Massaging the Scriptures

Interpreting Scripture is a critical and strategic step in teaching, preaching, and discipling. I don’t mean interpreting the Greek or Hebrew text into English. What I mean is explaining, or exegeting, the true meaning of the Scriptures, what God intended to reveal to us through the Holy Spirit and the Holy men of God who wrote it down. Paul told Timothy, his young protégé, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who… correctly handles the word of truth.” His advice was probably multi-faceted, but the dominant theme was this: “Be a good student of Scriptures, before you open your mouth. You must be spot on accurate in what you teach.” Timothy had a huge responsibility. Paul was not suggesting that he buy a bunch of commentaries, decide which well-known preachers to emulate, or keep your ear to the ground for trendy new theological insights. Timothy was to be a student of the Holy Spirit, the one who wrote the Scripture, the one who could lead him and guide him into truth and understanding.

Preachers and teachers have a tendency to massage the Scriptures to their own liking. It is a practice that started with the serpent in the Garden. It defined the Scribes and Pharisees, and it continues right up to our present day. The concept of “massaging the Scriptures” is not original to me, so I must tell you where I got it. I led a men’s group for a number of years. I had been encouraging the group to not always trust their own wisdom or their own best guess, but listen for the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. Pete, perhaps one of the most transformed men of all of us, came in one night and said he had heard some thoughts in his quiet time and did not know what to make of it. He pulled out a piece of paper and read to us. “You stiff-necked people, you always massage the Scriptures to your own liking.” This word of knowledge (or word of wisdom, or prophecy, whatever label you want to put on it) came in response to a dynamic heresy rising up in the church that most of us belonged to. They were bringing in a woman teacher whose entire message was that women were never intended to be submissive to, or subjugated to men in the church. They should be equal – in authority, in position, and in teaching and preaching. “Mutual submission” was the catch phrase for that theological enlightenment, as many would want to call it.

Paul was led by the Holy Spirit in what he wrote about women in the church. He was not a victim of cultural misogyny. But that is not the issue I want to discuss. End-times prophecy is my calling to write about. And I want to clearly state that teachers of prophecy are just as guilty of massaging the scriptures to their own liking as teachers or preachers in any area of theology. Perhaps more so, I tend to think. Speculation has become dogma, and deception parades itself as truth.

Not all teachers of twisted interpretations do so out of their own origination. In fact, most are following the script of other writers and teachers, parroting what everyone else is saying, lacking diligence and courage to seek the truth and stand on it. They subscribe to the predominant viewpoint, the prevailing dialogue. But that does not lessen their guilt or absolve them of responsibility.

Prophecy teachers parrot whatever they hear, whatever they read. For example, they all say the same thing about Antichrist, massaging scripture, using the prophecies of the little horn, the feet of clay, and the seventh beast of Revelation 13 to paint a picture of a super-human world ruler so powerful that he will even rise from the dead. But that’s nonsense – all of those images refer to a nation, not a person. Another example, everyone is saying that the trumpet “judgments” are going to happen during the “Great Tribulation”, and they will be so horrific that they will be beyond imagination. But the fact is that the trumpets are warnings, as well as judgments. They are warnings to the world that God’s ultimate judgment at the end of the age is rapidly approaching. And they have been sounding since World War 1, almost 120 years, now. They are not in the future. And speaking of the Great Tribulation, every prophecy teacher has been spinning the same yarn, ever since John Darby invented the concept and promoted it fastidiously in the 1800’s -- once again, massaging the Scriptures. There is no Biblical support for the seventieth week of Daniel being removed from the first sixty-nine, to be fulfilled in the twenty-first century rather than the first century. That is preposterous.

That great big false teaching of a Great Tribulation has a mesmerizing hold upon today’s prophecy teachers. Uncontested, it has become foundational to every other detail of prophecy interpretation. Prophecy teachers must make every other detail of Revelation fit into the Great Tribulation mold. It is just like trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole. It doesn’t work, but they do it anyways, oblivious to the absurdity of some of their interpretations. All the trumpet and bowl judgments must fit into the seven-year period. The Antichrist will make peace with Israel, rebuild their temple, then have a change of heart and outlaw their sacrifices and destroy their temple. That’s not going to happen. Worst of all, they teach that Christians will be spared any and all judgment, suffering, and turmoil at the end of the age by being raptured before the Great Tribulation. Talk about false hope – “pie in the sky” theology.

Massaging the Scriptures, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, and nobody seems to have a clue. Our current inundation of false teaching on prophecy is deceptively misleading. Prophecy must be re-examined, with every ingrained bias cast into the fire. Truth must prevail in these last days. 

The Electronics Age in Bible Prophecy

 

Who could have ever envisioned where the discovery of electricity would lead mankind. Basic electricity was the engine that drove the industrial revolution and the nuclear age. Electronics have driven the digital age, resulting in a smart-phone computer in the hands of 70% of individuals world-wide (more people than have indoor plumbing). AI is now at the finger-tips of every man, woman and child. AI automates factories, businesses, vehicles, missiles and drones, often replacing humans. Generative AI produces images, voices, videos, music. We hardly need human brain-power, or spirit led creativity. If ever Man has reached into the heavens and become like God, it is our present age.

Christians accept the digital age far too casually. They not only endorse it, they are elated over every new-found creative enablement. They have not a clue that Bible prophecy speaks eloquently about the Age of Electronics. God said that electronics would be a strategic factor at the end of the age. What seems so innocent and convenient is actually deceptively alluring, empowering, and manipulative. So much so that it is destined to meet up with God’s wrath, judgment and destruction. I am not making any of this up, I assure you, it is clearly laid out in Scripture. But even if someone were to point it out most Christians would not believe it.  Their bias is just too strong, predisposed to condone the electronics age as totally innocent and inert, not even a blip on the mind of God.

Revelation 13 contains the most detailed prophecy of the electronics age. It does not describe electronics in modern, straightforward vernacular, though. It is an apocalyptic vision using first-century concepts. The electronics age is the false prophet of the last half of Revelation 13. The beast out of the earth is not actually called the false prophet until later (Rev16:13; 19:20), but they are one and the same. The vision starts with a beast coming up out of the earth with two horns, seeming like a lamb, but speaking like a dragon. It ends with the enigmatic number, 666. For me, this is one of the most intriguing visions in Revelation, packed with real-world relevance for today. It is pinpoint accurate. Once again, history interprets prophecy, squashing speculation and conjecture.

The two horns on the beast represent positive and negative current. Why does it come out of the ground? Because electricity does not work without the electrical current returning to a ground rod. Why the lamb and the dragon? Electrical inventions all seem so innocent, practical, and helpful at the start. But with the development of electronics the innocent lamb became a false prophet, speaking like a dragon. The digital age has given birth to computers, unlimited information, the internet, social media, and now artificial intelligence. All of these are replete with deception and corruption. They exert great power and authority, capable of great control, manipulation, threat, and harm. And that’s not even considering the dark web. The false prophet imagery does not depict a man, such as the Antichrist, but rather the dominance and deception of electronics in the last days.

How does electronics live up to the designation, false prophet? Prophets purport to dispense truth, wisdom and guidance. But a false prophet is deceiving, misleading, and destructive, all the while pretending to be a lamb. It promises life and truth, but delivers deception, bondage, and slavery. Stop and realize how much our world – our morals, our activities, our beliefs, our loyalties – are shaped by the electronic messages and images we devour each and every day.

What about the number, 666? When history unveiled the number 666 it became the key to identifying the beast, the false prophet. “Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the beast. It’s a human number: 666” (Rev 13:18, MSG). The barcode, invented in 1974, uses the number six to signify the beginning, midpoint and ending of the scan. Barcodes, UPC labels, QR codes, smart cards, and other forms of electronic codes have controlled commerce for the last fifty years. You cannot transact business without electronics – buy, sell, inventory, shipping, delivery, cash register – nothing. In essence, the bar code solves the riddle of what the two-horned beast represents. (It has nothing to do with a chip implant demanded by the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation.)

Another significant prophecy about the electronics age comes from an unlikely source. Peter prophesied that “the elements in the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and the works of mankind will be laid bare” (II Pet 3:10). This is speaking of the satellite-dependent electronics technology that is the very lifeblood of mankind in these last hours before the Day of the Lord.  The electronics age will come to an end. This unheralded prediction correlates with Revelation, where it is prophesied that the false prophet (remember, that is the electronics age, not a person) will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 19:19-21). In the context it seems that this will occur concurrently with Christ’s second coming, when He will establish His Millennial kingdom.  Just think of it, a kingdom of peace and righteousness, free of all electronics.

Is The Rapture Imminent?

Is the rapture really imminent? For many teachers of end-times prophecy this issue is of utmost importance. First of all, we must figure out what they mean when they say that the rapture is imminent? The word imminent means likely to occur at any moment. If you light a firecracker and put it in your pants pocket, then you can be sure that an injury is imminent. If that is what the prophecy teachers meant by imminent then I would agree. The rapture, as part of the second coming of Christ, is not only likely to occur, it will happen. It is imminent. It is to be expected. Jesus said He would come again.

But that is not the concept that is meant when they teach the imminent return of Christ to rapture the Church. What they mean is this – the rapture could happen at any moment, totally unexpectedly. No signature event will precede the rapture. It will be a great big surprise when it occurs. Not a surprise that it will happen, but the timing can sneak up on you at any moment.

This concept is not Biblical, although they would like to suggest that it is. It is part and parcel to a greater doctrine, that the rapture will happen before a misconstrued Great Tribulation. All the prophetic events of Revelation are contained in that seven-year period, they say, so there will not be any events that precede and portend the rapture. It could happen at any time since it is not dependent on any precedent.

But that is not at all what Paul suggests in writing to the Thessalonians. They feared that the Lord had returned and they had been left out, somehow. It seems that there was a false teaching circulating, as though from Paul himself, saying that “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him” had already occurred (2 Thes 2:1-3). Please take note that the coming of the Lord and the gathering of the saints, the rapture, is one and the same event in Paul’s mind. But more importantly, Paul goes on to say, in verse three, that the rapture will not occur until after the man of lawlessness is revealed. Clearly, the “antichrist” will not be relegated to the Great Tribulation. He will be revealed for all the world to see before we Christians are caught up. Furthermore, the great rebellion which he will mastermind will also precede the rapture. That is speaking of the rise of jihadist Islam, the upheaval of nations, and the beginning of Armageddon. So, the rapture is not a total surprise, we have a pretty conspicuous timeframe leading up to the coming of the Lord.

My brother knows that I write about prophecy, though I don’t think he bothers to read much of what I write. He, like most Christians, is unwilling to seriously consider re-examining prophecy and challenging the prevailing interpretations. But he did ask me a question that is worth considering, “You’re not planning to set a date for the return of Jesus, are you?” My answer to him was this: “Not a date and time, but I can give you some pretty precise indicators. God is not one to pull surprises. He makes it very, very clear what He is going to do, and when He is going to do it. He has always been that way.”

Consider the extensive list of events that need to happen before the return of Christ and the gathering of the saints. The seventh beast must be deposed by the eighth beast (Rev 17), in other words, America must be destroyed (Dan 7:11). The sixth trumpet warning must be fulfilled, which is the buildup to and the beginning of the battle of Armageddon. Led by the man of lawlessness, the ten-nation Arab coalition will begin their attack on Israel. With America out of the picture, there will be no one to restrain them. Once that war has begun, we can expect Jesus to return to defend Israel and subdue and slay his enemies. We will be able to anticipate when Jesus will return -- on the Feast of Trumpets (most likely), after Israel has been invaded. That’s when the saints will be gathered, when the rapture will occur.

I don’t see imminence in that scenario. God is very clear in prophesying exactly what is going to happen, step by step, one event after another, to fulfill His righteous judgment. And to fulfill his promise, as well, of salvation and redemption of those who dearly love Him.

Whenever the writers of the NT encouraged the readers to live in expectancy of Christ’s return, they were exhorting them to live with a deep and abiding belief and hope in the eternal plan of God. He was not exhorting them to live in fear of being caught with their hand in the cookie jar when Jesus unexpectedly returns. He was exhorting them to live in hope. The dead in Christ will be resurrected, and saints who will still be alive will be caught up with them. Eternal glory is our hope, not an any-moment, unexpected, imminent return of Christ. 

Eternal Glory

Eternal glory is our blessed hope, the hope of all who put their faith in God. We believe that we will live eternally with Jesus in a new heaven and earth, where Jesus has prepared a place for us. Our citizenship is in heaven, and the things of this earth are temporary, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” We will live in a kingdom of eternal peace and righteousness. There will be no more pain, or sorrow, or death. We will be conformed into the likeness of Christ, by none other than Jesus Himself. We eagerly await His coming. Why? So that our lowly bodies can be transformed into conformity with His glorious body (Phil 3:20-21).

The rapture is not our blessed hope. The rapture is merely the means by which the saints still living at the return of Jesus can transition into the eternal kingdom. We must ask ourselves, then, where is our hope focused? Is our hope set on being raptured so that we might escape the horrific judgment of God in a period of time we have labeled the Great Tribulation? Is escape from suffering and turmoil our hope, or is our hope properly focused on eternal glory? Let’s be honest, what’s the biggest concern most Christians want answered when it comes to prophecy? It’s the issue of pre-tribulation rapture. They want to know if they escape the beasts and the dragons, the plagues and the judgments described in Revelation.

In several of the scripture passages that address the hope of eternal glory it is set in contrast to, or in succession to our current sufferings. Paul wrote, “our momentary affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor 4:17). Afflictions may become incredibly heavy in the days ahead, but eternal glory far outweighs them. Peter wrote, “after you have suffered a little while” the God of all grace will fulfill His calling and bring us into his eternal glory (I Pet 5:10). Paul also wrote, our present sufferings are not worth “comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). I am afraid, though, that Christians in America today are taught to put their hope in escaping before tribulation arrives, rather than being rescued out of tribulation. This results in a shallow faith that enjoys a consumptive lifestyle in these last days. Rather than expecting a refining fire that will produce vessels of righteousness 

Christians in America do not expect the least bit of suffering before the rapture occurs. We will blissfully enjoy the blessings of living in America until the day Jesus calls us upward. Then, and only then, the Day of the Lord can ensue, after we are gone. But that view of the end times will lead to great despair for many. Because their hope is misplaced, focused on escape rather that eternal glory, they will not stand strong in faith, hope, and endurance. They will think that tribulation, trouble, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword have indeed separated them from the love of God (compare Rom 8:37). His promises are hollow and his faithfulness has failed them.

Tribulation leads to righteousness. And God wants a righteous bride for His Son. The day of the Lord begins with judgment. It is not just all the other people, all those “wicked” people left behind who will be judged. No, in fact, perhaps the beginning of judgment in the last days begins with America. America is the little horn of Daniel 7, the nation that is utterly destroyed (Dan 7:11). And America is the seventh beast of Revelation 13 and 17, the one that the eighth beast (a ten nation Arab alliance) hates and burns with fire (Rev 17:16). Truth and justice have been trampled underfoot in America. This country that we think is so blessed will be exposed as a great harlot, Babylon the Great. She will be burned and destroyed -- death, mourning, and famine will sweep over her (Rev 18:8). But America glorifies herself and lives luxuriously, and believes that she will never see mourning – Christians included (Rev 18:7).

This tribulation will be great, and it will happen before the return of Christ, before the saints are caught up with the dead in Christ to enter into eternal glory. But we need not fear the judgment of God, for He will protect those who are His own. The seal upon us is the hope that burns in our hearts, the hope of eternal glory.

Why Will God Judge America the Beautiful?

Biblical prophecy reveals that America will be destroyed, sometime prior to the closing chaos of the end of the age (Dan 7:11-12). This destruction is not happenstance. Like the other great nations and empires highlighted in Biblical prophecy (Dan 2 and 7, Rev 13), this destruction will be the judgment of God. Which raises the question, particularly amongst Americans, themselves, why would God judge America?

God says of America, “Her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes…. Therefore, in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her” (Rev 18:4,8).  

We who live in America view ourselves as above reproach – we see only what we want to see. Our perception is tainted by wealth, power, pleasure, ease, and freedom. We think we are uniquely blessed by God. We ignore and excuse the great sins in our past. And we overlook our current culpabilities, as well. Like a frog sitting in a pan of water rising to the boiling point we are unaware of impending doom. But soon the blood will begin to boil.

America is repeatedly portrayed in Biblical prophesies as arrogant, prideful, and boasting (Rev 13:5; Dan 7:8,11; Rev 18:7). That is very difficult for Americans to believe, but ask anyone else in the rest of the world and they would agree with Scripture. Furthermore, America is repeatedly portrayed as glorying in her luxury, splendor, and wealth (Rev 18:7,14-17). The nations of the world, though, enjoy the trickle-down effect of America’s great wealth – they worship America (Rev 13:5), while being drunk with the maddening wine of her adulteries (Rev 18:3). America will be judged for mocking God, for blasphemy, and for oppressing the saints (Dan 7:25; Rev 13:5-7). And, let’s not overlook the matter of slavery (Rev 18:13) and bloodshed (Rev 17:6; 18:24). For the most part I leave it to the reader to hash out the details of these Biblical indictments, but the words of God cannot be denied.

Our national desire for wealth and ease of living has run the national debt up into the trillions. The weight of such greed is like filling a dump truck with tons of gravel and trying to balance it on top of a wheelbarrow. Greed, consumption and luxury have run amok, and we all must take responsibility for it.

America is guilty of performing abortions, wholesale, for over 50 years now. The grave cries out for justice for these innocent unborn children. We have been led into the town square of Sodom and Gomorrah and Christian Nationalists think we can still turn back the tide of the LGBTQ’s growing control over our society. Our schools and universities teach that evolution is our source of origin, that everyone’s choices are acceptable and to be tolerated, that God is a silly archaic notion. The meteoric rise of the technological age has enabled America to dominate the world (Rev 13:11-18) – sometimes diabolically.

There you have it. Enough is enough. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to write about America being worthy of God’s judgment. The warning only comes across as bashing America, or “biting the hand that feeds me”. God’s warning should humble us, not raise our hackles. We must turn our eyes upon Jesus.

Perhaps the next question we should ask ourselves is this, “When will God judge America?” 

Woe To You, Babylon the Great

Babylon, the Great City, is a prominent theme in Revelation as the prophecies begin to hone in on the very last days. It is referred to by other names, as well – Babylon the Great, the prostitute, and Mother of prostitutes. It is visualized to John, “in the spirit”, as a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, which beast had seven heads and ten horns. This beast is the same beast as in Revelation 13, but in chapter 17 the beast has this great harlot riding on its back. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls, and holding a golden cup filled with her filthy abominations and adulteries (Rev 17:3-4).

The mention of Babylon the Great is scattered over chapters 14 to 19 in Revelation. It is very helpful to bring these together in one flowing compilation to see and understand what God has to say about this great city of the end of the age, New York City, the heart and soul of America.

A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” (14:8).  God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. (16:19). The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great; the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. (17:5). The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. (17:16). With a mighty voice {the angel} shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit….  For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” (18:2-3). Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!” (18:10). The merchants… will weep and mourn and cry out…  When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’….  “Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.” Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again” (18:15-21).

Babylon the Great is not merely symbolic. It is a literal, specific city of the last days. The name may be symbolic, obviously, but not the city. Just as historical Babylon was the capital city of the Babylonian empire, each of the seven beast nations has had a capital. The seventh beast, the beast of the last days, has as its “de facto” capital New York City. NYC is the great city that has dominated the world for the last century or more. NYC is the great city being spoken of in Revelation. How do we know that? Because it is destroyed by the eighth beast, the ten-horned beast, the Arab-Islamic coalition of the very last “hour”. So, The Great Babylon of Revelation 17-18 must be the capital city of the seventh beast, America. And for those of you who might believe that Babylon the Great is referring to a historical Babylon, rebuilt in Iraq. you need to consider the prophecy of Jeremiah (51:37,64), saying that Babylon would be destroyed, never to rise again. Besides, there is not enough time before the very soon end of the age to rebuild a world-class city in the deserts of Iraq.

 NYC will be destroyed, both by the eighth beast (Rev 17:16), and by the hand of God (Rev 16:19; 18:8). Its destruction is judgment for the adulteries, abominations, and bloodshed that brought it such great wealth and power. Hard to believe, yes! When it happens, though, we should not be surprised. It is one of the events of the end of the age that must happen (Rev 1:2). Americans, are we ready for the judgment that God has ordained? Are we ready to endure death, mourning, and famine (Rev 18:8)?