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Introduction Bible Prophecy is quite easily defined as follows: Bible Prophecy: God’s perfect and holy message to man, written by or spoken by the prophets as sent or chosen by God.
When one researches the subject of prophecy and prophets (both actual God sent and false prophecies) we find that historically only the One True God can predict the future with 100% accuracy, 100% of the time. As the verse from Deuteronomy 18:21-22 reminds us - All others who claim to predict the future without this accuracy are imposters.
Essentially then, the prophecies we refer to in the Bible can be summarized as 'history written in advance'. A relevant question must then be asked. How Relevant is Bible Prophecy to the Modern Christian? I have heard it said many times by many Christians, both verbally and written, that the study of prophecy is a waste of time. That it is not important in the grand scheme of Christian life. And it is not for us to be concerned about such things. This bold idea can also be found on page 285 of a very popular book that was, and remains a best seller in Christian bookstores. In view of our ministries' scope, I present the following scriptures in defense: Revelation 19:10 says: "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
2 Peter 1:19 reads: "We also have a more sure Word of prophecy, to which you do well to take heed, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Daystar arises in your hearts,"
And Revelation 1:3... "Blessed is the one who reads and hears the Words of this prophecy, and the ones keeping the things written in it, for the time is near."
Current World Events have created quite the coffee talk around the water cooler at the offices. Israel is at war with their neighbors, and everyone is upset with Israel. There are record heat waves in North America and Europe, and Christianity is being attacked at all levels of society, including an inward rot within the church that I’m sure makes Christ weep. Many of the churches in this day and age are sick. They are dissolving from within. Gone are the days where the gospel and the word of God are preached from every pulpit. And gone are the days where the people within the church want to hear it. Churches are being run like Cruise ships, when God intended them to be lifeboats. Satan is having his field day……and us…the body of Christ… are doing nothing but comfortably warming pews and tickling our ears. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; -- 2Ti 4:3
Are we aware of what is being called the Emerging Church? We should be. Can we answer the questions around the water cooler about Israel, the middle east, and the ‘Peace Plan’ for the middle east? We should be able to. Are we reaching out to those around us and teaching God’s word to our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers? We should be. Are we doing it with renewed ferver and desperation because we recognize from the signs of the times, that we are quickly running out of time? We should be. The following excerpt is a portion of a letter written to Ray Comfort of Living Water Ministries and Way of the Master ministries from an atheist. "You are really convinced that you've got all the answers. You've really got yourself tricked into believing that you're 100% right. Well, let me tell you just one thing. Do you consider yourself to be compassionate of other humans? If you're right, as you say you are, and you believe that, then how can you sleep at night? When you speak with me, you are speaking with someone who you believe is walking directly into eternal damnation, into an endless onslaught of horrendous pain which your 'loving' god created, yet you stand by and do nothing. If you believed one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unchangeable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That's equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You're just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that 'walk' signal will shine your way across the road. Think about it. Imagine the horrors Hell must have in store if the Bible is true. You're just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you're right then you're an uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as love and caring."
Need I say more? How much of the Bible is Prophecy? There are 737 separate Prophetic Topics in the Bible. There are 31,124 verses in the Bible 6,641 out of 23,210 in the Old Testament are predictive in nature. 1,711 out of 7,914 in the New Testament are predictive in nature.
When one pulls out a calculator we find that Prophecy amounts to 27% of the Bible. That’s almost 1/3rd of the Entire Bible! Please Note: This number varies from 25% to 30% dependent upon individual interpretation of certain verses, however the end result still warrants the following statement. One out of Every 4 verses is Prophetic With that much of the Bible dedicated to prophecy, it certainly seems strange that so many of today’s Christians choose not to read or study the topic. God must certainly have believed the study of prophecy was important, as he made almost 30% of his written word to man – prophetic. In response to this statistic we should therefore assume that through our year at our local church we should have had at least 30% of all sermons based on prophecy. The sad fact is, that the actual statistics of such prophetic teaching is a far cry from this number, if it was discussed at all. So how does your personal study measure up to the following? 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
Let’s take a moment to look at what is deemed the most prophetic book in the bible as it pertains to future events. The book of Revelation (or the Revelation of Jesus Christ) boasts the following Statistics: Again if we pull out our calculators we find that prophecy makes up 87% of the book of Revelation. 87% prophetic and probably one of the least studied and preached about books in the entire bible. And what is most curious is that revelation is the only book that promises a special blessing to the reader. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. -- Revelation 1:3
Another passage in Revelation that is worth noting is this: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. - Revelation 22:18-19
Did you catch that warning? With a warning like that don't you think it's important that we know the book so as to make sure we don't ever add to the prophecies, or take away from it? It would be a good thing for all of us to know, read and study the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Remember: "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy"
- Rev 19:10
Conclusion You ever wonder why God has not sent Prophets to the world now as he did in days of old? You see, there are no great prophets in the 21st century. THere are no Jeremiah's; No Isiaiahs; No Ezekiels or Daniels. Instead there is the body of Christ. Us… you and me. The wielders of the ‘Sword of the Spirit' - The Word of God. We are supposed to know the word of God, and love it more than our very breath. We are the body of Christ. We are his ambassadors. We should know the word of God and have it hidden in our hearts, but we don’t know it all. Isn’t it time that we did? Prophecy is just about 30% of the bible. That means it should be 30% of everything we know. Do we believe in the Word of God… or don’t we. If prophecy is uninteresting to you, you need to ask yourself why 30% of the bible, isn’t worth your time. You will also need to answer Christ one day when He asks you why you didn't follow his command to 'Watch'. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: -- Mark 13:34-35 -- J.R.Hall
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