People have always wanted to know the future, and they will often seek just about every possible source except the Bible. Large circulation newspapers often publish a horoscope. The idea is that your birth date somehow determines your characteristics and prophetic events at certain times of the year, and this is supposedly determined by the position of constellations in the heavens.
Others pay mediums to read a crystal ball, and sometimes try to communicate with the dead. Others read Tarot cards for prophetic interpretations. Millions of people look to séances, channeling, and astrology for power and insight. They dabble in the occult and seek answers from soothsayers and mystics. They even fellowship with witches, mediums, and sorcerers. Will all these reveal God’s will for you? Of course not! God calls these practices an abomination (Deuteronomy 18). There is a world of spirit deception. God tells us that Satan the devil has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9). He has deceived you and me. But God can help us see through the devices and deceptions of the devil.
Bible prophecy reveals the sequence of events in the end-time and the dangerous times ahead. Your Bible reveals that Armageddon and World War III lie on the horizon. The world faces terrorism, major famines, pestilence, and severe natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, and hurricanes. With war, sickness, suffering and pain all around us, many people are tempted to lose hope. But did you know that Bible prophecy reveals vital truths about the future of the world—and your own destiny? Beyond a soon-coming time of great tribulation lies a future time of world peace under the Kingdom of God. Your Bible reveals that the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, will return to teach all nations the way to peace. Under Christ’s loving rule, in the prophesied time known as the Millennium, the world will prosper with clean air, clean water and sustainable agriculture.
We are living in the prophetic period of time that your Bible identifies as the end-time. When you come to understand the prophecies in your Bible, you will see that these are exciting times, leading up to the return of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, and the establishment of His Kingdom on the earth!
Bible prophecy is exciting to many, but some Bible prophecies may seem hard to understand. The books of Daniel and Revelation feature various symbols and imagery. When ancient King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon dreamed of a mysterious statue made of different metals and clay, the prophet Daniel interpreted the dream’s meaning (Daniel 2:1–45). The famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse symbolize devastation and deception (Revelation 6:1–8). The Beast of Revelation 13 rising up out of the sea has seven heads and ten horns. The Beast of Revelation 17, which rises out of a bottomless pit, also has seven heads and ten horns, but that Beast is ridden by a harlot. The Apostle John writes what he sees in vision: "And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5).