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The Prophecy Series
Part Six
The Prophecies of Messiah
He will come - He came - He will come again
Isa 46:9-10
Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand…' (NKJV unless noted)
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In The beginning God’s Kingdom was on this earth. He created all things and placed mankind in His Garden. The Serpent convinced mankind to disobey His Creator; thus sin and death entered this earthly creation. Man was cast out of God’s Garden and lost his relationship with his Creator. Yet the first prophecy ever uttered was one of redemption and restoration of all things - it was given by the Creator of One that would rectify the lost relationship.
To the Serpent:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
John the Apostle sums this up nicely
1 John 3:8 (NKJV unless noted) He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
This devil is the serpent in the Garden (Gen 3) that deceives the whole world
Rev 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…
This great story of redemption and restoration is written in prophecies throughout the Scriptures. It is the story of mankind’s redemption and the creation’s restoration to the way it was in the beginning. It is accomplished by the Son of God paying the price for our redemption at His first coming (some 2000 years ago) - He is coming again to restore and establish His rule on this physical earth; God’s Kingdom forever!
Acts 1:11 …"Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
The Second Coming is when Jesus Christ will return to earth in fulfillment of His promises and to fulfill the prophecies made about Him throughout Scripture.
Acts 3:21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his prophets.
The Second coming of Jesus Christ is mentioned approximately eight times more frequently in the Old and New Testaments than His first coming. In fact, Christ’s second coming is mentioned 318 times in the New Testament alone.
The Holy Bible centers on Jesus Christ and can be summed up in three short sentences.
1. He is coming.
2. He came.
3. He is coming again.
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We have this sure prophecy - Elijah will precede the Messiah’s coming(s)
Mal 3:1 "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
The father of John the Baptist prophesied of Messiah’s 1st coming and about John’s role
(Read all of Luke 1:67-80)
Luke 1:67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: …76 "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
Matt 11:7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John…9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.' (Mal 3:1)
Matt 11:11 "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. … 14 "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Elijah and Messiah’s 2nd coming
Matt 16:27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." (How can that be?)
Then the transfiguration of Christ (A vision of the of Son of Man ln His Kingdom!)
Matt 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Matt 17:9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead." 10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.
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There is no greater prophecy of The Messiah’s return, to establish God’s Kingdom on earth, than in the Book of The Revelation. The whole book is about His return …
Revelation 1:1 (NKJV)
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants -- things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
This is the reveling of what Jesus Christ is really like and what is going to happen at the end of this age… it is also the keeping of the promise given thru Amos:
Amos 3:7 (NKJV)
Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets .
Rev 22:6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. 7 Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
The Battle:
Rev 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Day of the Lord)
Rev 16:15 "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." (This verse may be considered as an insert)
Rev 16:16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. 17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
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Our Hope and The Messiah will reign
The King of kings is coming - because all of God’s prophecies are SURE
Luke 1:32-33 (NKJV)
32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Revelation 10:7
but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
Rev 19:16
And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
His coming Kingdom was earlier declared by Daniel, the prophet:
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Daniel 7:13-14
"I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
What should be our focus NOW?
Matthew 24:42
Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come.
Revelation 3:3
"Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
Revelation 3:18
"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
Luke 12:35-40
35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching … 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
1 Thessalonians 5:2, 6-8
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. … 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
Remember, the meaning of the "Testimony of Jesus"
Rev 19:10 …and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
The purpose of Yeshua’s comings is to end Satan’s works and restoration of all things.
From Gates of Eden article ‘Three Important Hebrew Words…’ by Daniel Botkin:
"The main theme of the Bible can be summed up in the words Exile and Return. The Bible is the story of Paradise Lost and Paradise Restored. Man is exiled from Eden in the first few chapters of Genesis and restored to Paradise in the last few chapters of Revelation… These two great events serve as the bookends of man’s sin-filled history. Between these two bookends, each of us is either working toward the End of the Exile and the Restoration of Paradise, or wasting time and energy and resources that could be used to help bring about the restoration of all things."
The Prophecies concerning the saint’s future role as Kingdom heirs (next issue)
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