Derek Prince - Will Jesus Return Before Or After The Tribulation
This excerpt is from: How to Approach Biblical Prophecy
Now, I’m going to give you seven suggested principles for approaching the prophetic word of God. I didn’t originally have seven, I had five, but the Lord added two more recently and I’m not superstitious, but when I get to the number seven I usually feel that’s it. Let me point out something else very important about this prophetic word of God. Its purpose is to make us aware of the coming of the Lord as an imminent reality as something real that’s happening. Peter says you need to give heed to it till the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. He’s not talking about what’s happening in the world he’s talking about what’s happening in your hearts.
In World War II I spent three years in the deserts of North Africa not by choice, let me say. Most of that time we lived by the sun because we had no artificial light. When it got dark we went to bed and when it became light we got up. And so, I observed things that I wouldn’t be observing today. One of the things I saw is that at certain seasons of the year in the east when the sun is due to rise the horizon will become luminous it will get quite light in that part of the heavens. You will think the sun is rising but it isn’t the sun it’s the morning star called Aurora. And, that star at that time gets so bright that for a moment you would imagine the sun is going to rise but it isn’t the sun. One thing is sure when Aurora rises you know for sure what’s going to happen next which is, the sun is going to rise.
So, Peter says let this Aurora, this morning star, rise in your hearts because when it arises you’ll know for sure Jesus is coming back. See, God requires that every one of us live in the excited anticipation of the return of the Lord. That’s how every believer should be living. In Hebrews 9 verses 27 and 28 It says: It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment Remember, you only die once. And you’re not reincarnated, the next thing is judgment. I say this because we’ve just come through countries where Buddhism has prevailed and they teach, of course, this endless cycle of reincarnation. It’s a lie, it is not true. It is appointed to each of us to die once and not to be reincarnated but to await the judgment. As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. For whom is Jesus going to appear? For those who eagerly wait for Him.
So, are you eagerly waiting for Him? If the morning star is risen in your heart then you will be eagerly awaiting for Him. If not, you really don’t qualify for those are the ones for whom He will appear the second time for those who eagerly wait for Him. Now let me deal with my seven suggested recommendations for getting the right thing what you need out of biblical prophecy. We’ll start with the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 29 verse 29 which contains two great basic principles for understanding and applying prophecy. Moses was speaking to the children of Israel and he said: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law." The first point is there are two kinds of things there are secret things and there are things that are revealed. There are things that God keeps secret, He has not revealed them.
When I speak on this kind of theme it often happens that somebody will come up to me and say in effect "What do you believe? Pre, mid or post?" You know what that means? Will Jesus come at the beginning of the tribulation the middle of the tribulation or the end of the tribulation? I always answer, "I don’t know." First of all, I’m not embarrassed. Furthermore, in the light of what is going to happen it may turn out that those are meaningless questions they just won’t apply You see, I believe that the day and the time of the coming of the Lord is a secret thing. It’s only known to one person in the universe, God the Father. It’s not known to the Son, it’s not known to the angels, it’s a secret thing.
Now, anybody who claims to be able to reveal that secret thing is a false prophet. By his own lips he has identified himself. But you see, if people don’t understand Biblical prophecy, they’ll be taken in. It’s been tragic how many Charismatics have been fooled by a prediction that Jesus was coming back in what was it? October 28th or 29th. I think it was going to be October 28th the first time but when it didn't happen then he said he got his dates wrong and it was October the 29th. I was appalled by the number of serious Christians who actually began to believe that. Had they known the prophetic scriptures they would have known it was a lie. Because it’s one of the secret things. One of the temptations we have to resist in interpreting Biblical prophecy is trying to get God to reveal the secret things. Because if God keeps a thing secret it’s a waste of time trying to find it out. I think much of the interpretation of biblical prophecy has focused on trying to get to know secret things. And the result is frustration confusion and disappointment. When God keeps a secret, believe me there’s no one can find His secret.