In Jesus' famous "Olivet prophecy" He said,

"for then shall be great tribulation [a time of trouble], such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened " (Matthew 24:21, 22).

Obviously, the prophecy of Jesus Christ and this prophecy delivered to Daniel by the archangel Gabriel are speaking of the same time!

Jeremiah said:

"Alas! For that day is great, so that NONE IS LIKE IT: It is even the time of JACOB'S TROUBLE; but he shall be saved out of it [meaning he shall go THROUGH it, not be saved from it!] For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Eternal of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the Eternal their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them" (Jeremiah 30:7-9).

This is the famous GREAT TRIBULATION of biblical prophecy! Notice that Gabriel said to Daniel, "At that time THY PEOPLE shall be delivered!" Remember, Daniel was in captivity, together with many thousands of his Jewish brethren, in Babylon! The northern ten-tribed HOUSE OF ISRAEL had been taken captive many decades earlier by the armies of Shalmanezer, king of Assyria!

It is obvious, then, that the great tribulation of biblical prophecy is a time of trouble upon God's people of ISRAEL (remember, Jacob's name was changed to Israel!).

Surely, millions are familiar with the term "the Great Tribulation." It is a common expression understood to connote a time of great, global WARFARE; a time of unparalleled trauma, suffering, heartache, disease, earthquakes and tidal waves, destruction and loss of human life in WAR!

Now, notice what happened!

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even TO THE TIME OF THE END; Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4).

Notice that Daniel's prophecies were to be shut Up, CLOSED. But for how long? Were they to be closed so that no human being could ever understand them? No! They were to be shut up and sealed "even to the time of the end"! You are living in "the time of the end"! Later, Daniel asked

"How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" (Daniel 12:6).

"And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by Him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished, And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end! Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand!!" (Daniel 12:6-10).

So the prophecies of Daniel are to be understood—but not UNTIL "the time of the end"!

Eschatologists and students of Bible prophecy have known down through many centuries that the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation are both interrelated. It is as if Bible prophecy were like one of the picture-type puzzles one may buy in a game store. In order to fill in the complete picture, you must have, not only the book of Daniel, but the book of Revelation, together with many other prophecies, not the least of which is Christ's Olivet prophecy, to complete the picture!

It is for this reason there have been any number of books published by theologians over the years concerning both Daniel and the Revelation.

Notice what John said of his book of Revelation:

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to SHOW unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John" (Revelation 1:1).

The book of Revelation was given to SHOW, not to hide or conceal. But, notice it is given to show unto "HIS SERVANTS" those things which are to happen!

Now, turn to Amos 3:7:

"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets! "

God says His true servants on this earth WILL understand Bible prophecies!

He says,

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another PROPHECY..." (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).

The apostle Paul revealed that

"God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers..." (1 Corinthians 12:28).

Therefore, a gift of the Holy Spirit of God—that of understanding Bible prophecies—was predicted to be in God's true church! He plainly says that He will give that gift of prophetic understanding, uniquely, to a certain few of His true ministers! Others, who may be called to perform other functions, either pastoring a local congregation, or being sent by others to preach the gospel (as were Peter and John; Acts 8:14) may not necessarily have this gift of understanding prophecy.

Therefore, we see that Almighty God has deliberately guarded the prophecies of the Bible! They are NOT given as a curious "plaything" for various would-be spiritual leaders or the organizers of cults. They are not for those like the ancient Babylonian soothsayers, astrologers, stargazers and dealers in witchcraft; not given to provide a plaything for speculators, fanatics, self-proclaimed "prophets" and would-be religious leaders! The gift of understanding prophecy, so says your Bible, would be a PART of the very true Church of God!

What is Prophecy? Prophecy is history - written in advance!

Prophecy is the outline of the overall plan of God as He KNEW it would work out, according to the vagaries of human nature—coupled with those interventions of God which He requires from time to time, in order to fulfill His plan!

Almighty God is not engaged in playing games. His biblical prophecies are not to merely arouse curiosity, titillate the mind, or give away "secrets" to a few so that they may claim divine revelation.

Actually, the prophets of God usually brought both a WITNESS and a WARNING. They were sent to indict God's people, reminding them of their great SINS, nationally and individually; to remind them of the consequences of those sins, and to call upon them to repent!

Notice an outstanding example:

"Hear O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers ... Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah" (Isaiah 1:2-9).

Here, Isaiah contrasts the dumb ox who knows its way to the barn and the precise stall where its feed is waiting, as opposed to sinning Israel which has completely forsaken God!

Then, the analogy of the body is given; the "head" would stand for the heads of government, industry, business, education, science and the military; and God says the "whole head is SICK!"

Perhaps the heart is the national conscience, will and resolve; the muscle and sinew of the body the labor force; the nervous system and circulatory system air and surface transportation and communications; and so on.

God shows that from the "sole of the foot even unto the head" there is nothing but "wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores."

Then, the people are seen as crying out that, except God had spared a very small REMNANT, God's own peoples would have been utterly destroyed just as were Sodom and Gomorrah! The prophecies of Isaiah contain many indictments against the national SINS of Israel! Could anything be more specifically accurate, or cogent to the modern nations of the United States, Great Britain, some of the democratic nations of Northwestern Europe, including Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as Isaiah 3:12?

God says,

"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."

Today, this prophecy of Isaiah has special poignancy.

None of the Prophets Volunteered

Jeremiah was especially called of God even before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5), and like all the other prophets, did not volunteer for the job!

Rather, when the Word of God came to Jeremiah he said,

"Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Eternal said unto me, say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak" (Jeremiah 1:7).

Now, notice the indictments against God's people Israel commencing in the second chapter. Jeremiah says,

"I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination..." He asks, "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Eternal" (Jeremiah 2:11-12).

Even Ezekiel, though he prophesied from a condition of captivity (Ezekiel 1: 1), was given a message of terrible indictments against God's people Israel!

"Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads..." (Ezekiel 3:4-9).

Ezekiel was also given a special commission to the House of Israel! He was told,

"Son of man, I have made thee a WATCHMAN unto the House of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them WARNING from me. When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou has delivered thy soul! "(Ezekiel 3:17-19).

Thus, God placed a heavy, personal responsibility on the shoulders of His prophets! Their performance in the carrying out of their individual callings related directly to their own salvation! If they failed to warn the wicked, and the wicked died, God held the prophet accountable! If they succeeded in WARNING the wicked, even though their message was spurned and rejected, the prophet would be spared. NONE of God's prophets volunteered!

Isaiah said he was a man of "unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5), but God, through a vision, caused Isaiah to see

"one of the seraphim" who, "having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said [Isaiah!], Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:5-8).

In each case, God's prophets had to be made willing to carry the message!

Surely the most outstanding example of this is the prophet Jonah as he attempted to flee from the responsibility God was imposing upon him. Jonah became shipwrecked and was swallowed by a specially-prepared giant fish that vomited him up onto the shore. Jonah was willingly humble after the ordeal.

Notice what Amos said to his antagonists after he had been ordered to get out of his immediate country and not speak anymore of God's judgments!

"Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: And the Eternal took me as I followed the flock, and the Eternal said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear thou the Word of the Eternal: thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore thus saith the Eternal; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land!" (Amos 7:14-17).

Thus, God specially called certain men from various previous occupations, gave them His message and commanded them to go to His stiff-necked wayward, rebellious, God-rejecting people with a MESSAGE.

Always, they were rejected! Rebellious Israel spurned the message and warning of God, as she continues to do unto this day!

Jesus referred to this in His blistering indictment of the Pharisees. He said,

"Wherefore behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:34-38).

Perhaps the summarization of all the prophets could be found in God's words through Jeremiah to Israel:

"Thus saith the Eternal of hosts, the God of Israel; put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them, saying, OBEY MY VOICE, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers ... thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Eternal their God, nor receiveth correction; truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth!" (Jeremiah 7:21-28).

Because of the great sacrifice made by these great men of God; because of their enormous contribution to biblical literature, and their example for us today, Jesus Christ said they are a part of the very foundation of the New Testament CHURCH OF GOD!

Notice!

"For through Him [Christ] we both [Jews and Gentiles alike] have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles AND PROPHETS Jesus Christ being the chief Cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:18-20).