Prophecy: What does the Bible Say about End Times?

Introduction

Why is studying Prophecy so important? Is it meaningful to understand prophecy? Or is Prophecy a burden on Christians? Prophecy is not a burden on the Christians. Prophecy should be a enriching tool to help know that God wins in the end. Daniel and Revelation are both prophetic books by nature. There are a lot of fulfilled prophecy and unfulfilled prophecy in the book of Daniel and Revelation. Daniel was written by Prophet Daniel. Revelation was written by the Apostle John. Daniel is located in the Old Testament and Revelation is located in the New Testament. To uncover the mystery behind the prophetic ties in Revelation and Daniel, Christians need to understand the importance of prophecy and what prophecy truly is.

The Importance of Prophecy

In Paul Benware’s book, Understanding End Times Prophecy, He went through a list of why prophecy is so important to the Christian walk—Prophecy was given by God to be understood, God has sent us a helper to help us understand prophecy, and God has given us the scriptures. These three reasons can help us see the importance of Prophecy. So, These three principles or reasons need to be further analyzed.

First, Benware states that “Prophecy was Given by God to be understood”[1]. Prophecy can be difficult at times to understand but Prophecy was given by God so that we can know that God will win at the end of world. It is important to understand prophecy because Satan likes to distort our views and portray the wrong prophetic endings in fictional movies such as Avengers: Infinity War. It is a cosmic war, yes. But the Avengers are displaying the wrong cosmic war. The plot line of Avengers: Infinity War is that there is an all-powerful fictional God, Thanos, that was revengeful and not compassionate towards the people and that to alleviate the tensions of the world, He would eradicate 1/3 of all the population. This Apocalyptic picture is not true. The True God, YHWH, is not revengeful or compassionate. He is a relational God that has given us the ability of eternal life through living in Heaven with Him. Before The Tribulation Period, Jesus will return in the air to capture everyone who believes in Jesus Christ that he paid for our penalty on the cross and rose again the third day. He will withhold his wrath on the believers. Daniel 9:24-27 prophesies Jesus’s return. This is the first reason why prophecy is important: God has given us prophecy so that it can be understood properly. We should not give into the world’s view of prophecy.

Second, Benware notes that “God has given us help in understanding the Prophetic Word.”[2] This help is none other than the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in our hearts and minds to help us understand the prophetic passages of Scripture. Also, Daniel was given the help of the Holy Spirit to know that Jeremiah prophesied that Israel would be sent to a Babylonian captivity under King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 9:1-2 confirms that Daniel, while reading Jeremiah to King Darius, found out that Prophet Jeremiah knew that Israel will be sent to Babylon under the banner of captivity.

Third, Benware notes that “God has given us the scriptures.” Since God has given us God-breathed scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17), It should be understood and analyzed. It is such a wonderful feeling that God has given us the scriptures. It is not just an arbitrary document. It is the inspired Word of God. So, we must utilize it and live by it. God has given us a wonderful gift.

The Four Principles of interpreting Prophecy

According to Benware, four principles of interpreting Prophecy can be used during a Quiet Time –interpret the Bible literally, interpret by comparing prophecy with prophecy, interpret in light of possible time intervals, and interpret figurative language scripturally. We can use these four principles when we analyze predictive prophecy in both Daniel and Revelation.

First, Christians need to interpret the Bible literally. It is imperative that Christians interpret the Bible literally. When Christians approach the Bible literally, it can help Christians understand prophecy a lot better because Christians are not taking their own interpretation, but what the author is trying to communicate. When interpreting prophecy, Christians should take it from an author-centered view, not a reader-centered view. When Christians take it from a reader-centered view, it is more likely that they will endorse a cult of wrong ideology, instead of the correct ideology which comes from an author-centered perspective.

Second, we can interpret prophecy by comparing prophecy with prophecy. This is an interesting viewpoint. To an untrained eye, prophecy seems like this daunting task that can never be understood. But, Students, who take a prophecy classes like Daniel and Revelation, will be better equipped to interpret prophecy by comparing prophecy with prophecy. For instance, Jeremiah’s prophecy of the Babylonian Captivity can coincide with Daniel because Daniel have proven that Jeremiah’s prophecy was correct. He was an eyewitness to the Babylonian captivity because he actually lived during the Babylonian captivity under King Nebuchadnezzar. When Elijah was taken up in the fiery chariot is an indication that God will rescue his people. In this paper, the Rapture will be analyzed further later on.

Third, Christians can interpret prophecy in light of time intervals. “Time intervals” is referring to the chronological order of the end times event. First, Christians are living in the church age. The increasing apostasy and the unwillingness to follow God will lead to the rapture of the church. The Rapture is referring to the event that the believers will experience because they believe in Jesus Christ and God will withhold his wrath on the believers. Also, after the rapture, a man of lawlessness will come to earth and will usher the world into the Tribulation Period. Over 1/3 of the world’s population will die to the Tribulation, however 144,000 Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel will be sealed (Revelation 7:1-8). Then, in between the Tribulation and the Millennium Kingdom of Jesus Christ, two events exist—Armageddon which the war against Mag and Gog (Ezekiel 38-39; Revelation 12-13), and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ This war marks the end of the Tribulation Period. After Armageddon, comes the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24). Then after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, comes the bounding of Satan for 1,000 years and the Millennium kingdom of Jesus Christ. These are the time intervals associated with Eschatology.

Fourth, interpreting Bible Prophecy is important because it is the focal point of how the world views what will happen at the end of the world. According to a Liberty University Scholar, “Jerusalem is the epicenter of Eschatology—the focal point of the apocalyptic scenarios of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”[3] Then, the article further notes, “Our world is shaped, influenced, and in some cases governed by age-old prophecies recorded in the sacred literature of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”[4] Although Christians do not believe in Islam, It is interesting to note how all the different religions have their own viewpoint concerning eschatology. However, the correct viewpoint lies in the Bible because the Bible is inspired word of God.

Fifth, Christians must interpret figurative language scripturally. There are a lot of figurative language is the Bible and how we analyze figurative language can make or break our interpretation of biblical prophecy. Imagine if I say my arms are as a big as the moon. My arms are not as big as the moon, but they are large. This is an example of figurative language which gives more flavor to the biblical prophecy.

These are five ways or avenues Christians can interpret Biblical prophecy. This can help bible students and students in general know how to interpret Bible prophecy the best way. Not saying this will make life easy but it will make it easier to based prophecy on what the scripture says, not on what the reader wants the scripture to say. Now that Christians know how to interpret scripture, let’s Understand what prophecies are fulfilled in Daniel and Revelation and what prophecies are not fulfilled in Daniel and Revelation.

The Value of Prophecy

The value of prophecy is that it enriches the lives of the Christians. The Rapture of the Church gives the persecuted Christians hope amidst the suffering. Romans 8:18 (NLT) states, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.” So this means that the persecuted Christians suffering is not worth comparing the glory that God will reveal to us in heaven either by the way of the rapture or by the way of physical death. The Rapture gives us hope. Therefore, the one of the values of prophecy is that helps give the believers hope amidst the chaos.

Another value of prophecy is that it helps confirm the Bible is true. Based on Jeremiah and Daniel views on the Babylonian captivity, we know that there are no contradictions associated with it. Most people, who are not Christians, state that the Bible is full of contradictions. However, Prophecy can debunk that claim because Isaiah 53 confirms the death of Jesus Christ and how paid the price for our iniquities.

Fulfilled Prophecy

Fulfilled prophecy is prophecy that has been confirmed by an eyewitness. This also assumes that there will be a literal fulfillment. The fulfilled prophecy that has been confirmed in Daniel and Revelation are the following: Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70-year captivity for Israel (Jer. 25:11; Dan. 9:1-2) and Daniel’s prophecy of Belshazzar’s kingdom being overthrown by the Medes and the Persians (Dan. 5:25-31). To better address the subject of fulfilled prophecy, Christians should analyze these better.

First, Jeremiah prophecy of 70-year captivity for Israel was written about in Jeremiah 25:11 and was confirmed during the life of Daniel when Daniel was exiled to Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. The 70-year captivity for Israel was not what God intended. However, the Israelites were not following God and had an increase apostasy. As a result of their increase apostasy, Babylon captured Israel under the divine plan of God. Then, While Daniel was serving under King Darius, He got his hands on a scroll. In this scroll was the writing of Jeremiah. Then He was reading the scroll and found out this. Daniel 9:1-2 (NLT) states, “It was the first year of the reign of Darius, the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became King of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.” Daniel 9:1-2 confirms that Daniel understood that he was living during the time that Jeremiah wrote about in Jeremiah 25:11.

Second, Daniel’s prophecy of Belshazzar’s kingdom being overthrown by the Medes and the Persians (Dan. 5:25-31). Daniel 5:24-31 (ESV) states,

“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end: TEKEL, you have weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of God was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.”

This passage of Scripture is another fulfilled prophecy of How Daniel prophesied that King Belshazzar’s kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Some scholars have some great insight to this subject.

Third fulfilled prophecy is how Daniel 9:24-27 confirms the First coming of Jesus Christ and the rising Antichrist. Daniel 9:24-27 (ESV) states,

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to coming of an anointed one a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolation is decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel 9:24-27 is indicating the First Coming of Jesus Christ. Daniel, in 9:25, starts explaining the Seventy Sevens. The Seventy-seven starts with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. However, we do not know the date that this decree took place. However, later on, Daniel predicted the coming of Jesus Christ. He also predicted that He died. However, He rose again.

The First piece of evidence that points to the First Coming of Jesus Christ is the word “Anointed One.” Daniel predicted this in Daniel 9:26 “Anointed One.” Generally speaking, in the Old Testament, “Anointed One” generally refers to the Messiah, who is none other than the Messiah.

Zondervan Expository Dictionary of Bible Words defines “Anointed One” as the following:

“The Hebrew term Masiah, transliterated “messiah,” means “Anointed One.” It appears only thirty-nine times in the OT, and then it identifies a range of individuals. Included is even the pagan King Cyrus (Isa 41:1), who was appointed by Yahweh for a specific task relating to Israel. Masiah is used primarily in the books.”[5]

Lawrence Richards is correct in associating Messiah with the Anointed One. So, Daniel 9:26 is in fact describing Jesus Christ as the “Anointed One.” It is so amazing to know that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God sent on the mission to atone for the sins of the world. God loves us so much.

The second piece or evidence that confirms that this passage is indeed talking about the first coming of Jesus Christ is the following. Daniel uses the phrasing “And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.” Jesus Christ came to “to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.” Then after his time is up, He was cut off and sentenced to death. Only to find that he rose again the third day conquering death and sin. Jesus Christ put an end to sin by dying on the tree for our sins. What an Amazing passage! Warren Wiersbe notes this about how Gabriel in this vision confirms the coming of the Messiah, or in simple terms Jesus Christ:

“Gabriel affirmed that 483 years are involved from the giving of the decree to the coming of “the Anointed One, the Ruler.” (7 x 7 =49; 7 x 62= 434; total = 483). When you count 483 solar years from the year 445, you end up with A.D. 29/30, which brings us to the time of Christ’s ministry on earth.”[6]

Warren Wiersbe notes that when you add all the years, Daniel is prophesying the coming Messiah to the Earth to atone for the sins of the world. This means that Daniel is Forthtelling what is going to happen in the future. This is so amazing and this was fulfilled by Jesus Christ in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What an amazing concept! The Bible confirms itself through prophecy which is very awesome.

Unfulfilled Prophecy

Unfulfilled prophecy is prophecy that has not yet come to fruition. The prophecies that are not fulfilled that will be analyzed in this paper is the Rapture of the Church. The view I am writing from is the view that Jesus Christ will rapture the Church before the Tribulation Period because He is not a wrathful God toward the believers and I believe that God will withhold his wrath on his followers/disciples.

The Rapture of the Church is confirmed in Revelation. However, without evidence, this statement is void and meaningless. One would think that the Book of Revelation does not talk about the Rapture, but Revelation does in fact talk about the rapture of when Jesus Christ will return to gather the believers up. Keith H. Essex, an Assistant professor of Bible Exposition, believes there are ten proposed spots in revelation that discusses the rapture: Rev. 3:10-11,4:1-2;4:4 and 5:9-10; 6:2: 7:9-17; 11:3-12;11:15-19;12:5; 14:14-16; and 20:4. Do these passages do indeed confirm the rapture?

The first argument that Keith H. Essex presents is the Authorship of Revelation. John has received an eschatological framework from Christ. He had the following framework. First, Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah which delayed the establishment of the messianic Kingdom and resulted in the desolation of Israel’s temple. Second, Jesus proclaimed that He will build his Church (Matthew 16:16-19). Third, The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will be after the tribulation period. Fourth, Jesus will personally come back for his followers to the dwelling places that he is preparing for us (John 14:2-3). Fifth, Jesus will return back Earth to establish his millennial kingdom (Matthew 24:29-25:46). This is the framework that Keith Essex believes John is operating form.[7] Therefore, John would have written about the Rapture in Revelation.

The Second argument concerning the Rapture in Revelation is the fact that John wrote about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in other New Testament books (John 14:1-3; 1 John 2:28; 3:2). Therefore, If John wrote about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the other books, He must have written about the Rapture in Revelation.

Now that we have those two arguments in mind. Christians need to address the passages that Keith Essex brings up in Revelation that confirms the Rapture of the Church.

The First passage in Revelation that confirms the rapture of the Church is Revelation 3:10-11. Revelation 3:10-11 talks about how God will take us up before the “hour of testing.” Revelation 3:10-11 (NLT) states, “Because you have obeyed my command to preserve, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to the world. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take away your crown.” Revelation 3:10-11 points to the rapture in two ways. First, “I will protect you from the great time of testing” reveals God’s mercy on believers. Second, “I am coming soon” reveals that Jesus Christ will be coming soon to save the believers from the great time of testing. In the Every Man’s Study Bible, It notes,

“The Church in Philadelphia was not strong, but it had remained obedient to God and had stood firm against satanic oppression. As a result, Christ promised the church protection from the greatest time of tribulation that would ever come upon the whole world.”[8]

This notes from the group of Scholars confirms that Christ will come back to offer protection to the believers before the Tribulation Period.

The Second Passage in Revelation that confirms the rapture of the church is Revelation 4:1-2. Revelation 4:1-2 “Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen after this.” And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.” This passage of Scripture can indicate that this is a form of a rapture. John was raptured to heaven to “see what will happen after this.” This is a weak argument but still an argument supporting the fact that Revelation does indeed talk about the rapture.

The third and fourth passage in revelation that confirms the rapture is the Revelation 4:4; Revelation 5:8-10. Revelation 4:4 (NLT) states, “Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.” Revelation 5:8-10 states,

“And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and break it seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused the to become a kingdom of priests for our God and they will reign on the earth.”

These two passages, Revelation 4:4 and Revelation 5:8-10, seem to be describing what will be taking place after the rapture. So, Revelation 4:4 and Revelation 5:8-10 would be after the rapture. So, this means that the rapture will be taking place for the Tribulation Period.

Of these three passages in Revelation, It is imperative to note that Revelation confirms the rapture of the Church because God will protect those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

The Importance of the Rapture

Understanding the rapture is very important for the following reasons. First, It can give us hope in midst of great suffering. Second, Understanding the Rapture can help us understand God is a merciful God that loves and cares for us. Third, Understanding the Rapture can help us understand why Jesus Christ is doing what he is supposed to do. Fourth, Understanding the Rapture can assure us that we will not have to partake in the Great Tribulation Period.

First, Understanding the Rapture can give us hope in the midst of great suffering. When Persecuted Christians are in prison, they can be rest assured that they are suffering for a moment. Then God will rapture them or usher them in eternal life with God through their martyrdom. So The Rapture can help them gain hope in the midst of being persecuted for their faith in prison.

Second, Understanding the Rapture can help us understand that God is a merciful God and will exclude the church from his Wrath. However this does not mean that God will exclude Christians from all tribulation. Paul Benware notes, “God’s promise of exemption does not mean that the church will avoid all trials, troubles, and persecution. In fact, the Scriptures are quite clear that times of tribulation and difficulty await the church (e.g., John 15:18-20; 1 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 3:12;1 Peter 4:12-16).”[9] So, Understanding the Rapture can help us understand that God will withhold his punishment on those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Third, Understanding the Rapture can ensure us that Jesus Christ will return for us and will allow us to live in heaven with him for eternity. Jesus Christ has prepared a place for us to live that is why he went back to heaven and also to help prepare us for the coming future. Jesus Christ wants us to have a relationship with him. The time is short.

Conclusion

Prophecy can be difficult at times to understand. However, God has given us prophecy to help us understand how God will win in the end. God has given us the amazing gift of prophecy to understand. Even though we do not understand it, God has given it to us to be understood so that we can know what to expect and how Jesus wins in the end.

Also, the value of prophecy is to help people know that the world will not always be this evil, but It was intended for Good. Good always triumphs against the Bad. So God has given us prophecy to help us know that Good triumphs the bad.

End Notes

[1] Paul N. Benware. Understanding End Times Prophecy. (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2006), p. 22. [2] Ibid., p. 22. [3] Robert Leonhard. (2010). Visions of Apocalypse: What Jews, Christians, and Muslims Believe about the End Times, and How those beliefs affect our World. John Hopkins University. https://www.jhuapl.edu/Content/documents/ApocalypseVision.pdf p. 5. [4] Ibid., p. 5. [5] Lawrence O. Richards. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), p. 54. [6] Warren Wiersbe. The Bible Exposition Commentary Old Testament: Isaiah through Malachi. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook), p. 294 [7] Keith Essex. The Rapture and the Book of Revelation. The Master’s Seminary Journal,13;2, p. 217. [8] Greg Beale, Robert Mounce, and M. Robert Mulholland Jr. 1-3 Joh, Revelation. Every Man’s Bible. (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2014), p. 1691. [9] Paul N. Benware. Understanding End Times Prophecy. (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2006), p. 221.