ABOUT END TIMES PROPHECY

BIBLICAL FACTS AND INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT PROPHECY

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LIVING IN THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY

There are three (3) types of prophecy in the Bible as far as I can see, each with different implications on how we can or should respond.

  1. PROPHECIES THAT ARE DETERMINED, SCHEDULED AND ESTABLISHED BY GOD, AND THAT CANNOT BE ALTERED. Prophecies for which one can only prepare. A perfect biblical example of this has to do with the famine that came upon the Middle East during the time of Jacob and Joseph, as recorded in the book of Genesis. Joseph said in Genesis 41:32 that the two dreams that Pharaoh had (of the fat vs gaunt cows, and of the healthy vs scorched grain) were of such a category: “The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.” All Pharaoh and Egypt could do at that point was to prepare for it. Fasting and praying, repenting of sins, or whatever, was not going to change the mind or determination of God on this subject. And of course, God through Joseph gave the Pharaoh and Egypt the answer of peace they needed to survive the severe famine. End-time prophecies documented in Daniel, the Gospels, 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation (among other passages) would have to be seen as falling into this category. But Jesus Christ made clear that no one but God the Father – that is, not even Jesus Christ Himself – knew when the end would be. Lucifer and his Antichrist will have authority over the earth prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ, but this does not mean Christians should fold their hands and allow the enemy to have his way with our communities and nations – thinking they will escape “tribulation” because of the rapture of the saints. On the contrary, the Christian is mandated to (metaphorically speaking) take territory and occupy until the King’s return. So while these globalist elite families (said to be mainly 13 bloodline families) have made a concerted push for world government in the past 200+ years, we can push back like Joseph with answers of peace. There is nothing to say that their New Word Order (“NWO”), which is the Antichrist one-world government depicted in the book of Revelation in the Bible, has to manifest now and in our time and generation.

  2. PROPHECIES THAT CAN BE AVERTED OR ALTERED, depending on the response of the people to the promises or judgments from God. Jeremiah spells out clearly this kind of prophecy in Jeremiah 18:7-10 (NIV): “7) If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8) and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9) And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10) and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” We kind of see this happen in Jonah. After finally delivering the message he was to deliver to Nineveh, Jonah balanced well on a mountain top across from Nineveh, got out his popcorn, fanta, and 3D glasses (okay, okay, so maybe I’m adding those cinema-istic bits =p) expecting to watch Nineveh BURN. But the people had repented, and God decided to suspend the intended judgment. But we know from extra-biblical history (perhaps even from the Bible itself), that Ninevah was destroyed 40 years later, after the people went back to their old sinful ways.

  3. PROPHECIES THAT CANNOT BE ALTERED, BUT WHOSE TIMING CAN BE ALTERED OR DEFERRED. 2 Kings 21:29: (NIV): ‘“Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.“‘ God had determined judgment against the household of Ahab, for all the evil that he and Jezebel had done. But that momentary repentance or sorrow on Ahab’s part actually provoked God to suspend the judgment for a generation. And so likewise, when we push back against evil and wickedness via prayers, righteous living, and seeking justice as per Isaiah 1:16-17, in some cases, God can delay or suspend the judgment (as per prophecy type #3), or even overturn it altogether (as per prophecy type #2).

IT AINT OVER UNTIL ITS OVER. Like a game of soccer (football), one should not stop playing until the referee blows the final whistle. Or in the case of life, people should not surrender or defer to evil until God’s archangel blows the final trumpet. As in the Parable of the Talents, we are to take territory and occupy (i.e be about the Father’s business) until the Master returns to reward us. And part of the Holy Spirit’s work since the day of Pentecost occurred 2,000 years ago is to restrain the manifestation of the Antichrist (as per 2 Thessalonians 2:7). While some Christians seem to have their suitcases packed, waiting for heaven to beam them up (the so-called “rapture”), I think we still have more time to go, and that heaven still has great plans for us and this planet. Like the wise virgins in the Parable of the Virgins, we should get some extra oil and be prepared to engage our assignments for the long haul. It is only when the rapture occurs that the Antichrist is given free reign – for the appointed season – to do as he will with humanity. (But even still, some individuals and nations will oppose him and refuse to surrender to him, even unto death.) 

THE CHOICE FACTOR. One thing with prophecy is that people always have a choice. God will not be unrighteous in this. Let’s take Pontius Pilate for example. He was destined as a matter of prophecy to authorize or consent to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But the prophecies given were based on God’s foreknowledge of Pilate and not as a matter of fatal determinism. In other words, it is not necessarily that God “wired” Pilate to crucify Jesus; God simply knew what choice Pilate would make in the end. But God did give him a choice. In fact, God through at least two means tried to help Pilate to make the right decision. One channel was Pilate’s wife, as per Matthew 27:19 (NIV): ‘While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”‘ And the other channel was what some call “inner witness”. After having interviewed Jesus for himself, Pilate could see for himself and knew within his heart – and even said severally – that this man is innocent. He even washed his hands in a bowl of water, attempting to absolve himself of the blood of Jesus. So Pilate cannot accuse God of wrongdoing on the day of judgment – saying that he (Pilate) did what he did because God had already determined it so, and that he (Pilate) did not have a choice in the matter. 

CHECK OUT THESE END TIMES PROPHECIES