Prophecy Matters Blog

I recently re-read an article that appeared in a Christian magazine a dozen years ago. The writer, who has had extensive experience working with youth and college students, stated that the real problem for today's younger generations is that their sin has weighted them down with shame.

Isn't that interesting? Guilt of course is part of the equation, but it is deep shame because of sin that is the bane of today's young people.

Today's culture in America is a moral sewer. Everywhere people are becoming more self-centered.

The writer of the article also stated that when truth is jettisoned, the result is that youth especially look to all manner of earthly "wisdom" in their search for meaning.

At the same time this situation exists, we see the American Church relinquishing whatever good effect it ever had on society.

How sad to see churches ramping-up the emphasis on style over substance in church. They even talk of having "relevant" sermons/talks/messages for attendees.

The Bible is relevant! Its history, philosophy, and prophecy make for the ultimate message of meaning. The Church today however fairly shows its disrespect for Scripture by elevating lights, cameras, action over the instruction of Paul: Preach the Word.

I have a theory: people want someone to stand up and tell them the Bible is true, and THE guide for life. Tell them why. Show them. Explain. Preach. Teach.

The American Church today has largely abandoned this call.

To its great shame.

jim@prophecymatters.com 

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I routinely receive emails from people who lament the lack of Bible study and Bible preaching in American churches today. A gentleman this week wrote and said that for years, he has encountered relatively few people in the pews who seem interested in studying the Bible.

Of course, we've all heard for years that the Bible is often hard to understand. That is nonsense, if one believes in a Creator God who is able to communicate clearly with humans.

It is important to understand that the seeds for this lethargy were sown a very long time ago, as Enlightenment thinkers began to propose that Scripture was not the Word of God.

I have open in front of me a popular Bible study that was hatched in mainline churches two decades ago. The workbook looks like an intensive, wonderful Bible study. A lot of text, blank lines, etc.

Sadly, what unfolds as one reads it is an Enlightenment-soaked bias against the reality that the Bible is in fact the Word of God.

For example, the author of the study writes, about Genesis:

"The second (and much older of the two) Creation story (2:4-25) is a very ancient story, told long ago around campfires, under a star-studded sky. It was recited for centuries before it was written down."

The author prefaced that by saying that the "first Creation story" (Genesis 1:1-2; 4) is a "carefully worded poem of praise to God."

The "two Creation stories" heresy has been around for years and has influenced many people.

The truth is, a third-grader could read the first two chapters of Genesis and conclude that it is straightforward history of the creation of all things. Poems and campfire stories are not straightforward history.

These allegations against Scripture were necessary as liberal scholars sought to convince listeners that Genesis could be harmonized with the philosophy of naturalism, better known as Darwinism.

In other words, when liberal scholars attempt to attack the veracity of Scripture, they eventually take the heart and meaning out of it, at least in the minds of church members who assume the scholar is simply an unbiased, learned man.

In fact, the author of the particular Bible study I refer to became incensed during our correspondence some years ago, as I attempted to simply understand why he wrote, for example, that many OT figures were—according to him—fictional.

In the end, he told me that he had been a scholar for 40 years, as if that sealed it.

How sad. He played a significant role in turning people away from Bible study, in reality. At one time, his views were seen as heresy.

Today they have become mainstream.

And we wonder why people are leaving churches in droves.

jim@prophecymatters.com 

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It was reported today that Israel's Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Israel would consider ceding east Jerusalem to the Palestinians in a peace deal. It is exceedingly rare to hear an Israeli official talk like this, even those on the left.

For Christian supporters of Israel, it is important to keep one thing in mind: it's no cause for panic. In the past several years, since the disastrous and evil Oslo Accords, pro Israel Christians have fretted over several possible scenarios, the scariest being the establishment of a Palestinian state.

 Don't worry! Remember that Zechariah predicts a last-days battle centered in Jerusalem and "half the city" will be taken.

Ezekiel quotes Israel's enemies (36th chapter) as saying, "Aha, even the ancient heights are ours").

The Bible doesn't say of course that the Palestinian Arabs in the last days will not have a state in what is traditionally known as the Holy Land. It does not even say Jerusalem will not be divided, as it were.

 It does tell us that the Jews who settle the biblical heartland will never be expelled again.

 (We should also be cautious about castigating Israeli leaders, like Barak, as if they were thwarting the Lord's plans. They can't, so that is not a worry. In fact, even men like Barak, who might not be aware of the divine plan, have staked their lives on the defense of the state. Barak is a decorated war hero and member of Israel's elite commando unit, Sayarat Matkat. Ariel Sharon, demonized by pro Israel supporters for giving up Gaza, brought about the almost biblical crossing of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War, thus staving off a disastrous defeat for Israel. Let's give these men their due and pray for them.) 

Geopolitics are virtually meaningless for us who support and love Israel and the Jewish people. I say this in the context of Bible prophecy.

I would detest the division of Jerusalem; the very thought is hateful. But if we wake up one day and the "unthinkable" has happened and Mahmoud Abbas is celebrating from east Jerusalem, in "Palestine," we should not worry at all. Far from it.

In fact, the Lord of History and the Bible have never been wrong, never been out-maneuvered, and have never been in danger of being displaced.

The Bible predicts many things for the last days. We must keep our eyes on the prize—the return of the Prince of Peace—and not be distracted by the folly of mere mortals who think of the Jewish state as a negotiating chess piece.

Israel is right where she ought to be. Her God is watching.

jim@prophecymatters.com 

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Everyone and their brother is wringing hands over the Israel-Iran showdown. Increasingly, folks speculate about what Israel will do to stop Iran's nuclear program, which, as we all know, is about obtaining nuclear weapons—not for energy purposes.

Iran, as an Islamic "republic," insists its nuclear program is all about generating electricity for its citizens. That is an obvious lie, as the Iranians have promoted murder and terrorism for 30 years, since the Shah was expelled.

The last time an Islamic-based country threatened Israel with nukes, the Jewish state courageously sent a bomber group to take out Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor at Osirik.

 (By the way, the U.S. not only condemned that action, but the Reagan-led White House also later recognized the PLO, and pulled out of Lebanon after 242 Marines were murdered by Hezbollah in 1983. Do we really think "conservative" U.S. presidents are that much better in dealing with the Israeli-Arab crisis than their Democrat counterparts?)

It was almost amusing the other week to hear of a "three-day deadline," in which it was speculated that Israel would hit Iran by the weekend.

 If you remember nothing else, remember that the Israelis always use the element of surprise, and dramatic surprise at that. They are not on the world's timetable in any way at all, and Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition will act and/or strike Iran when it suits them. If I am certain of one thing, it is that the Israelis are a couple steps ahead of the international community.

Israel will not be destroyed; that is a biblical statement rooted in reality. How they go about eliminating the latest Haman is up to them...and cloaked in the shadow of surprise.

jim@prophecymatters.com 

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I well remember my reaction several years ago to a liberal scholar’s view that perhaps 11 people wrote the book of Isaiah.

Yes, I’m aware that what you just read seems bizarre. That’s the point.

We live in a time in which the Bible’s book of Isaiah, clearly written by an ancient Hebrew prophet named Isaiah, is called into question. The “11 Isaiahs” lunacy is the product of, among other things, the so-called Documentary Hypothesis, in which liberal scholars allege that the Bible was compiled by an unknown (but large) number of unknown editors, or redactors.

Why do they allege this?

The short answer is this: if biblical prophecy is in fact history written after the events took place, then it is no longer prophecy and the product of a supernatural being. It is merely history. And this has been taught, and is being taught, to Christians.

The answer is key to understanding where we are today as a people.

The official reason is that these scholars are certain that biblical accounts were in fact oral tradition for a very long time, before being set to writing. The traditional view has always been that Moses was the compiler/writer/editor of the first five books of the Bible. In fact, the Lord told him to write certain things down.

This won’t do for liberal scholars, many of whom question whether Moses was a real figure at all!

However, I maintain that the real reason these scholars allege such things is because they loathe the God of the Bible, who tasked His men and the prophets with setting down history and prophecy through written communication, thus ensuring that men and women and children in all times and places could read it for themselves.

But again, this won’t do for liberal scholars who have never liked the God of the Bible. They’d prefer to re-shape Him into a figure they can control.

You see, the idea that God knows the beginning from the end and predicts events is a great comfort to believers, but hateful to liberal scholars and other pagans. A God who is in complete charge doesn’t sit well with unbelievers.

Prophecy teaching today is under attack as never before, from Emergents like Brian McLaren, to liberal pastors like Tony Campolo. Here’s my own prediction:

It will get worse. There is a popular rise today among evangelicals in which anything that smacks of pro Israel or pro Bible prophecy is openly scorned. I discuss much of this in my 2009 book, It’s the End of the World As We Know It, and at Prophecy Matters, we make it our mission to educate the laity about the majestic nature of God revealed in predictive prophecy.

The coming of the Savior is our great hope, and has been the great hope not only since the first century church, but since ancient times (Job 19:25). We who endure to the end will be saved. In the meantime, we can take great comfort in knowing that the Lord used men like Isaiah to allow us to know generally how the future unfolds.

He is a most merciful God, and now is the time for men and women who love Him to stand for Him and His word.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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A hot topic among Church folk now is how to become culturally relevant for younger audiences. I recently stumbled across a mission statement of sorts for just such a church:

 "Our highest desire is to live in light of Biblical principle while remaining culturally relevant to our community."

 That's interesting; as if biblical principles and relevance are mutually exclusive.

Often, a thing can be repeated so long that most people begin to believe it. Such is the case with the idea that the Bible is outdated and not appropriate for modern audiences. Of course, it's never been more relevant, and what's more, the Bible is far, far ahead of humanity in terms of reality and relevance.

I (Jim) recently spoke at a youth camp in Pennsyvlvania, and the experience confirmed my suspicions: young people are not only smart enough to grasp biblical concepts, they are hungry for them. In particular, they completely understand the implications of the Bible's predictive prophecy.

It was a reminder that the truly irrelevant ones today are the liberal scholars who are so embarrassed with the old-time religion that they work day and night to change that which is unchangeable. I speak of men like John Spong and Brian McLaren. 

In the youth group I grew up in, things were fairly typical of others' experiences: an attempt to provide a wholesome atmosphere for young people. But there wasn't much Bible teaching. Today's emphases on light shows, loud music, and almost-middle-aged speakers attempting to dress and act "hip"...they miss the mark.

Prophecy Matters has begun creating specific seminar topics aimed at a younger audience, and the reaction so far has been terrific. Contact us for more information, and in the meantime, remember this:

 The Bible is eternal, life-giving, and life-affirming. In it we find God, in the person of Jesus Christ. In Him is all we ever need. 

Let us resolve to have the courage, in today's climate of postmodernism, Emergent, and liberal Christianity, to present biblical truth the way people need to hear it: unvarnished and exposed in all its glory.

jim@prophecymatters.com 

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Have you ever in your life seen so much selfishness in our society? Although humans have been self-centered for a very long time — see Genesis — I would argue that we haven’t seen anything like what we’re experiencing now.

An online Sports Illustrated blog illustrates this in a powerful way, and those of us who love college football lament the present realities (sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jeff_pearlman/05/28/ditka.loyalty/index.html)

The truth is, the creeping narcissism is a sign of what the apostle Paul warned about in his letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 3). The laundry list of bad traits is chilling.

Increasingly, our world feels lonely and cold. I don’t need to detail some of the horrific events in our world today.

However, along with the metastasizing narcissism, we also have the promises of God, which are infinitely stronger. For example, when the daily news is too much, I read the later chapters of Isaiah. Because I believe the Bible is God’s Word, and wholly true, those verses are powerful and life-affirming. This is the message people everywhere need to learn.

The recent death of actor Gary Coleman reminded me of this. As with many television or film projects, the actors from the popular 70s sitcom “Different Strokes” have dealt with their share of tragedies. Todd Bridges has had problems with drugs and the law. Coleman battled health problems for most of his 42 years. Dana Plato apparently ended her life in 1999, and her son recently followed suit, compounding that tragedy.

In the Era of Me, it is incumbent upon all of us who call on the name of the Lord to share the Good News wherever and whenever we can. Not only is it the only hope of the world, it is a marvelous and wholly satisfying promise.

One of the ways I spread this Good News is to remind people, or teach them first-hand, since so many haven’t read the Bible, that God’s provisions for the Jews are in full effect. His people, wanderers for millennia, have come back to the land just as He said they would.

The prophecy that Paul outlined 2,000 years ago is finding its fulfillment in our day. At the same time, we have the great, end-time promises of God finding their fulfillment as well. In the winter of this dying world, spring is just around the corner.

The wildflowers are blooming, and the fragrance of God’s love is wonderful indeed.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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As one who watched the salad days of the Dispensational movement, the “Pre-Tribbers” of the years immediately following Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth release, and then having spent a number of years in mainline churches…I feel that I’ve seen quite a few perspectives on eschatology.

In those years just following the Six Day War, and the Yom Kippur War, Bible prophecy enthusiasts were so overwhelmed with anticipation, they just knew Jesus was coming back in the next five minutes. I well remember reading Lindsey’s book, The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon, as a high school senior, and wondering if I’d get the light turned out next to my bed before the Lord returned.

All that to say, the country’s best-known Bible prophecy teachers have spread the word well, but also incorrectly at times. A side-note: we should understand that Hal Lindsey wasn’t responsible for some of the conclusions certain readers jumped to.

As a person who lives somewhat in the Bible prophecy community, I am both frustrated by some of the teachers, yet thankful that they are much, much closer to the truth than their vicious critics, among them the Emergent crowd.

Bible prophecy teachers have gotten some things wrong, but their “wrong” is tiny compared to the planet-sized, speeding meteor of their critics.

What many people fail to grasp is that when a Bible prophecy teacher is wrong, it doesn’t mean the Bible is wrong. Prophecy critics love to pounce on the more sensational claims of some teachers and then present the futurist approach to prophecy as hopelessly flawed.

Which brings us to our present situation in the world: as prophecies from the Bible become more pronounced, fewer people are paying attention. This paradox is quite astonishing to watch unfold.

One of the major reasons fewer people “get it” (such as the rebirth of Israel) is because Christian leaders who are considered authoritative pontificate on the subject. In reality, they are presenting their bias and because Americans have somehow become conditioned to believe what spokesmen tell them, many people assume an “A-list” Christian leader is right.

Take John Piper, for instance. Virtually a celebrity among evangelicals, Piper dispenses his wisdom on any number of subjects. In a 2004 article by Bill Koenig, entitled “Influential Christian Leaders Speak Against Israel’s Biblical Significance and Her Land,” we learn just where Piper’s biased theology is taking him:

“So now we ask, is the so-called ‘Promised Land’ part of the inheritance and salvation that ‘all Israel’(v. 26) will receive? And if so, what does that say about the rights of Israel today to the Land?

“The promises made to Abraham, including the promise of the Land, will be inherited as an everlasting gift only by true, spiritual Israel, not disobedient, unbelieving Israel.

“Being born Jewish does not make one an heir of the promises neither the promise of the Land nor any other promise.

“Throughout the history of Israel, covenant breaking and disobedience and idolatry disqualified Israel from the present divine right to the Land. (See also Daniel 9:4-7; Psalm 78:54-61.)”

Wow.

Piper is simply wrong, on multiple levels. In Scripture, the Lord repeatedly tells the Jews that they will inherit the land for eternity; He speaks very forcefully about their unbelief and the punishments for that (such as in Deuteronomy). He also constantly and forcefully states that He will bring them back from their dispersions to the nations, and that He will plant them in their land again, in the last days of world history.

(You can read the entire article at www.watch.org/showart.php3?idx=62726&rtn=/index.html&showsubj=1&mcat=4)

Further in the article, Piper makes the huge error of stating that both Jews and Muslims claim the Holy Land through divine right. The Jews certainly do, but Muslims do not. Their Koran makes no such claim. Either Piper is uninformed, or he employs the same techniques Uncle Walter Cronkite did: fit the evidence to your bias.

Piper’s bias against the Jews of Israel compels him to say exactly the opposite of what the Bible tells us about the tortured history of the Jewish people.

Replacement Theology, the idea that God has replaced Israel with the Church, and has “transferred” her promises to the gentile Church, is simply wrong. It is also dangerous. In this abhorrent worldview, we are seeing an almost identical repeat of the teachings that led to the destruction of European Jewry by the demonic Adolf Hitler.

For this reason alone, if Martin Luther were alive today — the notorious anti-Semite lived in the 16^th century and today is the darling of many evangelicals — and he told me the sky is blue, I’d have to check for myself. The Bereans learned to test what they were taught, and we would do well to follow their example.

Piper’s arrogant bias compels me to say that he and other Christian leaders like him have nothing to say to me that will help me navigate through this world. If he’s wrong about Israel, what else is he wrong about?

And make no mistake; we are merely discussing John Piper. He has a lot of company in his wrong-headed views about Israel.

The biblical record is quite clear, and reaches from Genesis to Revelation: the Jews are God’s chosen people and His covenants with them are unbreakable…they are unconditional. That was the point of Genesis 15. Those “covenant-breaking” Jews that Piper likes to pontificate about have never broken the epic covenant in Genesis 15, and they never will.

How Christian leaders can miss this is beyond me. It is part of the great Paradox of our age: Bible prophecy heats up, and more people aren’t paying attention.

In large part, we can thank our leadership for this dismal, dismaying reality.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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(Jim Fletcher will debate American Vision’s Gary DeMar on the subject, “Is Modern Israel A Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy?” on Saturday, June 19, 2010 at Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.)

He adjusted the tinfoil hat on his head and laughed, at no one in particular. I watched him and then asked if he had enjoyed himself. He laughed again and said, “Yes, I learned a lot and fellowshipped with friends and, you know, it doesn’t matter what they think about us.”

The “they” he referred to, of course, was virtually anyone else on the planet that had not attended the Mid-America Prophecy Conference, sponsored by Prophecy Watch and Phillip Goodman, in Tulsa.

For many years, Phillip has put together the conference, bringing together America’s best Bible prophecy teachers and their students. The tinfoil hats are a nod to the perspectives of folks who are not believers in Bible prophecy, or at least not the kind taught at these conferences. It’s a fun tradition organized by Todd Strandberg of RaptureReady (the world’s largest prophecy website). Folks who “wear tinfoil hats” are traditionally those who believe in UFOs and other unexplained phenomena.

It is becoming more popular in the evangelical world to denigrate those who are students of Bible prophecy. The reasons are varied and we will discuss a few of them. And, as David Reagan, one of the country’s best apologetics speakers and a fixture at the Tulsa conference, said while standing in a hotel lobby: “The word evangelical has lost all meaning today.”

He’s quite correct. Not so long ago, to be called an evangelical was akin to being called a fundamentalist, that is, a Bible-believing Christian. Everyone knew what the term meant.

Now, in an age of Emergent theology, well, Reagan is right. Influential change agents like Brian McLaren call themselves evangelical in a clever attempt to persuade conservative Christians that they are just like them.

They are not.

Nowhere is the divide more pronounced than in the debate over the Bible’s predictive prophecy. Prophecy conference attendees generally believe that Christ is due to return to Earth very soon, and that many of the Bible’s more dramatic prophecies are yet future. They are anticipated to such a degree that believers become emotional when discussing the possibility that “today might be the day.”

On the other side of the fence/high steel wall is the “evangelical” who has become enlightened by the world. He or she finds comfort in numbers — the sophisticated crowd that chuckles about Bible prophecy students (in tinfoil hats) is large and growing in number.

I maintain quite often — to the consternation of some friends — that this group is growing exponentially and that along with its growth comes another natural outgrowth: a distancing from support for Israel.

I base this on widespread reading and observation. The brand of Christianity/spirituality advocated by the Rick Warrens of the world is relatively safe and comfortable. Its emphasis on social works and networking with other faith groups is appealing in its stress of topics and agendas that almost no one could object to.

On the other hand, the idea that Jesus Christ is returning to judge the world is admittedly divisive. And modern evangelicalism is nothing if not increasingly opposed to divisive issues. Isn’t that amazing? Pastors rarely discuss Israel or Bible prophecy in a positive light. This is the weekly feedback we get at Prophecy Matters.

Indeed, the sophisticates like Brian McLaren present themselves as reasoned, introspective Christians who have become enlightened and found it necessary to shed the old way of doing church. That’s why there is such emphasis in Emergent circles on “new” concepts. Well, guess what? There is the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 1:3, a highly prophetic book if there ever was one). It’s old. It works. It’s truth. The change agents who hate it also hate its natural offshoots, such as predictive prophecy.

Replacement Theology, the diabolical idea that the “New Covenant” has replaced the “Old Covenant” (Israel has been replaced by the Church) is raging in the Church. This view guts belief in predictive prophecy, ironically at the same time it presents very thin evidence that the Church has replaced anything.

I talk to members of all communities all the time, and what I tell liberals is that though there is some wrong thinking among conservative believers — such as the Bible prophecy guys — the latter are much, much closer to the truth than those who denigrate and minimize Israel’s role in our time. My friends who teach Bible prophecy do get some things wrong, usually in their zeal to promote the blessed hope, but I’d much rather ride with them than those who laugh and scoff.

At Prophecy Matters, we are dedicated to a church seminar program that teaches the whole counsel of God and unashamedly promotes biblical apologetics, and unlike most, we strongly emphasize both a belief in the historicity of Genesis, and the historicity and reliability of those prophetic passages that wonderfully point the way to that blessed hope.

Break out the foil hats.

“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:3-7)

(Jim Fletcher is director of Prophecy Matters, and publisher of Icon Publishing Group; he can be reached at jim@prophecymatters.com, or jimfletcher@iconpublishinggroup.com)

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