WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING?

A recent inquiry from a woman to those in the Facebook group Christ in Prophecy, asked if her sudden "abnormal craving" for Bible prophecy was unusual. Several persons assured her that she was just experiencing what a great number of born again believers had begun experiencing in recent years. One does not need to be a Bible scholar to know that the events occurring in the world "ring as strangely familiar" to those who have even the most limited exposure to the Word of God.

Call it anxiety over the news; call it a morbid desire to understand the tragic events unfolding; or call it the Holy Spirit reminding God's children that there is little time remaining to share Christ with the lost; Bible prophecy is extremely popular. Many believers, as well as many of the curious, are flocking to prophecy conferences, buying books on prophecy, and inundating pastors with requests for more prophetic preaching. Unfortunately, the majority of "believers" could care less. Sad! But for the faithful child of God, there are four excellent reasons to study Bible prophecy:

1) God does not want ignorant children (Rom. 11:25; 1 Thes. 4:13).
2) God does not want gullible children (Matt. 7:15; 24:4-5; Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:3).
3) God does not want fearful children (Lk. 1:74; Rom. 8:35-39; 1 Thes. 4:18).
4) God does want His children to know His plan (Gen. 3:14-15; Ps. 22:1, 8, 16, 18; Isa. 53; Jn. 1:29; Eph. 3:1-12; Rev. 13:8).

Here are eight excellent passages from the New American Standard Version to ponder:

1) "I am God, and there is not other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning...I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it" (Isa. 46:9-11).
2) "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants, the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
3) "(Jesus said), Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17).
4) (Jesus) said to them, These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk. 24:44).
5) "Of Him (Jesus) all the prophets bear witness that through His name, everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins" (Acts 10:43).
6) "The prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Pet. 1:10-11).
7) "...we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place...But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Pet. 1:19-21).
8) "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10).

Why study Bible prophecy? Why not?