Lesson 2 - Prophecy Overview

Technology and Bible Prophecy

Technical Insights for

Bible Prophecy

by

Dwight Wickersheim

2018

Lesson 2 – Prophecy Overview

 

 

What is God’s purpose for Prophecy?

·       Call for Repentance before God’s Judgment

o   Jonah sent to Nineveh – Jonah

o   Israel into Babylon – Jeremiah

·       Instructions for God’s People to Follow

o   Jericho – Joshua 6

o   Christ and the Colt – Luke 22:10-12

o   Noah and the Ark - Genesis

o   Sodom and Gomorrah – Genesis 19

·       As a Witness for the True God

o   Moses and the Plagues – Exodus

o   Cyrus of Persia – Ezra 1:1, Fulfill Prophecy by Isaiah 45

o   Day of Pentecost spoken by Joel – Acts 2

·       To Strengthen the Faith of God’s People

o   Peters denial of Christ – Luke 22:31-34

o   How Peter would Die – John 21:18,19

o   Thessalonians stand firm in Light of Prophecy – 2 Thes 2:15 

 

When can Prophecy be Understood?

·       When it is given.

o   Christ gave specific details of the destruction of the Temple that occurred in 70 AD.

o   Mat 24:1  And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

o   Mat 24:2  And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

·       Not until it’s time of fulfillment.

o   Daniel was given a prophecy about the end time events and told that the people at the end time would understand from their knowledge.

o   Dan 12:4  "But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase."

·       After it is fulfilled.

o   Christ explains scripture about His first coming as the Son of Man.

o   Luke 24:45  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

o   Luke 24:46  and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day;

o   Luke 24:47  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

·       As Daniel was told, some prophecies such as the book of Revelation will not be completely understood until the end time of fulfillment, perhaps not even until after some events have occurred as Christ stated:

o   Matthew 24:33 “even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door”.

 

Some Rules for Studying End Time Prophecies

·       The Chronological order of events should be consistent throughout the Bible.

·       Visions are generally literal from the prophet’s viewpoint with some symbols provided by God to describe future individuals, nations, people groups, and kingdoms.

·       Apply present day knowledge of military technologies to understand the weapons and events described by the prophets.

·       Literal language used by the Prophet

·       The Prophet’s best description using the language and understanding of his time to explain the actual vision of the future he is given (symbolic or real).  He may use his descriptive  language, a simile (approximate or “is like”) or metaphor (equal to or “like”) to describe:

o   Literal visions of future technologies developed on Earth

o   Spiritual Beings and concepts from a physical understanding

·       Figurative language or symbols used by Christ

o   Interpret symbols consistently as they are defined in the Bible when they are used in an “end time” context.

o   When symbolic language is used, the action is generally literal, only the subject matter is symbolic.  Example, the Beast made war with the Witnesses.  Beast and Witnesses may be symbolic of people groups but the action, “made war”, is a literal event.

Introduction to the Book of Revelation

·       The Final Written Information from Jesus Christ to His Bond-Servants (believers in Christ), Rev 1:1.

·       A Revelation given to John in a vision around 91 A.D. while in captivity on the Island of Patmos, Rev 1:9.

·       The Vision was written down by John and sent to seven known churches in Asia, Rev 1:4,11.

·       Contains a detailed revelation of future end time events before Christ returns, Rev 1:10-20:6.

·       Describes Christ’s Kingdom reign on Earth, the final judgment of all the dead, and God’s future Kingdom on the new Heaven and Earth, Rev 20:7 – 22:5

 

Some Specific Interpretation Rules for Revelation

·       When Christ is mentioned throughout the book of Revelation, reference is made to some feature describing Him in the first chapter.  He is given various names, according to His work.

o   Strong Angel in Chap 10:1 refers to Christ in 1:16

o   Son of Man in Chap 14:14 refers to Christ in 1:13

o   Faithful and True on a white horse in Chap 19:12 refers to Christ in 1:14

·       The structure is chronological through a series of different viewpoints. 

o   Events numbered such as 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Plagues occur in succession and in the order numbered (axiomatic).

o   The vision continues in chronological order, even when the author’s viewpoint is changed to a different location.

o   The vision chronology is sometimes interrupted by Angels and Great Signs only to describe the history and nature of the participants involved in the events observed by John.

o   After being interrupted in the vision, John often continues his chronological vision of events by using the word “After” (Meta in the Greek) or the phrase “After these things” (Meta houtos houtos in the Greek).

·       The Vision must be read from John’s viewpoint using his knowledge, his language and his method for describing future technical and military weapons.

 

 

Week Two Summary

·       Some General Rules established for Studying Bible Prophecies

·       Some Specific Interpretation Rules for the Book of Revelation

o   The order of events in Revelation are numbered “axiomatic”

o   The Vision chronology is sometimes interrupted to describe details about the participants involved in the events

o   During the Vision, John’s viewpoint is changed seven times to give him the best prospective for viewing the chronological events

·       Three specific Woes (Wars) are identified in the Sealed Book

·       A time line is presented for each Viewpoint of John’s Vision

·       The events of the last 3 ½ years begin on the day of the first global nuclear war when Christ opens the Sixth and Seventh Seals on the same day of “Great Tribulation”.