Prophetic Failures

After decades of disappointed expectations and false predictions, it is time to reexamine popular ideas about the last days and the return of Christ.

In my youth, I was greatly impressed by the book, ‘The Late Great Planet Earth’, authored by Hal Lindsey. It was exciting to discover that Bible prophecies were being fulfilled before our eyes and reported in the daily news headlines, or so we were told.

Did not all the “signs” indicate that we were part of History’s “last generation”? We could expect to see the return of Jesus in our lifetimes. The Antichrist, the Battle of Armageddon, and the Millennium were all imminent. The book’s claims were seductive. Who would not be thrilled at the thought of being an eyewitness to the fulfillment of prophecy?

Mr. Lindsey’s book helped familiarize millions of Christians with an understanding of Bible prophecy known as ‘Dispensationalism’. According to this school of interpretation, the last days commenced with the founding of the modern State of Israel in 1948, and the “generation” that witnessed the event would also see Jesus appear on the clouds of heaven. According to this understanding, a “biblical generation” is forty years in length.

[Missed - Photo by Miikka Luotio (Berlin) on Unsplash]

This was a life-changing perspective. We could expect to see the rise of a ten-nation confederacy, the start of the Great Tribulation, the invasion of Israel by the armies of Rosh, Gog, and Magog, and the implementation of the mark of the Beast. And so, by simply adding 40 years to 1948, the end of the present age and the appearance of Christ would occur around the year 1988.

By the late 1980s, expectations were running high, and books and pamphlets were published with titles like ‘88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988’.

Nevertheless, we now live in the year 2026. Two “biblical generations” have transpired since the founding of modern Israel. Rather than a ten-nation revived Roman Empire, the former European Common Market became the European Union with 27 member states. Rather than becoming Gog and Magog and attacking Israel from the north, the former Soviet Union collapsed under its own weight. 1988 came and went with no sign of the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, the mark of the Beast, or the so-called “rapture.”

Geopolitical events did not turn out as expected, and not a single prophetic event predicted by Dispensationalist teachers materialized. So, did Bible prophecy fail?

JESUS, NOT ISRAEL

The End-time Prophecy Industry continues to proclaim that the “last days” commenced in 1948. Rather than admit errors, the Industry has redefined a “biblical generation,” so that now, it ranges anywhere from forty to one hundred and twenty years. When popular interpretations fail, proponents of Dispensationalism redefine their terms and recalculate their schedules.

According to the Book of Deuteronomy, if a prophet propagates a prediction that fails, he or she is a false prophet. Whether this principle remains in effect under the New Covenant, the many failures of the End-time Prophecy Industry indicate that something is fundamentally wrong with their approach to Bible prophecy.

• “But if you say in your heart: How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? Whatever words that prophet shall speak in the name of the Lord, and they do not come true and do not come to pass, this is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken wickedly. You will not spare him” - (Deuteronomy 18:21-22, from the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible. Compare Matthew 24:11).

These failures do not mean that Bible prophecies are false. The consistent pattern of failed predictions demonstrates that the popular approach is fatally flawed. There are three key areas where Dispensationalism deviates from clear New Testament teachings.

First, the period known as the last days began with the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. For example:

• “IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH…” - (Acts 2:16-21, citing Joel 2:28-32. Compare Hebrews 1:1-2, Galatians 4:4, Ephesians 1:10, Hebrews 9:26).

Second, no one except God knows the day, the hour, or the season of Christ’s return. The idea that we can approximate the date of his appearance by adding a certain number of years to 1948 is contrary to the words of Jesus:

• “But of that day and hour knows no man, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only” – (Matthew 24:36. See also Mark 13:33, Acts 1:7).

Third, Israel is not the factor that determines the timing of the end, nor is the modern State of Israel the key to understanding prophecy. Jesus was explicit. The end will only come when the church has completed its primary task of preaching “this Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations.”

God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus, “the seed of Abraham,” and through him, in his covenant community, the Church, the Body of Christ:

• “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole habitable earth, for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” – (Matthew 24:14).

• “For however many be the promises of God, in him (Christ) is the yea! Wherefore also, through him is the Amen!” – (2 Corinthians 1:20).

• “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. Seeing it is God who said, LET LIGHT SHINE OUT OR DARKNESS, who illuminated our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” – (2 Corinthians 4:5-6. Note the allusion to Genesis 1:3).

• “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come. But the substance is of Christ” – (Colossians 2:16-17).

• “Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him, for a dispensation of the fullness of the seasons, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth - in him!” – (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Church history provides many examples of men who have predicted the date of Christ’s return. While their methods have varied, in every case, the predictions have failed. Today’s End-time Prophecy Industry is no exception to the rule.

Since we cannot calculate the timing of the end, is it important to study Bible prophecy? Yes! Prophetic passages teach us what is coming and what to expect (e.g., the apostasy, deceivers, the resurrection), and how to prepare for every eventuality so that Christ’s sudden appearance does not overwhelm us or find us unprepared:

• “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For you are all sons of light, and sons of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. So, then, let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober” – (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6).

Considering the many failed predictions of the last fifty or so years, it is high time to reexamine popular claims and assumptions about the last days in the light of Scripture.  Bible prophecy has not failed, but many of our assumptions and interpretations have.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Days of Noah - (Just as unprepared men were destroyed by Noah’s Flood, so unrepentant men and apostates will be overtaken by destruction when Jesus arrives)

• The Coming Storm - (The New Testament warns of a future apostasy caused by deceivers and a Lawless One that will precede the Day of the Lord)

• His Return - (The whole earth will witness the Son of Man arriving on the clouds to gather his elect to himself)

• Impostors and Beasts - (The New Testament warns that false prophets will appear, causing many believers to abandon their faith and betray Jesus Christ)