Prophecy,
or the foretelling of future events, is in the Bible so that when a certain
event comes to pass, readers can readily reference the exact verses to show
them in detail that what God said would happen happened. That way they could
know for sure what He was behind when it occurred.
In
Isaiah, God Himself explains that He put prophecy in Scripture precisely so weÕd
always know what events He caused, thereby realizing how trustworthy His Word
was because it came through right on the money.
*****
IÕve been
seeing the ads the last few weeks for this new movie, Babel, starring Brad Pitt. Babel, of
course, plays heavily in Bible prophecy from Genesis to Romans to Revelation.
Romans 1, for example, has the Apostle Paul recounting the whole thing in
detail.
Jordan
explains, ÒIn Gen. 11, you get a flashback about Babel and itÕs important to
remember the whole issue about the land of Shinar; the word ÔShinarÕ seems to
mean Ôfury, warring.Õ Ó
ÒSo, youÕve
got this city and kingdom Babel (Babylon is the elongated name), and then the
kingdom of Nebby (slang for Nebuchadnezzar), founded by Nimrod, the mighty
hunter before the Lord and rebel against God.
ÒAs soon
as Babel is established, God turns the camera and you see the city and kingdom
of Salem, which becomes Jerusalem (ÒJeruÓ plus ÒsalemÓ) later on scripture.
ÒGod
counters the Nimrod and Babel by having His own city, Salem, and Melchizedek is
a type of Jesus Christ.
ÒFrom
what Paul tells us in I Cor. 15:46 (ÒHowbeit that was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritualÓ),
we know thatÕs the way it always goes in Scripture.
ÒFirst
thereÕs Cain, then thereÕs Abel. First thereÕs Esau, then thereÕs Jacob. First
thereÕs Saul, then thereÕs David. First thereÕs the Antichrist (EditorÕs note:
reigning from Babylon, no less), then thereÕs the real Christ, the Lord (EditorÕs
note: future king of Jerusalem).
ÒSo
SatanÕs city Babel is mentioned first, then you have Jerusalem as GodÕs answer
to the move by Satan, which at its inception was aimed at usurping the
institution of nationalism through the Satanic program of internationalism.
ÒIn 1979,
I moved up here (to Chicago) from Alabama where weÕd been living in a small
town of about 20,000 people for almost ten years. ThatÕs when I began to study
in the Bible this whole thing about cities.
ÒWe went
down into the basement of the Sears Tower and they had us watch this film about
ÔThe Chicago experienceÕ before we actually went up into the observatory. This was the old one
where even the music caught the real spirit of the city of Chicago.
ÒAnd the
alderman was shown saying, ÔChicagoÕs no sissy town. ItÕs a blue-collar working
town that works,Õ and all this stuff. And I began to appreciate, ÔYeah, there
is a spirit that goes with a city. . .WhatÕs that all about?Õ
ÒIn
Scripture, there is literally a very critical doctrine about the city. Sociologists
study the city. They study how society works together. ItÕs always fascinated
me that they ignore the Bible.
ÒStarting
in Genesis 4, you begin to have a doctrine developed about the city, and if
you want to understand the city and what the problems of the city are, the
answers start in Genesis 4 and work all the way through to Revelation 21 where there is the last great
city, New Jerusalem. And itÕs the city where God will dwell and itÕs a city of
righteousness.
ÒYou
could put a sociologist out of work by having people believe the BibleÕs
doctrine about the city.Ó