I created this site to discuss end time prophecy. Out of all the prophecies in the Bible, the end time prophecies are the ones that have yet to happen. Most of these were recorded in the book of Revelation; however, several other books in both the Old and New Testament speak about the end times.
Who am I? I am a Christian and I have studied the Bible for most of my life both as student and teacher. Many other scholarly works about the end time prophecies exist – that is true. But, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to create this site in conjunction with a series of Bible studies that I will be teaching to an adult class every Sunday beginning in the new year.
Several times, I have taught the book of Revelation as a Bible Study course. For two of those times, we covered Revelation in the course of four Sunday’s in a month. The last time I taught Revelation, I felt it was important to go through the entire book for as long as it took to cover everything – the course took eight months of Sundays to complete. It was both a rewarding and exhausting experience.
Now, the class will cover all end time prophecy in the Bible from the Old Testament through Revelation and again it will take as long as it takes to complete the course of study. We will also be touching on the history presented in the Bible as a precursor to the time that will come. All of that material which will be covered in the class will also be shared on this site for whoever needs it. In the next post, I will provide you with the context of the prophecies which will be taught and what it means for you.
For now, I ask of you two things. One – as the Apostle John shared in his letter of 1 John, I recommend that you “test the spirits” to see if my teaching is true. (1 John 4:1 – 3) Two – I understand and accept that not everyone will agree with what I plan to teach. Unbelievers of Jesus most likely will not agree and will dismiss this as “foolishness” – that is to be expected to some extent. However, believers will also not agree because of their current understanding/learning. Whether you are a believer or an unbeliever, please keep your mind open to the possibility that I am teaching the truth.
“Behold I stand at the door and knock. . . (Rev. 3:20) “
The Context or My Testimony
When I was a boy of seven years, I went to my Mother and my Father and stated with certainty, “I want to be a Christian.” I had grown up in the church for as long as I could remember and I was convicted that I needed to be a Christian. It was a Sunday.
So, my parents took me to the church that same afternoon and I spent time with the pastor of our church who explained to me what it meant to be a Christian. He used a visual aid that he wrote from scratch that I still have framed in my house. This is basically what it included.
This is how he explained how to become a Christian. All of us were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). However, we all have sinned against God (Romans 3:23) and the punishment for sinning against God is death (Romans 6:23). However, God made a way for us to be redeemed through Jesus Christ death and resurrection (Romans 10:9 – 13). Once saved by Jesus, our responsibility is to obey God as Jesus instructed.
(Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” –Matthew 22:37 – 40 NIV)
This presupposes a couple of main ideas.
There is one God who is the creator of everything including time and space.
God is also infinite in holiness, power, love, goodness, etc.
Mankind is part of God’s creation and is made in God’s image.
Every human being has sinned against God at some point – meaning done something against God that caused us to be separated from Him.
The only judgment which can be rendered to sinners is death – which includes a permanent separation from God.
Because of God’s holiness, the judgment had to be met. Because of God’s love, He sent Jesus to pay that debt.
We are each given a choice – to accept the gift of God’s substitution for the payment of that penalty or to pay that penalty ourselves.
If we choose to accept the substitution (which also means making Jesus the Lord of our life) then we have a responsibility to live according to God’s will going forward.
This is the context in which this study of end time prophecy will occur. in the next post, I will give you more of my testimony. I would like to say that ever since I became a Christian everything was smooth sailing, but that would be far from the truth.
When I was seven, I became a Christian. The following Sunday, I was baptized. Life was perfect ever since.
Wouldn’t that be nice? Of course, you know that life is not perfect and it hasn’t been for me either.
I won’t bore you with everything that happened. I grew up in the church. I went to school. I had part-time jobs growing up and hung out with my friends. When I was in graduate school, I still lived at home (cheaper, you know!) and made enough money to pay for tuition, books, and other things. I was also involved in a ministry area at my church which my Dad led.
Then everything changed: my father died suddenly. One night, he’s heading off to bed telling me to “be sure and take out the trash.” I never saw him again. On that day, I went to work. My Dad had already left before I got up. I got a phone call that afternoon from my Mom at the pool that I managed: “Your Dad’s in the hospital and it looks like he’ll have to have bypass surgery.” She gave me the details – he was OK but had gotten very sick walking back with my brother to the car from his office. From there he came home and then went to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with heart issues.
I didn’t worry too much about it. My Dad had previously had bypass surgery five years before and had come through very well. I committed to going to the hospital after my shift was over that night. I got another phone call later in the afternoon saying, “Be sure to see your father.” I got a little more concerned as my shift ended; but, I wasn’t sure why.
When I got to the hospital, I heard a page for my Mom. She showed up soon after with my brother and his girlfriend. They put us into a room and the cardiologist came out. “It’s not looking good. I’m afraid we might lose him.” Ten minutes later, the cardiologist came back out and said, “He’s gone.”
Total shock.
(All these years later, I couldn’t write a word for awhile after that last short sentence just remembering that time.)
Right after he died, a phone rang in the other waiting room – it was my uncle. I still have no idea how he got that number. I volunteered to go talk to him. All I could get out was, “He’s gone.” and then sat down and cried my heart out. By that time, the pastor from our church had arrived. He had to take over the phone call and talk to my uncle.
My other uncle had come to our house that night and Mom, my uncle, and my brother planned the funeral. I couldn’t participate because I had gone to bed with a migraine. I had worn my favorite shirt that day – I threw it away. I didn’t sleep for two nights. The night after we buried my father, I slept like a baby – I’m not sure why. The first dream I had of him, he was meeting me for pizza – and I remember thinking in my dream, “I can’t have pizza with you. You died.” I awoke.
C.S. Lewis wrote a book on grief and described it as like “being punched in the gut.” I thought that was one of the best definitions of what I experienced. But that’s not all I felt.
I was angry with God.
How could God take my father from me? Why would he let him die at such a young age? (I’m at least five years older now than he ever got to be.) Wasn’t he already doing all the things that he needed to do to remain healthy? Didn’t he believe in you?
I ran the ministry that my father had run in my church for one year. I resigned when the budget that was allocated was only 1/16th of our proposal. It was just as well, I had a job where I needed to start working on Sunday’s – so it was much harder for me to get to church. The truth was, I didn’t need a reason.
And so began my ten year walk away from the church. Oh, I still went (occasionally), and I still listened. And I knew in my brain and agreed with all the logical conclusions from all the scripture study from the sermons and the bible studies.
But I was angry with God. So, I quit praying to him (unless it was to complain about him).
I moved away. I got another job. I searched for a new church in a new city but never found one I wanted to make my church home. (Why would I commit to that?)
I got older. I got another job. I got married. I bought a house. I got up on Sundays and watched a gardening show.
I had quit God. But, He didn’t quit me.
Ten years into this walking away from God, I had a dream. In the dream, I was walking in great darkness – the clouds were all around me and I just couldn’t see through it. Far into the horizon, a light broke through. As I headed toward that light, I knew with a certainty that God was there. He was leading me back to Himself.
I got up and told my wife, “I think we need to go to church.” And so God, in His grace took me back just like the prodigal son from the parable. Eventually, I got called to teach a Sunday School class. That was twenty-one years ago.
I didn’t get all my questions answered. I never fully understood why my father died when he did. But, let me tell you another story to explain why none of that mattered.
My grandmother went into the hospital with pneumonia. She was in her nineties and in frail health. My cousin, his wife, and I were waiting on the hospital floor when she was brought in a wheel chair to her hospital room. As she was placed in the bed, she turned to me and said, “Why won’t God just let me die?”
I touched her head and looked into her eyes, and said, “Your time will come when God says it is your time. But for now, when Paul asked for his ‘thorn in the flesh to be removed’ God answered him with, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’ And just as it was for him, God’s grace is sufficient for you, too.” She calmed down and accepted what I said and said, “OK.” My cousin, his wife, and I prayed over her.
That’s the last time I saw her awake. On this side of Paradise, it’s sometimes difficult for us to wrap our heads around the idea that “God rejoices at the death of His saints” because we are so busy grieving the loss of those that we love. And all these years later, I still miss them. But, my father and my grandmother died and went immediately to be with the Lord which is far better than anything that I could imagine.
As a boy, one of the first Bible verses I learned was “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) But, the verse that resonates with me because of my experiences is this one, “God proves His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
What that means is that even when we were God’s “enemies” Christ died for US – God’s enemies! I had been His enemy before I became saved and I was sure His enemy when I walked away from Him. But, He was not content to leave it at that.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:27 – 29 NIV)
And so, even I could not snatch myself out of the hand of God.
End Time Prophecy Study 