The Biblical Examiner 
An Examination of Biblical Precepts Involved in Issues at Hand 

October, 2002, Part I

Part I

Part II

All articles by Bro Need unless otherwise noted

 

 

War and Israel

Bush & Co. is determined to start a war in the Middle East. There are Christians excited to see the prospects of such a war, for it means to them that the final battle may be at hand, and the Lord will come back, exalt them to the place of importance, and He will rule the unsaved with a rod of iron.

The fire of Millennium fever is gripping the nation, fanned by national Israel (who sees the "Christian right" as its ticket to America's purse strings, as well as military protection), speakers who seem to be on national Israel's payroll, and authors who have found a way to "break the bank," and all at the expense of the blood bought church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The water of the word of God needs to be applied, and the attention of the Christian public redirected to the truth of God's word. There will be a payday someday for the deceitful workers and those who have been willingly misled in this very critical area.

I know folks tire of my "harping" on the "Israel" subject, and I weary of developing the same thing over and over. I know that I tire of hearing "Christian" speakers and authors "harping" on the "Israel" subject, but it seems that people love to hear radio speakers and book salesmen "harp" on the issue, particularly as the prospects of war in the Middle East seems certain. Those authors and speakers seem to be hoping for such a war in which millions of "Jews" are killed, for, in their view of "Bible Prophecy," such a war means that the end of this dispensation is near, and Christ will come back, sit on David's throne in Jerusalem, and bring all nations under subjection to national Israel, as it was under David and Solomon. Moreover, the heightened tensions in that area mean more books to write and sell, and more money for the promoters of Millennialism there is money in Millennialism. (See Trail of Delusion in this issue.)

I tire of the Jewish Fever that grips so many churches. I fully understand why God totally destroyed the old Hebrew economy and manner of worship. Many churches and Christians today seem to be wandering (Rev. 17:8) after the old beast that was destroyed back then as they invite "Jews" to show them the old manners of antichristian Jewish worship. The Jewish worship was thoroughly condemned by the authors of the New Testament, and then destroyed by God Himself when He sent Rome against Jerusalem. If God had not destroyed Judaism, the church would be even more overrun with the old wine skins of that antichrist religion. Is it any wonder that the antichristian sentiment is so strong in the civil government when it is so strong in the churches who exalt the antichristian Jews?

Tiring of the Millennial Fever that grips most "Christian" radio stations, I listen primarily to NPR. But while listening to "Christian" radio, I heard the following just in the month of August:

8/6/02, Marlin Maddox interviewed a man who was supporting "Israel" the man quoted Genesis 12:3, I will bless them that bless Israel, and curse him that curse Israel. (See below. He misquoted the verse, yet Maddox did not correct him, probably because his profitable books reflect the same misquote.)

8/18/02, (a Sunday morning) while walking, I heard probably the best "pro Israel" messages ever. John Hagee, out of Texas, moved a great crowdprobably thousands, though I could not see them over the radiowith a very strong and persuasive message. His message sounded like it was written by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism or the Ministry of Foreign Affaires. He called today's Jews (not Old Testament Israel) God's firstborn, e.g., Exodus 4:22, Hosea 11:1, Romans 9:4. (See firstborn below under "Problem Three.") He skillfully took many verses belonging to the Gospel Church, and gave them to the antichrist Jews who now live in Palestine. (See 1 John 2:22.) He mocked what he called, Replacement Theologythat is, that the Gospel Church replaced Old Testament Israel, and that it is the New Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). He substituted the word Jew where the word Israel is used in Scripture, applying to the followers of the modern antichrist Jewish religion the promises that once belonged to Old Testament Israel and now belong to the Gospel Church of the firstborn. He taught that the Christ hating Jews of our day are the heirs to the promises given to Abraham, and thus made the blessings of God dependent upon race (there is no traceable evidence of a Hebrew race, though they do existonly God knows who they are). Whoever wrote Mr. Hagee's message knew what key passages, such as Genesis 12:3, to use to get the multitude of people to raise their hands, pray, and swear allegiance to that pagan nation called Israel over in Palestine. He persuaded thousands to confess any Anti-Semitism, and to promise to stop such ideas. He skillfully moved his hearers to Darby's modern dispensational theology. (According to The Protection Project, an international anti-trafficking effort based in Washington, "About 10,000 women from the former Soviet Union were forced into prostitution in Israel. World, 5/15/02, p. 30. Yet the promoters of modern Israel tell how God is the one who has established that nation. There is money in Millennialism!)

Several times, Hagee said that Christ would return, sit on the throne of David and rule with his rod of Iron. He said it with great enthusiasm, and the crowd applauded. But note the hidden messageit does no good to stand for Christ and Godly order now, for only when Christ comes back will there be any chance of godly law and order. The only thing we can do now, according to his message, is "pray for the peace" of pagan Jerusalem (not the New Jerusalem, the church that is suffering at the hands of the pagans world-wide), support pagan Israel with our money and military might, and stand against any Anti-Semitism.

[DR. FALWELL, IS HAGEE NO LONGER A HERETIC?We have a copy of Jerry Falwell's May 6, 1994 The Liberty Flame (now defunct?), with the front page headline "John Hagee: Heretic?" We now see the same John Hagee pictured and listed on page 2 of Jerry Falwell's July 2002 National Liberty Journal to bring a Patriotic Message for Falwell's Independence Day Celebration (July 3). Is Hagee no longer a heretic, as the 1994 article quoted Paige Patterson and newspapers as suggesting? The main problem was Hagee's "Two Covenant" belief (see 6/15/94 CC ). If he no longer believes it, or was misquoted, he should explain his belief. The 1994 article said in 1975 Hagee resigned as pastor of a charismatic church saying his marriage was over and he had become "immoral" in personal conduct. He became pastor of Cornerstone Church (San Antonio) and remarried in 1975. His Web site July 2002 listed a "Cornerstone Fourth of July Camp meeting featuring "Pastor Hagee and his guests, Bishop T.D. Jakes, John Maxwell, Jesse Duplantis." Jakes and Duplantis are charismatics. Jakes was recently accused of being a "Oneness Pentecostal," which denies the Trinity.(Calvary Contender.)]

8/27/02, returning home from having to pick up a car that broke down 2 ½ hours away (a hole rubbed in an oil line, and we had to leave it to have the line replaced), I was again listening to Marlin Maddox as he interviewed Hal Lindsay. Lindsay was promoting his latest book. Millennialism makes money just ask Maddox, Lindsay, Lahaye and the many other writers who have discovered the pot of gold from gullible Christians who love false doctrine and fairy tales. Maddox's program was almost identical to the last time I heard him. These Millennialists seem to all be on the payroll of Israel as they urge Christians to support national Israel, though the spirit of antichrist reigns there, in the war they see coming between the Jews and Arabs. Maddox and Lindsay rehashed the same old theme, "I, the God of the Bible, will bless those who bless national Israel, and curse those who curse Israel." (See under "Problem Two" below.)

Parenthesis:

War motivated by oil

All the "saber rattling" is not over the "bad guy," Saddam Hussein. Follow the money, and it will lead to oil. Iraq has the largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world, second only to Saudi Arabia. Though Bush & Co. deny that the issue is oil, oil companies from around the world have started "carving up" Iraq for development after Hussein is removed by America. The promises being made by Bush & Co., is that the nations, such as France and Russia, who join in ousting Hussein will get part of the pie. The oil deals are not actually being made with Bush & Co.; rather, the deals are being sought with the Iraqi National Congress (INC), and umbrella organization of opposition groups that is backed by the United States. INC favors a U.S. led consortium to develop Iraq's oil fields: "American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil." In fact, such a deal in Iraq could break OPEC's hold on oil prices, as Iraqi oil floods the market. Though Bush & Co. (Cheney) has strong ties with big oil, he is denying that oil is being considered "in a substantive way." However, there was an October meeting in Houston where more than 100 American and Russian oil company representatives met. Iraq owes Russia 7-8 billion, so the Russian leaders will probably support U.S. actions with assurances that they "will be made whole" financially. "There's not an oil company out there that wouldn't be interested in Iraq," one analyst said. (The Washington Post, Sunday, 9/15/02. Mr. Big Oil himself, Mr. Cheney, is the one pushing for war with Iraq, Newsweek, 9/16/02. The war in Afghanistan was to install a new government that would permit big oil to build a pipeline. I am not against "big oil," but I am against Americas fighting and dying to finance "big oil.")

It appears that there would be a "war" to take control of that oil regardless of who is in the White House; moreover, there will be such a "war" regardless of what the UN does, or what Hussein does. There will be an excuse to take the oil that will satisfy the American people without having to open our abundant supply in the Gulf and in Alaska.

Notice that Bush & Co. has not been excited that North Korea, which is still officially at war with South Korea, has "weapons of mass destruction," and has killed multitudes of its people through starvation. In fact, it seems that we are financing North Korea so it can develop those weapons. Nor has Bush & Co. expressed concern about the multitudes of Christians in southern Sudan, and world-wide, who have been and are being killed by the Muslims. (New high-tech Russian MIG29s are being used by the Islamic Sudan's air force to stop all mercy efforts in southern Sudan, and to bomb civilians, particularly Christians and Christian relief ministries. World, 10/12/02. Why has not Bush & Co. threatened the "bad guy" who is on that murdering rampage?) From what little I listen to Limbaugh, he continues to say, "It will happen." That is, Bush & Co. will go into Iraq. I have no doubt that he will, for there is a great amount of oil money involved.

As in "Desert Storm," an invasion of Iraq will lead to Iraq shooting at Israel. And the followers of C.I. Scofield will be excited at the prospects of many killed in the "crisis in Jerusalem." (See Israel-First Millennialists are Sending Jews to their Death in Palestine, in this issue.)

The war that will be started by Bush & Co. oil interests will probably divide the world into three parts: "Christian" nations, e.g., Spain, France, Portugal, Britain, Italy, Germany, Poland, Russia, &c., Muslim nations, e.g., Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, &c., and various other nations that do not have a large Muslim population. The dangerous part is that the Muslims have infiltrated into every nation, and they will count it a privilege and a ticket to paradise to kill even one person in the name of their religion. (We think the "Cereal Sniper" is bad! Multiply that by many times if the followers of Mohammedan follow the urgings of their clerics. I understand that not one Muslim cleric has condemned the "terrorist" actions of other Muslims.) The time is approaching when the US will have to unite with Russia and other traditional enemies in order to stand against the Muslim hoards, whose religion demands that they subdue the whole world through force of arms.

Matthew 24

I have found that one of the favorite passages for creating profitable excitement about the Lord's very soon return is Matthew 24. (See my study on Matthew 24 and its context. It is posted in a PDF file, or contact us for a hard copy.)

Scofield says of v. 11:

Cf. # Lu 21:20-24. The passage in Luke refers in express terms to a destruction of Jerusalem which was fulfilled by Titus, A.D. 70; the passage in Matthew to a future crisis in Jerusalem after the manifestation of the abomination. See "Beast" # Da 7:8 Re 19:20 and "Armageddon" # Re 16:14 19:17.

As the circumstances in both cases will be similar, so are the warnings. In the former case Jerusalem was destroyed; in the latter it will be delivered by divine interposition. (Online Bible.)

In other words, according to Darby's dispensationalism, though Luke spoke of A.D. 70, Matthew speaks of "a future crisis in Jerusalem." Accordingly, any thought of a crisis in Jerusalem in which multitudes are killed, such as an all out war in the Middle East, excites the prognosticators, sells many books and videos and gets many speaking engagements for those prognosticators.

According to George Peter Holford, (1805), those who take the Lord's words which He spoke in Matthew 24 and make them yet to be fulfilled (and thus they justify and even look forward to a prosperous city of Jerusalem and rebuilt temple), are attacking and undermining the Word of Godthey are seeking to invalidate our Lord's words. Any doctrine that attempts to place Matthew 24 yet in the future is thus the doctrine of the antichrist.

Admittedly, Mr. Holford treats the "Jews" as a distinct race of people rather than in the Biblical sense that "Jews" are simply the followers of the Jewish religion. (See under "Jews, a distinct people" below.) Note that those who hold on to the idea that the Jews are a race of people avoid the truth of the matter Biblical Jews were basically Hebrews and the children of the man Jacob, though there were many non-Hebrews [non-children of Israel] brought into the Israelite nation. Mr. Holford states:

The history of the Jews, subsequent to the time of Josephus, still further corroborates the truth of our Savior's prophecies concerning that oppressed and persecuted people. Into this inquiry, however, the limits of the present essay will not allow us to enter particularly. Our Lord foretold, generally, that they should "fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations; and that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled," (Luke 21:24) and these predictions may be regarded as a faithful epitome of the circumstances of the Jews and also of their city, from the period in which it was delivered down even to our own times.

In order to demonstrate the accomplishment of these predictions, we appeal, therefore, to universal history and to every country under heaven.10 The undisputed facts are that Jerusalem has not since been in possession of the Jews but has been successively occupied by the Romans, Arabic Saracens, Franks, Mamelucs, and lastly by the Turks, who now possess it. It has never regained its former distinction and prosperity. It has always been trodden down. The eagles of idolatrous Rome, the crescent of Mahomet and the banner of Popery have by turns been displayed amidst the ruins of the sanctuary; and a Mahomedan mosque, to the extent of a mile in circumference, now covers the spot where the temple formerly stood. The territory of Judea, then one of the most fertile countries on the globe, has for more than 1,700 years continued a desolate waste. The Jews themselves, still miraculously preserved a distinct people, are, as we see, scattered over the whole earth, invigorating the faith of the Christian, flashing conviction in the face of the infidel and constituting an universal, permanent and invincible evidence of the truth of Christianity. (See Note 1 below.)

In order to invalidate this evidence, the apostate emperor Julian, impelled by a spirit of enmity against the Christians, about A.D. 363, made an attempt to rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem and to recall the Jews to their own country. He assigned immense sums for the execution of this great design and commanded Alypius of Antioch (who had formerly served as a lieutenant in Britain) to superintend the work and the governor of the province to assist him therein. But (says Ammianus Iarcellinus) "whilst they urged with vigor and diligence the execution of the work, horrible balls of fire, breaking out near the foundation with frequent and reiterated attacks, rendered the place, from time to time, inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen; and the victorious element continuing in this manner obstinately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, the undertaking was abandoned." Speaking of this event, even Gibbon, who is notorious for his skepticism, acknowledges that "an earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fiery eruption, which overturned and scattered the new foundations of the Temple, are attested, with some variations, by contemporary and respectable evidence, by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen, the latter of whom published his account before the expiration of the same year." To these may be added the names of Zemuch David, a Jew (who confesses that "Julian was hindered by God in the attempt"), of Ruffinus, a Latin, of Theodoret and Sozomen among the orthodox, of Philostorgius, an Anan, and of Socrates, a favorer of the Novatians, who all recorded the same wonderful interposition of Providence, while the eyewitnesses of the facts were yet living. The words of Sozomen to this purport are remarkable: "If it yet seem incredible (says he) to anyone, he may repair both to witnesses of it yet living, and to them who have heard it from their mouths; yea, they may view the foundations, lying yet bare and naked." Besides, it may be added, that no other reason has ever been alleged why Julian should abandon his magnificent but impious design. (See Note 2 below.)

Thus was this celebrated emperor "taken in his own craftiness," and his presumptuous attempt to frustrate the plans and falsify the declarations of infinite omnipotence and wisdom converted into a new and striking evidence of their certainty and truth.* (*This subject is discussed at length with singular ingenuity and force of argument, by the learned Bishop Warbarton, in his work entitled Julian.)

10 "In the reign of Adrian," says Bishop Newton, "985 of their best towns were sacked and demolished, 580,000 men fell by the sword, in battle, besides an infinite multitude who perished by famine, and sickness, and fire; so that Judea was depopulated, and an almost incredible number of every age and of each sex, were sold like horses and dispersed over the face of the earth" (Newton, vol. 2, Diss. 23). The war which gave rise to these calamities happened about 64 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, during which time the Jews had greatly multiplied in Judea. About 50 years after the latter event, Ælius Adrian built a new city on Mount Calvary and called it Aelia, after his own name; but no Jew was suffered to come near it. He placed in it a heathen colony and erected a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus on the ruins of the temple of Jehovah. This event contributed greatly to provoke the sanguinary war to which we have just alluded. The Jews afterwards burned the new city; Adrian, however, rebuilt and reestablished the colony. In contempt of the Jews, he ordered a marble statue of a sow to be placed over its principal gate, prohibited them entering the city under pain of death, and forbade them even to look at it from a distance. He also ordered fairs to be held annually for the sale of captive Jews and banished such as dwelt in Canaan into Egypt. Constantine greatly improved the city and restored to it the name of Jerusalem, but still he did not permit the Jews to dwell there. To punish an attempt to recover the possession of their capital, he ordered their ears to be cut off, their bodies to be marked as rebels, and dispersed them through all the provinces of the empire as vagabonds and slaves. Jovian having revived the severe edicts of Adrian, which Julian had suspended, the wretched Jews even bribed the soldiers with money for the privilege only of beholding the sacred ruins of their city and temple, and weeping over them, which they were peculiarly solicitous to do on the anniversary of that memorable day on which they were taken and destroyed by the Romans. In short, during every successive age and in all nations, this ill-fated people have been constantly persecuted, enslaved, condemned, harassed, and oppressed, banished from one country to another, and abused in all; while countless multitudes have, at different periods, been barbarously massacred, particularly in Persia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt; and in Germany, Hungary, France and Spain.

George Peter Holford, The Destruction of Jerusalem, an absolute and irresistible proof of the divine origin of Christianity. Pp 47-50. 1805. (The Destruction of Jerusalem by Peter Holford, 69 pg paper back. This book can be ordered from The Biblical Examiner, $6.00, plus $1.00 postage.)

OBSERVATION ONE:

Mr. Holford tells us that a sure proof of Christ's words is the fact that the "Jews" remained scattered world-wide, with no "homeland." Scripturally, the "regathering" is to be around Christ, not around a literal land and a carnal nationChrist died for the elect, not for a particular "race" (religion) nor a particular spot of real estate in the Middle East. Thus, national Israel claiming to be the Israel of God's promise is an attack against God, against His word and against Christ. Over the years, the pagans attempted to invalidate Christ's words as they tried to rebuild Jerusalem and resettle it with "Jews." Where the pagans of the past failed, the pagans of the present succeeded through the UN, and an antichrist finds its support and finances from gullible Christians whose emotions are whipped up by men like John Hagee. (See Regathering below.)

Moreover, the prophecy that was confirmed by the destruction of the "Jewish" (or Hebrew) race is found throughout the prophets, and is first mentioned in Deuteronomy:

The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: (Deuteronomy 28:49-50 AV)

Mr. Holford agrees with what Matthew Henry (1662-1714) said over 100 years previous. Both are quite contrary to Scofield and modern prophetic speculations that say Matthew 24 is yet to be fulfilled:

... here, in this latter part, he foretells their last destruction by the Romans and their dispersion thereupon. And the present deplorable state of the Jewish nation, and of all that have incorporated themselves with them, by embracing their religion, does so fully and exactly answer to the prediction in these verses that it serves for an incontestable proof of the truth of prophecy, and consequently of the divine authority of the scripture. And, this last destruction being here represented as more dreadful than the former, it shows that their sin, in rejecting Christ and his gospel, was more heinous and more provoking to God than idolatry itself, and left them more under the power of Satan; for their captivity in Babylon cured them effectually of their idolatry in seventy years' time; but under this last destruction now for above 1600 years they continue incurably averse to the Lord Jesus. Observe, ...

II. How the destruction threatened is described. Moses is here upon the same melancholy subject that our Saviour is discoursing of to his disciples in his farewell sermon (Matthew 24), namely, The destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation. ... (Matthew Henry on Deut. 28:45. Emp. added. The rest of his comment concerning this passage is well worth reading. His complete commentary, along with 21 others, is on Online Bible, CD, available from us.)

Thus Matthew Henry points out that the dispersion of the "Jews" proves the validity of the Old Testament curse against the then "chosen" nation that turned its back upon the Lord God.

Jews, a distinct people

Neither Scripture, history, nor modern facts will support the idea that the "Jews are a distinct people." Rather, it requires that Jews are the followers of the Jewish religion. It was the followers of that apostate religion who put Christ to death, and who suffered the wrath of God in 70 AD. Proof all who forsook that religion and followed Christ were spared God's wrath. God's wrath was against the Jewish system of faith, not against the "Jewish" race of people, for a great many "Jews" avoided the destruction through faith in Christ.

In Acts chapter two, Peter warned the very ones who had part in Christ's death that Christ was NOW seated in the place of all power, and that He would soon return to avenge His murder. He also told the people they could avoid the coming judgment through repentance and faith. About 3,000 turned their back on Judaism, and became Christians, and thereby avoided the judgment. (At a later time, I will offer a short study in Acts of how many times the "Jews" were warned of the coming destruction of their nation, capital and their religion. ) As we have developed elsewhere, there can be no such thing as a "Jewish Christian" any more than there can be a "Muslim Christian," for the basis of the Jews' religion is rejection of Christ. (Gal. 1:13, 14.)

After this disaster had befallen Cestius, the more opulent of the Jews (says Josephus) forsook Jerusalem as men do a sinking ship. And it is with reason supposed that on this occasion many of the Christians, or converted Jews, who dwelt there, recollecting the warnings of their divine Master, retired to Pella, a place beyond Jordan, situated in a mountainous country, (Matt. 24:16-22) whither (according to Eusebius, who resided near the spot) they came from Jerusalem and settled before the war under Vespasian began. Other providential opportunities for escaping afterwards occurred, of which, it is probable, those who were now left behind availed themselves; for it is a striking fact, and as such cannot be contemplated by the pious mind without sentiments of devout admiration, that history does not record that even one Christian perished in the siege of Jerusalem. Enduring to the end, faithful to their blessed master, they gave full credit to His predictions and escaped the calamity. Thus were fulfilled the words of our Lord, "He that shall endure unto the end (i.e., of the scene of this prophecy) shall be saved" (Matt. 24:13), i.e., from the calamities which will involve all those who shall continue obstinate in unbelief. (Destruction, pp. 25, 26.)

Moreover, all who were genuine Jews according to their lineage were actually Hebrews. Anyone could become a Jew, which was the major problem in the New Testament. All of the apostles had to contend with the Judaizers who wanted the Gentiles to become Jews (be circumcised) in order to "properly" follow Christ. Acts 15:1, 24. However, no amount of ritualism could make one a Hebrew. (Remember, some years ago, Sammy Davis Jr., a black entertainer, converted from Gentile to Jew, but he sure did not become a Hebrew. However, both Ishmael and Esau were Hebrews, children of Abraham the Hebrew.)

Paul did not identify himself as a Jew in Philippians 3:4ff. On the other hand, he did identify himself with the Jews in his life before his conversion, Acts 22:3. Moreover, he reminded the Jews that they knew how zealous he had been for the Jews' religion at that time, Acts 26:4. He also points out that he had been very involved in the Jews' religion before his conversion, and that religion had been profitable to him, Galatians 1:13, 14.

All of that to say this: Paul did not claim to be a "Jewish Christian," for conversion separated him from the Jews. However, he did make it clear that he was a "Hebrew Christian." There can be no such thing as a "Jewish Christian," or Paul would have continued to carry the title of "Jew" after his conversion. He does, however, carry the title of Jew in the New Testament sense that is, the New Testament Jews are those who are in Christ, regardless of their backgrounds (ground that I have already plowed in other studies).

OBSERVATION TWO:

Note the point here Julian sought to "invalidate this evidence", that is, invalidate the proof of the truth of the passages that dispersed and destroyed the old "Jewish nation" because of its sin against the commandments of God. How did he seek to do it? By rebuilding Jerusalem, rebuilding the temple and populating the new city with "Jews." He spent vast sums of money to void the word of God, all to no avail. Many others also tried to void the word of God by rebuilding Jerusalem, rebuilding the temple and populating the new city with "Jews", but God supernaturally intervened to thwart their antiGod efforts. But the antichristian group, the UN, was able to do what these other ungodly men were hindered from doing that is, authorize the rebuilding and protect the rebuilders. Sadly, the Christians of our day are also supportive of this destruction of the word of God as pointed out by Mr. Holford:

Thus we perceive that the very objections which infidelity opposes to our argument, instead of invalidating, tend only more fully to illustrate and confirm it. And such, indeed, must always be the happy effects of that hostility which is directed against the evidences of the Christian faith since the more carefully and attentively we examine the foundations upon which it rests, the more perfectly must we be convinced of the immovable stability of the superstructure. Of that evidence, the prophecy which we have reviewed (pass away before all these things were fulfilled, Matt. 24:34, ed.) most certainly constitutes a very striking and prominent part; from every light and position in which it can be contemplated, it constantly derives new luster and effect; and it may safely be considered "as an unquestionable proof of the divine foreknowledge of our Lord and the divine authority of the gospel; and on this ground only, were it necessary, we might securely rest the whole fabric of our religion. Indeed, this remarkable prediction has always been considered, by every impartial person, as one of the most powerful arguments in favor of Christianity; and in our own times, more particularly, a man of distinguished talents and acknowledged eminence in his profession, and in the constant habit of weighing, sifting and scrutinizing evidence with the minutest accuracy in courts of justice, has publicly declared that he considered this prophecy, if there were nothing else to support Christianity, as absolutely irresistible." (FN: See the Bishop of London's "Lectures on the Gospel of St. Matthew" and Mr. Erskine's eloquent speech at the trial of Williams for publishing Paine's Age of Reason.) (Emp added. Ibid., 56, 57.)

Evidently, even in the early 1800s (1805) Mr. Holford saw the false prophets rising to the surface with a message that Matthew 24 is yet to be fulfilled, e.g., Irving, Darby, Scofield, and the multitudes of false prophets since. Mr. Holford says very bluntly, even quoting others, that those who reject the fact that it was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem are undermining the very foundation of the Christian religion. The fulfillment of those passages according to our Lord's words is unquestionable proof of the divine authority of the gospel. Sadly, there are many who are attempting to destroy that divine proof.

How do they destroy the word of God? By saying that Matthew 24:34 (Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.) is yet to be fulfilled, and then by supporting and financing an antichrist group, national Israel, and by supporting groups that attempt to void the Lord's clearly fulfilled words of Matthew 24. Thus, according to Mr. Holford who wrote long before the modern millennial movement that now finances national Israel those who support the rebuilding of that apostate city and nation support the efforts to undermine the word of God. ("Walk where Jesus walked" is the theme of those raising money. However, the streets in Jerusalem are many feet above the streets Jesus walked on.)

Problems:

Problem One: "Well," one might say, "what about the promised regathering of the Jews to their land? Have we not seen the fulfillment of that prophecy?"

Answer:

The regathering is to the ensign not to a piece of real estate. And the Ensign is Christ, and those scattered by sin include everyone regardless of their background. I have a very serious and in-depth study in this area, so I will not replow that ground, other than give a few passages of Scripture:

Isaiah 5:26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The Ensign is Christ:

Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

See Isaiah 5:26, 11:10, 12 & John 3:14, 12:32 / Jeremiah 23:1-4 & John 10 / Jeremiah 24:7 & Hebrews 8:10, 10:16, 17, 11:16, Romans 9:25, 26 / Jeremiah 31:31-33 & 2 Corinthians 3:3-8, Hebrews 10:10. I have found, though, that those committed to the anitchrist position that supports an atheistic people over the Gospel Church do not want to know the truth. (Marlin Maddox, Point of View, 8/6/02, was promoting the modern pro-Israel heresy big time with a guest telling how prophecy is being fulfilled right now in the Middle East. There is BIG money in millennialism, and those who reject that heresy are ostracized.)

Antichrist

The prophecy of the regathering of those scattered by sin is fulfilled in the Elect being called to the Cross of Christ, not in a group of antichrist pagans assembling in Palestine.

Antichristthe spirit that denies that the Christ came in the flesh, 1 John 2:22. Note the implication of 1 John 4:1-3 is that those who support those who deny Christ (modern "Jews") are false prophets, and there are many such prophets. The Old Testament promised regathering was a nation regathered in faith in Christ, a definition that does not fit the antichrist crowd being supported by many Christians today.

"But the regathering to the land of Palestine was foretold in Scripture, and it is according to God's promise."

When Jehovah God placed Israel in the land, He caused the heathens around them not to desire their land as they served the Lord God, Exodus 34:24. (See Acts 18:10, the promise given to the church.) That certainly is not the case concerning the Jews in the land of Palestine today.

"How about the promised land? Is not the promised land of rest the land of Palestine?

Answer: Read all of Hebrews chapter four.

There are far too many other things proving the regathering of those scattered by sin is to Christ to discuss here. See our book, Israel's Identity/Israel's Conversion, in which we discuss these things in great detail.

Problem Two: "What about the promise that all Israel shall be saved"?

And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24.)

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. (Romans 11:25-27.)

[Luke 21:24] Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. This passage has been understood very differently by different expositors. Some refer it to the time which the Romans who conquered it had dominion over it, as signifying that they should keep possession of it until a part of the pagans should be converted, when it should be rebuilt. Thus it was rebuilt by the Emperor Adrian. Others suppose that it refers to the end of the world, when all the Gentiles shall be converted, and they shall cease to be Gentiles by becoming Christians, meaning that it should always be desolate. Others, that Christ meant to say that in the times of the millennium, when the gospel should spread universally, he would reign personally on the earth, and that the Jews would return and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. This is the opinion of the Jews and of many Christians. ... (Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes. Online Bible.)

Thus the last opinion that Christ would reign personally, that the Jews would return and rebuild was and is a Jewish fable assumed by many Christians. I will add that the millennium idea seems to have originated out of the Church of Rome to take pressure off of the pope. It was Edward Irving who took the Jesuit's idea to the Protestants. From Irving, it was assumed by J.N. Darby who made the millennial opinion a popular Christian doctrine, for it was considered a Jewish fable, even heresy, until he succeeded in converting some key men to this new system of thought. Those key men covered the world with the gospel of defeat. (See part III, pp. 41ff., of Death of the Church Victorious for full documentation.)

Though I seldom use Calvin, one of his comments on Romans 11:25 is worth mentioning:

{3} The explanation of this verse is by no means satisfactory. It does not Correspond at all with what the Apostle has already declared in #Ro 11:11, 12, 15; where the restoration of the Jews to the faith is most clearly set forth. Besides, by making Israel, in the next verse, to mean generally the people of God, the contrast, observable through the whole argument, is completely destroyed. (Online Bible.)

In other words, And so all Israel shall be saved is required by the context of the whole of Scripture to mean that Israel is all of the Gospel Church, populated by all of God's people (salvation is by grace not by race or nationality, i.e., Israeli). So what does that do with until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in? There are many opinions as to Paul's meaning here, most of which fail to address the context of the verse in Romans as well as the context of Galatians and other passages. All of us understand the statement in context of what we believe, and can find supporting passages for what we believe. However, we all have the fallen mentality, and none of us are inspired in our belief. I am afraid that the proper understanding of this passage is one of the things spoken of by Paul that is not only hard to understand, but maybe impossible to understand until we see Christ.

Context and so all Israel shall be saved by faith in the deliverer out of Sion who shall turn away the ungodliness from sinners.

Option:

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24.)

It is the church, or the new Jerusalem, the assembly and church of the firstborn that is being trodden down by the Gentiles. It is the suffering church world wide, particularly in Muslim nations, that needs our prayers, not a pagan nation like modern Israel. It is interesting that many "Christian" organizations have agreed together not to try to convert the "Jews" to Christianity. (See Israel-First Millennialists are Sending Jews to their Death in Palestine, in this issue.)

Problem Three: "Are not the Jews of our day God's firstborn, as Mr. Hagee said?"

Mr. Hagee failed to mention that Christ is God's firstborn (Colossians 1:15, 18), New Testament believers are called God's firstborn (Romans 8:29), and the church is called the firstborn (Hebrews 12:23). Ephraim is called my firstborn in Jeremiah 31:9. Firstborn means dearly beloved as the first child is to the father. (Geneva.)

Moreover, Christ is called God's Elect, Isaiah 42:1. Christ is the covenant of God, Isaiah 42:6, 49:8 (some believe there must be a new covenant, or a new Christ, for the church). Therefore, Christians are the heirs to the covenant in Genesis 12, not Jews nor national Israel. Christ is the covenant law of God, Psalms 119:142. Compare with John 14:6 & Deuteronomy 4:13.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2.)

Heirs to the promise

"Well, how about Mr. Maddox's many statements that the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 is made to Israel?"

A favorite passage wrested (2 Peter 3:16) by pro-Israel, anti-Christ speakers is,

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)

They commonly take v. 3, and change the word thee to Israel, meaning national Israel. When they do this, the simple who gladly hear them (Proverbs 14:15) believe these speakers and writers, and abundantly finance their fanciful and fictitious ideas with the Lord's money.

Bless and Curse: If the promise here applies to Abraham's literal seed, then it applies to all of the Hebrew race, including Ishmael and Esau, as well as Jacob (Israel). But I really do not hear of anyone claiming to be Hebrews, though that would be to whom the literal promise is given. If Canaan was everlastingly promised to Abraham's literal seed, then Ishmael and Esau have just as much of a claim on it as do the Hebrews.

Paul made it clear that the seed that is heir to Abraham's promise is Christ, not national Israel:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16 AV)

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:17, 18.)

Note that the seed is Christ, in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed through faith in Him. It is a serious corruption of God's Word to say that promise is for today's national Israel. (Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Pr. 30:6) Note also that He shall possess the gate of his (Christ's) enemies. The promise though given to Abraham was to be fulfilled in the seed yet to come that is, in Christ. (Acts 3:25.)

CHRISTIANS, AND NOT JEWS, THE HEIRS OF THE COVENANT

But let us see if this people is the heir, or the former, and if the covenant belongs to us or to them. Hear ye now what the Scripture saith concerning the people. Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she was barren; and she conceived. Furthermore also, Rebecca went forth to inquire of the Lord; and the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples in thy belly; and the one people shall surpass the other, and the elder shall serve the younger." You ought to understand who was Isaac, who Rebecca, and concerning what persons He declared that this people should be greater than that. And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more clearly to his son Joseph, saying, "Behold, the Lord hath not deprived me of thy presence; bring thy sons to me, that I may bless them." And he brought Manasseh and Ephraim, desiring that Manasseh should be blessed, because he was the elder. With this view Joseph led him to the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in spirit the type of the people to arise afterwards. And what says [the Scripture]? And Jacob changed the direction of his hands, and laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, the second and younger, and blessed him. And Joseph said to Jacob, "Transfer thy right hand to the head of Manasseh, for he is my first-born son." And Jacob said, "I know it, my son, I know it; but the elder shall serve the younger: yet he also shall be blessed." Ye see on whom he laid [his hands], that this people should be first, and heir of the covenant. If then, still further, the same thing was intimated through Abraham, we reach the perfection of our knowledge. What, then, says He to Abraham? "Because thou hast believed, it is imputed to thee for righteousness: behold, I have made thee the father of those nations who believe in the Lord while in [a state of] uncircumcision." (The Epistle of Barnabas, [A.D. 100] chapter 8. The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I, pp. 145, 146. Also found on Ultimate Christian Library, Reformation History Library, by Ages Software.)

Blessings of Abraham

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. (Galatians 3:8, 9.)

The law, given 430 years later, could not disannul the covenant, or promise. The promise was not passed down according to law, but according to God's grace. And thus the promise here to Abraham concerning his seed was not passed down according to the physical law, or lineage, but according to the spiritual law, or God's grace. The principle of God's grace vs law is seen in the fact that the law required the blessing to go to the eldest son, but many times it passed down otherwise.

Accordingly, false prophets turn the hearts and pocketbooks of Christians to the apostate nation of Israel at the expense of the blood bought Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Apple of God's eye

The apple of God's eye is the church, for Christ shed His blood for the church, not for an atheistic nation.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. (Zechariah 2:8 AV)

(3.) What he will do for his church shall be an evident proof of God's tender care of it and affection to it: He that touches you touches the apple of his eye. This is a high expression of God's love to his church. By his resentment of the injuries done to her it appears how dear she is to him, how he interests himself in all her interests, and takes what is done against her, not only as done against himself, but as done against the very apple of his eye, the tenderest part, which nature has made very fine, has put a double guard upon, and taught us to be in a special manner careful of, and which the least touch is a great offence to. This encourages the people of God to pray with David (#Ps 17:8), Keep me as the apple of thy eye; and engages them to do as Solomon directs (#Pr 7:2), to keep his law as the apple of their eye. Some understand it thus:

"He that touches you touches the apple of his own eye; whoever do you any injury will prove, in the issue, to have done the greatest injury to themselves." (Matthew Henry, Online Bible.)

The fire of Millennium fever is gripping the nation, fanned by national Israel (who sees the "Christian right" as its ticket to America's purse strings, as well as military protection), speakers who seem to be on national Israel's payroll, and authors who have found a way to "break the bank," and all at the expense of the blood bought church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The water of the word of God needs to be applied, and the attention of the Christian public redirected to the truth of God's word. There will be a payday someday for the deceitful workers and those who have been willingly misled in this very critical area.

Next time, Lord willing, we will discuss some major points from the book of Acts, primarily the many times the residents of Jerusalem were warned of its soon coming destruction. There are at least five warnings delivered by the apostles to the people, so the destruction did not come unannounced. The people who were slain there were there despite the many warnings.

Bush & Big Oil

Published on Thursday, November 15, 2001 by the Inter Press Service

U.S. Policy Towards Taliban Influenced by Oil - Authors

by Julio Godoy

PARIS - Under the influence of U.S. oil companies, the government of George W. Bush initially blocked U.S. secret service investigations on terrorism, while it bargained with the Taliban the delivery of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid, two French intelligence analysts claim.

In the book "Bin Laden, la verite interdite" ("Bin Laden, the forbidden truth"), that appeared in Paris on Wednesday, the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction.

Brisard claim O'Neill told them that "the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were U.S. Oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it".

The two claim the U.S. government's main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia.

They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban regime "as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia", from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean.

Until now, says the book, "the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that".

But, confronted with Taliban's refusal to accept U.S. conditions, "this rationale of energy security changed into a military one", the authors claim.

"At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, 'either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs'," Brisard said in an interview in Paris.

According to the book, the government of Bush began to negotiate with the Taliban immediately after coming into power in February. U.S. and Taliban diplomatic representatives met several times in Washington, Berlin and Islamabad.

To polish their image in the United States, the Taliban even employed a U.S. expert on public relations, Laila Helms. The authors claim that Helms is also an expert in the works of U.S. Secret services, for her uncle, Richard Helms, is a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The last meeting between U.S. And Taliban representatives took place in August, five weeks before the attacks on New York and Washington, the analysts maintain.

On that occasion, Christina Rocca, in charge of Central Asian affairs for the U.S. Government, met the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan in Islamabad.

Brisard and Dasquie have long experience in intelligence analysis. Brisard was until the late 1990s director of economic analysis and strategy for Vivendi, a French company. He also worked for French secret services, and wrote for them in 1997 a report on the now famous Al Qaeda network, headed by bin Laden.

Dasquie is an investigative journalist and publisher of Intelligence Online, a respected newsletter on diplomacy, economic analysis and strategy, available through the Internet.

Brisard and Dasquie draw a portrait of closest aides to President Bush, linking them to oil business.

Bush's family has a strong oil background. So are some of his top aides. From the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, through the director of the National Security Council Condoleeza Rice, to the Ministers of Commerce and Energy, Donald Evans and Stanley Abraham, all have long worked for U.S. Oil companies.

Cheney was until the end of last year president of Halliburton, a company that provides services for oil industry; Rice was between 1991 and 2000 manager for Chevron; Evans and Abraham worked for Tom Brown, another oil giant.

Besides the secret negotiations held between Washington and Kabul and the importance of the oil industry, the book takes issue with the role played by Saudi Arabia in fostering Islamic fundamentalism, in the personality of bin Laden, and with the networks that the Saudi dissident built to finance his activities.

Brisard and Dasquie contend the U.S. Government's claim that it had been prosecuting bin Laden since 1998. "Actually," Dasquie says, "the first state to officially prosecute bin Laden was Libya, on the charges of terrorism."

"Bin Laden wanted to settle in Libya in the early 1990s, but was hindered by the government of Muammar Qaddafi," Dasquie claims. "Enraged by Libya's refusal, bin Laden organized attacks inside Libya, including assassination attempts against Qaddafi."

Dasquie singles out one group, the Islamic Fighting Group (IFG), reputedly the most powerful Libyan dissident organization, based in London, and directly linked with bin Laden.

"Qaddafi even demanded Western police institutions, such as Interpol, to pursue the IFG and bin Laden, but never obtained co-operation," Dasquie says. "Until today, members of IFG openly live in London."

The book confirms earlier reports that the U.S. Government worked closely with the United Nations during the negotiations with the Taliban.

"Several meetings took place this year, under the arbitration of Francesc Vendrell, personal representative of UN secretary general Kofi Annan, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan," says the book.

"Representatives of the U.S. Government and Russia, and the six countries that border with Afghanistan were present at these meetings," it says. "Sometimes, representatives of the Taliban also sat around the table."

These meetings, also called "6+2" because of the number of states (six neighbors plus U.S. and Russia) involved, have been confirmed by Naif Naik, former Pakistani Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In a French television news program two weeks ago, Naik said during a "6+2" meeting in Berlin in July, the discussions turned around "the formation of a government of national unity. If the Taliban had accepted this coalition, they would have immediately received international economic aid."

"And the pipe lines from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would have come," he added.

Naik also claimed that Tom Simons, the U.S. representative at these meetings, openly threatened the Taliban and Pakistan.

"Simons said, 'either the Taliban behave as they ought to, or Pakistan convinces them to do so, or we will use another option'. The words Simons used were 'a military operation'," Naik claimed.

The Trail of Delusion

Failed Prophecies of Christ's Second Coming

By Thomas Williamson 3131 S Archer Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60608

Okay, listen up, all you prophecy buffs. See if you can get the right answer to this question - what famous prophecy teacher said this?

"There is no doubt that the Antichrist has been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will, after reaching maturity, achieve supreme power."

Was this said by A. Jerry Falwell B. Pat Robertson C. Jack Van Impe D. Hal Lindsey E. St. Martin of Tours, 316-397 AD?

If you said St Martin of Tours, you were right. This worthy fellow was convinced that the Antichrist was already on the prowl back then in the Fourth Century.

Martin, who made a vague prediction about the approximate timing of Antichrist's coming, was wiser than his mentor, Hilarius of Poitiers, who made the mistake of pinpointing the unveiling of Antichrist, saying it would happen by 365 AD. Hilarius looked foolish when his prediction failed.

From earliest times until now, many prophecy-minded Christians have firmly believed that they were living in the last days and that Christ would come during their lifetime. Recalling the errors of Hilarius and St Martin keeps me from reaching for my martinized ascension robe, every time that some modern preacher proclaims, according to the so-called "signs of the times," that the Rapture is coming in just a few more years.

A sense of historical perspective will help us understand that there is nothing new about the feverish expectations of some Christians, that they would live to see Christ's Second Coming.

In 793 AD, Spanish monk Beatus of Liebana created a panic on Easter Eve by predicting that the world would end that very night.

In 847 the prophetess Thiota created a commotion in Mainz, Germany by predicting that the world would end the following year. A lot of people were taken in, but what do you expect - it was the Dark Ages.

The year 1184 saw a flurry of predictions that the Antichrist would come that year.

In 1310, Franciscan friar Fra Dolcino of Novara announced that Christ would return within 3 years.

Czech archdeacon Militz of Kromeric stated that Antichrist would manifest his infernal presence sometime between 1363 and 1367.

In 1420, Martinek Hausha pinpointed the time of the Second Coming - it would be between February 1 and February 14 of that year.

In 1500, the famous Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli believed himself to be living in the midst of the Great Tribulation, and that the Millennium would begin about 1504.

NAUSEATING FALSE PROPHECY. Frederick Nausea, Bishop of Vienna, said the world would end in 1532.

Mathematician John Napier, the discoverer of logarithms, used his number-crunching expertise to calculate the date of the end of the world - it would be in 1688.

French Huguenot leader Pierre Jurieu predicted the end of the world in 1689

SHIP OF FOOLS. In 1694, Johannes Kelpius and his all-male cult, "Women in the Wilderness;" traveled from Germany to America to greet Christ at His glorious Second Coming. When Christ didn't show, the "women" disbanded their cult and toddled back home to Germany.

Bible scholar William Bell predicted the end of the world on April 5, 1761, causing thousands to flee London. When they returned, the enraged citizenry tossed Bell into the Bedlam lunatic asylum, where they evidently thought that he belonged.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, predicted that Christ would return in 1836.

MILLER TIME. On October 12, 1844, William Miller published these words: "I am strong in the opinion that the next will be the last Lord's day sinners will ever have in probation; and within 10 or 15 days from thence, they will see Him whom they have hated and despised, to their shame and everlasting contempt." Not everyone was impressed by the Millerite prophecies Henry Jones told Miller, "You are truly fanatical, and running wild."

In 1855, Scottish Presbyterian preacher John Cumming, in his book "The End: Or, the Proximate Signs of the Close of This Dispensation," predicted the end of the age in 1864. He cited the current signs of the times, such as the Crimean War and the raising of funds to rebuild a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, as evidences that the end was near.

In 1883, Baptist theologian JR. Graves warned against the expenditure of money to construct Baptist church buildings in Italy and all of Europe. He believed that all such buildings would soon be confiscated by a resurgent Roman Catholic Church, in fulfillment of Revelation 17:8.

PYRAMID SCHEME. Pyramidologist Charles Piazzi Smith, based on his painstaking measurements of the dimensions of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, calculated that the Second Coming would be about 1882. More recently, David Webber and Noah Hutchings of the "Southwest Radio Church" peddled a book predicting, based on Great Pyramid measurements, that Christ would return in the 1980's.

Herbert Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted the end of the world in 1936.

In 1950, a young evangelist by the name of Billy Graham proclaimed that "We may have another year, maybe 2 years. Then I believe it is going to be over." (Nowadays, an older and wiser Graham says it is wrong to speculate or make guesses about the timing of Christ's Second Coming).

While it is natural and commendable for us to long for Christ's return, we must recognize that this doctrine can be abused and taken to such extremes as to bring disrepute on the truth of His Second Coming, as well as on Christianity as a whole.

The problem is this: for generations, we have made a laughing-stock of fundamentalist Christianity by our false predictions of imminent doom-and-gloom, and as a result, most people do not take us seriously as to our warnings about the eternal destiny of lost sinners in Hell, or anything else that we preach.

For years we have poured forth end-times fantasy novels and videos, portraying an intricate, detailed phantasmagoria of horrors that are allegedly to be unleashed soon on the scoffers, heathens and infidels of the world. None of these predictions have come true.

Because of our false prophecies, intelligent people have become convinced that the Bible is not true, and that fundamentalists are a bunch of deranged wackadoos and nutheads who howl with delight at every piece of bad news in the world, in the expectation that it will lead to their longed-for Armageddon bloodbath. This is the baggage that all of us must carry, especially American missionaries in foreign lands. Who wants to listen to a religion known mainly for its longing for the death of all unbelievers; and a pathetic, unbroken track record of failed prophecies?

Unfortunately, the date-setting and predictions about Christ's inevitable return in this decade are still being generated at a furious pace, The destruction of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001 has only increased the pace of wild speculation.

Quiz question: Where in the Bible does it say that when the World Trade Center in New York is bombed, it is a sign of the Second Coming? Answer: the Bible doesn't say that.

Then there are the ever-present rumors about how the temple in Jerusalem is about to be rebuilt, and this proves that Christ will shortly return. Where did we hear this before? Didn't John Cumming use this "proof' to predict Christ's soon return way back in 1855?

RED HEIFER OR RED HERRING? Then there is the red heifer in Mississippi who is regularly trotted out as a proof of Christ's soon coming. We are gravely informed that the appearance of the red heifer is a sign of the Messiah's coming, according to "Jewish tradition." Quiz question: Where does the Bible say anything about a red heifer as a sign of Christ's coming? It doesn't say that at all.

It's time to stop wandering down the trail of delusion. We should stop buying all books and videos that pretend to intimate knowledge of the future. Christian bookstores should no longer sell such books. We should stop sending money to the televangelists who set dates for Christ's coming, and who keep pushing those dates a few years farther into the future.

There is no shame in admitting that we do not know everything that will happen in the future, or when it will happen. It might even be a Christlike thing to do. In Mark 13:32, Christ said, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."

To restore the credibility of evangelical Christianity, I am calling for a moratorium on all date-setting for at least 100 years, or until Christ returns whichever comes first. (Reprinted from Illinois and Indiana Missionary Baptist, August, 2002)

Israel-First Millennialists are Sending Jews to Their Death in Palestine

(As published in Christian News, September 23, 2002)

By Thomas Williamson, 3131 S. Archer Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60608

The Prime Directive of many American dispensationalist Christians today is to encourage as many Jews as possible to emigrate to Palestine, so that two-thirds of them will then be killed there.

Based on a mistaken interpretation of just one Bible verse, Zechariah 13:8, which describes the death of two-thirds of the Jewish people, there are many Christians who believe that this will happen in the very near future, and that it is their duty to help make the prophecy come true.

American policy in the Middle East is controlled by this vision, which insists that the Palestinian people must be subdued and expelled from their homeland, even at the cost of a nuclear world war if necessary, so that the Jews can then occupy that land and then, in turn, be killed off. American evangelical influence in Congress, while not powerful enough to enact a ban on partial-birth abortion, yet manages to exercise enough clout over Congress to ensure that there is no hindrance to this essential tenet of the Armageddon Theology, that Palestine must be turned over to the Jews at any cost.

Whenever the Israeli government talks of land for peace, or any kind of recognition of Palestinian human and property rights, some American evangelicals go into hissy fits, insisting that Israel is going against God. In 1998 Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson flew to Israel on an urgent mission to torpedo any talk of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Such a peace settlement would endanger the fulfillment of their belief that the Jews have to be slaughtered and that the blood in Palestine must flow up to the horses' bridles.

Louis Goldberg, at that time professor at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, described the future Jewish holocaust in his book "Turbulence Over the Middle East," published in 1982: "As we view the darkness in Israel yet to come, it is with a wrench in one's heart concerning what is yet to happen in the land... The prophet Zechariah described the holocaust in the land of Israel: `And it will come about in all the land, declares the LORD, that two parts in it [the land] will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it, And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested '

"The dire proclamation is that two-thirds of the land's population will perish. This means that of the three-million population today in Israel, should this horrible event take place now, two million will die because of the political Antichrist's fury against Israel, in exact accordance with Satan's desires."

David Brickner, executive director of Jews for Jesus, makes the same prediction of doom, saying that this slaughter will come about as a reaction to Jewish attempts to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem: "A full two-thirds of the population of Israel will perish in the ensuing conflict, according to Zechariah 13:8. The hope of the Jewish people in seeing the glorious Temple rebuilt will, in fact, lead to their greatest calamity and suffering." (From the book "Future Hope, A Jewish Christian Looks at the End of the World," 1999).

So is Jews for Jesus warning Jews to get out of Israel, or not to move there? On the contrary, books by David Brickner and Moishe Rosen contain material encouraging Jews to move to Israel, and supporting the radical groups that are trying to build a temple for animal sacrifices in Jerusalem, even though they believe this activity will trigger the massacre of millions of Jews.

One of the greatest dispensationalist authorities, John Walvoord, is in full agreement that most of the Jews have to die. In his book "Israel in Prophecy," published in 1962, he says, "According to Zechariah's prophecy, two thirds of the children of Israel in the land will perish, but the one third that are left will be refined and be awaiting the deliverance of God at the second coming of Christ." (This is a strange sort "deliverance," that does not happen until two-thirds of the rescuees are dead!)

"Left Behind" novelist Tim LaHaye says in his "Prophecy Study Bible," "Prior to Israel's conversion, Zechariah predicts that two-thirds ('two parts') of the Jewish people in the land will perish during the tribulation period. Only one third of the Jewish population will survive until Christ comes to establish His kingdom on earth."


Christian Zionists tend to oppose any Arab proposals for peace in Palestine, on the grounds that such offers are just a trap. They say that the Arabs do not want peace, and that they just want to see a lot of Jews die. How does this differ from the Christian Zionist agenda for the Middle East? John Walvoord has been quoted as saying, "As for destroying planet earth, we can do nothing. Peace, for us, is not in God's book."

Are those fundamentalist Christians who believe this way (that Israeli Jews will never experience peace and are doomed to be wiped out) doing all they can to persuade Jews to evacuate Israel and thus save themselves from this inevitable slaughter? Don't bet your life on it - many of them are doing all they can to persuade Jews to move to Israel, even donating millions of dollars for that purpose.

The article "Odd Bedfellows" in the August 12, 2002 U.S. News and World Report states that hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians in America are donating millions of dollars to relocate Jewish people to Israel. One group alone has received $60 million in the last 8 years, and there are many groups who are raising these funds. While Christian ministries in America go begging for money, American Christians are lavishing their money on schemes to move Jews to Israel, and to pay for the education of their children in Jewish religious schools. (Are there not any Christian schools in America, or Israel, that could use that money from churchgoing Christians)?

It is no secret that the reason that American Christians are helping Jews to move to Israel is because they expect to see them get killed there. This is a fact that is well-known to Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish commentators, as well as secular journalists, all over the Middle East as well as here in America. These writers often express their utter contempt and scorn for a religion that is motivated mainly by a desire to foment Armageddon in the Middle East, at the cost of millions of Jewish and Arab lives.

Jeffery Sheler states in the August 12 U.S. News and World Report article that "Many evangelicals view the 1948 founding of Israel as the first in a chain of biblically mandated events that will culminate in the return of Jesus and the end of history - a scenario popularized in the best-selling `Left Behind' fiction series. Part of that scenario, based on a hotly debated interpretation of passages in Revelation, Daniel, and Ezekiel, involves a devastating `battle of Armageddon' - a nuclear holocaust that is stopped at its climax by the arrival of Jesus, who defeats the forces of evil and establishes an era of peace. But millions of Jews are killed in the battle, and the survivors accept Jesus as their Messiah."

Almost all Christian Zionist organizations in Israel have taken an official pledge not to evangelize the Jewish people of Israel, or to seek converts among them. They do not want the Jews to become Christians. They want them to keep on being Jews, so that they can get themselves killed and fulfill the "Armageddon Theology" scenario.

As Gary North has noted in his book "Rapture Fever," "Dispensationalists want the Rapture to deliver them from all of their earthly responsibilities. Thus, they have taken this view of evangelism: `Let's not bring the gospel to the Israelis, thus insuring that two-thirds of them will be killed during the Great Tribulation and roast in hell eternally.' This view of evangelism is hidden behind a lot of rhetoric about concern for the State of Israel. There is indeed concern: to have millions of Israelis die horrible deaths and spend eternity in the lake of fire for the sake of the pre-tribulation Rapture. This is why dispensationalists refuse to send missionaries to Israel to evangelize Jews.

"The preservation of the State of Israel is basic to the eschatology of the pre-tribulational dispensationalist. Why? So that the Antichrist will be able to wipe out two-thirds of Israel's population after the Rapture of the Church and during the Great Tribulation. The Jews of the State of Israel are to serve as God's cannon fodder in the inevitable war of Armageddon.

"Without the Jews' service as future sitting ducks, pre-tribulational dispensationalists would lose all faith in the imminent Rapture. The Antichrist would have no ducks in a barrel if there were no barrel. The State of Israel is the Antichrist's barrel. The leaders of dispensationalism do not say in public that this is what their support for Israel is all about, but it is. Based on Zechariah 13:8-9, among other passages, dispensationalists conclude that two-thirds of the Jews are doomed. This is standard teaching from the dispensationalist pulpits."

Grace Halsell, in her book "Prophecy and Politics," commented on the zeal that some Christians have for seeing multitudes of Jews die: "Convinced that a nuclear Armageddon is an inevitable event within the divine scheme of things, many evangelical dispensationalists have committed themselves to a course for Israel that, by their own admission, will lead directly to a holocaust indescribably more savage and widespread than any vision of carnage that could have generated in Adolf Hitler's criminal mind."

Supporters of the Armageddon Theology insist that there cannot be, and must not be, peace in the Middle East until Christ returns after the slaughter of the Jews, They denounce all who seek peace in the Middle East as anti-Semitic and as "going against the Jews." But is it not anti-Semitic to desire and work for the death of millions of Jews, as many American dispensationalists are doing today?

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is quoted in the U. S. News and World Report article as saying, "People who say there can be no peace are not really friends of Israel." The secret is out - Christian Zionists are no friends of the Jews, not when they encourage Jews to move to Palestine and then do everything possible to stir up Arab rage against the Jews, so that millions of Jews wind up dead.

The Christian Zionist, like the space alien from an old "Twilight Zone" episode, poses as an altruistic benefactor of humanity, and carries a book entitled "To Serve (Jewish) Man," but actually it's a cookbook, with Jews as the sacrificial lambs.

The spectacle of fundamentalist Christians raising millions of dollars to resettle Jews in Palestine, while withholding the Gospel from them, is so preposterous that even some dispensationalists have boldly protested against it. In the January/February 2002 Fundamentalist Digest,Don Jasmin warns against the "Christians For Israel" organization, saying: Its basic premise and program appears to be the promotion of returning Jews around the world to their homeland via financial assistance from professing Christians. This organization also appears to give an unquestioned blanket approval to Israel, regardless of its ethics and practices.

" ...CFI appears to be more interested in promoting the return of Jews to an earthly homeland than it is in their individual conversions.... What good is it if you send a Jew back to his native land, but he dies in his sin without Christ and goes to hell? What eternal benefit has been accomplished?"

Some would say that Christians have a duty to help fulfill alleged Bible prophecies, even if the Jews get hurt in the process. It is this kind of twisted thinking that has led to wicked persecution against the Jews over the centuries, even though Christ said in Matthew 23:34-36 that
all the prophesied punishments against the Jews would fall upon that generation that was alive in 33 AD, Matthew 23:34-36. This prophecy was fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD - therefore, there is no reason to believe that there will be further judgments against the Jews in a future tribulation period, and certainly no reason for Christians to help bring about such judgments.

Does Zechariah 13:8 really predict that two-thirds of the Jews will be killed in the 21st Century, or at any time future to us? The preceding 2 verses, 13:6 and 13:7, are clearly a prediction of the crucifixion of Christ, which happened in the First Century AD. In Matthew 26:3 1, Christ cited Zechariah 13:7 as a prediction of His crucifixion,

How is it, then, that Zechariah 13:8 jumps from the First Century to the 21st? Was there not an event in the First Century that fulfilled Zechariah's terrible prophecy? Those who have read the works of Josephus know that there was indeed a vast slaughter of the Jews during the Jewish Revolt against Rome in 67-70 AD.

Adam Clarke, in his commentary, states that Zechariah 13:8 was fulfilled "in the war with the Romans" and that the survival of one-third of the Jews means that "those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be preserved alive; and not one of these perished in the siege [of Jerusalem], or afterwards, by those wars."

The historical record, as preserved in detail by Josephus, shows us that the terrible slaughter of Zechariah 13:8 already took place more than 1900 years ago. This should be a relief to anyone who genuinely cares about the welfare of the Jewish people in the world today. It should cure the current mania in which Christians are diverting millions of dollars from Christian evangelism and Great Commission work, and using it to ship the Jews off to an uncertain and perilous future in the Middle East.

It means we can start genuinely loving the Jewish people, instead of plotting to get two-thirds of them bumped off.

[Index] [Home Page] [Part II]