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BIBLE PROPHECY MADE SIMPLE
By Ted Pike
20 May 05
Most Christians feel that Bible prophecy is difficult.
It isn't.
Here are simple guidelines to a very rapid understanding of the
prophetic truth God intends for all Christians.
First, you must dedicate your life to the perfect will of God.
You must be willing to give up your life, your possessions, your
reputation, and your cherished opinions, and only do his will as
revealed by scripture and the Holy Spirit.
If not, you will manipulate prophetic scripture according to "logic" rather
than simply believing what God has said.
Second, do not interpret any passage of scripture symbolically
unless there is overwhelming evidence to infer God intended it to
be so. Our power to make scripture symbolic is the power to destroy
the clear meaning God intends to convey, frustrating God as he tries
to communicate to man.
THE "BACKBONE" OF PROPHECY
Third, you must go first to those scriptures that provide an easy-to-understand
general sequence of great events that lead directly to the Second
Coming of Christ. These "prophetic sequences" repeat
again and again aspects of the following progression of events:
Israel dwells in peace, gathered from the nations.
Israel is scattered to the nations in "great tribulation" under
persecution by the Antichrist and Gentiles.
Christ returns, judging the armies of the nations at Armageddon.
Christ saves a remnant of believing Jews.
Christ brings the remnant back to Israel and with his resurrected
saints he rules the world for 1,000 years.
Such "prophetic sequences" are the backbone of prophetic
emphasis. They demonstrate a progression of events that has not occurred
at any time in history. Prophetic sequences are so specific in so
many details and are repeated so often that they cannot be considered
primarily "symbolic" or "spiritual" in their
interpretation. They can only be literal, unfulfilled events of the
future leading toward the Second Coming. They are:
Isaiah chapt. 10-12
Jeremiah chapt. 30-33
Ezekiel 20:33-44
Daniel chapt. 7
Joel 2
Amos 9:7-15
Micah 3:9-12; Chapt. 4
Zephaniah 3:8-20
Zechariah chapt. 8; chapt. 10, 12, 13, 14
Matt. 24:4-51
Because prophetic sequences flow directly into the end of the church
age and the Second Coming of Christ, like one domino falling after
another, they show us which events precede the Second Coming and
in exactly what order they occur.
‘RIBS' ALONG THE BACKBONE
Many specific events are also included in the prophetic sequences,
like ribs arranged along a backbone. In chronological order, some
of these "ribs" are:
1. Israel returning to Palestine in unbelief. This is where we
are today.
(Ezek. 3, 39)
2. Israel dwelling safely in tranquility without need of defense
and with no nation able to threaten her. This is where Israel is
headed, assisted by U. S. military might.
(Ezek. 38, 39)
3. Israel making a covenant or "marriage" with the
Antichrist.
(Dan. 9:27; Dan.11:25)
4. Antichrist being killed and resurrected from the dead.
(Rev. 13:3, 12, 14)
5. Jerusalem being conquered by Antichrist's invading army
killing half of the Jews in Jerusalem and deporting the remnant,
who go into "great tribulation."
(Zech:14:2, Lk. 21:20, Ezek. 29:23, Jer. 30:7, Deut. 28:15,
18-29, Hos. 8:13, Is. 47:6, 51:23, Ezek. 22:21-2, :33, 28-29)
6. Antichrist profaning the temple and Jewish law (Abomination
of Desolation).
(Dan. 9:26-27, Matt. 24:15, II Thess. 2:3,4)
7. Antichrist forcing all who live on earth to receive his mark
("666") in order to buy or sell.
(Rev. 13:16-18)
8. Christ arriving bodily, visible in the skies with lightning
flashing worldwide from one end of heaven to the other "in
the clouds" and seen by every person on earth.
This is simultaneous with the ‘rapture' or "First Resurrection" of
the saints.
(Matt. 24:31, I Thess. 4:13, Hos. 2:16, 19, 20, Dan.
7:9-14)
9. Jesus Christ showering wrath upon all those who have come against
his remnant in the Battle of Armn. Plagues and vials of wrath descending
upon the wholeageddo earth.
(Is. 51:22-23, Jer. 30:16, Ezek. 38, 39, Joel 2:20, 3:1-2,
Obad. 1:15, Micah 5:15, Hab. 3:8, Zeph. 2, Zech. 14:2-3,
Rev. 8:7-13, 9:17-21)
10. Christ alighting on the Mount of Olives, splitting it in half,
creating a very large valley.
(Zech. 14:4)
11. Christ redeeming, bringing his repentant, world-dispersed remnant
back to Israel.
(Is. 4:4, 10:20, 14:3, 31:12, 51:17, 52:1-4, 64:9-10, Jer. 3:22-24,
Jer. 30:8, 33:6,8, 50:20 Ezek. 11:19-20, 16:41-2, 39:22, 44:23,
Joel 2:18-20, Zeph. 2:7, 3:11-20)
12. Christ ruling the world from Jerusalem.
(Ezek. 4; Joel 3:18; Isa. 11:6-10)
13. Christ ruling the world with his saints for 1,000 years.
(Dan. 7:22, 27; Zech. 9:8-10, 14:9; Isa. 11:6-10; Dan: 7:22;
Zech. 8. 9:8-10; Joel 3:20; Rev. 20:1-6)
HAS PROPHECY BEEN FULFILLED?
Have some of these prophecies been fulfilled during the past 2,600
years? Yes, in a limited way; but not in their entirety – not
as part of the prophetic sequence that must occur before Christ's
Second Coming.
For example: Jeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be encircled
with armies, destroyed, and the Jews led into exile. This occurred
around 587 B.C. exactly as he prophesied. (Jer. 32:28)
Was that the complete fulfillment of his prophecy? No. God designed
such prophecies as Jeremiah's to be utilized several times.
This is because he would need those prophecies repeatedly as the
Jewish people went through cycles of apostasy – to exile – to
repentance and re-gathering over the millennia.
Jeremiah's prophecy was needed again and fulfilled in 70
A.D. when, in judgment on the Jews, Roman armies encircled Jerusalem,
destroyed it, and led the inhabitants into exile.
Yet, the last fulfillment, still to come, is part of that terrible
day in which the armies of Antichrist, Gog and Magog, encircle Jerusalem,
slaughtering half of its Jewish inhabitants and exiling the remnant
to the nations. This is the "great tribulation" or "time
of Jacob's trouble." (Jer. 30:7)
Did you find that difficult? It is misguided "experts" who,
not adhering to the Biblical story-line, make it confusing. The Bible's "prophetic
sequences" confirm what I have said, again and again and again.
Skip TV tonight. Instead, sit down and read the Bible's "primer
of prophecy," the "prophetic sequences" I have
listed above.
You'll end up far ahead of such "experts."
For a complete exposition of God's prophetic plan for Israel,
consult Rev. Pike's 345-page book, Israel: Our Duty…Our
Dilemma and his video documentary, "Zionism and Christianity:
Unholy Alliance." Both are available at www.truthtellers.org.
Both are free to talk show hosts.
Rev Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog organization. For many more of his articles, visit www.truthtellers.org.
For interviews with Rev. Pike or for phone orders call (503) 631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas, OR 97015
