Listen up!
"Listen up!"
If God doesn't exist, there's no problem. If God does exist,
then He either somehow communicated to and revealed Himself to men, or He
didn't. If He didn't, there's no problem. If, however, God HAS spoken to
mankind, then we had better listen up!
This short, colloquial argument gets right to the heart of the
matter. If God has spoken, men and women -- for their own sakes -- ought to
listen to what He has said, and respond accordingly.
The Bible purports to be God's message to mankind. Of the many
lines of evidence brought forward to support that claim, consider those portions
of the Book that are regarded as prophecy. There are four things that set Bible
prophecy entirely apart from other writings:
- First, the Bible unequivocally declares "Thus
says the LORD", the only God (eg, Nah 1:12; 2:13; 3:5; etc). It claims absolute
and infallible divine authority. Very few others make such a claim -- for the
very good reason that such a claim would require a perfect track record to be
credible.
- Second, Bible prophecy presents moral
imperatives. It says you MUST change your behavior as a result of what is
revealed -- man dare not ignore the message of his Creator (eg, Joel 2:11-17;
Amos 4:1 -- 5:8). Others who claim to be prophets gain fame and sometimes
wealth, and in general put no demands upon their listeners. Again, there is good
reason for this difference. The Bible prophets who took a stand for their God
and preached His message were often killed for what they said (cf Mat
23:37).
- Third, there is a sensible reason given
for what is going to take place. It is not a matter of gazing into the future to
see what will be. Rather, it is a declaration of what the God of heaven will
CAUSE to be. He gives His reasons, and offers in most cases to alter the outcome
based on how people respond (eg, Isa 46:10-11; 55:10,11; Jer 25:3-6;
38:17-23).
- Fourth, Bible prophecy is specific. It
names people, places, events and sometimes even elapsed time (eg, Dan 2:36-40;
4:19-27; 5:24-28; 7:23-27; Jer 25:8-26; Isa 7:1-8; Eze 24:15-18). Therefore, it
is measurable and capable of being disproved. But Bible prophecy has proven to
be so completely accurate in its details that people who refuse to believe it
have had to resort to the argument that Scriptures predictions were written
after the fact.
Three purposes are served by the words of the prophets. First,
they encourage the faithful to keep the faith, not to lose heart (eg, Hag 2:1-9;
Zec 8:9-13; Zep 3:18-20). The prophetic message itself is encouraging in this
regard, and faith is also strengthened by seeing predictions accurately
fulfilled. This purpose is applicable to people of all nations and all ages (cf
Luke 21:28).
Second, the prophets warned the wayward that they need to get
right with God before it is too late (eg, Joel 1:2-15; Amos 2:4-8; 3:1-12; Hos
14:1-3). There are specifics involved in many of these warnings: specific to the
time of the prophets, and specific to the time often referred to as "the last
days" -- the time many people now call "the end of the world". However, the
general warning applies to men and women of all eras (cf Acts
17:30,31).
Finally, prophecies were given to vindicate the one true God.
They were intended to show that His word is truth, and that what He utters COMES
TO PASS (eg, Isa 45:18-25; Eze 38:14-23; 39:7,8). Thus Bible prophecy is
powerful testimony that there is indeed a God, that He is involved with mankind,
and that He cares about how we respond to Him (eg, Amos 5:4-6, 14,15; Hos
11:1-9; Eze 18:25-32). This third purpose -- the vindication of a righteous,
caring God -- sets Bible prophecy apart from all others who claim to foretell
the future.
Because God's Book makes demands upon those who read it, or
who hear its words, the temptation is very great just to dismiss the whole
thing. That is a dangerous course. Scripture was given to help us be prepared
when God sends His Son to earth again. We have a choice: it is up to us whether
we will listen or not. Tragically, most people will not listen. The apparent
silence and inaction of God during their lifetime has made a prediction of the
apostle Peter come true:
"First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will
come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying,
'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all
things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation' " (2Pe
3:3,4).
In other words, "I'm tired of waiting. I've never seen any
divine intervention, and I never will. Every generation has been predicting the
Second Coming! It's all a bunch of myths from the ancient past."
Peter goes on to say that this attitude is fostered by a
deliberate refusal to acknowledge that God HAS intervened in human affairs in
the past. Because He is forbearing, God is now deferring His intervention in
order to allow as many as possible to repent, but the time will come when he
WILL step in (vv 5-10). Peter's conclusion is a serious warning and a very
pointed question:
"What sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and
godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?" (vv
11,12).
Believers, listen up! The Coming of Jesus the Christ back to
earth is soon.
