The Great Deception in Today’s Church

By Dene McGriff

Evangelical Christianity has bought into a doctrine of error that is indefensible and leads to gross deception.  If we are living in the last days (and a good number of Christians believe that we are – and, with the swirl around 2012 a bunch of earthlings do as well), one would think there would be a great deal of interest in prophecy.  The fact is, there is none and there are some good reasons for that.  In an effort to be “politically correct” – and not divisive – we avoid controversy at all cost, especially since prophecy is so cryptic and hard to agree on.  The fact of the matter is that, even if a church taught on the last days prophecy, the chances are better than nine out of ten, that you would hear such false and misleading teaching, it’s better to hear nothing at all.

There is so much inertia in Christian Bible Schools and Seminaries that false teaching is passed on with impunity.  New generations don’t even dare to take a fresh look at the sacred doctrines passed down to them.  In some cases, bad teaching is the result of trying to interpret prophecy in terms of 18^th, 19^th, or early 20^th Century political, economic or social realities.  In other cases, it comes from a vision that caught the imagination of a new generation.  This is a short follow-up to Doug Krieger’s recent article but it also exposes it to a different light.

It all started back in 1830 when a young lady named Margret MacDonald had a vision of a rapture prior to the tribulation.  Some of the early Brethren teachers such as John Nelson Darby heard about it and began promoting it; but it wasn’t until C. I. Scofield integrated it into his Scofield Reference Bible that it gained a major foothold in mainstream evangelical circles. 

If we put this into historical context, we see that the church from the Roman Catholics to the mainline Protestant Churches had basically written off the Jews and any future nation they may form (aside from “exotics” like Sir Isaac Newton and company).  In their opinion, the “Church” inherited all the promises and covenants of God and the Jews just missed out.  These early scholars saw an opportunity to right that wrong and the church leaving in a pre-tribulation rapture created a unique opportunity for them.  They also created a problem with unintended consequences.  If the church is raptured before the Tribulation, then all traces of the church after that time, had to be erased and transferred to Israel or the nebulous “tribulation saints” (kind of step children of the faith who had the unfortunate privilege of getting saved after the rapture).  The doctrine that emerged is called “Dispensationalism”. The church raptures leaving Israel to emerge to the forefront of end times’ prophecy, isolated and alone to face the Antichrist.  Supporters had to conclude that the church dispensation ended and Israel’s began at this secret coming of the Lord and sudden disappearance of the church.

As dispensationalists combed through the Scriptures, they had a problem.  They had to completely reinterpret the Bible!  They had to develop a system (of error) and needed to decide which verses no longer applies to the “church” but to the “Jews” or the “tribulation saints.”  In Doug Krieger’s recent article titled “Two Witnesses and Two Others:  Keeping Israel and the Church Apart,” he explains in detail the theological inconsistencies, indeed, the systematized error that grew up around it – and he only scratched the surface of the Dispensational maze.  The nefarious effect of dispensationalism is to separate God’s peoples whose destinies have been intertwined from eternity past to eternity future.

Why is this doctrine such a problem? 

Relaxing in the “Blessed Hope” or the “Final Copout?”

First, it gives the church a false sense of security, the “blessed hope” that they are going to escape tribulation.  According to Corrie Ten Boom, this is the kind of false teaching Jesus warned us about.  Second, it may have had a positive effect of bringing Israel back into the picture.  Evangelicals now recognize Israel as God’s people and their right to a nation on earth as a fulfillment of the prophecies, but it may put the church in a dangerous compromising position politically. 

Let me explain.  Today’s American evangelical community is so invested in the new nation of Israel, as Doug Shearer points out in his recent article, that they have shown themselves to be more supportive of Israel than American Jews, who’s natural inclination to support Israel seems automatic!  This sets the church up for a double deception: first to think they will escape tribulation and second, they will blindly support any government that supports Israel, especially the U.S. government.  As far as they are concerned, America is not mentioned in prophecy so it could not possibly be considered a threat.  They see America as a chosen Christian nation.  The fact that America is Israel’s only friend and the only country on earth who could and would protect her from the hundreds of millions of Muslims that call for her extinction.

We have both written extensively about this and would refer you to any number of articles on our website.  But we know that the 70^th week of Daniel, commonly known as the Seven-Year Tribulation, begins with a treaty (Daniel 9:27) between the Antichrist and Israel.  This is a mutual defense treaty imposed on Israel by the Antichrist and the powerful nation he represents.  All appears to be going quite well until he breaks the treaty with Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation and turns on Christians and Jews alike.  The great deception lies in the fact that many Christians are not expecting to even be here when this happens and they may well find themselves applauding the Antichrist for being such a wonderful protector of Israel.  It has been drummed into us that those “who bless Israel will be blessed” – so by “protecting Israel” . . . isn’t that “blessing Israel?”  The main evangelical contingent of the American church has bought into this systematized error hook line and sinker!  Very few have connected the dots as to which country the antichrist may represent.  Believe me, the American evangelical church will applaud any leader that blesses Israel.  It is ripe for this deception.

Furthermore, as Doug pointed out in his article, this artificial separation of the gentile church from the Jew was never intended – and even more so as we approach the end.  Tim LaHaye’s evangelicals expect to leave all these problems behind including the world so the attention can return to Israel and the Jews.  Both peoples are essential to His eternal plan which is to make of the two one new man:

¹¹ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

   
¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. (Ephesians 2:11-16)

From the beginning of the church, there has been a problem between the church and Israel – a kind of jealousy which is discussed in Romans 11 but Paul is quick to point out that we have been grafted into the Jewish olive tree and to not be haughty.  He assures us God is not through with the Jews yet.  To us, Revelation 11 is one of the most pivotal books in prophetic scriptures.  The issue isn’t the rapture but the witness. 

Israel and the Church will prophesy and witness at the End of Days

God is about to put the whole world on trial and must produce witnesses in His divine courtroom.  This passage In Revelation 11 speaks of two corporate witnesses: the two olive trees and the two lampstands.  Two signifies a corporate entity.  Romans 11 already shows us that Israel is the olive tree and Revelation 2 and 3 has identified the church in these letters to the seven churches as the lampstands.  I don’t know how much clearer than that it can be.  The antichrist doesn’t just kill two people, but makes war on the two people groups!

Both Doug and I have written extensively on the two witnesses and I would encourage you to read if you need more background.  The two witnesses can be seen throughout the Bible – and yes, just as the “pre-incarnate” Christ can been seen in the Old Testament, the Church can be seen there as well – those called out from among the Gentiles a “people for His Name.” (Acts 15:14-19; Amos 9:11-12).  Again, dispensationalists usually identify them as Moses and Elijah (representing the law and the prophets).  The idea of considering them to represent the corporate entities of Israel (the olive tree) and the church (the lampstand) is not even a consideration because by their reckoning, the church is not there during the tribulation and Revelation 11 clearly places both in the middle of the tribulation giving testimony together!  You see how they have to convolute the clear meaning of the Scriptures in order to keep their doctrine consistent.  But talk about consistency, Revelation 11 also has the two witnesses being caught up together, “And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them”. (Revelation 11:12)

Speaking of consistency, we have a similar description of a rapturous event.  Any straight forward reading of Matthew 24:30-31 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”,  clearly shows the Lord returning and the elect (old and new testament saints) being gathered to meet Him in the air.   As we have pointed out, there is no such thing as secret comings, double raptures, double weddings or any such thing – all twisted doctrines to try and hold dispensationalism and a pre-trib rapture together.  Probably the supreme offense of all is to the Lord Jesus Himself and the martyred saints who were counted worthy to share in His sufferings, when all the modern, lukewarm, Laodicean church can think is what a blessed hope they have in escaping the pain and suffering of the greatest tribulation the world has ever seen.  Shame on that church!

In Revelation 7 there is one group of 144,000 consisting of the 12 tribes of Israel and in Revelation 14 another group of 144,000 – a group of redeemed from the earth who follow the Lamb.  In the next chapter we see the two witnesses singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb.  Finally, in Revelation 21, we see the Woman, the Lamb’s Wife as a “composition” of Israel and the Church in eternal fellowship with their Bridegroom, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The point here is not to give a long theological treatise because we have dealt with all of these subjects elsewhere on this website.  This is only understood by the Holy Spirit illuminating the Scriptures to us.  The point is the believing Church today has been set up for the greatest deception of all time.  Those few pastors who dare even to preach on prophecy seldom see the truth of the prophetic in the first place - but pass on the same old deceptive and false teachings they studied in their Scofield Bibles. 

Lining Up Support from Believing Christians for the Antichrist!

I know we don’t like to hear the above statement – but don’t the Scriptures indicate that even the very elect – if it were possible – sit the verge of deception?  Now, the Dispensationalists would like us to think that such deception won’t happen to the Church because those verses appear in Matthew 24 when the Church isn’t even here!  Don’t kid yourself—I didn’t see a secret rapture prior to that in Matthew 24 and it isn’t included in Paul’s “mystery” either.  The time has come to take prophecy seriously. 

The issue of a pre-trib rapture is not an essential doctrine of salvation but it matters.  Confused Christians are going to be lining up in support of the Antichrist because the tribulation will have begun and they won’t even know it (because to their way of thinking, they should be long gone by now) and because the AC is supporting Israel, an essential tenant of any Bible believing Christian, they’ll be ecstatic in their support for the AC’s efforts!

The whole doctrinal construct of Dispensationalism developed because of the pre-trib rapture.  With the church gone, they had to rationalize a large part of the Bible to fit into their schematic and explain away many other parts.  It is not only indefensible; it is a deceptive and must be considered a blatantly false teaching.  The time has come for us to throw aside our “political correctness” and call it the way Corrie Ten Boom did – a false teaching building one error upon another…a teaching that ill-prepared the Church in China for the suffering which caught her totally off guard.

Let’s get serious here!

This little “preachment” is, hopefully, taken as a prophetic warning.  We have to realize how serious this is.  There are very few churches that will even broach the subject of prophecy, let alone faithfully adhere to its prophetic message of a future Seventieth Week wherein the Church and Israel are called out to be a witness against Babylon the Great.  Yes, most that do buy into the false hope of escapism – after all, they surmise, “Don’t rob me of my Blessed Hope!”  Thinking as they do that the “Blessed Hope” is to escape the final confrontation between the children of darkness and the children of light.

One final thought.  Jews aren’t ignorant.  Believe me.  They understand very well the concept of the so-called supporters of Israel.  The idea of the “Church” achieving lift off to get ready for a marriage in the heavens in the great by and by while they suffer more tribulation and persecution than even Hitler could imagine is not very comforting.  If we are to see a united witness, we need to reach out to Jews and let them know we are with them to the end – not only is this Scripturally correct – it was and has been the Church’s testimony from the beginning of her history – i.e., we’re headed for a final conflict and harvest of the earth. 

And, this business of not witnessing to Jews about Jesus as the Messiah is absolute heresy – I’d take Jews for Jesus over John Hagee’s “dual covenant” any day of the week – and why?  Well, first of all:  TO THE JEW FIRST!  That’s what my Bible says…and to the Greek also – I’m in on this because I’m following a Jew, His Name is Jesus.  He saved me and washed me in His precious blood. 

Listen, Jack Hook’s got it down:  It’s the BLOODY CROSS that offends – and it’s that bloody cross that some day (better now, actually) that “they shall look on Him, the pierced one and weep” (Zechariah 12:10).

The highest form of anti-Semitism is to withhold our most sacred trust from the Jews—the good news of Gentile salvation through the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.  Why would you conceal your most precious gift from those through whom He was born?

And come on now – so these folks running around as Christians believing in Jesus as Jews are apostate?  Maybe to fellow Jews they are, but certainly not to Gentile Christians – isn’t it about time we noticed that all the early disciples of Jesus were Jews and especially that guy Peter, and, of course, our beloved Paul – man, without these Jews there wouldn’t be ANY Christians – now think that one over!

Sure, you may not like the way Jews for Jesus goes about their mission – tough!  And trust me, if Hitler were around, they’d be the first to hit the ovens – so much for Jews for Jesus not being Jewish!  I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see a lot more Jews for Jesus than Jews for Atheism or Agnosticism or flat-out caught up in Babylon the Great and living the so-called life without a thought about God – and certainly without a thought about telling us Gentiles about His House of Prayer for all people that will someday come to pass.  Finally let me say one more thing to irritate Jews and perhaps Gentiles while I’m at it – that verse in Daniel 12:4 where “many” will anxiously search through the Book in the latter days concerning the prophets to discover the purposes of God – that includes a whole lot of Jews and Gentiles too…so, folks, we’re all in on the fulfillment – whether you want to be or not…trust me, you can’t run from God, hide, maybe, but you can’t run…sooner or later the “hound of heaven” will snag you because He loves you so much – nuff said!  Tragically, Jews for Jesus have bought into the pre-trib rapture.  Once they figure that out, what a witness they will be!

Christ will manifest His witness via the Church to principalities and powers and has demonstrated His witness by His intervention into human history through Israel’s regathering and persistence!  And, if you haven’t notice – you might be livin’ in a cave somewhere – my advice is to come on out into the light of Scripture and get some SON!

Dene McGriff

Sacramento

 

 

 

 

 

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