Getting to Know Jesus: The Light and the Stumbling Block
Jesus is described in Scripture as both the Light and the Stumbling Block. How can He be both? In this post, we’ll examine the prophecy of Isaiah, the teachings of Peter, and why Jesus still shines as the Light for some while remaining a stumbling block for others.
5 Compelling Reasons to Study End-Times Prophecy (and Why It Matters Today)
Many believers avoid studying end-times prophecy, thinking it’s too complex, frightening, or irrelevant. But did you know that nearly 27% of the Bible is prophetic? God gave us prophecy to reveal His plans, strengthen our faith, and prepare us for Christ’s return. In this post, we’ll explore five compelling reasons why studying biblical prophecy matters today—helping us recognize the signs of the times, stay anchored in hope, and grow in our understanding of Jesus as King. Don’t miss this powerful study on why prophecy is essential for every believer!
The Bible: Is It the Inspired Word of God?
No Ordinary Book The Bible is not just any ordinary book. Its message has caused people from all generations, all walks of life, and all nationalities to change the direction of their lives radically. Written words on their own do not have this kind of power. However, if the Bible is the inspired word of God, then its words have the weight and power to affect such profound change. In The Bible: Is It Really Accurate and Reliable?, we concluded that the Bible is truth and not fiction – that it is historically reliable and its authors are credible. For those reasons, we can look to the Bible to answer the question: Is the Bible the inspired Word of God? God Breathed The Bible was written by ordinary men with no extraordinary power or authority. The authors did not claim the words they wrote as their own, but rather attributed them to God. Paul, in 2nd Timothy 3:16 says that “All scripture is inspired by God.” Inspired comes from the Greek word theopneustos, which means God-breathed. Over and over again, both the Old and the New Testaments refer to Scripture as the Word of God. Prophecy In the Old Testament, God spoke through prophets like Moses and Jeremiah. God chose these prophets to communicate His message to the world. Jeremiah provides a great example of how prophets were chosen and used by God. Jeremiah 1:5-10 says: “The Lord said to me, ‘Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you…I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.’ I answered, ‘Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that’…The Lord said to me…’But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you…’ Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.” The Old Testament is filled with prophecies relating to the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms. Prophecies in the Old Testament were written hundreds, if not thousands, of years before they came to pass. An example of an Old Testament prophecy relating to the fall of a nation is recorded in Ezekiel. Between 587 and 586 B.C. Ezekiel predicted that many nations would come against the city of Tyre and that eventually Nebuchadnezzar would destroy it. In Ezekiel 26:12, Ezekiel predicted that the stone, timber, and rubble of the ancient City of Tyre would be thrown into the sea. “They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.” This prophecy came to pass when Alexander the Great attacked Tyre in 333-332 B.C. His armies threw the stones, timber and rubble of the City into the sea to make a land bridge. This bridge is still there. There are hundreds more prophecies recorded in the Old Testament that later came to pass. The accuracy of these prophecies is uncanny and the likelihood of them coming to pass is low, unless of course, they were given by God to the prophets supernaturally. In addition to prophets predicting the rise and fall of people and nations, the prophets predicted the coming of Jesus Christ. There are over 300 prophecies concerning Jesus. Some prophecies tell when he would be born, “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes…” Daniel 9:24-25 his lineage, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” 2nd Samuel 12-16 that he would die and rise again. “I keep my eyes always on the Lord.With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;my body also will rest secure,because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life;you will fill me with joy in your presence,with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:8-11 Can One Man Fulfill All These Prophecies? What are the chances that one man would fulfill these prophecies? College students decided to conduct a scientific study to help answer this question. They used only 8 of the prophecies concerning Jesus. Upon completion of the study, they determined that the chance that one man would fulfill just 8 of these prophecies was 1 in 1017. I have trouble imagining that number, so I’m going to use the visualization that Peter Stoner, in his book Science Speaks, used:Imagine that we took 1017 silver dollars and laid them across the entire state of Texas. By the time we got done, they covered all of Texas
The Fifth Kingdom – Daniel’s Prophecies
Daniel’s statue prophecy and beast prophecy give us a solid prophetic framework for interpreting New Testament prophecy. The prophecy speaks of a fifth kingdom, a revived Roman Empire that will play a significant role in end time events.
5 Reasons to Study Prophecy
Prophecy is a prediction of future things to come. According to “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy” by J. Barton Payne, there are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 in the New Testament. Prophecies constitute 26.8 percent of the Bible’s volume. In the prophetic verses, there are around 333 prophecies about Christ. Out of these 333 prophecies, 109 were fulfilled at Christ’s first coming, and 224 will be fulfilled at His second coming. Many shy away from the study of prophecy for a variety of reasons. Some avoid studying it because they believe prophecy is irrelevant to their Christian walk and a waste of time. Others believe that prophecy is too complicated and that they will never understand it. And still, others believe that prophecy is all doom and gloom; they don’t want to think about the end. They are all mistaken. Prophecy is relevant, understandable, and good news for believers; it also demonstrates that the Bible can be trusted. Here, we will discuss five reasons to study prophecy. Reason 1: God Considers the Study of Prophecy Important Through the prophets, then through Jesus Christ, God spoke of the future. The Bible begins with prophecy and ends with prophecy; it is an essential part of the Bible’s message comprising more than 25 percent of the Scripture. Any topic that makes up over 1/4th of the Bible must be important. God’s intent has never been to leave us in the dark but to reveal His plans through His chosen messengers, the prophets (Amos 3:7). The Prophetic Word is a light shining in the darkness, illuminating the path before us and making our way clear until Jesus comes back (2 Peter 1:19-21). We are to pay attention to prophetic Scripture, and if we do, we will be blessed (Revelation 1:3). To further highlight the importance of prophecy, especially end-time prophecy, out of 46 Old Testament prophets, less than ten mention Jesus’ first coming. However, 36 of them speak of His second coming. The Old Testament refers to the second coming of Christ 1,500 times. One out of 25 New Testament verses alludes to His second coming. For every mention of the first coming of Christ, the Bible refers to the second coming eight times. And if that is not enough, Jesus talks about His second coming 21 times, and over 50 times, we are told to be ready for His return. Reason 2: Prophecy Enables Us to Recognize the Times Beginning in Genesis, God started to reveal to us through Moses and the Prophets His salvation plan through a Messiah. Later, in the New Testament, Jesus confirmed that it was Him about which they wrote. Even though the Prophets had prophesied His coming no less than 333 times, Israel did not recognize Him; they did not believe He was the Messiah. Instead, they hardened their hearts to God’s message He had sent to them through His prophets. Because of Israel’s inability to recognize their own Messiah, Jerusalem was leveled, and all of its inhabitants were killed (Luke 19:44). Another consequence of their unbelief was that the Kingdom of God was taken away from them and given to the Church (Matthew 21:42-44). Furthermore, because the Israelites rejected the Gospel, the message went to a new nation, a nation of Believers, the Church. We must not harden our hearts to God’s message, but instead keep our hearts soft and pliable, ready to receive the Word with joy when He comes again! God tells us things before they happen so that when they do occur, we will believe. When we know what the Word says about the future, we can recognize the times and act accordingly. Knowing the signs of the times is like an early warning system: we are alerted to upcoming threats and, as a result, we know when to take precautions to protect our minds and our hearts from deception and fear. Jesus implores us always to be alert and ready for His return (Matthew 24:42-44). We should not be indifferent to the signs around us but instead, watch and be ready. Just as Noah prepared for the flood, we should also prepare ourselves for Jesus’s return. Reason 3: Prophecy Gives Us an Eternal Perspective Studying prophecy sets our hearts and minds on God’s eternal nature. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8). The alpha and the omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus referred to himself as the alpha and the omega because He is the first and the last and the beginning and the end. He is eternal. Because He has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), nothing can satisfy us except the eternal things of God: His Word, His love, and His pleasures. Knowing this encourages us to set our minds, not on earthly things but things above (Colossians 3:1-2) and live differently, only focusing on those things that matter for eternity. Reason 4: Prophecy Strengthens Our Faith and Gives Us Hope About Our Future When we look at the prophetic scriptures, we see our future – that one day we will wake-up with bodies that will never die (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). We see that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and no longer any death, mourning, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:1-4). We find out a priceless inheritance is waiting for us in heaven, and our salvation is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit who lives in us (1 Peter 1:3-5, Ephesians 1:13-14). Knowing our future strengthens our faith and gives us hope. Because of this hope, we should live our lives disciplined and in pursuit of holiness, As believers, we should embrace the hope of heaven as an anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19) and pursue the things of God relentlessly. Reason 5: We Learn More About Jesus in His Exalted State Finally, studying prophecy, especially the book of Revelation, gives us a breathtaking view into the throne room of God, where we see Jesus in His exalted state with “myriads upon myriads” worshiping Him (Revelation 5:11). Christ’s first coming was one of humiliation, but His second coming will be one of exaltation. Only a few noticed His first coming as a