Is the earth really revolting?

Robert L. Bufkin, a Pentecostal preacher from Arkansas who believes he can heal people of AIDS and cancer, recently wrote, “The planet earth is revolting, and by eruptions from its depths that blots out the sun, and by its long hidden crude oil coming from the heart of the earth polluting the seas, earth is giving the human race its final eviction notice. Earth is experiencing birth pangs and each painful eruption is worse than the one before. And the pains are coming faster and closer together until there will be a kind of total eruption which will issue into a period of worldwide destruction and terror never before experienced by mankind. It will be called, The Great Tribulation. God and satan and man and the earth, will all be killing and destroying to a degree never before imagined. These recent eruptions are just previews of coming attractions.”

So many people want to convince you that all the tumultuous problems in the world are harbingers of a coming “tribulation.” Although it may sound like they are giving good, biblical evidence, they misinterpret the scriptures. The book of Revelation is not giving a preview of the end times, with the exception of Revelation 20:11-22:21 which describes the final judgment and the glories of heaven.

God told us to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). No one is helped by false doctrine. The Lord Himself said that the end of the world would come like a “thief” (Matthew 24:43; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4). The end will not occur according to a contrived timeline which has been developed from a misinterpretation of biblical prophecy!

Kyle Campbell