Prophetic Frenzy
Matthew 24-25
The massive destruction and chaos of WWI, the Great Depression, and WWII culminating in the first deployment of nuclear weapons led to both paranoia and numerous dystopian and apocalyptic writings in popular culture. Novels included John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids, where the population of the world has gone blind and is hunted by carnivorous plants; Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, where all but a single human being have become a vampires; and Philip K. Dick's Time Out of Joint where a man battles with insanity. Other works include Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke; Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney; On the Beach by Nevil Shute; Alas Babylon by Pat Frank; A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (Powanda); and Greener Than You Think by Ward Moore.
Many of these books were adapted to film as were other works like Pierre Boulle's Planet of the Apes and Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. Movies about Godzilla and King Kong were popular as were other apocalyptic movies such as When Worlds Collide, Last Woman on Earth, The Last Man on Earth, The Last War, War of the Worlds, and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The post-war world was a place of fear and anxiety.
Fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism were not immune to this anxiety. While eschatology had always been a part of Christian teaching, it rose to greater prominence when Israel was established as a nation in 1948 and with the approach of the end of the second millennium. John Darby's dispensationalism popularized by C.I. Scofield and the Scofield Reference Bible outlined a history of the world ending with the apocalypse. Published in 1958, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology by J. Dwight Pentecost created a systematic biblical doctrine on prophecy. By the 1960s, some evangelists like Jack Van Impe and Hal Lindsey had made prophetic pronouncements the central focus of their ministries. Van Impe's radio and TV broadcasts, Lindsey's books, and the writings of Tim LaHaye popularized efforts to correlate current events to prophecies of the end times. Their teachings promised an escape from the horrors which were coming coupled with an eagerness for the end times to begin. Under the influence of Jerry Falwell, Sr., a political movement arose in the Christian right labelled the Moral Majority. This group allied itself with the Republican Party and encouraged Christians to enter politics. As the group gained power and influence, its beliefs in the coming end times affected Christian's views and influenced policies regarding climate change, world peace, social and economic alliances like the European Union, or any effort aimed at making the world a better place. According to these teachers of prophecy, the world was destined for destruction, and nothing could prevent that. It was God's will. The result was a concerted effort to help bring in Armageddon and the apocalypse. As time has progressed, this movement has metastized into Christian Nationalism. This prophetic frenzy
When Christ tells the disciples that the temple in Jerusalem will be torn down, they express concern about when this will happen (Mat 24:1-3). Christ's answer is that there will be many difficult times in the future, war, persecution, betrayal, false teachers, false messianic leaders (Mat 24:4-13, 23-26) . But the actual moment of fulfillment will be sudden, like a lightning strike (Mat 24:27) or the sudden arrival of Noah's flood (Mat 24:37-41). The when is not important. What is important is to always be ready (Mat 24:42-51).
The point that Christ is making is not to be watching for signs but rather to live a life of obedience before God (Rom 16:17-20). This is made even clearer with the two parables that open Matthew 25. In the first parable, five of the young women are not fully prepared for the wedding and, as a consequence miss the celebration (Mat 25:1-13). In the second parable, each person is expected to meet the responsibilities he or she has been given (Mat 25:14-30). The remainder of Matthew 25 makes it clear what those responsibilities are--to care for others (Mat 25:31-46). Notice the emphasis on treating strangers with love. The current climate among evangelicals to expel immigrants from the land places them in complete opposition to the responsibilities Christ here names. The Bible has much more to say about the treatment of strangers than it does about prophecy. James makes it clear that true faith is expressed in action, in caring for the needs of others (Jas 2:14-26).
Too many in contemporary Christianity are caught up in speculations about how current events might relate to prophetic passages in the Bible rather than concerning themselves with "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith" (Mat 23:23). Like Jonah, too many fundamentalist conservative evangelical leaders and the followers of Christian Nationalism are anxious for disaster and judgement to fall on their perceived enemies (Jon 3). They have forgotten the nature of God and his love. Instead of seeking to save and transform Nineveh, they look forward with glee to God's destruction raining down--or worse, claim to act on behalf of God in attacking others. When disaster and destruction fail to happen, they pout and sulk (Jon 4). They attempt to manipulate events to bring about prophecy, actions completely in opposition to the teachings of Christ. The Christian is not to live in fear of the future or to engineer the future to bring about someone's perception of prophecy but rather to live a life of perfect love (1Jn 4:17-18), fulfilling our responsibilities to love God and to love our neighbor (Mat 22:37-40).
Prophetic conferences and teachings are popular because they appeal to our worst sentiments--our fears, our self-righteousness, and our prejudices against others.
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