Why Study Bible Prophecy? [Part 2]
In our previous article we examined how the study of fulfilled prophetic scripture strengthens our confidence in the accuracy and authority of the Word of God. Here are two more reasons to study biblical prophecy.
1. Bible Prophecy Provides Comfort Despite Our Current Circumstances
A good reason to study Bible prophecy is because it provides comfort amidst sorrow. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul writes:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
You see, when a loved one dies, we experience grief. Or when we’re going through a difficult trial, oftentimes we experience sadness and sorrow. Keeping our eyes on what God says about our future provides us comfort and encouragement during these trying times.
And therefore, Paul says, we're not to grieve those who have passed on before us, like the rest of the world who has no hope. What’s the hope they’re lacking? Well, the hope of a better life after death: the hope of being with the Lord, the hope of escaping judgment. The believer has so much to be hopeful for, even amidst this world’s difficulties, trials, and physical death.
For believers, we know this is not the end. We have a glorious future in the millennial kingdom and then in eternity future. There’s no sorrow in eternity future. You get a new body. But you’ve got to have a ticket to this future kingdom.
And how do you get a ticket?
Well, it’s not by being good. It’s not by doing a lot of good stuff. It’s not by giving money. It’s not by anything other than faith – faith in Jesus. Your ticket to the future kingdom is a gift that you cannot pay for, because it’s already been paid for by the precious blood of Jesus the Messiah. It is a gifted ticket that you cannot earn. It’s already been earned for you by the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah. All we have to do is place our faith in the Gift Giver, and then we’ll receive eternal life.
2. Bible prophecy helps ensure a proper view of reality in our current age.
Another impetus for studying the prophetic scriptures is found in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul writes the following,
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.”
Paul says difficult times will come in the last days. Now, we’ve been living in the last days for quite some time. In fact, most theologians agree that as soon as Jesus ascended into heaven the “last days” of human history were initiated. We are a lot closer today than we were the day after Jesus ascended into heaven!
How much longer until the Lord returns for His church? We don't know. But we do know that with every passing day we’re getting a little closer. In 1 John 2:18-19, John writes,
“Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, ‘Antichrist is coming,’ even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.”
One of the things we should have our guards up against in this age is false teaching. Specifically, coming from these “little a” antichrists. We know that in the future, there will be a “capital A” Antichrist who will try to imitate everything about God. Even though the Antichrist’s identity has not yet been revealed, the spirit of the Antichrist is among us. This evil spirit is promoting false teaching on a continual basis. We must be aware. The best way to discern what is false is to know what is true. That’s why it’s so important that we have a daily discipline of reading God’s Word.
It is my hope we will all be encouraged in our walk with the Lord and gain a renewed passion for Bible reading, God’s sovereignty, and an expectation of His soon return!
Written by Levi, Life in Messiah’s Executive Director
Enjoy Bible prophecy? Life in Messiah co-hosted a Bible Prophecy Conference called Uncovering the Messages of the Minor Prophets. Watch here:
Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOWoaKGRWuA
Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS7S4AM_3E
Have you been hesitant to study Bible prophecy? If so, what is your reason?
Are you living every day in hopeful expectation of His soon return? What steps can you take to live in a way that He could return at any time?
What book of the Bible would you like to better understand?