Bulletin of Prophetic Historicism

3 April 2015                                                                             Editor and Proprietor

                                                                                                  Edwin de Kock

Bulletin # 19

The editor/proprietor assumes responsibility for his own contributions. He is not, however, responsible or liable for the ideas expressed in pieces by other writers, also sometimes mentioned or cited.

                                    Happy Birthday to Me

n 7 March, the Mission Hope church, where Ria and I now worship, honored me in two special ways to mark my 85th birthday, two days later. First, in personal ministries time, I hobbled up the platform with my walking stick, to tell how the good Lord had enabled me to write and publish a series of religious books, particularly on prophecy. Afterwards, during potluck in the fellowship hall, there was a beautifully decorated table to honor me (with Ria) and two guests. There were birthday cards with many signatures to wish me well. To help with forthcoming medical bills or for my ministry, there were also greenbacks. Mashed potatoes and other of my favorite foods were served and, towards the end, a birthday cake. A good number of families came to be photographed with us. They really made a fuss of this old man! They knew my left leg was in pain, possibly because of a pinched nerve or severe arthritis. They also knew that a week earlier I had congestive heart failure and was still on medication for it. But what a party!

     Readers who were not there will understandably be more interested in what I said in our personal ministries time. You have a good chance of viewing a video about this by going to website propheticum.com. Under What’s New, click on .avi format. It will take a few minutes to download. (After that, if you wish, you can copy it to your C drive, where it will be instantly available.) But if your computer is too old, for instance an XP, you will unfortunately be out of luck.

     Let me therefore just skip back and report what I told the church. My focus was on the fact that every believer, old as well as young, has an evangelistic obligation, to obey our Lord’s Great Commission which he commanded just before ascending to heaven: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). It is also the everlasting Gospel to preach to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” everywhere on the planet in the latter-day three angels’ messages (Rev. 14:6-12). Whatever our talents, we all need to be doing this work. I am a writer and I wanted to testify about my contribution over the past fifteen years.

     In the first ten of them (2001 to 2010), it was two publications, between the ages of 71 and 80. After that, miraculously, since my quadruple bypass surgery, I speeded up. In the most recent period (2011-2015), between the ages of 81 and 85, it was one printed publication per year, by God’s abundant grace. Praise his name!

     They are listed in the following section.

                  Publications About Prophecy and Theology

1.  Christ and Antichrist in Prophecy and History (2001, 2013), book, $19.95. E-mail                        Attachment, $10.00. Also a data         CD: Christ and Antichrist, Africa and the Bible, and

     12 other items, $19.95.

2. The Use and Abuse of Prophecy (2007). Book, $14.95. E-mail Attachment, $10.00.

3.  The Truth About 666 and the Story of the Great Apostasy (2011, 2013), a set of three

     volumes, including a data CD, $35.00. E-mail Attachment, $19.95.

4.  Seven Heads and Ten Horns in Daniel and the Revelation   (2012). Book, $20.00. E-mail            Attachment, $14.95.

5.  The Labyrinth of Women’s Ordination: A Way Out (2013). A digital Publication, 140 pages.         

     E-mail Attachment. Free on request until July 2015. After that date, a suggested donation    

     of $10.00.

6.  A More Sure Word of Prophecy (2015). Book, $10.00, plus shipping and handling. E-mail        

     Attachment, $10.00.

7. The King of the South and the King of the North in Daniel 11-12 (2015). Digital Publication of more than 70 pages. Suggested donation of $10.00.

     For those who live within the United States, the purchase of these publications is easy and straightforward. They can send an e-mail (edwdekock@hotmail.com) to inquire about shipping and handling charges and then simply send a check or money order in American dollars to Edwin de Kock, 12916 Los Terrazos Boulevard, Edinburg, TX 78541. The items ordered will travel via the internal postal services. Wherever the publications list above says “book,” it will be a soft-cover book.

     But for people beyond the borders of America, things are more complex. Most of the time, the exchange rate raises prices, and only airmail can be used, which is expensive. Most of these problems can be solved by purchasing e-mail attachments. Then there is the awkwardness of international payments. For this there is also a solution. Please just send an e-mail to inquire.

                              A More Sure Word of Prophecy

     This brand-new book of 68 pages, which a UPS truck delivered to our home a few days ago, contains seven illustrations in color, the first one on the front cover. Originating on Cuba during October 2014 as a series of lectures, it grew into a book. As I say in the Acknowledgements, in a sense it “sets the capstone on everything I have written about prophecy.” It compares the various schools of interpretation: Preterism, Futurism, Idealism, and Historicism. Of these, only the last mentioned is self-validating, since it matches Bible prophecy with real-time events through the ages.

     One of the treasures in this little book derives from Hippolytus (c. 170-235), who was bishop at Portus, about 15 miles from Rome. Comparing the predictions of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, he wrote:

     “The golden head of the image and the lioness denoted the Babylonians; the shoulders and arms of silver, and the bear, represented the Persians and Medes; the belly and thighs of brass, and the leopard, meant the Greeks, who held  the sovereignty  from Alexander’s time; the legs of iron, and the beast dreadful and terrible, expressed the Romans, who  hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are to rise; the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their  midst; the stone that smites the earth and brings judgment upon the world was Christ . . .”

     This is almost exactly how Uriah Smith (1832-1903) explained the same two prophecies, 1700 years later. The only real difference concerns the word lioness, which Hippolytus found in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament made by Jewish scholars 200-300 years before Christ.

     What is marvellous about the Hippolytus interpretation is not simply that it is confirmed by history but that he made it during Roman times, before the Western Empire was divided and the countries of modern Europe came into existence. He said they were “emblems of the kingdoms that are to rise.” Also, growing up among them, the little horn “meant the Antichrist in their midst.” Although there was already a pope in Rome, the papacy was not yet the mighty persecuting power that it was destined to become and remain for 1260 years.

     A More Sure Word of Prophecy also in detail shows how Catholicism turned away from prophetic Historicism. It preferred Preterist, Futurist, or Idealist explanations. These schools have one thing in common: they deflect the finger of accusation away from the Pope.

     In late medieval and Reformation times Historicism was reborn, but sixteenth-century Jesuits again undermined it—and later so did Protestant Dispensationalism, which is basically Catholic eschatology. In our time, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the only large denomination that still holds high the torch of Historicism, with a message to warn the world about coming events.

     Some of the material in A More Sure Word of Prophecy overlaps with the contents of The Use and Abuse of Prophecy (2007), although much in it is completely new. These two books complement each other beautifully. We recommend the possession and reading of both.

                             La Palabra Profética Más Segura

     This is the Spanish for A More Sure Word of Prophecy, with the same full-color illustrations, which has already been translated by a Seventh-day Adventist in Cuba. It still awaits editing and publication. It may be possible to print it in Cuba. That may be cheaper than in the United States, though paper is more expensive. On the other hand, it may be possible to export the finished book more cheaply. From America all mail must go out by air. This can more than double the price of even a small book. Details are still being negotiated. We leave them as well as the funding in God’s hands. Readers’ suggestions would be most welcome.

The King of the South and the King of the North in Daniel 11-12

     For more than two months, this topic has been taking up much of my time. Seventh-day Adventists have been perplexed in their attempts to interpret this prophecy for as long as our denomination has existed. My study is now available as a digital publication. Those who are interested can obtain it as an e-mail attachment, after informing me that they have mailed a donation, as suggested above. But it is really not for everybody.

     Here is a clue to what awaits the reader. I point out that when Daniel 11 begins, the king of the South and the king of the North are literal—not symbolic—states. The principle of consistency demands that they must therefore somehow remain the same entities at the end of the chapter as at its beginning. Further, although the Church of Rome is predicted elsewhere in it, the king of the North in verse 40 cannot also be the papacy.

     Due to the congestive heart failure at present afflicting me, I can unfortunately not now respond to the avalanche of correspondence that this announcement is likely to unleash. The question is simple: shall I or shall I not donate to see what de Kock has to say about this topic?   

Praise the Lord for His Superabundant Blessings Throughout

                                              Our Lives! 

     Why? First of all, because we are still alive and in a free society. But realizing this will not always be so, we cherish each day with its joys and pain. We pray for fortitude for the future, with whatever it holds in God’s grand plan for our lives. Our Heavenly Father knows best.

     On April 4, 1962, we got a most special gift for Ria’s birthday:  a brand-new baby boy, Carl!

Today he and Shelley are celebrating their wedding anniversary and will take us on a special outing to share our birthdays together! How happy we are to have them close by.

     We thank the Lord for each one of you, precious book friends, and treasure you and your comments. A writer who has not been published by the denomination, nor is on its pension plan, has slim pickings, according to a friend who wrote to us recently. True, yet this is not entirely true. We cast our bread upon the waters while in South Africa, and you know what? God this past week sent two big boxes of bread right over the ocean!! So we do not fear. What can man do to us?

     Our South African friends reported with pleasure our wedding anniversary article which appeared in the most recent issue of Maranatha, their Church paper.

     Our website, propheticum.com, jumped from 11,500 viewers to over 13,000 in just a few days! May Michael, our precious webmaster, be forever blessed! Images of Edwin’s books can now be seen due to Mike’s diligence. Even the recommendations on the back covers of The Truth About 666 (2013 edition) in three volumes can be read easily.

     An unexpected joy came from a retired Lutheran professor in Wisconsin who had read through the whole website. He is much interested in prophetic Historicism and was eager to get hold of all the books. He became an instant friend, and Edwin still communicates with him. Another precious message came from somebody in Inter-America, and the books will hopefully reach him soon, to revive his spirit. A contract evangelist also took the time to read the whole website and thanked Edwin for the dedication that put it there to bless the readers.

     Friends, do little things make you happy? Like seeing your favourite cardinal in its brilliant glory? The cardinal is my bluebird of happiness, since Texas is too polluted for the real one.

     If you feel blessed by any of the above, please forward this newsletter to your e-mail contacts. May our precious Lord bless and sustain us all daily as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit toward a finished work. Heaven cannot wait and is astir. The world and all its creatures are suffering more and more daily. Let us go and invite them to join us. Maranatha!

     Affectionately in His service, Edwin and Ria.