Future Hope: A Jewish Christian Look at the End of the World by David Brickner (2002, Paperback)

Among evangelical Protestants “end of this world” predictions have been big business for centuries. It has spawned thousands of denominations, sects, and cults. It gives hope to millions. In a sense, it is a continuation of an expectation as old as Christianity itself. The parousia, the “second coming” of Jesus, provided an explanation for the failure of an individual that some people professed to be the “messiah.” It allowed his followers to continue to believe in his mission and of the mission of others after him. Predictions and descriptions of doomsday abound, as do the revisions of timetables once the predicted date has passed.
David Brickner’s volume, Future Hope, falls into the category of books about the imminent end of the world, but it sets no specific date for the return of Jesus. His expectation is for Jesus to return “shortly.” It combines fact and fiction to create a make-believe “prophetic” promise with which to prey on the minds and pocketbooks of the gullible.
Before discussing some of the fictions in the book let us clarify one fiction about the author. The author, executive director of the Jews for Jesus missionary organization, is described in the foreword as “a fifth generation Jewish believer in Jesus” (vi). To be exact, on his mother’s side (which is where one traces his/her “Jewishness”), he is, in reality, a fifth generation Christian.

In his foreword to this volume, Lon Solomon writes, “David believes that it is appropriate for Jewish people to personally investigate the claims of Jesus whether or not the rabbis say it is acceptable to do so” (p vi). Well, let’s do exactly that. Let’s “personally investigate the claims of Jesus,” using Brickner’s Future Hope as a source book.

In a section entitled, DO THE MATH (pp. 18-20) Brickner describes Daniel 9 as “a prophecy with . . . astounding implications.” What he does with this prophecy is not only astounding but outrageously deceptive as well. He takes Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:25-27) and explains it based on mistranslation and manipulated calculations. He makes it appear as if this passage predicted precisely the coming of Jesus into Jerusalem just prior to his execution. He also hints as to when Jesus will allegedly return. There are a number of ways in which Brickner’s rendering attempts to mislead the reader:

And what of the seventieth week (seven years)? Brickner writes, “We don’t know exactly when this Great Tribulation is going to begin, but we do know how long it will last: seven years” (p. 18). After this seven-year period Jesus is supposed to return. But, what did the Christian Bible say in the first century about Jesus’ return: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37). Was the “second coming” supposed to be in the far distant future? Jesus is credited with saying, “I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:20). Indeed, the Christian Bible says that Jesus told his contemporaries that “there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death at all until they see the kingdom of God having come with power” (Mark 9:1). The “second coming” never happened as promised.

The truth is, Brickner’s book is really nothing new, nor are his arguments. While there is hope for the future, Future Hope does not offer it.

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