Duped by prophecy teachings!
(This is long, but it will make sense in 5-10 minutes.) Xenos teachers argue that Bible prophecy is irrefutable. Their arguments seem airtight - the only option must be 'fulfilled prophecy.' Thousands of people (myself included) have ultimately changed their ENTIRE LIVES, based at least partly, on how compelling Xenos' prophecy arguments APPEAR to be
One example: Xenos claims it's IRREFUTABLE that The Bible predicted the recent return. Let's just look at Ezekiel 37. Xenos makes this passage SEEM irrefutable ONLY by contradicting multiple Bible authors. Historical background (ignored by Xenos): Babylon exiled the Israelites in 586 BC. Around that time, Ezekiel predicted a return. And 40-50 years later, they returned. This SEEMS clear. Ezekiel accurately predicted the Babylonian return
But such a fulfillment would actually make Ezekiel a false prophet. See Ezek 37:22ff. These promises were not fulfilled post-Babylon. Xenos does not want that. So, they claim that Ezekiel predicted the RECENT return instead. The following argument is simply recycled, year after year
[Teachings: Daniel - 2017 Risley - Dan 11 - 21:40] Is it POSSIBLE Ezekiel predicted the Babylonian return? See v 21. It CAN'T - the Babylonian exile (& return) was ONE direction/ONE country. Ezekiel's return was MANY countries/all over, exactly fitting the RECENT return. [For now, ignore the v.24 'messiah' argument. It's discussed below]
DOES THE BIBLE AGREE? Jer 29:10-14 "After BABYLON's 70 years..." [Promises follow. Final promise - v.14:] "I [God] will gather you from ALL the nations/places I've scattered you" Xenos is (unknowingly?) disagreeing with Jeremiah, as well as calling him a false prophet. Isaiah and Ezekiel also predicted a post-Babylon 'many nation return.' Xenos claims they returned from only 1 nation/1 side
Also see Dan 9:7 Jer 40:11-12, 43:5 & 44:1 Zech 7:14 & 2:6-7 (4 winds) Joel 3:6-7 (Greece) Isa. 43:4-6,14 (ALL sides, ends of the earth. v. 14 - Babylon)
If you're familiar with Xenos' regathering argument, feel free to read the final 4 paragraphs. Teachers know all of this. So why do they make the 1 nation/1 side argument, even if haven't read the passages above?
Xenos claims that non-Christians cannot refute these prophecies. However, after simply extracting the 1 nation/1 side argument, a naturalistic explanation is now possible for Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel accurately predicted the Babylonian return, but was mistaken about ALL associated promises in vv. 22ff, including a messianic age. (Recent return = same results.) That's it! Extract ONE false premise. Solved!
Following are Xenos' other 'irrefutable' arguments, concerning other regathering prophecies. These are all based on false or speculative premises. I.e., extract false premises, and only speculative arguments remain
False: 1) 'Ends/4 corners of the earth' MUST be understood from OUR perspective (Just ASSUMED); 2) 'Coastlands ' (Isaiah 11:11) are very distant ('global,') unknown lands; 3) Zech 10 MUST predict the recent regathering, as it was 'post-Babylon' (see Zech 2:6-7); 4) The Bible predicted that the Israelites would be scattered for TWO THOUSAND years before being regathered. Assume that ANY one of these is true. Try to argue that the recent regathering was NOT predicted
Speculative: 1) Luke 21:24 IMPLIES a regathering (cf. Rev 11:2); 2) The 1st IMPLIED 'recovery' in Isaiah 11:11 is the one from Babylon (recover and regather are different words) (cf. v. 11 to v. 16); 3) The Bible predicted that the Israelites would become a 'nation' again, i.e. 1948. (See Jer 31:36, Deut 26:5)
The bottom line: Xenos' best regathering arguments are based on false claims. The same is true for all of their prophecy arguments
(More concerning the 1 nation/1 side argument) Read Ezek 37:15-20. Teachers ALWAYS skip this CRUCIAL section, while reading nearly every other verse in ch. 37. More historical background: Israel was once ONE kingdom. Israel split and became 2 separate kingdoms. The northern kingdom (confusingly, called 'Israel') was exiled by Assyria c. 735 BC. There was no 'Assyrian return.' If you attend a regathering teaching, you won't hear ANY of this
Ezekiel is writing c. 580BC. The southern kingdom Judah had just been exiled. The northern kingdom Israel was STILL scattered - to many nations - just like Ezek 37:21 says. (See 2 Kings 17:6,23 & Josephus 9.14.1 - Assyria, Media, Persia.) 150 years later, northern kingdom Israelites would have been scattered even further. (See Esther 1;1, 3:8, c. 480 BC)
Pretend that Ezekiel expected a post-Babylon regathering. Try to disprove this, without just assuming that Ezekiel was 100% accurate in his predictions. That's how crucial the 1 nation/1 side argument is to Xenos
All of this explains why Xenos makes these false claims, and why they ignore certain crucial data. Either they're lying to you, or lying to themselves (confirmation bias.) Is either option fair to us? read more
