Category 2
Verdict: There are concerns but not enough to mark and avoid.
Preface
Part of how this Discernment ministry operates is taking in reader questions about prevalent teachers. David Jeremiah was tied for the most requests at the start of this research, and due to him being the largest figure, this investigation into his teachings was undergone. You can make a request here and see our answered verdicts here.
Scope
Evangelicalism does not hold to dispensationalist eschatology. And though we maintain that it is an errant teaching, we do not hold the view that dispensationalism makes one a heretic. Therefore, David Jeremiah’s dispensationalism cannot alone be determinative for this verdict.
Background
David Jeremiah is a very famous megachurch pastor, and technical member of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is most famous for his teachings on eschatology and biblical prophecy.
Support for False Teachers
The most obvious concern for David Jeremiah is that he associates with Prosperity Gospel preachers. David Jeremiah is a frequent on TBN, a notorious prosperity channel. Justin Peters and Phil Johnson, both call out this behavior as an unacceptable compromise, as fundraising for false teachers is sinful.[i] For Peters and Johnson to call David Jeremiah out does indicate there has been a public call for correction, and one sign of a false teacher is that they refuse correction and cannot handle criticism. Both Peters and Johnson maintain that David Jeremiah does not teach the Prosperity Gospel, only gives cover to those who do.
Erroneous Eschatology
During a recent sermon on Ezekiel 38,[ii] David Jeremiah claims that the “prince of Rosh” refers to Russia, an argument based on phonetic similarity. This is conjecture, as the Rus ethnicity did not exist for several hundred years after the prophesy. Additionally, Ezekiel refers to contemporary tribes of his day (Meshech and Tubal), making it rather odd that Ezekiel would use a phonetic description of a future people group in conjunction with contemporary tribes. Jeremiah would go in to claim that Ezekiel would describe modern weapons in familiar terms, a hermeneutic ignored for the “prince of Rosh.”
David Jeremiah then erroneously posits that the “king of the north” refers solely to Russia because Russia is geographically north of Israel. This ignores Assyria, the kingdoms in Anatolia, or even the northern kingdom. He then claims that Gog refers to the “president of Russia.” Magog, he teaches, refers to the “stan nations” as opposed to the land of Gog. This refers to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirgizstan, and Afghanistan, “all the nations that used to be a part of the Soviet Union.” Jerimiah’s most plausible claim about the nations listed from Ezekiel 38:2-6 is Gomer as Germany, in addition to the nations that now reside in modern day Turkey.
This framework is used to further a dispensationalist eschatology whereby the end times focus on the modern secular nation state of Israel. The sermon was based on his book.
Branch Covidianism
On March 16th, 2020, David Jeremiah came out in support of tyrannical lockdown policies during a sermon, the last sermon he would give before Shadow Mountain locked down.[iii] On March 23rd 2020, Jeremiah would give a clickbait sermon titled, “Is the Coronavirus in Bible Prophecy?”[iv] David Jeremiah’s Shadow Mountain Community Church would go on to claim between $2-5 million in PPP loans. David Jeremiah has remained otherwise reticent on the issue.
New Age
In a sermon titled, “Preparing the Way for Antichrist,” Warren B. Smith, a former new ager himself, calls out David Jeremiah for having called New Ageism the biggest threat to the church in 1995, while having published half a dozen books on eschatology. He then goes on to articulate how David Jeremiah has directly or indirectly supported New Ageism.[v] It’s worth noting that Wallace does understate the fact that David Jeremiah has done more material on the New Age as recently as 2022.[vi]
Conclusion
David Jeremiah is not a prosperity preacher, but he gives credence to those who are, and has assisted with fundraising for TBN. Strangely enough, there is a void of material from him addressing the Prosperity Gospel, nonetheless, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that he is a prosperity preacher.
What David Jeremiah is best known for is his teachings on the end times. However, David Jeremiah places an overemphasis on the end times. He has grown in popularity teaching in sermons that try to clickbait current events and read them into a dispensational eschatology. It’s easy to see how clickbaiting current events to teach on America’s most prevailing eschatological view grows both ministry and popularity, but what David Jeremiah is teaching is fundamentally incorrect. His teaching that Gog is Russia is a clear example of eisegesis.
Additionally, it should be a concern to all that David Jeremiah has entire sermons based on books he has written. The Bible teaches that wealth is a motivation of false teachers, of which this is evidence towards that end.
These are the following concerns with regards to David Jeremiah. However, they are not conclusive enough to mark him as a false teacher.
[i] David Jeremiah Partaking In Evil Deeds Of False Prophets @ TBN? (Phil Johnson / Justin Peters) | Doctrinal Watchdog Sep 12, 2019
https://youtu.be/R35wfC9Fzyc
[ii] Dr. David Jeremiah FULL SERMON (3/8/2022) THE RESURRECTION OF RUSSIA/ Must Hear! Mar 9, 2022
https://youtu.be/J4U4bgSRn-0
[iii] Facing Coronavirus: Facing Uncertain Times with David Jeremiah Mar 16, 2020
https://youtu.be/zdPyAyZVNuQ
[iv] Is the Coronavirus in Bible Prophecy? | David Jeremiah Mar 23, 2020
[v] Warren B Smith – Preparing the Way for Antichrist | Sep 7, 2019
https://youtu.be/30Ev855vZ7I?t=3113
[vi] David Jeremiah Sermons 2022 – The NEW Age Movement | Apr 2, 2022
https://youtu.be/reESduC_t_g
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9 Responses
Russia always bad. Jews always good. Why is this controversial when Jews are clearly the chosen race and have all condemned Putler?
TO WRITER HERE: If as you say here Dispensationalism and its eschatology is errant, what is correct? I’m confused…thanks, DW staff!
Dispensationalism was created in the 1830s…never known or taught beforehand. It hangs on completed OT prophecies as though they are not completed. It hangs on gross misrepresentation of God’s Word…fear, fear, fear, Israel, Israel, Israel.
Can you find any (in context) NT scripture saying to watch Israel? It says to watch JESUS! Did any of the apostles lead continual tours to Israel for millions of gentile Christian believers to “walk where Jesus walked”?
They clearly taught that the children of Abraham were no longer by DNA. Rather, the SAVED of all colors, tribes, tongues, and nations are now the true children of Abraham, heirs to his promises.
Jeremiah “pulpit-pounds” to make money off his false doctrine books, leads continual tours to Israel and promotes our eyes being on that nation instead of on Jesus.
I was a diehard dispensational for 30+ years, I’m not anymore. My eyes are directed solely on Jesus, not the continual shouts of “the end is near” that never materialize.
There is no place in the Bible that says Dispensationalism is errant. Eschatology is just a word meant for the study of the prophetic scripture in the Bible. It’s not a religion or errant act. The Bible is God inspired. It’s His Word. The Bible has gives us many prohecies in both the Old and the New testaments. If God didnt want us to study the whole Bible ( and within the whole Bible there is definitely prophecy) He would have left out prophetic scriptures. It is False teaching to teach eschatological study is errant.
Dispensationalism is a school of eschatological thought + Bible framework, and this article explicitly says that being wrong on this doesn’t make someone a false teacher.
What is a “technical member” of the Southern Baptist Convention? Is Shadow Mountain a Southern Baptist church, in cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention?
Again, please, what is a “technical member of the Southern Baptist Convention”? Thank you.
I thought it was very funny when he referred to the prince of Rosh as being Rus. And that Rus was not an ethnicity for several hundred years after Ezekiel prophesied it. That’s what a prophecy is, taking something that is in the future. Absolutely hilarious. I don’t think the prince of Rosh is Russia because of Rus, I think Magog is Russia because it is far north which is described in Ezekiel. Gog is the leader of Magog in his mentioned as the prince of Rosh . If you put your finger on Israel and take a globe and go straight far north you will land in Russia.
I personally think your website is dangerous. Just because you disagree with a systematic theology i.e. dispensationalism, it doesn’t mean dispensationalists are false teachers or should be looked at as false teachers. I’m a dispensationalist and far from a false teacher. I disagree with covenant theology yet I love RC Sproul. I don’t write people off just because of their theology I make myself aware of their theology so I can put it through a lens of interpretation. So in other words I practice discernment and that’s what you people don’t do you just attack. It is very sad and what you need is prayer.