In
light of the End-Time Prophecy Industry’s track record, the question is
legitimate. One can easily assemble a list of the Industry’s failed predictions
going back decades. But try to find one it got right. Now that is a challenge!
I am talking about specifics. Today’s shrewder interpreters have learned
to employ three tactics: ambiguity, the subjunctive mood, and fancy
footwork. News headlines do not go as expected? Start dancing! Distract ‘em
with new and frightening predictions. Start swimming fast or your “ministry”
will sink!
It
is all well and good to “predict” that Mount Rainier
will erupt one day. Any geologist worth his or her salt can tell us that. It is
another matter to say exactly when. How many times have they redefined a
“biblical generation” since 1988? Remember: the Soviet Union was to become “Gog
and Magog” and invade Israel
from the north. Well, at least until the (FORMER) Soviet Union
collapsed under its own weight. How many of the “experts” saw that one coming?
But the lessons have been learned. Specific predictions are validated or
invalidated by events. Ambiguity is your friend.
There
is something fundamentally wrong with how the Prophecy Industry interprets
prophecy. It is time to reexamine scriptural passages to see what they really
say, to take their words at face value. When events deviate from the party
line, inserting a “time gap” where the numbers do not add up or
sledge-hammering another loophole into the words of Jesus is not a solution.
Whether the “experts” are dishonest, ignorant, deceived, or just plain
incompetent, their record demonstrates that at best they are guessing.
Peter
warned of future “scoffers” who will scoff, saying, “Where is the promise of
his coming?” Well, in all fairness, have we have not over the last hundred
years or so provided the critics with more than an adequate supply of
ammunition?
David R Maas, Kirkland , Washington
