Bible Prophecy

Bible Prophecy

Before we venture into this exciting area of prophetic research, I feel it is of some importance to define our topic succinctly.

 

bible prophecy

What is Bible Prophecy?

Prophecy is a foretelling of events, or a prediction which is performed by the moving of the Holy Spirit over the holy men and women that God has chosen as His prophets . For the purpose of sending messages, or warnings to His people, or to the people of other nations. These prophecies tell of future events that God says will happen. The prophecies are written, and documented, and the fulfilment of the these prophecies are confirmed and corroborated.

“9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Isaiah46:9, 10″
“And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. John 14:9” From the lips of Jesus Himself

false-prophetsAre there False Prophets? bible prophecy

It is important to understand the significance of this point as there are indeed many false prophets. The devil knows how important it is for us to study prophecy and throughout the ages has worked against God’s people by the use of false prophets.

“1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  bible prophecy
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.  bible prophecy
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.  bible prophecy
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.  bible prophecy
10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?
19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.  bible prophecy
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 13:1-23″

I felt the need to apply the full chapter to emphasise the importance of this message, as you see this is where type meets anti-type, and literal Old Testament Israel meets Spiritual New Testament Israel. Spiritual Israel is the New Testament Christian Church, and this message is addressed to us in these last days, and it is a stern warning to the false prophets of today, and to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are at risk of succumbing to their lies.

Other examples of false prophets in the Old Testament, bible prophecy

“Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. 1 Kings 18:19”
“6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? 1 Kings 22: 5, 7″

Another warning from the Almighty.

1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. Deuteronomy 13: 1-5″ bible prophecy

False ProphetsHow can I identify a false prophet?

The Bible speaks very plainly regarding supernatural phenomenon, citing two sources from which they may emerge. Either they are from God, who speaks through “holy men … as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21), or they are from the devil, who comes with “all power, signs and lying wonders”
(2 Thessalonians 2:9).

Fortunately, we are not left to wonder whether a messenger is from God or the devil. The Bible gives us 10 clear guidelines to help determine the origin of a prophet’s supernatural ability. If the one claiming divine gifting fails even one of these tests, they cannot be considered a prophet of God. Indeed, the true prophet will pass all 10 with flying colours.  bible prophecy

The Bible provides 10 key indicators that determine whether a person is truly receiving visions from God.
They are …   bible prophecy

A true prophet’s predictions will “come to pass” (Jeremiah 28:9)
He will glorify God rather than himself (John 16:13)
He does not give his own private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20, 21)
He points out sin (Micah 3:5-8)
He warns of coming judgment (Isaiah 24:20, 21)
He edifies the church (1 Corinthians 14:3, 4)
His message harmonizes with the Bible (Isaiah 8:20)
He teaches that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-3)
He has a Christian character (Matthew 7:16-20).
He is obedient to the will of God (Deuteronomy 18:18).

Why should we study Bible prophecy?

You will now have a pretty good sense of some of the reasons that we must study prophecy by the above verses. Some of the others you will find below but we must let a little logic prevail when it comes to our salvation.

Many of today’s evangelist’s will say that the study of prophecy is a waste of time Jeremiah 23-1-2and that it is a fad that takes our minds off Jesus, an example of this is Rick Warren in his book “The Purpose Driven Life” where he mocks Bible Prophecy and writes “If you want Jesus to come back sooner, focus on fulfilling your mission, not figuring out prophecy.” and goes further by stating that prophecy is a distraction and that anyone that gets involved with distractions like studying prophecy is not fit for the Kingdom of God. And yet you can see from the above verses alone that this is a lie, and more importantly he shows his true colours as he is one of the shepherds that God warns us about in Jeremiah 23:1, 2

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

And a careful study of Ezekiel 34: 1-31 will show Gods wrath against the false shepherds and his plan for his flock.

What think you? If the seventy members of the Sanhedrin, and the High priest had been diligent searchers of the scriptures, and devoted enquirers of prophecy. Do you think they might have been able to recognise their Messiah at His first advent?

Again, what think you? Would it not be necessary for the Christian today to be diligent searchers of the scriptures, and devoted enquirers of prophecy? Do we not live in the Hope of seeing the second advent of our Saviour, and should we not study the prophecies so that we are not deceived as Jesus warns us about?

“Take heed that no man deceive you. Matthew 24:4b”

Matthew 24 is a chapter full of immense prophetic importance and this chapter is complete from the very lips of our Creator, and the very first thing He says in this discourse to His disciples is, Take heed that no man deceive you. Remarkably the modern day evangelists are telling the brothers and sisters of Jesus to ignore the Son of God as His words are of no import to salvation. Incredible!

Another point of significance, also from Matthew 24, and also from the lips of Jesus is Matthew 24 verse 15.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”

daniels-vision-the-ten-kingdomsNow this is not a study of prophecy itself; but a simple study to determine the need for the study of prophecy, unto salvation. Here Jesus is very clear that we are to study the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel, and adds emphasis, “whoso readeth, let him understand.”

Now this must also include the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as Daniel and the Revelation are the only two books of the Bible primarily concerned with end time prophecy; that is the Apocalypse.

These two books must be studied together as Daniel is prophesying of the last days, telling us in advance what is to transpire, with many of the prophecies now being fulfilled there remains just the small section, that small book being the closed book of Daniel 12:4,

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

This book is now open to us as we are in the last days, and the revelation of these prophecies which is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, is the culmination of these prophecies. Both of these books have an historical time line which enables us to identify where we are in the stream of time. These books go hand in hand, they are Siamese twins which cannot be separated, so clearly Jesus, when telling us to read, and study Daniel, must also be including His Revelation.

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10” Emphasis mine.

Prophecy Proves The Existence of God!

Another reason the Devil will not want you to search the prophecies is because they prove God. They not only prove that God is real, and that we weren’t brought forth from monkeys, and who knows where the monkey came from but it most certainly would have been from a rock, and the rock clearly came from the primordial soup which was the result of a big bang a mere 13.7 billion years ago. (Please forgive my sarcasm) That’s right! the Bible not only proves that God is real, but the prophecies prove that God is who He says He is, that He is true, that He can be trusted, that He is Faithful, Long suffering and He keeps His promises.

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Exodus34:6”

According to “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy” by J. Barton Payne, there are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament for a total of 1,817. These prophecies are contained in 8,352 of the Bible’s verses. Since there are 31,124 verses in the Bible, the 8,352 verses that contain prophecy constitute 26.8 percent of the Bible’s volume.

It is clear that a significant portion of scripture is centred on prophecy and yet even in these last days the prophecies in the Bible which have  yet to be fulfilled have been set aside by many as irrelevant, or simply too difficult for interpretation.

“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7”

The sure word of prophecy is absolute evidence of the existence of the One true  God. Hundreds of the prophecies in the scriptures which are classical prophecies, and secular in nature refer to cities, nation, empires and individuals are prophecies that have been fulfilled, and verified by secular sources; no other book, religious, or otherwise can make any such claim.

The fulfilment of these prophecies is empirical evidence that the Bible not only tells us in advance of Gods plans, but it affirms that we can trust in His Inspired Word.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16”

For the Word is Jesus Christ, and it is the Testimony of Jesus Christ that is the Spirit of Prophecy.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14”
“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10”

The book of Revelation is errantly called the Revelation of John the Revelator, but a careful study of Revelation 1:1 will tell you who it is that gives the revelation.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Revelation 1:1”

And who gave Jesus the Revelation? God the Father.

Lion and the lambOnce again this is the book of Revelation, the culmination of the Inspired Word of God, and it is given to us for doctrine, for reproof, and for correction; all of which is required for salvation. Given to us by Jesus Christ Himself. And the modern evangelist will have us believe that we do not need to study the prophecy. Where was it that Jesus warned us about these people.

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15”

Some might not be aware but this is a prophecy, so I guess we should just ignore it then.
404 ErrorIn the book of Revelation there are 404 verses, of which 278 contain phrases or allusion to the Old Testament, so must we study the Old Testament, including the prophecies therein? A resounding yes is in order! Here we have the Revelation of Jesus Christ, given to us by our Saviour, and we dare to presume that we are not meant to understand it, and we dare to ignore it as being difficult to interpret, and that we don’t need to study prophecy as it is unimportant. Need one repeat Revelation 19:10? For the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.

The Bible contains more than 300 prophecies and 456 Identifying marks in the Old Testament concerning the first coming of Jesus, all of which were literally fulfilled. Every aspect of the life of Jesus was prophesied – the place of His birth, the nature of His birth, the quality of His ministry, the purpose of His life, and the agony of His death. The literal fulfilment of so many prophecies in the life of one individual transcends any mere coincidence and serves to validate that Jesus was who He said He was – the Divine Son of God.

A number of years ago, Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book entitled Science Speaks. The book was based on the science of probability and vouched for by the American Scientific Affiliation. It sets out the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling just eight of the prophecies which were fulfilled by the life of Christ.

Stoner and Newman concluded that the probabilities would be as low as 1 in 10-17th power, that’s 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000. So to better explain and to understand the chances of this coming about by chance, it is better that we put it into a frame of reference that we might better comprehend. This number, if turned into silver dollar coins would be enough to cover the entire face of the state of Texas two feet deep, and the chances being equivalent that if just one of those coins were marked with a red cross, and placed anywhere within the State, and a man being blind folded were told to go anywhere within the state, and chose any coin that he wanted to, but that he must chose the one with the red cross on it.  As you can see the chances of this happening are remarkably remote, and for me this represents significant  evidence of a creator; although some might consider that I am easily satisfied so let us explore another example.

Let us consider the odds of one man achieving 48 of the total number of prophecies. In this calculation Stoner used 48 prophecies (Idem, 109)  and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. In fact, if anybody can find someone, living or dead, other than Jesus, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning the Messiah given in the book “Messiah in Both Testaments” by Fred J. Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company is ready to give a ONE thousand dollar reward! As apologist Josh McDowell says, “There are a lot of men in the universities that could use some extra cash!” (Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 175).
proton electron atomHow large is the number in 10^157? 10^157/ It contains 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small particles. They’re smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op. cit, 109), And It should be understood that comparing 2.5 TIMES 10^15 with 10^157 is similar to comparing a drop of water to all the oceans of the world, these numbers are so mind numbing that they simply cannot be reconciled by the finite mind.

With this introduction, let’s go back to our chance of one in 10^157. Let’s suppose that we’re taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume.

This is the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies. Obviously, the probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly smaller. According to Emile Borel, once one goes past one chance in 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur (Ankerberg et. al., op. cit., 21).

As Stoner concludes,

‘Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world (Stoner, op. cit., 112).’

God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ that even mathematicians and statisticians, who were without faith, had to acknowledge that it is scientifically impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ. our thanks to David Williams, a mathematician who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So; In light of the above information it seems to me that not only is it safe to use the Bible as the rule of faith, but also remarkably ignorant not to do so.

God committed the preparation of His divinely inspired Word to finite man. This Word, arranged into books, the Old and New Testaments, is the guidebook to the inhabitants of a fallen world, bequeathed to them that, by studying and obeying the directions, not one soul would lose its way to heaven. {1SM 16.3
I take the Bible just as it is, as the Inspired Word. I believe its utterances in an entire Bible. Men arise who think they find something to criticize in God’s Word. They lay it bare before others as evidence of superior wisdom. These men are, many of them, smart men, learned men, they have eloquence and talent, the whole lifework [of whom] is to unsettle minds in regard to the inspiration of the Scriptures. They influence many to see as they do. And the same work is passed on from one to another, just as Satan designed it should be, until we may see the full meaning of the words of Christ, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). {1SM 17.3}
Brethren, cling to your Bible, as it reads, and stop your criticisms in regard to its validity, and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost. The ingenuity of men has been exercised for ages to measure the Word of God by their finite minds and limited comprehension. If the Lord, the Author of the living oracles, would throw back the curtain and reveal His wisdom and His glory before them, they would shrink into nothingness and exclaim as did Isaiah, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). {1SM 18.1}
Simplicity and plain utterance are comprehended by the illiterate, by the peasant, and the child as well as by the full-grown man or the giant in intellect. If the individual is possessed of large talents of mental powers, he will find in the oracles of God treasures of truth, beautiful and valuable, which he can appropriate. He will also find difficulties, and secrets and wonders which will give him the highest satisfaction to study during a long lifetime, and yet there is an infinity beyond. {1SM 18.2}
Men of humble acquirements, possessing but limited capabilities and opportunities to become conversant in the Scriptures, find in the living oracles comfort, guidance, counsel, and the plan of salvation as clear as a sunbeam. No one need be lost for want of knowledge, unless he is willfully blind. {1SM 18.3}
We thank God that the Bible is prepared for the poor man as well as for the learned man. It is fitted for all ages and all classes.—Manuscript 16, 1888 (written at Minneapolis, Minn., in autumn of 1888). {1SM 18.4}

If I might be so bold as to conclude that we can agree in principle that the Bible is safe to use as our rule of faith, and that prophecy is given to us for salvation; it only begs the question, Should the Bible be our only measure, and rule of faith?

Please visit, and study the pages on “The Bible or Tradition”  that you will find elsewhere on this website, there you will find helpful information that will give you guidance on this matter of extreme importance, and I pray that the Holy Spirit will move your heart as it has moved mine in this quest