September 23: Here’s Why Modern Bible Prophecy Pundits are Always Wrong

So, the latest conspiracy theory of Bible prophecy pundits is that September 23, 2017 will find an astronomical alignment predicted in Revelation 12 that will launch the End of Days. To be fair, not all prophecy geeks support this theory, but still, it is symbolic of the ongoing failure of all futurist End Times theories that plagues the history of Evangelical Christianity.

How are those Blood Moons working Out for You?

The basic theory is not worth the time, but I’ll quickly describe it (And, yes, there are many variations, so this is a generalization). It claims that the description of Revelation 12 is an astral prophecy that launches the rapture or other end times events leading to an “Antichrist” who claims to be the savior of our world that’s gone to hell in a hand basket. This Satanic figure masquerades as the Pope or Islamic mahdi, or whatever your idiosyncratic choice is, he makes a covenant with Israel, rebuilds the temple, reinstitutes the sacrifices, then breaks that covenant and turns on Israel, raises up the Beast and the mark of the Beast and leads all the nations into Armageddon against Jerusalem, where Jesus returns to stop it all.

This conspiracy theory has become so common, even godless secular people can recount it to you. I call it a conspiracy theory because if you examine history (see The Day and the Hour by Gummerlock) you’ll find this same kind of belief in every generation. Christians have claimed to be the final generation of the Last Days for centuries.

And they have always been wrong.

I know what you’re thinking. That doesn’t mean they are wrong now. Okay, here’s a prediction I’ll make. These new ones will be proven wrong too. How can I say this? because they are fundamentally misinterpreting Bible prophecies. Their scenario is not at all what the Scriptures are saying. More on that, later.

I remember in the 1970s, Hal Lindsey made a godless amount of money with his Late Great Planet Earth saying that the Second Coming was coming by 1988. Others followed. And they are always wrong. About it all. Lately, the Blood Moons were supposed to herald the last days. But they’ve come and gone. And September 23 will come and go. And Christians will continue to look stupid as they continue to revere these Bible prophecy charlatans like Lindsey and John Hagee and others. Like all good conspiracy theorists, they will continue to change their last days conspiracy theories to fit new facts and try to ignore their failed predictions of the past.

Recent Christian prophecy pundits don’t seem to realize that Hal Lindsey and all the others proved every prophecy with connections to their own day. And they were always wrong. And modern day pundits will be wrong too. They think that they have found more intimate connections of prophecy to news worthy events of today. But they are no different from the past pundits, who listed the same intimate connections with events of THEIR day.

That’s how conspiracy theories work. It just has to be right because I found all these links in a huge chain of anomalies and coincidences. Surely, the mark of the Beast is a chip in the hand. Just like it used to be a UPC code tattoo. Surely, the Antichrist is Muslim, just like he used to surely be a Jew and the Pope, and Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev and on and on.

There’s a reason why false prophets were stoned in the Old Testament. I’m not suggesting we do that. But I am saying that this constant failure is not merely being wrong, it is the sign of spiritual delinquency. Serious spiritual delinquency. We must call these prophecy teachers out, call them to account and REJECT THEM, not continue to give them a platform for more slandering of Jesus’ reputation with their false prophecies.

Back to Revelation 12

Okay, so here is the prophecy that is supposed to be about the End Times:

Revelation 12:1–6 (ESV)

¹ And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

There is actually a legitimate scholarly argument that this text is rooted in astronomical observations (here). But the whole point of the passage is that it is about the FIRST COMING of Christ, not the second. This isn’t in our future. It already happened in our past!

The woman represents ideal Israel (Gal 4:24-26), the twelve stars, the twelve tribes (Gen 37:9). Her child who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron is Jesus (Rev 2:27; 19:15). Satan tried to destroy Jesus at the cross. The birth in this passage is not his incarnation, but his resurrection as “firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18; Psa 2:7). His ascension to the right hand of God is the “being caught up to God and to his throne.” (Heb 1:3). And the 1260 days of the woman being protected in the wilderness was a historical reference to the Church as Ideal Israel being protected for the three and a half years of the siege of Jerusalem in AD 66. Jesus had foretold the destruction of the holy city (Matthew 24:1-2) and told the Christians to flee to the mountains (Matt 24:15-21). And they did. And it happened JUST AS JESUS SAID IT WOULD.

But it already happened. It’s not in our future.

I explain all this in my new book, End Times Bible Prophecy: It’s Not What They Told You.

Most all the prophecies that these modern prophecy pundits claim are in our future have already been fulfilled in the past. And I prove it. From. The. Bible.

Yes, I know. Christians don’t agree on all these points of interpretation of prophecy. But my point is, don’t you think its time to stop listening to the ever-changing, always-wrong conspiracy theories of futurist Christian prophecy pundits and consider a perspective more rooted in history? One that has been proven to have been fulfilled, not one that continues to prove false and unfulfilling.