Prophecies
Verses
We are not merely
to fix our eyes on Jesus and pray for His return. We are to study and live in
the Word of God, this includes prophecies. God Himself put over 2,000 prophecies
about the final days in His Holy Word. The Word of God is alive, is active, it
continues to reveal new truths to us. Scriptures must be fulfilled, they were
sent for us to use, and Scripture cannot be broken. This includes the 11th
chapter of Romans and the 36th chapter of Ezekiel. The Bible covers
the will of God from the beginning of creation to the end of our earthly world.
Because of the large time frame prophesies were used to hide the meaning of the
truth until they are revealed to us. Jesus tells us we will be blessed as we
read, hear and learn the prophecies of Revelations. We will not understand
prophecies until the time is right, some our Lord will explain to us in Heaven.
But that does not mean we should not be familiar with them, not know they are
there for us when we may need them.
Prophecies:
A. give us comfort to know our God is in command, that He has a
master plan, a plan of salvation for each believer. Our Lord loves us, will
protect all believers, has prepared a home in Heaven
for us.
B. wakes us up.
There will be a last day for all, all need to be
prepared to meet their Lord. You cannot have two masters, you must make a
choice. We have only two choices on where to spend eternity, Heaven or Hell. We
must love the Lord above all things, follow His commands.
C. prepares us for
what will happen. We must be prepared for many false prophets, false teachings
in the last days. Prepared for the many trials and troubles that will come
before Christ returns. Prepared for the last antichrist who
will do miraculous signs, will fool many. Prepared to watch out so we never
come under his authority, not accept his mark.
D. makes one
responsible for their own actions, their own life, their
own soul, what is going on around them. We alone are responsible for allowing
Christ into our lives, of being ready for His return. Making sure the truths of
the Scriptures are taught, responsible to follow these truths. We will be
judged and responsible for all our actions, unless Christ intercedes for us,
forgives all of our sins. Making our greatest responsibility easy, because God
first loved us, we should love Him above all things.
E. will bless us
as we read and study them. We may not be able to understand all of them, but
Scripture helps one look at the world as our God would have us look at it.
Prophesies make a vivid picture of the truth the Lord would have us see. The
glory one will attain or the devastation one will encounter when Christ
returns.
Romans 11
There will always
be a distinction between the physical nation of Israel and the Gentiles until
Christ returns. We are all spiritually one in Christ. Spiritually we are all
heirs of Heaven. But Paul also tells that in this physical world we should keep
our own status in life, we will all be different. When Jesus was consecrated at
the temple the Spirit through Simeon told all Jesus would enlighten the
Gentiles and bring glory to His people Israel. Jesus told us salvation
would come from the Jews for He was born of that nation. Jesus also told us
that He would call His sheep from two different pens, the Jews and the
Gentiles. Then Jesus would bring them together to spiritually feed as one
flock. Paul elaborates on this telling us salvation was first for the Jew, then
for the Gentile. That wrath would be first for the Jew, then for the Gentile,
that glory was first for the Jew then for the Gentile. Jesus and Paul tell us
that because the majority of Jews rejected Jesus, God made it impossible for
them to find their Savior. Salvation was then given to the Gentiles because the
Jews would not accept Christ, to make Israel envious. Only a remnant of
Jews would be able to find Christ during this period. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God
will be taken away from Israel
and given to the Gentiles. The Gentiles would be fulfilled when the gospel had
been preached to all nations. Paul confirms this by telling us a new
revelation, a previous unknown mystery. After the full number
of Gentiles have been made children of God, then Israel will fill out the total
number that will receive salvation. All the Jewish Christians
who will accept Christ as their Savior, not all Israeli people. This is
because God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable to Israel. This will happen because
God promised to bring Israel
back as a nation in the land of their forefathers and give them the Spirit of
the New Covenant. Jesus will not return again until the Jewish nation has
accepted Him, when those who are in Jerusalem
say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Gentiles are wild
branches who receive riches from Christ through their faith in Him. The
Gentiles are grafted into Christ the root as replacements for natural branches
which produce no fruit, the Jews who reject Christ. When God gives the Spirit
to the Jews enabling them to accept Christ, the Jews as natural branches will
be re-grafted to Christ the root. The branches will always remain physically
different, natural branches are Jewish, wild branches are Gentile. Yet all
believers are spiritually one, for all connect to the Root to become holy, are
all fed the same spiritual food by Jesus Christ our Lord. The Gentiles were
blessed when the Jews rejected Christ, for His salvation was offered them. The
Gentiles will also be blessed as Israel fills out the tree of
eternal life in Jesus Christ. For the more branches, the more fruit will be produced, the riches and glory through Christ will keep
getting greater.
The
world will not end until the man of sin claiming to be God comes. This end
antichrist will be able to do miraculous works that deceive many. But the most
important thing to remember is God will make all unbelievers accept the
antichrist as their God, the wicked at this time will never again have a chance
to be saved. The time to accept the Lord is running out. Over ninety percent of
all countries have received the Gospel, taking us closer to Christ’s return.
The Spirit will be taken away well before the last day from many who have not
accepted Christ. Look at what is happening around the world. God is taking the
Spirit from the affluent, apathetic countries and is pouring it out on the
third world countries. Europe is becoming a
secular union that is turning to humanistic values as they strive for peace.
Man’s intellectual values are pushing religion, God out of their society, and
are limiting what Christians are allowed to say or do. In our country we are
following the European’s secular approach. We are about evenly split on whether
to include God in our society, or keep Him out of our lives. We are beginning
to use our God only symbolically, no longer really adhering to Christian values
or morals. Our churches are drifting towards secular liberalism, believing what
we do as a society is more important than what God’s Word would have us do. The
Spirit is being taken from the rich and given to the poor. The Spirit is active
in third world countries, especially Africa and Asia.
Christianity is flourishing, growing, despite poverty, hunger, disease,
persecutions. More Christians are being put to death for their beliefs than at
any time in history. Our time is running out to accept the Lord, to have the
Spirit flourish within our borders.
Ezekiel 36
The Promised Land
in Palestine is
a physical piece of earth given by God everlastingly to Abraham and his
descendants. A land given to Israel
when they were a great nation and followed God. A land taken from Israel when
then refused to be children of God, when they were scattered over all nations.
The Promised Land was given back to Israel once more when God brought
them back home together as a nation. God brought Israel back again to show the
holiness of His great name. There God will give them the Holy Spirit of the New
Covenant. Israel
now has five million returning Jews who as one nation are ruling the Promised
Land. This is the first time the Jews have ruled this land since before the
time of Christ, the first time as one nation since the times of Solomon. This
Israeli nation is living on the Promised Land, is growing crops upon it, as God
rebuilds what was destroyed and replants what was desolate. It is lush like the
Garden of Eden
and filled with flocks of people. We should be able to understand Ezekiel
36:22-38 for it is happening before us, but there are more prophesies about Israel
listed at the end.
The Jewish homeland
in Palestine
will be the last bastion of Christianity as the Jewish nation is given
salvation, as it fills up Heaven. God tells us we are not to have contempt for
prophesies, but test them to see if they are true or false. More truths are
continually revealed to us as events happen that help define and redefine
prophesies. Jesus fulfilled prophesies, did miraculous signs yet the leaders of
the Sanhedrin dismissed the Scriptures, the signs, the miracles. The leaders
wanted to keep peace with Rome
in order to protect their secular nation, and many would not accept Jesus as
the true Messiah. There are so many signs that Israel is filling the prophecies
as they are living on the land given their forefathers, that God has passed
down to them. Yet many in our nation are more concerned with the secular world
view of advancing peace in this region, are using human reason to interrupt
God’s Word, or are kept from seeing the truth happening right before their
eyes.
There
is a New Jerusalem that our Lord has prepared in Heaven for us at the end of
time. There is also a physical Jerusalem
on this earth which was destroyed, at its destruction the Jewish nation was
taken as prisoners, dispersed to all the nations, until the time of the
Gentiles has been fulfilled. This time came in 1967 when Israel took control of Jerusalem once more. Jerusalem will also be where the final
antichrist will make his headquarters in God’s temple. This antichrist will be
overthrown at Christ’s second coming, when Jesus will return for all believers
and be glorified in His holy people, when our Lord returns in all His glory to
take all believers home to Heaven.
Christians must
learn how to use prophecies. One must not be so impatient that they twist the
context of God’s Word to fit their times, their theories. While at the same
time we should accept prophesies that are obvious, that can be proven. We must
as Christians be willing to open our minds as prophesies are revealed to us,
even those we previously had a different opinion on. All men’s theories wither
and fall, but God’s word lasts forever.
Other prophecies:
*Five million Jews
have returned – Isa 11:11-12, Jere 30:3, Eze 37:21-22, 38:8
*Migrated from N,S,E,W- Russia,
Ethiopia, Asia, Europe, Americas
– Isa 43:5-6, Jere 31:7-10
*Nation born in
one day – Signed UN documents May 14,1948 – Isa 66:8 -
*Built over ruins
– Jer30:18
*Desolate bloom, Israel
has used drip irrigation to make land green, including vineyards, trees –
Isa 35:1-2, Jo 3:18, Amos 9:13-15, Isa
41:18-20
*Prospered
economically – Exe: 38:12-13
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