Truth Be Known

 

We live in an age of untruth. Who are you going to believe? Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” I think He was attesting that while truth may be elusive the search would be worth it. For most people truth is simply what everyone agrees on, it is not based on fact, or reason, or revelation. Although they think it is. They settle for hearsay, or cultural consensus. They follow the wide road. 

The Church is not exempt. Just consider how many denominations there are, each claiming to be the guardian of the truth. From the earliest Gnostic heresy to the plethora of false doctrines today, truth is not too terribly plain to see, it would seem. Truth is usually what you want it to be, what you create it to be. False teachers abound, like the false prophets of old. Think about it, though, they do not intend to deceive. They really, really think they are leading their listeners into truth. Just like the false prophets who thought that their advice was much more accurate than that of Elijah or Jeremiah.

Understanding the Biblical prophecies of the last days is not exempt. False teachings flourish, totally obscuring the truth. Jesus warned that many false prophets will abound, and because of deception many will fall away at the end of the age (Mt 24:10-13). I think that disappointment and disillusionment will become overwhelming when Christians endure death, mourning and famine, rather than being delivered from tribulation by the rapture, like they have been taught. The false teachers have not a clue they are deceiving, they resolutely think they have it all figured out. Let me repeat it a third time: false teachers of end times prophecy, en masse, are convinced that they speak the truth. Their teaching, though, is based on speculation and conjecture, and they merely mimic what all the others propound. Their lies do not become truth just because they are accepted by the majority.

Here are some teachings about prophecy you might want to fact check, just a sample. You must decide, personally, what is fools’ gold and what is the gold nugget of truth. Unfortunately, it probably comes down to this, who are you going to believe? I say unfortunately because most Christians, even teachers and preachers, don’t know how to study the Bible inductively, free from the biases and opinions of their favorite Bible teachers or commentaries.

Fact Check: The Bible teaches that there will be a seven-year Great Tribulation at the end of the age, preceding the second coming of Jesus. Truth be known, that is a hoax, started by John Darby about 1840, who twisted the great Messianic prophecy of Daniel 9 into a teaching never, ever conceived of before. It was then spread by the likes of Scofield, Moody, Pentecost, Walvoord, Chafer, Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, and Jerry Jenkins, to name a few.

Fact Check: The seven trumpets are judgments of God during the seven-year Tribulation. Truth be known, they are warnings to mankind of God’s impending judgment at the end of the age, and they have already started, more than 100 years ago.

Fact Check: America is blessed by God, and will never suffer defeat or judgment. Truth be known, America is clearly identified in prophecy as the little horn of Daniel 7, and the seventh head of the beast in Revelation 13. Daniel’s vision predicts that America will be utterly destroyed, and Revelation 17:16 says that the eighth beast will “bring her to ruin and destroy her with fire.” 

Fact Check: The rapture is the next event on the last days timetable. Christians will be taken out of this world before tribulation, tumult, and destruction occur. All that judgment stuff is reserved for the wicked who are left behind in the Great Tribulation. Truth be known, the rapture is simultaneous with the second coming of Christ, when the seventh trumpet sounds. Much turmoil will occur while Christians are still on earth. America will be destroyed. Wars will abound. Armageddon will be in full force. Christians will cry out, “Come quickly, Lord. Come quickly!”

Fact Check: Antichrist is the central figure during the Tribulation. He will make a peace covenant with Israel, and rebuild their temple. He will then turn evil and mean at the midpoint of the Tribulation. He will be a “one world” ruler. He will make everyone have a mark of the beast. And that’s just a short version of this larger-than-life monster. Truth be known, there is no basis for all these beliefs about Antichrist. The seven-headed beast, in Revelation 13, is a prophecy about seven nations, not Antichrist. The man of lawlessness is the “antichrist”. Proclaiming himself to be God, he leads a group of ten Arab nations against Israel at the very end of the age.

Suffice it to say, prophecy needs to be re-examined. Unfortunately, American Christians are so invested in the lie that they cannot see the truth. Not even interested. And they will be horribly confused and disillusioned, I’m afraid.

Any Moment

I hear it so often, “The Lord could return any moment now!” Any moment. In layman’s terms they are expressing what theologians call the “imminent return of Christ”. The word imminent means “impending, or likely to happen at any moment”. What is being suggested is this: there is nothing more in Biblical prophecy that needs to happen before Jesus comes to rapture the Church. They can say that because they believe the rapture will occur before any and all of the events of the Great Tribulation.

The imminent return of Christ is taught by the vast majority of evangelical prophecy teachers and writers in America. It is taught in unison with the teaching of the Great Tribulation theory and the accompanying pre-tribulation rapture. These three teachings have become a fundamental belief for many Christians in just the last 200 years.

The actual second coming of Christ, when He sets foot on the Mount of Olives, when He defeats His enemies and sets up His kingdom, will not occur until after many tumultuous events take place (supposedly in the Great Tribulation). But what if there is no Great Tribulation? Then the rapture occurs when Jesus actually comes again -- one single event. That pretty much blows holes in the “any moment” concept, because the tumult and judgment that precedes the second coming also precedes the rapture. This singular event will not be an unexpected surprise.

The exact moment may not be known, but it will be quite evident when Jesus is right at the door. As Jesus said, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Mt 24:32-34). I don’t think this supports a surprise, any moment, imminent rapture.

What, then, is likely to occur at any moment, if not the rapture? Let me set the stage. Paul told the Thessalonians that the coming of Christ and the gathering of the saints would not occur until after the man of lawlessness is revealed, and the great rebellion occurs (II Thes 2). He makes it crystal clear that certain tumultuous world events will serve as a precursor to the gathering of the saints. What Paul describes is the same scenario as prophesied in Revelation 17, the rising up of a ten-nation Arab-Islamic coalition (Rev 17:8, 11-14). The “eighth beast” will destroy the seventh beast, America (Rev 13:1-10; 17:9-10, 16), and then it will rule for only “one hour”. America must be destroyed (Dan 7:11; Rev 18:8) before the Arab-Islam nations unite to invade Israel and war against the Lamb (Rev 17:14).

The destruction of America is not even on the timeline of most Prophecy teachers. It’s not even on their radar, because they refuse to acknowledge that the little horn (Dan 7) and the Great Babylon (Rev 18) are prophecies about America. I cringe when I think of the destruction coming upon America, and how few Christians are awake, alert, and ready for such calamity.

America will be destroyed, not during a seven-year Tribulation, but in the final few years of the end times, while Christians are still on earth. We will suffer greatly – “death, mourning, and famine… consumed by fire” (Rev 18 8). This event is most likely the next event on the end times timeline. It could happen at any moment.

The "Great Tribulation"

Most Christians believe that the Great Tribulation is clearly prophesied in Revelation. One verse in Revelation 7 is cited as the proof positive. That verse reads, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). No place else in Revelation is there mention of the great tribulation, so a whole lot of theology is hanging on this one verse.

A closer look at that verse, in the context of the chapter, and the whole of Revelation, suggests that it is not at all speaking of a seven-year tribulation period. “The great tribulation” is translated from the Greek in various English translations in many different ways – the great suffering, the great affliction, very bad trouble, the terrific suffering, the terrible persecution, the great oppression, great distress, much trouble, and the great ordeal. One English translation, interestingly, reads “they who have come out of the Great Tribulation.” The translators clearly reveal their theological bias by translating the Greek as a formal title. Quite audacious, if I may say so.

Technically, the Greek word, thlipsis, translates best as tribulation, suffering, affliction, or persecution.  The word tribulation actually comes from the Latin word tribulum, an object made of a heavy plank of wood with sharp barbs on the underside, used to drag over grain for threshing. Tribulation is perhaps the best word to translate thlipsis, because it tends to incorporate the concepts of affliction, suffering, turmoil and persecution. But that does not give license to use Tribulation as the name of a seven-year dispensation invented in the 1840’s by John Darby. That is pure shenanigans, a very misleading false teaching, 200 years old now. 

The great tribulation being spoken of in this verse is not a seven- year period called the Great Tribulation. The chapter clearly does not suggest that. Those who come out of the great affliction were a great multitude that no one could count and they were wearing white robes (Rev 7:9). If the verse were speaking of people that will get saved during the Great Tribulation, who would then die and go to heaven, it probably would not be a multitude so great that it could not be numbered. Furthermore, saints wearing white robes are mentioned throughout the church age in Revelation, starting with the churches of Sardis and Laodicea (Rev 3:4-5; 18). Saints wearing white robes is mentioned again in reference to the twenty-four elders (4:4), and also the martyrs of the church age highlighted in the fifth seal (Rev 6:11). 

What is being revealed to John in Revelation 7 is an innumerable host of saints worshipping God in concert with the elders and angels. They wear white robes, having been made holy and righteous by the blood of the Lamb. They have entered an eternal peace, having come out of great tribulation throughout the Church Age. Amidst all the turmoil, destruction, and judgment portrayed in Revelation, John is given a reassuring vision that the saints of the Church age go immediately into God’s heaven when they die, into the presence of Jesus. Based on other scriptures, we believe that while the spirits of the saints await reuniting with their resurrection bodies they are in a cognitive, spiritual state of peace, holiness, and worship. 

I can give testimony that once the Great Tribulation concept is tossed overboard, Revelation takes on much clearer meaning. The seven-headed beast of Revelation 13 no longer represents the Antichrist, but rather seven nations, the last of which is America. The trumpets of Revelation 8-9 cannot be judgments poured out by God in the Great Tribulation. They can be seen for what they are, seven warnings to mankind of God’s imminent judgment, five of them already occurring over the last 100 years. And the often-used idiom of “three and a half years” no longer needs to represent one half of the seven-year period. It can take on its own unique meaning. The second coming of Christ no longer has to be split into two events. The argument over pre-trib rapture becomes a moot point since there is no Tribulation. The rapture of the saints occurs concurrently with the coming of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And lastly, some severe events in the very lasts day unfortunately come into clear focus – the destruction of America, the rise of the man of lawlessness, and the build up to Armageddon – events that will occur while Christians are still here on the earth.