foreword
Discern These Times speaks to the awareness of modern believers to current events and the interest in Bible prophecy. events discussed in the daily newspapers are connected with the revealed Word of God...
Prophecy being fulfilled today imparts excitement of expectation and inspires motivation to meet the prerequisites within the power of the Christian to hastening the coming of the Lord. perhaps the most notable of these prophecies are those concerning the return of Israel to Palestine and the restoration of Jerusalem to the sovereignty of Israel. it took widespread persecution of world Jewry World War II, the series of political actions of Britain, the League of Nations and the UN, the Jewish-Arab Wars of 1948, 1056 and 1967 to bring this to pass, but fulfullment is here.
the possibility always exists that the great powers will compel Israel to return some territory taken in war, or to internationalize Jerusalem and thus, defer this fulfillment. nevertheless, the state of affairs today approximates the prophesied events. some unfulfilled prophecies await the unfolding of history, such as the condition of security of Israel depicted preliminary to the last invasion of Palestine. we must be aware of the warning of Jesus that the generation which witnesses the fulfillment of these things will not pass away before His Advent occurs...for the first time in history the prerequisites of the Second Coming can all be fulfilled in one generation!
my interest was so stimulated by Dr. McMillen's exposition and
*8 explanation of Revelation with references to current events that I read the entire book in one day. many aspects of this prophecy are strikingly fulfilled. other applications which are made are ingenious (such as the application of the rider on the white horse of Rev. 6 with the UN) but are not so ready of proof. traditionally, the white horse and rider have been taken to represent the spread of the Gospel. many figures which have usually been considered to be figurative are accepted as literal by Dr. McMillen, such as the 200,000,000 army coming against Israel from the East. adequate grounds for such literal interpretation are given.
Dr McMillen exposes the lack of foundation for the placing of the Rapture, he shows that it logically comes at the sound of the last or 7th trumpet or just before the outpouring of the wrath of God. correctly he points out that the church and Christians will suffer the wrath of men, including the Antichrist, but will be delivered from the wrath of God. this fact is missed by consistent dispensationalists.
the emphasis upon Russia as the source of the Antichrist has much to support it. in fact, the comparison of the Revelation with the word of the old Testament prophets is quite convincing. the problems of a Millennium with resurrected saints and human being living side by side are not treated. But Dr. McMillen teaches that the literal Millennium will be on earth....
Harold John Ockenga
*11 Chapter 1 - Discern These Times
the writings of God's inspired prophets are indispensable in discerning these times. central in such a study is the Book of Revelation. its first verse gives the reason:
this is a Revelation from Jesus Christ, which god gave him so that he might show his servants what must very soon take place. (Revelation 1.1 Phillips)
1. no other book in the Bible makes such an outstanding claim for itself. in His Revelation, Jesus Christ permits man to see through His eyes some of the spectacular events of the lst days in this age. what a rare privilege!
...study of prophecy not only helps one to discern the present times and the future, but it also provides facts to support one's faith. Isaiah 41.23; 45.11; 46.9,10; 48.3-7) but Isaiah indicates that God, by predicting events long before they happen, proves both the reality of God's existence and His omniscience!
2. likewise today, when man can recognize 20th century fufillments of God's ancient prophecies, he then has a solid factual basis for his faith in god and His Word!
millions of followers in hundreds of other religions have Faith in idols and gods - as much or more than the average Christian. but none of these man-made religions has Objective Facts to confirm its faith, in
*12 contrast, the Christian who has studied the Lord's prophecies and seen their fulfillments in the past and in the present - that person has irrefutable factual basis for his faith in the Lord, the one and only God. here is one of the remarkable distinctions that sets Christianity at an infinite distance above all human religions and philosophies.
since the "Bible predicts that the last days of this age will be characterized by false teachers, unprecedented iniquity and a wholesale apostasy of the church (Matt. 24.9-13; II Thessalonians 2.1-3), fortunate is that person who can discern in such godless situations solid facts to encourage and give him objective signs to support his faith. but Jesus predicts the state of the undiscerning, the vulnerable Christians: 'Sin will be rampant everywhere and will cool the love of many'. Matt 24.12 LNT
but blessed and happy is the knowledgeable Christian who sees in this widespread and rapidly
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