Digging For Truth

“There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily.” – George Washington

When considering the grand questions of theological cosmology, one continually rattles the brain when viewing prophecy through the lens of historicism.  That question is:  Why would Lucifer not continually attempt to thwart the fulfillment of an apocalyptic prophecy?

Would not success at proving the Bible wrong cause so much doubt that even the faith of the very elect be shaken at its very foundation?  Would not such an enterprise demonstrate the validity of Lucifer’s arguments against God?  Would not such a situation call God’s omniscience and omnipotence into question?

And yet, in the unfolding of Earth’s history, the historicist  method  of  prophetic  interpretation  [1] quite plainly demonstrates that God has the supernatural ability to forecast events without fail.

Were such an ability placed in the hands of stock market speculators, for instance, it would soon be made manifest in the investors’ continually increasing net worth.  Were it in the hands of a politician, it would soon manifest itself in the infallible speeches and leadership of one who would soon be the uncontested dictator of the planet.

And yet, our humble God uses His power merely to demonstrate evidentiary knowledge that indeed He is the real God.  Note that He plainly states this in the following text:

• I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it thee:  lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them; and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.  –  Isaiah 48: 3-5

While on Earth, Jesus spoke of this as the purpose of prophecy when he said to his disciples the following:

• Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.  –  John 13:19
• And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.  –  John 14:29

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727 A.D.), the famed physicist known for his elucidation of many commonly used formulas and theorems of how motion works, spent much of his life studying and writing about theology.  It just so happens that among his many accomplishments he was a seminal influence in the development of the historical understanding of apocalyptic prophecy – especially of the symbolic of prophecies found in the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation. [2]

     On the purpose and usefulness of prophecy, Newton said the following:

God gave the prophecies, not to gratify men’s curiosity by enabling them to fore know things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and His own providence, not the interpreters, be thereby manifested to the world.  www.historicist.com/newton/title.htm

A quick comparison of the above four quotes shows that Newton is in agreement with the Bible.  (Indeed, this article addresses issues found in Revelation 9 from the historicist perspective.)

Such a powerful purpose is prophecy large numbers of people have converted to Christianity through its study.  One such case is the conversion of some 1,000 people to Christianity due to a political act of the Muslim Sultan of the Ottoman Empire 166 years ago.  But before we delve into this story, a little background is in order.

What Is the Significance of the Seven Trumpets of Revelation?

The Seven Trumpets can be found in Revelation 8:2 to 11:17.  This section of Revelation is less well understood than other areas of the book, such as the Seven Churches, the Fall of Babylon, and the Millennium.  However, it behooves us to study all of God’s Word and not merely dwell on that material with which we are most comfortable.  For it is in studying the entire Scriptures that we may continually come into a fuller understanding of the philosophy of God:

   Continue  this  article  into  a  study  of  the Fifth Trumpet  and  the  Sixth Trumpet.

Footnotes:

[1]     Historicism (as opposed to preterism and futurism) is the prophetic interpretive school of thought adhered to by Isaac Newton, many of the Reformers, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA).  In spite of their founders’ predilections, Protestant denominations have evolved in the last century or so to accepting one of the other two systems.  For more on historicism and the SDA position on prophetic interpretation see http://www.historicist.com and the paper “Methods of Bible Study” approved in 1986 by the SDA General Conference Committee at the Annual Council http://biblicalresearch.gc.adventist.org/documents/Methods%20Bible%20Study.htm.  For more on preterism see http://www.preteristarchive.com.  For more on futurism see Ed Tarkowski’s “In Search of the Origins of the Pretrib Doctrine: Part 4: The Birth of the Pretribulation Doctrine in the 1800s” at http://www.velocity.net/~edju/Pretrib4.htm and the online book The Secret Rapture Doctrine at http://www.maranathamedia.com.au/start.

[2]     Newton, Isaac.  Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John.  1783.  (online book:  http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/16878).

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