Dr. Renald Showers (1935-2019)

Dr. Showers has gone home to be with the Lord. The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry has provided a link to his resources HERE

Sharper Iron - CT & Dispensationalism

I'm thankful to friend Joel for providing a link to a Sharper Iron Forum discussion between proponents of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology.

I'm not going to comment in detail. But I think the opening address and subsequent comments by the CT camp highlights the misconceptions CTs have re dispensationalism on several issues. I see the same old canards re Darby, Lacunza, Irving and Scofield, the rapture etc being raised. For example:

Do you think Edwards, Whitefield, Wesley, Luther, Calvin, all the Puritans, Bunyan, etc. also misread their Bible concerning end times? If so, is it just because you think you are right or because you have actually worked through their understanding of Scripture? Would you put Darby, "Dr." Scofield (Scofield gave himself his own doctorate by simply calling himself "doctor"), and Edward Irving, the principle founders of dispensational thought, on the same level of theological, spiritual, and devotional depth as the Reformers, the Puritans, and the preachers of the Great Awakening?

Yes, I do think these gentlemen, as fine as they were regarding the gospel, were sometimes wrong regarding the end times and Israel's status. In fact there was disagreement among them. Even Andrew Bonar noted the mocking overtones towards premillennial prophecy in his day.

I know some dispensationalists rightfully take some blame and admit to faults in approach etc. I take a slightly more mercenary view. As limited as I am in experience, time and time again I see Covenant Theology proponents (amil and postmil) artfully dodge problematic passages to their system. What did God clearly state about national ethnic Israel's future? They need to clearly and consistently address how the OT patriarchs were saved sans knowledge of the cross. And they need to address God's clear word regarding national Israel's future redemption and occupation of the land.

CT proponents also need to get past the Two-Gospel, multiple-ways-of-salvation ruse against dispensationalism. It has been responded to ad nauseum. So, while I appreciate the dispie self-reflection, I'm convinced that no amount of clarification will daunt those determined to defend their traditional theology.

I strongly recommend Paul Henebury's materials, some of which I collated HERE.

Addendum:

I thought Alan Kurschner did a pretty good job summing things up (though I disagree with his references to "Antichrist's great tribulation" etc):

This is why most CT are amillennial. Amillennialism views the return of Christ as some mere simple event. Jesus returns and in the blink of an eye you have the eternal state. They do not preach the whole counsel of God’s Word. They miss articulating Christ’s glory that will unfold at his future return: the deliverance of the church from the grip of the Antichrist’s great tribulation, the complex trumpet and bowl judgments, the final battle (We are told this is all merely a “picture.” Sure.). Then we have the glory of Christ in bringing Israel to spiritual and national restoration, fulfilling his ancient unconditional promises to Israel. Then there is the coalescing of heaven with earth, the earth’s restoration, and on and on...keep reading

The Gathering of Mat 24:31

He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Mat 24:31

I first posted on this subject some time after I started this blog. Since reading some comments declaring that pretribulationists ignore the obvious meaning of this verse because they're too "Israel-centric", I thought I'd revisit the topic.

As a general rule, pretribulationists believe that v 31 is the final gathering of Israel back into the land while posttribulationists and prewrathers say this is obviously the rapture which occurs after the tribulation and coincidently with Christ's single-stage Second Coming. Note that the prewrath position has four comings within what it refers to as a "single-parousia".

Pretribulationists generally contend that the Olivet Discourse was meant for a Jewish audience while non-pretribs insist that the disciples represented the future church. I lean towards Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum's view that the questions asked of Jesus by His disciples during the OD were essentially Jewish concerns and were addressed as such. However, Jesus exercised His prerogative by also giving some information pertinent to the future church. In other words the Jewish disciples represented the nation Israel with all its kingdom hopes, but also the future church. That is not to say that Israel is the church.

Is Mat 24:31 the rapture?

In "The Rapture Question Answered - Plain & Simple" (TRQA pp 184-185) Robert Van Kampen draws on the Greek word for "gathering" (episunago) in v 31 and the phrase "caught up" in 1 Thess 4:17 to assist his case for this being the rapture of the church in Mat 24:31. He asserts that the Greek preposition epi to the verb sunago gives an upward direction to the gathering rather than sideways, as he presumes would be the case for a gathering of Israel. He asserts that a face-value reading of v 31 and some knowledge of NT Greek should lead a Berean to conclude that this is the rapture of the church, rather than Israel's gathering.

In response, pretribulationists point out that the word episunago was specifically used in connection with Israel's potential gathering elsewhere in NT Scripture - once in Luke 13:34 and twice in Mat 23:37.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather (ἐπισυνάγω episunago) your children together, the way a hen gathers (ἐπισυνάγω episunago) her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Mat 23:37

Jesus drew on the OT promises of a re-gathering of Israel under certain conditions. What would have been the outcome of a technical-episunago gathering of Israel? Would that have meant Israel's rapture and a drastic change of millennial kingdom plans? See also Mark 1:33 and Luke 12:1 where episunago is used.

According to Van Kampen (The Sign p 505), the pretribulationist's appeal to Isaiah 27:13 fails to support a gathering of Israel in v 31 because the gathering is only from Assyria and Egypt. In addition, while he acknowledges the "trumpet", he objects that there are no angels doing the gathering.

To be consistent in our argumentations we should then note the omission of a resurrection in Mat 24:31. The resurrection plays a major role in 1 Thess 4:16-17, which is thought by Van Kampen to parallel v 31. On the same page he states that the great tribulation is cut short. The reason given for the shortening of the tribulation is to preserve life (Mat 24:22). Dead saints are resurrected and live saints are immediately changed at the rapture. This suggests that the great tribulation is ended by God so that the "flesh" of the "elect" can be saved to populate the millennial kingdom. Hence, this isn't likely to be when the rapture occurs. Note also that the length of the great tribulation remains at three-and-a-half years, not shorter as Van Kampen asserts.

It is noteworthy that both Isaiah 27:13 and Mat 24:31 refer to a great trumpet in connection with an eschatological gathering. Isaiah 27:9 also refers to Jacob's iniquity being forgiven. In "Maranatha - Our Lord, Come" (p 183) Renald Showers cites Franz Delitzsch and Gerhard Friedrich. Friedrich believes Isaiah 27:13 is an eschatological day when the exiled will be brought back by the signal of the trumpet. According to Delitzsch, this verse refers to the "still living Diaspora" being "gathered by the signal of God." Delitzsch states that Assyria and Egypt represent all the lands of exile. This is corroborated by the internal evidence that the verse is eschatological.

God has also promised Israel that - as He has scattered them to the four winds (and towards the winds) - He would likewise gather them from the four winds of heaven (see Ezek 5:10, 12, 17: 21; Zech 2:6 etc). Furthermore, Delitzsch has the gathering of Isaiah 27:13 parallel to Isaiah 11:10-12. The latter includes Assyria and Egypt; several other countries and places...and the four corners of the earth.

And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.

In "The Sign" (p 505), Van Kampen also asserts that Deut 30:1-5 only pertains to unbelieving Israel's gathering before the 70th week commences, therefore it is not parallel to Mat 24:31. Yet a simple reading of those verses clearly contradicts Van Kampen. Israel's gathering from captivity from all the nations and from the farthest parts under heaven (vv 3, 4) is said to be conditional to their return to God (v 2):

"and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Deu 30:2-4

The word for heaven (shamayim) in v 4 means heaven; heavens; sky etc, although it is sometimes rendered "earth". The same expression (idiom?) of heaven is used in Mark 13:27, which parallels Mat 24:31. Dr Fruchtenbaum takes "heavens" to be an allusion to resurrected OT saints along with the gathering.

"And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven." Mark 13:27

Non-pretribulationists deny the term "elect" in Mat 24:31 can refer to Israel. In Questions for a Pretribulationist:

"And how can the elect [Matt 24] (vv. 22, 24) be unsaved Israel, if the unsaved remnant of Israel does not come to know Christ until after the seventieth week is complete (Dan. 9:24; Rom. 11:25-26, cf. Rev. 10:7), and how is it that every other use of the term "elect" in the New Testament is a direct reference only to the Church, and suddenly the elect in the Great Tribulation (Mt. 24:21-22) refers to unsaved Israel" (sic).

Van Kampen assumes the "144,000 Jews who become the firstfruits of Israel unto Christ" are "saved right when the Rapture occurs" (TRQA pp 53-54). This convenient timing isn't explicit in Scripture.

But there are a number of OT passages that refer to Israel as God's chosen (elect) nation. For example, Isaiah 43:1-7 not only affirms Israel as an "elect" nation made by God, loved by Him, created for His glory and precious in His sight; but also that it will be gathered from the 4 points of the compass and the ends of the earth. In Deut 7: 6-7 Israel is called a holy people, chosen by Him for Himself out all the peoples of the earth and loved by the Lord. They are called chosen (elect) in Isaiah 45:4 and 1 Chron 16:13. In 2 Sam 7:23-24 we see that Israel's status as the elect nation will be forever.

Israel is also called chosen in the NT. Acts 3:12, 13-15, 25 and Rom 11:26-29 confirm Israel's continuous standing as a chosen nation.

"....The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they [unbelieving Israel] are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Rom 11:26-29

There's another problem that many simply gloss over:

For I tell you, you will never see Me again until you say, 'He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One'!" Matt 23:39

I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. Hosea 5:15

But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt--then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land. Lev 26:40-42

These passages infer that Christ's return is conditional upon national Israel's repentance (See Fruchtenbaum's "Footsteps of the Messiah" p 335-339). Zechariah 12 places that event at the time when the nations come against Israel (see esp. v 10). See also Zech 13:7-9.

If that's the case and if non-pretribulationists coincide the second coming with the rapture at Mat 24:31 then Israel and the 144,000 should be raptured as well (because they are saved). Furthermore, if Christ's "single-parousia" return really is contingent upon Israel's calling out to Him then we have a problem with some contrary passages which seem to point to imminence (e.g. Mat 24: 36-39, 42, 44, 50, 25:13; Mark 13:34-37; 1 Thess 5:2, 6).

John Feinberg has noted that many commentators "of various stripes" see the parallel between Zech 12:10 and Matt 24:29-30. It should be patently obvious that Israel is in view here (not the church). The context of the very next verse is its final gathering in the land as per OT promises.

In summary, episunago was used by Jesus for Israel's potential gathering as promised in the OT. There will be a final eschatological gathering of Israel (the chosen nation) as evidenced by several OT texts. That gathering will follow Israel's refinement and subsequent request for the Messiah to return. The context of the disciples' questions to Jesus at the Olivet Discourse was based on Jewish concerns. The tribulation period is terminated so that flesh can be saved.

Therefore, contrary to the assertion that Matt 24:31 is "simply a rapture verse", dispensational pretribulationists have sound, biblical reasons for seeing this as Israel's final, prophetic gathering.

Was Renald Showers Wrong?

It’s understandable that people get frustrated when their eschatological view is misrepresented. One leading prewrath proponent has complained that Renald Showers and Jimmy DeYoung misrepresented the prewrath position. He writes:

First, DeYoung kept confusing prewrath with midtrib, which just goes to show you that DeYoung is ignorant with “prophecy today.”...But DeYoung was not the only ignorant one, for Showers spoke of the prewrath as the position that believes that the rapture will occur about “3/4″ into the 7 year period, which is not true.

Ironically, a link was originally provided to a chart which depicted the prewrath rapture at about ¾ of the way through the 7 years. The chart was subsequently removed and the link now points to “Page Not Found!” Official laminated prewrath charts can presently be purchased HERE. Or you can just go online and check some out HERE or HERE. Scroll down to the section “The Timing of the Rapture” HERE for a clarification of the prewrath position.

Dr Showers has a reputation for being meticulous so I was keen to listen to the interview. Note that he wrote an in-depth critique of the system (The pre-Wrath Rapture View) and has interacted extensively with it. You hear him immediately responding to DeYoung’s question regarding “midtrib, prewrath”. What Dr Showers actually said was that the prewrath view is the rapture won’t occur until “maybe three fourths to two thirds through the 7 year tribulation period.” And I think that that is a fair summation of the view. He was merely distinguishing its approximate timing as distinct to the midtrib view, rather than going into detail.

A lengthier and more detailed summary can be found on page 7 of his prewrath book where he states that it occurs, “sometime between the middle and the end of the seventieth week.”

What exacerbates misunderstanding is that just about all prewrath charts (see above) have depicted the rapture point at about ¾ into the 70th week. Elbert Charpie is, perhaps, unique in that he thinks it might occur very early in the last half. However, one would think that a reasonable amount of time needs to elapse for Satan’s wrath (the Great Tribulation) to be administered. It’s also true that an article at the Pre-Trib Research Centre calls it The Three Quarters Rapture Theory which may aggravate those sensitive to that generic description. And to be fair to prewrath proponents, Dr Ice should have been a little more specific.

My limited experience has been that the system has sometimes been misrepresented but I doubt these instances have always been intentional. I remember having niggling questions after reading Marvin Rosenthal’s book. Several prewrath proponents I consulted seemed also somewhat confused over key issues such as the shortening of the Great Tribulation, the location of Christ in relationship to the church after the rapture and the resurrection of beheaded tribulation saints in Rev 20:4 etc. This may be one reason why PRI has offered special courses on the prewrath view for the benefit of its proponents.

As an aside, an exception was taken over Showers’ views of imminency and his comparison of the 4th seal of Revelation to the Ezekiel 14:21 “four severe judgments”. Dr Showers details compelling arguments in favor of imminency and God’s wrath (regardless of Hebrew or Greek expressions) at the 4th seal in “Maranatha, Our Lord Come!” and his abovementioned prewrath critique.

I can well appreciate the motivation for a non-pretribber to restrict the contents of the 4th seal to God’s disciplinary measures inaugurated to somehow “refine believers”. Yet, despite the elaborate attempt at expositing that position, one only has to read Ezekiel 5 to see that God’s anger and wrath (judgment) are associated with “plague, sword, famine and wild beasts.”

So it will be a reproach, a reviling, a warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken. When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I shall send to destroy you, then I shall also intensify the famine upon you, and break the staff of bread. Moreover, I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken. Eze 5:15-17

Why would it be any different at the 4th seal when Death and Hades are empowered to kill a fourth of the earth’s population using the same means? Renald Showers is right on the money. His two books speak for themselves.

Further reading:

Zechariah's Horses

Worst time ever...

In This Study, Dr Alan Cole discusses the pre-wrath (and post-trib) view of the day of the Lord in Joel 2&3. One point of interest to me is the evaluation of Dr Charles Cooper’s challenge to Renald Showers’ view on the proof of the overlapping between the great tribulation and the day of the Lord based on Joel 2:1.

Dr Showers contends that the phrase “there has never been anything like it” refers to the day of the Lord. He then uses other references such as Matt 24:21 to argue that, because there can’t be two uniquely worst days in history, the two periods must be referring to the same timeframe or at least overlap.

Dr Cooper counters that the phrase “there has never been anything like it” refers to the people and not to the day of the Lord.

He makes a valid point.

But what he doesn’t do is refute Dr Showers’ over-all contention. Here’s the problem as I see it – Matt 24:21 asserts that the Great Tribulation is the worst time in history and that no other time will be as harsh:

…for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. (Mat 24:21 NASB)

That time will be so bad that:

And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short. (Mat 24:22 NASB)

Both pre-wrath and post-trib proponents divide the great tribulation and the day of the Lord into two periods which don’t overlap. The obvious problem then is that any period following the great tribulation cannot be as severe.

It is suggested that Matt 24 is speaking of Satan’s wrath. By implication, then, these are two different subjects which consequently allows for two unparalleled periods. But is that really the case or is it circular reasoning?

No distinction is ever made between the great tribulation and God’s wrath nor is the tribulation ever scripturally restricted to Satan’s persecution – it is an assumption used to support an expectation. Pretribbers hold that Satan’s wrath, and various other calamities are extensions of God’s wrath and judgments (Ezekiel 14:21; Revelation 6:8). Furthermore, the phrase “since the beginning of the world” incorporates Noah’s flood.

The fact that the GT is shortened - otherwise no life would be saved - indicates an all-inclusive global condition which also embraces unbelievers. Christ states that all lives would be lost if there was no intervention to shorten that period. The question then is - if the day of the Lord occurs after those days have been shortened then what happens to life on earth?

The Great Tribulation Period is cut short for the sake of the elect (the Church).

The reason given by the Lord for this shortening cannot be logically used in reference to the church’s rapture and/or resurrection. If every last Christian was martyred they’d still be raised up. Nor can it be used to argue for a GT lasting less than the consistently prophesied three-and-a-half years.

We know the Antichrist has been given authority to act for 42 months (Rev 13:5); that he gathers the armies at Rev 16 and martyred saints are raised after the beast has been bound (Rev 20:4). We also know that the Antichrist is destroyed (not hand cuffed) at Christ’s coming (2 Thess 2:8; Rev 19:20).

At the time the Antichrist has gathered the armies he is still within his 42 months because he is using his authority to accomplish that at the 6th bowl. His time expires at Rev 19 which is post trumpets and bowls. Hence the trumpets and bowls are contained within the GT period.

Therefore, while Dr Showers’ argument in the Joel 2 case may be questioned, his over-all premise is on solid foundations.