Implosion (11 page)

The Apostles and the Rebirth of Israel

The apostles believed the prophecies about Israel would one day come to pass. In Acts 1:6, they asked the Lord Jesus after his resurrection if he was now going to bring the prophetic promises to fulfillment, end the Roman occupation, and rebuild the kingdom of Israel. It is reasonable to believe they expected Israel to be reborn as a politically independent state at any moment.

“Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” they asked. Jesus did not say that theirs was a stupid question. He did not say those prophecies about Israel’s future rebirth were inaccurate or irrelevant or canceled by Jewish unfaithfulness to God, or that his followers were misinterpreting those passages. Rather, he said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). For Christ and his apostles, it was not a matter of
if
the Father would fulfill his promises to Israel and the Jewish people, but
when
. And since the Lord Jesus knew the promises would not be fulfilled for more than 1,900 years, he mercifully chose not to give the disciples any details, for it may well have discouraged them.

The apostle Paul also repeatedly affirmed the truth and value of all the Hebrew prophecies in the Scriptures. In so doing he reaffirmed the rebirth of Israel and the regathering of the Jews in the last days. In 2 Timothy 3:16, for example, Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching.” That certainly covers all the prophecies in the Old Testament, including those describing the future resurrection of Israel. In Romans 9:3-4, Paul writes about his deep love for “my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites” and explains that to the children of Israel “belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises.” When he speaks of “the covenants,” Paul speaks of
all
the covenants. He does not exclude the Abrahamic covenant, in which the Lord unconditionally promised the land of Israel to the Jews, his chosen people according to Genesis 12 and 17, among other passages. What’s more, when Paul speaks of “the promises,” he speaks of
all
God’s promises to the Jewish people. He does not exclude the promises of Ezekiel 36, 37, 38, or any of the other promises of resurrecting the nation of Israel or regathering the Jewish people to Israel.

Implications for the United States

There is another critically important passage of Scripture we must consider in this context of the prophetic rebirth of the State of Israel and its implications for the future of the United States.

Now the L
ORD
said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

GENESIS 12:1-3

Later in the Bible, these promises to Abram were passed down to his grandson Jacob, who was renamed Israel.

Then his father Isaac said to him . . . “Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.”

GENESIS 27:26, 29

Still later in the Bible, the Lord again explicitly repeats these promises. “Balaam saw that it pleased the L
ORD
to bless Israel. . . . Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him,” we are told in Numbers 24:1-2. Then the Lord spoke through Balaam:

The oracle of him who hears the words of God. . . . How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! . . . Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you.

NUMBERS 24:4-5, 9

The Bible’s message is clear: God promises to bless individuals and nations who bless the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and he promises to curse those who curse Jews and Israel.

The good news is that America has been Israel’s most faithful friend and ally for the past six decades, since helping to bring about the prophetic rebirth of the Jewish state. We have blessed the Jewish people here at home and around the globe. And in so many ways, the Lord has, in fact, blessed the United States of America as a result. If we remain faithful allies of Israel and continue to bless the Jewish people in real and practical ways—while we increasingly turn our hearts back to the Lord, who made this promise in the first place—then I believe God will continue to bless America and help us recover from our many challenges and our many sins. God made this wonderful promise, and we can depend upon him to be true to his Word.

But let us make no mistake: if the United States stops blessing Israel and the Jewish people and either abandons them or begins actively working against them, then we will no longer be eligible for the blessings of God. Rather, we will face God’s curse. This is a fate no nation can long endure. Certainly not ours. Indeed, given all the other enormous and existential economic, fiscal, spiritual, and moral challenges we face, I have no doubt that America will most certainly implode if we stop actively and consistently blessing Israel and the Jewish people.

God will not be mocked. One way or another, America will reap what she sows.

Bottom Line

Do there remain skeptics, cynics, opponents, and enemies of Israel here at home and around the world? Yes.

Will their numbers grow and their hatred of Israel and the Jewish people intensify as we go deeper into the last days? Unfortunately, yes.

But does their skepticism or cynicism or opposition nullify the truths of the Bible that Israel will be reborn and the Jews regathered to the Holy Land in the last days? Not at all.

Indeed, the rebirth of Israel is a remarkable development in our time. Some scholars have described it as the definitive sign—the “super sign,” as it were—that we are not merely living in an interesting or extraordinary period of history but, in fact, living in what the Bible calls the last days before the return of Christ. I believe that. Furthermore, I believe God’s promises that if we as Americans continue to bless Israel and the Jews—God’s chosen people—then God will bless us. But if the U.S. abandons or works against Israel and the Jewish people, then God will curse us.

Given the unprecedented challenges we already face as a nation, the stakes could not be higher.

CHAPTER SEVEN

ARE WE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS?

So far we have reviewed some of the different signs the Bible tells us to watch for in the last days.

We have examined events and trends that the Bible tells us will be increasingly visible and evident as we get closer to the second coming of Christ. It’s important to be aware of such things if we are to accurately address the question of whether we are living in the last days at all and the issue of whether Bible prophecy has any bearing on the future health and stability of the United States of America.

Having examined the evidence, what do you believe? Are we living in the last days?

I believe we are. After decades of studying Bible prophecy, reading hundreds of books on these subjects, discussing prophecy with many Bible teachers and scholars in the U.S. and around the world, analyzing geopolitical events, global economic trends, and spiritual and cultural trends, and seeing so many prophetic signs come to pass, I have come to the conclusion that the Rapture of the church is increasingly close at hand.

In an upcoming chapter, I will explain what the Rapture is and why it is important to the future of the United States. For now, let me just say that I have no specific idea when the Rapture will occur. What’s more, I am strongly opposed to speculating about dates and times.

Some may criticize me for denying the so-called doctrine of imminency, which states that Jesus could come back at any moment, without any advance warning. To be clear, however, I do believe in the doctrine of imminency. I do not deny it. But it is important that we are clear as to what this doctrine does and does not entail.

Tim LaHaye, one of the foremost teachers of Bible prophecy in the world today, has written that “
Imminency
is the word we use to refer to the doctrine that Christ could come at any moment to call His bride [the church] to be with Him in His Father’s house. That is why Scripture has so many admonitions to watch, be ready, and to look for Him to come at any moment.”
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I agree entirely with this statement, and I seek to be ready for the Lord to come at any time.

Thomas Ice, another leading Bible prophecy scholar, has written that “imminence in relation to the Rapture has been defined as consisting of three elements: ‘the certainty that He [Christ] may come at any moment, the uncertainty of the time of that arrival, and the fact that no prophesied event stands between the believer and that hour.’”
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I agree entirely with Ice’s statement as well. I am certain Jesus is coming back. I don’t know when he is coming—he could come at any moment. And no prophesied event stands between us and Christ’s return.

That said, let’s be clear about something else: While all the signs of the last days have to happen before the second coming of Christ, no sign of the last days has to happen before the Rapture occurs. However, that does not mean that no sign
will
happen before the Rapture occurs. For example, the Rapture could have happened at any time from the first century to the present. No signs
had
to precede it—not the “birth pangs” of which Jesus spoke or any other. Even the rebirth of Israel as a nation didn’t
have
to occur before the Rapture. Theoretically, Israel could have been reborn after the Rapture of the church. Nevertheless, Israel
was
re-created as a nation before the Rapture. Likewise, the apostle Peter—citing a sign foretold by the Hebrew prophet Joel—said the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all mankind around the world in a more dramatic fashion in the last days than ever before. This didn’t have to happen before the Rapture either. Yet it did begin to happen in chapter 2 of the book of Acts, and it has dramatically accelerated in our times.

Again, while no prophetic sign
has to
precede the Rapture, that does not mean no sign
will
occur before the Rapture. This is a critical point. Indeed, as we look at the events of the past century or so—and specifically at events that are occurring here in the twenty-first century—we can see that so many of the prophetic signs related to the last days, the “birth pangs,” have already come true.

That has significant implications for your life and mine and for the future of the United States.

How Long Will the Last Days Last?

The overall length of the period leading up to the second coming of Christ is never defined by the Bible. To the contrary, the Lord Jesus specifically said that “no one knows” when he will return (Matthew 24:36), and it is precisely because we don’t know exactly when he is coming for us that we are to be constantly ready for him—living lives of holiness and purity, being faithful in daily prayer and Bible study, sharing the gospel with others, making disciples of all nations, and so forth. “Therefore be on the alert,” Jesus told his disciples, “for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42).

One thing we are not supposed to do is guess or set dates with regard to either the Rapture or the Second Coming. To do so is unbiblical, unwise, and evidence of false teaching, which is sternly forbidden in the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36). The apostle John concluded the book of Revelation by warning that when it comes to “the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).

Unfortunately, people throughout the centuries have disregarded the clear teaching of the Scriptures and have sought to convince others that they knew when Jesus was coming back. Perhaps some have set dates truly believing they were right. Others have surely been motivated by greed or pride. Either way, they have disobeyed the Bible, misled people, brought ridicule against the church, and caused some to doubt any teaching related to Bible prophecy and the second coming of Christ.

False Teaching about the Last Days

A radio host named Harold Camping made headlines in 2011 by publicly predicting that the Rapture would occur on May 21, 2011. The
San Francisco Chronicle
was the first to pick up the story in January 2010.

Camping, 88, has scrutinized the Bible for almost 70 years and says he has developed a mathematical system to interpret prophecies hidden within the Good Book. One night a few years ago, Camping, a civil engineer by trade, crunched the numbers and was stunned at what he’d found: The world will end May 21, 2011. . . . Employees at the Oakland office run printing presses that publish Camping’s pamphlets and books, and some wear T-shirts that read, “May 21, 2011.” They’re happy to talk about the day they believe their souls will be retrieved by Christ. “I’m looking forward to it,” said Ted Solomon, 60, who started listening to Camping in 1997.
[144]

Camping then made his prediction even more specific, saying the Rapture would occur at or around 6 p.m. (though he didn’t specify which time zone).
[145]
His radio network purchased billboards announcing the date all over the country and even some in other countries (I saw one in Israel). People printed all kinds of things with the date on them. The Internet was abuzz with speculation about the date, and as the date drew closer, media attention grew steadily.

Camping was wrong, of course. May 21 came and went, and the Rapture did not occur. Undaunted, the radio charlatan—whose Family Radio network has brought in more than $80 million in donations since 2005
[146]
—then said his calculations were flawed and that the real date of the Rapture would be October 21, 2011.
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The following month, Camping suffered a stroke, and his show was taken off the air.
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When October rolled around, the revised date turned out to be a false alarm as well.

These were not the first times that Harold Camping had misled people regarding the date of the Rapture. In 1992, he published a book titled
1994?
I actually have a copy in my personal library because I have started a collection of books and pamphlets of false teachings about Bible prophecy. Camping’s book is over 550 pages long and concludes, “The results of this study teach that the month of September of the year 1994 is to be the time for the end of history.”
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The radio host was wrong then, too, of course. Neither the Rapture nor the end of the world occurred in 1994.

Camping is not the only one who has spread false teaching about the last days. I own a copy of a now-infamous booklet titled
88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988
. “You only need one good solid reason why 1988 will be the church’s Rapture,” wrote Edgar C. Whisenant. “Here are 88 reasons why 1988 looks like the year.”
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Whisenant said he calculated that the Rapture would happen on either September 11, 12, or 13 of 1988 and that Christ’s second coming would be in October of 1995.
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What’s more, he predicted the utter destruction of the United States before November 1988. “We will not see another national election,” Whisenant wrote, “nor will we see the end of the 213th year of the Constitution (the end of 1988), before the war comes (World War III) which destroys us completely as a nation, before the election in November 1988.”
[152]
Millions of copies of the booklet were sold or distributed throughout the United States in 1988, according to the publisher.
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Obviously, Whisenant was wrong. Neither the Rapture nor the end of the United States nor the end of the world occurred as he predicted. That, however, didn’t dissuade him. I also have a copy of the sequel he published the following year,
The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989
. In this one, he explained that he had miscalculated and there were actually eighty-nine reasons why Jesus was coming back in 1989! “Jesus is really coming, and I believe it is this year!” Whisenant wrote on page 1. “Last year I wrote the book
88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988
because I saw all the signs and believed the Rapture of the church would occur during Rosh Hashanah 1988. . . . My mistake was that my mathematical calculations were off by one year. The miscalculation was so simple, perhaps the reason I did not see my error was God’s will, in order to issue the warning, or shout, to awaken a sleeping Bride or church.”
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Yet again, Whisenant was wrong.

The Dangers of Overreaching about the Last Days

One of the most famous yet highly controversial writers about prophecy in recent memory is Hal Lindsey. His bestselling book
The Late Great Planet Earth
(with collaborator C. C. Carlson) was published in 1970 and in many ways helped popularize the idea that we are living in the last days. The book went on to sell more than 15 million copies. Unfortunately, Lindsey repeatedly overreached in his analyses.

For example, Lindsey wrote that since Israel was reborn in 1948 and since a generation—in his view—was forty years, the Rapture would likely take place by 1988. He began by citing Matthew 24:34, where Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Then Lindsey asked, “What generation? Obviously, in context, the generation that would see the signs—chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place. Many scholars who have studied Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so.”
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Many Christians sincerely believed the Rapture would happen by 1988, in no small part because a popular author like Hal Lindsey had suggested it would. And Lindsey didn’t back off of his convictions after the publication of
The Late Great Planet Earth
. Instead, he doubled down. In 1982, he published a book titled
The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon
. On the very first page, he wrote, “I believe many people will be shocked by what is happening right now and by what will happen in the very near future.
The decade of the 1980s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it
.”
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When the Rapture didn’t happen in 1988, many Christians who had listened to and believed Lindsey—and other pastors, teachers, and authors who were making a similar case—became disillusioned. They stopped studying Bible prophecy. They began doubting the validity of Bible prophecy. Some began doubting the inerrancy of Scripture. Others turned away from Christ. I know pastors and Bible teachers who have told me they backed away from teaching Bible prophecy around this time precisely because they felt so many people had been burned by inaccurate, misguided, and overreaching teachers and authors. Some didn’t want to be lumped in with teachers of “prophecy hype” and sensationalism or identified with what some were already describing as “doomsday chic.”
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Others were concerned that they, too, had perhaps been overreaching in their excitement about the possibility of Christ’s sudden return and decided to cool things off a bit.