1 .History is repetitive
a. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. 10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.”
The things which have happened in the past are the things transpiring right now.
b. Ecclesiastes 3:15 “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.”
2. It is an important thing for us to understand our history.
Ecclesiastes 1:11 “There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remem-brance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.”
In other words, God’s people forget what happens in the past. And be-cause we forget what happened in the past and we don’t understand how God lays out these principles, we have these many divergent views of prophecy. Many of these divergent views come from individuals that are highly respected, but they go against Biblical principle. Here what 1 Cor 10 says
1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
3 .Future prophecies could be understood
That which is written in the past is written as types; shadows of that which is the true which is now. So we can build on the principle that all of Bible prophecy from Genesis up to our point in time was really written for us at the end of the world and it makes Bible prophecy firm. If you can establish these histories, you can’t be moved. Look at Romans 15:4:
Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
We can learn from the past and this is very important. When you understand how God has led in the past, you are not upset and un-easy about the times in which we are now living, because we understand how God always works ,you live with confidence. watching the signs fulfill . Look at Job 11:
Job 11:6 “And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double (duplicated) to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.”
The secrets of God are the prophecies, that which is in the future and that which is in the past. The prophecies are duplicate to that which is. Turn to Amos 3:7:
Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
When Daniel was talking to Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2 and referring to this dream the king had, he referred to it as the ‘secrets’. Secret things are prophecies and so when you look at prophecy and you look at where we are now—they are perfectly aligned; duplicated over and over again.
One more verse :
Revelation 1:19 “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;”
Write the things that are in the past; the things that are happening now; and the things that will be in the future. Why? Because they mimic each other time and time again–so that is the law of historical repetition. Many individuals teach the principle that you can not understand Bible prophecy until it’s fulfilled. Some people say that it is foolish for us to try to look at things that haven’t been fulfilled in Bible Prophecy to try and understand them, we should just stick to the things that we know and when the things are fulfilled then we will have a correct understanding. I want you to understand that this is dangerous—especially where we are today! It is dangerous to wait for our under-standing. Look at John 16:13.
John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
So under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we can understand things to come, and Sister White employs this principle. Notice what she says:
“The events of the future will be discerned by prophecy, and will be un-derstood .” {1888 materials 1055.7}
4. The first and the last principle
It is important for us to understand that if we are guided by the Spirit, the things that have not yet taken place will be understood, and we can understand them, if we employ the principle of historical repetition. If it happens in history once and you can show it happens again—it’s established. It will always be that way, so that the man or woman of God, who is studying the Bible, can not be in error. God makes sure that we have these principles so we stay on the strait and narrow path. Look at Revelation 1 and we’ll see another principle. We saw the Law of Historical Repetition; we saw the principle that we can understand future events by the guidance of the Spirit; and here’s a principle that’s called the End from the Beginning, a phrase I take from the Bible, you could also title it ‘the First and the Last’. Jesus speaking to John says:
• Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
• Revelation 1:11 “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:”
Revelation 1:17 “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:”
Something about understanding that God is the First and the Last can give us comfort. In prophecy, God shows the End from the Beginning; or He shows the First from the Last. We’ve seen this already—the principle of Ephesus, the church of Christ and the disciples; that was the beginning of Christianity—but we saw that that platform repeats in Laodicea—the end of Christianity.
We saw it in Revelation 10; the beginning of Adventism describes the end of Adventism. The principle ofFirst and Last; and when you understand these principles that are based on God’s character—you can’t be moved.
5. The law of Triple application observed in Prophesy
a. This law is simple even a child can follow prophecy..the law is 1 + 2= 3
Its shown in the Bible many times.. Take for example the Second Angel’s message—when it says ‘
b. you have what’s called the 3 woes—the fifth, the sixth and the seventh trumpet. In the Bible it gives you the description of the first woe; it gives a description of the second woe; but when it comes to the third woe—it gives a description, but more vague than the first two. Jesus expects us to understand that the first plus the second equals the third. And we can prove it happened in Sept 11 2001, It’s a long separate study but briefly.
1st woe- Islam strike armies of Rome-surprise attack- without destroying –Mohamed-July 27th –July 27 1449
2nd woe - Islam strike armies of Rome- surprise attack with gun powder- destroying- Ottoman Turks - July 27- 1449- August 11,1840
Using the 1+2 =3 principle we can verified the third woe if it happens or predict it.
3rd woe- Islam strikes armies of
Islam teaches that these woes in history is the 1st 2nd and 3rd Great Jihads .. they teach only three Jihads
There‘s another one we can employ; how many Romes are there in Bible Prophecy? Three; you have Pagan
One plus Two equals Three; very simple principles.
6. Daniel and Revelation go together.
At Daniel and Revelation seminars, normally what is taught is that Daniel is laid down, Daniel 2; 7; 8; 9 and so forth; and then they jump into Revelation and they might deal with Revelation 12 and 13. It’s taught in that type of manner but it’s never shown us how they go together—and that’s how Bible Prophecy is supposed to be taught. Let me read a few state-ments from the pen of inspiration:
“The things revealed to Daniel were afterward complemented by the reve-lation made to John on the Isle of Patmos. These two books should be carefully studied.” {TM 114.6}
‘complemented’ means they go together they complete each other like a marriage J
which means to bring to perfection.
Some statement:
“As we near the close of this world's history, the prophecies recorded by Daniel demand our special attention, as they relate to the very time in which we are living. With them should be linked the teachings of the last book of the New Testament Scriptures.” {PK 547.2}
“The study of the Revelation directs the mind to the prophecies of Daniel, and both present most important instruction, given of God to men, concerning events to take place at the close of this world's history.” {GC 341.3}
“Those who become confused in their understanding of the Word, who fail to see the meaning of antichrist, will surely place themselves on the side of anti-christ. There is no time now for us to assimilate with the world. Daniel is standing in his lot and in his place. The prophecies of Daniel and of John are to be un-derstood. They interpret each other. They give to the world truths which every one should understand. These prophecies are to be witnesses in the world. By their fulfillment in these last days they will explain themselves.” {7Bible Commentary 949.6}
Daniel and Revelation interpret each other. Now in the way that they usu-ally teach prophecy, have you heard anyone use Revelation to interpret Daniel? Usually they will use Daniel to give you an understanding in Revelation—but never vice versa; BUT they go together! They interpret each other and it is impor-tant—and the reason why it is important to understand these things is because men come to their own conclusions on Bible prophecy by misapplying or not us-ing these principles stated above. They’ll bring in elements of Bible prophecy that are not there. They’ll talk about key players in the end time movements that prophecy doesn’t mention or refer to. They won’t look at history and see how things are laid out in history—so when it comes to the end of the world they have their own spin on things. But the Bible gives us understanding
7. The law of prophetic subjection …
Don’t be alarm by these terms they are very easy to understand 2 Peter 1:19:
2 Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
Now let’s pause here a moment: why does Peter at this particular point say ‘we have a more SURE WORD of prophecy’? Look a few verses up at verse 16:
• 2 Peter 1:16 “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.”
They were there , they saw what happened, the experience everything they touch Him he was real they saw his wounds ,they saw him ascent to heaven . Jesus said at that time to them, “Don’t tell any man what has happened here until I am glorified.” Now Jesus is in heaven, so Peter begins to write, “I saw with my eyes these things on the mountain; I heard with my ears the things that came from heaven; I was able to handle the Lord—I was able to feel Him; my senses were clearly aroused,” But then he says in verse 19; that we have a More Sure Word of Prophecy.
Prophecy is more sure than what you can see with your eyes; what you can hear with your ears; what you can handle with your hands. We have to have our faith based on prophecy,which is the revelation of Jesus Chirst.
• 2 Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”
Now who is the Day-star? Jesus Christ; he’s saying that if you take heed to prophecy—Jesus will arise in your hearts. That is very important to understand but notice what he says that is doubly important:
• 20 “Knowing this first,”
You see the devil knows that with a correct application of prophecy, Jesus will arise in your heart. You will have a triumphant life experience—he knows it. So he wants to get men who will not use particular principles. So Peter says here; ‘Knowing this first’.
• 20 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”
The Bible employs the principle that the Spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. In other words, what Daniel speaks of has to coincide with what Moses speaks of and what Isaiah speaks of and Jeremiah—it’s called the Law of Prophetic subjection—They all tell the same story.
• 21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
That phrase ‘in old time’ in the Greek means ‘at any time’; so prophecy of the scripture came not at any time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So what if I come to you and I’m teaching you prophecy—but it’s not based on the principles of God’s Word and I’m bringing in players that really don’t belong there in the sequence—I’m giving you my own private interpretation. Am I led of God? Can I consider myself a holy man of God speaking as I am moved by the Holy Ghost? No I can’t. Prophecy is clear cut, and Paul employs a phrase showing that prophecy is likened unto the Gospel and if any man teaches you another Gospel—the Bible says, ‘Let him be ac-cursed’.
Continuing on with 2 Peter we go to chapter 2:
• 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their perni-cious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”
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