God is the One who inspires the prophets. The Lord says through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: “I foretold the former things long ago; My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.”1 Whatever happened in Israel’s history was foretold by the Lord in advance, and brought to pass subsequently. That will also be the case as far as the future is concerned.
In Isaiah 48: 3 – 6, God rebuked Israel for being stubborn and for idol worship. God says: ‘For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze Therefore, I told you these things long ago; before they happened. I announced them to you so that you could not say, “My idols brought them about; my wooden images and metal gods ordained them.” You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?’2
Today’s believers are also guilty of ‘stubbornness’ and ‘idol worship’. Many are not prepared to recognise God’s hand in history, denying, for example, that God has anything to do with the return of the Jewish people to Israel in our time. Our ‘necks’ are likewise ‘inflexible’ as we are not naturally willing to bow our heads before the Lord. We live by our own reasoning and are naturally dis-inclined to allow ourselves to be corrected by God’s Word. We are only willing to accept what is explained to us logically and scientifically. We have “metal gods”, tech gizmos, computers, all manners of gadgets and tools created by ‘science and technology’ that we use to take us into the future. We may have heard ‘words of prophecy’ but not taken heed of them. We are not interested to be keeping tabs on world events although we vaguely recall mentioning in the Word of God of monumental changes in the geopolitical landscape in the final days as ‘signs of the times’ pointing to the approaching of the Lord’s return. Many Christians have the same attitude that the world has: “Après nous, le déluge” (meaning “After us, the Flood”). It is a French expression, attributed to Madame de Pompadour, the lover of King Louis XV of France. Meaning: let’s enjoy all the pleasures of life, before the end hits us all.
We read no less than three times that prophecy is true and trustworthy.3 The Book of Revelation is not some kind of ‘dubious appendix’ to the Bible. The Lord is the God of the ‘spirits of the prophets’.4 Jesus intended to reveal the future to His people: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to make these things known.”5 It appears as if this is being specifically emphasised once again at the end of the book, as if the Lord almost knew what would happen to this book during the course of church history—that it would be explained away as referring to an era long gone, as having already been fulfilled during the first century and thereby laid aside. Disqualified as being ‘incomprehensible’ and considered to be a kind of un-spiritual ‘Jewish’ apocalyptic traditions and writings. The ‘words of the prophecy’ must not be sealed, that is, be put behind lock and key. They must be proclaimed within and without the Churches for the time is near. The Lord Jesus Himself says so. He is speaking here. It is a sad misunderstanding to think that looking forward to the Lord Jesus’ Coming would take believers away from the ‘present’, to lose them in ‘Adventist’ dreams. Not ‘sealing the prophecies’ means not laying them down, closed, on a bookshelf. It is also not about treating this book as a little study book in a quiet little corner thus ‘sealing’ the words of prophecy. And it is also not leaving the world to its fate and feeling comfortable yourself because you think it does not concern to you personally. And it is also not about only using the ‘Book of Revelation’ to find a ‘suitable text’ for a tombstone, even though that text would at least speak to all the passers-by in that case! Realising that ‘the time is near’ should make you reset priorities. Daniel did have to seal the words of the prophecy: “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the scroll until the end of time. Many will go back and forth and search anxiously [through the scroll], and knowledge [of the purpose of God as revealed by His prophets] will [greatly] increase.”6 John must not seal the words of the book however, because the Lamb is busy ‘breaking the seals of the scroll’ containing the history of the world and its final end-goals.7 The end-times have started since His first coming, and history will accelerate in an increasing speed towards the end. We are in the midst of all of that. ‘Trials and tribulations’, disasters and plagues’ and even the ‘great tribulation’ can be here very quickly. Just think of the rise of Nazism and Communism, or the outbreak of the French Revolution. They happened at breakneck speed. The unlocking and unravelling of history is very much at hand. The time is near, Revelation 1:3 and 22:10.
• Daniel was told: “But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” Daniel was not allowed to talk about it anymore. When he heard that, he was exhausted and sick, astonished about the vision, but he could not explain it to anyone, as it was beyond understanding.8
• Daniel does not even understand what has been revealed to him, but he is told: “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.”9 As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise again to receive your allotted inheritance.10 But the Lord tells us to speak about these things that were revealed to us.
Bible References:
1.Isaiah 48:3 NIV 2.Isaiah 48:4–11 3.Revelation 19:9, 21:5, 22:6 4.Revelation 22:6 5.Revelation 1:1 6.Daniel 12:4 Amplified Bible 7.Revelation 5:7, 6:1 et seq. 8.Daniel 8:27 9.Daniel 12:9 10.Daniel 12:13
