Introduction: Is There Hope for Human Survival?
Many threats to human survival play prominent roles in prophecies in the Bible.
“Today’s prophets . . . are often not religious leaders but a small group of academics who, breaking free of disciplinary specialisation, have surveyed our age from the broadest of perspectives and brought back a report of imminent danger.”—Jonathan Sacks, former British chief rabbi
Weather has long fascinated people. By observing the sky—the shifting shades, colors and shapes of the clouds—we can often predict changes in the weather.
Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ commented on this same fascination: “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:2-3, New American Standard Bible, emphasis added throughout).
Jesus’ point was that our innate fascination with observing and analyzing weather conditions should tell us something: that we should also observe and analyze the signs of our times.
But anyone who watches the weather knows that conditions can rapidly change. Destructive storms can suddenly materialize, wreak havoc, then dissipate as quickly as they started. Often the weather can seem menacing, and skies will turn dark and threatening, but no storm develops. The potential danger passes.
So it is when we consider Bible prophecy. Well-intentioned people have correlated prophecies with geopolitical events and trends and concluded that prophecy is being fulfilled before their eyes. But then unseen factors come into play, events alter course, and trends change. The predicted storm dissipates.
Such false alarms have happened before. They will occur again. But one day the storm will hit with full fury. Startling and frightening biblical prophecies will be fulfilled. Will you be ready?
Lesson 5 Glossary
Blindness: An inability to see. “In Scripture blindness is a term frequently used to denote ignorance or a want of spiritual discernment . . . a lack of understanding resulting from unbelief” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 1957, “Blindness”).
Human nature: The characteristics, tendencies and behavior of a human being. At birth human nature is fundamentally neutral. However, over time and under the influence of Satan, human nature is predominately characterized by vanity, jealousy, greed and self-gratification. As creatures of choice, we are enjoined and expected to resist the pulls of base self-motivation and respond to the leading of God’s Spirit.
Messiah: A Hebrew word meaning literally “anointed one,” synonymous with the Greek word christos, which has come into English as Christ. “In ancient Israel both persons and things consecrated to sacred purposes were anointed by having oil poured over them . . . The Israelites did not think of crowning a king but of anointing him when he was enthroned . . . [The future Messiah] is to destroy the world powers in an act of judgment, deliver Israel from her enemies, and restore her as a nation. The Messiah is the King of this future kingdom to whose political and religious domination the other nations will yield. His mission is the redemption of Israel and His dominion is universal. This is the clear picture of the Messiah in practically all of the O[ld] T[estament] passages which refer to Him” (The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, 1967, “Messiah”).
Prophecy: A foretelling of events to come or the proclaiming of a divine pronouncement. A true prophecy is “a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp[ecially] by foretelling future events” (Revised Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon, “Propheteia”).
Sign: “The rendering of several Hebrew and Greek words, which usually denote a miraculous, or, at least, divine or extraordinary token of some (generally) future event” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, “Sign”).
Course Content
