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FORECASTS
Part II
By A. Prentice
Scripture citations are to the King James
(Authorised) Version, unless noted otherwise.
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)
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SQUIRRELS CAN REMEMBER up to three
hundred sites at which they have secreted acorns for the coming winter. This
little creature also practises deception on would-be thieves. If it thinks it
is being observed, it tucks the acorn in its mouth and pretends to bury
it, covering up the fake hiding place in the usual way, then scurrying off to a
different location. Most of the animal creation has an instinct for survival,
laying up stores against bad weather and invaders. This instinct is so strong
that it cannot be resisted.
Equally irresistible is the power of inquisitiveness on the human mind. The horizons of space and time have long been a preoccupation of human intellect and imagination, extending far beyond a primitive instinct of self-preservation. Innate human curiosity, an impress of divine foresight, attempts to peer into the future to see what's coming up. But more often than not the mind fashions a future from the present, extrapolating contemporary trends on the faulty basis that the present is a reliable guide to the future that things will proceed on a familiar trajectory. This approach has always failed, partly because the present itself is derived from a past often unrecognizable and inaccessible. For example, there are no discernible clues from human history which could have predicted the modern world as we now know it to be. Our present was at one time someone's future and they could not have visualised it with a high degree of accuracy. There is a lesson in this.
The nineteenth-century hothouse of Millennial expectations in both Britain and America was a fertile medium for predictions drawn from biblical prophecy. In the British Isles, John Nelson Darby, churchman, translator and founder of the Plymouth Brethren, influenced Christian thought along the lines of chronological periods, or dispensations. The expectation that Christ's return was at hand was prevalent in those days. William Miller, the American adventist and evangelist, drawing on prophecies in Daniel, twice predicted that Christ would return, first in 1843; then, that date failing, 1844. The let-down discouraged many of his followers, though the lessons learned from the ʻGreat Disappointmentʼ were incorporated into the teachings of C. T. Russell and the Bible Students movement three decades later [*] In recent times the American radio teacher, Harold Camping, lost credibility with many of his adherents when he assayed that in 1994 or 2011 Christ would return and the world would end.
That there would be an indeterminate hiatus between Christ's First Advent and His Second and a period of confusion on the part of the watching disciples, is suggested by Jesusʼ parable of the ʻpoundsʼ, in which the master of the household departs with an exhortation to his servants to ʻoccupy till I comeʼ that is, until I return (Luke 19: 13). The master is Christ; the servants are His people, awaiting His promised Second Advent in the end of the ages. We are to ʻoccupyʼ or ʻtradeʼ (so the Greek), with patient resignation, in an attitude of hopeful anticipation until He is made manifest to the world. That this will happen is certain; but just when, we are not told. The kingdom of God is simultaneously both near and far off, a contradiction which the thoughtful and attentive watcher can appreciate. Striving to live in this present evil world requires one daily to live in hope of a practical, future deliverance, penetrating the haze which intervenes with trust in the declarations and prophecies found in the Word of God.
Whatever
You Expect, Expect the Unexpected
All sorts of predictions fail for many reasons, not least because many random (unexpected) events will occur to affect the outcome. People are not very good at predicting outcomes even in mundane, short-term matters. Take the football match as an example. In the ninety-minute contest between Team A and Team B, at least two results are possible: either A or B will win, or A and B will draw. But no one, no matter how well-informed on the sport, can predict with certainty what the final score will be, nor by how many goals either team will prevail or draw. Local weather; the condition of the pitch (lumpy, smooth, wet); the efficiency of each player; the cohesion of each team; injuries sustained by the players; and the vocal encouragement (or lack of it) from the spectators all these factors may contribute in some measure to the outcome. And while the presence of some or all of these factors can be anticipated, exactly how and to what degree they will influence the result cannot be known.
Dead-end forecasts are the result of the imperfect understanding and vision of the prognosticators, not Divine prophecies. Bible prophecy cannot fail, though just how it is to be fulfilled in any given period will never be clear in advance. Only the Omniscient, the One who straddles eternity, can visualise the future as it really will be. Human interpretation and application of the prophecies often generate inflated expectations, especially when specific dates are invoked as a deadline for proofs of Christ's visible return.
Religion
and Theology
The relationship between climate and weather, explained in Part I, provides a useful illustration of the connection between Religion and Theology.
Religion as a belief in a higher power is humanity's default position its ʻclimateʼ and is manifest in different ways Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, etc. varying according to historical periods, geography, and culture.
Over time, the religious climate is moderated by Theology, as each religion codifies or refines its beliefs, introducing various modes of worship, and so on, demonstrated by the multitude of doctrines, precepts and principles found all over the world and in all religious cultures. This is the equivalent of regional ʻweatherʼ. Even Christianity was split into competing groups and creeds, each differing greatly from the other in doctrinal emphasis or ecclesiastical structure presbyterian, episcopalian, etc.
For most church-goers, the gears and cogs of Theology the finer points of religious doctrine may not offer much appeal. The Reformation, which was largely responsible for the proliferation of Christian denominations, may seem like distant and irrelevant history to some. But it is important to remember that from that movement came a renewed appreciation of the Bible's teachings on, for example, justification by faith, the role and nature of Christ, and even a revolutionary understanding of the role of the citizen relative to the state, fostering the rise of democracy.
Relatively few Christians will specialise in the forensic debates on the merits of one Bible translation over another, or the grammatical nuances of the Hebrew and Greek words underlying a favourite translation. Questions closer to hand, such as the moral health of society and the conduct required of Christians in an increasingly lawless and pagan culture naturally attract more attention. And, of course, the way we comport ourselves in the midst of an unbelieving world is supremely important. Indeed, the Scriptures ring with exhortations to holy living and godly thinking, a self-regulation which is the hallmark of the dedicated Christian, one who puts God's will above his or her own. But the choice need not be reduced to one between the heart or head – Christian ethics or doctrine. It is possible to blend both.
Conclusion
There is much yet to come in the Divine plan. Opinions may differ on how far along we are in the Time of Trouble now upon the world. Nonetheless, it seems that the unambiguous indicator of how far things have progressed is the establishment in 1948 of the nation of Israel, the bellwether of God's plan, a straightforward fulfilment of biblical prophecy. For it is the near-fatal attack on that nation, yet to come, which the Scriptures prophesy as the precursor to the setting up of God's kingdom on earth. See Isa. 2: 2-5 and Zech. 14: 1-3. This singular event could be years away, and we are probably well advised to give more weight to the signs of the times, rather than to dates.
God is never in a hurry and is not
obliged to synchronise His clock with our own. And so we must wait, with
patience, heeding the advice of our Lord, who in addressing His immediate
disciples also addresses His followers here in the end of the ages (Mark 13:
37):
And
what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
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White, in collaboration with John Harvey Kellogg, was instrumental in the formation of Kellogg's cereal company in Battle Creek, Michigan. The world-famous Loma Linda University and its associated medical centres and hospitals in North America and developing nations has its origins in the Seventh-Day Adventist movement.
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December 2014. All author rights asserted, except that you may reproduce this article without explicit permission. Please acknowledge the source.