Episode 85: How Ezekiel 38 Debunks Futurism

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 85

Gary responds to a recent video from Joel Richardson where he claims to refute preterism.

Eschatological ideas have consequences, and many Christians are beginning to understand how those ideas have shaped the cultural landscape. A world always on the precipice of some great and inevitable apocalyptic event is not in need of redemption but only of escape. As one end-time speculator put it, “the world is a sinking Titanic ripe for judgment.” Any attempt at reformation would be futile and contrary to God’s unavoidable and predestined plan for Armageddon.

Thankfully, many Christians are beginning to question this popular apocalyptic scenario, not by rejecting the Bible but by taking a closer look at the very Book they were told taught these things. In addition, they have come to recognize that Western Civilization was not built by head-for-the-hills doomsayers. Unfortunately, the effects of the apocalyptic paradigm are having some unsettling results in the realm of real-world politics. Some are contending that mixing eschatology and politics could lead to some terrifying results. The ultimate question is whether the Bible teaches what popular prophecy writers claim. This can only be settled by following the directive of the Latin phrase ad fontes, “to the sources,” that is, to the Bible (Acts 17:11).

As history shows, “wars and rumors of wars” (Matt. 24:6) are common, and they have been pointed to as signs that the end was near in nearly every generation. In fact, they are so common, Jesus maintained, that they should not be used as signs. The same is true for earthquakes and famines (24:7) since every generation has experienced them (Matt. 27:54; 28:2; Acts 11:28; 16:26).

None of this has stopped prophetic speculators from claiming that prophecy is now being fulfilled. They point to Ezekiel 38–39 and Zechariah 12 to make the case that there is something prophetically unique about our day. They can do this because they claim to have found a find a very specific nation mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel—Russia! Who needs the commonality of wars, earthquakes, and famines when there is a named nation right there in the Bible. The Gog and Magog End-Time Alliance will test the claim that the Bible is describing prophetic events based on what Russia does.

The Gog and Magog End-Time Alliance

Jet planes … missiles … and atomic weapons. You will search in vain in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and you will not find them. You will, however, find horses, bows and arrows, shields, clubs, and chariots. If the Gog and Magog prophecy was written for a time more than 2500 years in the future from Ezekiel’s day, why didn’t God describe the battle in terms that we could relate to and understand? Why confuse Ezekiel’s first readers and us?

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Gary responds to a recent video from Joel Richardson where he claims to refute preterism. Richardson mentions Gary directly and gives false information about what he believes. Besides that, Richardson’s primary claim to refute preterism actually ends up doing the exact opposite when understood in context.

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American Vision’s mission is to Restore America to its Biblical Foundation—from Genesis to Revelation. American Vision (AV) has been at the heart of worldview study since 1978, providing resources to exhort Christian families and individuals to live by a Biblically based worldview. Visit www.AmericanVision.org for more information, content and resources