Dear Wake Up Family,
In my earlier article, I presented four major methods of interpretation that Bible students use as their structure for evaluating Bible prophecy. Within these paradigms, the investigators determine whether the Bible is describing symbolic or literal events in the past or the future. Here is a brief description of each of the four interpretive structures.
- Preterism—Everything Happened in the First Century AD
- Idealism—Symbolic or Spiritual View Applying to All Generations
- Historicism—Most Prophetic Events Were Symbolic and Occurred in the Past and Include a Few Future Literal Events
- Futurism—Most Prophetic Events are Literal and Will Occur in the Future
If you believe as I do, that apocalyptic prophecy specifically applies to the final generation living on earth before Jesus returns, preterism or idealism is not relevant. Logically, preterism cannot apply to us since preterists believe 20 centuries have passed since the prophecies have been fulfilled. Idealism cannot apply because idealists believe that prophecies have equal relevance for each generation. Those who eagerly await Jesus’ second coming embrace the historicist or futurist view because they are considering the events that alert us Jesus is coming soon.
The historicist and futurist views have one important similarity when applied to prophetic interpretation. While scholars of both models disagree about which events pertain to specific apocalyptic prophecies, they do believe that apocalyptic prophecies describe sequential symbolic or literal events. However, they often overlook relationships existing between the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Prophecy students ascribing to either approach are often unaware of another similarity between historicist and futurist views. Many futurists understand the 69 weeks of Daniel 9 to cover the period leading to the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth. However, they believe a nearly 2,000-year gap has occurred between the 69th and a yet-to-be-fulfilled 70th week of a future tribulation period. Interestingly, most prophecy students advancing the historicist position also identify a gap between most apocalyptic prophecies they understand have been fulfilled, and the yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy of the seven bowls in Revelation 15–16 which leads to Jesus’ second coming.
The problem leading to the gaps in the futurist and historicist perspectives is their shared convention requiring chosen prophecies to be in the future (futurist) or the past (historicist). For example, futurists interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel 2 believe the prophecy has a future fulfillment, with parts of the image representing a literal series of world empires. They believe that the 10 toes of Daniel 2 are literal kingdoms symbolizing a revived Roman Empire existing just before Jesus’ second coming. Historicists interpret the Daniel 2 image as representing a historical progression of world kingdoms beginning with Babylon in 605 BC. They believe that the feet and toes represent divided nations of Europe after the Roman Empire fell in AD 476, leaving a gap of centuries between the historical nations and the rock of Daniel 2:34 that destroys the image, which they understand represents Christ’s second coming. So, adherents of the historicist and futurist views must incorporate gaps of time in their prophetic schema to ensure that time-based prophecies match their preconceptions.
Early in his prophetic ministry, Larry Wilson realized that the key to solving the apocalyptic prophecy puzzle was reflected in both historicism and futurism. Both schools of prophetic thought understand that events occur in the order they were given. For example, the second trumpet of Revelation 8 always occurs after the first trumpet and before the third trumpet. Historicists believe these trumpets were symbolic of past events, and futurists believe the trumpets are future literal events. This was the basis for Larry’s first rule of apocalyptic prophecy: each prophecy has a beginning and ending point, with events occurring in the order given in the prophecy. If the chronological order is established in each prophecy, a prophecy student can identify which element of each prophecy is fulfilled and know which prophecy is coming next.
Students of prophecy have developed parallel prophetic descriptions to enhance their understanding of the prophecies. For example, for many centuries most interpreters have linked the first parts of the prophecies of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 as shown in the following chart.
| Daniel 2 Image Part | Daniel 7 Beast | KIngdom |
| Gold Head | Lion | Babylon |
| Silver Chest and Arms | Bear | Medo-Persia |
| Bronze Belly and Thights | Leopard | Greece |
Some prophetic interpreters have extended similar parallels to the visions in Daniel 8 and Daniel 11–12. However, historical and futurist expositors have structural limitations because they maintain that most prophecies must occur either in the past or the future.
Larry used the foundation of the relationships between the prophecies in Daniel to apply a similar approach to Revelation’s prophecies. He concluded that prophecies in Revelation, like Daniel, incorporate sequential events and have parallel links with other prophecies in both Daniel and Revelation. He identified seven links between Daniel and Revelation that challenged the traditional historicist and futurist approaches to interpretation.
| Prophetic Link & Event |
Dan. Text |
Daniel Reference | Rev. Text |
Revelation Reference |
Result |
| Jesus’ Birth & Ministry | 9:27 | Jesus Dies Middle of 70th Week | 12:5 | Jesus Born and Snatched Up to God | Prophecies Identify the Time Jesus on Earth |
| Persecution – 1,260 Years | 7:25 | God’s People Persecuted for a Time, Times, & ½ a Time | 12:6 | Woman Fled to Wilderness for 1,260 Days | Prophecies Both Describe that God’s People Subject to 1,260-Year Persecution |
| Third Seal/2,300 Days | 8:14 | 2,300 Year Prophecy/Sanctuary Reconsecration | 5:5–5:6 | Third Seal/Scales/Investigative Judgment | The Investigative Judgment Begins in 1844 |
| Lucifer Appears in Person | 8:9–8:12 | Little Horn Grows Until It Reaches Heaven’s Hosts | 9:1 9:11 |
Angel of the Abyss Reigns for Five Months | Lucifer Physically Appears and Reigns on Earth for Five Months |
| Ten Future Kings | 2:42 | 10 Toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s Image | 17:12 17:16 |
Kings at Last Hour | Both Destroyed by Jesus’ Second Coming |
| Second Coming | 7:13 | Son of Man Comes in Clouds of Heaven | 19:1– 19:10 |
Celebration After Jesus Returns | The Events Surrounding Jesus’ Second Coming Described |
| Eternal Kingdom | 2:44 | God Sets Up Eternal Kingdom | 21:1 | A New Heaven and A New Earth | God’s Eternal Kingdom for His Saints |
Larry did not accept the historical approach which concludes that most prophecies occurred in the past or the futurist approach which suggests that most of Revelation’s prophecies described future events. Instead, he emphasized the progression of events and interrelationships as revealed in each apocalyptic prophecy. By using this process, Larry could follow the flow of each prophecy from its beginning point to a logical ending point. If the events in a prophecy began in ancient history and ended at a future date, often with the second coming, he did not force the prophecy to end at an earlier date (historicism) or to begin in the future (futurism). Futurists and historicists reject these conclusions for similar reasons. Futurists cannot accept that some of the events in Revelation have occurred in the past and historicists reject that some events may occur in the future.
A prominent historicist scholar stated his rejection of Larry’s conclusions in this way:
“Larry Wilson has attempted a schizophrenic task that others have failed at previously. . .of marrying together two completely incompatible schools of prophetic interpretation. . . . It should be noted carefully that there is no true wedding of these two methods. Where one leaves off (historicist) is where the other takes up (the futurist). That is why the two phases of his interpretation of prophecy do not really overlap or interdigitate. There is no real correspondence or interconnection between them.”
It is interesting that despite this statement, historicists generally believe that 12 of the 17 prophecies Larry has defined describe events in the past and the future. This illustrates the point that people may illogically defend a position (in this case, historicism) and refuse to consider other options because it may seem as if they are moving toward a position they reject (futurism).
If Larry did not completely support historicism or futurism, what method did he propose? He based his interpretation of prophecy on four rules. We have already discussed the first rule, which specifies that apocalyptic prophecy has chronological order from a beginning to an ending point in time. (Chronology) This approach differs from both futurist and historicist positions because it is not restricted to solely historical or future periods. The other rules are:
- A prophecy or prophetic element is not fulfilled until all the specifications of the prophecy are met—including the order of the events given within the prophecy. (Fulfillment)
- Apocalyptic language can be literal, symbolic, or analogous. A prophecy student must consider the context, the use of parallel language in the Bible, and for symbolic language, a relevant text that defines the symbol to reach the intended meaning of a passage. (Language)
- The presence or absence of the Jubilee Calendar determines how God measures time. If a prophetic time period occurs during the Jubilee Calendar (1437 BC – 1994), a prophetic day for a year applies; otherwise, the prophetic days are literal time. (Timing)
These four rules focus on chronology, fulfillment, language, and timing. When we follow these rules, we learn that individual time-based prophecies found in Daniel and Revelation can logically fit into a chronological sequence based on the relationships between the prophecies. This analysis does not show a gap between prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past and prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Instead, if we chart the relationships between the 17 apocalyptic prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, we find a beautiful mosaic integrating all the prophecies over thousands of years, outlining events from the past through the future, with no artificial breaks between past and future events.
I identified a new term that describes Larry’s approach to the timing of Bible prophecy. Because historicism and futurism do not adequately describe Larry’s approach to Bible prophecy, a new definition is particularly appropriate. The word is Chronism. Historicism is focused on past events, and futurism concentrates on events in the future. Chronism is based on the ancient Greek word “chronos,” which means “time.” In English, it is the root for the word chronology or chronometer. Chronology is the science of arranging events by order of occurrence. We use the word chronology to describe the order of events in individual apocalyptic prophecies. So, Chronism is an excellent word to describe events from multiple apocalyptic prophecies during the flow of time from the past, through the present, to the future.
The Lord has given us a unique, life-changing message to share. As we rapidly approach the final days of earth’s history, “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (1 Peter 2:19) We can be thankful that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has given us a trustworthy prophetic message to prepare us for His kingdom. May we do our part to reach others so they are ready when Jesus returns to take us home!
Marty
