The purpose of this Bible study is to awaken men and women to the realization that Jesus is about to return to earth and put an end to violence, murder, sexual immorality, idolatry, dishonesty, suffering, death, pain and depression.  Evil, and those who love it, will perish.

Those who love Jesus and righteousness will receive eternal life.

There is a great need for preparation for the second coming. The very atmosphere of evil has desensitized Americans.  We routinely see scandalous corruption in government.  The evening news reveals the degenerate conditions of our cities.  Gangs of thugs wage war upon each other and innocent suffer.  We hardly notice the unrestrained greed of Wall Street.  The dollar has become almighty and a man’s word has come to mean nothing.

We’ve witnessed the shame of popular religious leaders claiming to be chosen of God.  While preaching His truth they have been caught denying His name.  The poor, the homeless and many elderly are trapped in a web of financial hopelessness.  Congress makes more and more laws.  Taxes are increasing to cope with the widening effects of sin.

Americans owe more than ever before. Saving and Loans Institutions are billions in the red.  Bankruptcy proceedings are at an all time high.  Lawsuits are epidemic.  The air is polluted, the water is unsafe.  We have no place to store atomic waste.  Health care costs are soaring beyond control.  Wake Up America!  We can’t outrun our problems much longer!

Some refuse to admit that America is in trouble.  These hold to the basic premise that man can solve his own problems. True, man can and has solved a number of problems – but technology has created greater problems than it has solved.  We face complex moral, ethical and environmental problems beyond anticipation and instead of providing solutions, technology multiplies our problems.

Our world is rushing toward environmental bankruptcy each day.  This year, more than 90,000,000 people will be added to the population of our planet.  At the turn of this last century, the world numbered 1 billion.  Today, it numbers 6 billion!  In about 30 years, the population is expected to double.  Who will survive?

Greatest Problem

There is one problem that is above all others and technology cannot remedy this problem.

This problem is our need for a change of heart.  We have new technology and degenerate hearts.  This is the crux of the matter.  The ancient prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it? “  Jeremiah 17:9

Our nation, like all others, staggers beneath the weight of accumulated sins. Sins of parents are passed down to children.  Sin brings degeneration and degeneration brings a multitude of problems without solution.  For example, what’s the solution to the problem of drugs in America?  Is abortion the solution to China’s population problem of 1 billion people?

Americans, for the most part, are asleep to their spiritual poverty.  North America represents a mere 5% of the world’s population yet Americans own 70% of the world’s wealth and as a nation, have more than enough food to eat.  Because we have so much, we often fail to comprehend the rising misery index of the rest of the world.  Great problems, large and complex problems face the human race.  We have painted ourselves into a corner.  How can we escape our own destruction?  The Bible offers the only solution to man’s dilemma.  It is the second coming of Jesus!

This Bible study is not a doomsday or a pessimistic presentation of terrible things to come.  On the contrary, this Bible Study is focused on positive promises and principles that will prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.  Even though some things that shall be studied will be terrible, there is a very important and positive side to what God is about to do.

What this Bible study is

This is a Bible study focused on Bible prophecy – a study of what God is about to do and why.

This Bible study teaches trust in God.

This Bible study promotes loving your neighbor.

This Bible study can help you prepare for unexpected things soon to come upon the earth.

This Bible study will take several months.  This week’s study will introduce a number of issue’s relating to study and interpretation of prophecy.  Please note that all texts will be taken from the New International Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.

Getting started

You are now faced with an important decision. You have three options:

1. Your first option is to dismiss this entire subject as nonsense.

2.  Your second option is to ignore or argue the issues presented in this Bible Study due to inherited or acquired prophetic beliefs.
   
3.  Your third option is to prayerfully consider the message of this series.  If you are accustomed to the impress of the Holy Spirit in your heart, give room for careful consideration on the subjects to be presented.

It must be understood from the beginning of this Bible study that Revelation is not an isolated prophecy of the Bible.  It is not self-contained, nor can it stand-alone.  In fact, all the books of the Bible meet and end in Revelation.  One authority has said that there are over 500 allusions in Revelation from the Old Testament alone!  Revelation has an important partner in the Old Testament book of Daniel.  This fact has been understood for hundreds of years.

God revealed great historical events to Daniel so that the final generation might look backwards through history and understand His purposes.  Likewise, God also revealed great events in Revelation concerning the end of the world so the final generation could look forward and understand His purposes and even more, anticipate those events coming upon the earth.  These two books compliment and explain each other.

Remember, the day Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston, South Carolina on September 21, 1989; the weather was beautiful and warm.  People went about their usual round of duties without much consternation about the coming storm.  All day long, weather forecasters reported that a killer hurricane was coming and encouraged people to evacuate.  Thousands of people foolishly put off preparation because the weather looked quite normal.  As the winds and rain arrived, a great multitude took to the freeways to escape the ravages of the hurricane.  The congestion was so heavy that it took more than 6 hours to go 50 miles.

Bible prophecy is like the weather satellite high above the earth.  We may look out over the ocean and observe the weather, but the satellite sees much farther.  Based on what you see today; you may think that life will go on as usual, but Bible prophecy says that a great storm is coming soon upon the whole world! Don’t be foolish and put off preparation.

Survival through faith alone

This Bible study will attempt to show that Revelation’s message primarily concerns a short time period of about 150 years.  This series of studies will suggest that we could be less than a decade away from the great finale!  This study will also explain why the survival of God’s people will only be possible through faith in His promises!  The Bible says, “…The just shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11

According to the Bible, there will be a final generation and when it arrives, it will observe certain signs.  Jesus, speaking of the final generation said, “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Matthew 24: 34 Has that generation arrived?  Is the end here? Is it possible to know?

The only true source of information about tomorrow is God.  God says, “I am God, and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning….” Isaiah 46:9,10

This Bible student believes that God has kept Revelation’s comprehensive story an intentional secret until the appointed time of the end.  In other words, the story of Revelation is primarily for the last and largest generation of living people. The phrase, the appointed time of the end, is mentioned several times in the book of Daniel and applies to a specific and identifiable time period in earth’s history.

If you find it hard to accept that God has kept Revelation’s story a mystery until now, consider the, “explosion” of knowledge during the last 100 years:

 Since the creation of the world, men traveled no faster than a horse could run – until the last century.

Since the creation of the world, men could not fly – until the last century.

Since the creation of the world, men knew essentially nothing of the force of electricity - until the last century.

Since the creation of the world, men knew nothing about the power of the atom – until the last century.

Since the creation of the world, men knew nothing about communication via television or radio - until the last century.

Since the creation of the world, men knew nothing about space travel – until last century.

Since the creation of the world, men knew nothing about AIDS – until 15 years ago!

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