Revelation
1:1 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:
1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
1:3 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.
2Peter
1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The student of Bible prophecy must build line upon line, precept upon precept .... here a little, there a little .... in the process of rendering the correct meaning of the Lord’s prophetic scriptures .... at the same time one must seek the Lord’s guidance along the way with prayer and dedication to the task.
Proper motive is paramount as well .... those who abuse the prophetic scriptures by using them to promote personal gain of any kind .... drawing attention to themselves, seeking power and influence, attaching prophecy to support false doctrines, and any form of material gain .... all of this will be detected by the Lord and He will spoil the game for those who do it, and for those follow.
He has said that many would come in His name and would deceive many .... most who do this very thing today are using Bible prophecy in their false teaching designed to mislead others .... the serious student of the Bible must avoid being tempted to create pseudo-christian follies for the purpose of deceiving others. [
Matthew 24:4-5]
Here is the setting that I recommend for the trained and gifted interpreter of the Lord’s prophetic word .... Jesus Christ is the Spirit of all prophecy:
1.Always seek the Lord’s guidance through prayer and meditation.
2.Do so with no other motive than to understand and to convey your discoveries.
3.Know that He will lead you into much knowledge and discernment upon the asking.
4.Realize that it will take the time of His choosing .... there are no short cuts.
5.Do not be overly influenced by any others, but strive to test all teaching against the backdrop of the prophetic scriptures.
6.Read the book of Revelation first and become very familiar with the content even though you will not understand everything at first .... then add the details of the other prophetic scriptures each in turn.
7.Learn that Revelation is the direct word of the Lord Himself and that the literary structure is one of repetition as the narrative moves forward. [
Revelation 1:1-3]
8.Discover the building blocks of prophecy realizing that there is no other reliable source apart from the scriptures of the Bible prophets and the Lord's direct inspiration.
9.Be willing to adjust your view as you learn and if you discover contradiction or incongruency in your view you must return to the drawing board knowing that the visions are without error and totally compatible with each other.
Here are a few of some very significant precepts well worth discovering:
1.Understand that there is a breach in the time line of the visions between the Lord’s first and second advents. [
Daniel 9]
2.Know that national Israel is a theme that runs throughout the scriptures from the nation’s beginning and its future .... seek to understand His continued purposes for Israel apart from all other nations.
3.Do not mix Israel and the church .... replacement theologies are flawed and can be very deceptive.
4.An overview of all of the visions of the Bible prophets taken together will reveal that there is an unrecorded period of human history .... and there are no prophetic events of the period included within the scope of the visions.
This truth must be understood first and foremost if one is to grasp the correct rendering of the prophetic scriptures and to avoid much confusion that has been caused by those who have attempted to interpret them in the past and at present.
If this precept is not recognized and applied it will result in a number of off coarse views that have notable flaws .... and this is one of the significant reasons why there are so many divergent presentations .... which have led to the fabrication of dogmas used by false prophets and false teachers for the purpose of deceiving and misleading the followers of their associated movements.
The extended problem is one of causing division, argumentation, and even the loss of one’s salvation in the process .... misconstrued interpretation of scriptural truth on a number of critical issues is the game of the devil’s meddling.
This time lapse breach in the visions can be found and identified in all of the prophetic visions related to projections of the future .... between those fulfilled, and those still pending.
The time frame of this blind spot lies between the end of the last century B.C. concerning human rule on the earth and the Lord’s coming intervention which is still on hold at this time.
It also can be discovered between the end of the Lord’s first advent at the beginning of the first century AD [about 33 A.D.] and His coming wrath and judgment upon an unbelieving world which is still pending .... the beginning of the day of the Lord.
This same breach lies between the end of the 69th week decreed for national Israel and the beginning of the 70th .... the time of Jacob’s [Israel's] trouble.
None of the unfulfilled portion of the projections of the Bible prophets has begun, yet there have been numerous attempts to fill the gap of the last 2000 years with recorded biblical events scheduled for the end of this present age.
Many movements of various christian persuasions have built faulty doctrines upon the methodology of inserting various historical events of the past 2000 years into the breach.
The practice of doing this has opened up prophetic interpretation to many extra-biblical ideas and speculations that have strayed far from the actual context of the visions.
I would suggest to all serious students of the prophetic word to re-visit all of the visions with this in mind and without pre-conceptions.
5.Know that the Lord intends to immortalize today’s church of both those asleep [the dead in Christ] and those living at the time just before He brings His coming judgment against an unbelieving and intransigent world .... He will deal with the balance of Israel and the nations during the coming tribulation period. [
1Corinthians 15:22-58;
1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-4;
2Thessalonians 2:1;
Matthew 24:1-13]
Some will turn and believe during this coming time of great upheaval on the earth, but most will not, and these will be killed and lost forever .... most of those who do turn during the period will be martyred for their faith. [
Revelation 9:20; 6:9-11; 14:13; 15:2-3; 20:4(those beheaded)]
There has been a recent onslaught against the truth of the Lord's intent to immortalize today's church just before He brings His hour [time] of trial and judgment upon an unbelieving world .... this is false teaching and it is being suggested by satan himself who hates the idea of human immortality and he wants to draw humans into the confusion and vexation of the coming tribulation period. [
2Timothy 3:1-17; 4:1-4;
2Peter 2:1-22; 3:1-10]
He will be thrown to the earth and barred from heaven during the period in which he will openly seek to destroy humans in one way or another and many will be his victims who will be killed in unbelief and lost forever [
Revelation 12:7-9; 12:12]
6.Be wary of those who teach preterism, pre-wrath, and post tribulational views with attached false doctrines in various forms .... examples of organized movements are the RCC, Christadelphian, SDA, Mormon, JW, Worldwide Church of God, Serpent Seed, liberal reformation protestant denominations, Word Faith movements, MSOG "latter rain" heresies, Toronto Blessings, Kansas City Prophets, Brownsville Revival, The Vineyard movements, Preterism, Conspiracy Theorists, prosperity gospels, and psycho-methodologies.
Examples of individuals include the popes and clergy of the RCC, John Thomas, Ellen G. White, Joseph Smith, Charles Russell, Herbert W. Armstrong, Kenneth Gentry, David McPherson, Marvin Rosenthal, Robert Van Campen, Arnold Murray, Oral Roberts, William Branhan, George Warnock, John Wimber, Peter Wagner, Paul Cain, Rick Joyner, David Eells, Todd Bentley, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, James Russell, John L. Bray, Gary Demar, R.C. Sproul, Hank Hanegraaff, Alex Jones, Glenn Beck, James Loyd, Joyce Meyer, Bill Hybles, and Rick Warren.
7.Know that the Lord intends to eliminate all human self government during His coming time of trial and testing .... He will then rule a mortal kingdom on the earth for 1000 years from Jerusalem. [
Jeremiah 30:11;
Micah 4;
Zechariah 12:9; 14:7-11; 14:16-17;
Revelation 20:1-3]
8.He will gather all of the surviving mortals of the tribulation at the end of it and separate those that believe from those that do not .... the believing mortals will enter and populate His millennial kingdom on the earth .... the others will be rejected. [
Matthew 24:29-31; 25:31-46]
9.The immortal church and those believers added who are martyred during the tribulation period will rule with Him during His millennial kingdom on the earth .... and for eternity. [
Revelation 5:8-10; 20:4]
10.All of the spirits of the unbelieving human dead from the beginning of creation will be gathered at the end of His coming millennial kingdom on the earth and burned in His lake of fire. [
Revelation 20:11-15]
11.He will then create new heavens and a new earth for those who follow and believe which will last for eternity. [
Revelation 21]
Bible prophecy is the very essence of the proof that the Bible is what it claims to be .... the word of the living God and the testimony of Jesus Christ who is both God and human. [
John 1:1-14;
Revelation 1:1-18; 22:12-21]
Those who are truly called to seek, understand, and convey these things to others carry the gift of prophecy by being able to present it in truth and without error .... but only that which is contained within content of the prophetic scriptures .... nothing is to be added or taken away .... the Bible is complete and finished .... only the Lord and His Bible prophets are the accepted originators. [
Revelation 22:18-19]
One must study thy self approved for this mission .... there is no “magic” in the process .... a very unique and disciplined mission that the Lord directs and expects of those by His choosing. [
2Timothy 2:15-26]
The believer in Jesus Christ is blessed indeed beyond measure and possesses His promise and hope of a future perfected magnificent eternal immortality. [
1Corinthians 15:22-58]
My personal and sincere hope is that all will seek the Lord and His salvation and will also be challenged to learn and understand His prophetic truths for the purpose of conveying a greater witness to others who are lost and without hope.
If you have not discovered Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation you must do so now .... time is of the essence for you .... there is no other way to secure your eternal future. [
John 3:16-18]
__________________
Stephen - author of Truth Files
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