“When the Lord brings back the captivity of his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.”
Psalm 14:7

King David wrote this. How did he know there would be a captivity of his people, or that the Lord would eventually bring them back from that captivity? The captivity wasn’t even going to happen until the reign of his grandson, far into the future. This is an example of Bible prophecy. Holy men of God penned things that weren’t going to happen until a long time in the future. This happens uniquely in the Bible because only God knows the future.

“Remember the former things of old:
for I am God, and there is none else;
I am God, and there is none like me,
DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;”
Isaiah 46:9-10

The characteristic of the Word of God which makes it different from every other “holy” book is prophecy. Every other religion has its “holy” book, and every one of them was written by Satan who is the author of all false religions. He is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).

But Satan cannot prophesy because he does not know the future. The only prophecy he can give is what he is able to cause to happen. He can speak through mediums and sorcerers to persuade people with details that no one else could have come up with, because he knows the past. When one visits a medium or fortune teller, he will present details from the past that will be accurate, as Satan knows all about each one’s past.

As for foretelling the future, Satan can foretell the future only insofar as what he can cause to happen. If he tells you that you’re going to be in an accident, he can then cause the accident. But outside of what he can cause to happen, he cannot tell the future because he only knows the future insofar as it has been written in the Word of God.

But the Bible, the Word of God, is rife with prophecy of the FUTURE from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation.

“I am God, and there is none like me,
DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING…”

When King David penned the passage in Psalm 14, Israel was in a time of great prosperity. Later, under his son Solomon’s reign, Israel was in its golden age, even more prosperous and peaceful. Their beautiful Temple was considered one of the wonders of the world. So when David prophesied that the Lord would bring back the captives of Israel, there was no way he could have known in the first place that the day would come when their beautiful Temple would be destroyed and that they would be taken off to Babylon in captivity. God was speaking through David, foretelling the future. And it happened just as he said.

People who study Bible prophecy find it an exciting subject to study because God has spoken so much concerning “the last days.” He has foretold how to recognize that period of time, revealing that we are to watch for the re-birth of the nation of Israel after their prolonged dispersion throughout the world. This re-birth has taken place in this generation. After 2,000 years of having been scattered throughout the world, Israel was reborn in May of 1948, and the Jews are flocking back to the land of their fathers. Millions of them have returned to the land of their forefathers. God is now in the process of restoring that nation in preparation for the coming of Israel’s Messiah, and that is the reason the powers of hell are so determined to stop it. That is the reason, and the ONLY reason behind the “Palestinian” problem and behind the Muslim determination to wipe Israel off the map. Satan knows the Scriptures that say that that will be his end.

It can be scary to see the terrible things foretold being played out, but for believers it is joyful because believers have “the blessed hope” – the joyful anticipation of the “harpazo,” commonly called the Rapture, which we know must take place before the coming unprecedented judgments of the great Tribulation. The blessed hope of those who belong to Jesus Christ is the joy of their lives, the most highly anticipated day when he will come for all born-again believers. Read about it in 1st Thessalonians 4:15-18 which ends with “Therefore comfort one another with these words,” clearly showing that the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation, otherwise there would be no comfort for anyone.

Place your faith in the only absolute truth, the only written Word which can show what will happen in the future. All others are false. Only the Word of the living God is truth.

For more on The Israel Story
God’s Covenant With Israel

For more on The Rapture
The Rapture Generation