In this volume we will focus our attention on the prophecies in the Bible. One-third of the whole Bible is prophecies. Some of these prophecies have become historic facts, whereas others have not yet been fulfilled. According to their content, prophecies can be categorized as follows: (1) prophecies concerning Christ; (2) prophecies concerning the church; (3) prophecies concerning the believers; (4) prophecies concerning Israel; (5) prophecies concerning the Gentile nations; (6) prophecies concerning Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet; (7) prophecies concerning the last of the seventy weeks spoken of in Daniel 9; (8) prophecies concerning the millennium; and (9) prophecies concerning the new heaven and new earth in eternity. In this volume we will present the prophecies in the Bible concerning Christ, the church, and the believers. Before entering into the content of each of these prophecies, we need to understand the importance of prophecies and the proper attitude that the believers should have in studying prophecies.
Not many believers consider the prophecies in the Bible to be important. Some think that prophecies are not interesting and are difficult to interpret. Others think that pursuing spiritual gifts, holiness, and the kingdom is crucial and urgently needed but to know and understand prophecies is secondary and optional. There are also those who think that the result of studying prophecies is merely the addition of knowledge and is not profitable for growth in spiritual life. These are all misconceptions.
Prophecies are matters that God requires man to know, and believers should give heed to them. Second Peter 1:19 says, “We have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Peter’s word indicates that the word of the Old Testament prophets confirms and strengthens his testimony of Jesus Christ (vv. 16-18) and is an inoculation for the believers against heresies and apostasy.
The Lord Jesus also charged us to understand the prophecies (Matt. 24:15). This clearly shows that the believers must pay attention to the prophecies in the Bible. If the church does not pay adequate attention to these prophecies, many believers will inevitably lose faith, be deceived by lies, be “destroyed / Because of a lack of that knowledge” (Hosea 4:6), and forget the Lord’s coming by not being watchful.
In his Epistles, Peter encourages the believers to give heed to the prophetic word made more firm, that is, to give heed to the prophecies when studying God’s word.
Peter likens the word of prophecy in the Scriptures to a lamp shining in a dark place. This indicates that this age is a dark place like a dark night (Rom. 13:12), and all the people of this world are moving and acting in darkness. If the believers do not have the prophecies in the Bible, they too will fall into darkness. Therefore, we need the prophetic word of the Scriptures, as a shining lamp, to convey spiritual light that shines in the darkness (not merely knowledge in letters for our mental apprehension), guiding us to enter into a bright day, even to pass through the dark night until the day of the Lord’s appearing dawns. Before the Lord as the sunlight appears, we need this word as light to shine on our footsteps (Psa. 119:105).
Peter tells us to give heed to the prophetic word until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts. This word is a metaphor, illustrating a coming time that will be full of light, as a bright day dawning, with the morning star rising, before dawn, in the hearts of the believers who are illuminated and enlightened. If we give heed to the prophecies in the Bible as a shining lamp within us, we will enjoy the morning star rising in our hearts until the spiritual day dawns within us. In the time of apostasy the believers do well to give heed in this matter so that the prophetic word, as a lamp, may shine through the darkness of apostasy until such a day dawns upon them. This will cause and encourage them to earnestly seek the Lord’s presence and be watchful so that they will see the Lord as the morning star when He comes in secret (Matt. 24:27; 2 Thes. 2:8).
Hence, this metaphor alludes to the coming age, the age of the kingdom, as a day that will dawn at the appearing (the coming) of the Lord as the Sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2), whose light will shine and break through the gloom of the dark night of this age. Preceding this, the Lord will appear as the morning star (Rev. 2:28; 22:16) in the darkest hour of the night to those who are watchful and looking for His dear appearing (2 Tim. 4:8). The believers who give heed to the prophecies in the Bible will have Christ rising in their hearts to shine in the darkness of today’s apostasy, before His actual appearing as the morning star.