BACK TO INDEX Extrapolation The object of this article is to warn of the dangers of extrapolation, particularly when
dealing with Scripture. To start with one would mention that the theory of evolution contains
quite a lot of extrapolation. Thus, because creatures in greater or lesser degree have the
ability to adapt to their environment (if they couldn’t they would probably die out if their
environment changed) it is assumed that they can completely change over time (i.e .millions
of years). Put succinctly, small adaptational changes in a creature’s make up can become
major structural changes. This is a false assumption. If I could run a mile non-stop, it is no
proof that given time I could run a hundred miles non-stop. Just adding time does not justify
the extrapolation any more than it does the evolutionists’ extrapolation. If we turn to the Scriptures we might consider the case of Melchisedec (Hebrews 7).
What is said of Melchisedec there might be considered an extrapolation of what is said of
him in Genesis 14:18-24. However what is pointed out in Hebrews is that the witness was
that Melchisedec lived (verse 8). The writer of Hebrews is not saying that the Melchisedec of
history had not been born and did not die, but simply that there is no record of his birth and
death and therefore he can be typical of the Son of God. Psalm 110:4 provides a link between
Christ and Melchisedec. It would not do to extrapolate from what is said in Hebrews that the
Melchisedec of history was not born and did not die. It is a common extrapolation that when Christians die they go to heaven because it is
said that they are with Christ (Philippians 1:23) and that because Christ is in heaven
(Hebrews 8:1/2) they must be in heaven. It does not follow, because Christ is elsewhere said
to be with us (Matthew 28:20) and we are on earth. Does that mean that Christ is on earth ? It
would be a false extrapolation to say so. Then there is the matter of the Rapture of the Lord’s people. Scripture speaks of his
people meeting the Lord in the air and that then they will always be with him (1
Thessalonians 4:17). It says nothing about taking them to paradise or to the Father’s house.
To say that he does is really just an extrapolation, presumably because our minds would tend
to think that otherwise we would simply be left suspended in the air for at least seven years
while judgments fall on the earth. However, all this depends more on our imagination than
statements of Scripture. It must be remembered that there is more than one heaven (2
Corinthians 12:2) and that the heaven seen in the book of Revelation is not for the most part
paradise. It is a heaven from which judgment is exercised. When speaking of the Rapture of the Lord’s people it is dangerous to extrapolate.
Because we are to look for the Lord’s coming and not for events, this does not mean that
certain events spoken of in the Scriptures may not take place before the Lord comes for his
own. If they do we should not shut our eyes to them. I refer particularly to the Jews returning
to Palestine though still unbelieving as to Christ. God cannot overtly support them because if
He did it would justify their unbelief, but He can act behind the scenes and allow men to act in
such a way that the Jews can occupy their earthly inheritance, as it is pretty evident he has, at
least, partly done. Sometimes the Rapture is spoken of as being imminent. This is dangerous,
because the truth of the Rapture was really recovered nearly 200 years ago and the Lord has
still not come for his people. The fact is we do not know when the Lord will come. The
matter is in the Father’s hands (Acts 1:7), though such signs as there are point to the fact that
He will come soon - the gathering apostasy in the Western world and the ingathering of
people in the remote parts of the earth (the ways and fences - Luke 14:23). Consider the vast
ingathering of people in China for example. Further, the Rapture is sometimes spoken of as
being secret. Certainly the Lord’s people’s are not likely to be watched by others as the
change in their bodies is said to be in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51/52), but
the disappearance of a large number of people is hardly likely to pass unnoticed. People
sometimes are reported to have disappeared mysteriously today. One would not shut out the
fact that Satan may be able to make persons disappear to neutralise the effect of the Rapture,
rather like what the sages of Egypt did (e.g. Exodus 7:8-13). However it will be noted that
Aaron’s staff was greater than the others, for it swallowed up their staves. Turning now to the matter of separation from evil and how it applies to ‘eating’ we
have a clear case where it is wrong to extrapolate. When Christ instituted the Supper He did
it when He was with his disciples (Luke 22:14/15). It was when He was with his loved ones
that he instituted the Supper and to whom He gave it (Matthew 26:26-28). He ate ordinary
meals with taxgatherers and sinners as well as Pharisees, but his eating the Passover with his
disciples was a distinct matter. We should not extrapolate from the fact that because we only
take the Supper with the Lord’s people we should not eat common meals with anyone else.
Correspondingly we should not extrapolate from the fact that we eat common meals with
unbelievers that we can also take part in the Lord’s Supper with them. In a quite different case we find that Christians often extrapolate backwards in time
when thinking of the Person of Christ. Christ is the Son of God. Certainly He was that when
here on earth, but extrapolating backwards into a passed eternity that He was the Son of God
then is wrong. Certainly he existed then (John 1) but his Sonship involved his coming forth
from God and there is no real basis for thinking that He came forth at any other time than at
his birth (Matthew 1:25). The subject is a large one and in days gone by holding that Christ
was not Son of God in a passed eternity was sufficient to have a person burned as a heretic in
both Catholic and Protestant Christendom (e.g. Michael Servetus). The principles that are enunciated here can be applied widely and it is something that
Christians should be exercised about. November 2010