HERMENEUTICS 101: ESCHATOLOGY AND PROPHECY

George Offerman

Over the course of the last several postings, we have looked at many of the formative people and events that have set the stage for where we are in the current scheme of things. We are beginning to get a larger perspective of the global aspects of eschatology and prophecy, but if it is not ultimately applied to the individual in real time, this knowledge is as useless as a migraine headache. The REAL story of the Bible is the PERSONAL relationship with the revealed God that is mandatory in order for one to attain paradise. There will not be a ‘collective’ salvation offered, but an individual, which means the individual is responsible for his own decisions, and ultimately will stand alone in front of the judgment seat of God.

Since we all know there will be an end point to this form of existence, eschatology holds great importance to all of us. Ascertaining where we are concerning the prophetic time line is very important, but of even greater importance is the personal preparation that must go along with this. In our current times, we have been too indoctrinated into the collectivist mentality: someone else will take care of me; someone else will do the heavy lifting for me. Likewise, with the church, there are many who ‘defer’ their responsibilities to the pastor, committees, prayer groups, letter writers or donating to various causes. Personal involvement in many facets of our faith is becoming scarce to non-existent, yet we are being taught we ‘are making a difference’. This is not what the Bible teaches, and we are required to be active participants in this real war.

Without knowledge of eschatology, there is not much purpose in standing out, or taking a strong stance on any issue. If one does not understand or grasp the end results of this life, and that judgment will follow death, and there will be a possibility of eternal damnation, mediocrity will be the order of the day. If one takes a look at the current times, mediocrity rules, or if we want to use the modern colloquialism “politically correct’. Either term used demonstrates a lack of concern over what God has commanded and what Jesus preached. The fact there is perfect accountability for every thought and deed and that this will determine the eternal destiny of the individual is lost in today’s world. Without proper understanding of eschatology, the ides of prophecy will be doubly lost.

Prophecy is history written in advance for the benefit of those alive, in order to know the will and actions of God. If one already believes he will be going to heaven no matter how he lives his life, most, if not all of prophecy will not make sense to him, nor will it affect the way he lives his life. This individual will not be able to grasp, yet believe a God of ‘love’ could possibly send judgments and kill people. So, the lessons of the Bible are constantly in question and generally minimized. Those attempting to teach what the Bible says about man and his condition are ostracized, persecuted, mocked and distained by the ‘sophisticated, enlightened modern man’. When this is done, those believing in the ‘new ways’ are truly lost, and living in a very dangerous delusion. Once captured in this strong delusion, it will only take an ‘act of God’ to wake one out of this stupor. That is why the 14 events of Revelation are so harsh and overwhelming. It takes that much suffering and destruction to overcome these delusions, and it is God’s will to save the most as possible.

The Bible is all about our condition, and the consistency of prophecy proves this aspect of reality. Prophecy is always accurate and exact, when originating from God, and the most accurate and sure prophecies are found in scripture. Yes, there are those who have visions and locutions, but these are considered ‘private’ revelations, and this refers to the fact these prophecies have occurred outside of the cannon of Scripture. Private revelations do not have to be believed, and must be consistent with Scripture, not contradict Scripture to even have a shot at being from God. Many people unfortunately believe private revelation over the Cannon of Scripture, and this is truly a dangerous condition. It generally embraces sensationalism over the purity of the Word, and is contingent upon the ‘seer’ and not what is scripturally sound.

On top of that is the moral relativism embraced in society as a whole, and within the church in part. It is rare for anyone in the church to preach a straight up ’Thus says the Lord’ and be straight up with what God expects. In this way, an individual with the courage to preach the truth really could be considered a prophet in the sense they have a very accurate picture of the future if behaviors don’t change, and true seers and locutionists will verify this. So it is the private revelations that will be supplemental to Scriptural prophecies.

If one considers the above-mentioned criteria, it will soon be clear that both eschatology and prophecy are fairly dead in our time. Not many want to know the real score; they want to believe the way they do their lives is acceptable to God, and don’t want to know or hear they are in error and need to repent. Without a good sense of God and what he wants, all the eschatology and prophecy will not help those already closed off due to their pride in believing they ‘know how things really are”. Eschatology and Prophecy exist for our benefit, but we must know that we are sinful creatures who need instruction by a being that knows the beginning from the end, unlike us.