Date: November 2004 Title: “I Want to be Left Behind” (I)

    Yeah, you heard me – no matter how many books Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, and Tyndale House publishers manage to sell, my reading of the Bible makes me doubt that I want to be in the first group "taken out" at the end – I think I want to be "Left Behind."

    A few years ago, commuting weekly by air to teach in one of our colleges, I was surprised at how many people were toting one of the "Left Behind" volumes.  Many church folks devour these books and some place the "children's version" in their church library so their kids will get "tuned in"!  I wish people were as eager and zealous to read and study the Bible!

    An old story repackaged - I was introduced to this same basic scenario in the mid-1970's through Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth.^[1]  Essentially, the "Left Behind" series is another attempt to popularize a particular eschatology scenario called "Dispensational Premillennialism."  There are, essentially, four basic views on how to understand the End Times and these fall into two categories concerning how Jesus' return relates to the "1,000 years" (millennium) of Revelation 20:1-6.  Pre-millennial views hold that Jesus will return before (pre-) the 1,000 year era depicted in Revelation 20, with the Historic version expecting Jesus to then rule over an earthly "Christian" kingdom and the Dispensational version (this is the "cash-crop") teaching the secret rapture/7-year tribulation/ Battle of Armageddon/Glorious Return/then Jesus ruling over a postponed earthly "Jewish" kingdom age, and then the new heaven and earth will come.

    There are also two views asserting that Jesus returns after the 1,000 years.  Postmillennialism asserts that the Gospel improves the world until a literal 1,000-year "Golden Age" begins and Amillennialism advocates that the Church is the intended "earthly kingdom" era, with the new heaven and earth to follow the Second Coming.

    Scenarios vs. evidence – At the heart of this controversial issue is the matter of "big picture" scenarios/paradigms that people embrace in their minds versus the actual information on related topics that can be collected from all over the Bible.  Your approach is important - (1) you can begin with an open mind, collect available data, analyze each piece, and then produce or select an explanation/story that best fits your evidence (induction), or (2) you can embrace a pre-packaged story and then select and interpret data according to what your story says (deduction).  The results of these two approaches can be worlds apart.

    My main concern here is that too many people are selecting a viewpoint on the basis of how fascinating and well-marketed the pre-packaged story is (such as the "Left Behind" series) rather than how well it accords with the most Biblical evidence.  I know this is a problem, because this is what I did and so have many others!

    I read The Late Great Planet Earth, in the mid-1970's and, knowing only a few childhood Bible stories, I believed it because Lindsey claimed that this was "what the Bible taught" and he did cite Bible passages.  I was baptized because I believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but also because I wanted in on "the rapture" so as to avoid "the tribulation and antichrist"!  Lindsey argued that Israel's return to Palestinian nationhood in 1948 signaled the beginning of the last 40-year "generation" (Matthew 24:34).  The final seven years (Daniel 9:27) would be the time of antichrist and tribulation, which Christians could escape via the "rapture."  I did the math – 1948 + 40 years put the rapture in 1981, then seven years of tribulation culminating in the "battle of Armageddon," and Jesus glorious return in 1988!  The European Common Market was approaching ten member nations (Revelation 17:12), so that looked good.  The Cold War was still on, so Russia looked like a bogie-man that could descend on Israel (Ezekiel 38-39).  To this Biblically-ignorant kid, Lindsey seemed to be "right on the money" and I climbed on his bandwagon.

    Sadly, this pattern (acquire your beliefs from uninspired pop literature, then support it from the Bible) is still far too common – religious/theological division and confusion multiply like bunnies from such an approach.

    Another "Prophecy expert" Bites the dust - Hal Lindsey "cashed-in" on this baloney, even claiming inspiration on Merv Griffin's TV show (see Deuteronomy 18:21,22), but he was a lousy prophet (and Bible interpreter).  The 1980's were the Ronald Reagan years and the Cold War ended, Russia and its wall collapsed, there was no rapture, no 7-year tribulation, both antichrist and WWIII failed to show, the European Common Market grew beyond ten member nations, and Jesus didn't return – secretly or in glory!  I lost faith in Lindsey's scenario for two reasons – none of it came to pass and I began my continuing serious reading/study of the Bible.  Moving on from just looking up Lindsey's proof-texts, I began reading things in context and reading whole Bible books and chapters.  I encountered passages that Lindsey never mentioned and things that contradicted what he was advocating with his cut-and-paste "proof-text" approach.

    Reading the Bible caused me to doubt just about every major concept Lindsey (and Dispensationalism) was selling – about what is central to the Bible story, where the Jews fit in the "big picture," the difference between God's/human expectations for a "kingdom," the general thrust of Old Testament prophecy, the exegesis of Daniel 9:24-27, the value and meaning of Jesus' first coming, how the "church" fits into God's program, the rapture, tribulation, antichrist, and Second Coming.  In the following series of articles, I want to share with you what I found and stimulate your thinking about the "End Times."

    A Teaser – As for why you may want to be "Left Behind" at the end of the age, here is the first clue.  Read Jesus' parable of the Dragnet (Matthew 13:47-50) and ask yourself, "who" did Jesus say would be "taken/separated out" at the end?  [to be continued]