The Bible & Prophecy
Bible prophecy is greatly misunderstood.
If you want to watch the video link to this: http://youtu.be/zpAM-4qCejA
This is not the same as non-scriptural prophecies.
People are obsessed in being able to know the future.
We are not meant to know the future in exact details. If you ever read the “Dune” series start to finish you will realise that knowing the future destroys the will & faith of man to live. After all if you knew exactly what will happen then you would have no need for faith or purpose. That which makes you a man would just shrivel & die. (I don’t like the term human– I like the King James Version convention of using man to mean men & women)
We need to understand that God does not deal with us according to what he knows. God deals with us according to what he wills.
Prophecy in the bible is not given so that you can predict the future. It is given so that when the future transpires you can plainly see that God knew what it would be. You will always fail when you try to exactly predict the future from the prophecies of the bible. There are very good reasons for this.
Now it is true that some general events could be seen on the horizon but those that knew did not just sit back & let them unfold. Daniel saw that the captivity was due to end in 70 years. [KJV] Daniel 9:2. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel immediately set to prayer. And what a prayer (you should read it.) – Certainly not the prayer of a done deal.
Simeon knew something was about to happen in his life & was in the right place at the right time (led by the Holy Spirit).
Luk 2:26-35 KJV And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (27) And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, (28) Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, (29) Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: (30) For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, (31) Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; (32) A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. (33) And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. (34) And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (35) (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
This is personal not given to whole church. It was not prophecy in the true biblical sense. What was revealed to him & was for him exclusively. Anna was just there with no special revelation. The same event was prophesied in many different layers from Adam to John the Baptist. The one I like was given to the wickedest man that has been born of a woman:
[KJV] Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
How cool (or hot – depending on your decade) is this.
The case of Paul & Agabus (a prophet) tells us a lot about biblical New Testament prophecy.
[KJV] Acts 21:11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
Everyone present thought that this prophecy was to give Paul direction. Not so. We are in the New Testament & the Lord Jesus speaks directly to our hearts & may confirm that instruction but not with a direction from the mouth of another man. We may prophesy what will happen but not give instructions as “thus says the Lord God.”
The date of the return of the Lord Jesus:
Mat 24:3-14 KJV And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? (4) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. (5) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (6) And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (7) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (8) All these are the beginning of sorrows. (9) Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. (10) And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. (11) And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. (12) And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (13) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The question was “when shall the end be?” but no definite answer is given, just some of the signs that will be around at the time. These signs have been around for a long time & even the antichrist has already come: [KJV] 1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
[KJV] 1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
– This is a definite confirmation that the antichrist has come. Maybe I don’t understand English “and even now already is it in the world” – the term “is it”, without a question mark, is used for emphasis in the King James Version not as a question.
The definitive answer by Jesus as to the time of his coming:
[KJV] Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
“But my Father only.” Why can’t we just accept that. These signs are all around us telling us that the time could be right now. ~Be Ready for His Coming
[KJV] Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
It’s no rocket science. I have piles of books in my library about eschatology. They are not worth much when stacked up against the word of God. In fact my whole library (it’s got to be moving past a 1000 books) is worthless where it deviates from the word of God. This is why you should know what the bible says before you go reading books.
And again
Mat 24:15-44 KJV When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (16) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (17) Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: (18) Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. (19) And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (20) But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (21) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (23) Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. (24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (25) Behold, I have told you before. (26) Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. (27) For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (28) For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. (29) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (32) Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: (33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. (34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (35) Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (36) But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (37) But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (38) For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, (39) And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (40) Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (41) Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (42) Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. (43) But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. (44) Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Some would say that this is the “rapture” but if you notice in this case it comes after the second coming in the first part of Mat 24. Interesting!
In general prophesy in the scripture is progressive and a later prophecy will add to an earlier one. It will not change it. I mean the elements of the first will always be in the later. You can see this in the first prophecy in the bible. God tells Adam that if he eats of the tree he will die. Now it’s some 6000 years on & still we have not really experienced the full weight of this. Take the promise to Eve of the deliverer. Whatever was to come afterwards would include – born of a woman – bruised heel & heel crushing the serpent head. (Yes the serpent has his head stoved in as far as we are concerned) Later we see that, yes, it is a woman but it is also a virgin. The outline is still there but with more detail added.
You will also see that the syntax of the prophecies stay the same. Take time, of instance. What is a short time at the start will be a short time in the final prophecy. What is a long time at the start will be a long time in the last one. This leads to the question of Daniel & John in Revelations. With Daniel 400 odd years is a short time but some would have us think that over 2000 years is a short time in Revelations. Does not compute! Because bible prophecy is a constant language it cannot be of private interpretation.
Of course biblical prophecy is not all about the future. You can learn a great deal about the language and syntax of biblical prophecy by reading Geneses. This is prophecy looking backwards. Moses, who wrote the book by revelation of the Holy Spirit, lived after the times he wrote about. No, Geneses is not some oral tradition passed down by storytellers nor is it some sort of dreamtime. It is the revealed word our God written in the same way as Revelations. The same general principles are used. It is just journeying through time in a different direction. Understanding the bible’s treatment of time is essential but time, itself, has more questions than answers.
1 time with God is an ever present now.
2 the timeline in prophecy is either sequential or parallel (i.e. like a hand of bananas – events co-existing in the same time frame or a string of sausages – events occurring one after another in a sequence). How can you tell & surely it does not hop from one to the other?
3 If periods of time are specified, surely then the specifications are constant.
Daniel’s visions are clearly sequential. That being the case the last whole world domination occurred with the Roman Empire & the next one will the mountain of the Lord filling the whole earth & until then power is broken by weakness (iron & clay). Just tell me where can a world domination of man or the devil fit between the end of the Roman Empire and when the feet of the Lord Jesus land on the Mount of Olives?
Daniel, Mat 24, Paul & Peter all have to agree. In fact all the bible has to stay in sync and in tune.
Yet again, all biblical prophecy is not to do with time. Take this scripture.
[KJV] 1 Corinthians 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
Let’s good at these 3 along with “desire … that ye may prophesy.” We need people who speak anointed with the Holy Spirit so that they speak directly to the heart the truth of the word of God. This way the word is helped to be made flesh in our lives.
If you want to watch the video link to this: http://youtu.be/zpAM-4qCejA
Cheers, till next time, Danny