2023-08-11

What is the Message of Bible Prophecy?

By Marko Kiroglu

I recently had a conversation with someone who loves the Lord and who reads the Bible on a regular basis. During our conversation, this person told me that they thought of Bible prophecy and the end times as a fearful subject. That it's difficult to deal with and that they don’t want to get involved in it or hear anything about it. That it only gives fear to people.

I thought to myself – what a great misunderstanding. This person has not been introduced to the subject of Bible prophecy and although they love the Lord and walk with the Lord, they do not really understand the big picture of Bible prophecy.

In this article I will discuss 7 amazing positive reasons why Bible prophecy is a subject that every Christian needs to study.

1. BIBLE PROPHECY SHOWS THAT GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL

In the whole of the Bible, more than any other aspect of the Bible, the subject of Bible prophecy clearly shows us that God is in control. How? Bible prophecies, prophesy how world events will evolve and what will happen. They prophesy which nation God will use and in what way. Bible prophecies show us how God will deal with different generations and different dispensations of people. All of that is prophesied in the Bible.

The Bible prophesies that God will send the Messiah at a specific time to a specific place. The Bible tells us about the entire life and ministry of the Messiah, up to His second coming.

And then, when we look at the history of humanity, we realise that everything really played out exactly as the Bible had prophesied. In light of this amazing discovery, we realise that God is indeed in full control of the entire universe, of our entire world, and even of the entire human history.

Now I want to take it one step further.

Yes, God is in control of all human politics and even diplomacy. This is not to say that corrupt politicians and wicked people are empowered by God, but rather that God knows what's going to happen and He allows it for as long as He wants to allow it. If there comes a time when God says that He will not allow this any further, then He stops it. Nations, kings, rulers, no one is outside of the total control of God. God is in full control of human history, of the world, of the nations, of everyone and everything.

This is the first conclusion we can draw from studying Bible prophecy and then also looking at human history or human interactions, even today.

2. EVERYTHING PLAYS OUT EXACTLY AS PROPHESIED IN THE BIBLE

Secondly, studying Bible prophecies clearly shows us that no matter how much people want to do what they want to do, they end up playing into the hands of God.

This is in perfect agreement with what we read in Psalm chapter 2. No matter what people want to do, no matter what people plot, and no matter what people plan, at the end of the day, God's will gets carried out. People can only do as much as God allows them to do.

Yes, people have the freedom to choose, but even their choices are subject to God's permission. This again shows that no matter what happens in this world, no matter what happens in our lives, it's all playing into the hands of God. God looks from heaven, looks at the wicked works of the rulers of the world, looks at how they are rebelling against Him, at how they are plotting against Him with each other, and God just laughs at them. Because He is in control and no matter what people do, it only plays into the hands of God, into the plans of God, and into the prophecies of the Bible.

This is the second amazing point because of which I find the subject of Bible prophecy both very encouraging as a follower of Jesus Christ, and also liberating, because I don't have to worry. It all plays into the hands of God, according to the plans of God, according to the prophecies of the Bible. God is in total control. This is an amazing concept for me, I hope it is amazing for you too.

3. GOD LOVES THIS WORLD AND THESE PEOPLE THAT HE CREATED IN HIS OWN IMAGE

Thirdly, I would like to point out that God really loves this world, and He loves these people whom He has created in His own image.

Just consider this - God, knows the future before it happens, knows the hearts of all people, and from the beginning knew how these people that He had created in his own image would rebel against Him when they got the chance. God knew about all of the wickedness and all the corruption, all the evil, all the wicked deeds every human was going to possibly execute. God knew all of that, from the very beginning, before those people were born. And yet, in light of this knowledge, God did not choose to hate them, but instead to love them no matter what. Because of this amazing love, God sent us his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross, to pay the penalty for all the sins that people had yet to commit.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins before you were even born, before you committed your sins. That should tell you volumes and volumes about God's amazing love. God foreknew all the wickedness that mankind was going to commit one day, and in spite of that, God loved them and God provided a way to wipe away their sins and forgive them and provide for them an eternal life and an eternal relationship with God himself. God provided Jesus Christ as a redeemer for the world, not just for people, but also for the world.

That's why John 3:16 says:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (KJV)

This third point, that God loves the world, makes more complete sense if you understand Bible prophecy. God prophesied the arrival of the Messiah. God sent the Messiah because He knew that humanity was going to rebel against Him in such a bad way. So God provided the solution before humanity rebelled against Him.

4. GOD HAS AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL PLANS FOR HIS PEOPLE

God has amazing plans, wonderful plans, mind-boggling plans, plans that no eye has seen, no mind has comprehended, for those who love Him, for those who walk with Him, who choose to believe in Him, and who choose to acknowledge him as their God and Saviour.

Apostle Paul wrote about this extensively in Romans chapter 8.

If you study Bible prophecy as a subject you begin to receive this revelation, you begin to comprehend that throughout the ages, throughout the generations of humanity across the whole world, through many different nations, God is constantly trying to implement His good plans for people. God's love for people is an amazing thing that I still don't comprehend myself and I don't think you do either, because it's such a huge thing that I don't think we are able to comprehend it yet.

Studying the subject of Bible prophecy reveals all of that and shows you that God is in control. Everything plays out into the hands of God and into the plans of God. God loves this world. God loves the people that He created and God wants to save them through His son Jesus Christ. God has good plans for them - for their future, for their families, for their homes, for their cities, and for their countries. That's amazing. That's mind-boggling. You begin to comprehend these things on a deeper level when you study the subject of Bible prophecy.

5. A PROPHESIED TRANSITION: DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY, RISE OF ISRAEL IN PROMINENCE.

Bible prophecies tell us that this age of grace, the church age, as we call it, will one day come to an end. But before it ends, God will gradually bring the Jewish people back to their homeland. From there God will bring them back to the global arena, to the global high position of God's representatives.

The Bible prophecies clearly show us that there is going to come a time of transition. The church will diminish and move out of the global arena and Israel will come into the picture. The Jewish people will become God's prophetic voice once again, as it was before the church age. For some Christians this doesn't sound like an exciting thing, because they don't understand the Bible prophecies. If you understand the Bible prophecies, you realise that what these developments mean, is the soon return of Jesus Christ, to fetch His bride out of this church. Apostle Paul talked about this subject as the blessed hope. For the Jewish people, it means that their centuries-long yearning to go back to their homeland and become a nation that represents God to the world will become a reality, and that desire was put in their hearts by God Himself.

Again, the subject of Bible prophecy shows that God is in control. He moves nations from one part of the world to another, just as He wishes. He takes them there and brings them back, He lets kingdoms rise and He makes kingdoms fall. God is in control of everything.

6. GOD WILL FULFIL ALL OF HIS PROMISES TO ISRAEL

God will fulfil his promises to the nation of Israel. Some Christians think that Christians are now the spiritual Israel. We don't understand the scriptures that way. Scripture is very clear - we are Gentiles and saved by grace. We don't replace Israel, Israel is still Israel. There are very specific promises that God has made unto them. Many of those promises pertaining to the last days, begin with one key promise, that one day God will bring them back and make them a mighty nation again. That promise was fulfilled, when in 1948 and 1949, Israel came back to their homeland and became an independent nation.

Since that day, until now, one after another God is fulfilling his other promises to this nation, making them a really mighty nation in a part of the world where there is no peace. God will continue to fulfil His promises unto them, including the prophecies that they will be attacked by nations of the world and they will be brought to the end of their prideful self and they will turn to God and say “baruch haba b'shem adonai” - they will call unto the Messiah and ask Him to come.

All of that is prophesied in the Bible and these prophecies will be fulfilled. That is what the Bible prophecies show. That is what the character of God reveals - God fulfils whatever He prophesies or promises. It's going to happen.

7. GOD WILL FULFIL HIS PROMISE TO THE CHURCH AND THE RAPTURE IS IMMINENT. 

This is the most important aspect of all for the believers of Christ. Apostle Paul talked about it extensively - we have a blessed hope. Bible prophecy is a subject of hope. It gives you hope for today and tomorrow.

If you look at the world today, if you turn on your TV, if you look at the newspapers - there is no good news, not anywhere. All they are telling you about is what crises are developing, what disasters are happening, what new political problems are emerging, and what wars are brewing. It's just bad news. But if you study the subject of Bible prophecy, there is one loud message - there is hope for today and tomorrow, for those who believe in Jesus.

What is our hope?

Number 1 - Although the world seems to be going crazy and everything seems to be going downwards and backwards, God is in control. Don't be afraid of anything.

Number 2 - Although the enemies of God are plotting plans against God and his people, don't worry, and don't be afraid. God is in control and those people who rebel against God cannot do anything more than what He allows them to do.

Number 3 - God loves you, because God created you in His own image. No matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like, what language you speak, or what sins you have committed - if there is breath in your lungs, that means you have the breath of God in your lungs. That means God still loves you and He is still waiting on you to respond to His love.

Number 4 - God has amazing plans for you. God has amazing good plans for you today and tomorrow. Turn to God and tap into these plans of His. Enjoy a life of blessed abundance that God will provide for you. When I talk about abundance I'm not necessarily talking about money only, I'm talking about an abundant relationship with God from whom flows every aspect of life, not just money, but every aspect of life flows from God. Without God there is no life, only in God there is life. God loves you and God is waiting on you to respond to His love, so that you can receive from Him the life He has in store for you.

Number 5 - Don't worry, even though the church age is going to come to an end. We're seeing it happen with our own eyes as it has been prophesied in the Bible. Churches are disintegrating, pastors are moving away from the biblical truth, and churches are becoming social clubs. These things are all prophesied in the Bible as signs of the last days. In light of this, rather rejoice, because everything is playing out as it has been prophesied in the Bible. God is in control, you hold on to God. 

Numbers 6&7 - The nation of Israel is going to continue walking according to the prophecies God made about them. They are going to continue to become a mighty nation, only to frustrate the anger of their enemies - enemies who are already named by God in the Bible. Eventually, those enemies of Israel will come and attack Israel. They will bring Israel to the point of total breakdown, but they will not be able to exterminate the Jews. Then the Jews will turn to Jesus and say: “Come save us, oh Messiah!” Then Jesus will come and deliver to the Jews their promised kingdom. Remember, God promised a kingdom to them.

Before we get to the kingdom, before that time, God will take his church, his believers, you and me, out of this world as God prophesied in the Bible. That, we call the Rapture, that we call the blessed hope. After that, there will be seven years of terrible wrath from God on Earth, for the Nations of this world, for their rebellion against God, and for rejecting the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. The nation of Israel will be severely persecuted, only one-third will survive. But that remaining one-third will turn to the Messiah and cry out to him. At the end of those seven years, the Messiah will come, save the nation of Israel, destroy the dominion of Satan, and finally establish the Millennial Kingdom. This kingdom was promised to the Jewish nation all the way back in the days of Abraham, in the days of King David - the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about this kingdom. For many generations, Jews have been waiting for this kingdom and they are still waiting. Finally, at the end of the seven-year tribulation, the remaining one-third of the Jews will receive this promised kingdom. And that kingdom will last for a thousand years. Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years and that will be a kingdom like no other. It will be a kingdom of true righteousness, true peace, true harmony, with true blessings of God.

My friends, God has good plans for you, God is in control. That is the most beautiful overarching message of the subject of Bible prophecy. Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ.

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