Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

And thou shall go even to Babylon; there shall thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

As is stated in a previous devotional this fourth chapter of Micah is packed full of prophetic passages that are precursors to the predicted events in the "last days" prophecies of this ancient Jewish prophet.

We have already looked at four trends that will be prevalent leading up to the time of the Second Coming of Christ. The first trend was the "Arrangements for the Temple" that would be very evident as we approach the return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

"Anticipation of Peace", will cause the world, in particular the Middle East, to look for someone who will bring "peace" to the region. "Aliya of the Jews" returning to the land of their forefathers is another of the trends that indicate that the world is nearing the time described in Bible prophecy as the "last days".

The last trend that we looked at was "Alignment of the Nations", a group of Middle Eastern nations that form a coalition of states, made up of the Arab states and the Islamic states, who will come to destroy the Jewish state of Israel.

Before we leave Micah 4 we must also take notice of verses nine and ten. These two verses describe what is referred to in hermeneutics as the "law of double reference". This is when the Lord will use one prophecy passage to reveal two different events in history.

In Micah 4:9-10 we see that the Prophet refers to Babylon as a nation, or should I say an "empire" that will play a role in the life of the Jewish people. Remember, Micah was writing around 700BC and much of his focus was on the coming judgment of the two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah, known as Judah after the dividing of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Babylonians would come to take the Jews into captivity, with the last wave of the Babylonian Army taking the Jews from Israel, after destroying the Temple and devastating the city of Jerusalem, into captivity. This happened in 586BC.

However, there will be a rise of the city of Babylon in the last days before Jesus returns to the Earth to set up His Kingdom, Revelation 18. The Antichrist will set up a world-wide "economic kingdom" in the literal city of Babylon, located 58 miles out of downtown Baghdad in modern-day Iraq.

Babylon the "city" has never been destroyed as is called for in Isaiah 13-14, Jeremiah 50-51,Revelation 18 and Revelation 16:17-21. Micah mentions Babylon as a key player, both in 586BC and at the time of the end just before Jesus returns. In fact, the last thing Jesus does before He comes back to Earth is destroy Babylon.

This hermeneutic principle of "double reference" plays into the end time scenario that leads up to the fulfillment of a number of prophecies in the Bible, including this prophecy in Micah 4:9-10. With Iraq, Biblical Babylon, on stage as a major player in our world today we can see how these prophecies may well be fulfilled in the near future.

There is only one thing that must happen before the above prophetic scenario is played out on the world stage and that is the Rapture of the Church. This is when Jesus calls all true born-again believers into the heavens to be with Him, evermore. Remember, that could happen even today.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, world events seem to be setting the stage for the final drama to be played out in our world today. Please help me to understand the times we are living in today so that I can be prepared for the next event, the Rapture, when it does happen, living pure and productive until it actually happens.