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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 Asia Minor 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; see the About page to make a donation.

The case for identifying Babylon the Great with the United States of America

29 Thursday Jul 2021

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The book of Revelation gives more attention to an entity called “Babylon the Great” than to any other single subject, with more than two chapters (17:1–19:5) dedicated to a discussion of this entity. As it is presented in this section, Babylon the Great is clearly the most significant player in the world of the end times. As such, its identification ought to be obvious to anyone living in the end times. However, at present pretribulational dispensationalists are badly divided as to the interpretation of these chapters, and commentators who do not follow a strictly futuristic view of Revelation 4–22 add even more interpretations to the mix. The lack of consensus on the identification of a prophetic entity that ought to be plainly evident indicates that none of the prevailing views does justice to the text of the book of Revelation, resulting in a state of confusion.

This article will argue that Babylon the Great is the United States of America, and that this identification is definitive and excludes all other possibilities. What follows below is a summary of a much longer and more detailed argument regarding the identity of Babylon the Great, available for free download here. This article is part of a commentary I am writing on the book of Revelation. Support for this work is appreciated; see the About page to make a donation, or leave a comment on this post. (Comments are not posted publicly unless I approve them, so please specify in the comment if you intend it as a private message.) The pdf article will be expanded when my next two blog articles are posted, on the imminence of the rapture and on practical applications of the identification of Babylon the Great with the United States.

The Unity of Revelation 17 and 18

Traditionally, most (not all) pretribulationist interpreters have differentiated the Babylon the Great of Revelation 17 from the Babylon the Great in Revelation 18, arguing that Revelation 17 speaks of an apostate church symbolically as a harlot, and that Revelation 18 describes a literal city. However, an analysis of Revelation 17–18 shows that both chapters refer to the same entity, and that this is a political entity, not an apostate church.

First, Revelation 17:18 directly states that the harlot of Revelation 17 is the great city (more accurately, the great “polis,” or state) of Revelation 18: “And the woman whom you saw is the great state, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:18 clearly establishes that the harlot is a political entity, not a religious one. Babylon the Great is a world hegemon, a superpower that dominates world politics, economics, and culture in the last days.

On the other hand, there is no direct statement of any kind in Revelation 17:1–19:5 to the effect that the harlot is an apostate church or other ecclesiastical entity, rather than a political entity with ungodly spiritual values and practices. Revelation 17 does not even mention a false religion or system of worship of any kind, such as idolatry and occultism (contrast Rev 9:20) or heretical teaching (contrast Rev 2:14-15). There is a remarkable lack of references to a religion of any kind in Revelation 17:1–19:5. The major argument that Revelation 17 describes a worldwide church is that this is an implication of the term “fornication” and the figure of a harlot. However, a study of references in Scripture to committing fornication in a figurative sense shows that this figure is used of a nation (Ezek 16:26; Jer 2:20; Mic 1:7) and individuals (Jer 5:7; Matt 12:39), but nowhere in Scripture is a false religion or apostate church said to commit fornication. Likewise, while individuals are sometimes said to figuratively “play the harlot” (Exod 34:15-16) or to be “adulterers” (Isa 57:3; Jer 9:2; Heb 12:16; James 4:4), and the figure of a harlot may be applied to nations or cities, it is never applied to a false church or religion. The harlot image is used of Jerusalem (Isa 1:21; Ezek 16), of Israel and Judah (Jer 3:1-10; Ezek 23; Hos 2:1-13), of Tyre (Isa 23:15-18), and of Nineveh (Nah 3:4). The latter two uses show that harlotry can refer to commercial intercourse and the transmission of the materialistic value system which accompanies it, as well as to a powerful country that lures other countries to itself and then takes their money.

The main difference between the Revelation 17 and Revelation 18 is this: Revelation 17 portrays Babylon the Great and its fall by means of heavenly signs and symbols, whereas Revelation 18 portrays the impact of Babylon the Great’s fall on the earth in a largely non-symbolic fashion.

The Name “Babylon the Great”

Traditionally pretribulationists have held one of two major views of the identity of the political Babylon the Great, which all acknowledge is described at least in Revelation 18. These are the proposals that Babylon the Great is Rome and that it is old city of Babylon in Iraq. The identification of Babylon the Great as Rome was originally developed by Protestant Reformers who saw the Roman Catholic Church as the primary source of evil in the world; now, its major proponents are critical (liberal) scholars and other preterists who believe that John was describing the politics of his own day, rather than prophesying. If one believes that John was prophesying of an eschatological entity, and that the Roman Catholic Church is not the primary source of evil in the world, then there is virtually no basis whatsoever for the identification of Babylon the Great with Rome; thus, few pretribulational dispensationalists now hold this view. The view that Babylon the Great is the city of Babylon in Iraq is more widely held by pretribulational writers. This view is based almost exclusively on the use of the name “Babylon.” However, the assertion that this name must refer to a rebuilt city of Babylon in Iraq falls apart quickly upon analysis.

First, it is striking that in Revelation 17:5, John says the name of the harlot is a “mystery,” even though he reads it plainly. That verse is best translated, “and upon her forehead a name written, a mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” Although some translations attempt to alleviate this difficulty by making the word μυστήριον, mystērion (“mystery”) the beginning of the harlot’s name, this is an extremely improbable interpretation. Babylon the Great is never called “Mystery” elsewhere, as would be expected if this word were part of its name. The only other occurrence of μυστήριον, mystērion in Revelation 17:1–19:5 is in 17:7, in which the angel tells John that he will reveal “the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her.” Thus, it is the woman’s identity that is a mystery; mystery is not part of her character, as if she represents a mystery religion (i.e., a religion with occultic secrets).

If Babylon the Great were a reference to the rebuilt city of Babylon in Iraq, its name would be no mystery. Even if it were a reference to Rome, the name would not be especially mysterious, since Rome was the great world power of John’s day, and Peter even refers to Rome as “Babylon” in 1 Peter 5:13. Instead, Revelation 17:5 indicates that the name refers to some future entity whose identity was entirely unknown in AD 96, which was therefore represented symbolically—as with other eschatological entities in the book of Revelation. The characterization of the name “Babylon the Great” as a mystery shows that it is consistent with the literal hermeneutic to understand the name as referring to something other than a rebuilt city of Babylon in Iraq.

Virtually all writers refer to Babylon the Great as “Babylon,” which tends to leave the impression that Babylon the Great is the old city of Babylon, rebuilt. However, an examination of the occurrences of this name in Revelation reveals that John never follows this practice. The book of Revelation calls this entity “Babylon the Great,” “the great city, Babylon,” and “Babylon, the great city,” but never “Babylon” absolutely, alone and without modifiers (Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21). Four times, it is simply called “the great city,” without the use of the name “Babylon” (Rev 17:18; 18:16, 18-19). Conversely, in the Old Testament, Babylon is only called “great Babylon” (= “Babylon the Great”) once, in Daniel 4:30, and there in a speech by a pagan king. It is never called “the great city, Babylon,” “Babylon, the great city,” or even “the great city.” If a rebuilt city of Babylon were in view in Revelation, it ought to be called “Babylon” without modifiers at least once, if for no other reason than to make it clear that Babylon the Great is indeed the old city of Babylon, rebuilt. Instead, the consistent use of the descriptive adjective “great” accompanied by the definite article indicates that a different entity is in view in the book of Revelation. Following the biblical terminology, this article always uses “Babylon the Great” for the eschatological entity in Revelation 17:1–19:5.

The primary reason that the book of Revelation calls the harlot “Babylon the Great” is that she represents an entity that did not exist and was wholly unknown at the time the book was penned. Hence, the Revelator chose to use a metaphor and state that the real name was a mystery (Rev 17:5). Similar naming conventions are used in the Bible for other future entities: Russia is called “Gog,” and many of the modern countries mentioned with it in Ezekiel 38:1-6 are called by other now-defunct names. The antichrist’s ten-nation confederation is represented by the Roman Empire (Dan 2:40-43; 7:23-24). The name of Antiochus IV was not given in his descriptions in Daniel 8 and 11. The name of the antichrist is never given, only the number of his name (Rev 13:18). But even though none of those names is given, there has been and will be no doubt as to the identification of these persons or nations when they come, for the Bible gives identifying information that is far more specific than a name. The name “Babylon the Great” was chosen, rather than some other name, to show that the entity it represents is the pinnacle of the glory, wealth, power, and wickedness of the kingdoms of man.

Babylon the Great is not Destroyed at the End of the Tribulation Period

It is commonly held that Babylon the Great is destroyed at the end of the tribulation period, either at or just prior to the second coming of Christ, due to the placement of Revelation 17:1–19:5 in the narrative and the mention of Babylon the Great in the description of the seventh bowl (Rev 16:19). If this view is correct, then Babylon the Great would have to stand for the antichrist’s kingdom or base of power, since the antichrist dominates the world economic system throughout the second half of the tribulation period (Rev 13:16-17) and is the most powerful ruler on earth (Rev 13:7). On the other hand, if Babylon the Great is destroyed at any time before the second coming, and especially if it is destroyed before the midpoint of the tribulation period, it could not be identified with the antichrist’s kingdom, since the antichrist remains in power until Armageddon (cf. Rev 13:5-7). Babylon the Great must refer to some other entity that is even more powerful than the antichrist’s kingdom at the start of the tribulation period. The destruction of this entity is therefore necessary to facilitate the antichrist’s rise to power. A number of reasons will be presented in favor of the latter position.

In Revelation 14:8, which is the first verse to mention Babylon the Great in the book of Revelation, an angel proclaims “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, which has given all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of its sexual immorality.” The two verbs ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν, epesen epesen (fallen, fallen) are in the aorist tense, which is typically used to indicate past action. Within the narrative context of the book of Revelation, this proclamation is issued at the midpoint of the tribulation period. Even if one does not accept that the book of Revelation is organized chronologically, it should be noted that the sequence of angelic announcements in Revelation 14:6-11 is very specific. The angel who warns against receiving the mark of the beast is said to have “followed” the angel who proclaimed the fall of Babylon the Great in the past (Rev 14:9). The mark of the beast is implemented after the midpoint of the tribulation period, which marks the time of these angelic announcements as the midpoint. Thus, Revelation 14:8 is a clear statement of the fall of Babylon the Great before the midpoint of the tribulation period.

According to Revelation 17:16-17, Babylon the Great is destroyed by the antichrist and the ten kings in the European alliance that comprise his base of power (cf. Dan 2:42; 7:7-8, 24; Rev 13:1). Prior to this time, Babylon the Great has dominated world politics and has controlled the world economy. Since Revelation 13:3-7 presents the antichrist’s kingdom as the dominant world power during the second half of the tribulation period, and Revelation 13:16-17 shows that he controls the world economic system throughout the second half of the tribulation period, Babylon the Great must be destroyed before the midpoint of the tribulation period. Certainly the fact that Babylon the Great is destroyed by the antichrist’s militaries, rather than directly from heaven, argues strongly for its fall occurring before the second advent.

If Babylon the Great is destroyed before the midpoint of the tribulation period, this raises the question of how this momentous event is related to the judgments of the first half the tribulation, namely, the seal judgments and the first six trumpet judgments. While the seal judgments do not directly mention Babylon the Great, there are many textual indications that Babylon the Great is destroyed early in the tribulation period, as a major part of the first four seal judgments. The first seal judgment pictures the antichrist conquering through war (Rev 6:1-2), and it is entirely in accord with Revelation 17 to understand this to signify his destruction of Babylon the Great.

While Babylon the Great is mentioned in the narrative of the seventh bowl judgment (Rev 16:19), that verse does not state that Babylon the Great itself is destroyed with the cities of the nations after the seventh bowl is poured out, but rather that Babylon the Great called to remembrance before God, for the purpose of finishing God’s wrath against her. To use the terminology of the book of Revelation, Babylon the Great caused all the nations to drink of the wrath-bringing wine of her fornication (Rev 14:8; 18:3; cf. 17:2). According to Revelation 16:19, it is exactly this wine that is poured out in the seventh bowl judgment. By judging the nations that drank of Babylon the Great’s cup, God is judging Babylon the Great itself, destroying and condemning all that she has produced.

Revelation 17:1–19:5 is placed between the narrative of the seventh bowl (Rev 16:17-21) and the narrative of the second advent (Rev 19:6-21) because the entire word system created by Babylon the Great will be judged at the second advent. However, Revelation 17:1–19:5 is a topical unit, not a narrative unit. The introduction of Babylon the Great and the description of its fall are dramatically placed just before the final judgment. Yet while the final judgment is universal, the destruction of Babylon the Great is a targeted judgment which occurs at an early stage of the tribulation period.

The Identification of Babylon the Great as the Great World Superpower of the End Times

A study of Revelation 17:1–19:5 shows that Babylon the Great is the world’s great superpower in the end times. The following facts emerge from an analysis of this section of the book of Revelation: (1) Babylon the Great has the largest economy of any entity in the world. It is the center of wealth in the world, and it is responsible for an extended period of global wealth creation in the end times. (2) Babylon the Great has shaped global culture in the end times, in a directly antichristian manner. (3) Babylon the Great has the greatest political power of any entity in the end times. (4) Babylon the Great is considered to have the strongest military in the world of the end times. All of these characteristics uniquely and definitively match the United States of America. For exegetical details, see the larger paper.

Most commentators assume, based on the use of the Greek word πόλις, polis with reference to Babylon the Great, that Babylon the Great is a city, not a large nation-state composed of many cities, towns, and villages. However, “city” is only one possible meaning of word πόλις, polis. The lexicon LSJ gives “country,” “state,” and “community” as other possible meanings, with numerous examples from Classical Greek. In fact, πόλις, polis was the normal word for “state” in extrabiblical Greek, and typically carried political implications. It is hard to think of a better term that the angel could have used to describe the United States than ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη, “the great polis.” The term ἔθνος (nation) generally denotes a racial or ethnic group, and there is no American race. The term βασιλεία (kingdom) encompasses all the domains ruled by a state, not just the state itself—which in the case of Babylon the Great could refer to the entire earth (Rev 17:18). The term βασιλεύς (king) would create confusion as to whether a nation or a its leader is in view, and is not the normal term for a political entity in Greek. The term χώρα (country) refers to a tract of land or a district, and does not carry political implications. Thus, there is no better term in the Greek lexicon to describe a modern sovereign state than πόλις, polis.

Babylon the Great is a world hegemon, a country which dominates world politics, economics, and culture in the end times. Further, the text of Revelation indicates that it is a unique entity in the world, ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη the great polis. It uniquely makes all the nations of the world wealthy, reigns over the nations of the world, imposes its culture on all the nations, and leads them in a massive downward spiral of materialistic depravity that culminates in worldwide worship of Satan and the antichrist during the second half of the tribulation period. These are things that can only be done once, and the United States is now doing them. Never before in history has a single country dominated all the other countries of the world and enjoyed such preeminence in comparison to all the others. The United States finds itself in the historically unique position of monopolizing every significant power source in the world—a position it began to occupy since the end of World War II, and which was greatly enhanced by the end of the Cold War.

In summary, the book of Revelation describes Babylon the Great as the dominant superpower in the world of the end times—so dominant, that it actually shapes the culture and economy of the world as it exists at the start of the tribulation period. The nature and scope of Babylon the Great’s dominance is such that only one such entity could ever exist in the history of the world, and there is no doubt that the United States of America is this entity. 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 (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2)—enough aspects already match so as to leave no doubt as to the fulfillment of the rest.

Are we living in the end times?

19 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by in Bible prophecy, Current events

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This post is the third 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 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. There is still one more background issue to address before addressing directly the subject of the United States in biblical prophecy. This is the question of whether we are living in the end times today, that is, whether we are living in a period relatively close in time to the second coming of Jesus Christ, and to the seven-year tribulation period which will precede His coming. The tribulation period begins with the rapture of the church, an event in which Christian believers will be removed from the earth. While there is no calendar date for the rapture in Bible prophecy, the Bible does provide enough specificity about the world of the end times to allow us to know when we are living in the end times, i.e., when the rapture and the tribulation period are relatively close in time. In fact, world events are indeed beginning to line up with the Bible’s description of the end times, with prophecies that have already been fulfilled or that are in the process of being fulfilled, although the world still has not reached the state in which it is found during the tribulation period.

The most salient feature of the world of the end times is the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and the reestablishment of the state of Israel. The reestablishment of the state of Israel is a critical stage in the development of God’s prophetic plan, because redemptive history is centered around the nation of Israel (the Jews). Jesus originally came to offer the messianic kingdom to the Jewish people, but the vast majority of Jews rejected Jesus as their promised Messiah and King, crucifying Him and persecuting His church. Jerusalem was destroyed in judgment in AD 70, and most of the Jewish people were dispersed from their land. The church, which is a non-national entity, is an interim stage in God’s plan until Israel again becomes the people of God spiritually as well as physically (Romans 11).

The Bible is very clear that at the end of the Church Age and during the tribulation period, the Jews will be living in the land of Israel. During the first half of the tribulation period, Moses and Elijah will return to earth and prophesy in Jerusalem, in order to call the nation of Israel to repentance and to belief in Jesus as the Messiah (Rev 11:1-13; cf. Mal 4:4-6; Matt 17:11; Mark 9:12). An Israeli state makes a seven-year pact with the antichrist at the start of the tribulation period, as described in Daniel 9:27. That verse also states that the antichrist will break his pact with Israel at the midpoint of the seven years, and will turn against the Jews. A number of passages describe how the antichrist will invade the land of Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation, with many Jews fleeing to a place of refuge east of Israel at that time (Dan 11:41; Matt 24:15-16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20-21; Rev 11:7-8; 12:6, 13-17). Daniel 9:27 describes the system of sacrifices functioning in a Jewish temple in Jerusalem until the midpoint of the tribulation period, at which point the antichrist will set up his own image in the Holy of Holies and will demand to be worshiped as God (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14; 2 Thess 2:4; Rev 13:14-15). At the very end of the tribulation period, all the armies of the world will be gathered together in the land of Israel, in a desperate attempt by Satan and the antichrist to kill all the Jews before Jesus returns; however, Jesus will return and wipe out these armies before they can accomplish their purpose (cf. Mic 4:11; Zech 12:2-3, 9; 14:1-3; Rev 14:20; 16:16; 19:19-21).

The return of Israel to their land at the end of the age is not just an accident of history; rather, God has promised to bring Israel back to their land in the end. The Bible is clear that there is an eschatological regathering of Israel while the Jews are still in a state of unbelief, to prepare the nation for its spiritual restoration. Various passages describe this, all of them disputed yet no less authoritative for this reason; probably the clearest are Ezekiel 34–37 and Hosea 3:4-5. (For details, see the comments in my Interpretive Guide to the Bible on these passages.) It is important to emphasize that God has restored Israel to the land for His own name’s sake, rather than because of their obedience. God’s plan is for the Jewish people to be firmly established in the land with their own state before the tribulation period begins; then for the nation of Israel to turn to the Lord and be purified during the tribulation period, and for the Lord to return and set up His kingdom at the end of this period. The restoration of Israel to the land is necessary as a precursor to the nation’s spiritual restoration. For the Jews to be reached and converted en masse, it is necessary for Jewish culture and settlement to be concentrated in the land promised by God to Israel’s patriarchs, coupled with a renewed passion for Jewish identity and nationalism. Large numbers of secular Jews would probably lose their Jewish identity were it not for the state of Israel. The restoration of a Jewish state is also necessary to set up the events of the tribulation period, including the pact between the antichrist and the Jewish state, and the abomination of desolation in the temple. The modern state of Israel recently celebrated its 73rd anniversary. It has also now been more than 50 years since Israel gained full control over the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. In spite of Satan’s ongoing efforts to foil the fulfillment of prophecy by driving Israel out of the land, the state of Israel has continually grown stronger and more deeply rooted.

Several aspects of biblical prophecy regarding Israel remain to be fulfilled in this age. First, Ezekiel 34–36 describes the Jews living in the mountains of Israel and taking vengeance on “Edom,” which is apparently a reference to the Palestinians. This indicates that after Israel finally subdues its enemies, the West Bank will be fully annexed to the state of Israel and will be filled with Jewish-majority cities. Second, biblical prophecy is clear that there will be a rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem, presumably where the Dome of the Rock now stands. This temple functions as a place of (illegitimate) Jewish sacrifice throughout the first half of the tribulation period (Dan 9:27), while throughout the second half it will be the place where the antichrist sets up his throne and his image to be worshiped as a god (2 Thess 2:4; Rev 13:14-15; 16:10). While some Jews have made serious plans for the construction of the third temple, they have not yet had the opportunity to begin construction work. Third, while Ezekiel 37 portrayed the restored nation of Israel as a mighty army, Ezekiel 38:8, 11-13 prophesies that by the time of the tribulation period Israel will dwell securely, without walls and apparently without a military. While Israel has recently made peace with several Arab countries, it still faces severe security challenges. The coming of peace between Israel and the Arab world is also indicated by prophecies which state that when the antichrist invades Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation period, many Jews will find refuge in modern-day Jordan, which the antichrist will be unable to conquer (Daniel 11:41; Matt 24:15-16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20-21; Rev 12:6, 13-17). Fourth, since the antichrist will make a treaty with Israel at the start of the tribulation period, this indicates that Israel will develop closer ties to the European Union over time, with a long-term goal of joining the EU.

A second key feature of the world of the end times that Bible teachers have long recognized is the universal use of an electronic payment system, and very likely a universal digital currency, all controlled by a central authority. The main indicator of this is the description of the mark of the beast (antichrist) in Revelation 13:16-18 (see also Zechariah 5:5-11). The mark of the beast which is imposed globally at the midpoint of the tribulation period is not just an externally visible tattoo or brand with the antichrist’s name or number. It also contains the personal identifier of each individual who has the mark, so as to identify that person as a worshiper of the antichrist. This identifier or computer chip is connected to the electronic payment system that is used for all financial transactions, so that those who do not have the mark are completely excluded from the global financial system and cannot buy or sell. The mark is imposed throughout the entire world, excluding no one except those who refuse to worship the antichrist. This necessitates global economic development, with even the poorest parts of the world possessing the necessary infrastructure to make and receive electronic payments. Already cell phones and the internet are available in the remotest and poorest parts of the world, though many people still lack access to technology. The world is also on track to develop a universal method of electronic financial transactions, replacing paper money and coinage. Notably, the United States is making plans to release a digital currency, by which means all financial transactions will be processed directly by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. This will give the U.S. government a record every financial transaction—there will be no private transactions—and, much more significantly, will give the government the power to block financial transactions. However, these things are still in the planning stages; there is not as yet a single global currency or a global standard of financial transactions. Thus, while it is obvious that the world is being prepared for the mark of the beast, the mark could not be implemented at the present time.

Third, pretribulationists have long recognized that the antichrist’s base of power consists of a confederation of ten countries and their rulers (Dan 2:42; 7:7-8, 24; Rev 13:1; 17:3, 12-13), in which the antichrist emerges as an eleventh ruler (he is probably the commander of the joint military force), though he will overthrow three rulers during the first half of the tribulation period and will seize power over the entire confederation. The book of Daniel presents the antichrist’s empire as an eschatological form of the Roman Empire (Dan 2:40-44; 7:7-8, 23-24), and Daniel 9:26 specifically identifies the Romans as the antichrist’s ancestral people. The major opponents of the antichrist from the midpoint of the tribulation period onward are armies from the north, south, and east (Dan 11:40-44), so it is apparent that the antichrist’s base of power is in the west (in relation to Israel), i.e., in Europe. The establishment of the European Union as a confederation of the countries of Europe is therefore a step toward the establishment of the antichrist’s kingdom. From the collapse of the Roman Empire until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Europe was politically fractured. However, the European Union has successfully joined together nearly all the countries of Europe from the Atlantic Ocean to the border of the old Soviet Union. Even after the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (which is likely temporary), the EU still contains about 440 million people, making it a significant world power. However, while the EU is a precursor to the antichrist’s kingdom, it has not yet taken the form in which the antichrist’s kingdom is described in prophecies of the tribulation period. In accordance with biblical prophecy, we can expect that in the future the countries of the EU will (1) develop stronger ties, including a military alliance; and (2) consolidate into a confederation of ten countries or administrative units.

Prophecies of the tribulation period also imply that there will be a new arms race and a great expansion of the world’s militaries in the runup to the tribulation period. The world’s political entities and military forces will also be grouped into distinct regional alliances. Ezekiel 38–39 describes the invasion of Israel by a huge, fully-mechanized military force led by Russia but also including the armies of other countries of the former Soviet Union, Iran, and some African countries. Revelation 9:16 describes a fully mechanized army from South, East, and Southeast Asia numbering 200 million. The antichrist’s European armies are clearly very substantial as well. Even at the end of the tribulation period, after seven years of severe plagues and deadly wars, there are still so many soldiers gathered for the final battle that they fill the entire land of Israel from north to south and west to east, for a length of 184 miles (Rev 14:20). At present, Russia, China, and India are aggressively modernizing and expanding their militaries, and many smaller countries are doing the same. However, prophecy shows that this is still just the beginning stages of what will be an unprecedented buildup of the world’s military forces.

A final often-noted characteristic of the last days is that they are a time of great spiritual darkness and a great worldwide rebellion against God. There are numerous passages in the New Testament that refer to a time of apostasy in the last days that was still future at the time when the New Testament was written, and therefore cannot be understood as a reference to the entire Church Age (2 Thess 2:3; 2 Tim 3:1-9, 13; 2 Pet 3:3-6; Jude 17-19). The last days will feature not just unprecedented opposition to God in the unbelieving world, but 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 is the result and culmination of an unprecedented worldwide rebellion against God that began well before the start of the tribulation period.

Christians who believe in the pretribulational rapture of the church have long recognized parallels between the modern world and the world of the tribulation period described in biblical prophecy. However, some pretribulationists reject out of hand the very possibility of recognizing these parallels, on the basis of a misleadingly-named doctrine called “imminence,” referring to the imminence of the rapture. The rapture of the church is an event which occurs at the start of the tribulation period (concurrent with the start of the antichrist’s pact with Israel), and is a distinct event from the second coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation period. Although the word “imminent” means “about to happen,” the theological doctrine of imminence strongly asserts that the rapture may not be about to happen—the rapture could still be thousands of years away. The doctrine of imminence asserts that it is impossible to know whether we are living close in time to the rapture. Imminence is thus a common objection to the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, since a literal interpretation of prophecy reveals clear parallels between the world of the end times and the world in which we live. It should be noted that imminence is a theological objection, not an exegetical objection, which puts the cart before the horse—theology ought to be derived from exegesis, and not vice versa. It is easy to show that the Bible contains prophecies of many events in the Church Age, which implies that the rapture could not occur or have been considered imminent before the fulfillment of these prophecies (see Dan 9:26; Matt 13:24-43; 22:7; 24:2; Mark 4:26-29; Luke 19:11-27, 43-44; John 21:18-19; Acts 1:8; 9:15-16; 11:28; 16:9-10; 18:9-11; 20:22-23; 21:11; 22:21; 23:11; 1 Cor 4:9; Phil 1:20-26; 2 Tim 4:6-7; 2 Pet 1:14; Revelation 2–3). It is also easy to show that passages which state that no one can know the day or hour of the Lord’s coming are, in context, references to the second coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation period, and are not references to the rapture of the church (Matt 24:36–25:13; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48; 21:34-36; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 16:15). However, the doctrine of imminence deserves a more extended discussion, and so will be the subject of a future post.

This post has described how various events and entities of the modern world are beginning to line up with biblical descriptions of the tribulation period. The world in which we live is still different in some ways from the world described in the tribulation period, but there are elements of our world that are unmistakable elements of the last days. One of these elements is the rise of a great superpower that dominates the world of the end times in every respect—a cultural and economic superpower unlike any the world has ever seen before, which becomes responsible for the moral and spiritual corruption of the entire world. In my next post, I will make a case for identifying the entity called Babylon the Great in Revelation 17:1–19:5 with the United States of America. Like the other prophecies of the end times noted in this post, the Untied States already has many key characteristics of this prophesied entity which make the identification unmistakable, but there are also some key aspects of the Bible’s description of Babylon the Great that have yet to be fulfilled—especially a murderous worldwide campaign of persecution against Christians which is driven by Babylon the Great (Rev 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2).

An introduction to biblical prophecy

22 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by in Bible prophecy

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In my previous post, I discussed the impact that a Democratic president and Congress will have on Christian religious freedom in the United States, given the rapid radicalization of the American Left. I argued that persecution of Christians is quickly increasing, and that it is only a matter of time before biblical Christianity will be made illegal in the United States. Although some people suggest that current trends could be permanently reversed through political activism or a nationwide spiritual revival, I stated that biblical prophecy gives a very bleak spiritual outlook for the United States. However, before discussing the subject of the United States in biblical prophecy, some preliminary matters must be addressed. These include (1) basic concepts and definitions in biblical prophecy, and (2) the question of whether we can know that we are living in the end times.

The doctrine of last things is called eschatology, and the final period of world history is called the eschaton. Major positions in eschatology can be defined by views of the millennium. Revelation 20:1-7 refers six times to a period of 1,000 years, at the beginning of which Satan is bound, and during which resurrected saints reign with Christ over the earth. This 1,000-year period is called the millennium, or the “millennial kingdom.” The millennium is also called the “messianic kingdom” because of biblical promises of a future reign of the Messiah (Christ) over the whole world from David’s throne in Jerusalem. The belief that Revelation 20 describes a literal thousand-year future reign of Christ on the earth is called premillennialism. According to premillennialism, the millennium has not yet begun, and Christ’s second coming to earth will happen before the millennium starts. The second coming is the return of Christ to the earth in power and great glory, judging the wicked and saving the righteous (Rev 19:6-21). The millennium follows the second coming. At the end of the thousand years, there will be a final rebellion against God, which He will crush without difficulty (Rev 20:7-10). Following this, there will be a final resurrection and judgment (Rev 20:11-15). Then eternity begins—eternal punishment for the wicked, and eternal bliss for the righteous (Rev 21:1–22:5).

There is a general consensus among premillennialists that the millennium will be immediately preceded by a seven-year period of time called the tribulation (Revelation 4–19). The tribulation will be a time when the earth is plagued by God, while God’s people are persecuted by satanic leaders known as the antichrist and the false prophet. According to the doctrine called the pretribulational rapture of the church, Christian believers will be removed from the earth and taken to heaven before the start of the tribulation period, which means that the saints who are persecuted during the tribulation are ones who were converted to Christianity during the tribulation period itself.

The rapture is an event in which Christ will come to the sky above the earth in a manner that is visible only to Christians. In an instant, both dead and living believers from the Church Age will be given glorified bodies and will be taken to heaven by Christ. The basis for the doctrine of the rapture is three passages in the NT that describe a return of Christ that is distinguished in important ways from biblical descriptions of the second coming. These three passages are John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. The rapture also appears to be indicated in Revelation 4:1.

Although premillennialists hold differing views on the timing of the rapture of the church, the view called pretribulationism has long been recognized as the one that follows the most literal and consistent interpretation of prophetic passages, and therefore the one that is most faithful to the premillennial outlook. As its name suggests, pretribulationism teaches that the rapture of the church will occur before the tribulation. Although some pretribulationists posit a gap of time between the rapture and the start of the seven-year tribulation period, the view that is most consistent with the dispensational distinction between Israel and the church (explained below) is that the seven-year tribulation period begins immediately after the rapture (cf. Dan 9:24–27; Rom 11:17-27).

In summary, the pretribulational, premillennial viewpoint teaches the following basic order of end time events: (1) the rapture of the church; (2) the seven-year tribulation period; (3) the personal, visible return of the Lord—the second coming; (4) the thousand-year reign of Christ—the millennium; (5) the final judgment and eternal state.

The reason why Christians hold different views of biblical prophecy is not because the Bible is unclear or contradictory. The different approaches to biblical eschatology are based on different methods of interpreting the Bible, or hermeneutics. It has long been recognized that following the literal hermeneutic results in a premillennial understanding of biblical eschatology, because the thousand-year future reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1-7) is understood literally. The literal hermeneutic is a method of interpretation which “gives to each word the same exact basic meaning it would have in normal, ordinary, customary usage, whether employed in writing, speaking, or thinking” (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 9). The literal hermeneutic allows for due recognition of figures of speech and metaphors as indicated by the context. The bottom-line rule for the literal hermeneutic is the common sense, natural meaning of communication. At times there will be disagreement as to what this is, but the basic principle is clear.

The Bible itself does not formally teach a hermeneutic. There is little discussion, particularly in the Old Testament, of the method by which the reader is to understand the text. This implies that the language used in the Bible is to be understood in exactly the same way as language used in ordinary communication—no special method is needed. This is confirmed by the way in which biblical writers interpret other biblical texts. For example, in Daniel 9:1-23, the prophet Daniel reads the prophet Jeremiah’s prophecy of a seventy-year exile (Jer 25:11-12; 29:10), and, realizing that the seventy years were almost up, Daniel prayed to God for the restoration of divine favor to Israel. There was no question in Daniel’s mind as to whether the seventy years were literal years. Daniel had no doubt that the prophecy would in fact be fulfilled, that it would be fulfilled literally, and that it would be fulfilled in exactly seventy years. Daniel did not take seventy years as merely a metaphor for a long period of time, or as a symbolic expression of God’s graciousness, or as a mere approximation. He took the seventy years to mean seventy years. He did not wonder whether the meaning of the prophecy could change through time, or whether there might be uncertainty as to its fulfillment. He had no question as to the beginning point of the seventy years, even though there were three different deportations from Jerusalem. To him, the prophecy was clear, direct, specific, and understandable. Daniel’s interpretation of another prophet’s prophecy provides a template for our own method of interpreting biblical prophecy.

A foundational assumption of hermeneutics for a believer ought to be the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible—that is, that every word of the Bible is inspired by God. This makes the Bible the authority, not the mind of the interpreter. The interpreter must let the text speak for itself; he must try to find what the text says, rather than inserting his own ideas into it. The only way to do this is to apply the literal hermeneutic. Alternative hermeneutical methods, such as the allegorical hermeneutic, subjectively put the interpreter’s own ideas into the biblical text and make the interpreter a greater authority than the text itself.

A natural implication of premillennialism and the literal hermeneutic is dispensationalism. Dispensationalism teaches that the Christian church is distinct from Israel. That is, the Jews are still God’s chosen people, and Gentile Christians are not “spiritual Israel.” The blessings that God promised to ancient Israel will be fulfilled to ethnic Jews—God’s promises to Israel have never been canceled or transferred “spiritually” to the church. Dispensationalists usually view the modern state of Israel as a step in the fulfillment of God’s promised eschatological restoration of the Jewish people. Also, because God gave the Jewish people the right to possess the land of Canaan forever (cf. Gen 17:8; 48:4; Jer 31:35-40; 33:19-26), dispensational Christians have been some of the strongest political supporters of the state of Israel. Many dispensational churches are also active in Jewish evangelism, as they seek to be part of God’s work to restore His people spiritually as well as physically.

The major alternative to premillennialism is amillennialism, which as its name implies teaches that there will not be a literal thousand-year kingdom of God on the earth. Inherent in amillennialism is a conflict with the literal hermeneutic. This is because there is a period of “a/the thousand years” mentioned six times in Rev 20:1-7. The Bible states that the saints will reign with Christ (Rev 20:4, 6) on the earth (Rev 20:8-9) during these thousand years. This description matches numerous Old Testament prophecies of an earthly kingdom, promised to Israel, over which the Messiah will reign (e.g., Isa 65:17-25; Ezekiel 40–48; Dan 7:13-14). Oswald T. Allis, a prominent amillennialist, concedes that “the Old Testament prophecies if literally interpreted cannot be regarded as having been yet fulfilled or as being capable of fulfillment in this present age” (Oswald Allis, Prophecy and the Church, p. 238). Another amillennialist says, “Now we must frankly admit that a literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies gives us just such a picture of an earthly reign of the Messiah as the premillennialist pictures” (Floyd Hamilton, The Basis of Millennial Faith, p. 38). However, amillennialism rejects the literal hermeneutic in favor of the allegorical hermeneutic, which “is the method of interpreting a literary text that regards the literal sense as the vehicle for a secondary, more spiritual and more profound sense” (Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 4). A common criticism of the allegorical method is that “the basic authority in interpretation ceases to be the Scriptures, but the mind of the interpreter” (Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 5). Another criticism of the allegorical method is that “one is left without any means by which the conclusions of the interpreter may be tested” (Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 6). While non-literal hermeneutical systems go by many names today, they are all varieties of the allegorical hermeneutic, designed to replace the plain teaching of Scripture with man’s ideas (cf. 2 Cor 11:3). By using the allegorical hermeneutic to turn physical promises into spiritual ones, amillennialists teach that the promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament have been transferred to the predominantly Gentile church, and that ethnic Israel will not experience a political restoration in the eschaton—God has cancelled His promises to the Jewish people and rejected Israel as a nation forever because of their crucifixion of Jesus. Amillennialists specifically deny that the Jewish people will have a place of special privilege in a future messianic kingdom. In fact, amillennial Christians have frequently persecuted the Jews, as they observe Jewish hostility towards the Christian gospel without balancing this with the recognition that Israel remains a special object of God’s love due to the promises God made to the Jews’ forefathers (Rom 11:28). Many amillennialists today are distinctly hostile towards the modern state of Israel, perhaps because Israel’s political restoration supports the dispensational claim that the Jewish people have a special place in God’s prophetic program.

In summary, the literal hermeneutic is the only method of interpretation that can reveal what biblical prophecy means, because all other hermeneutical methods subjectively put the interpreter’s own ideas into the biblical text. Application of the literal hermeneutic results in an eschatological framework that is:

  1. Pretribulational—recognizing that the present era of biblical history will end with the rapture (removal to heaven) of believers who are part of the Christian church, and that this will be followed by the final seven years of God’s program for Israel before the second coming of Christ, as described in Daniel 9:27.
  2. Premillennial—recognizing that the kingdom of God is not a present spiritual reign of Christ in the hearts of Christians, but is rather a literal (political) future kingdom. Although Christ will reign forever, the first phase of His kingdom will last for 1,000 years, and will begin after Christ returns to the earth in power and great glory at the end of the seven-year tribulation period, destroying the wicked completely and bringing the righteous into His kingdom.
  3. Dispensational—recognizing that the nation of Israel continues to have a special place in God’s plan, and that Israel will be the political and spiritual center of Jesus Christ’s coming kingdom on the earth.

With this basic introduction to biblical prophecy, we are now ready to discuss the issue of whether our current situation in history is close in time to the tribulation period. This will be the subject of my next post.

Israel, the Bible, and current events

29 Tuesday May 2018

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It is impossible to read the Bible without being struck by the centrality of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people in the plan of God. Beginning with the call of Abraham in Genesis 12, virtually the entire Old Testament is about God’s dealings with the nation of Israel. The hope of future salvation and blessing for believers is channeled through God’s covenants with Israel. Nearly all of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the national language of the Jewish people. Nearly every book of the Old Testament was written by Israelites.

References to Israel abound in the New Testament, as well. Christianity began in the Jewish world, and all but two books of the New Testament (Luke and Acts) were written by Jews. The early Christians identified themselves as the sect of true Judaism, which recognized Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Jesus and the twelve apostles were observant Jews who lived in Israel’s land (Galilee and Judea), and Jesus came specifically to offer the promised kingdom to Israel. When Peter preached the gospel in Acts 3, he proclaimed that Jesus would return and restore the kingdom to Israel whenever the Jewish nation repented and accepted Him as their Messiah (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:19-21). The New Testament epistles are filled with references to Israel, as early Christians struggled with the relation of Jews to Gentiles in the church. Jesus and the apostles taught that all the promises to Israel are still valid and will be fulfilled to the Jewish people at the end of the age, but that there is an interim period in which the church exists as a non-national (primarily Gentile) entity.

Although many early church fathers interpreted prophecy literally, the allegorical interpretation of prophecy came to dominate Christian theology by late antiquity. The church was asserted to have replaced Israel in God’s program, and the Jewish people were considered no longer to be special in any way. The hatred of Christians by Jews which dates back to the crucifixion of Jesus was matched at times by the persecution of Jews on the part of professing Christians. The church’s hostility toward Jews began gradually to change after the Protestant Reformation, when Christians sought to return to Scripture as the source of their beliefs. In 18th century England and America, the study of Hebrew and renewed scholarly interest in the Old Testament led to the recovery of premillennial theology and the literal interpretation of prophecy among some Protestant groups. Prophecy scholars in the 19th century often spoke at length about God’s miraculous preservation of the Jewish people through the ages and asserted that God would yet bring the Jews back to their land and fulfill the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. At about the same time, biblical faith on the European continent was being swept away by a wave of liberal theology, higher criticism, and rationalism. The Bible’s teachings were not merely disbelieved, but were vigorously opposed. Since those who hate God also hate His chosen people, higher criticism led to a marked rise in anti-Semitism and violent acts against the Jews across Europe. This persecution forged a new nationalist spirit among the Jews, leading to the adoption of the shield (star) of David as the symbol of Judaism, and to the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language. It also gave rise to the modern Zionist movement, which sought to establish a homeland for the Jews where they would be protected from persecution. Paradoxically, higher criticism and rationalism made great inroads into Judaism as well as Christianity in the 19th century, leading to the abandonment of Orthodox Judaism by the majority of Jews and the rise of Reform and Conservative Judaism. While in Christianity higher criticism had the effect of undermining the gospel, in Judaism it removed longstanding theological barriers to the acceptance of the gospel.

While there have always been small numbers of Jews who have converted to Christianity, the 20th century saw a dramatic increase in Christian missionary efforts to the Jews. The number of Jews who became Christians also increased greatly. However, because Christianity remained stigmatized among the general population of Jews, a “Messianic” Jewish movement arose in which Jews professed faith in Jesus as their Messiah but did not call themselves Christians or join churches. Instead, they formed separate “messianic synagogues” which met on Saturday and were led by rabbis, not pastors. Many aspects of Jewish tradition and the Mosaic Law continued to be observed by these groups, in blatant contradiction of the book of Hebrews and other New Testament writings. These movements continue in great strength to the present day.

Since the late 1800s, Jews began returning in increasing numbers to their historic homeland (then known by the name “Palestine,” which the Roman emperor Hadrian gave to it), and the modern state of Israel was finally founded in 1948, following the Nazi Holocaust. Although the majority of modern Israelis are secular (non-observant) Jews, they have maintained a strong Jewish identity through their national struggle for survival. Since the 1960s, Israel’s greatest foreign supporter has been the United States of America. For decades, the base of support for Israel in the United States was a bipartisan coalition of American Jews and evangelical Christians. In recent years, however, the American left has taken a radical stance against the values of biblical Christianity, and this has resulted in increasing hostility toward Israel, even among many liberal American Jews. Mainline Christian denominations have also consistently opposed Israel. The main base of support for Israel in the United States is now a large segment of evangelical Christians, who believe that those who bless Abraham are still blessed, and those who curse Abraham are still cursed (Gen 12:1-3). Recognizing this fact, the current Israeli government has very directly courted American evangelicals, tossing aside the traditional Jewish hostility toward Christians for preaching Jesus as the Messiah.

The new friendliness of Jews with evangelical Christians is a great sign. Israeli Jews are now beginning to understand that evangelical, dispensational Christians love them and are their most reliable friends, in contrast to nominal Christians. More importantly, Jews at the highest levels of leadership in Israel now realize that there is nothing inherently anti-Semitic about Christianity or the Christian gospel. This is significant because the Bible is clear that Israel will accept Jesus as the promised Messiah before He returns (and as a condition for His return). A shift in Jewish attitudes toward Christians is a sign that Israel’s partial hardening (Rom 11:25) is finally beginning to lift.

The Bible clearly describes a regathering of the Jewish people to their historic homeland at the end of history. It describes how they overcome their ancient adversaries, repossess their ancient homeland, and become incredibly prosperous once again. By the time of the tribulation period, they are living in great peace with their neighbors, to the point of having no walls or army. Yet this physical restoration of the Jewish people is merely a precursor to their spiritual restoration, as Israel’s acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah is the main event which must occur prior to the second coming of Jesus. (For more details on this, see the comments on Ezekiel 34–39 in vol. 4 of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible.)

Satan seeks three things with regard to Israel in order to prevent the fulfillment of God’s promises: (1) The genocide of the Jewish people. (2) Driving the Jewish people out of the land of Israel. (3) Preventing the spiritual conversion of the Jewish people. While Satan has always sought these things, his efforts have greatly intensified in the last 250 years, as God’s program for Israel draws closer to its final consummation. Yet God’s program continues to move forward in the face of Satan’s opposition, resulting in a great conflict.

When events happen in the Middle East, and especially in the land of Israel, a common question Christians ask is whether that event was prophesied. While some specific events are indeed prophesied, such as the end-time regathering of Israel and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple, most events in the news today are not specifically mentioned in biblical prophecy. The recent opening of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem is an example of this type of event. Of course there is nothing in the Bible specifically about the U.S. embassy. But everything that happens in Israel has its part in God’s plan, and the embassy move was a significant event. It could fairly be said that the U.S. embassy move occurred as part of a prophesied process of Israel’s increasing rootedness in their land. We must avoid the extreme of allegorizing Scripture to make it appear as if specific events in the news were prophesied, but we must also avoid the much more common extreme of allegorizing Scripture in order to claim that biblical prophecy has nothing to say at all about the modern state of Israel. The history of nation of Israel holds a central place in redemptive history, because God is unfolding His plan of redemption through His covenants with Israel. The various stages through which the history of the Jews has passed are coterminous with the central events in the development of God’s plan of redemption, which are the events of real significance in the history of the entire human race. Seen in this light, the present regathering of the Jewish people to the Promised Land is of great significance in the plan of God and in the history of the world—God is in the process of winding up human history.

Some people say that Christians should only focus on the gospel and should avoid discussing Israel because it is divisive. But the apostles preached the second coming of Jesus to establish His kingdom as the main hope of Christians, and the kingdom which Jesus will establish is the kingdom of Israel on the earth, fulfilling God’s promises to David and Abraham. Christians who oppose Israel not only fail to understand the plan of God as revealed in the Bible, but are actually opposing the work of God in our day.

A visualization of Daniel 11

24 Thursday Sep 2015

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It can be difficult for the reader of Daniel 11 to follow what is happening in the text. I have posted on my website a chart which visually depicts the actions described in the text (download it here). This chart is intended as a supplement to my Interpretive Guide to the Major Prophets (available here).

What this chart depicts is a conflict which begins as a conflict between Gentile kings and kingdoms, but which ends as a great spiritual battle between satanically-energized rulers and the people of God (Israel). Daniel 11:2-5 gives the historical background to the conflict, describing how the Persian Empire (which was ascendant at the time of the vision) would be conquered by a great Greek king (Alexander the Great), and how the Greek Empire would be divided into four parts immediately after the completion of its conquest of the Persian Empire. The text then begins to describe kings from a northern realm (the Seleucids) and kings from a southern realm (the Ptolemies). “North” and “south” are in relation to the land of Israel, which lay directly between these two realms and acted like a buffer zone. At first, Israel is completely in the background of the conflict—it is merely a land bridge which the armies of the two sides crossed in order to fight against each other. The southern kingdom initially held control of the land of Israel, and was relatively lenient in its treatment of the Jews. But Daniel 11:14 indicates that, over time, Israel began to be caught in the crossfire of the Seleucid-Ptolemy conflict.

Israel finally comes into the foreground of the conflict in Daniel 11:16, when the king of the north takes possession of the land. Increasingly, the king of the north begins to attack Israel, and not just the king of the south. In Daniel 11:30-35, the conflict between the king of the south and the king of the north finally becomes a conflict between the king of the north and Israel. The vision then skips ahead to the final consummation of the conflict between Satan’s people and God’s people in the eschaton (Dan 11:36–12:3). Once again, this begins as a conflict between Gentile kings and kingdoms, but becomes a conflict between an eschatological king (the antichrist) and Israel. In the end, this conflict becomes an overtly spiritual battle, with God’s people completely triumphant: the wicked king is destroyed, Michael the archangel defends Israel, and God’s saints are raised from the dead.

While Daniel 11 may seem like a catalogue of arcane details to some, it is these very details that make this chapter extremely problematic for critics of the Bible. Liberal biblical scholarship cannot deny that Daniel 11 accurately describes world history from the time of Xerxes (ca. 480 BC) until the time of Antiochus IV (ca. 165 BC). The critics also acknowledge that it would be absolutely impossible for a human mind to foresee these events hundreds of years in advance. Thus, if it is acknowledged that the book of Daniel was actually written by the prophet Daniel in the sixth century BC, as its first person narratives imply, the book would have to have a divine origin—something which no critic wishes to acknowledge. Theologically liberal scholars therefore postdate the book of Daniel to the time when they think the vision of Daniel 11 ends: 165 BC. However, there is much compelling evidence (besides the book’s self-claim) that the book of Daniel was written much earlier than this. It is for this reason that liberals have identified the book of Daniel as the greatest threat to their anti-supernaturalist worldview, and the book of Daniel has become the greatest battleground between critics and believers. The mind-boggling detail of the prophecy of Daniel 11 demonstrates clearly that the Bible is God’s Word, not man’s word, and the fulfillment of the historical portion of this prophecy reassures us that the eschatological portion of the prophecy will also be precisely fulfilled. The course and outcome of history has already been set, and God’s plan will unfold in the future as it has in the past.

Will Iran destroy Israel? Will Israel destroy Iran?

06 Friday Mar 2015

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Iran’s nuclear program has been in the news for a long time, most recently because of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress. It is an open secret that Iran has been trying to develop nuclear weapons for more than a decade, with some help from North Korea and Russia. Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have continued almost for the entire Obama presidency. At first, the goal of the negotiations was to end Iran’s nuclear program. However, Iran seems unwilling to end their nuclear program, since the Islamic rulers of Iran need nuclear weapons to realize their political ambitions of conquest. If Iran’s nuclear program was solely for generating electricity, the Iranians would have ended it many years ago or agreed to allow inspections in accordance with international law, since economic sanctions have done great damage to the Iranian economy. By the same token, it has become evident that President Obama will not even consider destroying Iran’s nuclear program with a crippling airstrike. Mr. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have therefore been trying to get the Iranians to agree to something that will limit Iran’s nuclear program in some way.

The rulers of Iran, who are not Arabs, belong to a sect of Islam that is considered a heterodox fringe or cult by the majority Sunni sect of Islam, although probably the worst Islamist groups today are actually composed of radical Sunnis (ISIS, al-Qaida, and affiliated groups). The Iranian form of Islam has a strange apocalyptic eschatology revolving around the supposed coming of the “twelfth imam” and some sort of world conquest or world war. Some people think that Iran’s religious rulers might use nuclear weapons in order to bring about the events that they believe will be associated with the coming of the twelfth imam.

The Iranian regime hates the state of Israel, and has said again and again that they are committed to destroying Israel. Iran is an active supporter of the anti-Israel terrorist group Hezbollah, and in the past Iran has been a strong supporter of Hamas. It comes as no surprise, then, that Israel is working hard to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But I personally doubt that Israel would be the first target of a nuclear Iran. Iran knows that Israel has a powerful military and nuclear missiles, and Iran knows that Israel would use its nuclear weapons against Iran if necessary. Iran’s archrival in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia, and neither the Saudis nor their Gulf allies have nuclear weapons. The Saudis and their allies are therefore very concerned about a nuclear Iran.

There is a lot of uncertainty about the Iranian nuclear issue. For one thing, no one outside of Iran knows for sure exactly how developed Iran’s nuclear program is, and it is possible that Iran already has a nuclear bomb. The Iranians have a history of hiding as much of their activity as possible, and they would not be the first country to have developed nuclear weapons well before Western intelligence agencies discovered them. The increasingly polarized rivalry between Vladimir Putin and the West could also result in Russia taking a much larger role in supporting Iran and its Shiite allies (primarily Bashar Assad and Hezbollah). Perhaps Mr. Putin will provide more direct support to Iran’s nuclear program in order to gain a powerful ally against the United States and Europe.

But while we can speculate about what may or may not happen vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear program, there is no need for Bible-believing Christians to be in suspense regarding the outcome of events in the Middle East. Ezekiel 38–39 describes prophetically a great invasion of the Middle East by Russia and its allies at the end of the present age (3½ years before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth). Curiously, it describes Israel as “the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants were gathered out of many peoples to the mountains of Israel” (Ezek 38:8). It further calls Israel “the land of unwalled villages . . . those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates” (Ezek 38:11). In other words, Ezekiel 38 portrays Israel as so completely and totally at peace with its neighbors that it has actually disarmed and torn down all of its security walls and fences. Ezekiel 38:13 also seems to portray Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states as unarmed. (Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are not mentioned, while Jordan is said in Daniel 11:41 to successfully resist end-time invasions.) Incredible as it may seem, the Bible portrays the peoples of the Middle East as living in complete peace and harmony, without violence, in a future day! That is not to say that the violence that now exists in the Middle East will not continue or worsen for a while, but it will not last. Further, Israel will not be destroyed by Iran (nor will, it appears the Gulf states); the nation of Israel will remain in its land and prosper until the final few years of world history, when the antichrist will invade the Middle East and will launch a fierce pogrom to attempt to exterminate the Jewish people.

Iran, for its part, is evidently not going away, either. Iran (Persia) is listed in Ezekiel 38:5 as an ally of Russia when Russia invades the Middle East at the end of history. The Bible does not say whether there will be some sort of previous military conflict between Iran and Israel, but it does indicate that Iran will continue to exist, and also that Iran will be brought firmly within the Russian orbit. (For a more detailed description of Ezekiel’s prophecies, see the analysis of Ezekiel 34–39 in volume 4 of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible.)

I am not saying that Christians, or American politicians, should not be concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, or that Christians should not pray for Israel’s protection. But the Bible gives us assurance that Israel will indeed survive the present conflict, and that peace will come to the Middle East.

The war in the heavenlies

09 Sunday Nov 2014

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In my last post, I described what I think are the most significant battles in military history. In this post, I will give an overview of the war the Bible describes between spirit beings in heavenly realms. The two greatest battles in this conflict occur at the beginning and end of world history, but the Bible teaches that there is a constant, ongoing struggle between Satan’s forces and God’s forces.

The war in the heavenlies began when Satan, who like the other angelic beings was created morally perfect but with the ability to choose to confirm this perfection or to rebel against it, pridefully coveted God’s lordship of the universe and determined to rebel (Isa 14:12-14; Ezek 28:14-15). (For more detail regarding the interpretation of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, see volume 4 of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible.) Satan left his station as the cherub who covered God’s throne (Ezek 28:16) and persuaded large numbers of other angels (one-third, according to Rev 12:4) into following him in an attempt to take over heaven (Isa 14:12-14; Rev 12:3-12). Presumably Satan promised to make them princes in his new world order. Satan then attempted to storm God’s throne and take it for himself. Although Satan could never win a direct battle with God, in fact he was not even able to break through to the divine Presence: a great battle was fought between Satan’s angelic army and God’s angelic army, and God’s angels won this battle decisively. Satan and his angelic followers were cast down to earth for a time (Isa 14:12; Ezek 28:16; cf. Rev 12:9), and the lake of fire was created immediately to be the place of eternal punishment for the devil and his angels (Matt 25:41). Satan then continued his war against God on the earth by tempting Adam and Eve to sin (Gen 3:1-6), and the rest of the Bible tells the story of how God comes to the rescue of the fallen human race.

Daniel 10 describes how Satan and his angels are fighting God’s angels in the present age. It describes how heaven’s second most powerful angel (excluding the four cherubim) was sent to deliver a critically important message to the prophet Daniel, but was blocked en route to Daniel by Satan. While Satan and this powerful angel were fighting each other, many other good angels and evil angels joined the fray; however, Satan successfully blocked this angel’s path for twenty-one days. Daniel continued to pray throughout the twenty-one days, until finally God dispatched Michael, the chief angel (archangel), who freed the other angel from Satan’s grasp and enabled him to reach Daniel. Before this angel revealed his prophetic message to Daniel, he described how he had been engaged in a constant conflict with Satan since the establishment of the Persian Empire, with the object of their struggle being influence over the king of the empire. He described, further, how he would return to this conflict with Satan immediately after he left Daniel, and how this conflict would continue in the new Greek empire after Alexander the Great had conquered Persia. Angelic beings are capable of exerting a powerful influence over human thought and behavior in ways that we do not fully understand, and Satan’s forces are fighting God’s forces for influence in the governments of every country in the world. The conflict which the prophecy of Daniel 11 describes between kings, between governments, and between wicked rulers and the people of God, is the visible manifestation of the invisible conflict between armies of angels; what is happening in the spiritual realm drives what happens in the physical realm.

Since the object in the war between good and evil angels is influence in the human realm, it stands to reason that Christians are participants in this spiritual battle. Indeed, Ephesians 6:10-20 teaches that the Christian’s real and primary battle is in the spiritual realm. However, we do not fight this battle the way the angels do, since we do not possess supernatural powers. We fight this battle by using all the tools at our disposal—prayer, the Bible, fellow believers, and the exercise of our faith—to lead a righteous and holy life that is pleasing to God. This is the way to resist the devil’s influence, and thereby to win victory in our spiritual war. James 4:7 teaches that by subjecting ourselves to God we are resisting the devil, and he will flee from us.

Christians also have a duty to pray for the leaders of government, in order to have peace and stability in their land (1 Tim 2:1-2). While there is a spiritual battle being waged in every country in the world, I believe that today powerful Satanic forces are fighting in Washington, D. C. with the angel who appeared to Daniel, in order to influence the government of the world’s most powerful country. Michael is identified as the special guardian angel of the nation of Israel (Dan 10:21; 12:1), which means that he is very likely in Jerusalem today, fighting with powerful Satanic forces who want to block the fulfillment of biblical prophecy by removing the Jewish people from their land. The prayers of believers have a profound effect on these struggles, as demonstrated by Daniel 10.

At some point after the fall of man, Satan and his angels (the demons) were given access to heaven once again, but only to present themselves before God (not to fight—see 1 Kgs 22:19-23; 2 Chr 18:18-22). Satan’s main activity in heaven in the present age consists of slandering God’s people on earth for their real or alleged faults (see Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Rev 12:10). But at the end of history, when he knows his time is short, Satan will make one more attempt to do what he originally set out to do—to gather all his forces and make an all-out assault on heaven in order to cast God off His throne (Rev 12:7). The release of large numbers of particularly bad demons from the abyss (Rev 9:1-11) will augment Satan’s forces, and Satan’s henchmen (the antichrist and the false prophet) will be in the process of seizing political power over the earth at the same time (Rev 13). However, Satan’s second attempt to storm heaven will be just as unsuccessful as his first attempt, and when Satan and his angels are cast out of heaven by Michael and his angels, they are expelled for all time (Rev 12:7-10). The final 3½ years of the tribulation period, which occur after Satan’s final fall from heaven, will be particularly difficult from a spiritual point of view because the energies of Satan and his forces are focused exclusively on the earth (Rev 12:12-17).

The resolution of the war between spirit beings comes at the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth, when Satan is bound for a thousand years (Rev 20:1-3) and his angels are judged by the saints and sent to the lake of fire forever (Isa 24:21-23; 1 Cor 6:3; Rev 20:4). The ensuing thousand years (the “millennium”), in which Jesus and the resurrected saints rule over a human population with mortal bodies, will be a time of great peace and order, since the world will be entirely free from the destructive influence of Satan and his angels. But at the end of the thousand years, Satan is briefly released from his prison in order to reveal which people are genuine followers of God and which were insincere (it turns out most were insincere—Rev 20:7-8). Satan shows that he has not changed, as he leads the people of the world to surround Mount Zion in yet another attempt to cast God off His throne. Satan’s followers are killed, but are raised shortly thereafter for the final judgment, while Satan himself is immediately sent to the lake of fire for all eternity (Rev 20:9-15). In the final creation (the “eternal state”), the saints are entirely separated not just from their own personal sin, but from the very presence of evil, which is confined to the lake of fire (Rev 21:1–22:5). The spiritual conflict which is now being fought in the heavenlies will have been won forever, with God, God’s angels, and God’s saints fully triumphant.

The most significant military battles in history

06 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by in Bible prophecy, History

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One characteristic of some newer books on military history is that they tend to just present a narrative of what happened without a reflective analysis which shows the significance of what happened. This was a complaint I had with an otherwise excellent book that I purchased, The Encyclopedia of Warfare (Metro Books, 2013). More than 5,000 battles from the history of world civilizations are listed chronologically and described, but the reader struggles to develop a sense of which battles were the most significant ones for the course of world history. So let me try here to identify history’s most significant battles (not wars). From my biblical Christian worldview, the most significant battles will be ones that had the greatest effect on the place of true religion in the world.

There are many battles recorded in the Old Testament, and each was significant in its own way. Probably the most significant ones were Joshua’s conquest of Jericho in 1405 B.C. (Josh 2–6), followed by his defeat of a coalition of southern Canaanite kings (Josh 10) and his defeat of a coalition of northern Canaanite kings (Josh 11). It was Joshua’s providential victories in these battles that gave the Israelites possession of the land of Canaan, to which the nation of Israel has been tied ever since.

Many historians consider Marathon (490 B.C.) and Salamis (480 B.C.) to be the two most important battles in world history. In these battles, the Persian king Darius Hystaspes (in 490) and his son Xerxes (in 480) were soundly defeated by the Greeks. The presence of an unconquerable and vengeful foe on the western border of the Persian Empire made eventual conquest of Persia by the Greeks inevitable, which in turn resulted in the spread of Greek language and culture throughout the center of world civilization. It was largely the two battles of Marathon and Salamis that determined the future of Western civilization, and that indeed created the concept of a common civilization. These battles therefore largely shaped the biblical world of the New Testament and the early church—though, in truth, Marathon and Salamis were only the outworking of the predetermined plan of God, and were not determinative in themselves (see Dan 8:3-8, 20-22; 11:2-4).

There is another battle which had nearly as great an impact on the course of world history as Marathon and Salamis, but which is much less famous because the victors did not celebrate the battle in literature, theater, or art. As Caesar Augustus expanded and consolidated the Roman Empire, he recognized the threat posed to Rome by the Germanic tribes, and he sought to conquer and annex Germania (Germany) for this reason. His invasion failed disastrously: three Roman legions, along with their auxiliary forces, were annihilated by a makeshift army of Germanic tribal warriors at the Battle of Teutoberg Forest in A.D. 9. Stung by this rout, the Romans contented themselves with establishing a strong defensive perimeter along the Rhine and Danube rivers. However Augustus’ failure to subdue Germania, like the failure of Darius and Xerxes to subdue Greece, portended a further disaster for some future day. It was the invasions of such Germanic tribes as the Visigoths, the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons, the Franks, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths which gradually weakened the Roman Empire and directly caused its fall. Germanic culture melded with Roman culture to form the culture of medieval Europe, and the influences of “barbarian” Germanic culture are still strongly felt in the Western world today.

Also deserving of mention is Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312, fought under the sign of the cross. This battle, which gave Constantine control over the western Roman Empire, had a profound effect on the history of Western civilization as a whole, and on the history of the Christian church in particular. Constantine’s Edict of Milan (313) freed the church from official persecution, and the later adoption of Christianity as the state religion led to the development of a distinctly Christian civilization. Constantine is also significant for moving the center of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople, and for convening the Council of Nicaea in 325.

The rapid conquest of the Middle East by Islamic armies created a grave crisis for the church in the early Middle Ages. In what has often been called one of the most significant battles in all of history, Charles Martel (“the Hammer”) and his Frankish army decisively defeated an invading Muslim army at Tours (Poitiers) in 732, driving the Islamic forces back from the heartland of Europe. Although the Muslims retreated south of the Pyrenees Mountains, they were not finally driven out of the Iberian Peninsula until 1492, the year Columbus discovered America. Martel’s force was the last Christian line of defense in Europe against Muslim expansion, and there can be no doubt that the hand of God was with him to preserve Europe as a bastion of Christendom in the Middle Ages.

The American Revolutionary War was one of the most important wars in the history of the world, for it created what has become the most powerful and prosperous country that the world has ever seen. More than any other entity, the United States has essentially shaped the world of the end times. The battle that led Great Britain to concede defeat was the Battle of Yorktown, where Lord Cornwallis surrendered a British force of 8,000 to General Washington on October 19, 1781. However, Yorktown would not have been possible without earlier American victories—especially at Saratoga, where the surrender of 5,000 British soldiers on October 17, 1777 convinced France to enter the war on the side of the fledgling United States.

Surely World War I and its sequel, World War II, were two of the most significant wars in the history of the world. They vastly reshaped world civilization, altered the balance of power in the world, reshaped world economic structures, gave rise to totally new types of weapons, and led to the establishment of the modern state of Israel. The key battle of World War I was the First Battle of the Marne, fought on September 5-10, 1914. This battle turned back the German advance on Paris and created a stalemate on the Western Front that was to last until 1918. The most significant battle of World War II was the Battle of Britain, which was fought in the skies above England in August–September 1940. The Royal Air Force won this battle by the narrowest of margins, thereby frustrating Adolf Hitler’s ambitions to invade the British Isles and forcing him to turn his attention to targets reachable by land.

The greatest and most decisive battle in world history is still to be fought—the so-called Battle of Armageddon. This battle will occur at the end of the seven-year tribulation period, i.e., seven years after Christian believers are removed from the earth at the rapture and a treaty between Israel and the antichrist takes effect (these two events evidently occur simultaneously). The first 3½ years of the tribulation period will witness some incredibly devastating wars and battles, the likes of which will make the carnage of World War II pale by comparison. But at the midpoint of the seven years the antichrist seizes economic and religious power over the world, and he conquers much of the world to control it politically, which results in relative political stability for a few years. However, at the end of the tribulation period, the Bible describes how armies from the north and from the east will march on Israel, which is where the antichrist has moved the center of his operations (Dan 11:44-45; Rev 16:12-16). These armies evidently come to Israel with the intention of fighting the antichrist for political power; however, as the signs of Jesus’ second coming begin to appear, they decide to instead turn their firepower against the armies of heaven (Ps 2:2-3; Rev 16:14). But when Jesus actually appears they realize that they are infinitely overpowered (Rev 6:12-17), and they are killed simply by Jesus speaking the word: “Drop dead!” (Zech 12–14; Rev 14:17-20; 19:11-20). The angels proceed to gather all remaining unbelievers out of the world to be judged (Matt 13:41-42), and Jesus establishes direct political control over a new earth, which only believers may enter (Isa 65:17-25). Armageddon is the most decisive battle in the history of the world, since it will result in the complete and permanent changeover of power in the world from human government to direct divine rule (Dan 2:44-45). There will be one final battle 1,000 years later (Rev 20:7-10), but this is essentially a failed rebellion, with all the casualties on the side of the losers.

The Bible also describes a war being waged in the heavenly realms which has a much more profound effect on world events than most people realize (see Dan 10; Eph 6:10-20). This war, and the most significant battles in this war, will be the subject of a future post on this blog.

Why isn’t Islam in Bible prophecy?

24 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Bible prophecy, Current events

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I grew up in a strong Bible-teaching church that emphasized Bible prophecy, and I have been a student of Bible prophecy all of my life. Given the amount of time that I have spent studying biblical prophecy, I find it curious that I cannot find a reference to the Islamic religion anywhere in the Bible. Currently, and for some time in the recent past, Islam has been a focal point of the world’s attention, due to the rise of militant Islamists who are responsible for a disproportionate number of terrorist attacks, civil strife, and wars in the world. Muslims also currently dominate the Middle East, and the Middle East is the focal point of biblical prophecy. But the Bible presents Israel as living in complete physical peace with its neighbors around the time of the antichrist’s rise to power (Ezek 38:11-12)—something which is not possible so long as radical Islam is present in the region.

So what will happen to Islam? In the absence of any clear biblical statement, it is hard to say with certainty. Maybe all the radical Muslims will become moderates. But it seems to me that Islam is in the process of collapsing, or of self-destroying. Recent events have shown that committed Muslims have a tendency to radicalize, which means waging jihad (war) against the infidels. (Christians are engaged in a spiritual battle, not in a battle against “flesh and blood” [Eph 6:12]; but many Muslims see their religion as indeed a “flesh and blood” struggle for survival and expansion.) The “infidels” include not only people from other religions, but also those from rival sects of Islam. In fact, the radicals tend to fracture into different groups which declare all others to be infidels, including other radical Islamists. More Muslims (and new converts to Islam) continue to radicalize, since the radicals have been able to argue convincingly that the Islamic religion does in fact teach the philosophy they espouse.

Western leaders portray the radicals as not representative of “true Islam.” They essentially want Muslims to hold values that are very close to those held by the Western secular majority, and to make Islam little more than a cultural identity with some belief in a higher power. However, their efforts to promote so-called “moderate Islam” are failing, since the claims about Islam made by Western leaders merely represent what they want Islam to be for political reasons. Claims about “true Islam” can really only be made by presenting a detailed analysis of the theological underpinnings of the Islamic religion, and Western leaders have failed to present such theological argumentation. Modern Muslims who want to become more religious tend to radicalize, and to turn violently against the West.

I believe there is a massive collapse coming in Islam, due largely to disillusionment when the goals and aims of the Islamists are totally frustrated. If the Islamist forces are crushed on the battlefield all over the world, and if Israel wins some sort of total victory, this would create a crisis of belief in the Islamic world. The Islamists themselves are creating disillusionment among many Muslims who are repulsed by what they are doing. Perhaps the West (and China) will even launch a concerted campaign to stamp out Islam someday, possibly as part of a broader campaign against conservative monotheistic religions.

What religious system will replace Islam in the Muslim countries of the world? I pray that the church will make a great effort to reach Muslims with the gospel as they are driven to search for truth and answers.