My wife Rachel and I were attending the Mid-America Prophecy Conference on April 11, 2014 and evangelist Don Perkins was speaking. When he mentioned Acts 28:22-26, Rachel turned to me and said, “That was a prophecy conference.” She was right and the more I thought about it the more I realized how true that is.
The Old Testament prophets wrote books on prophecy. Following the temptation of Jesus, He returned into Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. He taught in the synagogues and received much glory. He arrived at Nazareth where He grew up. The Sabbath came and He went to the synagogue. When He stood up to read He was handed a prophetic book. (the book of Isaiah).
The Old Testament didn’t have chapters and verses at this time, but if it had, He would have read Isaiah 61:1 and part of 61:2. He closed the book, gave it to the synagogue minister, sat down and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:14-21). This was a prophetic message that His hometown people didn’t like. They even rose up to kill Him even though it was given by Jesus under the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:28-30).
Shortly before His crucifixion, He was leaving the Temple for the last time. His disciples approached Him to point out the beautiful buildings, but He said, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another’ (Matthew 24:1-2). He went out to the Mount of Olives (to the place where He would ascend into heaven after His First Coming; to the place where He will come back to at His Second Coming; Acts 1:9-11; Zechariah 14:4) and His disciples said, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
Their questions triggered what was probably the greatest prophecy conference the world has ever experienced. Jesus talked about false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, the gospel, the Temple, the battle of Armageddon, the Second Coming, Israel and many other really important subjects. I love to study His words, but many church members don’t even want to hear them.
Shortly after His crucifixion, two men were walking to a village called Emmaus when Jesus drew near (Luke 24:13-28). They called Jesus “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” They said He had been condemned, crucified and His body was missing from the grave. Jesus called them “fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”
Did you catch that? Jesus said those who don’t believe all that the prophets said are foolish and they have a heart problem. He referred the men to the Scriptures and “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Starting in the book of Genesis and going through the Book of Malachi Jesus showed them how current events were a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. That is a prophecy conference that I would love to have set in on.
And now to the prophecy conference that caught Rachel’s attention. Paul was arrested and eventually sent to Rome (Acts 28:16-29). Three days after he arrived, he contacted some of the Jews and told them he had been arrested for the hope of Israel. They had no idea what he was talking about, but they wanted to hear more.
“And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.” Paul did what Jesus did on the road to Emmaus. Some believed and some didn’t, but this is where Paul told the unbelieving Jews that “the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles” (Acts 28:28).
Bible prophecy is about Jesus and not understanding it was a costly thing for the Jews.
The church enjoys a unique relationship with God. He has given us the Scriptures and Jesus told us to go all over the world teaching people to observe everything He said (Matt. 28:20). This is our mission. “Everything He said” leaves no room for the exclusion of Bible prophecy. It is a significant portion of the Scriptures and those who ignore it are not following the example of Jesus and they are not teaching the whole counsel of God.
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Prophecy Plus Ministries
Daymond & Rachel Duck