Christ First Forum

by **Jeani** » 10 May 2010, 22:13

Seven Things You Have To Know To Understand End Times Prophecy

With all the killer storms, earthquakes, wars and disease dominating our news, it’s not surprising that recent studies indicate a ballooning interest in End Times Prophecy. Even non-believers are wondering if the end is near. What is surprising is how little most Christians actually know about prophecy, especially since it comprises about 40% of the Bible’s content, more than any other topic.

With few exceptions seminaries don’t teach it, so preachers don’t preach it. And therefore Christians don’t learn it. In all my years as a denominational Christian, I never once heard a message explaining the importance of prophecy to a believer’s walk with the Lord. And yet the Bible devotes more space to End Times Prophecy than it does to all the teachings of Jesus.

When Christians are asked why they don’t study prophecy more seriously the most common reasons given are 1) because it scares them, and 2) because it confuses them. Both responses are borne out of a lack of understanding. For the believer, prophecy is neither scary nor confusing but the key to understanding God’s plan for man.

The purpose of this book is to provide a solid foundation for further study. When the foundation of a building is stable and solid, the entire building is stronger, able to withstand powerful forces that would otherwise weaken or even topple it. So it is when the foundation of our study is solid. Powerful arguments from scoffers and unbelievers cannot shake us or weaken our faith. Let’s get started.

Seven Things You Have To Know
There are seven pieces of information that are essential to understanding End Times Prophecy. They’re the building blocks for the strong foundation we want. Once you’ve learned them, these seven things will help you avoid the mistakes that have thrown others off the track. Call it perspective or overview or whatever you want, this combination of facts will give you the ability to put all the prophetic verses in the Bible into their proper context.

1) The Sequence Of Major Events
First is knowing what happens and when. It gets really confusing if you don’t know the sequence in which major End Times events will occur. Actually their order is very logical, and once you learn it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t see it before. The best way to figure it out is to perform what the business world sometimes calls a back scheduling exercise. It involves going to the very end of a process and identifying the final outcome. Then you list in reverse order all the things that have to happen to produce that outcome, backing into the present. It’s simpler than it sounds, and much simpler in prophecy than in business because there are many fewer events to organize. Let’s do it.

What Are We Waiting For?
We all think of Eternity as the final outcome, and so starting at the end and working backwards means we begin there. But the last major event described in any detail in the Bible is the Kingdom Age or Millennium, the Lord’s 1000 year reign on Earth, which is distinguished from and precedes Eternity. The very last chapter of Revelation describes trees on either side of the River of Life bearing a different fruit every month. That means time still exists, and Eternity by definition is the absence of time. We’ll talk more about that later. For now let’s just say that Eternity can’t happen till the Millennium is over.

The Millennium obviously can’t happen till the Second Coming, because that’s when the Lord returns to establish it. And the Second Coming can’t happen till the end of the Great Tribulation. And that can’t happen till the anti-Christ stands in the Temple in Israel declaring himself to be God. (2 Thes. 2:4) That’s the event Jesus warned Israel to look for as the Great Tribulation’s opening salvo. He called it “The Abomination of Desolation” in Matt. 24:15-21.

But that can’t happen till there’s a Temple. There hasn’t been a Temple in Israel since 70AD and there won’t be one until the Jews officially decide they need one. They won’t need one until God reinstates their Old Covenant relationship, signaling the start of Daniel’s 70th week. And that can’t happen till the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 is won. And that can’t happen till the Church is gone. And that brings us to the present, because there is no preceding event for the Rapture of the Church. It could happen at any time.
http://gracethrufaith.com/ikvot-hamashi ... cy-part-1/

by **Remnant** » 11 May 2010, 06:03

Jeani, I believe the first thing anyone needs to know in order to understand prophecy is One must know Jesus!

You must be born again! Prophecy can only be understand after that individual is born again of the Spirit of the Living God!

Sure some of these things are good to know, but this is the beginning!

I personally feel that some of these bible prophecy teachers of today leave out the most important and simplest of all understanding of truth. JMHO

by **open door** » 11 May 2010, 09:29

Remnant wrote:Jeani, I believe the first thing anyone needs to know in order to understand prophecy is One must know Jesus!

You must be born again! Prophecy can only be understand after that individual is born again of the Spirit of the Living God!

Sure some of these things are good to know, but this is the beginning!

I personally feel that some of these bible prophecy teachers of today leave out the most important and simplest of all understanding of truth. JMHO

You're right, Frank, salvation comes before anything and everything else. However, the prophecy preachers that I listen to, (David Reagan, David Jeremiah, Hal Lindsey, Grant Jeffrey and Mark Hitchcock, all deliver their prophecy message, and then give an invitation to anyone who doesn't know the Lord. There may be some others that I don't listen to who don't stress salvation, I don't know, but these men that I listed are called of God to preach the prophetic Word and they most assuredly stress salvation.

Some out there want to oppose these men as being "high profile", "fear mongers", and are doing it just to sell books/DVD's, etc. That just is NOT so! Has anyone stopped to think how much it costs them to air a national/international TV program? It costs them millions a year. So, yes, they have to write books, make the DVD's, etc., to sell, to support their own media ministries.

As with everything, I'm sure there are some "false" ones out there. However, such is true with the "leave 25% of the Bible (prophecy)" out preachers, as well. Thus, the apostate "church" of the Laodicea, which we are witnessing.

As members of the "true Church", we are able to discern what is false out there, and what is not. We need to support those who are preaching the true Word, and oppose those who are not.

by **Remnant** » 11 May 2010, 13:10

We need to support those who are preaching the true Word, and oppose those who are not.open door

Absolutely! But be sure and discern who is preaching the true word before one supports them!

The best way to do that is concider the whole council of God and what they teach, not in just bible prophecy!

One can't just preach and teach prophecy and leave all the rest out. I am afraid this happens a lot with some of these clebrity Peophecy teachers and preachers. Not all!

I find discrepancies in Grant Jeffery's teachings as well as Jack Kelly and Hal Lindsey, David Reagan is right on, as far as I know and can tell. There is none who is perfect, but there is more there then meets the eye

by **open door** » 11 May 2010, 13:35

Remnant wrote:
We need to support those who are preaching the true Word, and oppose those who are not.open door

Absolutely! But be sure and discern who is preaching the true word before one supports them!

The best way to do that is concider the whole council of God and what they teach, not in just bible prophecy!

One can't just preach and teach prophecy and leave all the rest out. I am afraid this happens a lot with some of these clebrity Peophecy teachers and preachers. Not all!

I find discrepancies in Grant Jeffery's teachings as well as Jack Kelly and Hal Lindsey, David Reagan is right on, as far as I know and can tell. There is none who is perfect, but there is more there then meets the eye

I agree with your overall assessment, Frank. "One can't just preach prophecy and leave all the rest out". That's true. Nor can people preach 75% of the Bible and leave the 25% prophetic out. I think the reason they key in on it is because until l970 or so, prophecy was ignored. It is no longer taught in most seminaries, and the allegorical approach has taken hold, and the church is now in a huge mess because of it. Why wouldn't we want it to be taught IF we truly believe we are at the end of the Church Age? It reveals God's plan for the future, and makes the entire Word come together more than anything else - many have said that, and I totally agree with it. Until one studies Israel, and one studies the Church, and sees the distinction and agrees with dispensationalism, they won't see or understand God's overall plan for the ages. There are many reasons set forth in scripture for studying prophecy - I will do a separate post on that, later.

I agree also about discrepancies. In fact, it's true that no 2 human beings on the face of this earth will agree on everything, and that includes scripture. I know of one preacher who, with the Holy Spirit's help, has led thousands upon thousands to Christ. Yet, he has taught a couple of wrong things, and the whole world bashes him. People, even born again believers, see a discrepancy, either real or perceived, and they tend to jump on it with both feet. I don't think scripture teaches that. If a preacher, high profile (media) or little known, starts to stray, then it shold be incumbent upon a local fellow pastor to approach them, take them aside, and confront them with the error of their ways. Everybody wants to beat up on everybody, and satan is having his field day, for now, that is.

by **Carmela** » 11 May 2010, 18:32

In fact, it's true that no 2 human beings on the face of this earth will agree on everything, and that includes scripture.

That's the truth! Within the born-again realm, the Holy Spirit deals with each person individually and we are all different. One is not wrong and one right, necessarily, but just different.

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