When it comes to the Bible, studying what it says about the future can be a source of great satisfaction. That satisfaction comes when the scriptures begin to gel, giving you a glimpse of some spiritual truth and some sense is made of what’s yet to come. But all too often, even with a plethora of ministries out there touting their version of “the correct” end-time scenario, people are left frustrated, confused, misled, and ready to throw in the towel when it comes to what the Bible really says about the end-times.
When you begin to analyze the angst some people have over this area of God’s Word, it’s easy to see why it occurs. The one who says, “I don’t know what to believe…there are so many people out there with so many different interpretations…how are you supposed to know who’s right?” unwittingly shows the source of his own confusion. It’s true. There are a lot of differing opinions out there. But this thinking reveals the expectation of some, that others should do all of the studying and then tell them what to believe. There’s some truth in the saying, If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. When it comes to revelation of God’s Word, you simply cannot live off a revelation someone else received any more than you could live off the food someone else ate.
There’s a direct correlation of how confused someone is about something to how time that person has spent in the Word. Most people have been conditioned to leave Bible study to professional ministers. Ministers have their place. But they can’t replace what results from your own personal study time.
The Karate Kid movie illustrates how we should approach scripture. The boy wanted to learn karate. The teacher knew he would learn it instinctively by going through certain motions over and over again. So he set him out to do menial tasks that didn’t seem to have much to do with karate. The boy completed the tasks, even though there were times he thought it was all a waste of time. At the end, the repetitive motions became instinctive. He learned karate not knowing he was learning it.
Likewise, studying the book of Joel, Daniel, or Zechariah, for example, may seem to be nothing more than a menial task at times; reading, re-reading, and then reading it again. But over time those words you thought you couldn’t grasp will, suddenly, not be able to escape you. Whenever that subject is taught you will instinctively recall those verses. They’ll flash before you and in a moment’s time discernment will become your greatest defense against error.
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