'Voice of Revival' 1961 v03 n11 p03

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While it may be true that knowledge has increased exponentially in recent times, there is nothing in this verse that even hints at what we are seeing in today's world. It simply says that 'knowledge shall be increased'. You don't need to be a prophet to know that knowledge has, and always will, increase with the march of time. 

Even as a Revivalist I thought that it was bit of a stretch to think that 'many shall run to and fro' was a prediction of 'present-day methods of travel'. How anyone can see planes, trains and automobiles in this verse is simply beyond me. One could just as easily say this predicts the modern Olympic Games or is a prediction of the Boxing Day sales at Myer Department Store. After all, lots of running to and fro there right?.

'The chariots shall rage in the streets' is a prediction of the motor car? Did these guys really expect to be taken seriously? If one looks at these verses in context then it becomes clear that it is talking about actual chariots (yes, just like the ones in Ben Hur) shining and glistening in the sun as they race through the streets of ancient Ninevah (Israel's neighbour). These verses have nothing to do with cars, combustion engines or even modern times!

Joel 2:30 is a favourite Revivalist verse even to this day. The greatest problem with the long-held Revivalist claim (that this describes nuclear mushroom clouds) is found in the first few words of the verse:

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 

Who will be responsible for these pillars of smoke? Soviet Russia? The USA? Israel?

Nope. It will be God herself.

Read the verse again. It says God will show these wonders, not humankind. So unless God has an arsenal of nuclear bombs tucked away somewhere, the Revivalists are wrong...yet again.

Verdict: BIG STRETCH...but not far enough!