The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy...."not to teach any different doctrine...nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith." 1 Timothy 1:4
God's prophetic word to us has a number of purposes. This is what I am inclined to believe after about forty years of interest in it....and more mistakes than I wish to remember. First of all it tells us the ending. God judges and punishes and rewards and receives the glory that was....and is....and will always be...His! It also warns us of what will happen if we wander away....and warns us when we have indeed wandered away. That's two things that God's prophetic Word does. It also gives us specific information of what will happen....only for the need of the moment....often in real time....and only in God's perfect time....to keep us awake and vigilant....so that when we see these things happening we do not panic....and lastly it is there to look back on....to understand why things happened....or just happened....past tense....and that God's Word is proven yet once again! All of it is for our benefit so that when the bridegroom does return....whether it would have been 500 years ago....or tomorrow.....our lamps will be trimmed....and we will have plenty of oil. We are not play by play analysts or color commentators....nor coaches....nor bookies. Our job is not to solve mysteries. Our job is to trust mysteries.
The following is a paragraph from an older post titled....Endless Mysteries....that I just returned to its original spot....for this is the thought that I wanted to emphasize:
We do not need endless genealogies and ancient mysteries solved to tell us that America is being judged....and that it is time to get our houses in order....for the time is truly near....or that money has become our god....for God's Word instructs us in all of this....from the prophets and the Psalms....to the gospels and all the other books of the New Testament. We need to look inwardly....not outwardly. We need humility in what we do not know....more than pride in what we think that we do know. We need Christ preached....pulpits awakened....and God's Word daily emblazoned anew upon our hearts.
