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An End time Myth
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A widely held end-time
view is that a seven-year time of trouble will take place at the end of this
age. Few know the origin of the doctrine and the Great Tribulation (as it is
called) is generally accepted as an established fact. But just having an
explanation for a few puzzling Bible verses doesn't mean the explanation is
true. As popular as the Seven-Year Tribulation view might be, it might also be
wrong because there is no direct scriptural support for it. Oh, there are verses
we interpret as a seven year- tribulation, but not one verse in the Bible says
we are going to have such a time at the end of the age. Few question the origin
of the view, but it had a most dubious beginning . . . and here's the story.
From the early Church fathers until the Reformation, the generally accepted view
of Bible prophecy was "linear historic," that Revelation was in the process of
being fulfilled throughout the Christian Era. But in the 16th century, a new
view of Bible prophecy was devised by a Jesuit priest to stop the Reformers from
teaching that the Catholic Church was probably the "Whore of Babylon" of
Revelation 17:3-6. In 1591AD, the Jesuit Ribera invented a "futurist" view. He
claimed that Revelation would not be fulfilled until the end of the Christian
Era. Ribera taught a rebuilt Babylon, a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and an
end-time Antichrist, etc., etc. Sound familiar? It should, Ribera is the father
of the prophetic views taught by many major denominations today. But Ribera is
only part of the story. In 1731, there was a Spanish family living in Chili
named the de Lacunzas, who had a boy named Manuel. After fifteen years at home,
young Manuel decided to become a Catholic priest so he boarded a ship to Spain.
Thirty-six years later (when the Jesuits were expelled from that country because
of their brutality) the now "Father" Manuel de Lacunza y Diaz had to move to
Imola, Italy, where he remained for the rest of his life. In Imola, de Lacunza
claimed to be a converted Jew named Rabbi Juan Jushafat Ben-Ezra. Under that
alias, he wrote a 900 page book titled The Coming of Messiah in Glory and
Majesty. In it, Lacunza theorized that the Church would be taken to be with the
Lord some 45 days before Jesus' final return to Earth. During that 45 days
(while the Church was in heaven), God was supposedly going to pour out His wrath
upon the wicked remaining on Earth.1 Believe it or not, a Chilean Jesuit, a.k.a.
a Jewish Rabbi, theorized the earliest mini-trib, pre-trib-rapture view on
record!
But to continue on . . .
De Lacunza died in Imola in 1801 and that should have been the end of it. But
after his death, Lacunza's views were taught in Spain. In 1812 his book was
published in Spanish. Fourteen years later, it was translated into English by a
radical cultist named Edward Irving. Lacunza's views could have died there, too,
for most in England saw Irving as a heretic. But now the plot thickens. About
the same time, an Irvingite evangelist named Robert Norton met a little Scottish
girl named Margaret Macdonald who supposedly had a vision of the church being
secretly raptured. Norton was so charmed by the idea that he preached her
"vision" all over England. John Darby, founder of the Plymouth Brethren, became
interested in this new doctrine so he attended several Irvingite meetings. In
his letters Darby states that he had "come to an understanding of this new
truth" and made no secret of the fact that he had been influenced by de
Lacunza's writings. Darby, however, wasn't satisfied with the rather simplistic
Lacunza-Irving 45-day tribulation idea, so he devised a more complex scheme.
Darby thought the last week of Daniel's 70 weeks (Dan 9:24-27) was still
unfulfilled so he theorized that the 70th week might actually be a future
seven-year-tribulation that would take place at the end of the Christian Era. To
make his idea fit world history, he also invented a 2000 year gap between
Daniel's 69th and 70th weeks. It was all guesswork theology, but there you have
it, the true origin of the seven-year tribulation and pre-trib rapture
doctrines! Upon that dubious foundation, Darby and his associates then added a
few of Jesuit Ribera's wrinkles: 1. That a Jewish temple would be rebuilt and
animal sacrifices reestablished. That Antichrist would appear and rule the world
for seven years.
That after 3- years
of good rule, this supposed Antichrist would turn against the Jews, stop the
sacrifices, and start the battle of Armageddon. Whew, it went on and on in a
dizzying profusion of unsupportable conjectures, all based upon Darby's
imaginary 2000 year gap theory and the seven-year-tribulation he conjured up
from Daniel's 70th week. If Darby hadn't visited the United States, his
seven-year idea could have died right then, too. After all, there weren't many
Darbyites around. But while visiting the United States, Darby met C. I. Scofield.
C. I. was so taken by the Ribera-Lacunza-Macdonald-Darby ideas that he decided
to include them in the annotated Bible he was working on. Sound Bible scholars
of the day like A. J. Gordon, Charles R. Erdman and W.G. Moorhead tried to
dissuade him. Three members of Scofield's revision committee even resigned
because of his unswerving support for the view, but their voices were not heard.
The seven-year-tribulation doctrine remained . . . and that's how a Jesuit's
imaginative creation - which grew like a poisonous mushroom - was incorporated
into the now-famous notes of the Scofield Reference Bible. Since the Protestant
Church held the Jesuits and Irvingites to be heretical, everyone involved tried
to hide the origin of the doctrine and by almost unbelievable deception claimed
to be the originators of the creed themselves. They were generally successful,
for most pastors and theologians believe John Darby and C. I. Scofield to be the
fathers of what is known today as Dispensational eschatology. In the following
decades, the Scofield Bible became the most widely read Bible in the English
language so that annotated Bible is the primary vehicle by which the
seven-year-tribulation view was spread throughout American churches. Scathing
reviews have been written against Scofield's views by various respected
scholars, but others presume Scofield's notes to be all but inspired. Even
today, some folks think a commentator's notes below the line are as valid as the
text above it. Dr. Ironside of Moody Bible Institute fully supported Darby-
Scofield, but later in life admitted that it was "full of holes." Dallas
Theological Seminary, Biola University and other centers of dispensational
thinking also support Darby's views. There have been a host of rebuttals by
conservative theologians, but few have bothered to refute the Ribera-Lacunza-Mcdonald-
Darby-Scofield view in a language that the everyday saint can understand. It is
almost impossible to believe that major end-time doctrines of the Protestant
church began in the minds of a couple of Jesuit priests, one of which wrote
under an assumed name . . . and even more unbelievable, that those views were
amplified by the supposed vision of a fifteen year old girl who had only been a
Christian for a year, dabbled in the occult and had a documented levitation.
But the historic record of
the origin of Dispensational eschatology is unassailable. Many seminary students
have tried to reconcile the plain assertions of Scripture with the
dispensational position, but to no avail. Eventually, the future pastors just
accept Ribera-Lacunza-Macdonald-Darby-Scofield and after being ordained go forth
and happily teach this false doctrine to their flocks. Rarely do they question
the quivering foundation upon which they are trying to build: the questionable
opinions of the Jesuits who started it all. Many evangelical churches still
champion the seven-year view, but it is so counter to the plain statements of
the Bible itself - particularly the last trumpet - that one wonders how it has
managed to command so many ardent supporters . . . 2Ti 4:3-4 For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. We are very near the
end of all things. The Jews are home in Israel now, just as the Lord predicted
they would be in countless Scriptures. Because of the many prophecies that have
been fulfilled in the last sixty years, we can now state conclusively that all
Scriptures used to formulate the seven year- tribulation view, including
Daniel's 70th week, have been fulfilled. The Ribera-Lacunza-Irving-Macdonald-Darby-Scofield
dispensational end-time scheme just isn't true.
And since it isn't, maybe
we should look at Daniel's prophecies again to see if we can find out what they
are really all about. God is truth, so how well a person serves the Lord is not
based on how good he is at defending his doctrine, but on how willing he is to
seek out and follow the truth.
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