End Time Prophecy: The Beginning

Today, March 4th, I have decided to start rewriting my book on "end times prophecy". I originally wrote the book in 1995, but I have waited on confirmation that I should get it published. I feel that now is the time.

The name of the book is "Forty New Insights To Bible Prophecy". It all began when I was asked to teach a class on Revelation. I had always been interested in prophecy, studying all of the greats like Hal Lindsey & Grant Jefferies. I have read almost any book written on the subject.

I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church and taught my whole life that there was a rapture and it came at the beginning of the tribulation, afterward came the millenial kingdom. It seemed to fit with most Bible scholars; so, I was ok with it until I began teaching. I wanted to teach the truth, only what God's word had to say. Could that be possible? Prophecy is tricky because usually what man believes is going to happen and what really will happen are total different. So, I began with a plan. My plan was to take a giant piece of computer paper and try to place everything that I read on the paper in the right location according to "key words" and "key phrases" that match up. If it didn't seem to fit, I was not going to force it. I would wait on inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Lots of prayers is a part of that waiting.

So, I began the search for the truth. I still may not know everything; but, I believe that God has revealed many things that other authors seem to have missed. In this quest for the truth, I want to keep all things to the glory of God the Father.

I hope you will join me over the next few months as I go thru my past studies and hopeful new insights and try to see how today relates to the last days of Revelation.

Insight # 1: The first insight happened after I had spent countless hours in the middle of the night researching, reading, re-reading, & re-reading passages and trying to be open to what is really being said. The insight was that when you study Revelation, you have to learn the whole Bible. I believe that this is why the book of Revelation comes with a promise of blessing when you read it. The secret to understanding it is the key words. When you see a word like "star", you need to refer to other chapters of the Bible to understand if "star" is ever used for any other meaning other than the obvious one, such as, Jesus is the morning star.
Revelation is full of symbolism and hidden meanings. That should not be so unusual to you, Jesus used parables the same way. Parables always have a common meaning and, for those with insight, the parable also had spiritual meaning. Many people would totally miss the true meaning. Only through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit does the meaning pop out at you. So, when you start to read Revelation underline the key words. Ask yourself questions, "what does that mean?" and "can it mean something different?".
Over our study you will see that many verses are interpreted by people to say one thing and it could actually have several meanings. We must be open to that and consider all possibilities. We know that we have the correct interpretation when we can find several scriptures to indicate the same meaning.
Most of all, this study is worthless if all we do is satisfy our curiousity. Please share this blog site with others. Hopefully, over the period of the next few months, everyone will see that salvation is only possible thru God's son, Jesus Christ. He has promised that He will return. We should anxiously await His return.

God bless, Dean