The wolves in sheep’s clothing have revealed themselves again! Drs. Marvin Pate and Daniel Hays wrote a book in 2003 (before the capture of Saddam Hussein) in which they blast away at C. I. Scofield, Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, and others who see biblical prophecy as it was intended, to be unfolding in the future with actual and historical events, as prophesied in the Word of God.
Both authors were trained at respected dispensational and premillennial schools and should know better in terms of how to look at the Bible with a normal, literal hermeneutic. But apparently their training was rather weak when they attended Wheaton (Pate, MA) and Dallas Seminary (Hays, Th.M.). Pate even taught for a while at the dispensational, premillennial bastion, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Both men must have early on hid their “reconstructionist” views, or changed their minds, being influenced by raw liberalism.
Their book is entitled IRAQ Babylon of the End-Times? (Baker). They argue that the whore of Babylon (Revelation 17-18) could not develop from the present country of Iraq (or Iran), and they argue, those who take such prophecies in their literal and actual way, are violating how future prophecy should be understood. While this issue is debated among dispensationalists, the fact that all dispensationalists see literal fulfillment in this prophecy does not “re-constitute” the entire nature and structure of future fulfilled prophecy. We may argue over the specifics but the essence remains the same. There will be a revived Babylon, whether it is a country in the Middle East or whether it is the revived religion of Rome.
The main disappointment I have is that these authors try to return the church to warmed-over allegorical thinking, thus destroying the scenario of future and actual prophecies, such as the rapture of the church, the world-wide seven year tribulation, and the kingdom return of Christ whereby He reigns for a thousand years in Jerusalem! They write:
Interpretation of biblical prophecy regarding Israel and the end-times has long been assumed to be allegorical or symbolic. (p. 12)
They then foolishly turn on Hal Lindsey and his book The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), and Tim LaHaye, as if these are the only two men who present the plain biblical literal picture of how the end of history will come about. They fail to mention that for almost 200 years, dispensationalists have brought clarity to the teaching of prophecy, seeing the Word of God speak in a very literal way (with of course illustrations and metaphors) about the terror of the end times and the return of Christ to reign on the throne of David. They falsely accuse Lindsey of being the only one connecting “the belief in literal fulfillment of prophecy with the tense evens occurring in the Middle East.” (p. 12).
Missing the Details
While it is true that prophecy scholars may often be too speculative about specifics that seem to tie into present events, this does not completely negate the fact that future fulfillment will be literal. It only means that for the moment we may not all see so clearly concerning the details. But the “near misses” of some details are used against dispensationalists by those who really detest the idea of future fulfillment of prophecy. They do indeed have an ax to grind, a destroying of the truth of prophetic fulfillment.
Pate and Hays speak out of both sides of their mouths. They write:
The prophets are indeed predicting actual future events, but they consistently use figurative language to describe those events. Forcing a rigid, overly literal interpretation on this type of language leads to a meaning that the biblical authors did not intend. (p. 42)
And
The prophets use figures of speech constantly to convey the literal events they predict. Thus, the fall of Babylon was a real event that they predicted and announced, but their description of that fall is clearly figurative. Taking these judgmental texts literally can lead to a faulty understanding and bad theology. (p. 42)
How can these prophecies come to pass, if they do not come to pass? How can they be actual if they are not actual? We all concede that illustrative language may be used to describe prophetic happenings but this does not take way the “actual-ness” of the events. And such illustrative language is not always used in Scripture. The prophets mix clear actual historical comings sometimes with poetic descriptions. As done by most critics, these authors offer no substitute interpretation to prophecy. All they do is deny, deny, deny! What is their scenario? Does the Bible give prediction or does it not? Were the prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ literal, actual, historical, or did He arrive in some allegorical and “spiritualized” way? If His first coming was literal the promises of His second coming should be taken literal also—as well as the accompanying events that will herald His arrival to reign on earth!
Liberal Revisionists
Pate and Hays also attack the well-established opinion that Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38-39 is refering to the peoples and their allies of the under-belly territory of Russia. Quoting supposedly (but really liberal) historian Edwin Yamauchi, they debunk the idea that this great force that comes against Israel “in the latter days” is an actual historic invasion that is part of prophetic fulfillment. Yamauchi is a modern new “kid on the block.” And while he may be intelligent, Yamauchi is going against centuries of historic analysis on the identification of the nations who come against the Jewish people in the end.
R. K. Harris reviews these issues in the prestigious International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. He points out that it has been long established by almost all parties, that Gog is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezek. 38:2-on; 39:1-16), with his territory known as the land of Magog. He will be the chief of those northern hordes who come with an onslaught against Israel about the time of, or slightly before, the blessings of the messianic age. One wonders what Pate and Hays are thinking when they deny the observations of Josephus that go back to almost two thousand years. Josephus was far closer to the knowledge of Old Testament history than Pate or Yamauchi and points out that Magog and its hordes are part of the ancient Scythian people who inhabited the Southern Eurasian steppes. They lived in the Southeast region of Europe and Asia between the Black and Aral seas. Hence Ezekiel is writing about the larger Southern group of Russian peoples that all Bible prophecy scholars say will play a key role in the end times. Pate and Hays try to deny this!
Pate and Hays argue in their book that dispensationalists are teaching “doom and gloom” and not a positive message of the gospel. This is dead wrong! Dispensationalists are both realists and positive. The Bible is realistic in that it warns that there will be a terrible tribulation that will tumble down in the final days upon all unbelievers. But God will have the last say. Christ will return triumphant and bring in a reign of peace that will last one thousand years. It is the dispensationalists who are positive!
The book IRAQ is an example of the continuing march away from the full teaching of Scripture. It is also an example of those who wish to destroy literal interpretation of the Scriptures and bring about terrible confusion as to its full message.
-- Dr. Mal Couch
