PROPHETS AND PROPHECY IN TODAY'S CHURCH
By Rev. Jim and Carolyn Murphy
Table of Contents...
PART FOUR - WHAT ABOUT END-TIME PROPHECY?
CHAPTER 22
CONCERNING END TIME PROPHECY
As anyone knows who is over 25 years old and has
paid any attention to whatever the current “end-times prophecy” is
popular at that moment, this subject is an ever changing one. In this
chapter it is my intent to give a very general historic overview and
evaluation of the so-called end-times prophecies. It is not my intent
to in any way belittle or demean the expositors of these prophecies.
Rather it is my intent to make the point that we cannot know these
things with any degree of certainly, and that we become misfocused when
we devote too much of our time, money, or energy to this area of
speculation.
Let me begin by noting that a great deal of
information contained in this chapter has been taken from an extremely
interesting book by Paul Boyer, entitled, When Time Shall Be No More.21 Boyer
has done a very thorough and, I think, accurate job of compiling the
flow of these prophecies from the early church era through the early
1990's. While I certainly do not agree with his conclusions or much of
his commentary, his analytical information appears to me to be quite
accurate.
Early Church Writers
Saint Augustine, writing his The City of God, in the
early 400's, seemed to interpret the Beast of Daniel and Revelation not
as a specific person, but rather as all those people collectively who
were unbelievers and, most especially, those who opposed
believers.
During medieval times, much of the fervor for the
Crusades stemmed from the western Christians' desire to retake the Holy
Land from its Islamic conquerors. This was to be done because the
recapturing of Jerusalem would prepare the way for the New Jerusalem
from John's Revelation. Thus, the theology behind the crusades was to
make way for Jesus' return.
In the folk eschatology of that time of the 11th,
12th, and 13th centuries, Jews and Muslims alike were considered
demonic agents of the Antichrist.
During the Middle Ages, numerous kings and emperors
of western Europe were labeled as either the Antichrist or the “good”
ruler who would usher in the end-times. For a time it was thought that
the German Emperor Frederick II was the “Emperor of the Last Days” who
would usher in the millennium. This myth gained force when Frederick II
seized Jerusalem in 1229 and proclaimed himself as ruler. 22
The horrible Black Death, or plagues, of the
mid-fourteenth century, caused many of the European intellectuals of
that era to prophesy that the Antichrist was imminent and the end-times
were about to take place and that this terrifying plague was its
forerunner.
Reformation
Prophetic belief played an important and complex
role in the Protestant Reformation and its aftermath, particularly in
the upheavals in sixteenth and seventeenth century England. Apocalyptic
thought in colonial and revolutionary America was also partly molded by
prophetic beliefs.
Antichrists
Martin Luther, in his Adversus exsecrabilem
Antichristi bullam, (1520) designated the then pope, Leo X, as the
Antichrist. This stemmed from Leo's denunciation of Luther's writing.
John Calvin also made the Pope/Antichrist connection. Protestant
artists produced woodcuts of the Pope as a loathsome beast. This
identification of the Pope as antichrist has lasted well into the 20th
century.
Not to be outdone, the English writers of that era
devised a system by which the pope's name totaled 666, the Beast's
number according to Revelation 13:18.
The Puritans in England had their own Antichrist.
During the reigns of the Stuarts, Puritan literature identified the
Antichrist with the Church of England's bishops who were responsible
for much of the repression of the Puritans while they were in England.
One pamphlet specifically identified the hated Archbishop of
Canterbury, William Laud, as Antichrist. 23
End-Times Prophecies
It was during the Reformation that the Ottoman
Empire of the Turks expanded into eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Luther, in his 1530 German Bible, described the Turks as the Gog of
Ezekiel, chapter 38. Because both Protestant and Catholic Europe feared
the dreaded Turks, the Catholic church agreed with Luther on this one!
The Reformation also sparked renewed interest in the
use of mathematics to calculate the date of Jesus' return. John Napier,
the inventor of logarithms, applied his mathematical genius to the
books of Daniel and Revelation and predicted that the current age would
end in 1688.
Prophetic Speculation in Early America
The American writers of our day who are participants
in end-time prophetic speculations are merely the latest in a line
which has been under way for nearly four centuries.
The early American religious leaders made America
the forerunner of the New Jerusalem. The Puritans equated America with
the New Heaven and the New Earth where righteousness dwells. They based
their conclusions on contrasts between the freedom they had in America
versus the religious persecution they experienced in England.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) believed the Millennium
was approaching, the Reformation represented the Fifth Vial of
Revelation, and the world was now in the period of the Sixth Vial. For
Edwards, this was “proven” by the emergence of the Great Awakening, the
religious revival that swept the colonies in the early 1740's.
With the struggle for independence in the 1770's,
patriotic prophecy writers in America skillfully interpreted current
events into end-time speculation. One pamphleteer described the Stamp
Act as a prelude to Antichrist's reign. He urged all of his readers not
to allow any documents or goods into their homes which bore the hated
stamp because the stamp was the mark of the beast as described in
Revelation 14:11, 16:2, and 19:20.
King George, the English King during the American
Revolution was labeled the Antichrist and someone calculated that in
both Greek and Hebrew the words “Royal Supremacy in Great Britain”
totaled 666. 24
Prophecy in America from World War I Through 1945
1. World War I
When World War I erupted, prophetic writers revived
the Ottoman Turk Empire end-times theories and many proclaimed this as
the war which will make way for Jesus' return. This was heighten by the
1917 Balfour Declaration which made provision for restoring the Jews to
Palestine. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World
War I, the fulfillment of this prophecy seemed just around the corner.
2. World War II
With the rise of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini,
new Antichrists emerged. Several writers pointed out that if the letter
A is given the value of 100, B 101, and so on, then the name “Hitler”
adds up to 666. Mussolini, ruler of Italy, was also a favorite
candidate for Antichrist, especially since he had signed an agreement
with the Pope in 1929, conveniently linking him with the centuries old
Antichrist designate, the Pope.
In the late 1930's Russia also became a target of
eschatological significance. The signing of the 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact
was deemed by some as proof of the coming of the Antichrist and the
Beast. Turning to Asia, the Revelation 16:12 reference to the “kings of
the east” caused some writers to include Japan as an integral part of
this end-time scenario.
The Nuclear War Factor
With the defeat of Germany and Hitler and the
dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan, a new age of prophecy emerged.
Suddenly end-time prophets had a true world wide weapon of destruction
by which it was easy to imagine the entire world burning up. The
Apocalypse could now readily be seen as coming about by modern nuclear
weapons. Several authors proved their nuclear holocaust prophecies by
citing Peter's vision of a melting earth, (II Pet 3:12) and Joel's sun
turning into darkness and fire devouring the wilderness. (Joel 2:31)
Indeed, all such catastrophes in John's Apocalypse could be interpreted
through the atomic bomb lens.
It was in this setting that Hal Lindsey's best
sellers of the 1970's, The Late Great Planet Earth and There's a New
World Coming, came on the prophetic scene. Lindsey incorporated the
current events and scientific developments of that time into his
end-time scenarios with great skill. One author of his era, not to be
outdone by Lindsey, made Jeremiah's phrase “make bright the arrows” to
be the launching of a nuclear missile.25 Another writer
interpreted the phrase from Habakkuk “for they shall heap dust and
take” as an obvious prophecy of radioactive fallout. 26
Indeed, this Lindsey type interpretation of
prophetic imagery into modern-day nuclear weaponry continues even today.
Gog, Magog, and the King of the North
No discussion of 20th century prophecy would be
complete without including a section on Russia (or the Soviet Union) as
the ultimate invader of Israel. See Ezekiel, chapter 38 detailing Gog's
invasion of Israel.
By way of background, Gog's identity has puzzled
theologians and lay interpreters alike for centuries. Augustine viewed
the term as representing all unbelievers. Medieval theologians saw Gog
and Magog as the tribes from the Caucasus mountains that were an
invading threat to western Europe. With the rise of Islam, and
specifically of the Ottoman Turks in the late thirteenth century, Gog
came to be firmly identified with Turkish and Arab power.
It was in the nineteenth century that Russia emerged
as a new contender for the role of Gog. As early as 1834 a British
prophecy writer identified Russia as “the king of the north” of Daniel,
chapter 11.27 The Crimean War
(1853-1856), which pitted Russia against England and other countries
for dominance in southeastern Europe, enhanced Russia's standing as the
dreaded Gog. Indeed, serious credence was given to the “Rosh” of the
Bible becomes “Russia” and “Meshech” becomes “Moscow.” 28
For the 1950's through 1980's cold war prophecy
writers, Russia remained the mainstay for the Gog invader of the north.
Some even cited the 1980 Soviet intervention of Afghanistan as further
proof that Russia was trying to expand its power southward.
Modern Day Antichrists
As we have already pointed out, the most ancient
lineage of the Antichrist-designate is the Pope. However, the Vatican
faded after 1945 as a target of Antichrist watchers. This was probably
because the Pope is not seen as a giant among world powers anymore.
Political leaders have emerged as favorite
candidates now. Some have pointed out that John Kennedy received 666
votes at the 1956 Democratic convention. In the 1970's, I heard
speculation that Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's Secretary of State,
was the Antichrist. After all, his name in Hebrew added up to 111 which
is 666 divided by 6! And he was flying all over the world with his
shuttle diplomacy. Speculation had it that he was trying to tie
together his world-wide empire.
As we entered the 1980's, some pointed out that
Ronald Wilson Reagan, president of the United States, had 6 letters in
each of his 3 names, which totaled 666! And of course, Mikhail
Gorbachev, leader of the then Soviet Union, was a favorite candidate.
He fit nicely for those who refused to believe he was sincere about his
reform of Russia. Why? Because the Antichrist would try to appear as a
peace maker to hide his true evil intent.
The 1980's also facilitated the rise of the Common
Market in western Europe as further proof of the end-times. This idea
seemed to fade in the early 1990's.
The Number 666
We have already made several illusions to the number
666 but it merits further reference. Prophetic writers of the past few
decades have made much of interpreting world developments and
technologies as the Mark of the Beast, 666 (See Revelation 16:2 and
19:20).
One ingenious writer, noting that VI is the Roman
numeral for 6, extrapolated a theory that gave us the VISA credit card
as equalling 666, thereby condemning the entire modern credit card
system. Computers also have been signaled out for prophetic
significance. An ingenious writer calculated that if A is given the
value 6, B is 12, and so on, then the word “computer” totals 666 in its
numeric total. Certainly most of us are aware that various national
currencies have also come in for interpretations which inevitably lead
to the number 666. For me personally, perhaps the most imaginative
attack on our modern technology has come against the Uniform Product
Code, the bar code which is being used more and more in the United
States and elsewhere to price goods. Somehow certain writers have tied
this computerized bar code with the new Mark of the Beast.
The 1990s--Gog and Glasnost
As we have seen, Russia has been a favorite for Gog
as the invader from the north for decades. But what have the
popularists done with Glasnost? They have simply moved on, that's what!
Once Russia ceased to be a suitable Gog, the writers have done what
they do so well, they simply reinterpret current events into their new
scenarios and begin new books!
With the Persian Gulf War of 1991, Gog has shifted a
little south, that's all. When the crisis began with Saddam Hussein,
ruler of Iraq, he moved into the Antichrist category. The Iraqi crisis
also focused attention on Revelation 18, which foretells the
destruction of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar's ancient capital on the
Euphrates, (which is sixty miles from Baghdad). Hussein has made no
secret of his desire to rebuild Babylon, and is a great admirer of
Nebuchadnezzar. Once the Gulf War ended, and Hussein has been
contained, this particular scenario also has abated.
But have no doubt, I am certain that the next major
event somewhere in the world will get the end-times printing presses
going again!
____________________
21. When Time Shall Be No More, Paul Boyer, 1992, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.