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Many authors who interpret the Apocalypse claim that it
predicts a future rapture of the saints, a tribulation of the wicked, and a thousand-year
Christian kingdom. Hal Lindsey picked up this theme in the 1970's with his "The Late, Great
Planet Earth," "The Rapture," "The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon," and other titles. This
theme was picked up again by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins in their "Left Behind" series.
Both LaHaye/Jenkins and Lindsey were very well received and sold millions of books. However,
to me, it seems strange that the Apocalypse, written by an apostle, was not meant to guide the
apostle's contemporaries, all of them faced with a difficult choice now that the prophesied
Messiah has arrived.
Not all biblical scholars agree on this futurist
interpretation. They have developed four schools of interpretation. One school, the
preterist interpretation, views the prophecies as meant primarily for people who lived during
the time of Christ and the apostles. The scholarly Anchor Bible Commentary gives a thorough
analysis of all schools of interpretation. In the Volume devoted to Revelation, J.
Massyngberde Ford discussed the views of biblical scholars who believed that, although John
the Evangelist authored the text that we have today, he had at his disposal the preaching of
John the Baptist. Being a disciple of the Baptist, the Evangelist would be familiar with, and
would believe, what he learned from the Baptist.
These scholars believe John incorporated the Baptist's preaching
into what he passed on to us, the revered Apocalypse of John the Evangelist. These scholars
believe so because the writing style of much of the Apocalypse is different from the writing
style of the Evangelist's Gospel and Epistles. They believe the Evangelist incorporated
sections of the Baptist's preaching that were still important in A.D. 96. The Evangelist then
added text of his own, notably the letters to the seven churches. The difference in writing
style is apparent in the letters to the churches also.
I read many history books to see if the Apocalypse could compare to historical events of first
and second-century Judea. I believe I found a point-by-point relationship for the four winds
and the three woes. When the Evangelist put the final completed text into writing, many
events and disasters the Baptist warned about had already taken place. John the Evangelist
was an eyewitness to them. I published a book: "Revelation and the Fall of Judea" covering
my discoveries.
I also read Gary DeMar's End Times Fiction," in which DeMar criticizes the futurist
interpretation that proposes a soon-to-come rapture, tribulation, and millennial
kingdom. DeMar believes these predictions are based more on fiction than on fact. Recently,
a few years after I had published my book, Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer published
"The Last Disciple." Hanegraaff agrees with DeMar and feels convinced that the prophecies
were fulfilled during the early Church age. Hanegraaff hosts a radio talk show "The Bible
Answer Man."
Tyndall House, the publisher of the "Left Behind" series agreed to publish a similar series
of Hanegraaff and Brouwer novels proposing that it was the early Christians, not we, who will
experience the predictions. "The Last Disciple" is the first volume in the proposed new
series, three sequels already planned.
"The Last Disciple" has generated much interest and praise and has provided a polarizing point
between readers, in the general public, who accept the futurist interpretation and those who
feel it is not correct. The authors, themselves, have gotten into the dispute. Tim LaHaye
feels betrayed by Tyndall House Publishing. He believes they agreed to publish Hanegraaff's
novels to continue making money like they did with his "Left Behind" series. He thinks
Hanegraaff's preterist interpretation is unbiblical and nonsense. Hanegraaff, in the
Afterword of "The Last Disciple" (pages 393-5) goes into some detail on what he thinks is
wrong in LaHaye's interpretation. Readers comments on Amazon.com about "The Last Disciple"
show how the general public has taken sides on the issue.
I've read "Left Behind" novels and "The Last Disciple." They are all well written novels
using fictional characters to capture reader's involvement while the setting of both series
describes the author's interpretations. I think "The Last Disciple" is at a disadvantage
because the general public is not familiar with early Church history and does not recognize
the names of real historical characters and real events. For those people, the whole novel
might read as fiction. "Left Behind," on the other hand, does not have this
disadvantage. The reader easily discerns between the purely fictional characters and the
proposed, future fulfillment of the prophecies.
I believe my book can serve a good purpose here. My original book "Revelation and the Fall
of Judea" was not written as fiction. My book discusses real historical persons and real
historical events. I condensed my book into the present "Prophet and Historian: John and
Josephus" to cover the main historical events, using long quotes from historical sources not
easily reached by the average reader and comparing them to the text of the Apocalypse. Both
of my books cover a much longer period of time than "The Last Disciple." I start in A.D. 27
and continue to A.D. 135 when Rome destroys the Judean nation and deports the surviving
Judeans into other nations.
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