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CHAPTER
29
CHAPTER
TWENTY NINE
THE
PROPHET
Moses
told the ancient Israelites:
‘The
Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me
from among your own people; you must listen to everything
he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will
be completely cut off from among his people.’
(Acts
chapter 3, verses22-23).
The
Apostle Peter was reminding the Jews of the above Scripture,
which we first see in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy
(18v15). He was confirming to them that the promised
‘prophet’ was no other than the one they had just crucified---Jesus.
The verb ‘to prophesy’, as seen in Scripture, has two
meanings. There is the telling of future events---foretelling;
and there is the preaching of God’s word---forthtelling.
Jesus did both, but in this chapter I want to concentrate
on His prophetic ministry in the foretelling sense,
the telling of future events.
Jesus
spoke much on the things of the future, often in parables.
In fact, we can say that Jesus was really speaking,
by His Spirit, through all of God’s Old Testament prophets,
and they spoke a great deal about future events---according
to certain estimates something approaching 25% of all
Scripture relates to prophetic foretelling. The whole
world wallows in complete ignorance of where God, through
history, has already brought us and where He is yet
taking us. Sadly, many Christians are almost as ignorant---they
may be saved but they are missing out on so much because
of wrong ideas of where the world is heading; and many
prayers are outside of God’s will because of this ignorance;
and much prayer in line with God’s will is neglected.
Some
well-known Christian leaders and writers say it is not
our business to try and make sense of future events
mentioned in Scripture. This is such foolishness even
to the point of arrogance---not one sentence of God’s
word is to be neglected, never mind massive portions!
And not one sentence should be regarded as having so
little import as to be almost pointless, not worth the
study, or none of our business. I realise that, as with
all gifts and talents from God, understanding much of
this mass of prophetic Scripture is not given to everyone
in the Church---but it is given to some, and they must
make it known.
The
Lord has not gone to the trouble of having so much ‘end-time’
Scripture in His book for it to be set aside and regarded
as too complex and mysterious to ever understand. Some
of it is complex, and certain Scriptures were only meant
to be understood as history progressed---but not one
single verse is meant to confuse or confound the people
of God:
He
replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are
closed up and sealed until the time of the end---------None
of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise
will understand.”
(Daniel
chapter 12, verses 9-10).
How
will the ‘wise’ understand unless they have studied
such Scriptures and kept an eye on world events? And
God raises up such to bear much good fruit:
“Those
who are wise will instruct many------”
(Daniel
chapter 11, verse 33).
Jesus
gave a long discourse on events that would lead to His
return to earth, we find it in 3 out of the 4 Gospels,
and He ends it with these words:
“
Be on your guard! Be alert!-----Therefore keep watch
because you do not know when the owner of the house
will come back------What I say to you, I say to everyone:
‘Watch!’”
(Mark
chapter 13, verses 33, 35-36).
This
foretelling, by Jesus, of a whole list of future events
came in response to His disciples’ request:
“Tell
us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will
be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
(Matthew
chapter 24, verse 3).
He
began to tell them, and us, what to watch out for prior
to His return---how dare we ignore, make insignificant
or cast aside His warnings and commands? ‘What I say
to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’
It
is too vast a subject to go into the Scriptures of future
events in this book, because almost every book in the
Bible has things to say on this subject (I have gone
into more detail in my earlier books).
Let
me show also the relevance of the Old Testament prophecies
before we move on. In this talk in Matthew, Jesus brings
up the name of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. Jesus
says:
“So
when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination
that causes desolation’, spoken of through the prophet
Daniel---let the reader understand-------”
(Matthew
chapter 24, verse 15).
Jesus
speaks, specifically to the Jews, about escaping the
terrible events which immediately follow the appearance
of this ‘abomination that causes desolation’, however
it soon becomes apparent with further reading of Old
and New Testament prophecies, which come together on
this, that what may begin with the Jews soon extends
worldwide. And:
“For
then there will be great distress, unequalled from the
beginning of the world until now---and never to be equalled
again. If those days had not been cut short, no-one
would survive---.”
(Matthew
chapter 24, verse 21-22).
Jesus
not only expects us to take notice of His own prophetic
utterances, but also to read the prophet Daniel’s words,
and obviously all connected Scriptures---and there are
many. Lots of Christians believe there’s no point in
studying these Scriptures because no-one can know the
time of Jesus’ return, and they usually base that idea
on these words from Jesus:
“No-one
knows about that day or hour-----.”
(Matthew
24, verse 36).
And
this only confirms that they have not spent much time
or effort checking even these words. By studying the
‘end-time’ Scriptures we will not discover the day or
the hour of our Lord’s return---but we can know the
season; regarding this very topic, hear the words of
Jesus:
“Now
learn this lesson from the fig-tree: As soon as its
twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that
summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things,
you know that it is near, right at the door.”
(Matthew
chapter 24, verses 32-33).
While
I write this book, momentous events are occurring on
the world stage---right in line with the prophetic Scriptures
which speak of the coming end of this age and the return
of the Lord. Let me mention just one: Iran and its nuclear
ambitions; its ties with Russia; and its avowed hatred
of Israel---only a few weeks ago the Iranian leader
made headlines by calling for the destruction of Israel.
Let’s
see why these things might be very significant:
“Son
of man, prophesy against Gog and say: ‘This is what
the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around
and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north
and send you against the mountains of Israel.’”
(Ezekiel
chapter 39, verses 1-2).
You
might ask, ‘What do these strange names have to do with
anything in today’s world?’ Bear with me a little.
To
the far (the farthest) north (directly north) of Israel
lies the land of Russia. The names, Meshech and Tubal,
are of the ancient ancestors (there were many others)
who went out across the earth sometime after the
flood and formed nations---they gave their names to
the nations where they settled. Scholars equate Meshech
and Tubal to lands around the Black Sea; most names
have changed significantly over the millennia.
Also,
in the above verses where we read, ‘I am against you,
O Gog, chief prince of’, we can have the margin alternative,
‘I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh’. So we see
the ancient root name, Rosh, for this area north of
Israel; and in all the related verses of Ezekiel we
find the main aggressor, the most powerful nation, the
leader of the attacking forces, is Gog---the ‘prince
of Rosh’. Russia is by far the largest, most powerful
nation in this area of the world, there is no nation
farther north, and Russia’s capital city, Moscow, is
directly in line with Israel.
Now
for the Iranian connection:
“I
am against you, O Gog--------I will turn you around,
put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole
army---------Persia, Cush and Put will be with them------also
Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah---the many
nations with you.”
(Ezekiel
chapter 38, verses 3-6).
Truly
a massive attacking force! And yet more ancient names
for the hostile nations, but notice the one up front,
it changed its name only comparatively recently---Persia
is now Iran.
Now,
if you’ve been taking notice of world events lately,
you will be very much aware that Russia has helped build
Iran’s nuclear facilities; Russia is the main supplier
of every type of weapon, including missiles, to Iran;
and Russia is now offering to produce enriched uranium
for Iranian nuclear reactors.
Something
you might not be aware of is that approximately three
years ago Russia and Iran officially formed a military
alliance!
As
I mentioned, such a group of nations against Israel
would be a truly massive force, a force that should
easily overwhelm little Israel.
The
Scriptures leave us in no doubt of the outcome:
“I
will bring you from the far north and send you against
the mountains of Israel-----On the mountains of Israel
you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations
with you-----You will fall in the open field------I
will send fire on Magog (the homelands of the attackers)
and on those who dwell in safety in the coastlands-----I
will make known my holy name among my people Israel-----and
the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One
in Israel----”
(Ezekiel
chapter 39, verses 2, 4-7, brackets mine).
I
do not say that what I have written above is, alone,
proof that we are in the season when our Lord will return,
but the above is only a small piece of the jigsaw. However,
when added together with the rest of the evidence of
prophecy being fulfilled in our times, I believe we
have an overwhelming case, which does prove we are very
near the return of Christ. The world is swiftly running,
in perfect line with Bible prophecy, towards the terrible
time of satanic domination by the Antichrist, ‘the great
tribulation’, and the battle of Armageddon.
All
that the Lord considers the major events in the history
of the world, including those yet to come to fruition
(and, remember, all those prophecies that have already
come to pass were of the future when first spoken),
concerning His people and the nation of Israel have
been told to His prophets and written down for our benefit:
Surely
the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his
plan to his servants the prophets.
(Amos
chapter 3, verse 7).
God
has revealed His plans to His prophets, and these plans,
spanning from the creation of the world to its end,
are written down in the Holy Bible. Our Lord knew all
the Old Testament prophecies, and considered them vital.
He was aware that He fulfilled a large part of them,
and during and after His incarnation He continued to
add to prophecy.
Jesus
expects His people to know the season of His return
by studying the prophetic Scriptures, and waiting in
ever more eager expectation for the appearing of the
chief Prophet. Let’s hear Him again:
“Immediately
after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light; the stars will
fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
“At
that time the sign of the Son of man will appear in
the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
the sky, with power and great glory.”
(Matthew
chapter 24, verses 29-30).
This
event is now much closer that at any time in history.
I believe that ‘summer is near’ and that the Prophet
who forth tells and fore tells all the things of God
is very near---‘right at the door’.
“What
I say to you, I say to everyone, “Watch!’”
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