LANDMARKS OF PROPHETIC TRUTH

"... Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10) "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)

LANDMARKS OF PROPHETIC TRUTH

Prophecy Is The Primary Evidence
For The Inspiration Of The Bible

The Bible has proven it's self in history through precise fulfillments of it's prophecies. These fulfillments are irrefutable evidence that the Bible is in fact the Word of God. Over the centuries hundreds of prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter. For example: Daniel prophesied the exact time of Jesus Christ's first coming, the prophet Micah gave us the exact city of the Lord's birth, and Isaiah gave details of the Lord Jesus' death and resurrection (Micah 5:2; Daniel 9:24-26; Isaiah 53:4-10). Other Biblical prophets gave details of the rise and fall of kingdoms and world empires, and scores of other prophecies including prophecies of the days in which we now live. Since the re-establishment of Israel as a nation after 1,878 years of exile (which itself is a fulfillment of prophecy), more and more Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, and even now are in the process of being fulfilled!

Basics for Interpretation of Bible Prophecy

The main principles for the interpretation of Bible prophecy are as follows:

1. Jesus Christ must be central in all Bible interpretation!

2. Scripture interprets Scripture. "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:" (Isaiah 28:10) "... comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Corinthians 2:13)

3. As with all Bible interpretation the context of the passage must be considered.

4. If a passage of Scripture makes plane sense do not allegorize or spiritualize it. Take it literally, not figuratively.

5. If symbolic language is used find the meaning of the symbol elsewhere in the Scriptures. Example: Find the meaning of the sun, moon and stars in Revelation 12:1 in Genesis 37:9-11.

6. Allow the Bible to interpret words and phrases itself. This is much easier today with Bible computer programs that can search God's Word (KJV) to see how various words and phrases are used. For example: The phrase "the day of the Lord" is found in 22 verses in the Old Testament (Isa. 2:12, 13:6, 9, 34:8; Jer. 46:10; Lam. 2:22; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15, 2:1, 11, 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 1:15; Zeph. 1:7, 8, 14, 18, 2:2, 3; Zech. 14:1); plus 10 more verses in the New Testament using the same or similar phrases speaking of the same time period (1 Cor. 1:8, 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6, 10, 2:16; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10, 12). From the Context of these passages we find that it is speaking of the Tribulation.

7. Knowledge of the customs of Bible times, and Biblical history are useful; as well as historical events that fulfilled and are fulfilling Bible prophecy.

Prophecy Charts by Clarence Larkin