Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

As we come to our devotions for today I have selected three chapters of Genesis, six, seven and eight. These are the chapters that give us the details of the “flood”, the worldwide flood that took place on this Earth 4,500 years ago.

I know that three chapters of the Bible are more than the average devotional, which most people read for a day. May I suggest that you sometime in the near future try to take the time to read all of Genesis 6, 7 and 8, it will be a blessing to you.

I will now bring to your attention several of the important elements of this record of God’s judgment on this Earth through the waters that completely covered the Earth and destroyed all living creatures on the Earth with the exception of eight souls, Noah, his three sons and their four wives.

Genesis 6:9 reveals that “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” The idea that Noah was “perfect” does not mean that he never sinned, instead it means that he had no “evil angelic blood strain in him”. We know that because Genesis 5 is a genealogy from Adam to Noah and there are no “angels” listed in the genealogy.

Genesis 6, verses 1 to 4, indicates that human women had sexual relations with evil angels, “sons of God” Genesis 6:2 and 4. The Devil did this to contaminate the “human race” so that the “Messiah” couldn't come from a “pure line” from Eve to the Messiah, as foretold in Genesis 3:15.

Thus, we have the reason for the Flood, which was to rid the world of all contaminated souls and protect the eight that were not contaminated, leaving a pure line for someone to bring forth the Messiah.

Noah preached for 120 years, Genesis 6:3, about the coming judgment of the flood and only had seven “believers”, his three sons and the four wives. It was Noah’s responsibility to preach, not to get the results, which was God’s responsibility.

The Lord protected the eight souls and all the animals that Noah brought into the ark for just over a year at which time the ark landed on dry land. Noah, his family and all the animals then came off the ark onto “dry land”

I want you to notice one more of the many great truths that can be found in these three chapters in Genesis. One of the many answers to the false world phenomena of so-called “global warming” can be found in Genesis 8:20-22. It is refuted with God’s statement to “Noah that while the Earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

The record of the “flood” in Genesis 6-8 is key to understanding the entire Bible, and especially the prophetic passages in God’s Word. Remember Matthew 24:37 where it quotes Jesus as saying, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Lord.

Even so come Lord Jesus, and please do it soon. What a day today would be for the Rapture to take place. Even so come Lord Jesus.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for the record of a judgment that will never happen again, there will be no more worldwide floods, thank you Lord. However, there will be terrible judgment to come during the Tribulation period. Thank you for providing the way, salvation, for all to miss the coming judgment.

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

I am asking you to read the entire fifth chapter of Genesis because of what the chapter reveals to the reader. You may be saying, he wants us to read a chapter in the scripture that is a “genealogy” which in the first place is very difficult to read and what could we possibly learn from a genealogy.

That question is a good one but the answer is that you can learn much from your reading of this particular genealogy, as well as most genealogies. This is the second genealogy in Genesis with the first brought out in some of the fourth chapter.

This genealogy is from Adam, at the time of Creation, all the way to Noah, just before the “flood”. There are many truths that can be learned from a study of Genesis 5, for one that men do die. The passage repeats over and over again that so-and-so lived so many years and he died.

This is the case except for one man, Enoch, verses 18 to 24. Enoch is only one of two men that have lived on this Earth and have never died. Enoch is one and the other is Elijah, 2 Kings 2:1-11. This has great significance in the end of times.

Revelation 11:3-12 tells us of “two witnesses” that will preach for the first three and one half years of the Tribulation period. They will be headquartered in the city of Jerusalem on the Temple Mount and will have results, the salvation of many that hear the “gospel of the kingdom” and come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

I believe the “two witnesses” are Elijah and Enoch, the only two men that have never died and must do so because of Hebrews 9:27. After their three and one half years of ministry they will be killed and then raised from the dead and called into the heavens by Jesus.

Another fact you can glean from this passage is how long it was from Creation until the “flood”. If you add up the numbers you will see that it was 1,656 years from Adam to Noah and the time of the flood. This number helps us to see that from Creation till today is in the area of 6,000 years, a number that comes from adding to the 1656 the 4,500 years since the flood until today.

Some one has said that in six days the Lord created the heavens and earth and all that is in them, then He rested the seventh. It’s been six thousand years since creation and the 1,000-year Kingdom Period will make seventh thousand-year period.

There is nothing in scripture about this, however, with the events of our day looking like the events describe in Bible Prophecy it does seem that we are quickly approaching the time for the Rapture to take place when Jesus calls to join Him in the heavens. Maybe that will happen today, keep looking up.      

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for what we can learn from all of scripture, even genealogies. Help me to continue to study all of scripture as I await Your shout for me to join You in the heavens, may it be today.

Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

For further study - Genesis 4:1-26

The extended reading for today's devotional is the entire fourth chapter of Genesis, which begins with a murder and ends with men calling on the name of the Lord. This chapter is a record of the relationship between two brothers and their God, and how each of them will worship that God.

Both brothers brought their offering to the Lord, Cain brought the "fruit of the ground", verse 3, and Abel brought of "the firstlings of his flock", verse 4, a "blood offering". This that Abel brought to the Lord caused the "Lord to respect Abel for the offering".

At the same time the Lord did not respect Cain for his offering. The lesson here is that the offering must be a "blood offering" for the Lord to honor it, an event that speaks to the future for all offerings that will be unto the Lord.

This "sacrifice" of an animal, Abel's offering unto the Lord, is the "prototype" of the "sacrificial system" to come, as will be explained in the book of Leviticus. The sacrificial system is that which looks to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the sacrifice that makes those of us who receive what Jesus did for us on the cross Christians, saved people.

Please notice verses 25 and 26, the record of the birth of "Seth" the third son of Adam and Eve, as recorded in the Bible. I believe that there were many other sons and daughters born to Adam and Eve that are not mentioned in the text. Notice what happened in the days of Seth, "men began to call upon the name of the Lord", verse 26.

How shall they call unless they hear and how shall they hear unless a man goes to proclaim, Romans 10. Seth learned the lesson of his brother Abel about the "blood offering" and began to teach that to the people on the Earth at that time.

These events recorded in Genesis 4 lay the ground work for Jesus Christ to come to this world for the purpose of fulfilling that first prophecy in Genesis 3:15 as a "substitute" to take your place and my place when one is to be offered for the sins of all men, and women. Interestingly, the name "Seth" actually means "substitute".

It is in these first chapters of the Bible, in Genesis, that all the groundwork is laid out for the rest of the Bible and all truths that will be taught and explained. Actually, these first twelve chapters of Genesis are the basis for all of Bible Prophecy. We'll see this to be the case as we continue through Genesis.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for laying out the foundation for not only all of Bible Prophecy, but the entire Bible and its content. Help me to study and understand all of your Word, especially Bible Prophecy.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The extended reading for today’s devotional is the account of the “fall of Man”. Some time after the sixth day of Creation the Angel Lucifer exercised his freewill and rebelled against God. During the time between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1 part of our extended devotional reading for today, he shows up as a “serpent”.

Known as the Devil, or Satan, there in the Garden of Eden, he is in the form of a “serpent”. He misquotes God, puts doubt in the mind of Eve and proceeds to manipulate both Eve and Adam for the purpose of causing them to go against the Lord and do what He had told them not to do, eat of the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”.

There are consequences for sin, verses 16-19, God told Adam and Eve, "For in the day that thou eatest thereof [the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil], thou shalt surely die," Genesis 2:17. However, at this time of the first “sin”, a “promise” was made in the form of a “prophecy”, a Saviour would be “provided”.

This is the very first prophecy of a coming “Messiah” - a Saviour for all mankind. This same prophecy also looks for Satan - the great Adversary - to come, but to meet his defeat by the power of the Messiah. Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ fulfilled every prophecy written of the coming of the Messiah. This fact then makes Him the fulfillment of this stated prophecy.

Jesus Christ, our Saviour, not only defeats Satan in the end, but strengthens us to stand against our Adversary on a daily basis, Ephesians 6:10-13. The Lord will also call us to meet Him in the "air" at the Rapture, which could happen today.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for the “prophecy” of a coming Saviour, the “promise” that He would take care of my sin problem and the “provision” of that Saviour. 

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

As we continue our study of the book of Genesis, in this devotional, and in particular the first twelve chapters of the book, we are made aware that all the truth found in all sixty-six books of the Bible have their "beginning", their foundation, in the book of Genesis.

The first chapter is the record of "Creation" when Jesus in six, twenty-four hour days, created the heavens, the earth and all that is in them. Genesis 2 is a further explanation of some of the events and special effects of Creation.

Verses 1-3 reveal to us that after Jesus Christ, the member of the "Godhead" who created all things, Colossians 1:16, after the six days of Creation He rested on the seventh day. By the way, it was a twenty-four hour day that He rested, the same as the "day" He told the Jews to spend in rest, Exodus 20:11.

The atmosphere at Creation was like the tropics where there was a "mist", verse 6, that watered the earth since it had never rained, verse 5, and it would not rain until the time of the flood.

There is a great depth of knowledge in Genesis 2, but I guess my favorite is the record of Jesus creating the Garden of Eden, verses 8-17. Actually the "Garden" was created on the third day of Creation when the Lord brought forth the grass, the herb yielding seed and trees, Genesis 1:9-13.

It was in the "Garden of Eden" that the Lord created man and woman. The Lord placed man in the "Garden" to dress it and to keep it, verse 15.

In this chapter you will find several points of interest in relation to the "Garden". There were all types of trees in the "Garden", the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” were only two of the trees. The trees put forth fruit for Adam and Eve to eat, with the exception of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil."

Notice also there is one "river", not four rivers, coming out of the "Garden of Eden", verse 10. One river flowed out of the "Garden" and became four rivers somewhere outside of the "Garden of Eden".

The river flowing out of the "Garden of Eden" was the Gihon, which gave the water for King David to anoint his son Solomon to be king, I Kings 1:33, 38 and 45. By the way, the Gihon's head waters are located underneath the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The original sight of the "Garden of Eden" is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The "foundation stone" underneath the Dome of the Rock is, according to Jewish tradition, the place the Lord created man. It was also the site of the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

This has been the belief of the Jewish people for the location of the original sight of the "Garden of Eden", and has been known by the Jews for 5,777 years. In Jewish years, on their calendar, it's 5777. Where Jesus started, as the Creator, He will rule and reign from forever, the "Garden of Eden".

Now maybe you can see why the Moslems want the Temple Mount as their land. However, Bible prophecy says that the Garden of Eden belongs to the Jews, which will be the case in the last days, Isaiah 51:3, Ezekiel 36:35 and Joel 2:3. (See my audio CD series on "Return to Eden".)

All Bible prophecy will be fulfilled, and possibly very soon. The truth be known, the next event in Bible prophecy, the Rapture, could happen at any minute, maybe even today.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for all truth found in Your Word.

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus.

These two chapters of Revelation, the last two chapters in Revelation and the Bible, give us a look into “eternity future”. We will see a description of the “new Jerusalem” the eternal habitation for all “believers" in Jesus Christ.

I will not take the space to re-describe the “new Jerusalem”, you can read what John the “Revelator” wrote about the “city of the future”. However, I would love to point out several unique aspects of this eternal home for you and me.

First, it will be hanging in “space” above the “new earth” for eternity. This is concluded by the fact that Ezekiel 37:26 and 28 tell us that the Temple that Jesus builds will be in the “earthly Jerusalem” on the “new earth” forever.

There will be no Temple in the New Jerusalem, chapter 21, verse 22, because God and Jesus are there. The New Jerusalem will be the eternal home for all Christians, with the “Jewish believers” and “Gentile believers” on the New Earth.

By the way, there are no “streets” of gold in the New Jerusalem. Notice the word “street” is not in the plural, the way so many people speak of them or sing about them. In the New Jerusalem there is only one “street”, Revelation 21:21 and 22:2. Therefore, we all live on “main-street” in the New Jerusalem, not on some “back street”.

There will also be a “tree of life” in the New Jerusalem, 22:2, where we will take “fruit” to eat through eternity. I’m not sure exactly what it means when John wrote, “for the healing of the nations”. What I am excited about is that we will “eat” forever.

There is so much more I could share with you from these two chapters. I do hope that you will read both chapters for your devotional today. Let me close with the Lord repeating one phrase three times. That phrase is, “Behold, I come quickly”.

In Revelation 22:7 He adds to the common phrase, “blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book”. That is a description of “how to live”.

In verse 12 John wrote after the statement that He was coming quickly, “and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be”. This is why we live according to the book. This verse also tells us how our “eternal job description” is determined.

The last utterance of the “quick coming” of Jesus is found in verse 20, the next to last verse in the Bible. He has John’s response to the “I come quickly”. John offers a prayer 2,000 years ago that has not yet been answered, “Even, so come Lord Jesus”.

That is my prayer on a daily basis, as I eagerly await His shout for me to join Him in the air at the Rapture. I pray that it is your prayer as well. Remember, John had received all the prophetic passages that will be fulfilled as we lead up to the Second Coming of Jesus, and John’s prayer was for Jesus to come right then. I also want to see Jesus, even so come Lord Jesus.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Even so, come Lord Jesus.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This chapter of Revelation has three distinct sections from which I want to share some very important insight with you. This chapter also is after the seven year Tribulation.

You will notice that the first three chapters of Revelation are before the Tribulation and the last three chapters of Revelation are after the Tribulation. The other 16 chapters, 4-19, are the details of the Tribulation.

As I mentioned, there are three different elements to this chapter. Verses 1-3 and 7-10 are the account of Satan being bound, loosed for a “season” and then cast into the “lake of fire”, forever.

Verses 4-6 deal with the 1,000 year Kingdom Period when Jesus Christ, and the “bride of Christ”, the “church”, will “rule and reign” from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This is the “Kingdom” promised to the Jews, Daniel 7:13-14.

The last element of Revelation 20 is the “Great White Throne Judgment”, verses 11-15. The Great White Throne marks the “end of history”. The next two chapters, 21-22, take us into “eternity future”. “History” begins at Genesis 1:1 and concludes with Revelation 20:11.

Notice that Satan will be “bound for 1,000 years, verses 1-2. This will be the very first time that Satan will be “bound”. There is no such event as “bounding” Satan in any other passage.

We do not have the “power” to bound Satan. We must “submit ourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from us”, James 4:7. Only God has the power to “bind” Satan.

The Devil will be in the “bottomless pit” for that 1,000 years and then released, verse 7. He will try and gather all those un-believers from the Kingdom Period, ones born in the Kingdom Period, those who reject Jesus even in a “perfect time”.

This “army”, Satan and those he gathers at the end of the Kingdom, will be taken and thrown into the “lake of fire”, verse 10, where the Antichrist (Beast) and the False Prophet, verse 10, have been at this time in history for 1,000 years.

Verses 4-6 reveal the time of the Kingdom and those who will “rule and reign” with Christ for that time period. Those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour down through the ages will be a part of that “ruling party”.

Verses 11-15 are the revelation of the terrible time of judgment for all lost people. This will not be a “judgment” to determine whether someone is “saved or lost”, no one will stand at this judgment unless they are “lost”. This will be the time for “sentencing” the lost to the “lake of fire”, forever.

This passage reveals the “judge”, verse 11, the “judged”, verses 12-13 and the “judgment”, verses 14-15. This truth of the “Great White Throne” leaves me with a “mixed emotion”, happy with the “joy” that comes with serving Jesus, and very “sad” about those who have “rejected” Jesus.

These events, the “binding of Satan”, the “Kingdom Period” and the “Great White Throne” are key in the scheme of God’s plan for the future. But let me remind you that what “triggers” these events is the Rapture.

The next event on “God’s calendar” is the Rapture. This is when Jesus calls us up to be with Him, in the heavens. This event could happen at any moment, therefore, we must be ready every moment of every day.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for supplying us with the scenario that will unfold in the very near future. All the events that lead up to these three elements, the “binding of Satan”, the Kingdom Period with the focus on Jesus Christ reigning on the Temple Mount, are in the process of being fulfilled everyday. Give me the power to live for you every moment of every day. 

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.

There is a verse in II Peter 1 that helps us in looking at these two portions of scripture, to understand what will happen at the return of Jesus to the earth. II Peter 1:20 tells us that there is “no prophecy of the scripture of private interpretation”.

This verse is stating that all scripture must “fit like a hand in a glove” as we read the different passages. No one scripture can contradict any other scripture, both passages must develop the same theme. Therefore, these two passages on the “return” of Jesus Christ to the earth must fit together.

But first, please notice that the first six verses of Revelation 19 are what I refer to as the “Hallelujah Chorus”. Verses 7-10 are the details for the “Marriage and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb”. These two events are another discussion at another time.

Starting in verse 11 and going through verse 21, we see the prophecy of the Return of Jesus and the Campaign of Armageddon, which also includes events revealed to the ancient Jewish Prophet Zechariah in his book, chapter 14, verses 1-5.

The events surrounding the Lord’s return actually begin in Zechariah 14, “the armies of the world” gathering at Jerusalem, Zechariah 14:1-2. This is the reason for the term “Campaign of Armageddon”, this final battle ends in the Jezreel Valley, but starts in Jerusalem.

The “armies of the world” gather in Jerusalem where Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet brought them to the city, through the means of “signs, wonders and miracles, Revelation 16:13-16.

Jesus will return to the earth, Zechariah 14:4, to the Mount of Olives, and the “armies of the world” flee to the north of Jerusalem, the Jezreel Valley for the final phase of the “mother of all battles”, the Battle of Armageddon.

This is the time that the “armies which were in heaven” follow Jesus on “white horses” Revelation 19:14. We that are Christians, who had been taken into the heavens at the Rapture, will come with Jesus to join with Him in His “rule and reign” over the earth.

You can read in the extended portion of our devotionals, verses 15-21, to see what happens during this “battle” to come. There are several other passages that will enhance your understanding of how this end times event unfolds, Isaiah 63:1-6 and Ezekiel 43:1-7.

These events will happen at the end of the Tribulation Period, at least seven years after the Rapture. I would call it “devastation before exaltation”. The “stage is set” for these prophecies to be fulfilled.

The world is watching as all the events called for in Revelation 4 through 19 that will take place in the last days are in place. That means we are ever so close to the return of Jesus Christ. Just this reminder, the Rapture is foretold in Revelation 4:1, thus we must be ready for the Rapture to happen at any moment, maybe even today.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, it is amazing as I watch those events foretold in your Word almost at the point of fulfillment, which means that the Rapture, the next event on your agenda, is about to happen. Help me to live my life believing that it will happen at any moment, a life honoring to you. 

For in one hour so great riches is come to naught.

We come to this 18th chapter of Revelation for our devotional reading for today and find out that we are basically “living” in this portion of scripture. As we share some thoughts on this passage you will see what I mean, and agree that we are closer than ever before to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

In this chapter we can find the word “Babylon” used three times, the word “city” used six times and the word “great” used eight times. The focus of our reading is the “great city of Babylon”.

Babylon is a city that has a 4,500 year old history that dates back to soon after the “flood” of Genesis 6-8 and the times of “Nimrod”, Genesis 10-11, the great grandson of Noah. Nimrod built Babylon in defiance to God who told all of Noah’s family to be fruitful and “re-people” the earth.

Instead, Nimrod went into the valley between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and on the shores of the Euphrates built a “great city” the city of Babylon that still stands where it was first built.

Babylon has a long history that includes being the headquarters for the Babylonian Empire where Daniel and Ezekiel were taken as captives, along with the Jewish people, 2,500 years ago.

It was also the headquarters for Alexander the Great and the Grecian Empire. Alexander, at 32 years of age had conquered the known world, and after his death at this young age had his empire divided into four parts.

Both of these accounts, which include the city of Babylon, are the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. In fact, the events in history associated with Babylon are “prototypes” of that which will happen in the future, seemingly the very near future.

The actual city of Babylon, which has never been destroyed as called for in Isaiah 13-14 and Jeremiah 50-51, Babylon will be destroyed, as foretold in our devotional reading today. This destruction will come to this the headquarters for another “world leader”, the “Antichrist”.

In the last three and one half years of the Tribulation Period Babylon will come back to power and be the “economic, political, governmental center” of the earth. Antichrist will rule the world from this location on the Euphrates River.

Our key verse, verse 17, along with verses 10 and 19, indicates that the “great city of Babylon” will be destroyed in “one hour”. In Revelation 16:17-21 we see how this unfolds. There will be a “major earthquake”, the largest to ever hit the earth, verse 18.

Also, large “hail” the size of a “talent”, around 75 pounds, will fall on the “city”, verse 21, and devastate this “stronghold of Satan”. Finally, the many prophecies of the destruction of Babylon will be fulfilled, after 4,500 years.

In fact, this destruction of Babylon is the last event to happen before Jesus Christ steps back on earth, Zechariah 14:4, in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives. I believe these events are near, in light of the events that are unfolding today.

Babylon, Biblical Babylon, is what we know today as Iraq. The war, and now the rebuilding of war-torn Iraq are the “setting of the stage” for these prophecies to be fulfilled. As I said, we are living in the days that will lead up to God’s Word being completed, as it was written.

Once again I remind you that before all of this comes to pass there will be a shout from the heavens to call us up to join Jesus Christ there, forever. The Rapture, which can happen at any minute, could happen very soon now as we watch “Babylon” play its role in the end time events as recorded in Bible Prophecy.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, what a day we are living in as we see prophecy coming to pass before our eyes. As we watch current events, in light of Bible prophecy, help us to live these days prepared, pure and productive as we await your shout to join you in the heavens.