Notice: I will be leading a Bible Prophecy Class starting this Saturday night, February 20th, at 6:30 PM ... Location & directions will be available at the end of this commentary. ........ First of all, what is prophecy & why study it? .. Here's some foundational reasons why ... The Gospel narratives picture the Sadducees & Pharisees, the official religious leaders of Jesus' time, walking around in a spiritual fog .. so much so that they didn't even recognize that the Son of God was walking around in their midst! ..... Why? ... It had to be that they either didn't understand the prophecies .. or .. they just ignored them. ... Simply, they were complacent & content with the ways things were ...... These same religious leaders asked Jesus to show them a sign from heaven (matthew 16:2). .. Jesus immediately cut to the heart of their spiritual insensitivity, and responded .. "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the Signs of the Times." (16:3) .. Prophecy was being fulfilled before their very eyes & they couldn't see it! ... Does this look familiar today? .. In Matthew 24:37-39, Jesus addresses this specifically by comparing the end times to the Days of Noah. .. Sadly, we see this very 'condition' in our world today! .. People seem to be totally oblivious to what is happening 'right before their very eyes.' .. The previously mentioned spiritual fog that so clouded the minds of those religious leaders in Jesus' day still hangs heavy over our theological landscape today. ... The fact is that most preachers & religious leaders today are more at home preaching the 'feel-good, self, no consequences' teachings rather than subjects like prophecy. .. In fact, whole sections of the Bible are regularly overlooked because so many of these same pastors & teachers feel uncomfortable treading on such unfamiliar, controversial, and/or judgmental territory. .. But here's a tragic fact ... To avoid Bible prophecy is to 'ignore' vast sections of God's Holy Word! .. Do they not realize that Bible prophecy constitutes nearly one-third of the entire Bible?! There are approximately 1000 scriptural passages of prophecy, some single verses & some entire chapters. .. Approximately half of these prophecies have already been fulfilled LITERALLY - an astounding proof that prophecy is real & accurate, even when dealing with distant future events! .. Simply, this constitutes solid proof that the Bible IS supernatural in its divine inspiration & that it can be trusted not only in prophecy, but also in EVERY other area as well. ... What we must always remember is this ... Bible Prophecy is a powerful lighthouse to a world in chaos. .. God gives us prophecy so we can learn HOW to live & witness in this rapidly deteriorating world. .. Once basically understood, it gives people hope and an understanding as to why all the craziness is taking place. .. It takes away fear. ...... I will readily admit that there is much confusion that exists in understanding the prophecies of the Bible. .. So much so that many have turned away from it because of this. .. In fact, many churches today make little attempt to study & understand the prophetic word. .. As a result, most people who attend church regularly are quite uninformed on just what the Bible teaches concerning these times we are now living in. .. In my travels over the past number of years, I've met with many church leaders & pastors and have come away amazed at how little they knew about prophecy, or just how 'disinterested' they were concerning it. ... In fact, one Nazarene pastor got really angry at me for just mentioning the 'Left Behind' series! ... I've come away from all this in total amazement as to how little these church leaders knew about Bible prophecy. ... Now because of this, I needed to find out why. .. How could it be that all these 'learned leaders' ignore so much of the written Word? .. Here's what i discovered ... Many church leaders feel they are not qualified to speak on the subject. .. The reason was that many of today's colleges & seminaries do not teach on prophecy. .. Simply, they receive little or no instruction on prophetic studies. .. So any attempt to preach on it would show their ...... ignorance? ... Still others seemed concerned that preaching on prophecy would be too difficult simply because so many have abused the subject. .. They didn't want to risk being put into the group that have either sensationalized or given incorrect explanations of the prophetic scripture. .. (In their defense, they are not totally wrong here.) .. Still others feel that prophecy, with its numerous details, is just too much to deal with. .. Another reason given was that some avoided prophetic sermons because they didn't want to be labeled as 'fundamentalists' .. that's just not 'in' today. ...... The list of reasons goes on .. others were struggling with many contemporary problems in their churches, both moral & relational (homosexuality, women as leaders, worship wars, abortion, etc), and the subject of prophecy did not seem to be an immediate area of concern. .. But the 'big one' was, and is, that prophecy is viewed as controversial because there are so many different views & distortions. .. So staying away from Bible prophecy and sticking to areas that lend to safe, generally agreed-upon subjects would avoid most all conflict. ... But here are some strong facts as to WHY it is so important to teach. .. In the New Testament's 260 chapters, the return of Jesus Christ is mentioned NO LESS than 318 times! .. Jesus Himself taught about these final days before His Glorious return, which is recorded in three of the gospels - Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21 - He wanted people to know what to look for - how to be able to discern the signs of the times. .. Also, the Apostle Peter told us this .. "And so we have the prophetic Word confirmed, which you will do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." ... Beautifully put, and so true! I could go on for hours as to how important it is for people to have even a basic understanding of Bible prophecy. .. But for the sake of time, let me sum up with this. ...... 2 Timothy 3:1-4 sizes up our times quite precisely ... "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2) For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3) unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self control, brutal, despisers of good, 4) traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." Wow! ... What a powerful prophecy! ... And this is exactly how it is in today's world! .. It is a world, just as the Bible foretold, full of hatred & persecution of anything that reminds the collective current societal conscience of a love & devotion for God. .. The enemy (Satan) is real and is stalking the earth waiting to devour anything that attempts to get in his way (see 1 Peter 5:8) ... ... and this is why I believe it is so important to teach people as to why things are the way they are, and how God's Word addresses each & every one of the issues taking place all around us! ... Simply, if people learn about 'why' all this craziness, it will not only take away their fears, but also, it will strengthen their faith, of which they will need in the days leading up to our Lord's glorious return. .. OK, that's enough for now. .. I will go into much more detail during our upcoming class time. .. We will also study the books of Daniel & Revelation as well as other pertinent prophetic scripture. .. Questions & discussion will be encouraged. ... Again, the 'Light in the Darkness' classes start this Saturday night, 6:30 PM & will be held at the Friends Church in Newberg. .. The address is 307 So. College street (3rd & College) in the classroom located in the back parking lot. .. I hope to see some of you & look forward to our fellowship together. ... And remember this ... Time is so short before our Lord calls us home, so prepare yourselves & those you love with what time we have left. ... The prophetic signs are literally exploding all around us .. know what they are and then share them. ... Remember, the Bible's prophecies are the light to truth to a dying world. ... "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." ... Luke 21:28 ... Until next time, Red