CHAPTER SIX
FUTURISM AND THE BOOK OF REVELATION
As did the Jews, so do Futurists - they fail to discern the present
moral purpose of the prophecies pertaining to "Israel." Old
Testament terminology is employed in the Revelation because the
church has taken the place of Israel; because the church is
"Israel." God had a moral reason for giving Jacob the name
"Israel" - because his character was changed after a night of
prayer. (See Gen. 32:24-30; Hosea 12:3, 4.) Jesus is "the King of
Israel." (See John 1:49.) And "the King of Israel," Who
knows His children, said to Nathaniel (who had spent some time with His
God in prayer in the secrecy of an overhanging fig tree) :"Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." (John 1:47-49.)
"The remnant of Israel" (Zeph. 3:13) will be those of whom it
is said: "In their mouth was found no guile" (Rev.
14:5). A true Israelite (like Jacob and Nathaniel, etc.) knows from
experience what it means to pour out the soul before God, clinging to
Him and trusting in His love and mercy. Only those who thus commune with
God and who have "no guile" can fully understand or accept
Christ's Message in the Revelation. The Revelation can be understood
only in the light of the literal types of ancient Israel. As this
principle is rejected by Futurists they cannot understand the present
moral purpose of most of the prophecies of the Apocalypse. They apply
them literally in connection with the literal Jew in Palestine. As
nothing has yet happened literally according to their interpretation
of these things of "Israel," there- fore, they say, these
things must be future. Thus reasoned the Jews in Christ's day and
rejected Him. In this same way Futurists are blind to the present-day
fulfillment of the Apocalyptic prophecies and reject Christ's vital
Message for them today.
The Futuristic conception declares that Antichrist and the prophecies
relating to his making "war" on the "saints"
deal with a person who is yet to arise and do his deadly work against
the literal Jews in Palestine. The Futuristic system of
interpretation has been fostered by the Papacy because it points to a military
Antichrist - a literal person - to arise in Palestine in the
future, and thus diverts attention from seeing the Papacy as the
Antichrist - a spiritual organization - portrayed in the
Revelation.
The question of whether "Armageddon" is employed in a
literal or a symbolic sense brings us to the decision as to the system
of interpretation we employ. Futurism teaches that all Jewish matters in
the Revelation are to be taken literally - including the
"place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." they
say, is a literal military battle, during which the Lord delivers the
literal Jewish remnant in Palestine from their national enemies led by
the beast and the false prophet. When "Armageddon" is
interpreted according to the principle laid down in the New Testament,
namely, that the church is now the Israel of God, "Armageddon"
is seen to be a spiritual conflict involving the church and the moral
principles she represents. When taught as a military battle the
prophetic description of "Armageddon" has no moral purpose;
when taught in relation to the destruction of the enemies of the church
and the triumph of the church, it contains a vital moral purpose.
God's solemn warning against worshipping the "beast" and
"his image" or receiving his "mark," as well as so
many of the startling prophecies in the Revelation, lose their moral
purpose for to-day when interpreted according to the Futuristic system,
which applies them to the future in relation to the literal Jews in
Palestine. Those who read these prophecies according to Futurism do so
as spectators, or as those whose mental curiosity is stimulated to know
what events will occur to other people who will live in Palestine in the
future. But the Lord gave these prophecies as vital Messages for His
true Israelites living today. The Moral Purpose of Prophecy
CONTINUE
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