The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER ONE: The Scope and Purpose of Inspired Prophecy

I. The Torch of Prophecy Illuminates the Centuries

The profound influence of the Bible prophecies on the vital concepts of mankind, and hence on the welfare of the church and the course of empire, stretches across the centuries. The testimony of an unending procession of competent expositors of prophecy and its fulfillment is found in every major epoch, and appears at every important turning point of history. PFF1 17.1

Bible prophecy may aptly be likened to a flaming torch, lighting up the darksome highway in the passage of the centuries, illuminating the unfamiliar surrounding scenes, and identifying the advancing time and place of mankind in its march across the pages of history—ever onward toward the goal of ages. From generation to generation the lighted torch of prophecy has been passed on from one hand to another, and from one group to the next—sometimes flaming high, sometimes burning low. But always there are hands to transmit it to the next in line. And never has the prophetic torch gone out completely. Always there has been at least a flickering ray to disclose the path to those who have sought its guiding light. PFF1 17.2

1. PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED THE JEWISH ATTITUDE

The molding, energizing force of Old Testament prophecy was already evident in Jewish history long before the dawn of the Christian Era. The Messianic hope of the Jews, and their national aspirations, which were based on prophecies, profoundly affected their fundamental attitude toward other nations. It permeated their entire thinking and action, and it often determined, in turn, the treatment that the Jews themselves were accorded by the Gentile world. PFF1 17.3

An early example, although perhaps traditional, may serve to indicate the influence of Biblical prophecies even in the pagan world—the story of how Alexander the Great, was induced to scare Jerusalem after hearing himself described from the Jewish sacred scrolls as the “first king” symbolized by the notable and victorious horn on the head of the Grecian goat, which was one of Daniel’s symbolic beasts of prophecy. PFF1 18.1

It is, of course, well known to all that Christ applied many Old Testament predictions to His own life and death, and that the popular Jewish misconception of those very prophecies was the cause of His rejection by His own nation. Nevertheless, the Messianic hope continued to play a dominant part in the life and aspirations of the Jews during the later centuries of the Diaspora. And various pseudo—Messianic movements, springing up among them, gave false courage and strength to many for a time, while others led to definite disaster and setbacks. PFF1 18.2

2. JESUS THE STAR WITNESS OF ALL TIME

Jesus’ statements concerning His own ministry—that He came just as “the time” was due to be “fulfilled,” that He was the long—foretold Anointed One who was to preach deliverance to the captives, and His many other references to the prophecies of the Old Testament—reveal only too clearly the importance that Christ assigned to inspired prophecy. He was the Star Witness of all time in the field of prophecy. He ennobled and elevated sacred prophecy and prophetic interpretation, putting the seal of divine approval upon it. PFF1 18.3

3. PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE EARLY CHURCH

The development of the early Christian church was definitely based on the prophetic hope of the Savior’s speedy return at the end of the age, with its tremendous events—the rolling back of the heavens as a scroll, the appearing of the Son of man, the resurrection of the dead, and the fearful yet glorious judgment scenes—followed by the eternal heavenly kingdom to come. In ardent expectation of this glorious future the early Christians were constrained to spread the gospel of salvation with zealous haste. And it was this concept that nerved them to withstand the terrible agonies of mutilation by wild beasts and an ignominious death in the amphitheater, the searing flames of the martyr’s stake, and all the other manifestations of the wrath of the pagan Roman “dragon,” warring upon the church. PFF1 18.4

Thus it was with Justin Martyr, of the second century, in his famous Apologies to the pagan Roman rulers. Their understanding of the times caused these Christian stalwarts to pray repeatedly for the continuance of the restraining Roman Empire, lest the dreaded worse times of Antichrist, expected to follow upon its fall, should overtake them in their day. Prophecy was a beacon light guiding the church of the centuries following, showing them where they were in the march of time—as they first awaited and then apprehensively watched the fateful breakup of the Roman Empire. PFF1 19.1

4. A CHANGE IN EMPHASIS

When hope of a speedy return of the Saviour grew dim, because several centuries had rolled by, a revolutionary view of prophecy was introduced which resulted in a new orientation and a new ideology. It started the church off in another direction. Did not prophecy speak of a glorious thousand—year reign of the saints? Perhaps this period was not heavenly but earthly. Perhaps, after all, it was not future but present, beginning with the first instead of the second advent. PFF1 19.2

Augustine, in his treatise, The City of God—which molded the concepts of the Christian West for a thousand years thereafter—definitely placed the accent upon an earthly fulfillment of those age—old prophecies. On the assumption that the millennial reign had already begun on earth, and that the church was God’s only true exponent and representative, the Roman church soon asserted power over body, soul, and spirit, as well as over peasant, king, and sage. It claimed to be the sole guardian of truth and the only custodian of salvation. PFF1 19.3

5. TORCH AGAIN UPLIFTED IN MIDDLE AGES

It was the uplifting of the prophetic torch again, after A.D. 1000, that illuminated the winding pathway through the Middle Ages. Under such men as the Venerable Bede, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Joachim of Floris, within the Roman church, prophecy came again into the thinking of many. (See frontispiece.) PFF1 20.1

The fires of enthusiasm for the crusades, kindled among the masses, were kept aflame through asserting that the Saracenic “Antichrist” had taken possession of God’s holy city, and that God had definitely directed the Christians to rout these diabolic hordes of Gog and Magog. But the church a grown vain and arrogant. Earnest, spiritual—minded souls were distressed and aggrieved. They were disgusted with what they saw of sin, pride, and gross corruption in high places among those who administered the holy sacraments, and now claimed to be on a level high above the simple laymen. PFF1 20.2

6. PRE—REFORMATION PATHFINDERS GUIDED BY PROPHECY

And when the common folk came into possession of the Bible they found in its prophecies the portrayals of “Babylon,” the great courtesan, and of “Antichrist,” the oppressor of God’s truth and people. Could it be that these were allusions to the church, fallen from its high calling and place? Whole movements sprang up, which found their invincible strength and consolation, despite peril and persecution, in the prophecies that spoke of the final glory of God’s loyal little band and of their acceptance in the councils of heaven as those clad in white robes, and with palms of victory in their hands. The irrepressible Waldenses were fortified for the stake and the sword by their study and application of prophecy. PFF1 20.3

Prophecy inspired some of the trenchant poems of Dante and soul—searching sonnets of Petrarch in the early Renaissance. Prophecy soon after guided Wyclif in his epochal contest with Rome. It was prophecy that fortified Huss and Savonarola for the flames of the martyr’s stake. It was prophecy that Columbus, faithful son of the Roman church, cited as foretelling his voyages to the New World, as he rejoiced in the thought of helping to bring about the preaching of the gospel to all before the end of time. He considered his astonishing discoveries but a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, a subject that occupied his thoughts to such an extent that, famous discoverer though he was, he even wrote a treatise on the prophecies. PFF1 20.4

7. FLAMES HIGH IN REFORMATION TIMES

And it was by the flaming torch of prophecy that Luther sought to identify his mortal foe, and was encouraged to make his epochal break with Rome. Prophecy definitely molded the aggressive course of the Reformation in Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Scandinavia, and the Low Countries, and even penetrated to France and Italy. PFF1 21.1

The influence of the prophetic note on the Reformation is well—nigh incalculable, though largely unrecognized and unheralded by historians and biographers. When Luther saw the hopelessness of reforming the church from within, he began to think of her as apostate from God—a body from which he must separate. When he burned the pope’s bull as the bull of the prophesied Antichrist, he sounded the battle cry to withdraw from her communion and to fight against the Antichristian system. This clarion call soon echoed throughout all Europe with tremendous effect. Its repercussions were felt everywhere. So it was not merely the medieval mind which stressed prophecy. The highly educated Reformation leaders used prophecy as one of their mightiest weapons in calling upon the faithful to separate from Babylon, the fallen church, and to break with the Antichrist who had usurped the place of God, and who sat enthroned in the temple of God. PFF1 21.2

But they did not stop there. They wrote a veritable stream of tractates and commentaries, and made the common people familiar with the interpretations of the four world powers of Daniel and the phrasings of the other prophetic symbols of the book. From the Reformation stems a long line of prophetic expositions which molded Protestant thinking for centuries after their day. These were based on what came to be known as the Historical School of prophetic interpretation—the progressive and continuous fulfillment of prophecy, in unbroken sequence, from Daniel’s day and the time of John, on down to the second advent and the end of the age. PFF1 21.3

Picture 1: PROPHETIC PORTRAYLES AS RECOGNIZABLE AS RUSCHMORE FIGURES
Inset shows figures of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln in process of carving. In early stages identity of each could not be determined until sufficiently developed. So with the prophesied nations-time and historical development identified the predicted four world powers of Daniel. The Washington head is sixty feet from forehead to chin; nose, twenty-one feet height; mouth, eighteen feet wide.
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It was these established principles of prophecy that nerved the English Reformers for the cruel fires of Smithfield, in the days of “Bloody Mary.” The key prophecy of Daniel 7 furnished the text for Knox’s powerful first sermon, which moved all Scotland. And it was actually the force of prophecy that King James I of England invoked in his astonishing appeal to the other potentates of Europe in 1609, based on the premise of the prophecies of the Antichrist in the Apocalypse. PFF1 23.1

All the leading Protestant scholars wrote on the principal prophecies of the Bible as a matter of course, just as they wrote on the rest of the Bible. And among these commentators were often names not usually connected by us with prophetic exposition—brilliant scientists and mathematicians, for example, like John Napier, Sir Isaac Newton, and William Whist on. All walks of life were, in fact, represented. (See illustration in frontispiece.) PFF1 23.2

8. OLD WORLD WITNESSES PARALLELED BY NEW

At the same time the Old World witnesses were paralleled by vigorous writers in colonial America. Familiar names appear in a new role John Cotton, the Mathers, Jonathan Edwards, and Timothy Dwight, to name but a few—as effective expositors of prophecy. Prophecy held a key place in the thinking of colonial leaders in all vocations—physicians, legislators, governors, judges, teachers, college presidents, historians, and poets, as well as the theologians. All were gripped by the force of fulfilled prophecy, and gave utterance to remarkable expositions that have become unknown today to the vast majority. PFF1 23.3

Prophetic terms were woven into the speech and literature of the times, as, for example, the famous New England Primer. Not only did Harvard College have a lecture series based on Bible prophecy, but also several of her earlier presidents wrote on prophecy. In the struggle for religious freedom in the American colonies, Roger Williams was, of course, the outstanding figure. He too considered religious intolerance a heritage from the persecuting “beast” of prophecy, and this he boldly published and pressed upon Parliament. PFF1 23.4

9. PROPHECY AND THE COUNTER REFORMATION

But if prophecy was a forceful weapon in the hands of Protestants, it was also turned to effective account by the Catholics. Forced to the defensive by the uncomplimentary prophetic symbols and epithets applied by Protestant expositors to the Papacy, the Jesuits produced two counter interpretations of these selfsame prophecies, called Futurism and Preterism. These were designed to parry the force of Protestant Reformation teachings and to shift the application of the Antichrist and similar prophecies away from the pope and out of the Middle Ages. And these systems left their indelible mark upon history. They have profoundly influenced multitudes, not simply within the Catholic Church, but, strangely enough, outside—in the very ranks of Protestantism as well. In fact, they have split Protestantism as regards prophecy. PFF1 24.1

10. FRENCH REVOLUTION ANTICIPATED

Moreover, it was prophecy that led a line of men for more than a century before the French Revolution to look for a violent upheaval in France shortly before 1800, and to leave the record of their considered expectation of the time and the nation involved. So the search for the understanding of prophecy has been the pursuit of some of the greatest minds this world has ever known, and in all epochs and areas of the Christian Era. That has been its undeniable influence. PFF1 24.2

11. PRODUCTS AND BY—PRODUCTS OF PROPHECY

In other fields, such as art, literature, pedagogy, and even medicine and statecraft, we can trace the same telltale marks of the prophetic influence. Noted teachers, like John Wyclif, Joseph Mede, and even Johann Comenius, drew inspiration from the prophecies. Martyrologists, like John Foxe, were engrossed with the prophetic picture painted by the lives of their martyred dead. Artists like Rembrandt and Michelangelo wove the prophetic scenes into their canvases and murals. PFF1 24.3

Certain aspects of prophecy have made their influence felt in quarters only indirectly related to prophecy and its interpretation—for example, the Fifth Monarchy movement and the politics of Cromwell’s day. It might be even less apparent on the surface that a belief in the restoration of the Jews induced political repercussions in the history of England in tie seventeenth century. Yet this was the case. Manasseh ben Israel, leading Jewish rabbi of Amsterdam, influenced some of the English Puritan leaders through his prophetic interpretation. As a result Oliver Cromwell gave protection to the Jews in England. And the Puritans took an interest in mission work among them, and even gave credence to the strange concept that there were Jews among the North American Indians. PFF1 25.1

Indeed, it is a fact that John Eliot, colonial New England apostle to the Indians, thought he was evangelizing the descendants of the “ten lost tribes” of Israel. And, for that matter, when the well—known European missionary and traveler Joseph Wolff came to America, he too inquired after the lost tribes of Israel among the Indians. PFF1 25.2

The awakening of interest in the prophecies in England curing the early nineteenth century caused considerable effort to be put forth to convert the Jews, and it is not improbable that public interest in their behalf hastened the relief of English Jews from civil disabilities. Certain it is that one of these English missionary enterprises resulted in making Lewis Way’s influence felt in obtaining a measure of emancipation for the Jews of Russia. PFF1 25.3

In more recent years the strong support Zionism has found in numerous Christian circles is based mainly on the belief that the return of the Jews to Palestine will fulfill their interpretation of certain prophecies. Coming to our day, current secular writing—boldly borrows the terms of the Apocalypse. To note but one, the very word “Armageddon” has become a household term in recent years, though its prophetic connotations are but vaguely understood. But that is outside the range of our present quest. PFF1 25.4

12. AN UNSUSPECTED MOTIVATING FORCE

Prophecy has therefore been vastly more of a motivating and guiding force in the lives of men in the leadership of the church and the nations than has been recognized. This conclusion has been clearly borne out by the dust—covered evidence available in the archives of both the Old World and the New. PFF1 26.1

This photoflash picture of the past here presented—glimpsed fleetingly as the curtain is briefly drawn aside—gives an idea of the fascinating path across the centuries that we shall traverse through the pages of these four volumes of Prophetic Faith. Here will appear, in documented form, the long—neglected and largely unknown evidence concerning the prophetic faith of our spiritual forefathers. Here this rough sketch will be filled in, and the picture completed. We shall view the past that we may better understand the present, and in turn, may discern with greater confidence the grand outline of the future in the light of prophecy. That is the ample justification of this extensive quest. PFF1 26.2