Prophecy Study 1
The World As We Know It
Recently in a discussion where I was sharing my faith with colleagues, I was asked, why is there so much evil, so much death and suffering in the world? It seems that everywhere you look, there seems to be terrible things happening, natural disasters, personal suffering and lawlessness.
This is the world as we know it. Sometimes life is a struggle, and in our struggles we witness around us violence, trickery, dishonor, hatred, disease and death, poverty and helplessness, greed and abuse.
The Bible tells us of a time when this was not the case, where the world was not as we know it. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:29, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”
Read Genesis 2. How do we understand what the world was like right after creation. Compare it to today.
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Genesis 3 starts with the serpent. Who is the serpent? Read
Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
and
Revelation 20:2. “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”
It seems that Satan was once in Heaven.
Read Luke 10:18. “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
How do the following verses help to give a better picture of what happened in heaven that led to Satan’s fall?
Revelation 12:7-12 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
Isaiah 14:12-14 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Ezekiel 28:13-18 “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.”
Selfishness seems to be the original sin. It seems he Satan had an “I” problem. Isaiah 14:13-14, “…I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
It also seems that heaven rejoiced once Satan was kicked out of heaven. In contrast, there is a warning for the earth, Revelation 12:12. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
We are affected here on earth. From a perfect world, with perfect creation, God was able to commune face to face with a perfect people. Today, sin has ravaged this planet and all that lives here.
What can you observe in our world today that tells you that something is not quite right? Are there any indicators that show that mankind is running out of options to solve problems facing us? And why?
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Interesting fact: Headaches are typically caused by stress or tension (Although they can also be cause by other factors). Just dealing with the stresses of life, humans consume annually approximately 35,000 metric tonnes of Aspirin, enough to make over 100 billion standard aspirin tablets every year.
