In November 2011 the United Nations of the world decided to give to the Palestinians, meaning Arabs who live in Israel, permission to have a state and that state would be called Palestine. One hundred thirty-eight nations voted for it, nine nations voted against it and forty-one nations abstained from voting. Now, when you read the Bible, the prophet Joel, you read something that will surprise you.
When you focus on the future you may wonder about what future we are heading for. The Bible is very clear about it. Ultimately we are heading for the Kingdom of God. One day Jesus will come back in Glory. He will sit on the throne of his father David and that throne stood in Jerusalem. He will rule among Jacob, which means Israel. And of His Kingdom, there shall be no end!
The weather in the Netherlands is often not very good. In Africa, there is beautiful warm weather and sunshine. In Holland, we listen to the weather forecast. And we are given the weather forecast for five or six days ahead. They can do that today because of the computers and the weather satellites. And so they can predict the kind of weather that comes to me and you.
The prophecies in the Bible are like slides. They contain a lot of details and show what the future will look like. Led by the Holy Spirit, the prophets described it to us. These prophetic slides do not present a road map. There is only one order of events in the Bible and that is Matthew 24. When the disciples ask: “Lord, how will we know that You come back in glory?”
When people try to look at the future they read the Bible and rightly so! Because the Bible is the only Holy Book of any religion that contains prophecy. And prophecy is history written in advance, clear, with a lot of details. Simply describing all kinds of events that are happening and will happen in the future. Now some people try to put these future events in a kind of prophetic roadmap, a kind of timetable. Is that the right thing to do?
If there is anything that people want to have is peace! Peace in your heart, peace in your home, peace in your family and peace in your country. No more wars! But when you look at the world around you there is conflict where ever you look!