Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Floodgates’ by David Parsons (Whitaker House, 2018).
This is a highly significant and well-researched book on the end times and, perhaps more importantly, what is already happening around us as we head towards the coming wrath.
David Parsons is an attorney, journalist, ordained minister and Middle East specialist working for the ICEJ. In the book, he aims to identify God’s specific ‘end game’ strategy for bringing this present age to a close.
Parsons claims that the moment we enter the Tribulation will be self-evident, but what about the period leading up to it? The author sets out “to break new ground in our understanding of the prophetic Scriptures” and attempts to widen the lens “to reveal what will transpire before we reach those last seven years” (p15).
The Genesis Flood as a ‘Type’
His approach is to take the Genesis Flood as a ‘type’, and in particular, the “days of Noah” as a parallel, just as Jesus does in Matthew 24. Parsons asserts that whereas in the first global judgment God opened the water floodgates, in the end judgment it will be the fire floodgates.
Just as God opened the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens (Gen 7:11), so there is fire stored up above our atmosphere and below the earth’s crust, waiting to be released to destroy the current world before the new Heaven and new Earth are created.
Parsons’ approach is to take the Genesis Flood as a ‘type’, and in particular, the “days of Noah” as a parallel, just as Jesus does in Matthew 24.
Parsons explains that biblical references to the ‘days of Noah’ point us back to the long period before the Genesis Flood during which the Ark was being built. This period – possibly as long as 120 years (based on Gen 6:3) - represents the time between God’s decision that judgment would come and the actual execution of that decision. He had made up his mind to flood the world long before he opened the floodgates. In legal terms, the verdict was in, judgement was inevitable - it was just a matter of time before the sentence was executed.
Parsons asks: what if we are already in a similar period leading up to the final floodgates of fire being opened? What would that look like?
Deconstructing Humanity
Part One of the book is taken up with considering the Flood of Noah, with chapters about the Divine Nature and proof that the biblical Flood was a real event.
There is also a very helpful discussion on the ‘forbidden union’ between angels and women which created the Nephilim (Gen 6:4). Here, the author brings clarity and certainty to a passage that is often seen as complicated and controversial. The vital conclusion is that hybrid humans could not be allowed to continue and multiply further. Mankind had gone against the natural order of God’s Creation and this, together with high levels of violence and sexual perversion, meant that humanity from that point was doomed.
Part Two, The Modern Rebellion, explores the ‘parallel plunge’ today, with chapters on the blight of violence and the sexual revolution. But the heart of this section is Parsons’ assertion that the verdict for the ‘end time’ judgment has already been given. We have passed the tipping point, identified by Parsons as the acceptance of evolution as a mainstream idea. This outright denial of God as our Creator has led to devastating consequences in all parts of human society and encouraged us to explore ourselves as a species without fear of God or his judgment.
Without being too specific regarding dates, Parsons asserts that this tipping point was not during the life of Darwin or at the time of publication of his works; rather it was the subsequent proliferation of his ideas and their embedding within human thinking and development. Once in place, they set us on a new path, from which Parsons argues there is now no turning back.
God had made up his mind to flood the world long before he opened the floodgates. In legal terms, the verdict was in, judgement was inevitable - it was just a matter of time before the sentence was executed.
Transgressing God’s Created Order
In Parsons’ view, this ‘social Darwinism’ began around 1900, with one obvious outworking being the horrors of Nazism. He writes well on this topic, which incidentally was what led him to write the book in the first place.
Interestingly, Parsons highlights two other features from the turn of the 20th Century: the emergence of evangelical Pentecostalism and the rise of Zionism leading to the re-creation of the State of Israel. Together, these three strands are all vital in God’s end time plans. True Spirit-filled believers and the restoration of the Jewish people together form an Ark-like contrast to the majority of humanity.
We often see our times as characterised by violence and sexual perversion, and discern these as precursors of judgment, but Parsons adds an extra dimension. What is unredeemable is the belief that God is no longer a credible Creator and hence we can go our own way, transgressing his boundaries with abandon. We seek to create and fulfil our own destinies, but by playing with our God-given humanity we will lose it and final destruction will follow.
These days we have both the capacity and the desire to interfere with our species to an extent that blurs the distinctions that God has ordained. With genetic engineering, cross-breeding, sex changes and attempts to augment and enhance human bodies using technology, we can create human hybrids without input from fallen angels.
Distinctive Slant
The book has been 20 years in the writing, during which Parsons has been living and working in Jerusalem. As such, it has slowly crystallised into a comprehensive prophetic thesis about our times with a distinctive slant that is well worth thinking through. It certainly makes sense, both biblically and in terms of what is happening in the world today. If Parsons is right, the verdict has already been declared. Denying God as Creator has primed the final judgment.
We seek to create and fulfil our own destinies, but by playing with our God-given humanity we will lose it and final destruction will follow.
The book has good and full endnotes and an extensive bibliography of books, articles and websites. There is no index but this is not really a problem. Overall, a valuable book and highly commended.
‘Floodgates: Recognize the End-Time Signs to Survive the Coming Wrath’ (272pp) is available from Eden for £12.99. Also available on Amazon, including Kindle.
Parsons’ blog and website, www.floodgatesblog.com, includes updates and commentaries from the author, reviews and endorsements, videos and more background information about the book.
