Newspaper Headlines And The Bible

The harmonious relationship between the nation of Israel and evangelical Christians remains one of the most bewildering of all religious mysteries. Jews obviously welcome evangelical, political and economic support for Israel. Yet Jews remain both puzzled and offended by the fact that the same people who relentlessly support them are convicted that Jews are going to hell for eternity.

These same Christians who pour money into Israel and unequivocally support Zionism are absolutely confident that the Holy Land will soon turn into a blood bath, with rivers of blood flowing to the depth of a horse’s bridle in one valley (the result of a literal reading of Revelation 14:20). Playing an endless game of retrofitting newspaper headlines into Scripture, evangelical and fundamentalist Christians have no question that apocalyptic carnage will happen at the Second Coming. Ideas have consequences, and religious convictions have practical implications; in this case it logically follows that anyone who accepts such presuppositions must build and support the nation of Israel today so that it can be destroyed tomorrow.

There is no doubt that unending group tours arriving in Israel, filling buses that wind their way throughout Israel, are a bonanza for the Israeli economy. It makes sense that the Jewish economy welcomes tourist dollars/pounds/Euros. But it is a mystery why Jews continue to roll out the welcome mat for such tourists when one considers what the average Christian on those buses believes.

Evangelical Christian tours make their way to Megiddo so that Christians may view a valley they are persuaded will one day soon host the war to end all wars, dwarfing the horror of the Holocaust. Most of these same not so accidental tourists firmly believe that Jews will suffer eternally in hell. These are friends of Israel?

Many evangelical Christians offer unquestioning support of the nation of Israel, even at the expense of Palestinian Christians who share this land of the Bible with Jews. They assume, along with conservative Israelis, that Israel has a divine right to all the land from Egypt to Iraq.

Where do these assumptions come from – a methodology that causes them to understand biblical prophecy in one, and only one, way?

For much of my life, I lived in a prophecy-saturated religious culture. I lived in constant apprehension and fear of an impending doomsday. The “end times” biblical interpretation I was taught exercised incredible power over me – influencing my view of the future as well as my geo-political perspectives.

I was into my fifth decade on planet earth before I started to question my prophetic presuppositions. After all, they came directly from the Bible – they were the literal Word of God, why should I question them? It was a dark journey but I finally had to admit that what I had accepted without question was fatally flawed.

I discovered that what I had been taught about eschatology (the study of last things) came directly from an interpretative method of understanding the Bible begun in the United Kingdom specifically through the writings and teachings of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882).

As the 19th century came to a close, prophecy conferences became a feature of Protestant fundamentalist churches in North America as they took up Darby’s teachings. In America, Cyrus Ingerson (C.I.) Scofield (1843-1921) emerged as a leading advocate and spokesman for Darby’s interpretation, and eventually published his Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. Scofield’s Bible was what we would today call a study Bible, a Bible that featured a running commentary printed alongside biblical passages. At times it was hard to distinguish the notes from the text, so that many who used this Bible throughout the 20th century accepted the notes as Holy Writ.

The practical implications of this in the Christian world view includes the idea that Jesus cannot and will not return to our world unless and until certain events occur. Darby’s teaching is based on overly literal interpretations of prophetic passages, which may at times involve some twisting and manipulating to make passages fit its conclusions producing a prophetic “outline” or “timetable”.

In recent times, Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series, admitted to be fiction by its co-authors, illustrates this pieced together end time scenario.

Here is a one-size-fits-all summary of what will happen “at the end.”
1. Jesus will return to Rapture millions of Christians, who will suddenly disappear from this earth. They will be saved from the physical suffering others will endure in the Great Tribulation.

2. Led by the Antichrist who bears the apocalyptic number of 666 (Revelation 13:18) and his false-prophet sidekick – a political and religious combination gains worldwide power. The exact identity of this combination morphs as our own history unfolds, with each new political reality reported in daily newspapers said to then be clearly identified in “Bible prophecy”.

3. The Antichrist terrorizes the world, causing the world to worship Satan and somehow bear his mark of 666 on their hands or forehead (Revelation 13:16-17).

4. The Antichrist moves to Jerusalem, having previously resided (at least in most versions) in Rome. The Antichrist either builds a temple or appropriates one that has been recently constructed, And at that time all hell breaks loose. Natural disasters (like those which I believe are metaphorically described in Revelation) abound.

5. As human history comes to a close, one last huge battle takes place in the valley of Armageddon with two vast coalitions of forces facing each other (Revelation 16:14,16).

6. Jesus returns (again, a second Second Coming!) with His Raptured, safe and sound saints, defeats the armies of the earth gathered in Armageddon, and the thousand-year utopia begins.

Many evangelical Christians would be surprised, perhaps even disappointed, to discover that Christianity existed for some 1800 years before this prophetic scenario came on the scene. Is it any wonder that Darby’s scenario has been embraced by many authoritarian leaders for it offers many opportunities to manipulate and control?

In the 20th century, a tragic tale of flawed and bogus predictions, all based on Darby’s ideas, have appeared. The predictions of evangelist after evangelist failed. While redactions and explanations by those who continue to support these personalities and movements rise almost to the depth of a horse’s bridle themselves, original source documents for these embarrassing gaffes are generally available.

I believe it is imperative for Christians to be made aware of the harm that can come from the teaching of Darby. Among its chief flaws:
It places an inordinate emphasis on future events, and at the very least distracts from the central message of the Gospel which is Christ in us today.

It is addictive. It can turn its followers into prophecy addicts, always looking for the next “high” given to them by speculation and predictions.

It can cause people of faith to lose faith, and place blame for failed predictions with God rather than the flawed human methodology.

It appeals to fleshly interests, of assuring that one’s personal interests and family will be save from physical tribulations to be suffered by less fortunate non-believers (and believers) who do not believe cryptic prophetic insights.

It is dishonest and dysfunctional, as the same old mistakes continue to be perpetuated and taught to each new generation of believers.

It teaches, without qualification or disclaimer, that Christian believers will be Raptured before the world at large goes to “hell in a handbasket”. The tribulation and coming horrific sufferings are primarily described from a North American and European perspective. It promotes a nationalistic and egocentric view of the Bible and fails to acknowledge the tribulations that much of the rest of the world suffered in the 20th century. The implicit idea in such teaching is that the biblical tribulation doesn’t happen until North American and European Christians are affected.

We might call what I have described as “Christian Zionism” – the Christian support of Zionism based on overly literal and futurist interpretations of Old Testament prophecies (particularly Ezekiel and Daniel), along with those of the New Testament book of Revelation. This interpretative method can lead Christians to give virtually unqualified support of the sovereign state of Israel.

Both political and religious authorities have played on the fears of conservative Christians – or rather, the toxic and heady brew of Darby has infiltrated and subverted both church and state.

If you or a loved one has even fallen prey to the idea that present day nations and political leaders are “named” in the Bible, it is tough to release yourself from such addiction. I know from my own experience.

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