Whos Really Preoccupied With Bible Prophecy
In response to my article The Eschatological Vacuum, someone commented that I was the one preoccupied with eschatology. Yes, I write a great deal on the subject because I believe prophetic speculation is a hindrance to the proclamation of the kingdom of God that so many prophecy experts claim is future but not before the rise of the antichrist, a rebuilt temple, and the rapture of the church. Paul proclaimed the kingdom of God and not the rapture of the church .
Also because modern-day prophecy works get so much wrong about the Bible. Theres even the problem of foreign affairs since Israel is made the focus of history to almost the exclusion of any other nation. In some cases, this prophetic preoccupation can be used to justify military action in the name of God as part of some inevitable end-time scenario.
Here was my first response:
Lets see, 13+ volumes of Left Behind, Left Behind: The Kids Series, Spinoff books, films, graphic novels, video games. Lets not forget Hal Lindseys mega-bestseller , four editions of Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis.
Here was his response to my comments:
Those books were decades ago. My grandfather was reading Hal Lindsey on the trolly in Philly in the 70s.
Here was my response:
A Year In Reviewor Two
Welcome to Tomorrows World, where we give you advance news from the pages of the Bible. And along with the bad news in todays world, we look forward to the greatest good news of allthe sure hope of the return of Jesus Christ to straighten out the mess weve created.
At the beginning of last year, I reviewed the predictions and trends that Mr. Wallace Smith and I gave for 2019 and 2020 showing that every one of our predictions was right on target, including Mr. Wallace Smiths warning of disease epidemics. And, by the way, that program was recorded several months prior to COVID being on anyones radar. After reviewing the previous two years, I gave one prediction for 2021.
Today we reviewed predictions and trends proclaimed by Tomorrows World the last two years. Then I said I would give you a single trend to watch in 2021 and the immediate years following. We cannot know the exact timing, but the trend is certain: There will be disaster upon disaster for America and the British descended peoples.
Notice how the prophet Ezekiel describes what is ahead for the Anglosphere:
The prediction of disaster upon disaster was not something I dreamed up, but as shown in this clip, it comes from the biblical book of Ezekielchapter 7 and verse 26. Disasters of one sort or another happen from time to time, but this passage predicts one major disaster stacked upon another. Its predicting extraordinary times. Did we see this in 2021?
#1: The storming of U.S. Capitol Building
Prophecies Fulfilled In 2022
There are many more, such as the extreme drought over most of the western United States and Canada. The town of Lytton, British Columbia, located about 100 miles north of the U.S. border, recorded an astonishing 121.3 degrees F , and that was before it was wiped off the map by a wildfire.
So, what can we look forward to in 2022 and beyond according to Bible prophecy? None of us here at Tomorrows World are prophets. We simply read the Bible and draw your attention to what it says. The problem is that we cannot know exactly WHEN some events will take place, but we can know the big picture. So what should we expect for 2022 and the years that follow?
Jesus took His disciples out to the Mount of Olives where they asked:
Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? .
Its clear from many prophecies that a better age, a new world, is coming. That better world will be the result of the second coming of Jesus Christan event that will shock the world. That will not happen in 2022 or even for a few years later, but it will happen. In fact, you had better hope it will happen, because if it doesnt, well literally annihilate ourselvesso said Jesus. Here it is in Matthew 24:2122:
But everything is not continuing the same. Our world is becoming more dangerous with every passing year. The prophet Ezekiel also noted this same attitude among skeptics who foolishly claim prophecy has failed. Chapter 12, in verses 2728:
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The Two Advents Of Christ
All Christians who read and study the Bible believe in the coming again of Jesus Christ. I would not say that all Christians are in agreement as to the details of His coming. However, the fact of it is as unquestionable as is the historical proof of His first appearing. That the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth a second time in the full power and glory of His Deity is a major theme of scriptural revelation.
The importance that God Himself attributes to the doctrine of the return of Christ in Scripture is in itself significant. Many of the prophecies in the Old Testament, pertaining to Jesus Christ, have to do with His appearing on earth in glory and majesty to reign. Someone has counted 319 verses in the New Testament which are devoted to the return of Christ. This means that one out of every twenty-five verses in the New Testament is related to this major doctrine.
The First Prophecy
Almost all evangelical scholars are in agreement that the first overt prophecy which has to do with Christ and His redemptive work is Genesis 3:15:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel .
These passages prove that the birth of Christ is the only possible fulfillment of Isaiahs prophecy in support of Gods words to Satan in Genesis 3:15. Thus:
The Battle Of Armageddon
Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. Revelation 20:7-8
We see Gog and Magog mentioned again in Revelation 20. At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus will release Satan, and he will gather all the armies he can to attack Israel. This is the battle of Armageddon.
The Bible does not tell us much about what happens during the battle, but Revelation 20:9-10 tells us God will cause fire to rain down out of heaven and devour them. He will cast Satan into the lake of fire and brimstone with the false prophet and the beast, where they will be tormented forever.
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The False Prophet Will Seem Likable
A second beast appears in verse 11, and he represents the False Prophet. Bearing the meekness of a lamb, this beast will convince the world that he is a reasonable, humble, likable individual. But his gentle veneer will only conceal his true nature temporarilya predator with all the ferocity of a dragon. He will be the consummate fulfillment of Jesus warning in Matthew 7:15: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
Indication Of Time Remaining
Whats most intriguing about Malachys prophecy is that it is ready to complete now with the new 112th pope in his and our lifetime.
If you stop to think about it, there could have been 100, 50 or even 5 more popes left on Malachys list today. Instead, we now have only the remaining lifespan of a single elderly man to complete this prophecy. Given that the average reign of a pope is 7.5 years and the two longest reigns were only 31 years and 26 years , this means that we have at most three decades and probably more like one or two.
If accurate, it is exciting and encouraging news for those who want to see Jesus return in their lifetime, and another reason why Malachys prophecy is so popular. Its telling most believers what they want to hear.
More importantly, this may fit what Bible prophecy indicates for how much time we have left until Jesus return: only several more Sabbath years . Longtime readers know that I am not like most of my prophecy expert peers continually suggesting that the end time may start this year or even in the next few years. I cannot say that because none of the plain and unmistakable prophetic milestone markers that Jesus or Revelation describe have happened yet. Nor are they looking ready or about to pop.
That is why the arrival of the last pope of Malachys prophecy is a little exciting to me as well. It dovetails with my understanding that the prophetic end time stage will be set in our lifetime.
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Babylon Will Rule Over Judah For 70 Years
You can read the first such prophecy in Jeremiah 25:11-12. This prophecy was written sometime from 626 to about 586 BC and was not fulfilled until about 609 BC to 539 BC
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt, declares the Lord, and will make it desolate forever .
In this passage of Scripture, Jeremiah said that the Jews would suffer 70 years of Babylonian domination, and that after this was over, Babylon would be punished. Both parts of this prophecy were fulfilled! In 609 BC, Babylon captured the last Assyrian king and took over the holdings of the Assyrian empire, which included the land of Israel. Babylon then began to flex its muscles by taking many Jews as captives to Babylon and by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple. This domination of the Jews ended in 539 BC, when Cyrus, a leader of Persians and Medes, conquered Babylon, bringing an end to the empire. The prophecy also had another fulfillment: the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalems Temple in 586 BC, but the Jews rebuilt it and consecrated it 70 years later, in 516 BC. Restoring the Temple showed, in a very important way, that the effects of Babylonian domination had indeed come to an end.
As World Conditions Worsen What Will Satan Do To Deceive The Masses
He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived .
Answer: The United States will experience a counterfeit revival and will insist that religious laws be passed to force every person to participate . People will be forced to disregard Gods holy seventh-day Sabbath and worship instead on the beasts holy daySunday. Some will comply merely for social or economic reasons. World conditions will become so intolerable that a worldwide back to God movement, with all joining in worship and prayer on Sunday, will be presented as the only solution. Satan will deceive the world into believing that they must compromise Bible truth and keep Sunday holy. But in reality, obedience to and worship of the beast will indicate the refusal of most people to enter Gods kingdom. No wonder Jesus makes such an issue in Revelation over worshiping the beast and receiving his mark!
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The Consolidation Of World Power
This consolidation of world power is historic in its proportions. Since the time of the Roman Empire, there has been no world-governing nation or empire. No nation has been able to achieve or attain world dominance. Napoleon tried. Hitler tried. Stalin tried. They all failed. There will be a short period of time in the future, however, when the world will be unified under one man.
Daniels dream in chapter 7 featured a beast representing the Roman Empire with ten horns and a beast representing ten kings yet to arise on the stage. The meaning of Daniels dream was directly given to him. Here is what Daniel learned, Thus he said: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom .
The first page of this study is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel 38-39. The second page is a study of the placement the Gog and Magog War on the prophetic timetable.
Ezekiel wrote down the ancient names of the nations as he knew them. To make sense of these names, we need to do some investigative work using Scripture and history. Many prophecy teachers have done the detective work for us already. The graphic below, shows the most widely held interpretation of the nations that will come against Israel:
Ezekiel 38:1-3
1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying
Ezekiel 38:4
Ezekiel 38:10-12
With The News That Saudi Arabias King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Dies It Is A Good Time To Review Just What Saudi Arabias Future Role Will Be
Simple map of Saudi Arabiaby GNU via Wikiemedia Commons under CCA-SA
Daniel 11 notes a struggle down through the ages and into the end times between two major powers: The King of the North and the King of the South. Identifying these powers as the main actors changed down through time can seem impossible, but there are enough clues to identify enough to recognize them when they appear on the scene.
It should be noted that as countries became empires, and empires became complicated alliances, geopolitics became more complex overall. However, alliances are nothing new. Even in the Book of Genesis, we see the Battle of the Four Kings Against the Five, even though all the nations listed were actually what we would today call city-states.
Empires were created either by conquest or treaty, but it was normally the former. However, even during the Roman Empire, politics was as often about alliances as it was about territory. Egypt maintained a high level of autonomy until the put down of the conspiracy of Cleopatra and Mark Antony changed that status with the Roman Empire.
Adolf Hitlers attempt to re-establish a Holy Roman Empire also shows that alliances are a valid kingdom to rule over, for how many alliances are not dominated by one or two parties?
The final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire will in itself be ten kings who give their allegiance to one. Simply put, it will be an alliance based out of Europe.
Likewise, it never really became a part of the Roman Empire.
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Benefits Of Logos Edition
Since The Book of Revelation Made Easy is fully integrated with Logos, Scripture passages are linked to your favorite translation for quick reference and to your Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts for original-language study! You can also read this volume along with your Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the wealth of other Bible study tools in your digital library.
Messianic Prophecies In Judaism
The following are the scriptural requirements in Judaism concerning the Messiah, his actions, and his reign. Jewish sources insist that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright. Some Christians maintain that some of these prophecies are associated with a putative second coming while Jewish scholars state there is no concept of a second coming in the Hebrew Bible.
- The Sanhedrin will be re-established.
- Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him for guidance.
- The whole world will worship the One God of Israel.
- Jews will return to full Torah observance and practice it.
- He will be descended from King David. via Solomon
- The Messiah will be a man of this world, an observant Jew with “fear of God”.
- Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his leadership.
- Knowledge of God will fill the world.
- He will include and attract people from all cultures and nations.
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Does Prophecy Always Involve Foretelling The Future
No, Bible prophecy is not limited to foretelling the future. However, most messages from God relate to the future, even if only indirectly. For example, Gods prophets repeatedly warned the ancient Israelites about their evil ways. Those warnings described the future blessings if the people would heed the warning, as well as the future calamity if they refused. The actual outcome depended on the course that the Israelites chose to follow.Deuteronomy 30:19, 20.
In What Year Was The Papacy Predicted To Lose Its World Influence And Power
He was given authority to continue for forty-two months .
Answer: The Bible predicted that the papacy would lose its world influence and power at the end of the 42 months. This prophecy was fulfilled in 1798, when Napoleons General Berthier took the pope captive and the papal power received its deadly wound.
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Prophets & Prophecy In The Ancient Near East:
As the aforementioned biblical texts indicate, the phenomenon of prophecy was widespread in the ancient Near East, and many of the stories of prophets and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible share similarities with texts from the various ancient Near Eastern cultures that surrounded ancient Israel.
In order to help students see the larger cultural context of which prophets and prophecy were a part, several ANE texts are helpful to explore. These texts illustrate the prevalence of prophecy in the larger cultural context of the ancient Near Eastern world while also demonstrating the similarities between these texts and the texts of the Hebrew Bible. Instructors can have students read about the following 3 inscriptions on OBSO in addition to providing students with copies of the inscriptions and fragments.