Previous blogs in this series:
It's been a struggle to figure out how to wrap up this series, knowing that what I have to say is not very popular, especially now, when so many are declaring that we are teetering on the brink of annihilation based on their belief in a widely held eschatological interpretation of John's Revelation of Jesus Christ; that it is a prophetic glimpse into the end times a.k.a. eschatology.
Question: how to study something that has yet to materialize?
Answer: it's not possible.
Conclusion: at best, you'll collect a pile of speculative interpretations. At worst, when those interpretations are promoted as fact, embraced as truth, and become firmly ensconced in receptive hearts the faithful embracers are rewarded with emptiness, hopelessness and fear. Quite possibly a false teaching conceived and/or promoted by false teachers.
Case(s) In Point
Look into the lives of John Calvin (silenced a peer by burning him at the stake), Cyrus Scofield (the inspiration for the opening paragraph in How To Know Who To Follow, and John Nelson Darby is the central character rising out of my search into Holy Spirit's waking statement, "Hijacked Eschatology".
These three men have had an enormous influence on the church. Not a healthy, life-giving influence but one that has produced widespread despondency. And that despondency seems to be multiplying in recent months with representatives of the church promoting the idea that what is written in the book of Revelation is being played out in today's headlines, proving, in their minds, that the dispensational interpretation conceived by Darby and promoted by Scofield must be true.
But what if...
What if God had an enemy who knew the Word well enough to twist and pervert its meaning? An enemy who understood human nature well enough to manipulate and exploit it in order to undermine God's plan?
What if that enemy was okay with taking a century or two to set up his master plan? What if that enemy knew his greatest weapon was the art of deception? And that by simply twisting a few keys to unlock the mystery of John's Revelation, and whispered those key ideas to a few ambitious, pride motivated individuals placed in a few influential positions he could flood the unsuspecting church with his narrative, promoting his agenda with a repeat of the Garden's "Did God Really Say?" approach.
The beauty of this plan would be that by using the words from the Bible, the Heirs of Salvation would be convinced that their belief is Biblical and opposing it would be either futile or defy God's plan. He could lead them into destruction without a fight.
Knowing the best way to predict the future is to create it, to accomplish this evil plan all that enemy would have to do is hijack eschatology.
A theory that is not too far-fetched is it?
Is it true? I don't know. But hopefully I've sparked a healthy dose of scepticism for the idea that the Lord is returning in a few days for a cowering, despondent church. And that spark might be fanned into a full on flame of your own investigative research.
