Brenda Walden’s Prophecy Blog
A lot of people are wondering if the current world events mean something or are they just random occurrences. Killer earthquakes, wars, famines, strange celestial phenomena, tsunamis, devastating storms, ethnic strife, economic distress, societal breakdown and many more disasters are coming on this world in an unprecedented way. Is there a deeper meaning to all these events? Is God trying to tell us something?
Shortly after I became a Christian, I read Hal Lindsey’s book “Late, great, planet Earth.” Since that day, I have had a great interest in the prophecies of the Bible. That was many years ago. I have watched as many prophecies have been fulfilled in part or in whole. Now, the rate of events is going crazy!
Do prophecies in the Bible written thousands of years ago have anything to do with the headlines in our newspapers? I believe they do. In a world that seems totally out of control, God is ultimately in control. He uses events to wake us up and let us know that the time is coming when Jesus will return to this earth.
About 25% of the Bible is prophetic. There are many prophecies about the first coming of Jesus. Every one of these prophecies was fulfilled by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Some of these prophecies are amazingly specific. The literalness of the fulfillments is astounding. For specific examples , see the fulfilled prophecy section.
There are even more Bible prophecies about the second coming of Jesus. They are not just in the last chapter of the Bible, the Revelation. Many are in the Old Testament, like Ezekiel, the Psalms, Zechariah and Daniel. In the New Testament, all the Gospels, Corinthians, Ephesians, and many more books of the Bible hold detailed prophecies about “the end times”. Jesus’ own words tell us how to recognize when the general time of His return is approaching.
I’m no date setter. Jesus said that we would not know the day or hour of his return. But he commanded us to recognize when His return was very near. He listed specific events that would all happen in the same time frame that would herald the end times.
Many will say that these signs have occurred throughout history. We’ve always had wars and earthquakes. But Jesus went on to describe that these signs could be compared to birth pangs. When a woman is about to give birth, the contractions become the stronger and closer together until the moment of birth. We see this in the signs of the times. All these indicators are increasing exponentially in frequency and intensity. See the section “Signs of the Times”.
Some say that Christians in all ages have expected the return of Jesus in their lifetime. This is true and by design of God. Expectancy of His return is a purifying hope and spurs us on to share the Gospel.
Why then do we think that our generation is any different? Is there a non-recurring event that differentiates our generation from any other? There is. It is the rebirth of the nation of Israel in May, 1948. In Ezekiel 37:1-13 there is strange scene described. There is a valley of dead, dried bones. As Ezekiel watches, the bones rise up, sinews and flesh regrow on them and they are all resurrected. The scripture is very clear in interpreting this bizarre scene of dead, dry bones rising up. It says “these are the whole house of Israel”. Many of the other prophecies about the end times couldn’t occur until the nation of Israel existed again. Another pivotal fulfilled prophecy occurred in 1967 at the conclusion of the Six Day War with Israel recapturing Jerusalem. See my prophecy chart under “1948”.
The rebirth of Israel started the clock ticking on the end times. Jesus said that the generation that saw all the signs coming together would be the one in which he would come back for His own. Since 1948, events have been escalating toward a climax. Many interesting developments started in 1948 in relation to Bible prophecy. It has been called by Hal Lindsey, the “hinge of history”.
Another pivotal date is 1967, when Israel recaptured the city of Jerusalem at the conclusion of the Six Day War. I will share a chart I made a long time ago that shows the importance of events that started in 1948.
What do all these things mean to you personally? Is the world about to end? No, the world will not end. But we are rushing toward a celestial showdown.
Your personal decisions will determine how this all affects you. You were created by God to fellowship with Him through all eternity. But there’s a big problem. We have all sinned and God is holy. Jesus made a way for us to have that fellowship with Him restored. He sent His only son to die in our place so that fellowship could be restored. All we have to do is admit we are sinners (and we all are), ask for forgiveness and accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers. If we do that, we will ultimately be ok whatever happens. See the page entitled "What must I do to be saved?" for more detailed information.(see the tab at the top of this page)
What is the next event on the prophetic calendar? It is a once in history occurrence commonly known as the Rapture or the “gathering together”. It is described in ICor and Ephesians. I believe that this will occur before the seven year Tribulation period begins. It is the promised return of Jesus to catch away His Bride the Church. Every believer that is relying on Jesus for salvation will suddenly vanish from this earth. “In the twinkling of an eye” we will meet Jesus in the air. We will receive our forever resurrection bodies in that instant. I’m really looking forward to trading in this old model for the new, perfect one. Our new bodies will be like Jesus’ body after His resurrection. We don’t know all the ramifications of that yet, but I know it will be great. Jesus will take His Bride to heaven for the seven year period that the Tribulation will be happening on the earth. Some people disagree about the timing of this event, putting it in the middle, “mid-Trib” or “pre-wrath”, or end of the Tribulation, “post-Trib”. See the “Pre-Trib” section to see the relevant scriptures and arguments. Some Christians don’t express an opinion about when it will occur. This is the “pan-Trib” position. They say it will all pan out in the end.
The Tribulation begins when the infamous Antichrist confirms a seven year peace covenant guaranteeing Israel’s safety. A Biblical year is 360 days, so the Tribulation will last for 2520 days. At the end of that time, Jesus will return with His Bride to destroy His enemies and set up His kingdom on earth. A thousand year period of peace follows called the Millennium.
During the Tribulation, God pours out 21 judgments upon the earth and the Antichrist wreaks havoc. It is not going to be a good time to be here.
Thanks for reading my blog!
