The Case for Prophecy
I believe that the Bible was supernaturally written by the Holy Spirit using men as scribes. I believe that this can be proven. But that’s a whole other paper. But I want you to consider the following concept. God knows every word ever spoken by every man who has ever lived. He obviously knows every word spoken by Jesus. He also knows every second of history and every event that has ever occurred regardless of how insignificant or important. John famously stated the following: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25). If that’s the case, imagine how many books it would take to write down every word spoken and event that ever took place throughout history! Now, if the Holy Spirit wanted to write a book to mankind (ie the Bible), He would have access to all of this information. From all of this information, He took what He felt was the MOST IMPORTANT for mankind to know, and created the Bible. Think about that. There is no “filler” in the Bible. Every word and number is there for a reason! Let me give you a an example.
In Genesis 8:4 we read “Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month,”. So what? Why would we care what day and month the ark came to rest on? Is this filler? If you grasp the concept I just laid out, then you have to assume that it’s there for a reason. What could it be? Well, when you study the Bible, you find out that the ENTIRE Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is about one thing. God’s redemptive plan for man through Jesus Christ. EVERYTHING points to Jesus and references Him in some way. This passage is no different. What significance is it? Well the ark coming to rest marked a new beginning for mankind. God’s judgement for the worlds sin (the flood) was over. Likewise, Jesus paid for our sin on the cross, and His resurrection on the 3rd day marked a new beginning for mankind. The price for sin had been paid. When did this occur? On the Jewish calendar, it happened on the seventeenth day of the seventh month! Coincidence? Einstein once stated “God doesn’t play dice”. IE nothing happens by chance. Jewish rabbis have a saying: “Coincidence is not a Kosher word”. Jews look at prophecy differently than we do. They see it as not only cause and effect, but patterns. You can tell what’s coming by seeing a pattern of events. There are patterns and models foretelling the life and purpose of Christ all throughout the OT. Look what God says in Hosea 12:10: “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” Most people miss it because they are ignorant about prophecy, modeling (or similitudes) and the Old Testament itself.
But let’s get back to my main point. With all of that information available to Him, the Holy Spirit distilled it all down to the most important, resulting in the Bible. It has no filler. Everything in it is of great importance. Jesus warned us not to change a jot or a tittle of it. Amazing! Now here’s something even more amazing.
I want you to grab a bible. Non study bibles work best for this demonstration. Now, using your right thumb and forefinger, grab half of the bible. Your thumb should be somewhere around the middle of the book of Isaiah. Now, I want you to divide that in half and grab that. Your thumb should be somewhere in the book of Matthew. Now look at what you are holding between your thumb and forefinger. That is 1/4 of the Bible. While you are looking at that, I want you to consider this. Approximately 1/4 of the Bible is Prophecy! Look again at how much of the Bible is prophecy. Now, I have a question for you. If the Bible is the most important information out of all the information that ever existed, and 1/4 of it is prophecy, how important do you think it is to the Holy Spirit that we know prophecy? I am about to prove that it is incredibly important.
Prophecy Validates God and His Plan for Mankind’s Redemption
Isa 46:9 I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
The Bible is the only book ever written that is self validating. Not the Koran, the Vedas, the Book of Mormon, the writings of Confucius, the satanic bible, the atheistic manifesto “God is dead”. Only the Bible. How? By utilizing a unique attribute of God. Foreknowledge. God has provided us with over 100 scientific facts in the bible that were not confirmed to be true by man for thousands of years after they were written. Since He created everything He obviously knew how things worked and why from day one. Even more important however is prophecy. The Bible has over 300 precise prophecies in the OT about Jesus first coming. These are not loosey goosy wildly vague prophecies like Nostradamus or Jean Dixons. They are detailed, precise, and 100% accurate. Where Jesus was to be born, His lineage, how He would live, die, and rise from the dead. Even His last words on the cross were foretold. In fact, the EXACT day in which He would present Himself as the Messiah publicly was given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel. Only God, who exists outside of the dimension of time could reveal this information. The odds of any one man at any one time in history fulfilling just EIGHT of the EASIEST of these prophesies (being born in Bethlehem for example) is the equivalent of filling the state of Texas TWO FEET DEEP with silver dollars, marking just ONE with a red X, then blindfolding someone and having them find that marked coin at random. But Jesus didn’t fulfill just eight of the prophesies, He fulfilled ALL 300 EXACTLY! But wait! Not only were there 300 prophesies about Jesus first coming, there are over 2,000 about His second coming and the time period just prior to it. More about this later.
God uses foreknowledge to confirm that He is the only true God. Not only that, Jesus and the disciples did too! In fact, if you study how Jesus and the disciples witnessed, they almost always used prophetic scripture to validate what they were saying regarding Jesus. It was their ultimate tool for witnessing. It was so powerful, that Paul directly linked it to the gospel itself. I am about to point out something to you that you most likely have never realized before. When you fully grasp what I’m about to show you, I think that how you view the relationship of prophecy, the gospel and witnessing will forever change. Hang on to your seatbelts!
Have you ever read the following scripture?
1Cr 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
Here Paul is declaring and defining the gospel. How does Paul define the gospel? Let’s read.
1Cr 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Did you catch it? Paul does not define the gospel as Jesus dieing on the cross, and that He was buried and rose again. Paul says that He did it ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE! Not once, but TWICE in ONE sentence, just so you wouldn’t miss it, Paul says that Jesus did these things according to scripture. Well, let’s think about this for a minute. When Paul wrote this the NT didn’t exist, right? So what is Paul referring to? The OLD TESTAMENT. Now I know what you’re saying. “Wait a minute! Where in the OT does it say that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day?” Well actually it says it all throughout the OT!! It says it via PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE! Paul is using prophecy to validate the gospel. He’s linking the two. It’s not just that Jesus died, etc., It’s that He fulfilled the prophetic word of God in doing so! God’s redemptive plan for mankind as laid out in prophecy in the OT was fulfilled by Jesus. Twice in one sentence, in defining the gospel, Paul directly links the two. So if you want to fulfill the “Great Commission” and witness by sharing the gospel, then according to Paul you need to not only share what Jesus did on the cross but the fact that it prophetically fulfilled the redemptive plan of God for mankind.
I know what you’re thinking. I’m making a big deal out of one sentence.
Let me ask you something. If I am correct in my analysis, then logically Jesus and the disciples would have used prophecy as a witnessing tool and not just sharing the gospel by itself, correct? Well let’s look at scripture and see what it says.
Using Prophecy as a Powerful Witnessing Tool
Remember the story in Luke where John the Baptist sent men to inquire of Jesus if He were the Messiah? How did Jesus respond? Did He say “Go tell John yes!” or “Watch what I do, then go tell John what you saw”? No! Let’s read how Jesus responded.
Luke 7:20 When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ Luke 7:22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
Now if you don’t know scripture, you would assume that Jesus is merely giving the men a resume of miracles that He’s performed as to impress John. But that’s not what is going on! Jesus is directly quoting prophecy from Isaiah 35:5-6 and 61:1 which foretold of the things that the coming Messiah would do! He knew that because John the Baptist knew prophecy in the OT, that he would understand exactly what Jesus was saying.
When Jesus officially declared the beginning of His ministry in the temple, He did it by reading prophetic scripture. Let’s look at that.
Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD [is] upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus is stating in no uncertain terms that prophetic OT scripture regarding the coming Messiah is being fulfilled this day by Jesus! As a side note, please note that if you go to the scripture that Jesus read from (Isaiah 61) you will note that He stopped mid sentence. Why? Because the part of the sentence He left off hadn’t come true yet! The whole sentence in Isaiah 61:2 reads “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God.” The day of vengeance will be when He comes the SECOND time!
Later, Jesus said this:
Jhn 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
Remember the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus in Luke? What did the other men say after Jesus departed?
Luk 24:32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?
I think it’s pretty clear that Jesus used prophecy in the OT when witnessing to those men. What about the apostles? Let’s look at just a few examples.
Act 17:2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
Act 18:28 for he (Paul) vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
In Acts 6 Stephen was stoned to death for delineating from prophetic scripture that Jesus was the messiah. He scolded them for NOT KNOWING prophecy and being able to connect the dots regarding Jesus.
Remember in the book of Acts where the disciples started speaking in tongues and non believers accused the disciples of being drunk? How did Peter refute them? By referring to prophecy. Look at Acts 2:15-16.
Act 2:15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
In one of the most amazing scriptures in the Bible, Peter states that Prophecy gives us a greater assurance that Jesus is the messiah than being an eyewitness to God declaring Jesus to be His Son while Moses stood on one side of Jesus and Elijiah on the other! Remember what happened at the mount of transfiguration?
Let’s look at 2Peter 1:19
2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Amazing. Think about what Peter is saying here. It’s VERY important for a couple of reasons.
When you first read this passage, you think that Peter is nuts. He was an eyewitness to Jesus standing there with Moses supernaturally on one side and Elijiah on the other. Then, the voice of God Himself speaks from above and declares that Jesus is His son! And yet, Peter says that he has a greater assurance through prophecy that what he witnessed is true. At first blush this makes no sense. What could possibly be a greater confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah than seeing that and hearing the voice of God Himself state that Jesus is His son? I pondered this for a moment when I first read it, then the Holy Spirit revealed to me what Peter was saying. Consider this. Two of the world’s largest religions (modern Islam and Mormonism) were founded because an “angel of light” appeared to Mohammed and Joseph Smith and said that they were sent from God with new revelations which contradicted the Bible. Because the men took what they were experiencing at face value and didn’t test the validity against scripture, they were led astray from the truth and perished. The point Peter is making is that we can be fooled by our senses, emotions and experiences. That unless we confirm what we are experiencing via scripture, we can’t be sure that it’s true. The bible tells us that in the last days people will rise up from WITHIN the church and lead many astray. That there will be false signs and wonders. Jesus warned us over and over again not to be deceived.
Consider this. In the book of Revelation when Satan is cast for all eternity into the pit, he is accused of only ONE thing! Of all the pain, suffering, death, destruction, sorrow, etc he could be accused of, he’s only accused of ONE thing. What is it? Let’s read:
Rev 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Deception. It’s Satan’s number one weapon. He used it in the Garden of Eden with Eve, and he’s using it today to put a chasm between the truth and man. Peter knew this. I think that that is the greater point that he’s making. He tells us that we would do well to take heed of prophecy. John MacArthur puts it this way: “The prophetic word is more complete, more permanent, and more authoritative than the experience of anyone. More specifically, the word of God is a more reliable verification of the teachings about the person, atonement, and second coming of Christ than even the genuine first hand experience of the apostles themselves.”
If what we are hearing or experiencing runs counter to the prophecy or word of God, it is false and can’t be trusted. Gal 1:8 springs to mind.
Gal 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
One night about 3 years ago, I stopped into a SuperAmerica gas station around 11pm. After paying for gas, I handed the clerk a million dollar bill gospel tract. He was a young guy. About 19 or so. He handed it back to me and stated that he already knows the real God. “Really?” I replied. Yes, he said. But if I told you about her you would laugh and think I’m nuts like everyone else. “Try me” I said. He then told me that when he was in high school he was accused by friends of raping a mutual friend. Out of despair he attempted to commit suicide. As he was slitting his wrists, a angel appeared to him and told him to stop. “You have no right to do this. You are upsetting the balance of nature!”, she said. Later she revealed to him that she was the “Earth Goddess”. He stated that he communicates with her frequently. “I know you don’t believe me, but I don’t care because it’s the truth” he said. “Oh, I believe you” I replied. “Yeah, right” he said. “You’re just yanking my chain”. “No, I believe that you had that experience” I said. “But let me ask you something. How do you know that the Earth Goddess was who she said she was, and not a demon trying to lead you astray? How do you validate that?”. The young man paused for a moment. “If it were a demon, wouldn’t he want me to kill myself? Why would Satan want to keep me from going to hell by killing myself?”. “That’s a great question!”, I said. “But let me ask you something. What did you just spend the last 5 minutes doing? You just spent the last 5 minutes witnessing to a perfect stranger about an Earth Goddess. You see, if you think about it, you are more productive to Satan alive and leading people away from the truth than you are dead”. I then asked him to please consider what I’ve told him, and that it is possible to validate the truth and who God really is. Can he validate in no uncertain terms what he believes about life after death, without relying on experiences or taking some else’s word for it? Can you?
I grew up Lutheran. I was a Lutheran up until I was reborn at age 47. I was one of the head ushers at a large church for almost 10 years. And yet, if someone asked me to prove that what I believed about Jesus was true, and all other religions were false, I would not have been able to do it. I never witnessed. I never felt the urge or desire to get out of my comfort zone. I never read the bible and did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. It was about
the religion, not the relationship. If that “Earth Goddess” had appeared to me, I hazard to guess where I would be today. Why? Because I was never taught from the pulpit or the church about Prophecy, spiritual warfare, Satan’s tactics of deception, or the prophecy coming true in our lives today and why the need to witness is greater now that it has ever been. I was attending the church of Laodecia instead of Philadelphia. What a waste.
When I became born again, I experienced two emotions. One, joy! It changed EVERYTHING about my life! I now knew the truth and was humbled by the grace of God. My eternal destiny was no longer in doubt. I was free! But then there was the second emotion. GREAT frustration and a sense of anger at Satan for having been played a fool. Why wasn’t I told before now? The more I vigorously studied the word of God, the more frustration I felt about the silence of the pulpits and the church. The modern Church has fallen asleep. Happy talk, seeker sensitive, politically correct preachers are selling us a bill of goods. It’s one thing to ignore prophecy, it’s even worse when you mock it and lie about it’s importance. After being born again and finding the truth, I felt betrayed by the Church and it’s leaders. The great “falling away” which the bible spoke about relative to the end times is truly well under way! No wonder Jesus warned so often about the importance of not being deceived. Jesus will hold us accountable.
If you read scripture, I think that it’s clear that Jesus will hold us accountable (especially the church leaders) for not knowing prophecy. Let’s look at two glaring examples. First, let’s look at His triumphant entry.
Luk 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Jews (especially the leaders) should have known who Jesus was and the significance of this day and what He was doing. How? Via prophetic scripture. Jesus whole life was laid out in great detail. Even the fact that Jesus was riding a donkey on this day and at this moment was foretold. Even more amazing, the angel Gabriel told Daniel the EXACT DAY that this event would occur! Read Daniel 9:20 - 25. Gabriel is giving Daniel the EXACT number of days after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in which the Messiah would declare Himself to be king. That decree by Artaxerxes is not in question. If you count the days between that decree and Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode in on the donkey, is matches perfectly to the number of days that Gabriel gave to Daniel. Gabriels margin of error was ZERO! For more on this amazing story, read “The Coming Prince” by Sir Robert Anderson. The point is that Jesus held them accountable for not knowing. Because they didn’t the city would be destroyed and many would die.
Mat 16:1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
Here Jesus scolds the Pharisees and Sadducees for having the intelligence to know the weather via prophetic signs, but not knowing prophetic signs of His coming.
Message for today?
If Jesus and the disciples used prophetic events happening all around them to validate Jesus and the gospel, and Jesus scolded the Jewish leadership for not recognizing the signs, why then do so many Christian leaders of today mock and ignor prophetic signs coming true all around us? Aren’t they doing the same thing that Jesus scolded the leadership back then for doing? Now, I know what most of you are saying. I’ve heard it a million times. “People going back to Nero’s time thought that the AntiChrist was here and that these are the last days. People thought Hitler was the AntiChrist. Besides, the bible says that no one knows the hour or the day. And in fact you can’t know because of the doctrine of imminence.”
Satan’s End times Deception
I believe that people who say these things are buying into satanic deception. Hold your horses... I’m NOT a date setter! Take a breath and consider what I’m about to say. Let me take those three main objections one at a time.
1. People going back to Nero’s time thought that the AntiChrist was here and that these are the last days. People thought Hitler was the AntiChrist.
This is a no brainer. My response is “So some biblically ignorant people who didn’t know or understand prophesy falsely misunderstood the time in which they lived.... So what?” Anyone who said prior to 1948 that the Antichrist is here or that we are in the tribulation should read scripture instead of leading people astray with ignorant statements. Israel is God’s timepeace. You want to know what time it is prophetically, look to Israel. MANY things must take place BEFORE the tribulation period and the appearance of the Antichrist. Psalm 83, Isaiah
17:1, Ezek 38-39, the rapture, and most important of all, Israel must miraculously become a nation again. That did not happen until 1948. It happened in one day and with the Jewish people coming back in disbelief, exactly as biblical prophecy foretold. Anyone prior to 1948 (which obviously includes Nero’s time and WWII) who made the previous objection can easily be shown to be incorrect. That cannot be said of prophecy coming true today. More on that shortly.
2. Besides, the bible says that no one knows the hour or the day. Well, actually, that’s not true (in the way that it is implied). Let’s look at what the bible says. 1Th 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
A couple of observations. First, this is saying the OPPOSITE of what the objection in question implies. We WON”T be caught like a thief if we know Christ, and we stay sober and watch. Second, you have to ask yourself, “Watch for WHAT?”. The prophetic signs! But how can we do that if we don’t know them? The scripture above is NOT talking about the rapture, but about end times events. People tend to make the classic mistake of confusing the two. Which leads me to the third objection.
3. “And in fact you can’t know because of the doctrine of imminence.”
For those of you who don’t know, the doctrine of imminence simply states that the rapture could happen at any time. There are NO precedent signs. That’s true! Therefore, if anyone says that something is a sign that the rapture is about to occur, it would contradict the doctrine of imminence. The statement “No one knows the hour or the day” is absolutely true when it comes to the rapture. However, since prophetic signs coming true doesn’t apply to
the rapture, but rather the end time period and Jesus’ second coming, the third objection is null and void. It’s amazing how even learned pastors have used that objection with me because they have wrongly applied the doctrine of imminence with the last days / tribulation period.
Now, am I saying that we can know the hour and the day of the end time events like the Antichrist’s arrival, etc? Well, before the sequence of end time events laid out in great detail in the bible starts, no. But that DOESN’T mean we can’t know the SEASON! Why else would we be given over 2,000 prophesies regarding this period? Remember after the Olivet Discourse when the disciples asked Jesus “tell us, what are the signs”? How did Jesus respond? Did He tell them (as Rick Warrens states) never mind. I don’t want you to know. Just go about your business feeding the hungry and spreading the gospel.” No! Jesus gave them signs to look for! The very first of which was “Do not be deceived”, by the way. God never blind sides us. He always warns us before taking action. He did so with the flood. Noah witnessed and warned about God’s coming judgement for 100 years prior to the flood taking place. Jesus said that the last days would be like the time of the flood. People drank, married, went about their life, totally ignoring the warnings of Noah and the signs. That is happening today. Just as the Jewish people should have recognized Jesus first coming because of the 300 prophetic signs, we should recognize that His second coming is quickly approaching because of the 2000 prophetic signs about that period of time.
Birthing Pangs
The bible constantly refers to the end time period signs as increasing exponentially in intensity and frequency the closer we get to the final event. Just like the birthing pangs of a woman. When we look around at the signs, we see this is happening. Things are happening now at a breathtaking pace. Let’s briefly look at some main prophetic categories. These are provided by David Reagan of LambLion Ministries. I’ve added a few things after some categories.
Before I do, let me make an important point. Many naysayers isolate one or two signs and say “there’s always been wacky weather”. Or “we’ve always had incidents like that”. While SOME of the signs might have been in play prior to now, at no time in history have ALL of the major signs which follows been in play AT THE SAME TIME! NEVER!
I. Signs of Nature (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13: 8; and Luke 21:11)
Major Prophetic Categories of Signs
Famine Earthquakes Plagues Signs in the Heavens (Unusual weather, new discoveries in space, UFO’s, etc.)
II. Signs of Society (Matthew 24:12,37-39 & 2 Timothy 3:1-4)
Lawlessness Violence Immorality Greed Selfishness Hedonism Rebellion Despair
III. Spiritual Signs
Negative:
Persecution of true believers (Matthew 24:9-10; Mark 13:9,11-13; and Luke 21:12-19) Outbreak of demonic and occultic activity (1 Timothy 4:1)
Positive:
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29) Revival of Davidic worship (1 Chronicles 16:1-39; Psalm 150; and Amos 9:11) Worldwide evangelism (Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10) Understanding of Bible prophecy (Daniel 12:4,8-9)
Note: If you look at what’s popular in the media, it’s truely shocking. Harry Potter, New Moon, etc are embraced by Christians. They have no problem with their children viewing the movies or reading the books. Books and movies like The DaVinci Code, The Moses Code, The Secret, The Shack, etc. are embraced. There are many Pastors and Christians that hand out books like The Shack to non believers in an attempt to witness to them. The god character in The Shack states that there is no need to punish people for sin. Talk about a lack of discernment.
IV. World Political Signs
False Christs & Prophets and their cultic groups (Matthew 24:5,11,2-4; Mark 13:6,21-22; and Luke 21:8) Apostasy in the professing church (2 Thessalonians 2:3; and 2 Timothy 3:5, 4:3-4) Widespread heresy in the church (2 Timothy 4:1-4) Movement toward a one world religion (Revelation 17)
Re-establishment of Israel. (Ezekiel 36:22-37:1-2; Zechariah 12:1-6; Matthew 24:32-34; Mark 13:28- 30; and Luke 21:29-31) Arab hostility toward Israel (Ezekiel 35:1-36:7) Russia as a menacing power to Israel (Ezekiel 38:1-39:16)
Asian nations capable of fielding an army of 200 million (Revelation 9:15-16 and 16:12) Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6-7; Mark 13:7-8; and Luke 21:10) Kingdom against kingdom — that is, civil wars and ethnic wars (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; and Luke 21:10) Reunification of Europe (Daniel 2:41-44, 7:8, 24-25, and 9:26) Movement toward a one world economy (Revelation 18)
V. Technological Signs
Nuclear weapons. (Matthew 24:22; Luke 21: 25-26; and Revelation 6:8, 8:7 and 16:2) Television and satellite transmission (Revelation 11:3-12) Robotics (Revelation 13:14-15) Computer and laser technology (Revelation 13:16-18)
Note: RFID chips and supercomputers are now being integrated into the world’s economic system. Governments are using them to track people. World banks and the UN are seeking a cashless society as a result of the current world economic crisis. All of this is setting the stage for the AntiChrist to rule the world.
High speed transportation (Daniel 12:4)
Population explosion (Revelation 9: 15-16 and 16:12) Increase in knowledge (Dan-iel 12:4) Increase in violence (Matthew 24:12) Increase in transportation (Daniel 12:4)
VI. The Accelerator Sign
Rapid disintegration of society (1 Timothy 3:1-4) Signs in general to be like birth pangs, that is, increasing in frequency and intensity (Matthew 24:8)
VII. Signs of Israel
Regathering of the people (Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 37:1-12) Re-establishment of the state (Isaiah 66:7-8; Zechariah 12:1-6; and Matthew 24:32-35) Reclamation of the land (Isaiah 35:1-2,7 and Ezekiel 36:34-35) Revival of the language (Zephaniah 3:9) Resurgence of the military (Zechariah 12:6) Refocusing of world politics (Zechariah 12:2-3) Reoccupation of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-6)
Note: The Sanhedrin reformed recently after being dormant for almost 1600 years! They are now pushing for the rebuilding of the temple. In fact, the alter has already been built. Jews are being trained to conduct sacrificial rituals in the temple. The pure Red Heifer has been born. This is amazing because the bible clearly indicates that the temple will exist again in the tribulation. It has not existed in almost 2000 years!
The whole study of what is going on in Israel is a paper in itself. It is truly mind boggling what has gone on there since 1948!
Final Words
So what are we to make of this information? What are we to do?
Two things. First, study what the word of God says regarding these issues. Be like the Bereans and test this information against scripture to see if it’s true. Prove to yourself that it’s valid.
Second, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. We each have our own ministry. Find out what yours is and embrace it. Don’t let the church tell you, let God tell you.
I believe that if you truly study scripture and current world events, you will come to the inescapable conclusion that we are on the precipice of the last days. The Psalm 83 / Isaiah 17:1 / Ezek 38-39 sequence is about to take place. That sequence will forever change the world and most likely will directly lead to the tribulation period. I would like to note that the rapture occurs BEFORE the tribulation period. Think about it. Time is short. As Mark Cahill says, “The one thing you can’t do in Heaven is witness to the lost”. What we need to do is understand the times in which we live and seek to save the lost. Get our spiritual ducks in a row. Make sure that your relationship with Jesus is strong. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and discernment DAILY. Get out of your comfort zone. No one is guaranteed another breath, let alone another day. The ultimate statistic is that 10 out of 10 of us will die (barring the rapture of course). You don’t have to travel to a jungle somewhere to find the lost. Just step out of your front door. Put on the FULL armor of God and engage in the fight. This is no time for neutrality! The time is short. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Let me finish with scripture.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Rev 22:10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.”
Isa 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?