A Fresh Look at End Times

Biblical prophecy provides the basic answers we seek concerning the future; in fact, it reveals more about the future than we can imagine. Prophecy reveals the end times in a manner that helps us gain insight, not only to what will happen, but who is involved, where it takes place, when events will occur, and why the events take place. However, much of this information is scattered throughout the Bible, a bit here and a bit there; we have to put it all together to discover the complete story. Prophecy is like a divine jig-saw puzzle, in which many parts have to be pieced together to make one complete picture, as designed by the Author. Sometimes, when putting a puzzle together, we can search and search for one piece, but just cannot find it. That is biblical prophecy; it sometimes takes a lifetime to find that one piece, and it oftentimes takes centuries for humanity to put enough pieces together to see progress on the puzzle's completion.

Bible scholars and students have worked tirelessly, putting prophetic information together so that we can have the knowledge we have today. The puzzle is not anywhere near done, but enough has been put together that we can see an emerging picture: a picture more beautiful than we imagined and worth every century of effort. As the puzzle gets closer to completion, there are fewer unfitted pieces, and the pace toward completion quickens. Some of the last pieces will not be put into place until the very end: "Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, 'My lord, what shall be the end of these things?' And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end'" (Dan. 12:8-9). Of course, the desire of most of us is to know where we fit into the larger picture, even if it is not completed.

While biblical prophecy is the passionate study of many people, our present understanding has only scratched the surface of all God has revealed. What lies beneath? The depth of biblical prophecy is limitless, based upon the limitless mind of the Author. Though limitless, we should never think prophecy is only understandable by scholars and the highly trained. God had humans of all ages and of all capabilities in mind when He inspired the Bible. His desire was to speak to all those who seek the truth with an honest heart. The divine nature underlying the Holy Scripture results in a book understandable by a child, while at the same time captivating the mind of the brightest among us. Only one Book can teach spiritual truth to a child, while at the same time presenting wisdom and realities beyond human comprehension. As we delve into this study, we will see the profundity (profoundness) of the Word, as it presents concepts that can be understood without knowing much about world history, Mid-Eastern cultures, religion, present-day world events, or the Bible itself.

We humans seem hardwired, programmed by the Creator, to want to know about the future. We have an inherent desire, a yearning in our inner core, to know what lies ahead. The desire to know what lies beyond the present seems universal, as witnessed by most cultures that have expressed the need to know if there is an eternal plan guided by the Almighty. Knowing something about the future seems to be part of our DNA. The desire to know can be quelled only for a short time (e.g., by catastrophic events), but not for long. History has shown that discovery and exploration of the unknown are qualities of the human soul, qualities that are so powerful that governments, laws, persecution, even religion, cannot prevent their expression. Gaining knowledge of the future is a yearning that is part of our very nature, an inescapable desire the Lord has placed in our hearts to know if He has an eternal plan for us, and, if so, what it is.

There is an overwhelming satisfaction, some might say something akin to an adrenal rush, from gaining insight into what the future holds. If God has an eternal plan for the world and if He has revealed that plan, then we are driven internally to know it. Knowing the future is an especially captivating concept, especially if a person can gain insight into where he or she fits into the eternal scheme. The position of this book is that God has an eternal plan for all mankind (and each individual), from creation to the end, and that information is revealed exclusively in the Bible. We cannot depend on human visions, revelations, dreams, ancient texts, or any other source: only the Word of God. Thankfully, He gives us the Word for free, which is consistent with His very nature of freely giving us His grace, love, and Salvation. His desire to make Himself known gives us the Bible; the Bible gives us knowledge of the future, both are of inestimable worth.

One of the main problems with biblical prophecy is that there are so many different interpretations and opinions of the Word. For most of us, understanding prophecy is not so much an issue of believing the Bible; we want to do that. Our problem is we do not want to be led astray by those who proclaim what they say is biblical, but whose words are nothing more than human thoughts cleverly clothed in the fleece of human "scripture." The bane of biblical prophecy is the chorus of countless voices screaming at us: "God says this…," and "If you do not believe this, then…." When there is so much disagreement on this topic, how are we to know the truth?

Biblical prophecy provides the basic answers we seek concerning the future; in fact, it reveals more about the future than we can imagine. Prophecy reveals the end times in a manner that helps us gain insight, not only to what will happen, but who is involved, where it takes place, when events will occur, and why the events take place. However, much of this information is scattered throughout the Bible, a bit here and a bit there; we have to put it all together to discover the complete story. Prophecy is like a divine jig-saw puzzle, in which many parts have to be pieced together to make one complete picture, as designed by the Author. Sometimes, when putting a puzzle together, we can search and search for one piece, but just cannot find it. That is biblical prophecy; it sometimes takes a lifetime to find that one piece, and it oftentimes takes centuries for humanity to put enough pieces together to see progress on the puzzle's completion.

Bible scholars and students have worked tirelessly, putting prophetic information together so that we can have the knowledge we have today. The puzzle is not anywhere near done, but enough has been put together that we can see an emerging picture: a picture more beautiful than we imagined and worth every century of effort. As the puzzle gets closer to completion, there are fewer unfitted pieces, and the pace toward completion quickens. Some of the last pieces will not be put into place until the very end: "Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, 'My lord, what shall be the end of these things?' And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end'" (Dan. 12:8-9). Of course, the desire of most of us is to know where we fit into the larger picture, even if it is not completed.