Remember the last time you drove along interstate and read the various signs. Ever think the extent to which your mind interacts with such stimuli? And only because of a quick unconscious glance! Signs can be informational; Exit 74 2 miles. Or invitational; Great Food This Exit! Even warnings; Right Lane Closed.
Whether offered as information, an invitation, or a warning, each sign is designed to move us from where we are to where we want to be; or perhaps, wish to avoid. In a similar way, God in His providence, has a number of critical signs along the highway we call “human history.” We call these signs prophecies, and we Christ Followers(CF’s) are made aware of them through God’s living prophetic vehicle, the Bible.
Perhaps the crisis today for the remnant CF’s, since too often, churches are effectively removing themselves from their vertical relationship with the Trinity, so that in this advanced culminating informational age, we are inundated with both ignorance and apathy. Remember the Question & Answer sequence posed in the Aug 15 post asking “the difference between ignorance and apathy” with the answer given as “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
Even though I certainly didn’t state or write such years ago, when I later examined my life, I certainly could have been Satan’s “organized religion’s” poster person for ignoring truth and being the epitome of both ignorance and apathy, appearing devoted and immersed in the “consuming church culture” about me. Perhaps you can relate? Anything remind you of a baby’s pacifier?
Such deception! Indeed, strong words, but true. The remaining time for we yet living humans, is quite finite, depending on our advancing years, before we return to dust. The planet’s timetable for its demise though, is not so certain.
So Why Study the Signs?
“The history of the church is littered with countless books and studies creating innumerable questions, concerns, and especially confusion in our minds. How do obscure passages, distant places, and unfamiliar symbols have any significance for our lives? For heaven’s sake’s, if we can’t understand what the Bible is teaching, how in the world can it hold any relevance to what we are or will be experiencing?
There are actually over 1800 prophecies in God’s Word just detailing the first and second coming of Jesus Christ! Obviously important to God, He desires we understand His plans having given us signs for a purpose. Especially today, we yearn to see ahead, to know, to avert disaster. Dr David Jeremiah counts it a privilege to help CF’s find their place in the great pattern of prophetic events foretold by the prophets, written out in scripture, and confirmed in the headlines of the day.
Read through The Book of Signs, you will find a comprehensive explanation of these prophecies and signs. You will see not only how God’s Word offer insights into the future, but also how Scripture builds our faith in the events of the past and encouragement for the uncertainty of the present. and beyond.
So What are the Signs?
They can be an event, symbol, object, place, or person whose existence or occurrence indicates something important in God’s plan for history. There presentations vary, but all express a particular meaning, helping us to know what to pay attention to, or point to what will be coming. God has taken great care to communicate in a way we can understand. Jesus Himself spoke of the signs verifying his first coming, signs portending His second coming back to earth, and the signs that outline both general and specific elements of the end of the age. We’ll take a close look at those in these pages, as well as other Scriptural passages in which signs are a major theme.
We are not to be fooled by the signs indicating that end times are near. We can expect a period of international and cultural chaos with the possibility of ceaseless, unending, terrible war. Seeing these signs played out in the news, on television, the internet, and especially in our own lives can cause despair, anxiety, and confusion; not only for the world situation, but also for those who are not yet a CF, and could be left behind to face the Tribulation. Jesus instructed we open our eyes to encourage us to gaze upon Him – not because this will cause all the world’s problem’s (and ours) to disappear, but because He is the Prince of Peace and in Him we are commanded “to abide.” Study with me as we discover together what Scripture reveals about the signs of the times.
The end times may be near, but as CF’s, our future is secure. We do live in a chaotic world but we can be confident and at peace because God is the author of history, and because the return of the Prince of Peace may be closer than we think.”
The above is an adaptation of the Dr. Jeremiah’s Prologue for his Book of Signs: 31 Prophecies of the Apocalypse. I am recommending CF’s may desire to seriously tackle it for their Autumn reading. Available everywhere. I’ve listened to it twice and my hard copy just arrived.
Overcome Ignorance and Apathy by Inviting the Love and Awareness of Christ Within Us.