END-TIME  PROPHECY  E-NEWSLETTER

... an extension of www.prophecyfulfillment.com ...

ISSUE  NUMBER  1

Introduction to Prophecy 

THANK YOU. Thank you for subscribing to this free electronic newsletter. I will average distributing such a newsletter once weekly. I desire to disseminate useful information about God's Word. Let me know what you like and do not like in order that I may improve future issues.

 
PLAN (OR LACK THEREOF): I plan to teach background about Bible prophecy and discuss recent news events that show that Bible prophecy has been fulfilled or is now being fulfilled. God is moving at ever-increasing speed. Jesus commanded in the Parable of the Fig Tree (Matthew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-31, and Luke 21:29-31) that we should know the season in which we live. Since the final aliyah (aliyah: a Hebrew word, meaning "a rising up to go somewhere or do something") in May of 1948, when Jews returned in a single day to the Covenant Land of Israel, prophecy has been steadily fulfilled-- first as though a trickle of water in a stream, but now as a rushing torrent of water plunging over a waterfall. God's end-time plan is being completed in our lifetime! We are witnesses to a great event in eternity! Christians for many centuries have longed to live at a time in which they could witness what we are now witnessing.

When I quote from The Bible (New King James Version), I will mark the quotation in red font color.

I have no master schedule. I will write future newsletters about whatever happens to come to my mind when I sit down at my computer or what is happening that week. I apologize for an apparent lack of organization, but I always have "too many irons in the fire" and I have a classic Type A personality. If you admire organization and meticulous planning, I regret that I will disappoint you.

IMPORTANT SCRIPTURES ABOUT PROPHECY: God laid the groundwork for prophecy in Isaiah 46:9-10: [God said] "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel will stand, and I will do all at My pleasure....'" Also, see Isaiah 42:9 [The LORD said] "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."

From the creation of the Universe, God knew the end of time before time even existed. God knew you before you were conceived in your mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5, and other Scriptures).

God can travel through the spacetime continuum from the present into the past or into the future, as easily as you can walk into different rooms of your house.

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Spacetime continuum: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime , et cetera.

REASONS TO STUDY PROPHECY: A few reasons to study prophecy include:

Prophecy must be important to God: Twenty-eight (28) percent of The Bible pertains to prophecy-- much of it end-of-the age prophecy. Every book of The Bible (except the Song of Solomon) contains prophecies, and some books (the Book of Revelation, for example) are almost entirely prophetic in nature. If God has devoted this much of The Bible to prophecy, it must be important to Him.

Fulfilled prophecy authenticates The Holy Bible as the inspired word of God: There are many "holy books." Is there something that distinguishes The Holy Bible from these other books? Yes. Hundreds of prophecies pertaining to Old Testament events have been fulfilled, exactly as prophesied and without error. We can now see how hundreds more of future prophecies are being fulfilled or the mechanism is in place for their certain fulfillment. The Holy Bible must truly be the inspired Word of God.

The prophets called God's children to lives of purity and holiness: These men of God were far more than "fortune tellers." They purposed to redeem God's people. Repeatedly, John the Revelator warned that only "overcomers" [of sin in their lives] would enter New Jerusalem (Heaven). Other prophets called God's people to repentance.

End-time prophecy revolves around the imminent return of Jesus: The return of Jesus-- and the necessity of each person to face Him in judgment-- is either as near as the Rapture or as death (awaiting the Resurrection). Jesus' statement in Revelation 22:20-- "Surely I am coming quickly"-- is often mocked by unbelievers. If Jesus has been gone from ca AD 33 until the present time, they argue, He will not return "quickly." The Greek word translated as "quickly" is tachu. Tachu may be translated "quickly," or it can also be translated "suddenly." I was involved in an accident just this week in which I could have been killed, but I sustained no significant injury. In less than a second, I faced either death or no harm. You likely have had similar experiences. Life is unpredictabe. Peter anticipated unbelievers' mockery, when he wrote (2 Peter 3:3-4 || 8-10a): ...scoffers will come in the last days... saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the very beginning of creation." || But, beloved do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, ...but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.... Knowledge of prophecy should cause our conduct to be holier; we should have more godliness in our lives; we should search for opportunities to serve others in Jesus' name; and we should prepare ourselves to be a worthy bride-- free of spot, wrinkle, or stain-- for our Bridegroom, Jesus.

The message of prophecy is a powerful evangelical tool: You are called to be a worker in the harvest field of lost souls. You need to find lost persons and spread the Gospel to them. Jesus said that He was the Light of the world; but before His crucifixion, He transferred His light to us. God's prophecies can be an important tool for you to spread Jesus' Light in a dark, sin-filled world.

AS YOU STUDY PROPHECY: Remember a few things to keep from being discouraged or confused:

You will not understand everything about prophecy, as prophecies are sealed, to be opended only for certain generations: Even the prophets often did not understand the things God told them to write. For example:

Daniel asked to know the meaning of some of the prophecies he recorded (Daniel 12:8-9, 13). He was told it was not time for these prophecies to be revealed to him or anyone else. He was told his words would be sealed until the end of time; he was told to take his rest (to die), but he would be resurrected at a future date, when the meaning of the prophecies he recorded would be made known to him. We now understand most of the prophecies that were not understood by Daniel. These prophecies were simply not meant for Daniel's time.

Paul, who wrote approximately two-thirds of the New Testament, referred to "mysteries" in the Bible. He mused (1 Corinthians 13:2) that he could only glimpse God's goodness and intentions, as though looking through darkened glass. Paul's writings were often intended for future generations.

One of the greatest scientists and mathematicians of all time, Sir Isaac Newton, was convinced there were encoded messages in The Bible. He labored a lifetime to break this code, but failed. In the past few years, the code-- equidistant letter spacing of the biblical manuscript, commonly called "The Bible Codes"-- has been broken. For a hundred dollars of so, a computer software program can be purchased, and any person can find the codes that eluded Newton. These codes were not meant for Newton's time.

The Bible is written in "layers": There are multiple layers to Scripture verses-- literal, prophetic, coded, and so forth. We are blessed that many of these layers are being peeled back for our generation. God's glory is ready to be manifest to the world. Study, and show yourself an approved, unashamed workman (2 Timothy 2:15).

BE A WATCHMAN ON THE WALL: We are commanded in many Scriptures to watch for one another-- especially the lost, to whom we are required to spread the Gospel. Consider the following Scriptural examples:

** Jesus commanded us to spread the Gospel to the world (Matthew 28:19-20): "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

** Jesus lamented the scarcity of workers available to spread the Gospel (Luke 10:2): Then [Jesus] said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

** Jesus commanded us to wait expectantly for His return (Matthew 24:42 || 44): "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. || Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect Him."

**Jesus taught end-of-the-age parables in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. The first of these parables-- the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)-- illustrates the status of His church at the time of the Rapture. Jesus drew upon Jewish First Century Marriage customs for this parable. After betrothal, the groom went to his father's village to prepare a place for himself and his bride. When the home and furnishings were ready (usually in about a year), the bridegroom would return to the bride's village in the middle of the night. With loud clamor from his friends, he would call out his wife's name. (In betrothal, the maiden was considered a wife, even though the marriage ceremonies had not been completed and the marriage had not been consummated.) The bride, her family, and her virgin friends would rush out to meet him, and they would all go immediately to the bridegroom's village for the marriage. To be ready for this night-time journey, the virgins were expected to keep their lamps filled with oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit) and their lamp wicks trimmed (a symbol of casting light into a dark world from the One who said, "I am the light of the world"). Wise virgins (wise Christians) must stay ready for the return of their Bridegroom Jesus, and they will go to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Foolish. lazy virgins (foolish, lazy Christians) are not prepared for the Bridegroom's return, and they may not (do not?) go to the Marriage Supper. 

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