Certain Bible prophecy teachers are saying certain things that can only be labeled as dangerous theology.
The dangerous theology I am talking about comes from subjective interpretations of the Parable of the Fig Tree mentioned in three gospels. The problem is that they teach their conjecture as truth and that is what makes it dangerous theology. When they say the Rapture has to occur before the end of next year based on their own subjective interpretation of the Parable of the Fig Tree they are teaching dangerous theology.
I am speaking of those that say the Rapture has to occur by next year because of their conjecture that the Parable of the Fig Tree has to be talking about Israel’s rebirth in1948 and their conjecture that a generation or a lifespan is seventy years. They go on to say the Rapture would have to occur at least seven years before the seventy years are up so they say the Rapture has to occur by the end of 2011. Even worse are the ones who tie in pagan hype to come up with a 2012 tribulation. When once credible Bible prophecy teachers dogmatically set the final date for the Rapture or the tribulation they are on dangerous ground theologically.
If Christians actually believed what they are teaching as fact, the Church should do no planning for anything after next year. So if you believe them don’t build that church or start that Bible college. Why even go on with your Bible translating since you will never will get it done before next year? Everyone might as well just quit college and stop future planning for anything. Just go wait on a mountain top. Do you get the picture? This date setting from a flimsy interpretation of the Fig Tree Parable is very dangerous theology. Thank God that most of the Church have not and will not buy into Rapture date setters.
What are those that are saying these things going to do when 2011 comes and goes and there is no Rapture? I already know. They will just change a lifespan or generation to mean 80 years and say the Rapture has to happen by 2021.
It is no skin off their nose because many already claim that a lifespan can be 80 years according to the Bible. But what about the people that actually believed your dogmatic teaching that the Rapture would occur before 2012? What about all those that will give up on Bible prophecy teachers because they once again prove to be wrong. Is it any wonder why in the last days some will mock and say where is the promise of His coming (2 Pt 3:4)? Every time some Bible prophecy teacher cries “Lion” and Jesus does not come at their call the skeptics of Bible prophecy grow in number.
I also have to ask the people that claim to believe these subject interpretations a question? Do you really dogmatically believe that the Rapture has to occur by next year? If you really do I certainly do not see any indication of that. There is no increased activity from Christians to get things completed by next year. Many of the Christians I am in contact with seem to be worrying more about an economic collapse in the United States, and for good reason. Why worry about that if you actually believe the Rapture will happen by next year? If you really believe the Rapture is coming by next year just send me your money you will not be needing it.
So, obviously such conjecture by Bible prophecy teachers do not really impact the lives of Christians anyway. So what is the point for giving gullible people false hope of an early escape? On some Bible prophecy forums all troubled people do all day is talk about their hope of escaping in the Rapture by next year. The need for escape even borders on faithlessness in my opinion.
Anyone see a parallel here with 88 reasons why the Rapture will occur in 1988? That well meaning but very wrong Bible prophecy teacher thought a generation was forty years. The fact of the matter is that we do not know that Jesus was talking about the birth of secular Israel in 1948 in the Parable of the Fig Tree .
A word to the wise should be sufficient, but will it be?
Hi, Don. I’ve been following your website for a while now and this is the first time I comment on a post. Great work by the way. I agree with you that the date setting by these prophecy teachers is just plain nonsense. TIme and time again in the past we’ve seen dates proposed by such people pass by and they still do not learn their lesson. This just causes nonbelievers and many believers as well, to mock the promise of his coming. Some weak in the faith fall back becasue of this. I’ve had countless peers tell me they doubt Jesus is coming any time soon or coming at all because they’ve been sayin he is coming in the 80’s, then the 90’s then the year 2000, etc.
I think that many post-tribbers attack pre-tribbers saying we are escapists because many Christians are programmed with the idea that not much will happen before the tribulation and that the rapture will come before things get bad. I firmly believe that things will get progressively worse as Jesus nears and that we might even have persecution in the US before the rapture ever happens. I mean why not? In other parts of the world Christians are being persecuted for Christ’s sake and they ahve to hide! And that real bad disasters cannot happen? Look at Haiti, for example. We already had Katrina. I think the US is overdue for judgment. We have pushed God aside and even Christians are embracing the worldliness and sinful lifestyles. I think America needs persecution to see who the real Christians are. Christians in the US can get far too comfortable while other Christians over the world suffer for Christ!!!
I know as the body of Christ, we will know the season when he is coming. The rapture might very well be in this decade the way things are playing out in the world nowadays, but they can’t make it a must-be-scenario fitting it in their interpretation of the fig tree parable. We ought to be occupying ourselves in the Lord’s work waiting for him to come at any moment but not pinpointing any dates. I personally, believe there is a high probability that it can occur this decade, as we are seeing signs of the pieces to the Antichrist Regime starting to come together, but I cannot guarantee it. God Bless.
Gilbert,
Thanks for your words of wisdom. We seem to forget the world is always at war in one place or another. We think we are except from it ever reaching our shores. But actually the enemy is already in the camp and also in our churches.
There could be persecution in the liberal states and even revolution in the more conservative areas years before the Antichrist even arrives on the scene.
I’ve always wondered why so many refuse to accept the clarification by Luke when he says “behold the fig tree and all the trees.” I think this is just a word picture stating that just as the budding of the trees are a sign of summer to come so the emergence of the signs Jesus is detailing in Matthew 24 evidence of His soon return as King. And as you consider those signs, they include events in the tribulation period, e.g. the abomination of desolation. I believe the rebirth of Israel is a key sign that evidences things are moving quickly towards His return, but not in context with this word picture and the signs being listed in the Olivet Discourse.
Don,
I understand your points precisely. I have the same aversion to Harpazo date-setters.
However, the re-emergence of Israel in 1948 is in my view a very significant sign of the “end of the age” per Matthew 24 and directly links Israel with the fig tree and its fruit..
In this respect I believe Jesus cursing of the barren fig tree (Mathew 21 and Mark 11, particularly verse 13) was made with specifically to Israel as it existed in between the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus crucifixion and Resurrection. The vast majority of the Jews did not know what season it was. I believe this is ultimately born out by Paul in Romans 11. There are enormous details within this, but that just touches upon the gist of my point.
I believe that Jesus’ reference to the fig tree within His Olivet Discourse was relative to Israel in these ‘last days.’ I believe this because the prophet Hosea in his diatribe against the sins of Israel was precisely specfic to Israel in chapter 9, verse 10b where he directly referenced Israel as being akin to the fig tree and its crop of figs as the first fruits in that season. Indeed, Jesus Messiah came first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.
Hosea 9:10b
“I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.”
Daniel’s 70th Week is all about God pouring out His Spirit upon Israel. It’s about the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who will win for Christ innumerable souls at that time. In this respect secular Israel will become the Israel as Paul declares in Romans 11 and Luke 19:42.
Consider also Jeremiah 24:5-7, Luke 12:56 in this context.
Sean
i understand your position Sean. You have mentioned it on this blog before. You think a lifespan can be 80 years and that everything will take place by 2028.
That is possible because by then we are getting into the realm of realistic possibilities for everything that has to happen to take place.
But, for anyone to say that everything we know has to happen in prophecy can fit between now and 2019 is not rational thinking in my opinion. Then for Bible prophecy teachers to say the Rapture has to happen 7 years prior to this or by 2011 based on a 70 year lifespan being the generation that would not pass away is downright dangerous theology.
In luke 21 Jesus put the parable a bit differently
If Israel is the fig tree then who are all the trees? I would think they would be the Gentile nations of the world. It also says when you SEE these things. What things? Perhaps the signs that Jesus was talking about in the prior versus.
As you know I think some things still have to take place before the last seven years for the Jews. For example the war of Pslam 83 and probably the Ezekiel Gog war. I think Jesus could have been talking about events that span 20 years. It would include false birth pains or a false tribulation caused by Satan instigating wars of man so that the world actually starts looking for a Messiah after these times of troubles on earth but they find a false substitute..
Jesus did curse the fig tree and I think it represented Israel but He might also have been referring to that very cursing in this parable. If so, learning the parable of the fig tree could just as well mean when you see Israel cursed by God because there was no fruit in the nation and it is left alone without God among the nations of the world then know that the Kingdom of God is near and that this generation will not pass away until all is fulfilled. Let us remember that 2/3 of Israel is killed in the tribulation. A curse for the unbelievers in the land of Israel still comes before their blessing when the whole nation finally receives their true Messiah.
I see 1948 as a significant date in the world as I do 1967 and I lean toward Israel being the Fig Tree in this parable but I do not think we can be dogmatic about our interpretations of this parable either.
Many have theories, but to make theory fact is going out on a dangerous theological limb that I am not going on.
Don,
I agree with the date setting, specifically when it comes to the Harpazo – no man knows, and so all of that kind of speculation is inherently wrong, a foolish waste of time and not what should be taught. People who engage in such things should desist and get about the task of the Great commission instead.
The answer, I believe to Luke 21:29, “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees…” Is as you suggest, the fig tree is a direct reference to Israel in these last days, and “all the trees” is a direct reference to all other nations of the world.
I believe the good doctor Luke gave us the key to understanding this version of Jesus prophecy when he quoted the teaching of John the Baptist:
Luke 3:7-9
“7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.””
The “SEE all these things” refers to those things Jesus said must take place, he was speaking to that very future generation he referenced, and “this generation shall not pass away til all be fulfilled.”
I believe Israel’s curse was completely fulfilled between 67-73 AD, and in the resulting diaspora throughout the subsequent 1,870-some odd years of history and concluding with the holocaust of WWII.. However, Ezekiel 37s “dry bones’ equates to 1948 and the re-emergence of a Jewish state. Pslam 83 has been in the process of fulfillment since November 1947. I believe that Israel is not only the “fig tree” but it is also the big hand on the Lord’s prophetic clock, it’s existence is the proof that the season is upon us, the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
I don’t know any of this through my own efforts in eschatological study. I am instead aware of it through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Sean, I can agree with most of what you said. However Israel today is still dry bones. So I ask you Sean, can a nation of dry bones take heed to what Jesus said, that the generation seeing these things would not pass away until all is fulfilled? If not why even say it at all to Israel?
Or on the other hand, was Jesus really talking to a people in Israel that should be spiritually aware that the Kingdom of God is now at hand?.
Some teachers say, (including you if I remember correctly) that Israel will return to Jehovah when Jehovah intervenes in the Gog war. They also say that this war takes place before the tribulation.
Thus, can it be that this is the generation that Jesus is referring to? Is the generation where flesh comes back on the dry bones in Israel the one that would not pass away until all is fulfilled? I know what I am implying here is conjecture but so are all the 1948 theories.
I think we need to do much Bible study and also be open to the Holy Spirit to understand many things, especially parables.
Don,
Yes, today Israel is a secular state. If modern day Israel is “dry bones,” then what of the Hasmonean Kingdom in the past? Did that not lead directly to major prophetic events which were foretold by the prophets? I maintain that Israel’s existence today is not divorced from God’s will and the appointments with destiny for many leading up to and including Daniel’s 70th Week.
We know from Scripture that just prior to the Lord’s pouring out of His Spirit upon the Jews that they will rebuild the Temple and reinstitute ritual daily worship and the daily sacrifice. The reconstitution of the Sanhedrin is a step in this direction.
Jesus reiterated the prophecy of Daniel which referenced that the Abomination of Desolation would be standing in the “holy place.” The Temple and the holy place within it cannot be considered as such by the Lord unless it is sanctified as such according to His will. In order for the rebuilding of the Temple to happen a major paradigm shift must occur in the Middle East as we know it at this very moment in time. God’s Will in action. What does this say or suggest about the Lord’s will regarding Islam and its currently dominating presence on the Temple Mount? A prophetic paradigm shirt is imminent.
Isaiah told us that this modern Israeli state would exist. He prophecied in chapter 66 how the Lord would vindicate Zion. The entire chapter need be read for context, yet I would suggest that we apply Isaiah 66:8 to what occured in May 15 1948:
Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
Yes, I do believe that Israel will return to its covenant worship of the Lord and that return will occur at the latest during the Gog/Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38/39. The last verses of Ezekiel 39 (particularly verses 25- 29) makes this return abundantly clear:
25 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— 26 after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.”
As I have noted before in what I’ve written, pay close attention to the past tense found in verse 29. In all the rest of the Bible this prophetic pouring out of the Lord’s Spirit upon Israel is future tense (i.e. I will pour out My Spirit), yet in this verse it is finally stated as “I shall have poured out My Spirit”. The Lord’s mercy is unilateral, without condition and “upon the whole house of Israel” and entirely consistent with His Abrahamic Covenant.
As I stated above, I have not learned this through my own eschatological study (which at this point in time has arrived the sum total of four decades), but rather from the conviction of the Holy Spirit regarding His Word.
I agree that Israel is not divorced from God’s will but I don’t see Israel seeking God either and I know from scripture that a great chastisement lies in front of Israel before the seventy weeks are completed and the kingdom can be restored to Israel.
All we see happening today in and around Israel is certainly going to lead up to the fulfillment of the 70 weeks. But the real question here is about the meaning and timing of the parable of the fig tree.
Was this parable given to mean the generation that were infants in1948 and could not even observe and understand these things. Is this the generation that would not pass away until all was fulfilled? I tend to think not.
Perhaps like Israel could not enter the land because of unbelief in their first generation out of Egypt. this unbelieving generation in Israel out of “Egypt of the world” will not see the promised kingdom come in their life times either. It may be the second generation. Jesus may have been talking about. The generation of leadership that rejects atheism and returns to knowledge of the things of Jehovah through the Psalm 83 and Gog wars. Of course that is more conjecture of mine but we Eschatologists are all very good at conjecture.
One thing that serious eschatologists should all agree on is that anyone saying the Rapture has to occur by next year is dangerous theology for the very reasons I stated in this post.
If you think by that statement that I am trying to get this thread topic back on Bible prophecy teachers saying dangerous things because of dogmatic interpretations of the fig tree parable, you would be correct.
Don,
I have one final comment to make which I hope is a good response in getting back to the crux of the issue you raise.
There are some within Israel which adhere to the conditions of Covenant worship and in that sense they seek God, and there are still others who have found Yeshua Mashiach. However, on the whole, as a direct result of Israel’s disbelief during and after the Exodus the Lord placed upon Israel the overwhelming spiritual burden of a heart unable to perceive truth, blinded eyes and deaf ears. As a whole they remain heartless, blinded and deaf to the Truth. They did not know the time of their visitation circa 32-33 AD because of this imposed spiritual condition. I believe that in order to fully understand this condition in which Israel exists today one must rely upon The Word as expressed in Deuteronomy 29:4, Isaiah 29:9-24, Isaiah 59:19-21, and all of Romans 11. Precisely how the Lord will do His works with respect to modern day Israel is within His Sovereignty, and His Word assures us His will shall be done.
With respect to the “fig tree” being a symbol of Israel at “the end of the age” my view on this has been expressed. The key point as I understand it regarding your question is within our knowledge that Daniel’s 70th Week is a specific 7-year period of time which lies at the conclusion of the generation of which Daniel prophesied and Jesus reiterated in the Olivet Discourse. Therefore, the bulk of the time that generation is alive is prior to the 70th Week. The crux of the question is the “start date” for that generation which is alive and bears witness to the specific signs Jesus said they would be witnesses to. I believe we are that generation.
However, I concur with you in that I am absolutely opposed to all who say that the Harpazo must occur by this or that date. Scripture is very clear on this and such teaching stands in opposition to the Word of God.
I agree about this dangerous theology, as I’ve noticed it a lot on the prophecy message boards lately. There are quite a few people there who indeed are so focused on the Rapture that they are not dealing with their lives in this world, especially younger adults — including some asking if they should still pursue any college or other plans since they really do think the Lord will come back so soon, and wonder if instead they should quit school and do street evangelism to save as many as possible because the Rapture is so near. In one such case I read, at least other people did write back and counsel the young person that “we need to occupy” and they need to go ahead with school plans until the Rapture.
After a while I noted the connection between their rapture-obsession and the 1948 fig tree, and a few times tried to point out the obvious about the Luke 21 passage. But the individuals who are so obsessed about wanting the rapture soon, simply don’t want to hear it, and talk about how they trust Hal Lindsey because he’s so sure that the rapture will come in his lifetime, and surely he must be right. They’re not old enough to remember his predictions of 1988, yet they still ought to know about it, but they won’t accept the truth because they really don’t want to “occupy” and want the rapture to happen now.
Lynda,
Well said! Yours is a spot-on post regarding some of the Harpazo-themed message boards. I have seen such postings as you describe and know for a fact that challenges to that particular tunnel vision-like mindset usually results in one being banned from the board, ostracized, ignored or beset with indignation from other posters. I find the Jesus “come take me away from all this now” theme to be ridiculous, self-centered, pompous and a very poor witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Great Commission.
Thanks for the info. What you mentioned is a prime example of what this dangerous theology produces.
I have not heard Hal Lindsey lately but I would think he would leave open the possibility of the generation not passing away, as being as much as 80 years from 1948, like Sean. He may even entertain that it could be the generation from 1967 when Israel took Jerusalem. In any case, I do not think Hal Lindsey is saying the Rapture has to occur before 2012 like some others are saying and I do not put him in that camp.
By the way, Lindsey and Van Impe’s 1988 conjecture was based on thinking that a generation in the Bible was forty years. Lindsey never dogmatically taught that all would be fulfilled by1988 although he suggested that he thought it was likely. Some on their own took his conjecture much too seriously.
There is a difference between those giving their best educated opinion about Bible prophecy and dogmatic date setting teachers. I am not going to stop living like I have no future on earth based on someones conjecture but when popular teachers say the Rapture has to occur by a certain date they are going to influence some people to do some foolish things.
I’m not familiar with the extreme date-setters you’re referring to, but yes, the people on the Harpazo-themed message boards are listening to popular Bible Prophecy teachers who may not give 100% claim to their dates, but still base their ideas on the 1948 Israel fig tree. These are Bible teachers with their own web sites and TV shows, and much of what they say is okay, basic Bible teaching in other areas. But at any rate, their followers tend to treat the prophecy teachers as date-setters, certainly in how seriously they take what they say and expecting the rapture to occur in the next two years or less.
Perhaps the difficulty to interpreting this passage lies in the meaning of the word “generation”. Christ spoke of a wicked and adulterous generation. Maybe by “this generation” he was referring to the moral and spiritual state of people at the time of the budding of the fig tree, specifically Israel becoming a nation in 1948. Maybe he wasn’t referring to a generation as a period of time at all. Who knows? We should always be ready.