Here is one of the strongest points against any possible "eras" doctrine being
the correct view!
As noted on the previous page, it is remarkable that in all of the Seven Letters,
only in the 3rd & 4th letters do we find famous persons from the Old Testament listed by name; i.e. Balaam & Balac
from the 3rd/Pergamum letter, and Jezebel in the 4th/Thyatira letter.
What is even more striking is how each of these two letters have a Scriptural
connection to "Baal" worship!
Notice it in the 3rd letter: "And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak
took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal...And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars..."-Numbers
22:41-23:1.
Consider, also, from the 4th letter: "And Ahab the son of Omri did evil
in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him...that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the
Zidonians*, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him."-1Kings 16:30-31. (*The word Zidonians
is the same exact Hebrew word for Sidonians throughout the Old Testament; Strongs #6722. Why the KJV translators were not
consistent in translating it one way or the other is unknown to us.)
What is the modern, end-time relevance to these two Baal connections? Baal worship
was a fertility cult involving trees and many other symbols which are intimately connected to the pagan Christmas and Easter
cults. A quick search on the internet, or a trip to a decent library will confirm this point if the student is eager to prove
all things.
At no other time in history has the fertility cult been so popularly advanced
throughout the entire world as in our modern era with Christmas and Easter. Today, even in communist China, very large numbers
of people can be seen following these same Baal worship practices like many professed Christians do. If the 3rd & 4th
eras were to have lived out long ago as nearly all "eras" teachers have promoted in the past, then this dashes any chance
of the "eras" doctrine being the correct view.
In our view, every indication is that Scripture suggests a special prophetic
significance would be seen in the 3rd & 4th letters, related to a time just before the return of Christ. This example
of Baal worship is just further proof of our conclusions.
____________________
Most "eras" teachers claim Rev. 2 & 3 describes 7 successive
"eras" of Church history beginning with the death of Christ, and ending with His return. Many of them also promote the idea
that the last 3 would all begin on different dates but then somehow run concurrently as they approached the return of Jesus
Christ. They have all tinkered with their "eras" datings to cover many differing spans of time with very few of them ever
agreeing on the others' schemes. (Apparently it's a make-it-up-any-way-you-want type of teaching.)
Tim LaHaye takes it to an altogether new level of tinkering in Revelation
Unveiled by oddly declaring (without support) that an alleged Philadelphian era from the 6th letter would end sometime
before the supposed Thyatiran era from the 4th letter would. This must mean he thinks a supposed 4th era would stretch beyond
the lifespan of a 6th era. They get their numbers out of thin air, as no Scripture ever states what any of them have claimed.
It's pure fantasy, and nothing more!
