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INTERPRETING BIBLE PROPHECY! Comp. 6/86--"Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth!"--2Tim.2:15. DFO 2210
1. Nothing about God's overall plans for the World & World History in general as outlined in Bible prophecy is going to change! The major events & the major participants & the final outcome, that's all settled! "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven", He says.--Psa.119:89. And, "I am the Lord, I change not!"--Mal.3:6. He doesn't change, His Word doesn't change, & even His prophetic plans for the World have not changed & are not going to change!
2. So there are certain specifics that we can be sure of & get dogmatic about! We know Jesus is coming back, & that following His return we are going to go to Heaven to enjoy the Marriage Feast of the Lamb & that gorgeous Heavenly City, while there's Hell on Earth & the Wrath of God is being poured out on defiant, rebellious & wicked Man below! We know that's going to be followed by the Battle of Armageddon, which we know is going to be followed by the Millennium! All this is very clear & very specific. And we even know the Millennium's going to last exactly a thousand years, think of that, & we know it's going to end with another war, the Battle of Gog & Magog, & be followed by the New Heaven & New Earth!
3. These are incontrovertible facts!--Solid stones in the building of your knowledge of Bible prophecy & coming events! They cannot be denied, cannot be doubted because it's all right there in the Bible, it says so in plain black-&-white, clearly, not once but many times, again & again! So you cannot change your opinion about these major events or periods of the Future. So when I teach you some of these things, like about the Rapture & Salvation & basic things like that, you've got to take it, that's it, flat-out, no getting out of it!
4. These are specifics we know, & the closer we get to those periods, the more specific & the more exact our knowledge will be! However, right now we are in a much more hazy period where many of the exact timings & the exact details, the exact years, months & days are not all that specific yet. But thank the Lord, we are given certain pivotal points in history, certain timeline spots from which we can measure exactly & accurately.
5. So what we need to know first as we study the Word of God, is to know the things that are unchangeable, the established facts, proven by many Scriptures, the sound foundation for our interpretation of Bible Prophecy, the certain facts that cannot be changed, you cannot waver on, you cannot doubt, you know are true. You have to know these basic fundamentals of our concept of Bible Prophecy & its interpretation first before you can know what might be changed or could possibly be changed, like some of our theories or guesstimates or personal opinions of the timing.
"PRIVATE INTERPRETATIONS"
6. The Bible says that "No prophecy of God is of private interpretation".--2Pet. 1:20.--In other words, it must be generally accepted. And the basic principles that I have taught you have been generally accepted by the church for centuries, even by the Catholic church, & you can prove them because Scripture after Scripture after Scripture confirms it!
7. I didn't get all of our prophetic interpretations from myself or in personal revelation from the Lord--although I've gotten a lot of the details filled in--but the bulk of what I've taught you are things on which most Bible students & scholars of Bible Prophecy agree! It's not just our private doctrine, but things on which most of them are agreed. So just because I may make a little change or clarification in the order of events, don't start doubting God's Word & the prophecies & the overall foundation truths He has given us!
8. When you're talking about prophetic interpretation of the past, you can prove that many of the prophecies are true because they already happened, those Empires have come & gone. It's not hard to teach & follow that kind of Bible Prophecy, fulfilled Bible Prophecy, it's already happened & you know it's true. But where you're getting on touchy ground is when you start getting into the future, the time periods that haven't happened yet. And this is where most people's particular little shibboleths & doctrines & interpretations tend to differ!
9. But just because some of it is unclear or controversial is no excuse to do like some people do & say, "Well, nobody agrees on Bible prophecy so let's just toss all Bible Prophecy away & never talk about it!" God's Word says, "Blessed is he that heareth & understandeth the words of this prophecy."--Rev.1:3. It takes an effort, it's work to try to understand Bible prophecy & to study it & to figure these things out! It sometimes takes years & years of study & working at it, comparing Scripture with Scripture, going back & forth through the Word of God to arrive at the most plausible interpretations.--But God says you're blessed if you do!
10. Of course, the main thing you need to know is just two verses, John 3:16 & Acts 1:8! The first one gets you saved & the other one gets you busy! You don't have to know all the prophetic details of the future, they'll happen whether you know'm or not, don't worry! But it's a good thing to know, & it's a good thing to understand His predictions so you'll be able to warn & instruct others, & you'll be able to know what's going on, what's happening. Paul himself says, "I would not have you ignorant, brethren!"--1Thes.4:13-18.--Neither do I want you to be caught flat-footed & dumb bunnies that don't know what's going on!
GUIDELINES TO INTERPRETING
11. There are a few major rules of interpretation of God's Word. The first choice is always interpret it literally if possible. It should not even have to be interpreted if it can possibly just mean exactly what it says, then you can just let it go at that! Try not to read into it some unusual, undercover significance of some kind. I always try to take literally what I obviously don't think could possibly be symbolic! I mean, if it makes sense literally, take it literally!
12. But if it doesn't sound reasonable or logical or it just looks like it's virtually impossible to interpret it that way, study its context thoroughly for an explanation in case it's symbolic. Look at the rest of the chapter to see if it's explained. This happens in Daniel time & time again. Take Daniel's Image & his beasts for example: They are all interpreted by the Angel or the man & you're told what each of these things stand for & represent & symbolise, so it's obviously symbolic. You're told, "This is that & that is this" etc. You're given the interpretation of this Image & what these beasts symbolise.
13. So thoroughly study the context of the chapter & read the explanation. When you get some new equipment to operate, for example, you read the instructions, you don't just try to put it together yourself, right? So when you read the mysteries of God's Word, let God put it together for you, ask Him to show you how to put it all together!
14. If you can't find the explanation right there, then you need to study the rest of that Book of the Bible, or even the whole Word of God all the way through in order to find out where the same terms are used & how they're used & the way they're used & what it means in these other places.
GOD LOVES A MYSTERY!
15. We cannot be completely dogmatic & always exact to the nth degree in the application or interpretation or even the categorisation of many of the prophetic Scriptures. Often the Prophets saw distant events like ranges of mountains one after the other in which only the mountaintops & peaks were outstanding, whereas the valleys were somewhat obscure. Also, if you've ever noticed as you view mountains at a distance, you cannot always distinguish between the ranges, & sometimes two or three ranges can look like one range from a distance.
16. The Prophets looked into the future & saw the coming events like a row of mountaintops. You can see them all at once, like you look at a whole scene at once, but actually, as you travel along you don't get to them all at once. As you drive closer & closer, all you can see is the one range right in front of you, it looks like only one mountain range.--But when you journey up that mountain & get to the top, some of those mountains that you thought were the same range turn out to be another 20 or 30 miles away! So in the Scriptures these events are kind of mixed up sometimes, just the way the Prophets saw them!
17. So don't feel bad if you feel a little confused, mixed up & misunderstand something! Poor Daniel, he didn't understand any of what the Lord was revealing to him! He said the cogitations of his head bothered him & he was even sick in spirit within!--Dan.7:28. He was really puzzled by the whole thing. So you've got good company, the Prophet Daniel himself was also puzzled by his own prophecies!
18. There are many mysteries that God has hidden for Himself & which He has reserved for us only to know sometime in the future or perhaps in Heaven itself! The Prophets who received many of these revelations never even explained them, often because they didn't understand them either! God's ways are above our ways, as high as the Heaven's above the Earth!--Isa.55:9. So we're not expected to understand everything God does & has & knows! We're just simple little finite men & we have pretty small minds & we can't possibly comprehend all of the wonders & mysteries of God & the future!
19. So you must understand, of course, that much of what we have passed on to you has been our personal opinion or personal interpretations of our personal revelations, & our own theories & logic & reason, which we consider within the reason & wisdom of the Lord & we ourselves are convinced of & believe. I certainly haven't got all the answers, but thank the Lord, little by little we have received a little more light on some of these things. The sun doesn't just pop out in the morning, boom, like that, all of a sudden! First there's a long period of dawn, & it begins to get a little lighter & a little lighter & a little lighter, & finally the sun itself begins to show a little bit. But it doesn't jump right up into the noon sky!
20. God seems to be fond of doing things slowly & thoroughly, slow but sure, so that things won't be too sudden, & that's the way He's revealed Bible Prophecy & interpretation to us. He keeps giving us a little more light & a little more light as we go along, & it's a wise man who is smarter tomorrow than he was yesterday. So I guess the Lord knows we're not that smart, that our heads can't hold too much at once!
WHY THEORISE?
21. It's when you get bogged down in too many of the details & too many specifics of Bible prophecy that you're bound to make some mistakes, because it's often a little too mysterious & you can't be too dogmatic.
22. Often when you spend so much time on all the little insignificant details, it just seems to be a waste of time. But the point is, you need to know these details, so that when the prophecies begin to happen, to come to pass, you can say, "Ah, there, that's it for sure! Now we know!" I am the first to admit that I don't know & fully understand all of the details, but I throw out suggestions, guesses & theories that get you to think about it! One of these days you may say, "Oh there, that's it, that's the answer! That's what the Lord was talking about!"
23. It's almost like a scientist going through experiments in a laboratory. You try everything, you try all the possibilities. You try it by the process of elimination, this doesn't do it & that doesn't do it & something else doesn't do it, until finally you've got it whittled down to when suddenly you hit it, you recognise that's it! That's how you find out a lot of things when you're working with Bible Prophecy, by the process of elimination, & finally by the process of actual recognition of the fact.
24. But if you don't have the questions in mind, how are you going to find out the answers? So I give you the questions about some of these things & events so that even if we don't have the answers now, when it happens, you'll recognise the answer! Savvy? And that's a lot of what the study of Bible Prophecy is. You don't understand everything that's said, but why do you think God said it when you don't even understand it? So that when it does happen you'll recognise, "Oh, that's it! That's what He meant! That's what He was talking about!" See how important it is to be interested in some of these details & questions even if you don't know the answers yet?
25. Sometimes I even offer you options & alternatives other than my own opinion, then I go back & say, "But I believe such & such." Do you know why I do that?--Because I've heard so many Bible teachers teach dogmatically that "this can only be this way", & never even mention the other possibilities or interpretations! It's just like they teach Evolution in the public schools, they don't even mention Creation, that there is another possible way. And I've heard many Bible Prophecy teachers teach like that, teach only their own interpretation.
26. So I have tried to be fair & I have given you many various theories of prophetic interpretation. I give all these different opinions so that you will be informed & know about them & not be stuck on just one, the one that we believe, so you will at least be aware of these other different opinions.
27. Sometimes I throw theories out like little bombs, just to wake you up & shake you up with a minor explosion, & make you think & dig into the Word & study, to see if these things be so!--Acts 17:11.--And this is good! Even if you don't find the answers, you'll learn something! If I don't do anything but arouse your curiosity, I've made you want to know, & that's half the battle for any teacher! Amen? PTL!
28. I guess I like the shock treatment! I like to shock people, challenge them, stir them up, arouse them, awaken them out of their lethargy, even cause them to explode over something I've said, at least get them to do something!--Like the time I dropped a bomb in a class by asking the old proverbial question, "Where will you spend Eternity?--Heaven, or Hell?" And then, instead of giving the usual prosaic, traditional, fundamental answer, I said, "I'm not going to go to Heaven or to Hell, & I hope you aren't either!"--And then went on to prove from the Bible that the place we're going to dwell with the Lord is His Heavenly City that's going to come down from God, out of Heaven, to a New Earth, & God's gonna come down & live with us, & us with Him!
29. But when I said, "I'm not going to Heaven", a new babe in my class leaped to his feet & shouted, you're not, Buddy, but I am!", & stomped out, never even giving me a chance to say, "Heaven's going to come to me!" & let me prove the point! I had lit the fuse by challenging his traditional churchy beliefs & he couldn't take the shaking of his faith! He couldn't stand the shock of a new doctrine!--It shattered his frame of reference, his cherished traditions, & he tottered on the brink of the abyss of the chasm threatening his so-called faith! It left too big a hole in his nice little preconceived notions, & he hadn't enough truth to fill it, so he was terrified by the sight, exploded & walked out! At least it made him do something!--He'd sat for years in church without moving! It actually started him thinking!--So much so that he later returned & apologised, & asked to know more!--How will you react when your traditional concepts are challenged?!
IS PROPHECY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING?
30. This may come as a surprise to some of our over-zealous theological dogmatists, but it is not absolutely necessary that either you or I or any of the rest of us see exactly eye to eye on every technical detail of theological hairsplitting, such as minor doctrines & interpretations which are not essential to Salvation, witnessing, soul winning & World evangelism! It is only essential that we agree on Salvation through Jesus, the basic authority of God's Word, our obligation to witness His Truth to others, to manifest His Love to the World & win the lost for Christ & His service as we see it!
31. "Beware lest ye be led away from the simplicity of the Gospel! Except ye be as a little child ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!"--2Cor.11:3; Mat. 18:3. You gotta be a baby!--And babies don't waste most of their time arguing over theoretical, theological doctrinal shibboleths!
32. The Family wasn't built on prophetic interpretations & theological hairsplitting!--It's first of all built on love & consideration & sympathy & compassion! As we've often said, love is the most important thing!
33. People who are won to the Family by vague or highly theological prophetic interpretations might get discouraged & drop out if your predictions don't come to pass!--But if "the Love of Christ constraineth them" (2Cor. 5:14), & that's why they're here, whether there be prophecies that fail, whether there be tongues that cease & whether there be knowledge that vanishes away, they won't fail, cease or vanish away!--Because "love never fails!"--1Cor.13:8.
34. You may have the gift of prophecy & understand all mysteries & all knowledge, but without love it's nothing!--1Cor.13:2. Love is the life's blood of this work!--The Spirit of God's Love! Now don't get me wrong, Bible Prophecy is important, & I've already said why you should be familiar with His predictions of the future. But if you don't have love, I don't care how well you understand Bible Prophecy & can describe every beast in the Book & hang a label on every horn, if you haven't got love, it's just cold dead icicles of facts & figures--no warmth, no heat!--And will never turn anyone else on either! So remember, Bible Prophecy is important, but love is the most important thing!
HOW TO KNOW YOUR INTERPRETATION IS RIGHT!
35. There's one thing about prophecy, when it happens then you'll know what it meant! That's the truth! Jesus said, "I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass ye might believe!"--Jn. 14:29. A lot of prophecies are given to help you understand the future, but if you don't understand it, it probably was written just so that when it happens you'll recognise it, then you'll understand it! Some of these things are not clear, but at least one thing I'm sure of, the Lord put them there for our edification to either understand the future or recognise it when it happens. When it happens, we'll know, & then we'll be sure what the right interpretation was!
36. A lot of prophecy is given so that you will recognise it as it happens.--Not necessarily so you will know what is going to happen or when it's going to happen, not always--lots of times it is--but many times it's simply so you'll recognise it when it happens & you'll know where you are.
37. It's just like riding on the train with a timetable on your lap. I always travelled on the trains with a timetable so I always knew exactly where we were. And do you know how I knew where we were for sure? According to the timetable I knew where we were supposed to be at certain times. But the train wasn't always exactly on time, & it wasn't always there when I thought it was going to be there. So as we went from town to town to town, how do you think I knew for sure where we were?--By the signs, the signs on the stations confirmed where I was!
38. So when you get there, you'll know it! You'll see the signs & recognise it & remember the Scriptures!--Otherwise it can very often be very confusing & overlapping with flashbacks & flash-forwards & whatnot. I think the Lord deliberately made it that way, especially so that the System & the World couldn't understand it. It's all veiled & in mysterious language, almost like it's in riddles & types & symbols, shadows, all very mysterious, almost like it's in code so that the World will not understand it. But what did He promise in Daniel?--"The wise shall understand!"--Dan.12:10. TTL! So don't worry if you don't understand it all, maybe you're not wise! Maybe you're just plain dumb like some of the rest of us about some of these things.--Or maybe it's not time yet.
39. But I believe we will definitely know when we get there! When we get to the station & we look out the window & see the "Signs of the Times", the sign of the station, we'll know that's where we're at & we'll understand exactly what the Prophecy Timetable meant!--Mat.16:3. So even though many prophecies are very mysterious & very difficult to understand now, don't worry about'm.--You'll know when you need to or when it happens. Amen?
40. The closer you get to the End, the clearer God's going to make it for you & the better you're going to see it & the easier the translation of the facts & the interpretation of the various mysteries of God's prophecies are going to come to you. As we get closer to these things & as we're able to bear it & able to receive it & even willing to let go of some of our old preconceived ideas & misinterpretations, as we're even willing to change & be shown new things which change our outlook & the interpretation of these events, the Lord is willing to show us exactly how they're going to happen!
41. As we go along we see things clearer all the time! We get a few more things straightened out & pinned down that we really didn't see too clearly at first. After all, you live & learn! So people shouldn't get upset or blame us for seeming to change our doctrines once in awhile if we find out something's wrong that needs to be changed. Actually, nothing really basic in the course of events has changed at all, the Antichrist is coming, the Lord is coming & Heaven's coming, so praise the Lord!
LEAVE YOURSELF OPEN!
42. I have tried not to be dogmatic about things, that it has to be this way, it has to be that way, because sometimes I just don't know, except for the things that are very clearly so in the Bible! Sometimes my opinions could be wrong & things might turn out some other way. But thank the Lord, most of the time the Lord helps me to have the right opinion, PTL!
43. But we've gone into so many prophetic details, nobody can get dogmatic! Even if you think you can support your views by actual explicit Scriptures & even if you've had a revelation directly from the Lord, you'd better always give Him room to clarify or modify things as time goes on. The better you know the Scriptures, the more chance your interpretations have of being accurate & generally accepted by others who really know the Bible. As the Apostle says, "That no prophecy (should be) of any private interpretation."--2Pet.1:20.
44. So don't try to get so technical & split hairs! My Lord, that's where the church went astray, when it got more interested in splitting hairs over theological doctrines & building church buildings than evangelising the World! So don't try to pin things down trying to be so exact about some things except where the Bible clearly & definitely gives you exact figures, numbers of actual days, etc.
45. We don't want to ever get so dogmatic or so set in our interpretations that we can't change our minds when the Lord shows us something different! That's the trouble with the church traditionalists today, they've got a set system & they can't change it without admitting they are wrong, & of course they don't dare admit that they are ever wrong, since they're supposed to be infallible, so they never change & you can't change'm no matter how wrong they are! They'll never admit it, they'll never change, because they find it impossible to confess that they made a mistake or that they were ever wrong because of pride!
46. If you start tying yourself down too much to some of your old traditional interpretations for some of these events, & confining yourself to certain set schedules, you may find yourself so boxed in & limited in your theology & interpretation of the Bible, that you have no room left for anything else, anything new the Lord has for you! So it doesn't pay to get yourself tied down to being too dogmatic & too set in your specifics, as you may later find out that your interpretation was mistaken, as I've sometimes discovered.
47. If you don't leave yourself open for new truth & even new interpretations--especially when the ones you had before were merely somebody's guess or theory, or even your own opinion--you are going to be stuck in a rut & resistant to any new idea or thought that God tries to give to you!--He won't be able to get through to you, to crack that hard nut & shell of yours to pound in a new idea contrary to what you've always believed or always thought or always been taught!
BEING OPEN TO CHANGE!
48. If I had not been open to change & revelation directly from God, you wouldn't even be here! So you'd better thank God that He was able to change my mind, & thank the Lord that He was able to turn me around in some cases & start me in exactly the opposite direction!
49. You know, it's not easy to confess when you've been wrong, but it's a lot easier than staying wrong to try to support a false position!--Which is what I had to do regarding the Jews, & boy, that was a big subject! That was a monumental switch, the complete opposite! God had to give me a direct revelation & send me all the way to Israel to have to live with them to wake me up to get off of that kick! That was a big revelation!
50. Up until then I still believed the Jews were the chosen people & Israel was the chosen land & Jerusalem was the glorious city & blah blah! I went there to scout out the land to move our whole Family to Israel, but I found out the exact opposite! I found that was not God's Will nor Word, & that we had been completely deceived by that Jewish doctrine all those years!
51. It was a very hard & trying experience that nearly killed me! It dashed to pieces my preconceived ideas & hopes & dreams & fairy castles in the air which I found out were all false! It was a very hard & embarrassing thing to confess I was so wrong, & it was only by the grace of God I could do it. If it hadn't been for the fact that I had the Lord, I could have gone off my rocker & quit & run away & hidden, or gone on & tried to pretend & deceive the people & not confessed or admitted it, or tried to weasel out some other way.
52. What if I had stubbornly clung on to my own ways?--We would never be where we are today, or ever have gotten where God wanted us to go!--Which is a whole lot further than podunk little Israel! We had to accept God's no in order to find His yes!
53. But if I had not come to that horrible recognition of error, God could never have done it! If I had not come to the place where I was willing to admit I was wrong & mistaken & on the wrong track, & confess I needed help, that I needed an answer & solution to my problem, God would never have had the opportunity to do the miracle & set me straight!
54. It's like I've often said, you'll never know the truth until you're willing to let your false conceptions & preconceived notions be destroyed, & all the chaff blown away to let the true grain of His Word appear! But you don't throw away your entire Bible or all of our prophetic teachings just because there's a change or correction in our interpretation of some of these things. --When you find one little brown spot on a banana or one little brown spot on a pear or an apple, you don't throw away the whole apple!--You just cut out the little brown spot, you correct it & keep the rest that's good!
55. So I'd certainly much rather change when God shows me something & be right, than through pride & arrogance & inflated ego & fear of embarrassment, refuse to change & refuse to be changed by God Himself in the matter of some point of doctrine or some point of prophetic interpretation or some point of theological affirmation of some kind or other. I would rather suffer the blow to my ego & the embarrassment of my pride & be right, than stiffen my resistance against anything new & close my mind like most Christians & churches who say, "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts!" I would rather change my mind & suffer the consequences & be right, than to refuse to change my mind & be wrong!
56. Are you willing to change & receive new truths?--Not if your mind is so closed & made up that you don't want to be confused with the facts! That's the easy way out that most church people, most Christians, most Bible Prophecy students & teachers are stuck in. They've gotten settled in a rut & they don't like to be disturbed. They don't want new truth, they want to stay stuck in their rut! They don't like the disruption, the upsetting, sudden confrontation with something new that contradicts what they already believe! And you're probably that way too!--In fact, we're all that way!
57. So if you find out you're wrong, the best thing to do is just confess it!--I'd rather confess I'm wrong & be right, than claim I'm right & be wrong!--Would you?
INTERPRETING THE MO LETTERS!
58. You've got to be careful how you interpret me, Beloved, you've got to be careful when you read my Letters. Sometimes I come flat out with convictions that things are absolutely so. But if I sort of beat around the bush a little bit & say, "Well, I'm not sure but it sounds like so-&-so, & it looks like so-&-so, & I think maybe so-&-so", that does not mean it has to be so!
59. I often give you different theories of prophetic interpretation, & some people take them down as Gospel fact, incontrovertible & unchangeable! They take them as absolutes instead of the theories & interpretations I intended. Some people have been doing that to me for years, about time-lines & schedules & tiny little details & all kinds of stuff that I wasn't clear about, & the reason I wasn't clear about it was because I didn't know or I wasn't sure! But no, they put it into Charts & everything else, they're exactly sure of things when I never even said I was! So sometimes I don't even dare theorise to you guys or you nail it down that that's it! I love your faith & your confidence, but for God's sake, if I'm not even sure about it myself, how can you be so sure about it?
60. For example, I have never ever said definitely that I know Jesus is coming in 1993 or I know the Antichrist is going to arise in 1986 & the Tribulation begins in 1989! You say, "I thought that's what you said, Dad! It's in the timechart, what do you mean?" Well, I didn't make that chart, somebody else did! But I let it go.
61. I said, "Well, that's my theory, that's my interpretation of what the Lord has shown me & what I read in the Bible, but I'm not going to swear to it!" I'm not going to dress in a white robe & get out here on the housetop & pinpoint the night Jesus is coming, like some poor over-zealous Christians in the past have done!--And I'm not going to quit doing what I'm doing right now until I'm forced to! I'm not going to turn tail & run just because 1986 might be the year of the Antichrist!
62. My interpretation could be wrong! The only thing you can really count on is what I said that God said, that I know! But my interpretation, my opinion, my theory could be wrong. I suggested those dates to give you something to think & pray about, that it's possible that that may be what it meant. But I never in this World meant to say that it's absolutely going to happen that way & exactly on those dates! Those are my estimates, guesstimates, theories & interpretations! So for God's sake don't take them as the God's honest Gospel-truth that God Himself said, when it is my opinion! Don't read into it that that's the facts, because it may not be necessarily so! If I only said it, & God didn't say it, then take it with a grain of salt. OK?
63. I've told you time & again I'm not going to stake my life or even bet my bottom dollar that that is exactly the time schedule! I have been entirely too leery of that sort of thing. I've seen those sorts of things fail too many times. Too many Hitlers & Mussolinis were supposed to be the Antichrist, & quite a few Popes too!
64. I don't know how many religious leaders & Bible prophecy teachers have been hung by their own time prophecies! It was almost the end of the Jehovah's Witness Movement. It was the end of the original Adventist Movement of dear old William Miller, the Millerites. He predicted the Lord was going to come on a certain fixed day, so his followers all got up on their housetops & on their roofs, draped in sheets, waiting for Jesus to come. They sold everything they had & gave everything away & stood up there all night, wrapped up in sheets, waiting for the Lord to come. When it didn't happen, he was discredited & that was the end of poor Miller! People didn't believe anything he said after that!
65. The Jehovah's Witnesses did the same thing. They predicted Jesus was going to come back in 1914, & when He didn't show they said something like, "Well, He came, but we just didn't see Him! He's up there hanging in mid-air somewhere now looking over the books!"--I mean, that's a pretty weak theory & cover up!
66. Even the Apostle Paul thought Jesus was going to come any day! He was waiting to see the Antichrist show up almost any time! There's every indication that the Apostles misinterpreted some of the things the Lord had said to them, & therefore thought Jesus was going to come any minute at that time! There are still preachers today who criticise the Apostles, criticise the Bible & say, "You see, they thought He was coming right then!" (See Rom.13:11,12; Heb.10:25; Jam.5:8)
67. When Jesus was talking about all the signs of the times, the signs of His coming, He said, "This generation", meaning the ones who see those signs come to pass--like ours today--"shall not pass until all these things shall be fulfilled."--Mat.24:34. But the Apostles apparently thought He was talking about them, which shows you how wrong you can be if you don't interpret things right! Lord help us!
68. So you guys need to learn not to take my guesses & my suggestions as the law! God is His Own boss, & He can do things any way that He sees fit! When I say, "I believe", you guys, God bless you, you're so trusting, you figure that's the way it's going to happen. But just because I believe it's going to happen a certain way doesn't necessarily mean that that's exactly how it's going to happen!--I could be wrong!
69. I'd rather not get nailed down to specifics like that, they're too dangerous! Too many men have been called false prophets because their predictions didn't come true. So unless I hear it from God Himself & it's His absolute Word, I don't even necessarily have to believe it myself! Unless God gives me a direct revelation, a direct vision, a direct prophecy, a direct message, He gives me the Words, names or something, I am leery about being too specific about such predictions.
70. So don't be so cocksure about some of these events that we have suggested as possibilities for the future. Only what God has specifically predicted & what you can read in black-&-white in the Word, direct revelations we have received from the Lord, only that can we be cocksure of & absolutely dogmatic about!--Such as the general events that are coming.
71. Right now things are changing so fast, times are changing, events are changing, & signs of the times are happening so fast! So you'd better watch out about getting your head so set & being so set in your ways & so set in your interpretations that when it actually happens you say, "No, go away!--I don't want to believe it, I don't want to see it, because it proves that something is true that I never saw before!" Or "I've had this doctrine, this little set idea for years!--Dad told me this, so I can't believe anything different!"
72. Remember, a wise man is much wiser tomorrow than he was yesterday! So don't get too dogmatic about any of these interpretations. Regarding some of these upcoming events & prophetic details, we don't know right now exactly what's going to happen, exactly when it's going to happen or exactly where it's going to happen! But God has certainly given us enough information along these lines to have a pretty good idea, or at least a faint hint, if nothing else, of how things are going & where they're going & about how soon they're going. But we simply can't get dogmatic about any of these details right now, it's not time for that. Right now it's "wait & see!"
73. At this moment we do not know exactly, specifically, the time & place, the hour or whatever that some of these things will take place, but we sure know pretty generally & certainly, surely, that these events will come & that they're coming very soon! When they begin to happen, then we will know much more specifically the days & the hours & the years & the months, etc. But right now don't be too cocksure that you know exactly what's going to happen, when it's going to happen & which is going to happen first! You'd better just be patient and wait and see.
74. So don't get too dogmatic about things & too cocksure about things! Don't be too sure about it until you know for sure. Wait & see! Wait & see what happens, because you don't really know yet. You don't really know about all the exact dates of the future right now. Only time will tell! Wait & see!--But be on the lookout for indications, hints & signs.
75. And in the meantime, don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs just waiting to see, but get busy & do what you're supposed to be doing! Quit worrying about it! Quit trying to figure it all out to the hour & the minute & the second & the day & the month blah blah, like some of these prophecy & theology buffs do! Some people have gotten too interested in the details & trying to predict them & measure them & figure them & calculate them, mathematically & blah blah when it's too early for that!--You'll know soon enough when the time comes! Amen? TYJ! God bless & keep us all busy for Him to the End!--Are you busy for Jesus?--We love you!
76. P.S. I want to again remind you what our priorities are, what our main job is. What is the greatest commandment?--To predict the future?--To become theological experts in every detail of Bible Prophecy?--No! The greatest commandment is to love God!--And the next greatest is to love thy neighbour as thyself!--Mat.22:37-39. True, we've always taught Bible Prophecy to warn & prepare folks for the future, but the thing that really started this Family, that won the kids, was when we went down & showed them the Love of Jesus!
77. So don't ever get your eyes so much on the details, doctrines & dogmas of eschatology that you lose sight of what we are in this business for!: To reach the World with the Gospel of God's Love!--This is our primary purpose for being here, our excuse for existence! Jesus Himself knew all about the Future, but His main mission was to love the World & His main message was the Good News of God's Love & Salvation!
78. What was Jesus' last message to his disciples at the Last Supper just before He was arrested, taken to jail, beaten & crucified?--He spoke to them all about love, that love was the most important thing! (See Jn.13:3-17,34,35; 15:9-13,17)
79. What was His last question that He asked them?--He said, "Lovest thou Me?"--To which Peter replied, "Well, of course, Lord, You know I love You!" Then what did Jesus say?--"Study theology"?--"Pinpoint the day of My return"?--No! He said, "Feed My sheep!"--Jn.21:15-17.--And this is the greatest, most important job we all have to do if we truly love Him! This is what this Family is really all about!--To feed His sheep, to witness the Words of God, to preach the Gospel, to tell folks about God's Love, to show them the Love of Jesus!
80. So may God bless & keep you going into all the World to preach the Good News of His Love to every creature!--Amen? That's our goal, to reach the whole World before Jesus comes!--Are you willing to try?
81. Let's get the job done before Jesus soon returns, so you won't be ashamed to face Him!--Or the countless souls with whom you failed to share the Love of the Lord! Amen? PTL! God bless you & continue to make you a blessing to millions!--And I know He will if you will! So fight the good fight, keep the faith, finish the course!--And there'll be a crown laid up for you! Hallelujah! ILY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
