The Beauty of Bible Prophecy
Predicting the future with accuracy
Between 27-30% of the Bible is prophecy. Think about how important it is to God that He would devote that much of the scriptures to foretelling the future for us. And most of the prophecy in the Bible is about the times we are living in. This is the most prophesied period of time in human history.
I believe one of the reasons there is so much written about our days is because they are the most evil, immoral and dangerous times in human history. Here is what Jesus said about these times in Luke 21:25:
And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” NKJV
Jesus foretold the exact conditions we are living in. And He even prophesied worldwide terrorism when He said men’s hearts would be failing them from fear. The word “fear” in the Greek is the word “phobos” where we get our word “phobia”. It also means terror. And the worst part about terrorism is the expectation of what they will do next.
But not only did Jesus describe the exact conditions that would exist on the earth at this time – He gave us hope by telling us that when the world was at its worst – we should lift up our heads because our total redemption was about to happen. The purpose of prophecy is twofold: It warns sinners and comforts saints. You can tell which you are by your response to it.
One of the things I love about teaching on the subject of prophecy is the comfort it brings to people once they understand it. End times prophecy helps us contextualize what is happening around us. Without prophecy all we see is a crazy world that is getting scarier by the day. With prophecy we see a world God foretold thousands of years ago in detail that is announcing the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ.
And prophecy is tangible and measurable. It’s not some esoteric mumbo-jumbo that could mean different things to different people. It is specific and easy to prove or disprove.
Look at this very specific prophecy from Jesus that has fully come true in our generation:
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21:23-24 NKJV
The Romans under the leadership of General Titus defeated the Jews in A.D. 70, killing many by the sword and leading those who survived away captive and scattering them to the nations. Then in 1948 Israel became a nation in one day which is a prophetic fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8. In 1967 Jesus’ prophecy in Luke 21 was completely fulfilled when Jerusalem was once again under Jewish control after the Six Day War.
If you ask me to prove to you that Heaven is real, I can’t. I have to believe in it by faith because I haven’t seen it or experienced it. But I can prove to you that prophecy is true and for that reason I believe in the rest of the Bible. Prophecy proves the rest of the Bible to be true. However, if prophecy didn’t come true – it does the opposite. For that reason, Christianity is the most prove-able faith on the earth.
No other religious book on the planet predicts the future with accuracy. NONE! The reason for this is the only one who can predict the future is the one who controls it. And since we have hundreds of fulfilled prophesies that are historically documented we can prove that our God is the one true God and that our Bible is in fact His Holy Word and it has authority and relevance in our lives.
Bible prophecy is a beautiful and precious gift from God. The more we understand it and believe in it, the more comfort it brings us and the more confidence we have in God and His Word. I’m so glad you are a part of my endtimes.com premium partnership. I will be writing articles and posting them here on a regular basis so you can be informed and inspired.