Why Study Prophecy?

Why study prophecy? What is the purpose of studying prophecy?  What can I personally gain by studying such difficult topics that appear to be very obscure and subject to many interpretations?  These are all valid questions that should be given a serious answer.

Revelation 1:1 says the book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? How is it a revelation of Jesus? How is studying a revelation of the future a revelation of Jesus?  And what difference does it make to you?

The authors believe that the answer to these questions is twofold: (1) prophecy shows the direction the world is going, which can help a person properly direct the course of his/her life, and (2) by studying prophecy, a person gains confidence and builds a stronger trust in God.  By studying prophecy, you become very aware of just how much He knows the future, so that builds confidence that you can trust God to safely guide you into heaven and to take care of your future.

It is almost impossible to successfully steer a car around an obstacle course at night without light, but with light, it becomes relatively easy. In life there are many obstacles that can cause a person to lose their way and be lost.  God can see the obstacles a person has to contend with in the future and he can steer you safely into heaven in spite of the obstacles, IF you will just let Him do the "driving".  Studying prophecy helps a person have faith in God's ability to do this.  It gives one certain knowledge that even thousands of years into the future, God is able to see all the details.  That being the case, we know he can easily see the details for our relatively short lives, and therefore He can be trusted to take care of our own personal future.  And, He knows what He is doing, even if WE don't know what He is doing.  We can learn from study of prophecy that we can trust Him anyway.

Therefore, for all of these reasons -- the study of prophecy-- is a revelation of Jesus.  It reveals to us that Jesus cares about our lives and He is willing to guide us safely out of this violent and dangerous world into the safety of heaven if we allow him. It reveals the plan God has by which he will see you personally through to heaven if you will trust Him  Begin building on that faith in God that we all need for the future.  And remember: as  you are learning about Jesus;  he is right there with you to help you understand His plan for you.

Some read Daniel and Revelation and see only terror, for they read of the terrible things that have and will happen to many of those who follow God.  But there is a lot more to those books than scary things.  Repeatedly through Revelation, God shows terrible scenes that will come upon the Christians, but also shows the reward they have - eternal life, a beautiful and permanent home that nobody - not even the tax man -- can take away.  No disease, no pain, no oppressive governments, or even faulty, bungling, autocratic bureaucrats lording it over the people who live with God in the earth made new because God Himself will be the ruler of their lives and He is kind, loving, thoughtful, and slow to anger.  He promises a much better life and shows that is what is coming.  Isn't that what we all want?

But it costs - a lot.  Jesus gave up everything in heaven to come to this dangerous world to save humanity. And he will do all that can be done to save us, but the results depend solely on us trusting God to do as He promises.  So, building that trust is one of the most important tasks you have in life because your future depends on it. 

EMail  ronjohnston1@juno.com