Based on the biblical, “Law of Proportion,” we can tell the importance of a subject in Scripture by how much space is devoted to it or how often it’s mentioned in the Bible. One third of the Bible is prophecy so prophecy is important and much of prophecy is about the end times. In the Old Testament there are over 1800 references to the return of Christ which is eight times more than the first coming of Christ is mentioned. In the New Testament there are over 300 references to the Lord’s return. 23 of 27 New Testament books highlight the Second Coming of Christ. Both the proportion and prominence of the prophetic theme in Scripture argue for its importance. Obviously the Second Coming of Christ is the climax of the Bible.
The Bible begins and ends with Israel. We need to understand God’s love and care for His chosen people. Understanding God’s promise to Abraham is the key to understanding the rest of the Bible and the end times. The last 39 chapters of Genesis focuses on Abraham and his family because they are the centerpiece of God’s salvation plan for man. God will reconcile Himself with man through Abraham in what we refer to as the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant was a threefold promise from God to Abraham. First, god promised Abraham a land for him and his descendants forever. Today Israel possesses only a small fraction of the land that belongs to them. During the Millennium Israel will finally occupy all the land that is theirs by birthright.
Second, God promised Abraham a seed. Here was a man who was 75 years old and childless. Sarah, his wife, was barren. Through the miraculous birth of his son Isaac Abraham became the father of a great nation whose descendants would be innumerable. Third, God promised Abraham that through him all of the families of the earth will be blessed. This is great news for us Gentiles. God was promising that one of his descendants would be the Savior of the world who would remove the curse of sin and death. This promise was a clear prediction of the coming of Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham through David, through whom we Gentiles are blessed with eternal life through faith in Him as our Lord and Savior. We Gentiles owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people through whom we have salvation. Thank God for His love, mercy and grace toward all men.
Witnessing for Christ