Countdown to the End of the World: 4 Ways to Verify Your Prophecy Conclusions

In the countdown to the end of the world events, many students of prophecy find something difficult to understand, especially the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. The difficulty many have in understanding Bible prophecy should not be attributed to the Bible or to God. God has designed his word to be a lamp to our feet and a light on our path (Ps. 119: 105).

Therefore, if the word is supposed to be light for us, we should not have the kind of problems we have with it today. The current level of uncertainty that manifests itself in the area of ​​prophecy seems to cast an indictment against God and his competence to communicate. But if we believe that the Bible was given to us as a means of enlightenment, we must treat it that way.

The question then arises: How can we know that we are on the right track in our interpretation of the Biblical countdown of events leading up to the end of the world? This is a question the typical freshman prophecy student would often ask because that is his first concern.

Below I will give you four advanced tips that have helped me over the years in my studies of prophecy. They may be simple, but they are powerful principles that can greatly aid your understanding of the different prophecies. Here it goes:

1. Check to find out if your conclusions contradict the general teaching of Scripture: The study of prophecy is also a form of Bible study and therefore should be guided by the general teachings of the Bible. For example, if his studies of prophecy lead him to the conclusion that the Messiah has not yet arrived, he may be sure that he needs to re-examine the premise on which he came to that conclusion.

2. Examine your conclusions to see if your interpretation of the prophetic symbols is in strict accordance with the Biblical instructions: This is where many Bible students fall down. What they usually do is redefine the meaning of each symbol thinking that they are giving it a better interpretation. But when you examine where this practice leads, you will clearly see that it lays a faulty foundation on which to build a Biblical argument. There is absolutely no alternative to accepting the solution. precisely according to the instructions of the Bible.

3. See if your findings are in harmony with certain details in another prophecy that is identical to the prophecy you are studying: There are some prophecies that are repeated in various places in the Bible. The Lord has put them there to help us be consistent in our conclusions. If he takes a position on a certain prophecy that is contradicted by a similar prophecy that is simpler and easier to understand, he should re-examine his arguments to see where the inconsistency lies.

For example, if you accept the fact that Daniel 2 teaches that the first world kingdom was established by the Babylonians, then you cannot say that Daniel 8, which is an identical prophecy, says that Medo-Persia is the first world kingdom. .

Four. Check to make sure your conclusions don’t stray from the general framework of the prophecy: When you examine identical prophecies you will see that together they form a realm or framework outside of which you cannot get out. Once you get out of this framework, you should be able to figure out that you are doing something wrong.

If you study the end-of-the-world prophecy of Daniel 7 and conclude that the little horn is the end-time Antichrist, while at the same time taking the position that the little horn in chapter 8 refers to someone going back to in the Old Testament era, you know you have to take a second look at your logic. When you examine the points of convergence in both chapters, you will see that the reign of the little horn is the point at which both prophecies reach a climax where world power changes hands from the kingdom of man to the kingdom of Christ. This is the same continuation that is presented to us in chapter 2 of Daniel.

As you count down the events of the end of the world, make consistency your point of reference. It makes no sense for us to study prophecy and claim it to be true while in our own teaching we are not validating the credibility of this claim. Inconsistency in prophecy studies will only justify skeptics in their position on the teaching of Scripture. By following these four tips, you will take your prophecy studies along the lines of scriptural harmony and a better appreciation of Bible prophecy.