DESPISE

NOT

PROPHECIES

 

By

Doug Krieger

 

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?  This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven”

(Acts 1:11).

 

There’s an absurd notion among the ranks of evangelicals these days:  “Prophecy is none of your business!”  This statement, made by the likes of Pastor Rick Warren, America’s Emerging Church Pastor, claims that we believers must be about the business of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (as well as doing “good works” of social justice), while abstaining from the prophetic.  Warren has Jesus purposefully interpolating prophecy by diminishing, even deprecating, its impact upon the early Church and ipso facto upon today’s Ecclesia.  Warren claims that it’s “not for you to know the times and the seasons” for these matters were only known by the Father, not even the Son—so:  PROPHECY IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.  Furthermore, THE END will not come until the gospel is preached to the whole world; therefore, let’s get with the mission of the evangelization of the world, for only when all of humanity has heard:  THEN WILL THE END COME!

 

Besides, as one dear sister in Christ once told me:  PROPHECY IS DIVISIVE and there are myriads of opinions—so, let’s just stick “with the basics” like Billy Graham and forget all about this business of prophecy—especially, its intricacies . . . Jesus hasn’t commissioned us to preach prophecy, but we’re enjoined to preach “Christ crucified” and the gospel of the grace of God—so, let’s quit splitting hairs and talking about a literal Third Temple, Babylon the Great, the Antichrist, the Rapture (and its timing), the Tribulation (who’s in, who’s out), the Millennium, and all the nuances that go along with “this business of prophecy.” 

What about the “unity of the faith?”  What about five-point Calvinism?  What about Christology (the doctrines of Christ), Ecclesiology (the doctrines of the Church), what about Soteriology (doctrines of Salvation), apologetics, even creationism and the “issues of life” like ethics and abortion - you know, WHAT REALLY COUNTS, excluding eschatology, of course.  Likewise, let’s discuss how to get along with one’s mate, finances, conflict resolution, education, meeting the community’s social needs, the Church and the world in general—all the while we can be preaching the real gospel . . . but “this business of prophecy” is altogether too negative, too esoteric, ethereal, abstract and, above all, contentious. 

 

Certainly, let’s quit harping about the so-called GREAT APOSTASY.  Talk about a downer – let’s get affirmative, positive, be upbeat, unifying, approachable, seeker-friendly (as they say) or “transition oriented” in our ministry and just keep smiling, “for Jesus loves you and so do I!”

 

And, really, do we have to talk about sin?  That’s got to be the most divisive topic known to modern man!  Talk about driving sinners away from our church—that’d do it for sure, especially, if you get SIN SPECIFIC and start calling out “life-styles” of Americana (and you know what I mean).  We should even consider universalism as a viable option to an eternal hell—now that’s a really awful thought:  The Almighty roasting the unrighteous for eternity!

 

Today’s EMERGENT CHURCH has exchanged the OFFENSE of the gospel and replaced it with fads and fancies wherein the name of Jesus is hardly mentioned in the traditional Sunday morning Church service.  It is safe to say that the Anglican Church in Uganda, or the Lutheran Church in Ethiopia, or the revivalist’s churches in India and China, would find such methodology utterly apostate, abhorrent and contradictory to the Great Commission of our Lord.

My 24-yr. old son returned from attending one of the largest churches in the Greater Sacramento area and informed me that the pastor gave out seven “essential points” for successful Christian living – everything from a “healthy self image” to “managing your finances” was given top priority, then last, but, of course not least, a vibrant walk with Jesus in one’s daily life.  Shockingly, Jesus finished last!  Actually, I was surprised He was even in the running!

 

The “can’t-we-all-just-get-along” Church Growth Movement mindset has permeated the Church in North America.  “Brother, don’t be fractious – there’s too much bickering and disputations going on in the Church already—don’t rock the boat—just go with the flow and the Lord will bless you and yours.  Keep your focus on the prize—souls for the kingdom and looking into the face of Jesus, now that’s what Christianity is really all about, isn’t it?  And, where’s the love—man, read the book of Revelation – John was tripping out – I can’t find anything about love as found in his epistles and gospel—it just isn’t there!”

 

Especially, condemnatory, is the sanctimonious exhortation which opines: 

 

“Be careful, ‘judge not lest you be judged’ – sowing ‘discord among the brethren’ is as the ‘sin of witchcraft’ – ‘mark them that cause divisions among you’ – ‘avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife’ (especially, this is “prophetic specific”).”

 

Then the finale:  “I’m not ‘into prophecy’ – I’m into loving the brethren – I’m into ‘preaching the simplicity of the gospel’ – let’s just trust the Lord for the future, after all, we can’t change it – sure, I care about what’s going on in the Middle East and what’s happening to Israel and even the Arabs, but I can’t change any of that – but I can preach the gospel and celebrate the return of Jesus to the earth one of these days, but I don’t know the ‘times and the seasons’ – and I’m not supposed to know the specifics, just keep focused on my mission, and that mission is preaching the gospel, that’s the ticket!  You can talk about prophecy all you want – my gift is evangelistic – I don’t do stuff that leads to arguments, just the plain old vanilla gospel is good enough for me."

 

Whereas, the “external gospel preachers” (so-called) can only be trumped by the “inner lifers” who contend that the “deeper things of God” somehow exclude the prophetic—“feeding on Christ”—being conformed to His image through radical transformation and walking in the spirit—now, devotional Christianity trumps all, plain and simple but really DEEP! 

 

Hopefully, I’ve stepped on everyone’s “spiritual toes” – purposefully so, but for a reason—let us continue . . .

 

RICK WARREN’S ANIT-PROPHETIC RHETORIC

 

We’ve covered the priorities of one, Pastor Rick Warren, in so far as his emergent message of social gospel with an evangelical twist in our piece:  The Last Days of Rick Warren, Tim LaHaye and Hank Hanegraaff.  However, probing the theological distortions in Warren’s attempts to decouple the prophetic Scriptures from the gospel is another matter:

 

Warren’s approachable-Californeeze commences . . .

 

“First He (Jesus) says, ‘Don’t be fooled...’ Circle that. Don't believe everything you hear or read. I used to have a collection of books that proclaimed this was the last war. In the twentieth century, every single war practically that’s been fought somebody’s written a book on it and said, ‘This is the end!’ There were people who said World War I was the end war. Kaiser was the antichrist. Then they said World War II was the end war and Hitler was the antichrist.  On and on.

 

“I want to say this: There have been dozens and dozens of books that have set dates and time. Every one of them have (sic. “has”) been wrong. One hundred percent wrong.

 

“Notice it says ‘...such things must happen...’ Underline that. In the last 3,421 years there have only been 268 years that have seen no war. During the last 5,560 years -- recorded history -- there have been 14,531 wars averaging a little over 2.6 wars each year. In the history of 185 generations, only ten of those generations have experienced unbroken peace. So when Jesus said ‘There's going to be wars and rumors of wars’ He knew what He was talking about. We live in a fallen world.

 

“Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 ‘No one knows that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son (NOT IN THE ORIGINAL – only in the NU), but only the Father.’ Look who Jesus said knows about the Second Coming. Any time you read a book on the Second Coming that says ‘This is when it’s going to happen. This is the day,’ I can guarantee you one thing. They’re wrong. Anytime someone picks a date and says, ‘This is it,’ you can know it won’t be on that date. That’s one you can mark off. I can have a picnic that day. Why? No one knows! Jesus said, ‘I don’t even know.’ Jesus said, ‘The angels don’t know, I don’t even know the time of the Second Coming.  Only the Father.’

 

“People ask me why I don't preach more on prophecy. I say, ‘Why? Nobody knows’ I could get up here and make some good guesses but they’d all be speculation. Jesus said, ‘Nobody knows when it’s going to happen.’

 

“Not only did He say nobody knows, He said it’s none of your business. Acts 1:7-8 ‘It's not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you are to be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and the uttermost parts of the world.’ He says it’s not for you to know. It’s none of your business.

 

“Three times in Matthew 25 He says, ‘Be ready!’ He could come at any time but nobody knows the time. Acts 1:7-8 are the last words of Jesus before we went back to heaven. You figure the last words are probably the most important thing He wants to talk about. What do the disciples come and ask Him about. They ask Him about the Second Coming. When are You coming back? In Acts 1:6 they say, ‘Lord, when are You going to restore Your kingdom to Israel? When are you coming back?’ Jesus turns around and says, ‘It's none of your business. Now go out and start sharing the faith.’

 

“Isn’t it interesting how they asked a question about prophecy and He turns the question to evangelism? They want to talk about when He’s coming back. He wants to talk about winning the world. That’s the priority of Jesus’ heart. That’s why He talked more about winning the world because that’s what Jesus is interested in. He wants everybody to know Him. In fact, in Matthew 24:14 it says ‘And the good news shall be preached to all the world to every nation for a witness and then the end shall come.’ One of the signs Jesus gave was the Good News is going to be shared with all nations. All peoples. Every people, every tribe will have a chance to hear the gospel before He comes back.

 

“Why hasn’t Christ come back yet? Because He’s waiting until everybody He wants to have heard the gospel has heard it. Once everybody He wants to have heard it has heard it, He’s coming back. So if you want the Lord to come back soon, it’s simple. Get out and start sharing your faith. Every time you tell somebody about Christ you’re shortening the time. Every time you share the gospel with somebody it means it’s getting shorter. He says, ‘It’s not for you to know. Nobody knows. You just concentrate not on when am I coming back, but you concentrate on sharing the good news with people who are here so I can come back.’” (When is it Right To Fight? Part Two,

By Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, CBN.com)

 

THE KINGDOM & THE SECOND COMING

 

These erroneous suppositions proposed by Warren and the flimsy justification that Jesus declared “even He didn’t know” (as found only in the twenty-sixth edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament and in the third edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament) are not only unconvincing regarding the peripheral nature of the prophetic within the Christian message – they belie a present deception within the Church that distorts that very prophetic calling and the futurity of the Kingdom upon this earth, let alone the anticipatory nature of the Second Coming and its purifying expectation within the lives of believers.  Indeed, the prescient exhortations to unbelievers of the return of Christ cannot avoid the prophetic!

 

Let me explain . . .

 

First of all, let’s get one thing straight:  Jesus did not say He does not know or, as Rick Warren distorts:  “I don’t even know!”  That’s nonsense.  Jesus’ precise words are:  “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”  Jesus also said: 

 

“The Father loves the son, and has given all things into His hand” (John 3:35).  “As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father . . . I and my Father are one” (John 10:15, 30).  “He that has seen me has seen the Father . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?” (John 14:9-10).  “All things that the Father has are mine” (John 16:15a).  “You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” (John 17:21).  So much for excluding Jesus from knowing the prophetic intent of His Second Coming and its timing—HE KNOWS!

 

Furthermore, even if we consider the NU (“nor the Son”) we must consider it in the context of “Jesus’ humanity” wherein He purposefully restricted Himself “in the form of a man . . . being found in fashion as a man” prior to His resurrection and glorification in which “all authority” was given to Him.

 

What is at stake in Acts 1:7 wherein it states:

“And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority’” . . .

 

. . . has absolutely nothing to do with placing the gospel to the forefront at the expense of the prophetic Scriptures!  Let’s review the entire exchange between Jesus and His disciples at or near His ascension, after His resurrection:

 

“‘For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’ . . . There, when they had come together they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts 1:5-6)

 

Seeing their resurrected Lord, their expectation of the MANIFESTATION of the earthly kingdom promised to Israel was foremost in their thoughts—especially, when they were imminently assured that they, like Jesus, would be baptized, not by John’s baptism, but by the Holy Spirit.  They were expectant of the outpouring and empowerment of the Holy Spirit for KINGDOM MANIFESTATION, not for empowerment to WITNESS TO THE LOST of the Savior’s redemption.

 

They had not connected His immediate ascension with that empowerment—they were still “this worldly” in their focus because the Spirit had not yet descended upon them to make them His glorious Body and spokespersons to the world around them.

 

“And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8).

The baptism of the Spirit was for witnessing to the lost—not for the immediate manifestation of the Kingdom promised to Israel.  This was the disciples’ pre-ascension focus.  Jesus refocused them on the purpose of the baptism of the Spirit and the heavenly character of their charge—not upon Israel’s future promise of the Kingdom, that would come later at His Second Coming; to wit, upon His immediate ascension found in the same chapter of Acts (vs. 9-12):

 

“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.  And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?  (“It’s time,” according to Rick Warren, “to be about your mission, and preach the gospel—forget about prophecy, it’s none of your business anyway, isn’t that what Jesus told you?”) NO, NO, NO---“THIS SAME JESUS, WHO WAS TAKEN UP FROM YOU INTO HEAVEN, WILL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YOU SAW HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.’”

 

The very first exhortation given to the disciples through the two men dressed in white apparel is a dynamic and intensely prophetic punctuation:  THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WAS ANNOUNCED!  Tell me, if Jesus wanted the disciples to forget about prophecy, why was/is it the very first interjection upon the Lord’s ascension that such a Blessed Hope is given to them?  Why is it that such a glorious promise of THE COMING ONE, the Messiah, is announced?  The literal, bodily, SAME JESUS will come in the very same way that they see Him ascending—no Preterist can deny this future appearance of the Savior!

 

Let’s get our priorities straight—“My Kingdom is NOT of this world . . . if My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight . . . My kingdom is not from here” (spoken to Pilate of Rome) (John 18:36). 

 

The risen Lord does NOT tell the disciples that prophecy is none of their business – He circumvents their question and focuses them upon the baptism of the Spirit, the empowerment which will propel them to not only preach the gospel of the Grace of God to Jerusalem, but to the uttermost parts of the earth.   To the contrary:  The PROPHETIC confronted the disciples upon the ascension of the Lord Jesus!

 

PETER’S PROPHETIC EXHORTATIONS

 

Warren’s abuse of the prophetic is akin to Peter’s denunciation of the same found in II Peter 3:

 

“That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and savior, knowing this first:  that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming.  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation’” (vs.2-4).

 

Peter then uses the prophetic and couples it with the gospel—for the gospel fits like a glove around the prophetic hand:

 

“For this they willfully forget:  that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.  But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE” (II Peter 3:5-9).

 

The prophetic and the gospel are inextricably bound together as one.  But, Peter goes even further—he utilizes the prophetic Scriptures as a PURIFYING and SANCTIFYING weapon of the Spirit within the life of the believer; therefore, say NOT that the prophetic Scriptures are superficial and have little or nothing to do with the interior life of the believer—that is an outrageous distortion of the Scripture of Truth!

 

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.  Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, WHAT MANNER OF PERSONS OUGHT YOU TO BE IN HOLY CONDUCT AND GODLINESS, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?  Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (II Peter 3:10-13).

 

It’s time to quote one Berit Kjos on this volatile topic; and, I recommend that you research her complete research on this subject:

 

“Infiltration and deception have been tools of conspirators through the ages, and the Church has been a primary target! After all, God warns us that ‘the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.’ (1 John 5:19) One of his most effective schemes is to redefine God’s Word and divert Christians from His unchanging Truth to man’s shifting ideals.

 

“For example, God calls and equips us to serve the poor. That’s why His true followers around the world have willingly given their lives to share His truth and love in perilous places. But today's world-centered church illustrates a different kind of service. Designed to please man rather than God, it trains its servers to hide the ‘offensive’ truths of the gospel.

 

“Like Rick Warren, it uses the Bible to validate its purposes but emphasizes organizational behavior rather than Biblical beliefs -- in short, deeds instead of creeds.[3] Behind its noble appearance hides a postmodern version of the century-old ‘Christian Socialism.’” (Treason in the Church: Trading Truth for “A Social Gospel” – Berit Kjos, NewsWithViews, Oct, 2006)

 

In Berit’s article, she compares the “spiritual revolution” of the do-gooders and social engineers at the turn of the Twentieth Century (the 1900’s) who embraced the original social gospel to the political engineers under socialism, especially communism and its quest for material redistribution, etc. – that’s the scary part – for the MANIFESTATION OF THE KINGDOM NOW in its myriad deceptions and its “this worldly” emphasis, as now with Rick Warren’s social gospel.  This is a stark turn from the spiritual commission of the church to a shrewd but makeover social gospel which drained and continues to drain the mainline Protestant churches throughout most of the industrialized earth.

 

JAN MARKELL’S – MODERN-DAY PROPHETESS

 

To effect this sea change within evangelicalism, he (Rick Warren), and his stalwarts, are determined to destroy the prophetic message of the Church – but the spirit of Deborah has seized upon one, Jan Markell—modern-day prophetess (though she’d never claim to be) to thwart these nefarious efforts:

 

“I am deeply concerned and grieved that some of our nation’s most prominent Christian leaders just can’t get it right when it comes to issues of Bible prophecy or Israel. Equally troubling is the fact that eschatology has vanished from our pulpits some 15 – 20 years ago because it is ‘divisive,’ ‘confusing,’ and might drive away today’s ‘seekers.’ I cannot figure out why the message that ‘the King is coming’ doesn’t fit in to today’s ‘feel good’ theology.

 

“The Bible says in II Thessalonians that there will be a great ‘falling away’ from sound doctrine in the last days.  Perhaps that explains the surge of the trendy theology called ‘Preterism’ which teaches that all or most of prophecy is history. It took place in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem. The Tribulation was the persecution of the saints. Nero was the antichrist most likely, though he died in 68 AD by suicide.” (The Demise and Abuse of Bible Prophecy, Jan Markell, as seen on Rapture Ready).

 

She then lists “our favorite” Preterists, but then turns to Pastor Warren for her more spiritually adroit observations:

 

“The theology came along in the 1600’s but wasn’t made trendy until 20th Century teachers like Ken Gentry, R.C. Sproul, Gary DeMar, and ‘The Bible Answerman’ Hank Hanegraaff started heralding it. Hanegraaff clearly never met a Dispensationalist he didn’t address in a demeaning manner. He uses his powerful international radio microphone to denounce Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, and many more, on a weekly basis.

 

“But even more respected is Rick Warren, the man trying to give us all ‘purpose’ while at the same time telling his readers to stay away from Bible prophecy. While I know that many have grown from the whole ‘purpose-driven phenomenon,’ I am grieved that this powerful Christian leader says on pages 285-286 of his book, The Purpose Driven Life, that Jesus told his disciples, ‘The details of my return are none of your business.’ Rick, give us chapter and verse for that!  We are to focus on our ‘mission’ which isn’t Bible prophecy. We are to preach the gospel to every nation and then the end will come says Rick, but that happens in the Tribulation. He suggests that prophecy is a ‘diversion of the devil’ and then implies that those who do not focus on the work God has planned for us—from which prophecy diverts us—is not fit for the Kingdom of God.

 

“He doesn’t get it that two thirds of the Bible is prophecy and that Jesus tells us to ‘watch and pray’ for His return. In Matthew 16, He chastises the Pharisees for knowing the signs of the weather but not the signs of the times. Rick robs of us our ‘blessed hope’ and our ‘purpose’ could in no way have anything to do with sounding an alarm to the lateness of the hour which would fit into Rick’s evangelistic plan. Bible prophecy and evangelism fit like a hand in a glove!” (Ibid.)

 

Markell then aligns the eschatology of one, President George W. Bush, with the growing number of outspoken evangelicals who see no “prophetic relevance” in Israel’s materiality – then sums up her dismay:

 

“I conclude that you can have an international platform, sell millions of books, and even rise to high political office with little consequences if you have indifference towards prophecy or skewed eschatological theology, and have Israel not much more relevant than the Canary Islands.

 

“The bottom line is this: Millions of prophecy books including The Late-Great Planet Earth and the Left Behind series have won untold numbers for Eternity.  The hour is much too late to have these theologies torn apart and ridiculed when we need to use such teachings to win the lost while we have time!

 

“How convenient of the enemy to blur the sound theology behind true Dispensationalist teaching and get people wondering if all prophecy is history, the Church is Israel, and we are deluded if we think our ‘purpose’ is to believe sound prophecy teaching when that is but a diversion.” (Ibid.)

 

DANIEL 12:4 – WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT TRAVEL!

 

And, for those of you who are disturbed by the prophetic Dispensationalists and their excesses and/or deficiencies, remember, to their credit they have been faithful to the light which the Lord gave them for the time—notwithstanding, we press on, having a “more sure word of prophecy” (II Peter 1:19), realizing that even this “process of discovery” is heralded by the Scripture:

 

Daniel 12:4 in the Amplified Version of the Bible—and from the precise sense of the Hebrew in this passage—unveils a passage which has been grossly misinterpreted by well-meaning futurists of the Premillenarian camp (of which we hail) - but, how refreshing to have G. H. Lang the great evangelical expositor from England to insightfully illuminate this passage to us all and, I am sure, others like Lang have done as well.

 

  “But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book UNTIL THE TIME OF THE END (my emphasis).  [Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God’s purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great” (Daniel 12:4, Amplified Version).  “[ ]” taken from the Amplified Version.

 

Fortunately, there are some who “know their God” and who will shine “like the brightness of the firmament . . . and turn many to righteousness” on that day.  And, what is best are those who Daniel the Prophet spoke of, who in the end of days, would diligently seek out the Scripture of Truth, for the time is near; therefore, the study of the prophetic Scriptures will and has radically increased as we “see the day approaching.”

 

What we have here is not the disclosure in the end of days of travel enhancement, but a feverish “to and fro” discovery throughout THE BOOK; an anxious research of the Scriptures dealing with the prophetic (to be exact) in order to determine GOD'S PURPOSES AS REVEALED BY HIS PROPHETS - one of the greatest signs of the coming of the Lord and of the matters covered in the book of Daniel is this very intense discovery process which shall be INCREASED AND BECOME GREAT!  Here’s one GREAT we can say AMEN to!

 

Hence, when Brother Rick Warren declares:  PROPHECY IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS - he is inadvertently or purposefully maligning the essence of what Daniel declared!  Brethren, let us go “to and fro throughout the BOOK” to determine the “PURPOSES OF GOD” in these last days - the prophetic expression is:  SHALL BE INCREASED AND BECOME GREAT!!  You can't get any clearer than that - so when someone tells you how irrelevant the study and discovery of these matters of prophetic worth are—resort to Daniel 12:4.  That said, the study of the prophetic Scriptures is NOT a “diversion of the devil” nor is it “none of your business” - pray tell, how could knowing THE PURPOSES OF GOD be considered as a “diversion of the devil!” 

 

Now, the Church has embraced a “purpose driven” message wherein prophecy, which they claim divides and distracts and has nothing to do with “preaching the gospel” - finds 20 evangelical leaders telling the President of these United States that they wish to strengthen his hand to divide the land of Israel - and why not?  What has prophecy to do with this matter in any event – “it is not for you to know the times and the seasons” - right?  Just so happens that after the ascension of our Lord Jesus and enthronement that HE KNOWS ALL THINGS and certainly knows precisely the time of His coming!

 

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples does not mean that they could care less about the prophetic - and that all they should do is “preach the gospel” - this type of thinking is downright dangerous and distracting.  Preaching the gospel and doing acts of “social justice” on behalf of the poor and needy is a real testimony, but the neglect of the prophetic, as these brethren so stress and insist is but a grandiose distraction, is altogether one of the most dangerous distractions in these last days.

 

THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

 

To conclude this rant without the declarations from the Book of Revelation—in the midst of this dissuasion—would do the prophetic a great injustice.  “Behold, He is coming” (Grk. Erchomai - Revelation 1:7) – and this is used nigh nine separate occasions in the Revelation—for Messiah is in essence THE COMING ONE.  Likewise, Jesus used this expression of Himself seven times.

 

“That truth (the Second coming of Christ) appears in more than five hundred verses throughout the Bible.  It has been estimated that one out of every twenty-five verses in the New Testament refers to the second coming.” (Because the time is Near, John MacArthur, Moody Publishers, Chicago, 2007, p. 25.)

 

Central to the Revelation is the Son of Man Who stands in the midst of the Seven Golden Lampstands as the fulfillment of Zechariah 4—the UNIVERSAL LAMPSTAND.  The churches—the “extensions” of His workmanship are in the midst of the two olive trees—the Two Sons of Oil—Zerubbabel the Governor and Joshua the High Priest (the Kingship and the Priesthood).  Ultimately, as we have brought out in our treatise on Zechariah, we find that He receives the triple crown in Zechariah 6 in Zechariah’s concluding prophecy – clearly signifying He is our Prophet (Zechariah as type); our Priest (Joshua as type); and King (Zerubbabel as type).

 

In the Revelation He (our Prophet in the Revelation) has “made us kings and priests” (Revelation 1:6) – just as Zerubbabel and Joshua as the Two Sons of Oil (the “anointed ones”) were representative of the Kingship and the Priesthood – those offices could only be filled and sustained by the eternal oil of the Universal Lampstand which, when it did shine, it illuminated and declared the fullness of Him Who fills all in all!

 

The State (the Kingship) and the Church (the Priesthood) is the divine order in balance—and, one glorious day the words of Zechariah will be fulfilled:

 

“Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD.  He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them (i.e., the Kingship and the Priesthood) both” (Zechariah 6:13).

 

This can only be accomplished by the ministry of the prophet—as seen and displayed through the “Universal Lampstand” – to wit:

 

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6b).

 

Then and then only, will we see that He has made us “Kings and Priests” – He alone can bring peace between the State and the Church, between the Kingship and the Priesthood—because He is the “Illuminating Prophet!”

 

This is not an esoteric interpretation of Scripture—this is the very essence of its meaning—the centrality of Christ is wholly revealed through His prophetic office in the Revelation and it is this very office, the office of the Prophet, which has been committed to John as representative of us all, and to both Israel and the Church in the crucible of the Tribulation as found in Revelation 10 and 11:

 

“Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.  And he said to me, ‘YOU MUST PROPHESY again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings . . . and I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth . . . these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth” (Revelation 10:10-11; 11:3-4).

 

To denigrate the prophetic ministry is to diminish the prophetic ministry of the supreme Prophet:  The Son of Man!  To separate the gospel from the prophetic is an affront to the Spirit of Prophecy, and divorces the Testimony of Jesus—the Faithful and True WITNESS—from the very vehicle in which it is the most comfortable.  They who derisively denounce the prophetic from the gospel message neither know its empowerment nor understand its profound attachment—they deny the Testimony of Jesus, for they declare it is NOT the spirit of prophecy.

 

We are to fully embrace His prophetic mantel and in so doing, call the world to repentance (the wearing of sackcloth) – once again, is not the gospel and the prophetic utterance one in the same?  I believe it is – and, without question the ministry of the Son of Man, and our testimony which we are called to bear throughout the Revelation, is ultimately encapsulated in this profound expression:  THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY (Revelation 19:10b). 

 

Thus, we conclude this renewed focus upon the prophetic calling of the Church and of its witness to the world in the context of prophetic injunction and emphasis, as well as its intrinsic mingling with the gospel message.  We call the Church and “prophetic Israel” – as well as the sons of Ishmael – to lay hold of their birthright and their witness to the Holy One, to the Son of Man, to the Sovereign of the Universe – with Whom we have to do – and to Whom we yield ourselves for His final purposes upon this concluding chapter of human history as we know it . . . “Do not despise prophecies” (I Thessalonians 5:20) . . .

 

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come,

Lord Jesus!”

(Revelation 22:20).