GUEST: Todd Hampson, author, Non-Prophets Guide Series

Consider this: Nearly 30% of the Bible deals with prophetic or future events. A majority of the prophecies in Scripture have already come to pass but there is plenty of prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled.

Fulfilled prophecy is one of the greatest evidences that God is trustworthy and His Word is true.

Consider Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ—that He would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, make an escape to Egypt, be rejected by His own people, betrayed by a friend, crucified with sinners, no bones broken, have His side pierced, and rise from the dead, to name just a few that have were precisely fulfilled.

Realizing this should strengthen the believer’s faith in the sovereign God who controls the past, present, and future according to His perfect plan.

And yet with the high number and perfect accuracy of fulfilled prophecies, it is odd that many churches tend to avoid the subject. It is said that addressing prophecy is complicated and not concrete, that there are many different interpretations, that prophecy is a secondary and potentially divisive issue, or that people have more relevant needs in the here and now.

God intentionally filled His Word with prophecy so that believers would know what is coming, yes, but even more, so that we would praise and worship God for His power and plan. While God’s Word doesn’t include every detail we may want about the future, it reveals plenty for the one who diligently studies the Bible and learns under a preacher who “accurately handles the word of truth.”

We are living in a time when some of the yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecies are taking shape. The nation of Israel, after being scattered from their promised homeland for nearly 2000 years, is now living there again. That in itself is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy (Isaiah 11:11; Ezekiel 11:17).

But there is more to come—a seven-year period of world tribulation, the rise of a world leader called the Antichrist, the rapture of church-age believers, and the return of Jesus Christ to judge and reign on earth for 1000 years.

Now, some believers would dispute this “pre-millennial” view of biblical prophecy. They don’t see ethnic Israel as significant in the future. They don’t see a 1000-year literal reign of Christ on earth but rather a spiritual reign right now or in the future. So how can we know what is to come?

This weekend in part one of our two-week series, Todd Hampson, co-host of the Prophecy Pros Podcast and author of many books on prophecy, will join to us to lay the groundwork on understanding biblical prophecy. We’ll discuss the three main views—amillennialism, postmillennialism, and premillennialism—and a number of future events that Scripture details.

Then, next weekend in part two, we will look at current events in the Middle East—the intractable war with Iran, the rise of Turkey, and the turning against Israel—all of which are nations with immense prophetic significance in the lead up to the great hope of believers—the return of Jesus Christ!

We hope you join us for two weeks of Understanding Current Events in the Middle East through the Lens of Biblical Prophecy.