The #1 Reason People Get Prophecy Wrong (Don't Make the Same Mistake)

Most Christians treat prophecy like a weather forecast. You check it, you know what's coming, maybe you prepare a little, but mostly you just wait. But what if that's the exact opposite of what biblical prophecy is designed to do? What if the reason so many believers are passive, disengaged, and sitting on the sidelines of history is because they fundamentally misunderstand what prophecy actually means? And what if the book of Revelation, the most prophetic book in the entire Bible, was written specifically to activate you, not to entertain you or even scare you? That's what I want to show you today, because once you see this in the book of Revelation, you'll never read the book the same way again. ♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ Welcome back to Get Into the Word, my name is Robbie Gallaty. John opens the book of Revelation with these words in verse three. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. And blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy. And keep what is written in it, why? Because the time is near. John calls this a book about prophecy or of prophecy. And the moment most people hear that word prophecy, their minds go to one place, a prediction, future events, a timeline of what's to come.

For them, prophecy equals foretelling. But that's only half the definition in the Bible, and it's really a smaller half of it. There's a better word of what biblical prophecy primarily does, and that's called foretelling. Not just foretelling the future, but foretelling. The prophet doesn't just look ahead, the prophet speaks forth, into the present moment. And he calls the people who are listening into action right now. Author Eugene Peterson, in his book, Reversed Thunder, I recommend that if you haven't read it, he puts it this way. He says, the prophet says that God is speaking now, not yesterday, not tomorrow. It's not a past word you can analyze and walk away from. No, it's not just a future word you can fantasize into an escapist diversion. If we make the prophetic word only a predictive word, we are procrastinating. Let me read that again. If we make the prophetic word only a predictive word, something in the future, then we are procrastinating. Every biblical prophet in the Old Testament, from Isaiah to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, yes, they spoke of things to come, of course. But their primary call was always to the people standing right in front of them. Repent now, return to God now, act justly now. Prophecy always demands action in the present.

And so John's revelation is no different. And here's where it gets personal, because there's a mindset that I've heard from real Christians in real conversations in the present day that I believe have misunderstood this process. And I think if you're honest, you're either thinking of yourself or know someone who has thought of prophecy this way. I've talked to Christians who genuinely believe something like this. It doesn't really matter what I do on earth, because it's all gonna be destroyed anyway. Jesus is gonna remove us before all of this mess unfolds. He's gonna punish his enemy, and he's gonna bring us back after it's all cleaned up, and one day everything's gonna be new. So why even bother with doing anything today? That's called fatalism. Another word for it is escapism. And it's one of the most dangerous theological positions a believer can hold, not because the return of Christ isn't real, it is, but because it produces a faith that is passive, disengaged, and frankly, unbiblical. You've heard of many Christians just waiting for the shoe to drop at any moment. The whole world's gonna capitulate. That's not the message of Revelation.

Let me give you the best analogy I can think of. You know what that mindset sounds like to me? It sounds like someone who's about to move out of an apartment, and before they leave, they trash the place completely. They punch holes in the wall, the carpet's destroyed, dishes are left in the sink, dirt and debris are everywhere, trash is piling up. Why? They're leaving, so who cares anyway? Let the landlord deal with that. That's not my problem. That's not the attitude Jesus called his followers to. And here's what I believe John was trying to communicate in Revelation and what Jesus modeled for us his entire ministry, something just the opposite. You and I as Christians are not called to sit back and wait thousands and thousands of years until Jesus Christ returns and makes all things right. No, Jesus called you and me into the Great Commission to partner with him, to participate in the already inaugurated kingdom that Jesus established when he died, when he went into the grave, when he rose, and he ascended into heaven. Follow me on this. A lot of Christians spend all their time trying to get out of earth into heaven. But Jesus spent his life and his death trying to bring heaven to earth through you and through me right now.

Friends, the kingdom of God is not just a future event, although the kingdom will culminate in the future. The kingdom of heaven, or God, is here and now today. Revelation is asking every believer through generation after generation, including you and me, simply this, what kind of impact are you gonna have now knowing that King Jesus has conquered the world? This is why Revelation has comforted believers for many years through every era of history, not just ours. Whether you were in the 12th century Dark Ages or the 16th century Reformation or the 20th century America that was going through change or the 21st century, a world we live in today, the message is always the same. Jesus is in control. Don't check out, press on. And here's what I wanna show you next, because understanding what John was saying really unlocks why this message is so urgent. Here's a question I want you to sit with. Why would Jesus send a prophetic letter to a group of persecuted, embattled, exhausted believers if only the purpose was to give them information about a future event that will happen 2,000 years from now to a bunch of Christians in the Western, I mean, really, think about that. Why would God do that to someone being fed to the lions in the Roman Colosseum or being hung from the gallows

or being beheaded in front of people? What comfort is a timeline to someone watching their church burn down if it has nothing to do with them in the moment? The answer is not much. Unless the prophecy does something more, unless it pulls back the curtain of the present invisible reality, unless it says the kingdom you are fighting for in the first century is real, the throne cannot be unoccupied, and the lamb you're worshiping has not been defeated. In fact, he's reigning and ruling right now. That is, my friends, what prophecy does. It doesn't remove us from the battle. It doesn't cause us to sit on the sideline and wait for bad things to happen. It actually does the opposite. It emboldens you for the coming challenges. And here's the thing we miss. You and I have read Revelation, I know I have for years, and looked for escape routes. We know a lot of people like this. Look at the End Times watch sites. Look at the Left Behind series, Waiting for the Shoe to Drop, or this is an interesting one I just got. This one's fascinating. One of the greatest books on dispensational truths, and here's my question as you read this book.

Most of this book is filled with charts, and pictures, and diagrams. I mean, I could just open any page in here. Timelines, I mean, let's be honest, and here's an honest question. Do you think the New Testament Christians had a handle on timelines and charts to understand the book of Revelation? Let's get real. No, they looked at the book not as an escape route to get out. First century believers, you're gonna love this, read Revelation and found courage to continue. They weren't looking for a way to check out. They were looking for proof that their suffering was not the end of the story, and John gave it to them, not through a prediction chart, or some book, or manual, but through a vision from the throne room of God where Jesus Christ, the slain land, who holds all authority in heaven and on earth, has conquered death, hell, and the grave. Prophecy always demands action, always. It always applied to the person hearing it in the moment. John's words to those seven churches, we'll get to those shortly, I promise you, were don't give up, don't bow down to seizure, don't worship the beast. Why? Because the one you're worshiping is on a throne,

and it's not in Rome. Stay faithful. The kingdom is worth it. The word is still alive today. It is still speaking to us today, and the question is whether you will treat it like a weather forecast or a battle cry for believers. So wherever you are, I want this to land in your life. The book of Revelation, if you get nothing else, get this, was written as a discipleship manual, not a doomsday clock or stopwatch. It was written to people like you and I today who are suffering for our faith, or being persecuted for our faith, or being attacked for our faith back then and today, tempted to compromise the faith we have in Christ, and John's words to them and to us is the same. They're the same words. Endure, engage. The kingdom is already here, and Jesus is already king. These are the things about Revelation that scholars far smarter than me have debated for centuries. The timing of the revelation. the millennium, the tribulation. Those are real conversations, and I'm gonna walk through them in the days ahead. But don't let the debatable things, watch this, distract you from the undebatable thing, that Jesus wins. His kingdom is unshakable, and you and I are called to participate in it today,

not tomorrow, not at the rapture, not at the return of Christ, but today. If you've never given your life to Jesus completely, I want you to know, his kingdom is not a future destination you have to wait for. It's an invitation you and I can accept right now. When you surrender your life to Jesus, the kingdom comes to you. Heaven begins to come to earth in you and through you. And that's the whole point of the apocalypse. We talked about that last time, the revelation of Jesus Christ, about Jesus Christ, by Jesus Christ, to the people who love Jesus Christ. If this video helped you see something new in God's word, I'm gonna ask you to do me a favor and share it with someone else. If you haven't subscribed to the channel, this would be the moment to do that. Click that subscribe button and the bell so you don't miss another episode. And if you leave a comment, I try to answer those in the first few days of the release of the video. There are a lot of them, but I do try and attempt to do that. Until next time, get into the word, into the word gets into you.