All that we spiritually know of ourselves, all that we know of God, and of Jesus, and His Word, we owe to the teaching of the Holy Spirit; and all the real light, sanctification, strength and comfort we are made to possess on our way to glory, we must ascribe to Him… Where He is honoured, and adoring thoughts of His person, and tender, loving views of His work are cherished, then are experienced, in an enlarged degree, His quickening, enlightening, sanctifying and comforting influence.
Octavius Winslow

The Danger Of Dating Predicti

The Danger Of Dating Predicti

THE DANGERS OF DATING THE RAPTURE

False prophets dot the landscape. History is replete with aborted attempts to date the coming of Christ or to hasten it with claims of fulfilled prophecy. In 1884, William Hechler, A Christian acquaintance of Theodore Herzl, thought that Zionism was the beginning of the end of days. (See Michael Progai, Faith and Fillment, Christians and the Return to the Promised Land, pp. 58- 62.) Hechler died depressed and discouraged in London in 1931. (See Claude Duvernoy, The Prince and the Prophet.) At the turn of the century, John Alexander Dowie of Zion, Ill., was convinced he was Elijah and was to usher in Christ’s Second Coming. However, he left many disappointed. (See Gordon Lindsey, John Alexander Dowie, pp. 190-191.) More recently, John Todd, Constance Cumbey and Edgar Whisenant, all said that the signs pointed to an imminent end, but they were dead wrong. (See further, Miami Christian College, Clarion, Vol. 1, No. 3, pg. 4, “A Balanced View of the Lord’s Return.”)

Some people seem determined to smash themselves against the brick wall of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:36: “But of that exact day and hour no one knows.”

In his book, Predators in Our Pulpits, Phillip Keller calls Christians to discernment, and publishing houses, printers and broadcasters to responsibility. He writes:

Of course many common people really have no way of knowing. In their trusting simplicity they are being led astray by the very teachers whom they assume are instructing them in truth. The laity look to them for life while being led to the slaughter, or at least to impotence.

The stark truth is that multitudes are being deluded to believe a lie. They are being deceived by the very ones they thought had only their best interests in mind. There has been an insidious infiltration of the church by men and women whose work and words spell its destruction. (pg. 4)

In recent years all kinds of sensational and fictional stories have circulated purporting to prove the fulfillment of Bible prophecies. A popular fantasy on in the 1970s was the story of the “Belgium Beast.” Popular Christian speakers and writers told of a three-stories-high computer in Brussels that contained in its memory the name of every living person. By implication, it could spit out an identification number for each one. It was seen to be a fulfillment of Revelation 13 as part of the Antichrist’s plot to give each person his mark. In August 1976, Christian Life magazine published the following news item:

“Dr. Hendrick Elderman, chief analyst for the Common Market Confederacy, announced recently that a computerized restoration plan is already underway in Brussels, according to the Altoona (Pa.) Mirror. ‘The Beast’ is a gigantic computer that takes up three floors at the Administration Building of Market headquarters. This self-programming unit has over 100 sensing input sources. Computer experts have been working on a plan to computerize all world trade. This master plan involves a digital numbering system for every human on earth for all buying and selling. The number would be invisibly ‘laser-tatooed’ on the forehead or the back of the hand, and would show up under an infra-red scanner to be placed at all check-out counters and places of business.”

Dr. Eldeman suggested that by using three sets of six-digital units, the entire world could be assigned a working credit card number. Credit notes would be exchanged through a World Bank Clearing Center. (pg. 14)

With its publication in Christian Life, the Belgium Beast took on the status of fact and became grist for radio and TV sermons.

In reality, the Belgium Beast was the product of the imagination of Joe Musser, who wrote the novel, Behold a Pale Horse. In November 1976, Musser wrote to Christian Life:

“‘Beast’ Is Yet To Come — The item referring to a computer ‘Beast,’ a confederacy of Common Market nations, and laser tattooing for a world-wide numbering system (People and Events, August) is based on fictional portrayals of end time events, drawing from my novel, Behold a Pale Horse (Zondervan), and a screenplay I wrote for the David Wilkerson film, The Rapture. For more than three years I have heard my story ideas circulated as fact. Perhaps, in light of what’s happening in the world today, items such as the one printed seem quite plausible. However, for the moment, they are fiction. Joe Musser, Rockford, Ill.”

The publication and promotion of fantasies can never spread the truth. The practice destroys Christians’ credibility and encourages skepticism about the Gospel. Questionable, curious, undocumented, unverified information should never be printed. The truth of God cannot be promoted by a lie. There are dangers to the dating game.

GRF

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