Prophecy is to the Bible what the Serengeti is to Africa—vast, expansive. If Bible prophecy is the Serengeti, some Christians are big game hunters. They find prophecy on every page, symbolism in every story, and clues in every verse.

Somewhere between these two positions is a healthy posture. Believers who avoid utter ignorance on one hand and total arrogance on the other. Who seek what God intends: a deep-seated confidence that our tomorrow is in our Lord’s hands.

The purpose of prophecy is to empower the saint with a sense of God’s sovereignty. As the apostle Paul wrote, “The one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them (1 Corinthians 14:3 NLT). Prophecy prepares us to face the future with faith.

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Christ could come at any moment. I believe that with all my heart—not just because of what I read in the Scriptures, but also because of what I read in the news.

To be clear, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36 BSB). The exact time remains hidden. While we cannot know the day or hour, we can know the signs. Wouldn’t you agree that the signs of our day warrant our vigilance?

We have a choice. We can view the future through the eyes of fear or faith. The eyes of fear see little reason for hope and ample reason for anxiety. The eyes of faith see history inching closer and closer to a new era, a heavenly destiny.

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Prior to 1948 Jews were dispersed to more than seventy countries for more than twenty centuries. Yet since 1948 we have seen them return. For the first time since AD 135, there are more Jews living in Israel than any other place on earth. The Bible repeatedly presents the regathering of the Jewish people as a watershed event that must occur before other end times events take place.

We’ve always had wars, always had disasters, and deceptions. But now that the milestone moment has happened and Israel is restored, the other signs progressively signal the impending end. We have entered the last days. So, let us be looking, and let us be declaring: the end is near.

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On Friday, May 14, 1948, President Harry Truman signed a proclamation that read: “This government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine…The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority in the new state of Israel.”

In scripture, from Ezekiel, 650 years before Christ: “For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24 NLV).

In other words, May 14, 1948, saw a page turn in the calendar of prophetic history. Almost all the key events of end times hinge upon the existence of Israel as a nation.

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C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next.” We have bills to pay, kids to raise, deadlines to meet. Why occupy our thoughts with the “not yet” when we need strength to face the “right now”? Understanding the future empowers us to face the present.

That was the apostle Paul’s opinion. “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT). The best of life is yet to be. Got challenges in this life? Then ponder the next. Be a future-facing follower of Christ.

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The Christian lives life on tiptoe, ever searching the skies. We awaken with the thought Perhaps today! Our hope is centered on the bodily return of Christ. We are looking to a new age in which Jesus will be crowned as the rightful King and we will serve as his grateful servants.

Peter declared, “The Lord will…send Jesus, the One he chose to be the Christ. But Jesus must stay in heaven until the right time comes when all things will be made right again” (Acts 3:19-21 NCV).

Does that assurance not speak to the heavy heart? Weary of racism? Things will be made right. Weary of child abuse? Things will be made right. Weary of terrorists wreaking terror? Rulers pillaging the poor? Scandal infecting the church? Things…will…be…made…right.

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The apostle Paul wrote, “If there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors…But the truth is that Christ has been raised up…” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 20 MSG).

Jesus validated his return by vacating his tomb. Is the tomb of Jesus empty?  Did Christ discard his shrouds and march out of the tomb? Yes! His tomb has the prints of pierced feet. Those feet were nailed to a cross on Friday and lifeless in the grave on Saturday. But on Sunday the hope of Easter called them to stand, step, and walk out of the grave.

When Jesus vacated the tomb, he populated the heart of humanity with hope. And since his grave is empty, our confidence in his return is not.

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Hope is an endangered species. We are more troubled than we’ve been in nearly fifty years. Happiness is down.  Loneliness is up. And optimism has taken a right hook to the chin. Research from the National Institute of Mental Health is showing an epidemic of mental health problems among eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds in the United States.

You can relate. Your heart has been broken, your dreams have been shattered, your body has battled disease. And maybe you’ve wondered if this life is worth living. God’s therapy for our trepidation reads like this: “For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT). Face the problems of this life by focusing on the promises of the next.

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On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus told his followers what was going to happen the following day.  He would be abandoned by his friends and killed by his enemies.  Yet before they could voice their fears, Jesus calmed them. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he said. “You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3 NIV).

Jesus lifted their eyes. In essence he said, “Think less about your fears. Think much about your eternal home.” What would Jesus say to this troubled generation?

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I consider myself a bit of an expert in airport repartee. It typically consists of one question: “Where are you headed?” We are all headed somewhere. Each day brings us closer to a final breath, a final heartbeat, a final sigh. No one is getting younger. Shouldn’t our destination be an obsession?

The Bible makes almost five hundred references to heaven. The New Testament mentions the return of Jesus more than three hundred times—one out of every thirty verses! Twenty-three of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament describe Jesus’ second coming, and on some fifty occasions we are told to be ready. If quantity equates to priority, then life after this life is a crucial issue to God.

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