How Can Studying Prophecy Be Bad?

Last updated on: June 28, 2017 at 9:00 am by Jack Wellman

How Can Studying Prophecy Be Bad? 2017-06-20T13:43:38-05:00 Jack Wellman

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Does the Bible tell us to study prophecy? If so, how can that be bad?

Studying

God admonishes all believers to study the Word, so it’s not just for teachers, pastors, parents, elders, deacons, or Sunday school teachers. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, telling him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2nd Tim 2:15). If Timothy didn’t study the Word sufficiently, he might have been ashamed, as in not knowing how to answer a question or settle an issue in the church, but these instructions weren’t just for Timothy, as the Apostle Peter writes, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2nd Pet 2:18). God has provided for us all that we will ever need, as “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2nd Pet 1:3), and this faith that’s been delivered once (Jude 1:3). It was “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb 1:1-2). That’s what our study should be about…the whole Word; the prophets, the apostles (in the gospels and books of the New Testament), and as Jesus told His disciples, we’re to be “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:20), which are found in the four gospels.

Prophecy

There is nothing inherently wrong about studying prophecy and looking at the times that we live in. It can give us a sense of urgency, knowing our Lord’s return may be soon (or at any moment). There are a lot of mysteries in the Book of Revelation. Some read the events as having already happened, as in the case of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. These were actual physical churches that existed in the time that the Apostle John wrote about them. They were sent to the churches. Each church had a copy of this Book. So, many believe that these events took place in the first century, and the tribulations were those that occurred in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem. There are differences of opinion on the rapture, tongues, prophecy, and other teachings in the Bible, but there should never be differences on the essential doctrines like the divinity of Christ, Jesus’ sinless-ness, His life, death, and resurrection, and salvation only through Jesus Christ and no other (John 6:44, 14:6; Acts 4:12). We can agree to disagree on non-essentials but not so with the essentials (Eph 2:8-9), so studying prophecy can be interesting but it can also be time consuming, and it may not be the wisest use of time. When studying prophecy takes our eyes off of Jesus and what we are to be like (Phil 2:1-8), then it’s no longer renewing the mind (Rom 12:1-2) or studying to “show yourself approved” (2nd Tim 2:15), but spending time that is better used elsewhere, or rather, on Someone.

Diversions

It wasn’t long after I was saved that I was asked to go to a Bible prophecy conference where the speaker said that the United States and Great Britain were mentioned in Bible prophecy. I was hooked. I wanted to know more. I bought a Bible atlas, church history books, ancient historian’s books, maps, and then opened my Bible and tried to make these chapters and verses fit the nations of America and Great Britain. How did I get out of this addiction? When someone finally asked me a question about Jesus or why I was saved, all I could do was point them to prophecy and warn them, “You better get right with God before the end comes.” Sadly, that was only going to create a fox-hole conversion. They would be a fearful convert instead of a tearful convert. They would come to God for the wrong reason. When someone asked me to their church, I went because I felt something was missing in my life. I finally found out what it was; it was Jesus and knowing Him! I had glossed over the Scriptures about being Christ-like and having a renewed mind because I was too busy finding little bits and pieces of news or events to fit into prophecy. I was beginning to know where a lot of chapter and verses were in the prophets, but I couldn’t tell you what the Bible actually said about being born again. I never read key verses such as Acts 4:12 or Romans 10:9-13, and instead of focusing on salvation by grace alone and not by works (Eph 2:8-9), I was working to find when the “end” would come. I should have been looking upward, expecting His return at any moment, and living like it, rather than studying things that took my focus off of Christ. Studying prophecy is fine, but when it becomes an obsession or it diverts our attention away from Christ, then it’s become a preoccupation and we’re certainly not studying to show ourselves approved by God. Rather, we’re studying to get the approval of others.

Conclusion

I believe the New Testament church was Christo-centric or Christ-centered, Word-focused, and Spirit-led. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was to come and declare the things of Jesus and testify of Him. The Holy Spirit always points us to Christ and to His glory. The Holy Spirit will never take us to distractions about things we can’t ever have a perfect understanding of. He will bring us to a fuller, richer understanding of Christ and Who He is, and how we should be in relation to Him and to one another. The Apostle Paul tells us exactly what mind to have: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:3-8). After reading that, I could use a lot more study on those kinds of attributes of Christ, and having this same mind, “which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is host of Spiritual Fitness and also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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