Revelation is a “revealing.” We need revelation because we know that we cannot understand these things accurately unless the Lord reveals them to us. Understanding prophecy is not a matter of figuring out formulas and patterns. If the Holy Spirit does not give us the understanding, we will not get it.
We need His wisdom to apply this knowledge correctly. We are not given this understanding just to be able to tell people, “I told you so.” If we are given understanding of the times, it is so we can apply the knowledge we are given to be prepared for the times in which we live. This preparation is not just to survive, but to be effective emissaries of the kingdom, and to help prepare for the kingdom regardless of what is happening around us.
Understanding “Understanding”
Understanding is different from knowledge. Understanding came from the term “to stand under,” meaning to really understand others you had to stand in their place. To understand another person we have to stop considering what we feel or think and try to grasp what they are feeling or thinking. It is in this way that we must be joined to the Lord, in unity with what He is doing and why, if we are going to fully understand what He is saying. Our goal is to begin to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. As we stand under Him we begin to take on His perspective. That is true understanding.
There is another way this applies to us. People knew what electricity was, or had knowledge of it, long before they understood it. For example, they knew that lightning was hot, and was a form of power. Even though they knew what it was, it was not until they began to understand how it worked that they could harness and use it. Once they understood how it worked, they empowered the world with it. This is what we are seeking to do in relation to the power of God.
We may know that the Lord has power. We may even fully believe in His power, but never see it in our own life. Until we understand Him by standing under Him, we will not be trusted with power. To use His power requires faith. Faith is much more than just believing He has it, it is believing to see it released. To do this we must be in union with Him.
The reason men studied electricity was to understand it so they could use it. We are studying God, not to use Him, but to be used by Him. We want our knowledge to turn into an understanding that enables His power to be released through us to do His work.
In other words, we are not just after the knowledge of what Biblical prophecies mean, but we are seeking to have all of the knowledge that we can gain, leading to a greater understanding of the Lord and His ways, and therefore a greater unity with Him. We want our knowledge applied to our life, and to the life of His people. We want to be changed by this knowledge and changed into His image. Therefore, we are not just asking the Lord to show us what is going to happen, but we also want to know why.
Amos 3:7 states, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.” There is no place in the law where the Lord bound Himself to do this. He does this because the prophets are His friends and He does not want to do anything without His friends. That is the key to revelation and our main purpose—to be such close friends with God that He does not want to do anything without telling us about it.
The Main Plan
Remember the first cardinal point on our compass is that we are seeking first what God is doing, not the devil. A basic key to understand God’s whole purpose for mankind is summed up in Philippians 1:6: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” To say this in another way, the Lord does not start something which He will not finish. This also means that He did not create man or the earth, for a purpose He will not complete. Therefore, a key to understanding everything God is doing in the earth revolves around Him completing the work He began in man, and on the earth.
One way we are going to see this applied is that everything, which had a true Christian foundation, is going to be restored to the Lord. This includes every university, every city—even every nation. As we move closer to the “period of the restoration of all things” which Peter talked about, we are going to see many such things that had a Christian foundation, but seem to have been lost to the spirit of the world, recovered for the purposes of Christ.
Let’s go back and lay a better foundation for this point, by beginning to address some other practical ways that it applies. God created man for a purpose, and though man has been sidetracked because of the fall, we can be absolutely sure that mankind and the earth, and all it contains, will be restored and fulfill the original purpose for which they were created.
Again, there is a time which Peter referred to as “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). Everything will ultimately be restored to its original condition and purpose. Set this in your heart because it means very practically that we cannot give up on anyone or anything. It means that regardless of how deeply a person or group seem to fall into the camp of the enemy, they can, and will be, recovered in the end. Therefore, we do not give up hope on anyone or anything.
There are many biblical prophecies that testify of this complete restoration which we will in due time cover. However, for now we want this to be a basic part of our paradigm for interpreting our times, being able to recognize His purposes more in our daily lives. To do this would result in a radical transformation for many in both their approach to their entire life, and their daily living.
Presently, whenever you mention the end times to just about any Christian, the first thing that usually comes to their mind is chaos and destruction. There is a reason for this, and there will undoubtedly be a lot of chaos and destruction at the end of this age. Everything that God did not build will crumble in the shaking which is coming. Even so, our first thought of the times should be construction rather than destruction. Our first thought should be hope for the future, not fear, because the future of this earth is much brighter than any Utopian philosophy or religion has ever even conceived.
Christians have been given the greatest hope for the future of any, and yet this has almost never even been preached. The gospel of the kingdom really is “good news.” In fact, it is better news than the earth has heard in the 6,000 years since Adam. Hope for the future is the special domain of Christianity, and yet it is perceived almost universally as a “doom and gloom” religion. This must, and will, change. Even in the midst of the darkest times the world has ever been through, Christians will shine even more brilliantly because of their faith and hope for the future. The darker it gets the closer we know we are to the day of salvation for not only ourselves, but also for the whole earth.
The main purpose of God is not destruction, but restoration. Therefore, our first thought, our main focus, should be to see what God is doing or what He is building, in order to restore the earth. Of course the main thing He is restoring at this time is the church, His temple. Therefore, every Christian who is truly abiding in Him and has His heart, will have a heart to see His church become all that the Lord intended for it to be. If we are doing the work of God, this is the biggest and most important thing that He is doing at this time, because the church is going to be the vessel, which will He use to restore the whole earth.
Right now we need to set within our hearts that as we study these times we will see the greatest hope, the greatest and most brilliant plan for mankind which has ever been devised. As we study this, we are going to see more and more of the glory, wonder, and unfathomable love of our God. There will be judgments, and there will be much destruction, but this is only the clearing of the land so the most glorious dwelling place for God can be constructed among men, which will also be a more glorious dwelling place for men than we could have ever conceived.
I once had a prophetic experience in which I was suddenly standing in front of a radar screen on a ship. The Lord Himself was standing next to me. A blip appeared on the screen and we seemed to be on a collision course with it. I knew what to do so I commanded the ship to turn 90 degrees to the right. The blip remained directly ahead, and was coming closer. I then commanded the ship to turn 90 degrees to the left. The blip remained right in front of us and it was obvious that we were about to collide, so I braced myself. The blip disappeared and nothing happened!
I then asked the Lord what this blip had been. He replied that it was what we called the great tribulation, or the time of great trouble. He said it was but a tiny blip on the radar screen of all that He is doing, but it is unavoidable. He then said if we will just stay close to Him, we won’t even feel it!
The time of great trouble is a blip on the radar screen, and it is getting closer. However, it is just a tiny blip, and it will quickly pass. What is seven years compared to eternity? What is seven years compared to all of man’s history? If we become overly focused on that time we will miss most of the truly important things which are happening.
This does not mean we should not be aware of the times of trouble and understand them, but we do not want our focus on them to get out of proportion to what it should be. The overwhelming majority of what we are about to study is going to be about what God is doing right now, right in our midst, to prepare the world for the age to come in which He will reign over this earth.