Soon to be released book by Pastor Michael Joe Kearse
Foreword
Biblical prophecy is typically the prediction of future events based on the action, function, or faculty of a prophet. A prophet is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the divine, and to speak for them, serving as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the divine source to other people. By definition a prophet is someone who speaks by divine inspiration. Our Bible is based on the words of the divine as recorded or spoken by many different prophets. The list of bible individuals that have been clearly defined as prophets, either by explicit scriptural statement, or strong contextual implication is quite long. Including individuals listed in scripture as having visionary, or prophetic experience from the divine number well over one hundred.
(See Wikipedia: Prophets of Christianity) The exact number of prophecies recorded in scripture are not mutually agreed on by knowledgeable scholars. J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy lists 1,817 prophecies in the entire bible. These prophecies use eight thousand three hundred fifty two verses of our scripture. That is slightly over twenty five percent of the approximately 31,173 verses of the bible.
Isaiah 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure“
Realizing many of these prophets prophecies have accurately come to pass cannot help but make one curious about those prophecies that remain. GOD said he has declared the end from the beginning, even the things that are not yet done. Examining prophetic scriptures, trying to understand and interpret them does not make one a prophet. As this article continues on Biblical Prophecy the focus is on what we call end of the age events. Once again there is no prophetic claim of authority or divine inspiration from this author. Endeavoring to interpret GOD’S true prophets of scripture by stating what I now see in that which has been written. Trusting you to understand that what you are about to read is an educated guess. This end of the age theory is based on my understanding of prophetic scriptures, it is my thoughts on the unfolding of events. There are many, many, other articles and authors with various different ideas from which one can chose concerning bible prophecy. Differing ideas relating to prophetic events should not cause confusion concerning doctrine of the Gospel of Christ. One prophecy we all can be sure of is: GOD is coming for each of us in our life time. The Lord’s coming for you may be by way of the grave or a gathering in the clouds. The substituted Lamb of GOD for our transgressions, whose blood made atonement for our sins is the important doctrine of the bible. This good news of Christ is the foundation of our faith that was once delivered to the saints.
Now that the above has been stated: as a bible student for the past thirty one years, and pastor for over twenty years there is no way to escape an interest in biblically prophesied future events. The fact of the matter is I have taught bible eschatology for the past twenty years. On television, radio, audio series, and in class rooms and pulpits. These labors and accomplishments certainly do not make me an authority on the subject of our prophetic future. My wife and I have stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, waded Hezekiah tunnel, toured the Rabbis tunnel and the list goes on of our Israel experiences. Having made several trips to Israel and leading a few tours of the Holy Land certainly broadened our biblical knowledge. Trips to Egypt to see the land of our fore fathers plight, Greece to stand on Mars Hill, Corinth to walk in Paul’s footsteps expanded our cultural awareness. Visits to Italy to experience our studies of Rome, and Turkey to tour Ephesus and other ancient church sites added to the panorama of bible scenes. The reason for making mention of these personal activities is to make this point: our time, finances, and studies have revolved around deeper understanding of the scripture for a quarter of a century. I am very blessed to have my life partner poses as deep a desire as I to know HIM. Many thanks to her for allowing me to spend freely to equip our library. As you read my opinions on unreeling future biblical events, I confess to you they are not backed by college degrees in linguistics, theology or Biblical studies.
Pastor Michael Joe Kearse