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THE STUDY OF PROPHECY.

Intro & Principles

The study of prophecy is not a hit or miss kind of guessing game!
Some churches and individuals treat prophecy as though it were just that!
They think of it sometimes as various “impressions” that arise in their minds, like soothsaying. Or passages of Scripture can be presented as being prophecy, with little or no justification for claiming that this is so.

Let us deal then with “exciting” prophecy, which has been presented as being legitimate. Often today books on prophecy by modern writers can be filled with outrageously unsound claims! We will deal with just two examples, there could be many more. I want you to think about these, look at the context from which they come and evaluate carefully.
 

ARE THESE LEGITIMATE BIBLICAL PROPHECIES OR NOT?

1. EZEKIEL 10:

Some interpreters use 9-17 as a prophecy of jet planes. . .
 this passage is said to describe the hubcaps and wheels
(vv 9-11),
”9 And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels [was] as the colour of a beryl stone. 10 And [as for] their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went,  but to  the place whither  the head looked  they followed it; they turned not as they  went.”

… the windows (v 12),

”12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, [were] full of eyes round about, [even] the wheels that they four had.”
… the jet turbines (v 13),
”13 As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.”

… and a takeoff (vv 15-16).
”14 And every one had four faces: the first face [was] the face of a cherub, and the second face [was] the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubims were lifted up. This [is] the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.”
”17 When they stood, [these] stood; and when they were lifted up, [these] lifted up themselves [also]: for the spirit of the living creature [was] in them.”
 
 

2. ISAIAH 18:

1-7 is said by others to prophecy about America.

“1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which [is] beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, [and] like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away [and] cut down the branches.
6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.”
 
 

As people are sometimes amazed that America is not mentioned specifically in prophecy of the Endtimes, hardly ever, they insist that this passage brings America right into the spotlight.

Prophecy in the Bible can indeed sometimes have a two-fold meaning.
One up close fulfillment, and one distant.
[At times this USA style prophecy will include saying that Babylon is really another name for the USA.]

Looking at the passage in Ezekiel, is it a valid interpretation to say this is America?

a) The US in v 1 is one of the few countries with a bird as its national symbol.
“1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which [is] beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:”

b) V 2 describes the US as a strong and mighty nation.
“ 2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, [saying], Go, ye swift
messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!”

c) V 3 refers to the raising of the American flag on the moon.
“ 3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.”

d) V 5 warns that judgment is coming for the US.
“5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away [and] cut down the branches.”
 

Is this legitimate interpretation or not?
 

Scholars show that the merchants of TARSHISH and “the young lions” could well mean the Western
nations in general, a modern equivalent. America would be included. Too long to go into here.
            Pages 109-110 of Henry Morris’ “Revelation” can give an insight.

“Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee,
Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold,
to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?” (Ezekiel 38:13).
 
 

SOME RULES FOR LEARNING BIBLE PROPHECY INTERPRETATION.

When Christians come to interpretation of prophecy a good sound Bible scholar is a safeguard. Men like Scofield, Bancroft, Larkin, Scroggie, Ironside, Pember, Jackel, in a more limited sense Henry Morris etc are our own preferences.
Be very careful of the modern nonsense that is circulating around,
do not go by it unless checked by other older sources.

NOTE:  It is too late, at this stage, to reinvent the wheel! Don’t go into Post-Millennial, A-Millennial, Mid-Trib. Rapture, Praetorist et al beliefs. Things are coming to a head in Church history. You will have to trust us, that Pre-millennial Rapture Pre-Tribulation teaching is correct and the only God-honouring Truths about prophecy. You do not have time now to compare this and that “school of thought”, learn this or that prophetic outline – and be of use to God in what is now mad confusion in our churches. Learn the rudiments of your faith at this time. It is more important to play the piano that try to be a concert pianist; the holy spirit will take up the slack as the Lord leads you.
 

TO CHECK ON PROPHECY FOR YOURSELVES THESE ARE A FEW SIMPLE RULES:

1. The immediate context can often indicate clearly whether a prophecy interpretation is valid or not.
2. Learn overall prophecy patterns; be aware that prophecy is progressive and interrelated.
Get a good chain reference Bible, and move through the developing fulfillment to see if all fits in.
11 Peter 1:20-21:
“ 20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
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.”
Some will tell you today that the above verse, 20, means that no one individual has any right to seek to understand what prophecy is about; only his/her fellowship can do that. This is not what the verse means at all! It means that any prophecy does not stand in its own; it is not of “private” or isolated interpretation. It is related to the rest of prophecy in other parts of Scripture. So, to understand one prophecy means moving along with all the other passages in a proper relation to the whole.

3.  When we interpret Scripture a good rule is “if the literal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.”  But, we have to be aware that in prophecy the style is often figurative and symbolic.
     You need good teaching material from the start to understand prophecy.
It is a thrilling study, as some of you know already.
 

THREE IMPORTANT SUBJECTS TO START WITH.
The three important subjects we will begin with are right with us in our modern world. They are dominating things in AD 2000, both politically and religiously.

These are:

1. The True Church, the Body of Christ.
2. The Apostate Church, we will term it “Christendom.”
3. Israel, the people and the land, in the Endtimes.

Let us consider the FUTURE of these three groups.
 What does the Bible predict will happen to these entities?
I will use a very solid theological authority, Emery Bancroft as my source.
This is fundamental prophetic doctrine, accepted by Bible-based fellowships in general. Hard to find these days!
 

Extract: Christian Theology Systematic and Biblical  pp.330-334  -
“ESCHATOLOGY, THE DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS”. By Emery H. Bancroft D.D. [original copyright 1925]
 

D. THE EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.

The second Coming of Christ is not only a point of time, it is also a period. It may be classed as an event, but it also includes a series of events. It will include such events as the rapture of the church which embraces the resurrection of thy dead saints, the transformation of living believers and the translation of all (I Thes. 4 13-17); the judgment seat of Christ (II Cor. 5:10), the marriage of the church to her Lord (Rev. 19); the events or the seventieth weeks of Daniel (Dan. 9:24-27); the great tribulation (Matt. 24:29 Dan. 12:1); the Coming of Christ with His saints or holy ones (I Thes. 3:13; Rev. 19); the great battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16); the judgment of the living nations (Matt. 25); the national conversion of the Jew (Rom. 11). The coming of Christ is, therefore, that composite of events which transfers the presence of Christ from Heaven to earth, and establishes the rightful supremacy of Christ. Included in this series are necessarily those acts, which prepare the saints for the kingdom.
 

These events are presented in their various relations as follows:

1. WITH REFERENCE TO THE CHURCH.

We hare already seen in our study of Ecclesiology that the Church is an organism composed of regenerate believers which constitute the body of Christ, having its inception on the day of Pentecost and which will find its completion at
the first stage of Christ's coming. The Scriptures seem to indicate the following order of events attending this completion:

A. THE RAPTURE.

The most startling, and except for the testimony of the "sure word of prophecy" the most incredible, transaction of which we can conceive, Is that set forth in the words, “caught up to meet the Lord in the air" (I Thes. 4:15-18). The lightning-flash of the advent, dazzling and blinding for a moment; the swift transition of the cloud chariot, and then "forever with the Lord”—this is the brief description of the ecstatic scene which we call the Church's translation. The rapture of the Church involves a three-fold process:

B. THE RESURRECTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS DEAD: I Thes. 4: 16; I Cor. 16:22, 23.

C. THE TRANSFORMATION OF LIVING BELIEVERS I Cor. 16:51, 62.

 * NOTE:
—There is a two-fold event, affecting the sainted dead and the saints that are living at the time of the rapture, anti bringing both Into one condition
The first finds its expression in the words, "and the dead in Christ shall rise first" (I Thes. 4:16);
the second finds its expression in the words, "we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed"
(I Cor. 15:61).

This order and distinction are revealed in several passages:

A. In the story of the raising or Lazarus - that enacted prophecy of thy first resurrection (John 11)

A beautiful miniature of the church is that home in Bethany. Whose crowning honor is this, that "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Like the body of Christ today a part living and a part dead— "our friend Lazarus sleepeth" this household was waiting the coming of the Lord. But notwithstanding the sickness and dying that were ravaging that home, Jesus "abode two days still in the same place where He was," just as He has already reImagesed away from His church nearly two millennium—"one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,"—while sickness and mourning and death have been holding sway. Then the advent announcement, for which we also wait, was heard, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." Such will be the blessed errand on which our Lord will come when the time of His return arrives. Then hear the Lord's great advent exposition: "I am the resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me Shall never die,"

It is no mere rhetorical amplification which we find here. This double office or Christ, and the corresponding two-fold work, exactly match the declarations which we have in Thessalonians and Corinthians (I Thes. 4; 16; I Cor. 15:51). He is the "resurrection" to those who shall be in their graves at the time of His coming; He is the "life" to those who shall then be on the earth, To the first class He alludes when He says, "Though he were dead yet shall he live;" to the second He refers in the saying, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." But both in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye shall be brought into the same condition or "glorified corporeity" at the sound of the last trump.
 

B. In the transfiguration scene—
that vivid tableaux of the glorious appearing of our Lord.

This exhibits the same truth in unmistakable outline "And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory." These two men were the representatives of the two classes named above. Moses, coming up from his unknown sepulcher in the valley of Moab, as the forerunner of the dead who shall be raised at the advent of Christ; and Elias, returning from the presence of the Lord, as the representative of those who taste not of death, but are translated, —these standing together with the Lord in transfiguration glory on the Mount, present to us a radiant rehearsal, a glowing epitome, of the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:28 cf. II Peter 1:16-18). In the great resurrection discourse (I Cor. 15) we find at the culmination of the argument the same double reference "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Here are the two parties to the final transfiguration and they are in an instant brought into the company of One for whom they had been waiting. See also I Cor. 15:52-54.

C. The Translation of all believers: I Thes. 4:16-17.

NOTE - The words "Caught up to meet the Lord in the air," are crowded with suggestion, since they always signify "to meet and return with” as the disciples In Rome went out to meet Paul when they heard of his approach and accompanied him to the city: as the wise virgins are pictured as going forth to meet the bridegroom and attending him to the house of the bride so
by the same form of speech it is here implied that the church will be raptured away to join the Lord on His advancing way, and escort Him back to earth.
 

B. THE EXAMINATION AND REWARD OF BELIEVERS (THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST) .

Immediately following the rapture of the believers they will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ for their examination, manifestation and rewards. This subject will be dealt with at length under the heading of "The Judgments," to which the reader is referred.

C. THE MARRIAGE SUPPER.

After the saints have been "caught up" and "judged." they, as the "Church," will become the "Bride of Christ." The marriage of the Church is prophetically referred to by Jesus in the parable of the marriage Or the king's son ( Matt. 22: 1-14 ), and Is consummated in Rev. 19 :7-9. See also Eph. 5 :25-27; II Cor. 11:2.

The true Church (as contrasted with the "harlot"—the apostate church) is the Bride of Christ. The terms "body" and "bride" are both true of the Church: "body" is referred to when the vital and organic relation of the Church to Christ is intended; 'bride," when its affection and love relation is to be emphasized. The Church is spoken of as the "body," "bride," and "wife" of Christ. Someone has well said that the "bride" is the temporary name, and "wife" the enduring name of the Church. The saints of God in the Church of Christ
 

during this| dispensation compose the "bride" to whom He will one day be united in marriage. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is a figure under which is depicted the complete union between Christ and His Church.

D. MANIFESTATION WITH CHRIST.

The manifestation of glorified believers will be coincident with the manifestation or revelation of Jesus Christ at His coming. True believers are sons of God now, but they are not manifest as such. They are traveling through the world incognito, with no recognition given of their divine lineage. But at the Second Coming or Christ their divine sonship will be recognized and acknowledged; then they will come into the full realization of all its privileges and prerogatives: Col. 3:4; I John 3:1t 2; Jude 14.

NOTE: What about the “Manifest Sons of God” phenomena in some Pentecostal churches today?

2. WITH REFERENCE TO APOSTATE CHRISTENDOM.

After the true Church, which is the "body” and the "bride" of Christ (Rev. 19:6-9; 21: 2, 9; cf. Eph 5:25-32), is translated, the professing church will doubtless go on with its worship, services and numerous activities just as before the saints were raptured. There will be, however, a marked growth in the apostasy within the professing church - the ecclesiastical organization left on the earth—until, finally, this false religious system, which in contradistinction to the true Church, is

called the harlot (Rev. 17:1-7 cf. II Cor. 11:2, 3) has become so morally and religiously corrupt that it is destroyed by the power of the Antichrist and the ten kings whose favor and protection it has so long enjoyed (Rev.17:13-18). The doctrine of the decline and apostasy of this false ecclesiastical system is in strict harmony with the teaching of the Scripture as shown by the following passages: II Thes. 2:3, 4; I Tim. 4:1, 2, II  Tim. 3 :1-5; 4 1-4; Luke 18:8. The seeds of this apostasy are already in the Church; indeed they have germinated and brought forth a too abundant harvest which will find its culmination in the great apostasy succeeding the removal of the true Church.
 

3. WITH REFERENCE TO ISRAEL.

Prophetic truth concerning the coming of the Messiah in relation to Israel is so abundant and comprehensive that it can be dealt with only in outline form.

a. Israel is to be restored to her native land in an unconverted state: ( Ezek. 36: 24-28; 11 :16-20; 39: 25, 27-29; Jer. 32: 37-41; 33: 7-9. See also Isa. 11: 16). These passages indicate that Israel is to be restored to her land in unbelief [UNBELIEF MEANS UNGODLY STATE]and that her conversion is to be subsequent [AFTER] to that restoration.
 

b. The Jewish nation will rebuild the temple and restore its worship. The temple here referred to is not the millennial temple [EZEKIEL’S TEMPLE AT SHILOH] but a temple to be built and also destroyed during the interval between the rapture and the revelation. It is in this temple that the Antichrist causes the oblation to cease and sets up the abomination spoken of by Daniel (Dan. 9:27) where he "exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (II Thes. 2:4)^ This blasphemous act apparently takes place in the middle of the seven year period of Israelis tribulation ( Dan. 9 :27) .
 

c. A covenant will be made between Israel and the Antichrist for one week (seven years),

but in the midst of the week the Antichrist will replace Israel's religious service by the worship of himself. "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one weeks and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Dan. 9 :27) . "Many" refers to Israel, with whom he confirms the covenant. The Hebrew word "heptade" translated 'week' signifies a period of seven, as decade signifies ten, and here stands for seven years. In the midst of the seven years, the Antichrist demands worship from Israel[ites] and sets up his image in Jerusalem—the image spoken of in Rev. 13;14, 15.

d. They will pass through the great tribulation called the time off "Jacob's trouble:"
      Jer. 30:6, 7; Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:15-22, 29, Rev. 3:10; 7:14; Dan. 7:25.

This has its inception in the setting up of the abomination of desolation In the temple area at Jerusalem. This tribulation will be world wide but its focal point of intensest trial will be Jerusalem and Judea, where the great oppressor and his armies will be destroyed by the appearing of the Lord "to punish the host of high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth that are on the earth" (Isa. 24;21). It has more particularly to do with the Jew, but also in a more limited sense, with the world (Rev. 3:10), for its rebellion against God. "The Tribulation" describes a period of suffering unsurpassed: "such as was not since there was a nation, now nor shall be" (Dan 12:1). The suffering is to be greater than anything that has yet been seen.
 

e. Israel will be converted as a nation at Christ’s return:
    Zech, 12:10; Rev. 1:7; Rom. 11:26.

Israel will be converted, as was Saul of Tarsus, by a personal revelation of Jesus Christ—"Behold He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him." Then shall be fulfilled the prediction that a nation shall be born in a day.
 

f. They will become missionaries to the nations:
   Psa. 67:1. 2; Isa. 2:1-3; 27:6; Zech. 8:13, 21-23; Rom. 11:12, 16.

 The Jews as a nation will be converted and become the great missionaries of the world (Acts 15: 17). The Word of the Lord shall go forth from Jerusalem. It will be a world-wide evangelism. Redeemed and regenerate Israel will be the ministers, as it is written: "Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord. men shall call You the ministers of our God" (Isa. 61:6). With their polyglot tongue they shall carry the tidings to the ends of the earth.
 

g. They will be permanently established in the land: Amos 9:15; Ezek. 34:28.

The Lord will remember His covenant with all Israel, with the ten tribes as well as with the two, with Ephraim as well as Judah. For twenty-five hundred years their identity has been lost amid the nations of the East whither they were carried, but they have never been hidden from His eyes. By the exercise of His omnipotent power He will reveal them to the world and to themselves. He will call them out and separate them as fine gold is separated from the dross (Jer 31:7-l0). He will bring them into the land of Palestine, and they shall no longer be two nations - separate peoples, the one wanderers among the Gentiles, and the other sunken in them as those who be in their graves. They shall be one nation upon the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 37:21, 22).
 

4. WITH REFERENCE TO THE GENTILE NATIONS

a. There shall be an amalgamation of the Gentile nations under the leadership of Antichrist

whose armies will be assembled against Jerusalem and Israel at the time when Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Zechariah describes this judgment which shall be visited upon them as a plague that shall cause "their flesh" to "consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes" to "consume away in their holes, and their tongue" to "consume away in their mouth" (Zech. 14:2-4, 12, 13). This is spoken of in Scripture as the battle of “Armageddon."
 

b. There is to be a judgment of these nations immediately subsequent to the Battle of Armageddon
commonly referred to as the judgment of the living nations. This will be dealt with under The Judgments….
 

[end of extract above]