THE REVIVAL OF EARLY CHURCH
PROPHECY
The Lord reveals to His beloved prophet
Daniel in the twelfth and closing chapter of his prophetic book a very
significant truth that is being played out in our day! This truth is found in
Daniel 12:4 & 12:9:
'But thou, O
Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many
shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased...And He said, Go thy
way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.''
Israel was established as a nation in
1948, and the Jews are returning to the Promised Land in record numbers
fulfilling the necessary prophecy of Deuteronomy 31:1-9; Ezekiel:24-36,
37:21ff. These passages state that the Lord will gather the Jews from all the
nations and will bring them into the land and He will then circumcise their
heart and bring the blessing on them speaking of the Millennial Kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore in view of current events, we can be
assured that we are living in the time of the end.
This miraculous birth and establishment of
the nation of Israel
was accomplished in 1948. The six-day war of 1967 gave Israel control over the city of Jerusalem. These are but two of the necessary
ingredients of God's program for the end of the age, for unless Israel is a
sovereign nation, able to make treaties and covenants with other world powers,
the beginning of Daniel's Seventieth Week, which is initiated by
confirming a covenant with the
Antichrist (Daniel 9:27), the end times can not begin.
But, since God has begun to fulfill His
prophetic program by re-gathering His people into the Promised Land the stage
is now set for the unfolding of the necessary events of the time of the end.
Therefore, we can be assured that we are living in what Daniel describes as 'the time of the end' and the unsealing
of Daniel's book is well nigh at hand! This is the REVIVAL OF EARLY CHURCH
PROPHECY.
During the last two decades of the
Twentieth Century students have labored over the Scriptures bringing to light
much new prophetic insight by the harmonizing of all of the prophetic passages
of the entire Bible. This effort has brought about a revival or return to what
the church fathers believed as revealed in their writings!
By standing on the foundation of the
prophetic teachings of Scripture and examining the interpretation of the church
fathers, those leaders of the church who lived during the first, second and
third centuries, it is clear to even the casual observer that the Church will
definitely experience the presence and persecution of the Antichrist but not
the Day of the Lord/Wrath of God!
This has been the position of the Church
throughout the ages up until the mid-1800's when the pre-tribulation rapture theory
was wrested from the Scriptures primarily by John Darby and then
popularized in the USA by C.I. Schofield who utilized much of the teachings of
John Darby, the founder of the Plymouth Brethren, to formulate his popular
study Bible.
The majority of modern-day Bible teachers
in the USA hold to the pre-tribulation rapture theory, however, since the
introduction of Robert Van Kampen and Marvin Rosenthal's books, 'The Sign' and
'The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church' there has been a steady movement of Bible
teachers to the Pre-Wrath prophecy doctrine of Scripture.
God's unsealing of the prophetic passages
continues, coming right on time AS USUAL, bringing to light the truth that was
taught by the early church and the church fathers, but not necessarily systematized
or labeled during the past two millennia which now has taken place in the works
of these two men!
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