April 9, 2015 - A. V. Rauf
MEAT IN “DUE SEASON” : THE IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE PROPHECY (Part I)
Matthew 24:1-3 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
We are very grateful to the disciples for asking the most pivotal, prophetic question, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and the end of the world?”. From the creation of Adam to Abraham, (according to Jewish rabbinical sources), 2,000 years have elapsed. From Abraham to the birth of Jesus Christ, 2,000 years have elapsed. From the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, 2,000 years have passed.
Matthew 24:2-51—Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The world, as we know it, according to 1 John 5:19 is inundated and saturated with evil by the god of this world and it lies in wickedness. It is this world that is coming to an end as we know it.
1 John 5:18-21—We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
The old world is going out because there is a new world coming in. According to the Bible, the obvious degeneration of this world is only a sharp reminder that it had a beginning and it will have an ending socially, morally, politically, militarily, economically and religiously. I want to clearly emphasize that this is not a doomsday tactic to acknowledge this nor is it an escape mentality that declares , for lack of better words that evacuation via Rapture is imminent.
To those who know prophecy and God’s plan for the end of time, we are highly motivated in this hour to declare the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord.
Jeremiah 6:17— Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not hearken.
I hope that after having read this article in its entirety, you will hearken.
Many people have negative attitudes towards the study of Bible prophecy. For example, there are those who say, “Praise God, I’m only concerned about the present, so don’t bother me with ideas about the future.” There are others who express a second attitude towards the study of Bible prophecy: “Nobody can understand the prophecies in the Bible, so why bother to study them?” Many people for example tend to skip right over the Book of Revelation saying things like, “This book is too deep, or too much symbolism, man.
But those who ignore Revelation will miss the following special blessing that Jesus Christ proclaimed in conjunction with that book:
Revelation 1:3—Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.”
A careful study of this book reveals that it is the revelation of Jesus Christ given to John the Apostle. Jesus, who came to this earth as a prophet:
Luke 4:23-24—And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
After His resurrection, He ascended to Heaven and is now our High Priest interceding on our behalf:
Hebrews 7:22-26—By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Ultimately, one day He will return to earth to rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelation 19:11-16—And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.
There are over 400 verses in this particular book (The Book of Revelation) , yet over 800 allusions are made to scriptures in the Old Testament. God would have never written the book if He did not want us to possess the prophecies written in this book and to understand them.
Another negative attitude, held by many Christians is that the prophecies of the Bible had already been fulfilled by the end of the first Century A.D. For example, the judgment upon the Jewish nation that had rejected the Messiah was fulfilled by the Romans in 70 A.D.
It is written in the Book of Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us.
This is also mentioned two chapters later:
Ecclesiastes 3:15 – That which has been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
This tells me that what is to come, in a sense has happened before. Remember, God declared the end from the beginning and He doesn’t necessarily keep all things hidden from his children. (To Be Continued…)