I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.


 Isaiah 46; 9b-10a

The Bible is the Word of God. God makes Himself known to man in the Bible. He tells who He is, who we are, and how He thinks about us. He points the way to salvation from our sins through the work of Jesus Christ.

But the Lord wants to give His children even more encouragement and hope through His Word. He shows that everything is in His hand. Even when the whole situation in the world is uncertain, Bible prophecies show that God knew what was to come. This is a tremendous comfort to all people who believe in Him.

Reasons why it is important for a Christian to know the prophecies:

Jesus Himself said we should be concerned with this: Jesus replied, "If the sky is red in the evening, you say, 'It will be good weather.' Is the sky red in the morning, then you say, 'It's going to be bad weather.' You can tell by the sky what kind of weather it will be. But in what time you live, you have no insight into that! (Matthew 16: 3) And we therefore esteem the prophetic word all the more firmly; and ye do well to heed it as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, 2 Peter 1: 19 

The Bible is full of prophecies! If God thought it important to have all of that written down, we cannot ignore it.

It warns us of danger, of developments in this world that the Bible has long foreseen. Like a world government that is coming with the Antichrist as president and a great global payment system that you can only participate in if you worship the Antichrist. Revelation 13:15-18 We live in a time when these things are in full development! It was announced 2000 years ago by the apostle John. Very special.

Fulfilled prophecies

The Old Testament contains many prophecies about the coming of the Savior, the Messiah. Sometimes clear, but sometimes hidden in a Psalm or in a particular history, for example. Many of these prophecies were fulfilled when Jesus was born into this world, when He died on the cross 33 years later, and He rose from the dead three days after that.

Isaiah 9:1-5, Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

There are also many prophecies in the Bible concerning the people of Israel. These prophecies foretold the destruction of the Temple. Also, the scattering of the people of Israel throughout the world was announced long beforehand. Far before it finally took place. Even the return of the Jews to their own land of Israel, and the manner in which, is described in many places.

Isaiah 49 onwards : 8 and 60:8

These prophecies were demonstrably fulfilled: the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and the entire people scattered throughout the world. Since the late 19th century, Jews returned to Palestine, and on May 14, 1948, the great miracle happened that Israel regained its own land and could form its own government. Since 1967, the city of Jerusalem has been back in Jewish hands.

The return continues, still Jews from all over the world come home to Israel.

Isaiah 2:1-5, Isaiah 11:1-10, Isaiah 65: 17-25. Ezekiel 37, Revelation 20.

Return of Jesus Christ

There are unfulfilled prophecies about the Second Coming of Jesus. His coming in the air to pick up believers is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. You can read about His coming to earth to deliver His people Israel in Matthew 24:30, Acts 1:11, Zechariah 14:4.

Difference between Israel and the Church

To understand the prophecies, you must see that there is a difference between Israel, the Church and the nations. Israel is the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All 12 tribes of the nation belong to it. You belong to this people by natural birth.

The Church is formed by all who are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus, You belong to this by faith, by regeneration. John 3. The Nations are all people who are not from Israel and do not belong to the Church. Jews who are born again belong to the Church .

Why is it important to know this difference?

God has a plan with Israel, and a different plan with the Church. The promises God made to Israel to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses are earthly in nature. They are promised a certain land Genesis 15:18 but also wealth and fruitfulness. See, for example, Deuteronomy 28.

Spiritual blessings are promised to the Church as stated in Ephesians 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly spheres, in Christ, with many spiritual blessings." 

Faithful Christians of the Church do not stretch themselves for power on earth or for money and good, but they build their treasures in heaven, spiritual treasures. Mat 6 :19,20

Time frame in the prophecies, a mountainous landscape

Berglandschap

When studying a prophecy, it is good to realize that sometimes there is a lot of time difference between the events announced. For example, Jesus says in Matthew 24 that the Temple will be torn down and a little later, in verse 21, that a time will come that is as terrible as there has never been before. So between the fulfillment of verse 2 and verse 21 is already almost 2,000 years, because the latter is yet to come.

People therefore compare the prophecies to a mountain landscape; you see the peaks, but you don't see the valleys in between. If you want to walk from one summit to the other, chances are you will misjudge the distance between the peaks.

So it is with prophecy in the Bible, God's Spirit gives us the highlights to see, but not exactly the time in between.

Moreover, in Matthew 24, among others, you see this it is not a chronological order, but sometimes it goes forward in time and then suddenly jumps back to the first summit. We also see this in Revelation and many other prophetic Bible passages.