Why Study Prophecy? A 6-Day Study by Dr. Tony EvansSample

PROPHECY BRINGS STABILITY IN TRIALS

Stability in times of difficulty is a fourth reason prophecy is important to us. Knowing what tomorrow holds for us can help us be strong in the storms of today.

A Calm in the Storm

In the upper room, as He celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus told them He was about to leave them. Their response was, “How are we going to make it?” To reassure His faithful followers, Jesus spoke these well-known words of comfort:

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1–3)

Jesus’ prophecy of His own return helped produce calm in the midst of the disciples’ panic.

Good News in Grief

One of the best examples of the use of prophecy to calm troubled hearts is in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, another familiar passage in which Paul comforted the Thessalonians concerning their fellow Christians who had died.

Verses 13–17 are Paul’s teaching on the rapture, the moment when Christ will return in the air to take His people home to be with Him forever. This is one of the great, central passages of prophecy in the Bible. Yet Paul wasn’t just dispensing doctrine. He closed this section by saying, “therefore comfort one another with these words” (v. 18).

Hope for the Future

We’ve mentioned this benefit of studying prophecy, but let me come back to it. The prophetic Word of God also brings us encouragement and hope for the future.

The Thessalonian church was shaken by the death of some of its members, because the believers weren’t sure what had happened to these brothers and sisters. The church was also shaken by a false word from someone that the day of the Lord had already come. Paul answered that charge and put their fears at ease:

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has already come. (2 Thess. 2:1–2)

Paul proceeded to give them details by which the day of the Lord can be recognized, and we’ll cover these in a subsequent chapter. What I want you to see here is the way Paul used this teaching to restore their hope. He concluded in verse 15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

God wants to teach us about prophecy so we will stand firm today and not be thrown off by Satan or false teachers. If you’re not alert, people will throw you off. The devil will throw you off. They can make your knees wobble. But if you know God’s Word you have a firm hope to hold on to even in the changing wind of circumstances.

A Right View of Life

In 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul said, “We . . . prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” If you prefer heaven, you’ll make it on earth. But if you prefer earth, you’ll have a misperception of heaven. In other words, be heavenly. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Your life should have such a heavenly dynamism about it that earth shrinks in significance.

The reason some of us aren’t making it here on earth is because this life is too big. We’ve made the world too big, Satan too big, and people too big. They are ruining our day.

There’s a lot to worry about today from a human standpoint. But if you have a firm grip on the fact that God has a prophetic program that nothing on earth can override, then you don’t have to have a heart attack worrying about what might happen. Prophecy contributes to a right view of life.