunge lower depths of depravity, since many of its sins are made possible or are made much worse by its technology. The activities of the United States in the world are universal, deep-seated and wide-ranging, and they are laden with profound eschatological import. With its tangled tentacles extending into every sphere of life in every corner of the globe, the United States is shaping the world of the end times—politically, economically, culturally, and spiritually.

There is a principle stated in Daniel 12:8-10 that the referents of certain eschatological prophecies cannot be understood before the stage begins to be set for the fulfillment of those prophecies. Thus, while the identification of Babylon the Great should be obvious at the present time, it would have been impossible to make this identification before the United States became the dominant power in the world. Today, the identification of Babylon the Great is clear, due to the way in which the United States of America is aligning with Revelation 17–18. The main reason why this interpretation has not yet gained wide acceptance in the church is due to a commitment to eschatological agnosticism on the part of most Bible scholars and pastors. It is hoped that the arguments made in this treatise will help refocus the church’s attention on the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy.

My hand now scoops up Babylon,
Her walls and all that city fair,
Her jewels, arms, and heart of stone
I toss into the careless air.

She ruled, bent nations to her ire,
Nor hosts of slain could slake her lust,
Until a Vengeful Hand of fire
Gripped hard, reduced her to this dust.

I turn, struck numb with fear and shame:
Is it mere fancy that a Hand
Throttles with fingertips of flame
The towers of my own proud land?

—John Ackerson

Both the previous two posts and this one are part of a chapter in a commentary on the book of Revelation that I am writing. That chapter can be downloaded here. Support for this work is appreciated; visit my Buy me a coffee page or PayPal to make a donation.

The imminence of the rapture: does the Bible teach it?

23 Monday Aug 2021

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In my previous post, I presented arguments in favor of identifying the United States of America with the prophetic entity called “Babylon the Great” in Revelation 17:1–19:5. The foremost objection to this identification among pretribulationists is the theological position known as the doctrine of the imminence of the rapture, or “imminence” for short. The name for this doctrine is somewhat confusing, because whereas the English word “imminent” means “impending” or “about to happen,” the theological doctrine of imminence teaches that the rapture may or may not be about to happen. Essentially, it is an assertion that nothing specific or certain can be known about the development of God’s prophetic program before the rapture happens. Those who believe in imminence would object just as strongly to an assertion that the rapture will in fact happen in the near future as they would to an assertion that the rapture will not happen in the near future. In other words, the doctrine of imminence ironically rejects the assertion that the rapture is truly imminent.

According to the doctrine of imminence, it is never possible to know before the rapture whether one is living in the end times, because that would imply that one could have at least a general idea of when the rapture will occur. Adherents of the doctrine of imminence reject, for example, assertions that the modern state of Israel has prophetic significance, and that the digitization of currency has prophetic significance. With regard to Babylon the Great, some might say that the United States could be Babylon the Great if the rapture were to occur soon; however, it is impossible to know for sure, since the rapture could occur thousands of years in the future.

Thus, the problem raised by the doctrine of imminence is not just whether Babylon the Great is to be identified with the United States, but whether any prophetic entity or event may be identified with a contemporary entity or event. This objection has nothing to do with the exegesis of Revelation 17–18, but rather concerns the exegesis of texts throughout the New Testament and the implications of a theological system. In the discussion which follows here, it will be shown that there are serious exegetical and theological problems with the doctrine of imminence, and that this doctrine should be rejected by pretribulationists.

Texts purported to teach imminence

Space will permit only a brief survey of the texts held by some to teach imminence. One category of such texts are those which state directly that Christ will come as a thief in the night, or that no man knows the day or the hour. Such statements are found in Matt 24:36, 42, 44, 50; 25:13; Mark 13:32-33, 35; Luke 12:40, 46; Acts 1:7; 2 Pet 3:10; 1 Thess 5:1-3; Rev 16:15. An exegetical analysis of these texts reveals that each is speaking of the second coming, and they are saying that Christ’s return in glory to judge the world and establish His kingdom will happen at a time when no one is expecting it to happen; therefore, professing believers living in the second half of the tribulation period must always be ready. Warnings regarding the second coming have the tone of, “Watch out, or you will perish!” (Matt 24:37–25:30; Mark 13:33-37; Luke 12:35-48; 21:34-36; 1 Thess 5:1-3; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 16:15). Such a tone would not suit a passage describing the rapture, since Christ will not destroy the unbelieving world when He comes for the church—unbelievers will still be able to repent afterward. Thus, Christians are not commanded to be on the alert for the rapture. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:10 states that all Christians will be safely raised at the rapture, regardless of spiritual lethargy or watchfulness. Christians are to live righteously, of course, but for other reasons.

A second category of texts includes Romans 13:12 (“the day has drawn near”), James 5:8 (“the coming of the Lord has drawn near”), James 5:9 (“the Judge stands before the doors”), and 1 Peter 4:7 (“the end of all things has drawn near”). An analysis of the terms used (“the day,” “the end of all things”) and the context (judgment) shows that these verses refer to the second advent, not to the rapture. Regardless, a statement of imminence would have to be worded like the group of verses cited in the previous paragraph, e.g., “You cannot know when the Lord will return” or “The Lord’s coming will take you by surprise.” The “coming of the Lord has drawn near” group of passages are to be interpreted in the same way as parallel passages in the Gospels. When John and Jesus said, “the kingdom has drawn near,” they meant that the offer of the kingdom has drawn near, not that the kingdom would in fact be established immediately (Matt 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Mark 1:15; cf. Luke 19:11). This has been true throughout the Church Age, since any generation of Jews that accepts Jesus as the Messiah will see the second coming (cf. Acts 3:19; Rom 11:25).

Other passages that are cited as “proof” of imminence do not directly state the doctrine and need not be read to imply it. Some of these passages refer to the second advent, since entering the kingdom is viewed in the New Testament as the goal of all believers. For example, “the appearing of the glory of . . . Jesus Christ” (Tit 2:13; cf. Matt 24:30; 2 Tim 4:1) cannot refer to the rapture; and there are many events in our own lives that we eagerly anticipate even while knowing that those events cannot occur immediately (cf. 1 Cor 1:7; 2 Pet 3:12). With regard to some other passages, serious problems would be created if they were read as statements of imminence. For example, if it is argued that Paul used the pronoun “we” in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 (“we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord”) because he believed the rapture would occur in his lifetime, he was simply wrong, and the Scripture is in error. If, on the other hand, the statement “we who are alive” is read simply as a generic reference to the living, there is no problem; but if read over-literally, it would be an assertion that both Paul and the Thessalonian believers will in fact be alive when the Lord returns, when in fact they all died nearly two thousand years ago.

Exegetical problems with imminence

A major exegetical problem for the doctrine of imminence is that the New Testament contains many prophecies, and the rapture could not have occurred before those prophecies were fulfilled. Some examples are the revelation that Paul would have a great ministry in Corinth (Acts 18:9-11); Agabus’ prophecy of a famine (Acts 11:28); the various prophecies that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem (Acts 20:22-23; 21:11); and the prophecy that Paul would go to Rome and stand before Caesar (Acts 23:11). Peter was told that he would die when he was old—implying that the rapture could not occur before his martyrdom (John 21:18-19; 2 Pet 1:14). Paul, too, knew that he had to die and was also told of other things that he had to do and suffer (2 Tim 4:6-7; cf. Acts 9:15-16; 16:9-10; 22:21; 1 Cor 4:9; Phil 1:20-26). So how could Paul (supposedly) write in his epistles that the rapture was imminent, if he knew it was not? Walvoord suggested that Paul had not yet been told of his death when he wrote and had not heard the prophecy of Peter’s death, so that as far as he knew, the rapture could occur at any time (John F. Walvoord, The Rapture Question [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979], 202.) This explanation, like all other claims that the apostles told believers that the rapture could happen at any time, is problematic under the doctrine of inspiration. The Bible is the Word of God, not the word of man, and, as such, contains no errors. If the Holy Spirit allowed Paul to write an uninformed opinion on this issue—and to present it not as his own opinion, but as biblical truth—how could we know that he did not make other mistakes as well? The Holy Spirit knew that the rapture was not imminent in the first century; He knew and knows when the rapture will occur, and therefore He could not have said that He expected the rapture to occur in the first century, for He cannot lie (Tit 1:2; Heb 6:18).

In addition to the prophecies about Paul and Peter and others, many specific prophecies were also given to the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia in Revelation 2–3, and it is evident from what is written to these churches that the rapture could not happen for some time after the date of writing. Most of the passages which are supposed to prove the imminence of the rapture were written before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, and the destruction of Jerusalem was prophesied in Daniel 9:26 to occur before the coming of the antichrist. The destruction of Jerusalem was also prophesied by Jesus (Matt 22:7; 24:2; Luke 19:43-44). Even the Old Testament prophesied that Jerusalem would exist as a Jewish population center throughout the tribulation period (Zech 12; 14:2), so the prophecies of Jerusalem’s destruction also imply that Jerusalem would be rebuilt and reoccupied by the Jews before the tribulation period. Daniel 9:27 explicitly requires the existence of a Jewish state in Israel and a Jewish temple in Jerusalem at the start of the tribulation period, following the destruction of Jerusalem after the rejection of the Messiah (Dan 9:26). All of the New Testament books from Matthew to 2 Peter were written before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. With so many prophecies of Jerusalem’s destruction, including the prophecies by Jesus, surely the apostles would not have been so ignorant as to think that the rapture could occur before that event, nor would the Holy Spirit have allowed them to say so.

Jesus himself indicated that He would not return immediately after His ascension. In Acts 1:8, He told His disciples, “you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” He also said, “Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt 28:18-20; cf. Luke 24:47). Although the Great Commission does not end with the rapture (cf. Matt 28:20, “even until the end of the world”), it was obviously directed first to the church and therefore could not have been obeyed had the rapture occurred shortly after Pentecost, for it would take time to evangelize the whole world (cf. Matt 13:37-39; Acts 2:39). Indeed, the entire point of the parables Jesus spoke in Matthew 13 is that there will be a considerable gap of time between the offer of the messianic kingdom at the first advent and the coming of the kingdom at the second advent. During this interim period, the membership of the kingdom is being formed as the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed. These parables are designed to address a question that would have arisen after the previous chapter (Matthew 12), namely, what happens to God’s kingdom program when the Messiah is rejected? The answer is that the kingdom will still come, but not immediately. In the parable of the mustard seed (Matt 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32), the image of the great tree with birds nesting in it shows that the church will become global, and that the age will not end until it has reached a point of maturity. The parable of the wheat and the tares, the parable of the seed which grows and ripens, and the parable the leaven also show that the age will not end until it has come to maturity (Matt 13:24-43; Mark 4:26-29; cf. Luke 13:18-29, which is in the context of the salvation of the nations). These all imply a significant interim period. The parable of the nobleman who goes on a long journey (Luke 19:11-27) teaches the same thing, and Luke says Jesus told that parable because the disciples “supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately” (Luke 19:11). The parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price show that it will cost you everything in this life to gain the kingdom, again implying that the kingdom is not immediate (Matt 13:44-46; cf. Mark 8:34-38). Jesus’ statement, “And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world” (Matt 28:20) also suggests that the world would not end for some time to come. Jesus’ final instructions to the disciples before His death in Luke 22:35-37 are to prepare for opposition and a long journey.

In the Gospels, even the demons expressed knowledge that the time of their final punishment was not yet at hand (Matt 8:29), and Revelation 12:12 says Satan will know when his time is short. In Philippians 1:20-26, Paul discusses his struggle between death and life, which one he would prefer. He says, “I am torn between the two” (Phil 1:23) that is, between death and life. He does not mention a third option, for Paul apparently did not consider it possible that he could be raptured at the moment he was writing. Paul also says the apostles are “as men doomed to death” (1 Cor 4:9), not mentioning the rapture (remember that John 21:22-23 does not say that John would not die). In Revelation 2:10, Christ commands the church in Smyrna to be “faithful unto death,” implying that they would not be taken to heaven alive in the rapture. The popular phrase “if the Lord tarries” is not found in the New Testament, while the phrase “if the Lord wills” occurs several times (Acts 18:21; 1 Cor 4:19; 16:7; Heb 6:3; James 4:15). In John 21:22, Jesus says, “If I want him to tarry until I come, what is that to you?” This shows that Jesus would not be coming immediately: it is John who has to tarry if he is to have a possibility of being raptured.

Besides the prophecies already noted which directly predict specific events during the Church Age, there are also numerous prophecies which describe the world of the tribulation period in terms that were incapable of fulfillment before modern times, proving that the rapture could not have been imminent throughout church history. In many cases, these prophecies show that the world still today has not yet matured to the state in which it is found at the beginning of the tribulation period, though it is getting closer.  (For more details, see this post.) For example, when John wrote the book of Revelation, there were approximately 250 million people in the entire world, yet he describes a fully mechanized army of 200 million in Revelation 9:16-19. Even during World War II, there were never more than 50 million men in uniform in all the armed forces of the world combined. Today the manpower for an army of 200 million is available in Asia, but the Asian countries do not possess the vast quantity of tanks and other equipment necessary to arm such a force. Thus, the sixth trumpet judgment of Revelation 9:13-21 was incapable of fulfillment before the global population boom of modern times, and even today the nations of Asia are not capable of equipping an army of 200 million men.

Prophecies of the tribulation period also include clear indications of an instantaneous global communications system, which did not exist until very recently. For example, how could people everywhere on the earth immediately hear the news of the deaths of the two witnesses and look at their dead bodies lying on the street, if not through modern digital communications (Rev 11:9-10)? A global communications system that includes a system of electronic financial transactions is also indicated by prophecies of the worldwide implementation of the mark of the beast, without which no one can buy or sell (Rev 13:16-18). Although the technology for such a system exists today, there are still many underdeveloped parts of the world that currently lack the infrastructure to require all financial transactions to be processed electronically, and there are currently many different electronic payment systems and currencies.

Significantly for the present article, the prophecy of a single entity, Babylon the Great, making all the nations of the world wealthy and corrupting them all with its value system demands the existence of a highly developed system of global exchange that has only recently come into being, by means of modern modes of transportation and communication.

Some pretribulationists posit a gap of indeterminate length between the rapture and the tribulation period in an attempt to avoid the problem of the world not currently being in the state in which it is found at the start of the tribulation period. However, according to Daniel 9:24-27, the prophetic clock of God’s timetable for Israel stopped when the Jewish people refused to accept Christ as their King, crucifying Him instead. The church is a parenthesis in God’s program for Israel, a non-national people of God that will move the nation of Israel to jealousy and repentance (Rom 11:11). The prophetic clock starts ticking again when the church is removed from the earth at the rapture, and the nation of Israel resumes its role as the principal people of God on earth (cf. Rom 11:25-27). Daniel 9:27 reveals that God’s program for Israel takes seven years to finish before the complete fulfillment of the promises to the nation of Israel in the messianic kingdom. In other words, when the church is removed, its role is immediately restored to Israel—there is no other candidate to replace the church in God’s program—and there are only seven years left in God’s program for Israel before the promise of the messianic kingdom is fulfilled. Thus, there is no gap between the rapture and the start of the tribulation period.

Theological problems with imminence

The doctrine of imminence is a crucial issue because it determines a whole system of interpretation of prophetic passages. Specifically, imminence dictates a sort of eschatological “agnosticism” (for lack of a better term), i.e., an eschatological non-knowing. The teaching that we cannot know when the rapture will occur results in an insistence upon interpreting prophecy vaguely enough so as to make the return of Christ at any moment theoretically possible. Imminence cannot accept any interpretation which would imply that certain events must yet happen before the rapture. But imminence also asserts that the return of Christ could be hundreds or thousands of years away, meaning that interpretations which apply prophecy specifically to the current world situation cannot be put forward with dogmatism. Nor is there any need to know these details if they will not affect the lives of believers during the Church Age. Thus, imminence sets a method of interpretation which results in broad agreement on some general doctrines of eschatology, but which cannot hope to explain any of the specifics or details, since these would necessarily be restricted to a certain period of time; imminence cannot even allow for positive identification of prophesied events, countries, and persons prior to the rapture. This is a serious problem, because prophetic passages are quite clearly specific and detailed; they contain numerous references to specific places, persons, conditions, regions, and countries in the world of the end times—above all, Israel. In order to maintain the position that the rapture could happen at any moment, some prophetic passages must be interpreted in a figurative or idealized manner in order to allow for a range of interpretations; or, the reality of the current world situation must itself be twisted, with pastors and popular writers alike claiming that the everything is now in place for the tribulation to begin, only to be proved wrong again and again.

The generalized nature of an imminence-based eschatology has contributed much to the state of mass confusion in evangelical eschatology. Since few details are inherent in this eschatological system, interpretations of the details cannot be standardized and interlocked among prophetic passages, or even made coherent. Those within this system are free to develop their own views of the details, drawing upon sundry evangelical authors, popular entertainment, conjecture, or almost anything else, to form their own opinions. Often interpreters blend various things they have heard. They are able to do this because there is nothing about an imminence-based eschatology which constrains or discourages them from holding widely divergent views on specific prophetic passages. This problem is not limited to laymen: scholars who put forth imminence-based interpretations are also unable to agree on the details. In fact, the lack of order in popular eschatology and the numerous varieties of views are chiefly characteristic of premillennial dispensationalism. Something is wrong. The state of confusion in premillennialism is a direct result of its failure to understand the rapture properly. This is indicated by the fact that many of the disputes within premillennialism are about the rapture, and new theories about the rapture continue to be put forward by premillennialists.

Because imminence results in an unclear and uncertain interpretation of prophecy, the doctrine of imminence is foreign to premillennialism. Clarity and certainty on prophetic issues is central to the premillennial outlook. Imminence hinders these aims, for it mandates a figurative or generalized interpretation of certain passages when the literal interpretation would be too specific or problematic for the doctrine of imminence—a method that is at odds with the literal hermeneutic. Unlike parables, which are intended only as illustrations of a principle, each detail of a prophetic vision carries a literal significance. In fact, the language of prophecy is the most precise in all the Bible. Consider how every prophecy that has been fulfilled has been fulfilled literally and in every specific detail (e.g., Dan 2:31-33, 36-40; 7:1-7, 17; 11:2-35). There is absolutely no indication that eschatological prophecies were meant only to communicate generic truths, so that they could fit any of many possible world situations. Prophecies have specific referents, and they are meant to be specific enough so that they will fit one, and only one, recognizable fulfillment. Only pagan oracles were designed to fit a broad spectrum of outcomes, since the pagan prophets did not know what would happen in the future. If biblical prophecy really is not precise enough and detailed enough to allow the positive identification of its referents before all is fulfilled, then it may well be questioned whether biblical prophecy is prophecy at all, for apparently it has no specific content and could just as easily describe any of a large number of possible outcomes, with no way to verify its accuracy. But if prophecy is prophecy, then the claim made by imminence that prophetic referents cannot be identified in the last days is a denial of the perspicuity of Scripture, since it claims that the descriptions of eschatological entities in prophecy are so vague that they could plausibly be applied to any world situation at any time throughout the entire Church Age.

The Bible does not teach that believers will not be able to recognize the end times when they come. In fact, the detail of biblical prophecy suggests exactly the opposite. A clear indication that we are living in the end times is that Israel is regathered and established in the land, and has now been self-governing for nearly 75 years and in full possession of Jerusalem since 1967. The modern state of Israel, with Satan’s vehement opposition to it and God’s unmistakable establishment of it in the face of Satan’s attacks, shows that God’s program is driving towards a conclusion in our time. Nevertheless, because of the doctrine of imminence, dispensationalism, which has developed a coherent theology of Israel past and Israel future, struggles to understand Israel present. Imminence cannot even allow for the possibility that there could be prophecies of Israel’s pretribulational restoration to the land. Many pretribulationists claim on the basis of imminence that the modern state of Israel may not have any prophetic significance whatsoever—it could be destroyed, and the nation could be scattered and regathered again prior to the tribulation period. This is then sometimes used as justification for political opposition or indifference to the state of Israel. Thus, those who hold to imminence can never present a cogent perspective on what God is doing in our time, and their failure has serious practical ramifications due to the profound eschatological significance of contemporary events. Imminence denies that the direction of history in the present day is knowable, or even that there is a biblical framework for understanding the modern state of Israel. Yet one of the major reasons why God gave prophecy is so that believers who are living in the end times would know what is going on in the world and what will happen next, and can plan accordingly (cf. Dan 12:8-10; Rev 22:10).

Conclusion

In some minds, it will be wholly legitimate to dismiss all the exegetical evidence for the identification of the United States with Babylon the Great, and to dismiss all the exegetical problems with alternative views of Babylon the Great, on the basis of the doctrine of imminence. This objection essentially says, “That view cannot be right because it contradicts my theology.” However, a better approach is to say, “Part of my theology cannot be right, because it does not fit the Bible.” Imminence is a carryover from amillennialism, in which there is no clearly defined endgame—Jesus returns arbitrarily at some point in history, without any particular event to prompt His return. Imminence is also based, in part, on the failure to distinguish clearly enough between the rapture and the second coming, resulting in the misidentification of many passages which refer to the second coming as rapture passages.

Imminence has handcuffed pretribulational interpreters, resulting in an eschatological agnosticism. Speculation runs rampant, because no one can know for sure what will happen next, and no one can positively identify any prophetic entity. But such a view cannot give a coherent account of Revelation 17–18. The description of Babylon the Great is far too specific to not be able to identify the entity described—the greatest superpower in the history of the world—before the start of the tribulation period. Attempts to preserve the doctrine of imminence by interpreting Babylon the Great as a false religious system (Revelation 17) and the antichrist’s empire (Revelation 18) are impossible on a literal reading of the book of Revelation.

Those who say that there could be a great worldwide revival or population loss or economic depression, or that Israel could be dispersed again in the Church Age, and that the rapture might not happen for two thousand more years, fail to understand the direction of history. History is not cyclical, endlessly repeating events without meaning; rather, the world is heading toward a goal, in accordance with God’s sovereign plan. Further, the world of today (Israel in the land, a great superpower corrupting the world and making all the nations wealthy, an alliance uniting all of Europe, digital currency, etc.) matches the description of the world of the end times in biblical prophecy far too precisely to doubt the conclusion that we are in fact living in the eschaton.

Some people mock those who recognize the fulfillment of biblical prophecy in their own time, pointing out that all such claimed fulfillments in church history proved to be wrong. Of course all attempts before modern times to match eschatological prophecy with the interpreter’s own time were a miserable failure, for the last days had not yet arrived. Yet when those attempted identifications are examined, it is obvious that they are all very stretched, and in no way does the prophecy literally resemble the purported fulfillment. It is not fair, therefore, to say that someone who correlates prophetic entities with entities in the world today is doing exactly the same thing as failed interpreters of prophecy from generations gone by. In fact, it stands to reason that as the tribulation period draws near, entities described in prophecy will come into existence in the world. I would argue that at any point in the history of the church, the best way to try to understand eschatological prophecy is to compare the current state of the world with the state of the world in the tribulation period in order to see if the tribulation period is near. If one is not living close in time to the tribulation period, then it will not be possible to make positive identifications of prophetic entities. The history of the interpretation of biblical prophecy proves that prophecy cannot be understood unless it is contextualized in the world in which the fulfillment will occur. Yet imminence denies the very possibility of contextualization. Interpreters who hold to imminence and who interpret prophecy in a manner consistent with that doctrine can only suggest generalized and very uncertain eschatological interpretations, resulting in confusion and speculation, due to the assertion that biblical prophecy cannot be related with certainty to the world in which we live.

On the other hand, some Bible teachers try to artificially make the Bible fit the current state of affairs in the world in order to make it sound as if the rapture could occur today and the tribulation could begin immediately, with the world stage already fully set. Indeed, virtually all premillennialists who have rejected the aspect of the doctrine of imminence which claims that nothing can be known about the timing of the rapture before it happens, nevertheless hold that the rapture could occur at any moment, and distort both prophecy and contemporary political events to make this seem possible. The argument of this essay is that both the view that the rapture could occur today, as well as the view that the rapture could occur thousands of years from now, must be rejected. Although the present world is to be identified with the world of the end times, it is clear that a number of changes must still occur in the world prior to the start of the tribulation period. These are not changes that can occur instantaneously, but are rather things that will require an extended period of time to unfold. Predicting such changes is not artificially fitting the Bible into the current geopolitical situation, since I am arguing that the final state of the age has not yet been reached. Further, these predictions would seem highly implausible and speculative apart from the prophetic Word. Consider the following: (1) The United States will lead the world in the mass murder of evangelical, Bible-believing Christians (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2). (2) The whole world will use a single digital currency and/or electronic payment system, which will be controlled by the United States (Zech 5:5-11; cf. Rev 13:16-17; 17:18). (3) Israel will achieve full peace with the Arab world and will voluntarily disarm (Ezek 38:8, 11-12). (4) Forty or so nations in Europe will be consolidated into a confederation of ten (Dan 7:7-8, 23-24). (5) A Jewish temple will be built in Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock now stands (Dan 9:27; 2 Thess 2:4). (6) There will be fully mechanized armies in East, South, and Southeast Asia with a combined strength of two hundred million men (Rev 9:13-21). These six very specific predictions can hardly be described as fitting the Bible into the current state of world affairs or as following conventional wisdom. But conventional wisdom is seldom an accurate guide to the future, for the course of history turns on radical and unusual developments—often stemming from apparently minor causes—that conventional wisdom can never foresee. Conventional wisdom only sees current trends and current knowledge, and cannot foresee the forces that will interject change into history. Scripture, on the other hand, has given believers a description of the key entities in the world of the end times, so that we can understand the direction of events in the present time, as eschatological events begin to unfold. The rejection of the doctrine of imminence is necessary to understand the eschatological significance of present events.

Both the previous post and this one are part of a chapter in a commentary on the book of Revelation that I am writing. That chapter can be downloaded here. Support for this work is appreciated; donations can be made via Buy me a coffee or PayPal.