I am revisiting an article I wrote in 2018, which is even more pertinent today. I asked back then, haven’t we waited long enough for Christ’s return? Five years later, I am still weary of this groaning planet, of the sick antics of today’s Left, of watching disturbing events from around the world, and of scoffers who mock my beliefs as though I’m an outdated Neanderthal.
So, I’m bringing back some of those musings because they’re more intense here in mid-2023.
How Much Longer?
The malady goes by many names: End-time weariness; Rapture fatigue; Rapture-watch burn-out. The scoffers and skeptics are gaining too much territory and too many followers. The fact that the King is coming is boring and just old news.
What Hal Lindsey wrote in 1969 in his classic The Late-Great Planet Earth, in the eyes of many, did not come to pass. Thus, there is a collective so-what sigh. The pulpits marginalize or ignore this glorious good news. How much longer can I look up with expectation?
Late-Great Burn-Out?
Recently, I read a revealing article in The Guardian that further mocks those with an end-time view and reinforces the growing skepticism. This article suggests:
- Authors like Tim LaHaye and Hal Lindsey prophesied a lot of things that have not come to pass. Haven’t you Rapture-watchers waited long enough? Perhaps it’s time to move on from this message. [Never mind that a ton of things they predicted HAVE come to pass.]
- Larry Norman told us in his 1970s song, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” that life was filled with guns and war and everyone gets trampled on the floor, but a generation later, that’s still happening. It’s far worse today. A generation later, the world is groaning even more! We’ve waited long enough, and it’s time to change the channel.
- Hal Lindsey told us that 1988 was a key year as that was 40 years since Israel’s re-birth. He never said he was targeting that year for the Rapture, but he encouraged us to anticipate His soon return surrounding that 1988 date. We’re still anticipating 25 years later, but alas, no trumpet or shout to date!
These are just three talking points of The Guardian article.
To be frank, there is now a “we’ve been through this all before” mindset rather than apocalyptic anticipation. Words of warning are falling on deaf ears. I now see way too much end-time weariness and left-behind indifference. The article in The Guardian suggests all this and more, but the Bible tells us to expect this (II Peter 3:4).
The Bashers and Scoffers
Then came the bashers who are respected in some circles—just not mine. Hank Hanegraaff said there was no Rapture to be found in the Bible. Who knew? Well, he’s no Bible Answer Man to me, but at one time, he had a sizable audience whom he greatly influenced. In 2017 he called me out on air as one of the biggest troublemakers in evangelical leadership and said that I engage in “script torture.” Maybe I should be honored.
What’s in the water Frankie Schaeffer is drinking? When he, like Hanegraaff, joined the Eastern Orthodox Church, he went sideways. He now goes into tirades on MSNBC against what his parents — Francis and Edith Schaeffer — might have believed about the end times. He has tried to shame anyone who would embrace “left behind” theology, as he calls it.
Frankly, the line-up of bashers and scoffers is so long that I need a book to document them properly, so I am not dwelling on them. Rick Warren calling eschatology “a distraction” did not help. Legions on the religious Left including Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, Rob Bell, and more–have denigrated this glorious good news for two decades. Social justice is a far greater interest to them.
Déjà vu All Over Again
Stunning events are breaking daily. We are on the cusp of digital money. Russia, who is likely Gog from the land of Magog, is stirring and roaring. Mark of the Beast technology is staring us in the face. The spirit of the Antichrist is manifesting globally. And yet many suggest this is just déjà vu all over again! You have talked about such things for decades. We’re weary of your warnings!
So, the fact that things are all coming together excites only a tiny remnant who will never grow weary of keeping their eyes on the sky! If you are among them, hang in there. He is coming soon. As things continue to deteriorate, we may be left with only one hope—the blessed hope.
It’s better to sound the warnings than have multitudes come to us and ask us, “Why didn’t you warn us of all of this and of all of the things to come?”
(I go into detail about all of those turning the “blessed hope” into the blasted hope in the DVD below. I also consider the importance of the pre-Trib Rapture of the church. You can see the short online version here.)
www.olivetreeviews.org