From Ukraine to Armageddon?

From Ukraine to Armageddon?

PT 3303

Power. That’s what we covet most. Of all the desiderata on our list—wealth, health, fame, happiness—it is power that most lures us to invest our desire, lust, passion, and possessiveness. [Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Al Federico 1978]

Power comes in many forms. There’s military power, which is obvious. There’s power that comes from respect for accomplishment, such as the popularity of a movie star or athlete. There’s power that comes from wealth, fame, admiration. And there’s a kind of power that comes from knowledge, knowledge of important things that others want to learn about. Pre-Trib Millennialists covet power in the form of important knowledge.

Putin Power and Pre-Trib Apocalypticism

Putin Power takes the form of domination, rule, and control of military bombs that go “bang.” That is Putin’s method. Others among us arrest power by surreptitiously stealing it from God. We exercise this power by claiming to know the secrets of the divine, the yet unrevealed future, the destiny of the world that includes all of us. As Vladimir Putin exerts power through today’s bombs, apocalyptischismatics exert power through prophecy about future bombs.

Nearly a half century ago Hal Lindsey frightened an entire generation with his book, The Late Great Planet Earth. None of his predictions came true. But, we all felt the power of apocalyptic terror.

Pat Robertson’s Apocalyptic Power

Like Superman leaping tall buildings with a single bound, televangelist Pat Robertson leaps from Ezekiel’s dread’n’ to Armageddon in a single sound. Vladimir Putin “went into Ukraine, but that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately,” Robertson says, citing the Book of Ezekiel, according to Newsweek. Robertson prophesizes how nations eventually aligning with Russia will rise up against the Middle-Eastern nation, in a biblical battle that would conclude with Armageddon.

“And there is the land that is set up in Ezekiel 38, and you see how Ukraine is key because you see the land bridge between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey,” Robertson notes, according to the Daily Mail.

Robertson urges his television viewers to “read your Bible”’ before the catastrophic event, because “it’s coming to pass.’“

Bloviating Apocalypticists

These self-appointed last-day millennialists fail to acknowledge Jesus’ forbidding of such prognostications. “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13: 32-33). Stop pretending to know what you cannot know!

Patheos columnist Christy Thomas suggests that these opportunistic apocalypticists lack empathy for the Ukrainian people who are suffering from bombardment. “But what is happening in Ukraine while these right-wing Evangelical US theologians sit around bloviating about their delight over the mess?” Rather than touting smug knowledge, we should be praying for the welfare of Ukrainians displaced, wounded, and dying.

Conclusion

The people of Ukraine feel helpless. The rest of the world feels helpless. I feel helpless.

The Russian bear devours innocent Ukrainians and threatens nuclear damage to the entire planet. It is understandable that we ask whether this is the final war between the Children of Light and the Children of Darkness.

So, I ask: does the apocalyptic interpretation provide us with comfort? With a sense of control? Or, does it embarrass us with its incredulity if not imbecility?

Now, I like the apocalyptic mindset. I affirm that God’s eschatological future will retroactively define the entire history of creation in terms of redemption. This is why I titled my systematic theology, God—The World’s Future. But, I keep in mind Jesus’ alert: no one of us knows when!

This suggests that Pat Robertson overreaches when he predicts Armageddon. He might turn out to be right. But, it would be a lucky guess. It would not be based on knowledge of God’s will.

So, there’s a tone of inappropriate narcissism in taking dramatic tragedies and turning them into cheap interpretations of Scripture.

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Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor and emeritus seminary professor. He is author of Short Prayers  and The Cosmic Self. His one volume systematic theology is now in its 3^rd edition, God—The World’s Future (Fortress 2015). He has undertaken a thorough examination of the sin-and-grace dialectic in two works, Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society (Eerdmans 1994) and Sin Boldly! (Fortress 2015). Watch for his forthcoming, The Voice of Public Christian Theology (ATF 2022). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.

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