Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind (59 page)

There is a valid objection to our interpretation of Daniel’s last vision. We have attached the last phrase of verse 10—“none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand”—to the first phrase of verse 11—“from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up” (12:10–11). Our decision to link these two phrases is justified, because it makes sense of the passage. It explains why the wise will understand at a certain point in the future, whereas Daniel could not understand, even though he was one of the wise.

But there is a traditional Jewish understanding of this passage that instead attaches the phrase, “from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up” to the phrase that follows it, “there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” This traditional understanding is based on the Masoretic
silluk
between the two phrases we have attached. The trouble with the Masoretic reading is that it makes the passage undecipherable.

Before discussing it further, we need a very short lesson in Hebrew. In its original written form, Hebrew did not include any vowels, punctuation, or accent marks. It was just a series of consonants. The reader supplied the rest as he read. Later, consonants were used as a stand-in for vowels.

About five hundred years after Christ’s first advent, Jewish scholars called Masoretes took the consonants of the Hebrew language and started to develop vowels and accent marks (for punctuation). They did the bulk of their work from around 700 to 1000 A.D., and the Masoretic text of the Old Testament dates from around this time. The Dead Sea Scrolls have verified that the Masoretic text is still one of the most reliable sources for what the original Hebrew text (made up exclusively of consonants) actually contained.

The Masoretic text contains vowels and accent marks (for punctuation), both inserted into the text by the Masoretic scholars. The
silluk
is the strongest punctuation mark used in Hebrew, analogous to our period. Here is the passage, with a double asterisk (**) placed in the text to show the location of the Masoretic
silluk
.

Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.… None of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand.** And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days” (12:8–13).

These punctuation decisions were made well after the time of Christ by Jewish scholars during the Middle Ages. Those scholars were undoubtedly closer to the culture and language than we are now. But at the same time, they were not inerrant (Daniel’s original autographs were). Their punctuation marks must be given great weight, but they are certainly not part of the original inspired text. We must not forget that the
silluk
was not in the text until more than a millennium after Daniel penned this vision. This punctuation was not there when Jesus read the passage, nor when St. Peter and St. Paul read it, nor even when St. Augustine read it.

What’s the point? Punctuation should make a passage more understandable, not more obtuse. The problem with the Masoretic punctuation is that it leaves the passage without any clear message. So we have chosen to attach the phrase “those who are wise shall understand” to the phrase that follows it, “from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away.” We can then make sense of why the wise will one day understand, and why Daniel would never understand, even though he was certainly wise. The wise were witnesses to certain events that would make them understand the mystery of Christ’s Kingdom.

While we should never discard Masoretic punctuation without good cause, in this case there is excellent reason to do so.

Why investigate Zechariah’s message? Pound for pound, Zechariah contains more Messianic prophecies than any other Old Testament book. His message is really quite clear: the Messiah will come and renew the faith of God’s people. He will accomplish all of this during Daniel’s seventieth week: the seven decades of covenantal transition. But rapturists have misunderstood Zechariah.

Most people (and definitely married people!) know that a minor misunderstanding has the potential to lead to mass confusion. You can state your opinion as clearly as you know how, only to have your listener get the wrong message. Sometimes the confusion persists until you re-examine and eliminate the minor misunderstanding that started it all. From His eternal vantage point, the prophet Zechariah knows exactly how this feels.

What is the minor misunderstanding that must vex this holy prophet? Today’s rapturists misunderstand the clear prophecies of Christ’s first advent and apply much of them to His second. This minor misunderstanding stems from the same motive as does the presumptuous parenthesis in Daniel. In spite of Daniel’s clear message, rapturists resist any implication that the kingdom of God might have been successfully established at the first advent.

Instead of understanding Zechariah as the clear and consistent prophet of the first advent, rapturists cut and paste this book into total confusion. They repeatedly apply one verse to the second advent, the next verse to the first advent, and then the very next verse to the second advent again. If their understanding is correct, Zechariah was one very confused prophet!

Each rapturist might tweak the details in a slightly different way, but, generally speaking, the chart on the opposite page illustrates their system. I have used the rapturist system to sort the verses into three groups: Zechariah’s time, the first advent, and the second advent. The dating in this chart assumes that rapturists are correct in their contention that the second coming must come before the end of the twenty-first century. Notice the confusion that their minor misunderstanding creates. The arrows illustrate the two-thousand-year gaps, both forward and backward, that rapturists insert.

Their system works for the first seven chapters, but then mass confusion develops quickly (as I have tried to show with the arrows). Notice that they understand the passage after 8:20 as future. But right in the middle of this passage, in 9:9 and again in 13:7, two verses pop up that were undeniably fulfilled by Christ in His first advent. It is undeniable because the New Testament applies them to the first advent. In addition, rapturists understand all of Chapter 11 in light of the first advent.

In a way, rapturists insert the same presumptuous parenthesis into Zechariah that they inserted into Daniel. But this time, it causes three round trips of two thousand years in both forward and reverse modes! We need to look at these “interrupting” verses.

Jesus quotes Zechariah 13:7 in Mark 14:27 to describe His experience in the Passion. “Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away; for it is written, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” ’ ” So Zechariah 13:7 was undeniably fulfilled in the first advent. Yet rapturists place at least a chapter on either side of this one verse at least two thousand years later.

The difficulty in Zechariah 9:9 is even more acute. This verse is part of a single thought that extends at least as far as the tenth verse. To rip it out of its context does violence to Zechariah’s meaning. Rapturists believe the entire context around this verse speaks of the second advent, while this
one verse
is about the first advent. That verse is quoted in the Gospels as being fulfilled in the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem: “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass’ ” (Matt. 21:4–5). In spite of this, rapturists claim that all verses preceding and following 9:9 refer to events at least two thousand years later. Of course, the text gives us no hint of any repeated “back to the future” time warps.

In addition to these two verses, the whole of Chapter 11 cannot be taken as applying to anything other than Christ’s first advent. Yet rapturists believe that all of Chapters 10 and 12 are a discussion of twenty-first-century events. This interruption of thought goes far beyond the typical disregard of apocalyptic prophecy for time sequence. It makes a muddle of any attempt to understand Zechariah. This system in Zechariah is untenable.

If the rapturist system is faulty, what can a loyal Catholic make of Zechariah? The simplest interpretation of Zechariah is to understand it as a prophecy to encourage the Jews of the sixth century B.C. with the promised coming of Messiah. The prophecy starts with that time, but culminates with the events of Christ’s first advent. The second coming is not in view anywhere in Zechariah’s visions. A careful look at Zechariah substantiates this view.

Before we begin, however, we must recall that Zechariah builds on the message of Daniel’s seventy weeks. Daniel’s seventy weeks viewed the seven decades that began with Christ’s conception as a time of covenantal transition. Zechariah follows Daniel’s lead, and his prophecy includes all of Daniel’s seventieth week. To understand Zechariah properly, we must realize that Zechariah’s “day of the Lord” is identical to Daniel’s final week. It includes the coming of the Messiah, Christ’s judgment on His accusers in the destruction of the Temple, and even the founding of the Church.

This insight, which rapturists miss completely, clears up the minor misunderstanding. Zechariah understands that the Kingdom will be established in the first advent. He does not distinguish between the first and second advents in his prophecies because he has only the first advent in view. There are no two-thousand-year gaps between verses, because everything he prophesied was fulfilled by 70 A.D. Was Zechariah familiar with the oracle of the seventy weeks in Daniel? I believe it is evident that he was.

There are a variety of opinions among Catholics, but I believe the best understanding of the book is that it was written shortly after Daniel, at the time of the Jews’ return from the Babylonian captivity. Although the difference between the first and second half of Zechariah is widely acknowledged, the book’s similarity to Daniel is often overlooked. The outline below reflects Daniel’s influence on Zechariah the prophet, who imitates the broad outline of Daniel (without the deuterocanonical portions) to a surprising degree.

These similarities cannot be attributed to mere coincidence. Zechariah is conscious of Daniel’s book and uses it as a template.

He inserts the key-personality section between the oracles for the same reason Daniel did: otherwise, the later visions make no sense. The key-personality section in Daniel explains what is meant by the “coming” of God in judgment. Here in Zechariah, this section explores the key element in covenantal transition: the establishment of a New Covenantal people of God after the breaking of the old covenantal bond.

Zechariah uses a phrase to place his prophecy at a specific time in the future. He states that certain events will occur on the “day of the Lord,” or “that day,” which is equivalent to Daniel’s last week. By following this phrase throughout the book, we can understand the full scope of Zechariah’s message.

The prophet warms up to this phrase as the book continues. He uses it once in Chapter 2 as the climax to the third vision, once again in Chapter 3 as the climax to the fourth vision, and one more time in Chapter 8 as a climax to the historical setting of Section I.