I think this came from one of my posts on a discussion group.

Did you ever notice how often the phrase “That you may know that I am God” appears in those OT prophecies? The focus of the prophecy isn’t the event that’s predicted. The focus, and therefore the end result, is to see that God is in control and on our side.

I was schooled in a very heavy emphasis on the End Times. When I lost my EMPHASIS on the fulfillment of prophecies and began to only be concerned with the reality of the work of Christ for us and IN us I got hit non-stop about it. I even was reminded, “Are you forgetting that 25% of the Bible is prophetic in nature, and that if you are not studying it then you are ignoring one fourth of the Bible?” Jiminy Crickets!! What a prophetic straight-jacket that is!!

What you said above is the same basic thought I had come to as I would get hammered. Here’s how I worded my thought: Prophecy is not about God telling us the future, but was Him declaring what HE was going to do … it’s about God being in control.

When I was a child I viewed everything from the perspective of a child. Things I did, places I went, sounds I heard. I can remember hearing this distant horn in our backyard woods. My perception was that it was somehow related to the trumpet blast of God. The transition in my perception was confusing, to say the least, but I discovered that it had been the sound of a distant train.

I learned the Bible in broken, disjointed chunks. The transition that took place over the years in having my eyes opened to the reality of the totality of the grace of Christ took me through much confusion. The confusion? Usually found in trying to make the broken, disjointed chunks of Bible knowledge fit within the life that has no molds or formulas.

I read something recently that reminded me of one of the familiar Rapture verses that I had once upon a time all figured out (can’t remember the verse right now … doesn’t matter). I pulled out my Bible and read the verse. It felt so weird!! It seemed so irrelevant and out of place within the overall context of the precious message of Christ that Paul had written to these particular believers that I had to physically shake my head as the two collided. It’s not that I have come to a better doctrinal understanding of the verse. No, no, it is more so that it was so obvious that the way I used to hold and teach the doctrine managed to miss the whole flow of the letter.

There are many dyed-in-the-wool doctrines that seem to be avoided or ignored by grace people (whatever that means). Now, if I were to demand of you to tell me what KIND of cheese the moon was made of, and yet you kept weaseling out of the question with your ridiculous comments about the lack of any dairy content on the moon … who is in denial of reality? The person who refuses to answer the question? Or the person who won’t quit until you say, “Swiss”? hahahaha! :)

Love,
Jim