The Bible is a book of prophecy. Over one-third of its verses predict the future, with every fulfillment happening with one hundred percent accuracy down to the smallest of details.
The Old Testament contains forty-eight specific prophecies related to Jesusโ first coming, which happened precisely as the prophets of old foretold. The odds that one person could fulfill all of them stagger the imagination, and together, they verify that He was truly the promised Messiah, the Christ.
During His earthly ministry, the Lord prepared His disciples for what was coming by repeatedly telling them about His future death and resurrection. In the Upper Room, the Savior again told them what was to happen so as to calm their troubled hearts concerning the news that He would soon leave them. His words on this occasion provide us with a key for understanding the purpose of Bible prophecy: โAnd now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believeโ (John 14:29).
Although His followers already believed that He was indeed the Christ, the Son of God, He warned them about His arrest, death, and soon departure so they wouldnโt give into doubt but would instead remain confident in spite of what they would see in the coming hours and days.
Jesusโ Promises for Us
During that same evening, the Lord also promised His disciples, and us, that He would prepare a place for us in Heaven and take us to His โFatherโs houseโ (John 14:1-3). The apostles later expounded upon this assurance by adding many details about it. They told us He would someday:
- Resurrect the dead in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:47-55; I Thessalonians 4:16).
- Transform living saints into the same immortal and resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-55; Philippians 3:20-21; Romans 8:23-24; 1 John 3:1-3).
- Catch living believers up to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
- Take His Church to Heaven, to the place Heโs preparing for us (John 14:2-3; Colossians 3:4).
Why did Jesus provide us with so many precious promises of our future? He did so for the purpose of providing a means of mutual encouragement among believers (1 Thessalonians 4:18-5:11). While Paul was in Thessalonica, he emphasized future things, perhaps sensing that the Jews living there would persecute the new believers. Amid severe and painful opposition to their faith, the Thessalonians saints remained faithful as they held on to the hope of Jesusโ imminent appearing.
The World We Live In
Amid growing opposition to and, in many cases, persecution for our faith Bible amid daily warnings of nuclear WWIII, prophecy comforts us today in at least two ways. First, it assures us of a glorious future after the end of this life. The pre-Tribulation Rapture is biblically sound and most definitely a very โblessed hopeโ (Titus 2:11-14) that fills us with joyous anticipation regardless of what we face in this life.
Second, it calms our hearts by assuring us that our world today precisely resembles what Scripture foretold about the last days. The Lord revealed these things long ago so that we might remain confident in our faith as everything falls apart around us. We recognize the buildup to the blasphemous kingdom of the beast and know that regardless of the wait, Jesus is coming for us in the near future.
For example, if the antichrist is to control all the buying and selling in the world, we would expect to see the development of the means for this well ahead of the time he needs it. And thatโs exactly whatโs happening. The globalists are feverishly working on a cashless and digital payment system that will enable the coming beast to fulfill the words of Revelation 13:16-18.
The Bible tells us that the Tribulation will be a time of great lawlessness, deception, and wickedness. Although these things have existed to some degree throughout history, they define the day in which we live like no other time. When asked about the end of the age, Jesusโ first words were, โSee to it that no one deceives youโ (Matthew 24:4). Each and every day, we witness deceit on a scale that was once far beyond my imagination. I struggle to know whatโs real, and as a result, constantly thank the Lord for the words of Scripture that anchor my soul amid the storms of gaslighting.
These things are just a sample of how Godโs Word long ago described the day in which we live, the time leading up to the Rapture of the Church, and, after that, the start of the seven-year Tribulation. Do you not now hear the echo of the Lordโs words from the Upper Room, โAnd now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe?โ
Jesus knew all about the difficulties we would face in the days before His appearing to take us home. He realized it would be difficult to wait as we watch the Tribulation approach and wonder how much closer we can get to the Tribulation before it happens. Perhaps thatโs why, as Jesus spoke of His return to the church at Philadelphia, He emphasized โpatient enduranceโ and holding on to what we have (Revelation 3:10-11). He knew we would need these things in order to keep our focus on His appearing.
Everything remains under His sovereign control and is unfolding precisely as he said it would in the days leading up to the Rapture. As we wait, we remember His last words to His church: โI am coming quicklyโ (Revelation 22:20).
He is.
