Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. Though he gave zero evidence for how the species originated by naturalistic means, his atheistic philosophy received a sympathetic hearing in England, Europe, America, and beyond. It was a major event in the onslaught of end-time apostasy. Less than 30 years later, the following observation was given at the International Prophetic Conference in Chicago, 1886, the second of five such conferences: “A man is what he thinks. If he thinks mud, he will be mud. That is why, under the reign of Huxley, Darwin and the prurient biologic school, reverence is dying away, the sacredness of womanhood dying away, dignities, titles, self-respect dying away, and London becomes like to Sodom and Paris like to Gomorrah.” This statement was made by George Sayles Bishop, a Reformed pastor. Already, Darwin’s wicked hypothesis had exercised a terrible effect on society. The prophetic conferences marked the dawn of the fundamentalist revival. (I see the fundamentalist movement in all of its broad aspects as one of America’s Great Awakenings.) The major themes of the conferences were the infallible inspiration of Scripture, end-time apostasy, the defense of the faith once delivered unto the saints, and the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, with an emphasis on the return of the Jews to their homeland and the establishment of a Jewish state. At the time, this appeared to be impossible. The land of Israel was controlled by the Muslim Ottoman Turks, and they were dead set against a Jewish state in “Palestine.” But Bible believers knew that it would happen, because it is prophesied in Scripture. In 1864, Charles Spurgeon had preached on Ezekiel 37:1-10 at a gathering of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews, saying, “The meaning of our text, as opened up by the context, is most evidently, if words mean anything, first, that there shall be a political restoration of the Jews to their own land and to their own nationality. And then, secondly, there is in the text and in the context a most plain declaration that there shall be a spiritual restoration–in fact a conversion–of the tribes of Israel.” The first part of this prophecy was fulfilled in 1948 with the founding of the modern state of Israel. This is a preparation (unknowingly on Israel’s part) for the coming of the Antichrist with his peace covenant as prophesied in Daniel 9:27. The second part of the Ezekiel 37 prophecy, the spiritual restoration of Israel, will occur during the time of Jacob’s trouble, which might be just around the corner (Jeremiah 30:7-24).
(Friday Church News Notes, December 30, 2022, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
