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Many people presume that the Apocalypse predicts a future rapture, tribulation, and the millennium. Hal Lindsey made this popular in the 1970's with his "The Late, Great Planet Earth" and "The Rapture." Today, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have popularized it again in their "Left Behind" series. To me, it seems strange that only the first three chapters in the Apocalypse, the letters to the churches, were meant for the early Christians; the other nineteen chapters are yet to be fulfilled. And yet, the Apocalypse twice states that these things will take place soon.
Not all biblical scholars agree on this futurist interpretation. They have developed four schools of interpretation. One school, the preterist interpretation, views the prophecies as meant primarily for people who lived during the time of Christ and the apostles. The scholarly Anchor Bible Commentary gives a thorough analysis of all schools of interpretation. In the volume devoted to the Apocalypse, J. Massyngberde Ford discussed the views of biblical scholars who believed that, although John, the Evangelist, authored the text that we have today, he had at his disposal the preaching of John the Baptist. Being a disciple of the Baptist, the Evangelist would be familiar with, and would believe, what he learned from the Baptist. These scholars believe John incorporated the Baptist's preaching into what he passed on to us. These scholars believe so because the writing style of much of the Apocalypse is different from the style of the Evangelist's Gospel and Epistles. They believe the Evangelist incorporated sections of the Baptist's preaching that were still important in A.D. 96. The Evangelist then added text of his own, notably the letters to the seven churches. The difference in writing style is apparent in the letters to the churches also.
I read Gary DeMar's "End Times Fiction," in which DeMar criticizes the futurist interpretation that proposes a soon-to-come rapture, tribulation, and millennial kingdom. DeMar believes these predictions are based more on fiction than on fact. Recently, a few years after I had published my own book, Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer published "The Last Disciple." Hanegraaff agrees with DeMar and feels convinced that the prophecies were fulfilled during the early Church age. Hanegraaff hosts a radio talk show "The Bible Answer Man."
Tyndall House, the publisher of the "Left Behind" series agreed to publish a similar series of Hanegraaff and Brouwer novels proposing that it was the early Christians, not we, who will experience the predictions. "The Last Disciple" is the first volume in the proposed new series, three sequels already planned.
"The Last Disciple" has generated much interest and praise and has provided a polarizing point between readers, in the general public, who accept the futurist interpretation and those who feel it is not correct. The authors, themselves, have gotten into the dispute. Tim LaHaye feels betrayed by Tyndall House Publishing. He believes they agreed to publish Hanegraaff's novels to continue making money like they did with his "Left Behind" series. He thinks Hanegraaff's preterist interpretation is unbiblical and nonsense. Hanegraaff, in the Afterword of "The Last Disciple" (pages 393-5) goes into some detail on what he thinks is wrong in LaHaye's interpretation. Readers comments on Amazon.com about "The Last Disciple" show how the general public has taken sides on the issue.
I've read "Left Behind" novels and "The Last Disciple." They are all well written novels using fictional characters to capture reader's involvement while the setting of both series describes the author's interpretations. I think "The Last Disciple" is at a disadvantage because the general public is not familiar with early Church history and does not recognize the names of real historical characters and real events. For those people, the whole novel might read as fiction. "Left Behind," on the other hand, does not have this disadvantage. The reader easily discerns between the purely fictional characters and the proposed, future fulfillment of the prophecies.
I believe my book can serve a good purpose here. My original book "Revelation and the Fall of Judea" was not written as fiction. All of it discusses real historical persons and real historical events. I condensed my book into the present "Prophet and Historian: John and Josephus" to cover the main historical events, using long quotes from historical sources not easily reached by the average reader and comparing them to the text of the Apocalypse. Both of my books cover a much longer period of time than "The Last Disciple." I start in A.D. 27 and continue to A.D. 135 when Rome destroys the Judean nation and deports the surviving Judeans into other nations. The Judeans had rebelled against Rome, following the leadership of Bar Kochba, whom they believed to be the promised Messianic King. In my interpretation, I view Bar Kochba as a rival to Christ. I view him as the False Messiah who led Judea to destruction.
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