Want to learn more about Great Apocalyptic Prophecies? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 13-part series.
When I first saw the topic for the next quarter I was
annoyed. “When are we going to study the life of Jesus?” “When are we
going to study a complete book of the Bible,” I fumed? I’ll bet half
the population doesn’t even know what the word “apocalyptic” means!
How can I make this topic interesting?
Then, I started thinking about my own journey. Many years ago a
member of my church asked me why I thought Christianity was true and
Islam was not. Since I knew almost nothing about Islam, I could not
give him a good answer. Since then I have been reading (studying) the
teachings of Islam and Buddhism (the Dalai Lama version). To my
astonishment, I found that there was substantial “overlap” between
the three religions. Muslims share all of the Old Testament, and
some of the New Testament with us. Many of the teachings of the Dalai
Lama are identical to those of Jesus. While this tends to prove the
truth of our common beliefs, it also makes us look for additional
proof that we have “the truth” where the teachings differ. Bible
prophecy tends to do just that. If we can show where the Bible
accurately predicted the future, we can have confidence that the
“True God” spoke through the Bible. Not only can we have confidence
in the Bible, but we can have some assurance for the future. Let’s
dive into our study of end-time prophecy!
Two of the most impressive prophecies in the Bible are
the linked prophecies found in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. Since Daniel’s
life was jeopardized by the one prophecy, he might have preferred to
avoid it. However, the prophecy that Daniel revealed through
inspiration is one of the most prominent proofs that God is in charge
of the powerful nations on earth. Let’s jump in and see what we can
learn!
Most people I know, including lawyers, are not anxious
to appear before a judge. There is the pressure, the worry, the
uncertainty of how things will turn out. Sometimes a lot of money is
at stake. Sometimes a person’s future freedom is in question. Those
before the court always have something to lose. One of the promises
of the Bible is a final judgment. Is that something to fear? Or
something to desire? Let’s jump in and find out!
Our study of Daniel is beginning to look more and more
like a barnyard and a band with all of these animals and horns
running around! What do these visions of animals have to teach us
today? Is there anything relevant to us? Anything that inspires
confidence in God? Or, is this just old, boring stuff? Let’s dig in
and find out!
Last week we learned that Daniel’s pleasant virtual
stroll by the water of the Ulai Canal turned into a nightmare that
made him sick for several days. He was sick because he learned that
Babylon, in which he held a very high position, was about to fall.
Worse, he learned that the temple in Jerusalem, that we determined
was either in the planning or actual rebuilding stage, was going to
be destroyed again! The dream of his lifetime (going home) was going
down the drain. That caused Daniel to turn to God in earnest prayer
for the future. God gives Daniel a prophetic answer that is one of
the most important for our confidence in the divinity of Jesus. Let’s
jump into our study and learn more!
We know, from the record in the gospels, about some of
the wonderful things Jesus did for us while He lived here on earth.
Now that He is back in heaven, is He vacationing? Is He taking a
well-deserved rest? Is He simply watching to see if we will take
advantage of His sacrifice for us? Our lesson today pulls back the
curtains on the windows of heaven and gives us a peek at what Jesus
is doing for us now. Let’s jump into our study!
Our study of the prophecies of Daniel show that God is
interested in sharing the future with His people. God’s interest in
this continued when He came to earth to live with us. This week we
turn our attention to the prophecies that Jesus shared with His
disciples. Let’s explore these predictions that come directly from
the lips of our Lord!
The title of our lesson this weeks sounds like the
title of a science fiction book. The story is fantastic, but it is
not fiction. Instead, it is a parable of the history of salvation.
Let’s jump into Revelation 12 and see what we can learn.
Last week we examined several great “billboards” in the
sky to determine what they meant. One billboard had this surly red
dragon of unusual size on it. We found out that he was a killer and,
worse, he has moved into our neighborhood! This week we find that he
has friends – that are just as undesirable. Let’s learn more by
jumping into our lesson, which is the first of two lessons about
these friends!
Two weeks ago we learned about the Big Red Dragon. Last
week we learned about his Beast buddy and this week we are introduced
to another one of the Dragon’s friends. Unfortunately, they all
moved into our neighborhood! Let’s jump into our lesson to learn
more about the last of this sorry trio of bad boys.
Have you ever read a book that reminded you of a “see-saw?” You know what I mean by “see-saw” – a long board on a fulcrum
with kids sitting on opposite ends. When one child goes up in the
air, the other comes down. Last week in our lesson the Devil (the red
Dragon of unusual size) and his two Beast buddies (the Sea Beast and
the Earth Beast) seemed to be up, they were winning the conflict
between good and evil. This week things are different, lets hop on
board and find out more!
After all of these lessons on prophecy, you
may be groaning and say, “Remind me, again, of the reason
for this study?” The reason is to give us confidence as we
see the events that lead up to the Second Coming of Jesus.
This week we finally get to the ultimate object of these
prophecies — the Second Coming. Let’s dive in!
We’ve read the Book. We’ve studied the lessons. We’ve
puzzled out the history of the world and the outcome of the final
battles between good and evil. The questions now are, “What can we do
about it?” “What are we going to do about it?” “What are you going to
do?” (Which is a lot easier way to put it than the title of our
lesson – which sounds like something an exotic fish might get!) Let’s
jump into our study of what God has done and what we can and should
do in response.
