By Thomas Williamson
3131 S. Archer Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60608
For 2000 years now, misguided Christians have misused the
prophecies of the Bible, especially the book of Revelation, to
do that which Christ forbids us to do in Matthew 24:36 - set dates
for Christ's Second Coming.
Some of the biggest money-making prophecy books of our time have
been those which relate events in Revelation to our own time,
thus leading to the conclusion that we are now in the "Terminal
Generation." But there is nothing new about this genre of
prophetic malarkey.
Jonathan Kirsch, in "A History of the End of the World,",
notes that "More than a few readers of Revelation in every
age, including our own, have thrilled at the idea that the end
is near. . . . they persist in poring over the text of Revelation
in a fresh attempt to figure out the precise date when it will
[end]. They have always been wrong, too, of course, but nothing
has discouraged the so-called date setters who study the text,
crunch the numbers, and come up with dates when the world must
end. Not a single century has passed since the ink dried on the
first copy of Revelation without some new prediction of the precise
date when its prophecies will finally come to pass."
The first known date-setters were the Montanists, who arose about
156 AD. One of their prophetesses, Maximilla, predicted, "After
me there will be no more prophecy, but the End."
The Montanist Church Father Tertullian (late 2nd Century) said,
"The biblical command, increase and multiply,' is annulled
by the fact that we are living in the last age."
Pope Gregory the Great, about 600 AD, said, I don't know
what is happening in other parts of the world, but in this country
where we live the world no longer announces its end but demonstrates
it."
In 775 the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana announced that
the end would come about 800 AD: "Every catholic ought to
ponder, wait and fear, and to consider these 25 years, as if they
were not more than an hour, and should weep day and night in sackcloth
and ashes for their destruction and the world's, but not strive
to calculate time."
Pope Gregory VII, in the 11th Century, said, "The nearer
the time of Antichrist approaches, the harder he fights to crush
out the Christian faith."
Joachim of Fiore about 1184, taught that the final battle between
God and Satan "will not take place in the days of your grandchildren
or in the old age of your children, but in your own days, few
and evil." He identified the Muslim general Saladin as one
of the 7 heads of the Beast of Revelation 13. He informed King
Richard the Lion-Hearted that the Saracen army was the Beast rising
out of the sea of the book of Revelation, and that the Antichrist
(the Pope) was already residing in Rome.
The Spiritual Franciscans, in the 13th Century, saw their founder
Francis of Assisi as the "Angel of the 6th Seal" and
as one of the 2 witnesses of Revelation 11. They also fingered
Pope John XXII as the Antichrist.
Prophecy experts saw the Mongol invasion of 1237 as a fulfillment
of the prophecy of the "Kings of the East" and the drying
up of the river Euphrates.
Ubertino de Casale, (1259-1330), identified Popes Boniface VIII
and Benedict XI as the Land and Sea Beasts of Revelation 13, and
calculated the value of Benedict XI's name as 666.
A "Brother John" predicted that 2 Antichrists would
arise in 1365 and 1370, and that Jerusalem would soon be rebuilt
to serve as the capital of the coming millennial kingdom on earth.
Michael Stifel, a German mathematician, used the pulpit of Martin
Luther's church to announce that the end times would begin on
October 19, 1533 at 8:00 AM.
In 1606 Nicholas Raimarus published a book in Nuremberg, Germany
entitled "Chronological, Certain, and Irrefutable Proof,
from the Holy Scripture and Fathers, That the World Will Perish
and the Last Day Will Come Within 77 Years."
The "Fifth Monarchy Men" proclaimed the imminent advent
of Christ's theocratic kingdom, and almost took over the English
Parliament in 1653. When Oliver Cromwell sent troops to suppress
them in 1656, they cried, "Lord, appear, now or never!"
You guessed it - Christ didn't show up.
George Bell announced that Christ would descend to earth on February
28, 1763. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, opposed that
teaching and preached all night on the day Christ was supposed
to come, to try to calm the nerves of the agitated crowds.
In 1971, Ronald Reagan declared a recent coup in Libya to be
a sign of the end: "That's a sign that the day of Armageddon
isn't far off. Everything's falling into place. It can't be long
now." Supposedly Libya was to fulfill end-times prophecies
by aligning with the Soviet Union. Since that time, the Soviet
Union has fallen and Libya is now aligned with the United States.
(So much for all the signs of the times "falling into place)."
In 1980 televangelist Pat Robertson announced that "The
onrush of events toward the end of the year may see the world
in flames. I guarantee you by the fall of 1982 there is going
to be a judgment on the world."
In 1979 Jerry Falwell denounced the Camp David peace treaty between
Israel and Egypt, saying, "This treaty will not be a lasting
treaty. You and I know there's not going to be any real peace
in the Middle East until the Lord Jesus sits down upon the throne
of David in Jerusalem." After almost 30 years, the peace
treaty between Israel and Egypt has remained intact.
These are just a few of the hundreds of examples that could be
given, from the 2nd Century up to modern times, of predictions
based on the Book of Revelation or other Bible prophecies, that
failed to come true. There is a constant torrent of new prophecies
of this nature coming forth today, and they need to be regarded
with skepticism. Everything that the Bible teaches is true, but
the Bible was never meant to reveal the date of Christ's coming
or the other detailed scenarios of end-times events that are falsely
deduced from obscure Bible verses lifted out of context.
Delusion of the Millerites - No One to Be Saved After 1844
The story of the Millerite movement in the Northeastern USA, which
taught that Christ would return on October 22, 1844, is well known.
Their delusion was amply supported by prophecies wrenched out
of their historical context from the Books of Daniel, Revelation,
etc.
Those who refused to embrace the 1844 date for Christ's return
were accused of apathy, of spiritual blindness and of perhaps
not even being saved. In 1836, William Miller wrote, "I did
not think the door would be closed until about AD 1839 - but what
does this general apathy mean. After the door is shut - he that
is filthy will remain so." Joseph Marsh, on October 2, 1844,
proclaimed that soon "The door of salvation will be forever
closed."
When Christ was a no-show in 1844, some Adventist groups continued
to teach the "shut-door" doctrine which insisted that
it was impossible for anyone not already saved before October
22, 1844 to come to salvation. After the passage of some years,
it became necessary to quietly drop this inconvenient notion,
in order for the Adventist churches to be able to admit new converts
as members.
Whitney Cross, in his book "The Burned-Over District,"
reports on how the Millerites and Adventists found "signs
of the times" in all the news events and social trends of
their day: "The breaking and scattering of churches; reluctance
to imbibe sound doctrine; the spread of seducing beliefs like
Shakerism, Catholicism and free thought; false prophets and teachers;
and the scattering of holy people' - such occurrences received
increasing attention. . . . They found the world beyond rescue,
legislatures corrupt, and infidelity, idolatry, Romanism, sectarianism,
seduction, fraud, murder and duels all waxing stronger. One of
the chief reasons for a sudden terminus was the feeling that
every associated body . . . when once occupied . . . has never
been regenerated; but has fallen into pollution.' Church and state
alike had filled the cup of iniquity' and were now
fitted for destruction.'"
This type of negative, pessimistic preaching about how things
are inevitably and irretrievably getting worse and worse, thus
"proving" that Christ must return soon, is as prevalent
today as it was during the Millerite excitements. But such preaching
has no more predictive value today, as to the timing of Christ's
return, than it did when the Millerites used it to prove the 1844
return of Christ.
Delusion of the Jehovah's Witnesses - Date Setting Frenzy
In 1917, the Jehovah's Witnesses proclaimed, "In the year
1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church
members by the millions, it shall be that any escape shall come
through the works of Russell." (Charles Taze Russell was
the founder of the Russellites, or Jehovah's Witnesses).
In 1918 the book "Millions Now Living Will Never Die,"
confidently stated that "Therefore we may confidently expect
that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and
the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the
Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the conditions of human perfection."
Watchtower magazine on August 15, 1968 stated that "The
Battle of Armageddon will be over by the autumn of 1975. It may
involve only a difference of weeks or months, not years."
Delusion of the Branch Davidians, the Wackos of Waco
The Mount Carmel compound of the Branch Davidians, near Waco,
Texas, was established in 1935 by Bulgarian-American prophet Victor
Houteff, who chose the state of Texas, based on a reference in
Isaiah 19:24 to "in the midst of the land" which Houteff
interpreted to be Texas.
(Such interpretations may seem bizarre, but they are no more
so than those of respected prophecy teachers who find references
to "the United States in prophecy" in such obscure places
as "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," Isaiah 18:1, and
Tarshish or Tartessus, a city in southern Spain, Isaiah 60:9.
These are the folks who endlessly boast about their "literal
interpretation" of Bible prophecy and yet change Spain and
Ethiopia into "the United States." Or maybe they are
just really lousy at geography).
In 1955, Houteff's widow Florence Houteff, announced that God's
earthly kingdom would be established on April 22, 1959. Mrs. Houteff
prophesied that on that date, "the faithful would be slaughtered,
resurrected and carried up to heaven." A whole lot of other
stuff was supposed to happen on that day: War would break out
in the Middle East, all Jews and Arabs would be cleared out of
Jerusalem, the Davidic Kingdom would be ushered in, Victor Houteff
would come back from the dead, etc.
One thousand faithful followers gathered at Mount Carmel to be
wafted up to heaven, having previously given up all their possessions.
But nothing happened.
When that prophecy failed, Ben Roden, who had argued for a 1960
date for the end, formed a splinter group called the Branch Davidians.
Vernon Howell eventually made himself leader of this group and
changed his name to David Koresh.
Koresh saw himself as the Seventh Angel of Revelation 1 and the
Lamb of Revelation 5, and believed that he and his followers were
living in the time of the breaking of the Seven Seals. When federal
agents besieged his compound in 1993, he regarded their activities
as the necessary fulfillment of the prophecy of the Fifth Seal,
and refused to surrender. As a result, he and almost all of his
followers were killed after the compound was set on fire as federal
agents sought to break in.
Delusion of Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God
- "Prediction Addiction"
Joseph Tkach, in the book "Transformed by Truth," noted
that Worldwide Church of God founder Herbert Armstrong set dates
for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth: "Mr.
Armstrong . . . offered many predictions about its timing (all
of which failed to come true). He said that the Worldwide Church
of God would first be miraculously transported to a place of safety,
probably Petra - an ancient, walled city in the south of Jordan,
a place of protection against the terrors of Armageddon - in 1936.
He later mistakenly predicted that this event would occur in 43
and then again in 72. Three and a half years after the church
was taken to safety, Christ would return and the battle of Armageddon
would commence. When all these predictions failed and numbers
of people left the church in response, he became much more careful
about setting prophetic dates."
Tkach, himself a prominent Worldwide Church of God leader, goes
on to list more false prophecies of Herbert Armstrong that appeared
in the Plain Truth magazine:
"When the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980,
Mr. Armstrong wrote, In the past 2 weeks, this world has
entered into a "whole new ball game." The intervention
of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan changes the whole world picture.'
A few pages later he asked, Can WE discern the signs of
the times? END-TIME EVENTS are going to happen FAST from here
on! The 80s well might see the END of this present world; WAKE
UP!'
"A few months later Mr. Armstrong wrote, Signs are
now fast appearing that our Work of the GREAT COMMISSION may be
much more near completed than we have realized.' And in a related
article in the same publication he ventured his prediction that
God's great work through His church (Philadelphia era) may
be FINISHED in a matter of months.'
"On June 30, 1980, Mr. Armstrong wrote, This present
election travesty may well be the very LAST political election
for the presidency of the United States, with little incompetent
men vying for the coveted prize.'
"On March 6, 1981, Mr. Armstrong said that conditions
in the world fulfilling biblical prophecies are now fast accelerating,
indicating that we are indeed in the last of the last days' and
predicted that terrible, frightful things are going to happen
in the next few years that are going to take the lives of probably
2/3 or more of all the people now living on the face of the earth.'"
Tkach admits that "We also made more than 100 prophetic
predictions that failed. For one, we said that Europe was going
to unite and take the American and British people into subjection
and slavery. We predicted this would happen by the early 1970s
- and of course, it didn't.
"The sad fact is that for 50 years we predicted the end
of the world would come in just 4 to 7 short years. When those
4 to 7 years passed into history without our predictions coming
true, we'd say that the world would end in another 4 to 7 short
years. . . . "
Tkach goes on to list false prophecies by WCG minister Roderick
Meredith published in the Plain Truth:
1957 - "After 1965, we are destined to run into increasing
trouble with the Gentile nations. America and Britain will begin
to suffer from trade embargoes imposed by the brown and oriental
races . . . We will begin to experience the pangs of starvation
and the scarcity of goods!"
1963 - "You might as well wake up and FACE FACTS! The world
you live in won't be here 15 years from now!"
1965 - "Frankly, literally dozens of prophesied events indicate
that this final revival of the Roman Empire in Europe - and its
bestial PERSECUTION of multitudes of Bible-believing Christians
- will take place within the next 7 to 10 years of YOUR LIFE!"
Tkach concludes his review of false WCG prophecies by saying,
"Our prayers are that God will touch the hearts of those
still gripped by such cognitive dissonance, those who are suffering
from prediction addiction."
It will come as no surprise to some that the Worldwide Church
of God discredited itself by propagating so many wacky, zany false
prophecies. There was no reason to expect anything different -
after all, they were a false cult.
The problem is that there are many basically orthodox, evangelical,
Trinitarian ministries that are still putting out their date-setting
and prophetic speculations, in the same manner as the WCG used
to do. Just as the WCG discredited their whole cultish, anti-Trinitarian,
British-Israelite system by their failed prophecies, we who are
true evangelicals tend to discredit our basically sound system
of doctrine when we put forth our false, speculative prophecies.
I respectfully disagree with men such as Hank Hanegraaff and
Jack Hayford who felt that the Worldwide Church of God reformed
itself enough to be accepted as a true New Testament church with
totally sound doctrine. I don't see it that way.
However, I do feel that Joseph Tkach and the WCG deserve credit
and gratitude for the way they have publicly repudiated and apologized
for the false prophecies and "Prediction Addiction"
of their denomination. Many of us as evangelicals and fundamentalists
need to make our own apologies, and renounce our date-setting
errors and "Prediction Addiction."
Date-Setting - An Unethical Ministry Tool
Date-setting for Christ's Second Coming is a ministry tool that
has been used by orthodox, Bible-believing groups (Millerites,
Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, etc.) as well as heretical cultish
groups (Jehovah's Witnesses, Branch Davidians, Worldwide Church
of God).
It is an effective ministry tool, a tactic that works for various
types of groups, because there are always plenty of people who
are seeking otherwise forbidden and unavailable knowledge about
the details of the future and the timing of Christ's Second Coming.
Any preacher who wants to build up the crowds, donations, and
book and video sales needs only to start offering inside information
on the dating of Christ's Second Coming and the signs of that
coming. In many cases, the preacher may sincerely believe his
own predictions and not necessarily be motivated by desire for
monetary gain.
Yes, date-setting and signs of the times preaching are effective
ministry strategies, but they are ultimately invalid and unethical,
because these predictions over a period of 2000 years have always
been wrong, and because the Bible tells us we are not authorized
to have this type of specific knowledge about the future (Mark
13:32, Acts 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, etc.)
The favorite proof text for the date-setters is Amos 3:7, "Surely
the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants the prophets." This, like the other proof texts,
they use, has been lifted from its context. Amos is speaking here
of God's promise to reveal the coming judgment on Israel by the
Assyrians, which took place in 722 BC. God says He will reveal
this secret to His prophets who are under divine inspiration,
including Amos.
We do not have any such inspired prophets today. We have no promise
from God that He will let us know the date of Christ's return.
"Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 24:44)