Dear Barry:
Your question is a hypothetical and I'm not sure that I can properly address this type of question in any sort of brief reply. I'm trained in the exegesis and exposition of what the Bible contains. My educational background is in history, church history, theology, and apologetics.
Think about the point that not all of the Bible is written to us, but all of it is for our learning. The Bible contains the word "Israel" 2,294 times, while the word "Church" is found only 77 times and the first mention of the Church is not until you get to chapter 16 in Matthew.
One of the problems (major problem at that) that I see in the larger scope of many reader posts is their failure to distinguish or differentiate the difference between Israel and the Church. These are two separate entities. Before I even had read your post on August 3rd, I happened to see that one of the wags at the "Pre-Wrath-Babble" site had essentially given you a 'high five' in her typical disingenuous fashion. I doubt the wag even understood what your post was all about. But I knew by her post that Five Doves had posted readers' letters for the week.
Enough said about the disingenuous wags at the "Pre-Wrath-Babble" site. Their problem is not really a problem with Eschatology - their problem is with Ecclessiology. They don't know how to properly interpret the Word of God!
In 1890, Dr. Frank Thompson published one of the best study Bibles in print, or so I thought. It has, by nature of its chain referenced study notes, one of the best means to study and learn the Bible, its doctrines, teachings, etc. When I was a seminary student working on my M.Div. my fellow students would rave about how great it was, and eventually I purchased my own copy. Great for preaching I thought. Until! An older and wiser fellow pastor asked me the question that I ask you, what's wrong with the Thompson Chained Reference Bible? I could not answer immediately until I sat down and started to do a comparison, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. It wasn't a half hour before I spotted what the old pastor was indirectly pointing out and telling me. I have given you the answer in my second paragraph above. Dr. Thompson, was writing at the time, when there was a move under way to find the Jewish people a home back in their land. Dr. Thompson was Anti-Semitic because wherever the word "Israel" appears, all 2,294 times, he changed the name by replacing it and inserting the word "Church" which only occurs 77 times, in the New Testament, [11 x 7 = 77] times beginning in Matthew 16.
While the Thompson Chain Reference Bible contains 100,000 links concerning 7,000 topics, to the man on the street it might seem to be the best Bible since sliced bread, but it is "corrupt". If you read my posts on the "Dog" of Bibles, the Geneva Bible, you will understand why it is so bad. My point here is simply to note that over the centuries of the recorded Word, it has been scrutinized by amply qualified scholars, objective enough to weigh all the evidence, to determine what and what not should be in the Canon. I know that I identified the criteria by which the early church fathers determined what is and what is not the "inspired" Word of God. Those debates, discussions, and at times, arguments, all factored into that which went into their conclusions.
Even at that, scholars over the past centuries have rehashed the writings of those that preceded them, and for the most part today, the modern-day scholars respect the earlier findings. You may not know this, but there are individuals that have devoted their lives to study particular "nitch" documents and books of and about the Bible. By that, I am saying that there are men that have written volumes on the various ancient writings, both canonical and non-canonical. I have a Rabbi friend in Rochester, NY who has spent 52 years studying just the book of Genesis. Personally, I can't conceive of spending my life on just the book of Genesis.
Every book of the Bible, Apocrypha included, has gone through hundreds of thousands of hour of scrutiny, by thousands of scholars, over the centuries. Every year sees a new group of seekers, coming along thinking that there is some sinister move afoot to hide from the rest of us the so-called "Lost Books" of the Bible. This is how the cult groups begin, believing they have discovered what the church does not want us to know. This is not to say they are worthless, because rather they may have some important historical information. But as to "Thus Saith the Lord" it fails the tests. At times one can charge that the institutional church has facilitated or precipitated that kind of thinking and belief. The problem with that today is the Internet gives everyone a platform for his two cents worth. However, the catharsis of 'truth-seeking' scholars, from many different objective schools of thought are also able to present counter-views. The ability of scholarship is to weigh the various points of view and allow the Holy Spirit to guide intelligent minds to make rational and reasonable conclusions about the evidence. Its always about the evidence!
As I stated at the beginning, I'm not sure if I can properly address a hypothetical question in a brief form that can address your question to your satisfaction. Just remember, God has revealed Truth in various ways besides the Bible, such as in science and nature, and the Bible has confirmed them to be true. I don't have all the answers for sure. There was a time in most of my ministry I doubted the six-day creation concept. I had two years of geology and two years of physics in college. I was taught that the earth was 5-1/2 billion years old. I doubted the Bible six-day creation for most of my adult life. Then came along Dr. Gerald Schroeder from the University of Israel. With two earned Ph.D. degrees he turned my apple cart upside down by revealing there is 'no conflict' whatsoever between the view of science and the 5-1/2 billion years life and the six-day creation told in the Bible. It is reconcilable; it is all in which end of the telescope we are looking into. From that day forward, my aha moment as I call it, I decided no longer to doubt portions of the Bible, but to take it all 100% on faith to be true. That is not to say we don't have objective evidence for our faith. Nor am I implying that I still don't have questions. I have lots and that is why I recommend a book by Dr. Renald Showers, entitled, 'What on Earth is God Doing?' It's a paperback, not very big, but worth millions from a pastor's understanding. In fact, to the contrary, God has provided us a wealth of objective evidence to support our faith. If you are interested, check out the author name of Ralph Muncaster at Amazon.com and the many books he has written. He is a professional engineer by training and teaches at the university level, but as a "Truth Seeker" came to share a wealth of insights about God, His Word, and our destiny.
I know that I may have not answered your question satisfactorily but just remember, we are all beggers, in one way or another, leading other beggers to the Truth. For sixty years, I have been an eternal "Truth Seeker". I have said for years that I wanted that expression on my tomb stone but I am beginning to think I may not need it. In any case, I have spent my life wrestling with all the questions you and others like us have pondered. I committed myself decades ago to give my folks, those entrusted to my spiritual care, the best and most comprehensive answers to their questions. One of my axioms is: "What makes sense in my heart has to first make sense in my head". Keep in mine God is not the author of confusion, but the author of objective truth!
God bless you this week.
Pastor Bob