Six Vital Concepts for Understanding End Time Bible Prophecies

SIX VITAL CONCEPTS FOR UNDERSTANDING END TIME PROPHECY 11-20-15

1. PROPHECIES ARE MORAL MESSAGES
The overall reason God is giving prophetic messages is to warn us and help us to grow. If people as the target of prophetic warning repent, the punishment can be avoided. The major purpose of prophesy is to help us grow spiritually and morally. If we don’t get this point, then we are missing the main point. Over twenty- five per cent of the Bible is prophetic in nature, meant to help us get the point and to prove that the calamities which befall nations and people are not accidental. Calamities are allowed by God because of sins. The book of Revelation is the major prophetic book in the Bible. It contains stern warnings of God’s plagues and punishments that fall on the people of Babylon the Great because they will not repent and also blaspheme God. See Rev 15:21. Revelation also warns the seven churches.
Prophetic warnings saved Nineveh because they did repent. Christ told the disciples in Matt 24: 46 that the prophecies given then were to warn us to stay vigilant because we do not know the exact hour of His return. Further, the entire planet could be saved because of the moral strength of true believers. See Matt 24:22. Prophecies facilitate our motivation to repent and grow. See I Thess 5:3-6. Paul explained that we believers should watch end time prophetic events. We should be alert, awake and not in spiritual darkness as most of the world. Most people give world events little notice except in a crisis. But these events should motivate us. The prophet Joel expounds to Israel that if they rend their garments and repent God will be gracious to them. See Joel 2:12-14, 18. Always keep that in mind.
2. WE CAN SEE THE END GETTING CLOSER BUT DO NOT SET DATES
Jesus warned that no one knows the date of his second coming. See Matt 24:44. Christ said he would return in an hour WE THINK NOT. If we start publishing a date that we are certain is the second coming God will eliminate that date. He will come when we think not! Some level of surprise is likely. We must stay alert. World events can slow down and then suddenly speed up. Remember the vast Soviet Empire collapsed in only seven weeks. Could the King of the North and the vast Holy Roman Empire form suddenly in just a few weeks? Could Eastern and Western Europe suddenly unite under threat of Islamic terrorism and or economic meltdown?
None of us has all the answers! Keep an open mind. We do not want to be guilty of crying ‘wolf wolf’ every time some event happens. Cultish leaders scare followers and then demand more money from their poor followers. Many historical examples of embarrassment by churches that overly fixated on a sure date of Jesus return exist in church history.
3. WATCH KEY PLAYERS AND EVENTS ANALYTICALLY

WATCH THESE KEYS
The Work of the Church as a witness to world, Matt 24:14.
The rise of the King of the North (A vast, powerful, Holy Roman Empire)
Look for intervention- a great false prophet to help unite Europe
The forming of the King of the South the Islamic Caliphate, (GTA predicted this unification)
The rise of the Beast & False prophet and the Mark of the Beast, Rev 13:11-12
The decline of Israelite national powers like America and Britain
The deception of the all world & decline in Biblical Christianity
The work of the two witnesses, Rev 11:3, 9-10
The building of the third temple on the Holy site, possibly after catastrophe
The censorship of the preaching of the Gospel

4. READ PROPHECY IN CONTEXT AND CONSIDER ALL RELEVANT PASSAGES

USE CONTEXT & HISTORY
Consider what OTHER VERSES say about the same events to get a full accurate picture. Many prophecies are dual. They apply to the current events of ancient Israel but also to end time events. Some prophecies were partially fulfilled in ancient times but a greater more robust fulfillment awaits the second coming of Christ. For example Joel’s message was partially fulfilled in Acts 2 but even greater events lie ahead of us. Predictions taken out of their setting can be dangerous! Remember Jesus said deception is the first sign of the end. The more we understand history the better we can analyze current trends. The more we understand the history books of the Bible and ancient history the more we can see prophecy in context. We can better understand what we are waiting for in the sequence of events. A lot of miss directions are coming as we get closer to the end of this age. A string of false prophets are coming and one special one soon, see Rev 13:11-18 deceiving the entire world except for us. We should know the Bible too well to be deceived but stay close to God and don’t get over confident.

5. DO NOT BE CONFUSED BY SYMBOLS, ICONS AND IMAGERY

BIBLE INTERPRETS THE BIBLE
Obviously, a seven-headed beast rising out of the sea needs some explanation. We use figures of speech in our language today also. We could say the final exam was a real ‘bear’ and no explanation is needed or we could say the Russian bear is on the prowl again. But be careful not to read in a hidden meaning, but remember that symbolism has some literal meaning. Let the Bible interpret the Bible symbols. Even so unravelling the true meaning is the difficult part. When talking about the coming beast I believe we do know some things from the past prophecies and the symbols. Daniel predicted this evil leader, Dan 7: 8, 24-35, 11:36. The word anti-Christ means he is a substitute for Christ. He will be considered the wisest and most powerful political leader in history. They will say, who is like the beast, and who can make war with the beast. See Rev 13:4. He is a cunning politician and persuasive speaker Rev 13:8. His military strength and political power will cause the whole world to stand at awe. He will recover from a deadly wound and people will worship him. Note Daniel 11:38. Yet inwardly he will have the character of a ravenous beast.
His career will have a spectacular rise. Possibly America’s retreat as world leader and the subsequent ISIS TERROR will create a vacuum of power leading to political turmoil. The fragile world economy could add to the chaos. Conditions will be ripe for the rise of a dictator. The problem will be solved in the future by a strong man from Europe. How long will it take?? Is this the time of the start of the process? We all must pray and watch. Note Rev 13:3-4.

6. REMEMBER THAT IN THE END CHRIST WINS AND THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING
If we stay with Christ by becoming and remaining humble and repentant, by watching end time events unfold, by reading, studying and obeying God’s word we will win! See Rev 18:4, 2:26-27. We win in the end and forever! See Acts 15:13-18 or Isa 11:4-9.

Comments are closed.