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Biblical Prophecy
5 Reasons to Talk about Prophecy
Stephen Nielsen
Does the study of prophecy add value to the lives of believers
they could not receive apart from it?
Is it worth the effort talk about our future hope despite the
controversy that rages over it today?
Yes, absolutely! The Lord provided us with prophecies regarding
Israel, the rapture, and Second Coming throughout Scripture; the last book
speaks almost exclusively about future things.
The volume of space given to prophecy in the Bible tells us its
study has great value for us.
Here are five key reasons for talking about the specifics of our
hope:
1. PROPHECY CONSOLES US IN THE MIDST OF LOSS AND DESPAIR
I experienced the consoling impact of biblical prophecy at the
age of ten when my dad suffered a fatal heart attack.
In the midst of my sorrow, the words of 1 Thessalonians 4:12-18
provided much comfort.
“Wouldn’t
a belief in the general resurrection of all believers have brought the same
relief?” one might ask.
Perhaps, but the imagery of the rapture touched my heart at the
time.
The Lord knew the naïve little boy of my past needed more than a
foggy notion of eternal life to console him and provided him with a picture of
meeting his dad in the air.
And, it worked! I love to talk about prophecy to this day!
Life in this fallen world provides many reasons for despair
besides the loss of a loved one.
We feel the pain of vanishing aspirations, of failing health, of
aging, of financial woes, of persecution, and of rejection by those we love.
Even when our dreams come true in this life, we know they cannot
last forever. Life goes by so quickly we scarcely have time to catch our breath
before the next decade arrives.
The Gospel comforts us in all those circumstances through its
assurance of a joyous existence after this life.
Paul wrote that Christ “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the
Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
Apart from our future bodily resurrection to immortality, the
apostle went so far as to say our faith would be worthless (read 1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
Many teachers err by divorcing prophecy from the Gospel.
The Apostle Paul did not do that; he made the specifics of our
forever hope an essential aspect of the Lord’s saving message (see Rom. 8:23-25).
2. PROPHECY REMINDS US THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN
In Isaiah 46:9-11, God tells us His purpose
for revealing events before they happen, “.
. . I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and
I will accomplish my purpose . . . I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposes, and I will do it.’”
Fulfilled prophecy demonstrates God’s sovereign control over
history.
He loves to reveal the distant future so when what He predicted
takes place, people recognize His greatness.
The Old Testament contains over 100 prophecies regarding Jesus’
first coming that happened exactly as predicted.
This is why Christ chided the Pharisees for not recognizing the
signs that He, their Messiah, was standing before them (Matthew 16:1-4).
The Bible contains many more prophecies related to Jesus’ return
to earth than of His first coming; some of which He is already fulfilling
before our eyes so we can recognize time in which we live.
We rest assured God’s promises will never fail; He remains in
control of history.
The world often seems out of control to us, but prophecy tells
us a different story: God is sovereign over all things. He is absolutely in
control!
3. PROPHECY ASSURES US THAT GOD WILL PUNISH EVIL
Numerous passages in the Old Testament speak of a future “day of the Lord.”
Scripture describes it as a time in which God pours out His
wrath on sinful humanity and reaches its climax with Jesus’ return to earth to
setup His earthly kingdom centered in Jerusalem (Isaiah 13:9-13; Joel 2:1-11, 30-32; Zephaniah 1:14-18).
Prophecy assures us of a coming time when God will punish evil.
Psalm 37 explains how this still future time of wrath enables us
to cope with the overt wickedness of our day.
Without the reassurance of God’s future judgments, we would
easily give in to anger, worry, and loud demands that justice be served.
Whenever I feel these tendencies, I read Psalm 37:1-15.
In these verses David explains that our agonizing over the
wickedness of the world only hurts us.
God sees everything we do, and much more. He will certainly
judge the evil and lawlessness that grieves our hearts; we can count on that.
We need only to wait a little while longer for Him to intervene
in our world.
His glory will one day fill the entire world “as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
The Lord’s righteousness will triumph over all the evil we see
in our world. Count on it!
4. THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY STRENGTHENS OUR FAITH
The reemergence of Israel in the past the seventy years provides
us with an example of how prophecy strengthens our faith.
The Israel we see today represents the beginnings of the
prophecy God gave to the prophet Ezekiel in chapters 36-37.
The Lord has stood up the dry bones ahead of the time He will
put His Spirit inside them.
When we examine how Jesus literally fulfilled prophecy with His
first coming, it reassures our faith.
Many have come to saving faith through seeing God’s hand at work
in that way.
When we see God starting to do the exact same thing with future
prophecy, it stirs our hearts with hope that His promises regarding our future
will soon be reality.
Watching God fulfill prophecy strengthens our faith at a time
when the news makes our future seem bleak; we read predictions of economic
collapse and great natural disasters.
Because God never fails to keep His covenants and promises, we
rest in His assurances of our future.
5. PROPHECY LEADS TO A TWO-WORLD PERSPECTIVE
The more we immerse our minds in the specifics
of eternity, the more we live in the two-world perspective of 2 Corinthians
4:17-18, “For this light momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that
are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are
unseen are eternal.”
A skeptic might ask, “Isn’t this perspective possible apart from a study of the specifics of
prophecy?”
And I agree, but it’s extremely difficult.
Apart from a focus on God’s promises regarding our future, how
does one maintain such an outlook in a world that never ceases to beg for our
attention?
I spend my work week studying and writing about our imminent
hope and other matters of prophecy. Even with all that, this perspective does
not come easily to me.
Apart from our focus on Jesus’ promise return to take us back to
His “Father’s house” in heaven (John 14:2-3), how do we maintain a proper balance between this life and
eternity?
I believe this is why Jesus commanded us to always “watch” and “be ready” for His return (Matthew 24:44; 25:13).
He knew we needed to “watch”
for His imminent return in order to remain mindful of it.
The Lord does not come to us in our despair and simply say “be comforted.”
He tells us of our future glorious existence in eternity. He
reminds us of His track record in fulfilling His promises and gives us an inner
confidence of future joy regardless of our circumstances.
Jesus assures us this world is not all we have and tells us that
He will soon appear to take us home to take us to the place His is preparing
for us.
These are my key reasons for talking about prophecy. Perhaps you
have other items you treasure in your heart for doing the same.
About
Stephen Nielsen
I'm an author, a self publisher, and a
painting contractor. I live in beautiful Minnesota, USA .
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