GOD'S PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
An Outline of Prophecy
by
FREDK. A. TATFORD
"It is for the future, not the present, that man —
exists," wrote Wm. Trotter. "The present was never designed to
satisfy man. That it does not, as a matter of fact, is attested by the
consciousness of all. Let the character of the present and the extent of the
future be what they may, the present fails to satisfy, and it is for the future
the heart sighs and yearns. The child of 2 or 3 aspires to the schoolboy's lot;
the schoolboy pants to be a youth, the youth to be a man; and the man, be his
circumstances what they may, finds not in those circumstances what satisfies
and fills his heart, but reaches after that which the future holds out to view.
It is not in man to be satisfied with the present."
There is, moreover, a natural instinct which impels
man to probe into the future and to attempt to unveil its hidden mysteries. In
days such as the present, curiosity combines with anxiety to ask what the
future holds. Is civilisation doomed to destruction and the human race to
complete extinction? Is the threat of the hydrogen bomb. the cobalt bomb and
the neutron flux bomb to be a permanent source of fear? Is there ever to be
found a solution to the Middle Eastern problem .which will avert a third World
War? Is there no hope for this world? These and similar questions add emphasis
and a sense of urgency to the endeavour to penetrate the darkness of the
future. The scientist paints a pessimistic picture of the possibilities of the
future; the statesman frankly admits the unpredictability of the days which lie
ahead; the economist finds the problem of national and international finance
insoluble;
the philosopher takes refuge in meaningless and platitudinous phrases. Human logic and reasoning provide no satisfactory answer to the questions which flood the mind. But we are not left to human argument or to the fantasies of the imagination. The Bible reveals that there is a plan for the world and that the end has been predetermined. Every detail has not been disclosed, but a broad outline of the future has certainly been given.
One
fact emerges very clearly from any study of Biblical prophecy, viz. that God
has a special plan for the nation of Israel. Nearly 4,000 years ago. He
specifically promised Abraham that the land of Canaan should be the permanent
possession of his descendants through Isaac (Gen. 17 : 8; 21 : 12). This
promise still awaits implementation. It has never been revoked or annulled
and. if it is to be fulfilled, an area of country stretching from the border of
Egypt to the river Euphrates must come under the unrestricted control of
Israel.
A
further covenant was made with David, the king of Israel, which declared that
his house and his kingdom would be established for ever (2 Sam. 7 : 12-16).
This covenant also has never been fulfilled, but it has never been abrogated.
So that Israel is yet to acquire a much greater area of
land and to be given a ruler of the lineage of David.
Nineteen centuries ago, the Son of God came into this
world and presented Himself to His own people as the looked-for Messiah: the
kingdom for which they had waited for centuries, and the ruler so long promised
were available to them. But they rejected the Messiah and, in refusing the
King, they refused the kingdom. Their blessing was accordingly deferred and the
fulfilment of the ancient covenants with Abraham and David was still further
delayed.
The
Church
With
the crucifixion of Christ at Calvary, however, a new era dawned and God
disclosed another purpose, which had not previously been revealed to man. This
was nothing less than the formation of a church, or a body of people indwelt by
the Holy Spirit. The racial and national distinctions of the past were to be
swept away. Jews and Gentiles were to be placed in a position of equality and
were to be given the same right of access to God through acceptance of His Son.
The church is composed of individuals (Jew or Gentile) who have accepted the
Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and have been born again by the power of the Holy
Spirit (Eph. 2 : 14, etc.). The church has a heavenly future and has been
promised no earthly possessions.
The
church age commenced with the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of
Pentecost (Acts 2). to baptise Jew and Gentile into the body of Christ (1 Cor.
12: 13). Prior to that day, individuals had been regenerated by the Holy
Spirit, but from that date everyone who puts his trust in Christ is linked
inseparably with every other Christian and with the Lord Jesus Christ in
heaven. The church is not merely a collection of believers: it is a living
organism (Col. 1 : 26, 27).
The
hope of the church is not an earthly kingdom or earthly blessing, but to be
united to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. This will occur, according to the
apostle Paul, at the return of Christ to the air, with a shout, the voice of
the archangel and the trump of God. At that hour, all believers in Christ who
have died will be resurrected, and all who are still alive will be removed
with the resurrected hosts in clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4 :
15-17). 1 Cor. 15:51-53 reveals that the dead will be raised incorruptible and
that the living will be changed from mortality to immortality. We are not told
the date of that event, nor are any very specific signs given in connection
with it.
After
the church has been raptured from this world, its members will have to face
their Master at His judgment seat — not to receive condemnation for their
sins, for that matter was dealt with finally at Calvary and the Saviour bore
their penalty, but for their lives and conduct as Christians to be assessed at
their true value.
Rewards will be bestowed or loss will be suffered on
the basis of that assessment (1 Cor. 3 : 13-15:
2 Cor. 5 : 10).
Then. with every blemish removed and arrayed in the
righteous acts of the saints, the church will be joined to her eternal Lover in
marriage (Rev. 19:7, 8). The sacrifice of Christ had always in view the bride
whom He loved, and for whom He was prepared to die (Eph. 5 : 25-27). When the
Lord is subsequently manifested in glory to the awe-struck earth, the church
will be manifested with Him (2 Thess. 1 : 10). The members of the church are
joint heirs with Christ and are to share His glory and possessions.
The
present day is characterised by an alarming increase in lawlessness and
iniquity, both among old and young, and moral standards seem to be fast
disappearing. But the full outbreak of sin is at present hindered by the
presence on earth of two influences, described in 2 Thess. 2 as "what
withholds" (verse 6) and "he who now hinders" (verse 7), that
is, respectively, the church of God and the Holy Spirit who indwells the
church. Just as salt preserves from corruption, so the presence of God's people
in the world preserves it from complete rottenness. The restraining influence
of the church will, however, be removed at the rapture, and the Holy Spirit
will no longer dwell in the midst of a people on earth (although He will, as in
the days prior to the formation of the church, still act upon individuals). The
restraints removed, the forces of evil will be unleashed and our Lord Himself
declared that conditions would parallel those in antediluvian days (Matt. 24 :
37 II).
The
False Church
The removal of the church will undoubtedly cause
dismay and consternation among those left behind, but after a while the world
will presumably settle down once more. If the true church has disappeared, men
will still seek satisfaction in religion, and the Bible reveals that its place
will be taken by a counterfeit of the true church. If the latter is described
as a "chaste virgin," the Biblical description of the false church is
a great whore, Babylon (Rev. 17 : 1). She is described as sitting upon many
waters, i.e. ruling ecclesiastically over multitudes and nations. It is clear
from the picture painted in Rev. 17 that she will be closely associated with a
great political power — a bloc of ten nations under the dictatorial control of
a twentieth century Caesar. Her influence will be so dominant that she is
pictured as riding the beast, i.e. the ten-nation confederacy.
This powerful ecclesiastical system will doubtless
be of considerable value in binding the ten countries together but, at the same
time, its intervention in political matters could obviously be a source of
embarrassment to the civil authorities. Moreover, the wealth accumulated by the
church could well excite the cupidity of those authorities. In consequence, the
political powers are evidently destined to turn upon this false church, to destroy
the whole system and to plunder the false church of all her wealth (Rev. 17 :
16).
Return
of Israel
The prophetic Word predicts that Israel will return
to her own land under the protection and
with the assistance of an important maritime nation
(Isa. 18 : 1,2). This has often been associated — rightly or wrongly — with
the Balfour declaration and the approval given by Britain to the concept of a
home in Palestine for the Jew. One of the most significant features of the
present day is that Israel is already in her own land and that she is rapidly
consolidating her position. True, the majority of the Jews who now inhabit
Israel are without any interest in religion and have returned to their land in
unbelief. Nevertheless. the return itself is extremely significant.
Many
references, in both Old and New Testaments, to the Jewish temple (2 Thess. 2 :
4. etc.) make it clear that the temple is to be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and there
are indications that the Levitical ritual and ceremony is to be restored. It is
also evident that a Jewish king is to be raised up to rule over the land (Dan.
11 : 36-39). This man will be on terms of close friendship with the supreme
ruler of the western powers and is identical with the false prophet of Rev.
13 : 11. etc.
The
remarkable preservation of Israel through three wars with the Arab countries in
a period of two decades may be a clear indication that the restoration of the
Jews to their own country, of which the O.T. prophets so frequently spoke, has
effectively commenced and that nothing will now drive them out of the land
again. Centuries ago God declared that He would scatter Israel among the
heathen, from one end of the earth to the other, that they would find no rest
for the sole of their foot and that they would constantly fear for their life.
Yet he promised that He would not cast them away nor destroy them completely,
but would eventually have compassion on them and gather them out of the nations
and restore them to their own land (Lev. 26 : 33-39; Deut. 28 : 64-67; 30 :
1-5). The references are to something far more comprehensive than the present
return to the land. Ezekiel predicted that one day God will bring His people
into their land to till the desolate places and to demonstrate that He is their
God (Ezek. 36 : 22-36; 37 : 25). Although the majority of those who have
returned during the present century have largely done so from other than
religious reasons or faith in the God of their fathers, it is clear that God
will one day make Himself known in the midst of them and that the ten tribes of
Israel will share equally with the two tribes of Judah in that restoration
(Ezek. 37 : 11, 19-22). Before that day of blessing comes, however, the land is
to be deluged with blood.
The
Western Powers
In a dream given to Nebuchadnezzar of a great image
constructed of various metals it was revealed that four world empires were to
appear upon the world's stage, from the rise of the Babylonian monarchy to the
end of the age and that, following these, was to come the establishment of a
theocratic kingdom on earth (Dan. 2). The first of these empires was stated to
be the Babylonian, the second the Medo-Persian, the third the Grecian, and the
fourth was not named but seems clearly to have been the Roman. In
Nebuchadnezzar's dream and in a subsequent vision given to Daniel (Dan. 7),
details were given of the fourth empire, however, which have not been seen in
history.
and must inevitably come to an end. For ten centuries
the earth will have experienced the beneficent reign of God's King, with all
the blessings attendant upon His rule. No better conditions could exist for
mankind and it might well be anticipated that complete allegiance and absolute
loyally would he rendered to Him. Yet, at the conclusion of that age, it will
he revealed that human nature is completely unchanged.
Satan will he released for a brief period from the
abyss to which he was consigned prior to the commencement of the millennium,
and will immediately seek to stir up the human race against the Creator. From
the four corners of the earth, multitudes will respond to his seductions and
will gather together to overthrow the kingdom which God has established. But
fire will come down from God out of heaven to destroy the rebellious hosts
(Rev. 20 : 7-9). The great deceiver will be consigned for ever to the lake of
fire. never again to be allowed to execute his evil designs (Rev. 20 : 10).
Peter
declares that the heavens and earth will be destroyed by fire, the description
given implying some form of nuclear explosion (2 Pet. 3 : 7-12). The
story of the old world will have finished
The Final Assize
The
probation of man will now have concluded and his end will be determined. Set in
space, without visible support, will stand a great white throne, filled by the
great invisible One — the eternal God Himself. Before that dread presence will
be summoned the dead, small and great, to be judged according to their works.
All whose names are not found written in the book of life will be cast for ever
into the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 11-15).
The
Eternal State
Ages
finished, every other authority removed, and every foe destroyed, Christ will
deliver up the kingdom to God (1 Cor. 15 : 24), and the condition of all men
will be permanently fixed and confirmed. The eternal state knows of no change
of condition: everything will have been stabilised and settled.
The
holy city. New Jerusalem, will descend from heaven as a bride adorned for her
husband — the dwelling-place of God, who will abide among men, removing all sorrow,
suffering and tears (Rev. 21 : 2). Everything on earth and in heaven will be
perfect and holy, and God will be all in all.