Prophecy of Endtimes

(by: Martin R. De Haan II)

Are the statements in the Bible about the future exact enough for us to know what lies ahead? Or are they too vague, too figurative, or too debatable to be of any real value to us today? What difference does it make whether or not we know ahead of time, if it’s all going to happen anyway? Let’s look to the Bible for the answers to these and other important questions about the future.

Topics:

- EXPECTATIONS

- THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES

- CHRIST: KEY TO THE FUTURE

- WHAT WE CAN KNOW ABOUT THE ENDTIMES

1. Christ Will Return In The Air

2. The AntiChrist Will Rise To Power

3. Earth Will Have Unparalleled Trouble

4. Christ Will Return To The Earth

5. Christ Will Rule For 1000 Years

6. Christ Will Judge Unbelievers

7. A New World Will Be Created

- THE TWO PHASES OF CHRIST’S RETURN

- WHY STUDY PROPHECY?

- “MY LIFE WAS TURNED AROUND”

- WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME?

EXPECTATIONS

- A woman in her 9^th month of pregnancy.

- A college student the week before final exams.

- A man and woman before his first date.

- A patient who has been told he has cancer.

- A criminal awaiting the judge’s sentence.

Do your expectations turn out to be naively optimistic, unduly pessimistic, or surprisingly realistic? In most cases, what makes the difference is whether you acted on the basis of specific knowledge or on unfounded feelings.

Opinions about the future follow the same pattern. To avoid being victimized by false hopes or unrealistic fears, we need to search out reliable information and live by it. Many find it hard to know whom to believe. Some predict a nuclear holocaust. Others speak ominously of mass starvation. Many economists are forecasting a worldwide financial collapse. Still others see a peaceful utopia just ahead. Here are a few excerpts from actual conversations with people who expressed their hopes and fears about the endtimes.

- “I heard some guy on TV talk about the book of Revelation, and it really spooked me.”

- “I believe that I will see the end of the earth in my lifetime.”

- “I don’t see why Jesus would have to come back. If He was the Messiah, He would have done it right then.”

- “If the judgment day comes, then I’m going to hell. I enjoy doing the things I’m doing wrong.”

- “It’s kind of scary to think that the world is going to come to an end someday, but if I have faith there is nothing to be afraid of.”

- “I think everybody has the same destiny.”

- “The future kind of scares me. I’m afraid of World War III and things like that.”

- “I think God cares, but I don’t think He’s controlling things. I think He sees what happens and He hopes for the best.”

- “I believe that God controls the future and that Jesus Christ will return just as He promised. I believe in an actual heaven and hell.”

Who’s right? Which expectations are in line with what we can know for sure? In this study, we will be looking to the Bible for answers to our questions about the endtimes.

THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES

No amount of effort can stop the clock of history. No mortal, no matter how influential, wealthy, or well-known can break the tyranny of time. Every day that passes, every flash of a digital crystal, brings us closer to the dramatic events predicted in the Bible. We can prepare for the inevitable. We can put time to good use. But we cannot stop it. Not for a moment.

That can be an unsetting thought. The prophetic passages of the Bible are filled with frightening scenes and complicated symbols. There are predictions of the sun going dark and the moon turning to blood. Four terrible horsemen are pictured as riding forth over the earth bringing war, famine, disease, and death. A blasphemous beast will rise out of the sea to shake his fist in the face of God and to bring untold suffering to God’s children. A final, cataclysmic war will be fought, and blood will flow 5 feet deep in a valley 200 miles long. Finally, peace will settle over the earth like the warm, benevolent sunshine of spring.

These are frightening, confusing images. And when we read about prophecy, we come across technical terms like the great tribulation, the abomination of desolation, the return of Jesus Christ, the great white throne judgment, and the lake of fire.

What’s ahead? How much can we know about the endtimes? Well, not everything, certainly. But the Bible does give us much information. In the next issues that follow, we will identify and explain the seven major events of the endtimes.

… Next Issue …

CHRIST: KEY TO THE FUTURE

Christ is the center of God’s plan for the endtimes.

1. Return In The Air: Christ comes back for His own.

2. Rise Of The AntiChrist: Christ is challenged.

3. Unparalleled Trouble: Christ troubles the nations and Israel.

4. Return To The Earth: Christ comes to rescue and judge Israel, and to judge the nations.

5. 1000-Year Reign: Christ rules the world from an earthly throne.

6. Final Judgment: Christ defeats His enemies and judges unbelievers.

7. New World: Christ creates a new heaven and a new earth.