Page 82 - Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2010

“AND UNLESS THOSE DAYS WERE SHORTENED,
NO FLESH WOULD BE SAVED;
BUT FOR THE ELECT’S SAKE

THOSE DAYS WILL BE SHORTENED.”

Matt.24:22

Never have I been so impacted by so few words.
This all-too-long overlooked prophecy changes forever how this teacher will look at prophecy.
What I had previously considered to be “simple math” (tribulation=7 years) has suddenly become
more like “algebra” and “calculus.” There are many more factors at play by Jesus shortening the length
of a day. All of a sudden, we can complete seven years in as little as three and one-half! To further
complicate the calculation of the rapture occurring prior to the tribulation, we are not given the exact time
as to when Jesus will shorten the days of the tribulation. Thus, the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture

can be quite delayed simply by changing the length of those days.

In our attempt to motivate God’s people to an urgency toward the possible coming of Christ at the
event we know as “the rapture,” we as teachers slip into the dangerous error of calculating
“possibilities” as to when that day may be. Although I have always emphasized any such calculations
with the emphasis placed upon the word “possibility”, zealous saints choose to substitute it with the
word “probability.” I remember back in 1988 there was a popular book circulating called, “88 Reasons
Why Jesus is Coming in 88.” This was not a book about the “possibility” of the rapture taking place in
1988. Nor was it presenting it as a “probability.” I talked to the author himself and he told me
emphatically, “This is no drill, this is the real thing.” However, it turned out to be another false alarm.
You can only take so many false alarms before you stop responding to them at all. That reminds me of

AESOP’S FABLE,

“THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF”

The moral to Aesop’s fable is that after too many cries of “Wolf!”,
people no longer listened to the shepherd boy’s desperate
warnings about the sudden appearance of the wolf. Too many
false alarms. Eventually the wolf showed up, but no one was
listening to the sounding of the alarm any longer.

In the hype of the 1988 rapture alarm, we had a large influx into our
church of “alarmed people.” One night just prior to the expected
coming of Christ, we had a special meeting centered upon the Feasts
of the Lord. When we opened the doors, a flux of people entered who
I did not know at all. Wow!, we thought, revival is here! This is the
power of an urgent message based on fear. Word of mouth had
spread that we had extra insight into what was going to happen.
It sure was exhilarating!
For a while, the newcomers were quite excited and very motivated, but when the expected arrival of
Jesus came and went, so did most of the new people. Fear is only a temporary motivator. When the
immediate fear passes away, so do the people.

I am often bombarded by zealous students of prophecy with various references to websites containing
calculation theories based on “fresh revelation.” Everyone has some new insight about how to properly
calculate the calendar. Last year I confessed to our congregation that I had become a calendar addict.
Since then, I have sworn off looking at them altogether. It is not fresh revelation. What it usually turns
out to be is flesh revelation. Most of this is intellectual knowledge that puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1). What we
really need is knowledge that will make us grow up! Which is more important, being able to calculate
the date of the rapture, or calculating whether we have a present lifestyle that will place us among
those believers that God finds worthy to escape? (Luke 21:34-36).