I’m currently reading the Book of Revelation, written by John of Patmos. In Chapter 1, John recounts that
On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” (NIV)
Seven churches? Seven Churches is the debut album by death metal band Possessed. It is regarded by many as the first album in the genre. Indeed, it was Possessed’s bassist/vocalist Jeff Becerra who originally coined the term “death metal” in 1983 for a high school English class assignment. I didn’t know that the album was named after the Seven Churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Until now …
The Book of Revelation belongs to a genre of literature known as the apocalypse, a kind of writing that is highly symbolic. As such, its meaning is open to interpretation.
The Zondervan NIV Study Bible tells us that
Interpreters of Revelation normally fall into four groups:
1. Preterists understand the book exclusively in terms of its first-century setting, claiming that most of its events have already taken place.
2. Historicists take it as describing the long chain of events from Patmos to the end of history.
3. Futurists place the book primarily in the end times.
4. Idealists view it as symbolic pictures of such timeless truths as the victory of good over evil.
On an historicist interpretation, we are now living in the era of Laodicea, and approaching the end of history. And spelled out in John’s letter to the church in Laodicea, which Jesus dictates, is the big problem of Christianity and Christians today.
We are lukewarm. We are indifferent. This is especially the case in the affluent West. We feel that we are spiritually rich and need nothing when, in fact, we are spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
We desperately need to be shaken out of our complacency. And what better way to shake ourselves out of our complacency than to listen to some brutal death metal?
Death metal is seen by many Christians as Satanic. Certainly, there’s no denying that it sometimes seems that way! (Death metal should not be confused with black metal, which *is* Satanic.) Personally, I regard death metal as simply another musical genre. But I would like to lay on the table a theory for your consideration, the theory being that God has had a hand in the development of the genre since its inception. Make of this theory what you will, but I, for one, find it curious that the first track on the very first death metal album, a song about an exorcism, includes the following lyrics.
Possessed by evil hell
Satan’s wrath will kill
He will take your soul
Cast you to hell …I can see the light
I don’t want to burn
Help me save my soul
Let me liveYour curse is not my fear
Demons within me hear
I will escape your wrath …Demons in my body gone
Sicken thoughts left beyond
Haunted by evil memories
Nightmares and sin …Exorcism takes control
Beneath my body help my soul
Save my soul from evil hell
Your spell is lost
Futurism Was, Is, and Is To Come
Preterists claim that the “Antichrist” and the “great tribulation” were fulfilled during the 70 AD period.
If so, why do we find that the arrival of the Antichrist was regarded as a future event by writers who lived during and after 70 AD?
Polycarp (70-167) wrote that “He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead.”
Justin Martyr (100-168) said that “[Antichrist] shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians….”
Irenaeus (140-202) wrote that the ten kings (Rev. 17)”shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the church to flight.”
It’s not true that Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) “revived” futurism because it was never lost during the Middle Ages or prior to that period of time.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) stated: “There remains only one thing – that the demon of noonday [Antichrist] should appear.”
Roger Bacon (1214-1274) spoke of “future perils [for the Church] in the times of Antichrist….”
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) referred to “the hour of temptation, which is coming upon all the world, Rev. iii.”
Martin Luther (1483-1546): “[The book of Revelation] is intended as a revelation of things that are to happen in the future….”
(Google or Yahoo “Famous Rapture Watchers” to see quotes from many Christian leaders throughout the Church Age which prove that they expected a future Antichrist and a future great tribulation.)
Preterists use Matt. 24:34 (“This generation will not pass….”) to try to prove a 70 AD fulfillment of “Antichrist.” Since many of them see “these” (Matt. 25:46) fulfilled in the future in Rev. 20, why can’t they apply futurism as easily to Matt. 24:34? After all, the word “this” is the singular form of “these”!
To see something that preterists, historicists, and futurists can all agree on, Google “Pretrib Rapture Secrets.”
(Hello, Richard. The preceding was run past me via my computer.)