Yesterday we looked at Pat Robertson's comments on the status of Islam and Jerusalem:
"I see the rise of Islam to destroy Israel and take the land from the Jews and give East Jerusalem to [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat. I see that as Satan's plan to prevent the return of Jesus Christ the Lord," said Robertson, a Christian broadcaster.
This is where the fundamental weakness of the premillennial position is made manifest. Satan can do nothing to prevent the return of Jesus. Of course, this is a natural extension of the dispensational notion that Satan did in fact prevent God from establishing His kingdom in the first century, and instead was forced to go to Plan B and establish the church instead. Now, according to Robertson, Satan is scheming to keep the Creator of the universe from returning to it. The God that Robertson imagines is a weak God that cannot be relied upon to bring about His plans in the face of Satanic opposition. He is certainly a God who seems far too weak to offer the salvation that the Bible promises.
Robertson and his kind would do well to read Revelation and see the true message there. Despite what may seem like earthly evidence to the contrary, Satan has already been defeated. And while he is allowed certain powers in this world they are not unlimited, but rather he is operating on borrowed time. His defeat has occurred. The only question that remains is whether we will decide to join the losing side (the path of least resistance) or the side of the already victorious Christ. When He returns at the time of the Father's choosing those who have chosen correctly, and endured to the end, will share in His victory as Satan is finally cast away with his followers for eternity.
2 comments:
This doesn't show the weakness of the premill position. Robertson, first of all, said that Satan had a plan, not that he would win. Satan always has a plan. Your implication is that if Satan has a plan, God's not in control. But, it's obvious that Satan had a plan with Job--does that mean God wasn't in control?
Try again.
:-)
Russ
Russ, your logic underwhelms me. Of course Satan has lots of plans, but having one to tempt Job and one to thwart Christ's return are two quite different things. It is certainly part of the dispensational argument that Satan succeeded in thwarting God when Jesus came. That doesn't sound like God being in control to me.
The point of Robertson's statement was that we must act in some particular way to effect an outcome having to do with Christ's return. He wasn't making some abstract theological observation, which you certainly know.
Try again.
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