Article 10
By Steven J. Hogan
The subject of prophecy is extremely important and relevant for all Christians who are now living on this earth. It is God’s Word, and it is God telling us what will be taking place in the future. And at this time in history Biblically prophesied signs and events are taking place before our very eyes, proving to us the fact that we are now living in the end times. One of the main reasons we know we are in the end times is that the Jews, since the late 1880’s, have been re-gathering back to Israel, which is what God predicted would happen about 2600 years ago. Ezekiel 36-37
When it comes to Biblical prophecy, there is often ignorance, confusion, error, misinformation, and apathy on the part of many Christians, and this should not be. The Lord has told us quite clearly what He wants us to know about the future, and to not know, to not be interested, to be confused, or to be in error is not good, is not right, and is very sad. Mark 13:23
Our heavenly Father has told us explicitly and emphatically that His Son, and our Savior, is soon returning to earth. Therefore, we should be extremely excited, overjoyed, and looking forward to this, for Christ’s return will be one of THE greatest events in the history of the world! Just think, you and I may literally see Jesus Christ come in the clouds, and then we will be with Him forever! At this time in history, God is waking up more and more of His children to the truth about the end times, and the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. Daniel 12:4
For the past 25 years I have been studying this subject of prophecy, and I must say that it is God who has fired up my spirit with a love for Him and a love for His return, and therefore a love for Biblical, prophetic truth. Now I must admit that this subject, on one hand, is quite simple – Jesus Christ is coming back, and He is coming back to rapture the saints, pour out His wrath on this earth, redeem a remnant of Jews, and then reign over the entire world. That sums it up. Revelation 7-11
But this subject of prophecy is also quite complex: there are lots of details that God gives us on this subject, and it takes much study, prayer, and most importantly, God’s Spirit to understand what God is communicating to us concerning His Son’s return, and specific events associated with it. But this seeming complexity and great volume of information should not at all deter us from examining this relevant subject, but instead motivate us all the more to study it. God has given us truth that He really wants us to know, and that we can know. 2 Timothy 2:15
Christians throughout the centuries have spent much time, and rightly so, studying and teaching many important Biblical subjects, like God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, man, salvation, the church and God’s Word. Some call this body of truth “Systematic Theology”. There is no doubt that God, at this present time, is impressing upon the church the need to study eschatology, the subject of the end times, and to then teach it with authority, clarity, conviction, and urgency. Daniel 12:9, 2 Timothy 4:1-2, Luke 12:56
God is waking up a great number of Christians around the world as to the present day relevance of prophecy. Now is the time for you to wake up and to be aware and alert to events now taking place in the world, and to understand this subject of prophecy, and to be overjoyed about the coming of Christ, and to know then how you should live. 1 Chronicles 11:32
Let me briefly explain my background as it relates to charts. I have always loved math. I remember my 7th grade math poem – “Math is a challenge you can’t forget; you’ll get those numbers in the right places yet….” I have enjoyed explaining math concepts to people, and helping them solve math problems. I was a junior high and high school math teacher for a while. I love order and direction and chronology, seeing what takes place, and then what takes place after that, etc. I am a linear person.
I love maps, and I have lots of maps in my file drawer at home. I love maps that give you the big picture, that help you see everything at once, that help you know where you are at, and where you are going. These prophecy charts are like maps, maps that help us see where we are at now in the 21st century, where we have come from and where we are going.
For many years the Lord has helped me to study and teach this subject of prophecy, but it’s been the past two years that He has burdened me with the need to design and make charts so as to pictorially and specifically explain the great future that God has for His people. But before you begin to really look at and study these charts, that my friend Gino and I have been putting together, there are many things I need to tell you about them.
1. My goal with the charts is to encourage you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for you to love Him more and more, and to be looking forward to His soon return, to that time when you will literally see Him and forever be with Him, and with your loved ones and other believers. Revelation 22:12
2. My goal is to teach you prophetic truth that is given to us in God’s Word, to help you clearly understand it and how events now taking place in our world relate to it. These charts are based on the Bible, and are designed to communicate and illustrate to you the glorious future God has for us. These charts are to help you see that the world isn’t just sitting still, that history doesn’t repeat itself, but that God is presently, powerfully and sovereignly working in this world, carrying out His Word, His will, and His purposes for this earth, for the believers and for the Jews. Psalm 33:4-12
3. These charts are like Bible studies, for they are based on the Bible. I will not do a chart unless there is a clear Biblical basis for it, Scripture behind it and verses attached to it. The purpose of these charts is to help you to know, believe and learn what the Bible says about prophesy. I know that we can’t understand everything in the Bible when it comes to prophecy. But that does not diminish my desire and should not diminish your desire to diligently study the prophetic word of God. We should want to learn what God wants us to learn, and these charts are designed to help you to understand future Biblical prophecy.
4. My goal for these charts is to motivate you to study this subject yourself, to be reading the many prophecy verses, passages and chapters that speak about the return of Jesus Christ, and events related to His return, and then to share this truth with others, specifically with those who are hungry to learn. Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 2:1
5. The charts are a means to quickly, clearly and accurately learn prophetic truth, to discover what the Bible says about the future God has for this world. People in this day and age don’t seem to have much time to read – they want pictures, texts, tweets and instant messages. Now it is true that some learn better by seeing pictures than by reading words, and these charts are to help you clearly picture the prophetic word. My desire is that seeing God’s Word charted out will help believers to more easily understand the truth of Bible prophecy.
6. These charts are designed not just to teach truth, but to correct error. And there is so much error, so many wrong ideas and inferences, so many false presuppositions on this subject that are just not true. There is lots of misinformation, exaggeration and circular reasoning, and all this needs to be exposed, and then countered and corrected with the truth, and let me suggest, by using some of these Bible based charts. Matthew 24:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
7. The principle focus of these charts is the end times and the rapture of the church. Now some charts first take you back in history, so as to give you the big picture, to help you see the beginning from the end. But the main theme in most of the charts is our God planned, God ordained and God glorifying future.
8. Each chart is designed to stand alone. There are usually one or two main points to each chart, and so each chart should be clear and understandable to you. But each chart is also like a puzzle piece, and so there are many other charts, many other pieces of the puzzle, and understanding the individual charts is necessary to understanding the big picture of prophetic truth.
9. Some of the charts actually show the whole big prophetic picture at once, and other charts are like individual pieces of a puzzle that, when put together with all the other pieces, make up this big picture. My overall goal is for you to see how all the pieces fit together, and then to see the big picture. And it’s imperative that you see the big picture, what God has done in the past, what He is doing now, and what He plans to do in the future. Too many Christians get lost in their own little world, and fail to see how they fit in with God’s overall plan, with the truth of God’s prophetic Word, especially in these days. They fail to see how every single detail in the world, everything in the past and present, is now fitting in with God’s comprehensive plans for the world at large, and specifically for His people, and for the future He has for them. Charts #4 and #86 give you the big picture of God’s working in the world, from His beginning with mankind to eternity future, and of God’s ultimate goal, which is His great glory. It will be very helpful for you to look at these big picture charts first, for all the charts fit in with these few charts. Psalm 145:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
10. No chart in and of itself is complete, covering all prophetic truth. It can’t be. There is so much information in God’s Word on this subject of prophecy, and no person can see it and understand it all at once. Not only that but there’s way too much information to put on just one little piece of paper. That is why it’s imperative to get perspective, to first see the big picture, and then see the smaller puzzle pieces, how prophetic truth and prophesied events all fit together, and are all part of this big picture.
11. Some charts are simple, and can be quickly looked at and understood, but others are more complex, and will take more time, and will need to be carefully studied, thought about, and prayed over. Some charts have lots of information on them, and I encourage you to try to understand the different verses and points, and how it all fits in with the main message of the chart. But the many different points of the church are only to support and help you to see the main theme of the chart. It’s good to be a Berean and to take the time to look up these verses, and get your own Biblical convictions as to what God is saying in His Word.
12. Many present day prophecy teachers focus on the immediate future, which is well and good. But there is also a need in our churches for people to not just know about Christ’s coming and the rapture, and the events taking place before it, but to see beyond it, and way beyond it. Christians need to know that Christ’s coming, and the immediate future is not an end itself, not an end of the story, but a beginning point and a bridge to the next age, the millennial kingdom age. This kingdom age is what the Old Testament Jews were looking forward to, and we are not even there yet – we are still in the church age. Yes, Revelation is at the end of the Bible, but it is by no means the end of story, but is that which speaks of the end of this church age, and is a segue to the ages to come, the kingdom ages, the ages when Jewish believers, Christians, believers from all time will be together with Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.
13. The charts are based on God’s Word. Most ideas for the charts come from a relatively few books in the Bible, like Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Micah, Zechariah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Peter, and Revelation. When you study prophecy these are the books I encourage you to read. I can say that these charts are not my ideas, and are not any man’s opinions or thoughts, but are diagrams based on truths and events specifically talked about in God’s Word, and in some cases corroborated by verifiable events in history. I know I am not by any means perfect, but I have tried to be perfect in my understanding of God’s prophetic word, and how it relates to our present world, and the future God has for us. There may be some errors, and please let me know if you see any.
14. Most of the charts are designed for Christians, but there are a few for unbelievers. That is, a few of these charts are more evangelistic. My desire is for unbelievers to look at any one of these charts, and hopefully and prayerfully be affected and convicted by it. As Christians we must understand the great opportunity we have in these days to tell people about Jesus Christ and their need for salvation. We must warn unbelievers of God’s judgment of the world at Christ’s 2nd coming, and then tell them about Christ’s 1st coming, and of salvation and forgiveness of sins that only comes only when they repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:27-28
15. There are a number of charts about the Jews. Now there are many Christians who do not believe there is a future for the ethnic Jew, and believe that the land of Israel (Palestine) has no future place for the Jews, no future fulfillment in Bible prophecy; but that is false, and is just not true. There are a great number of verses about the Jew’s future, particularly from the Old Testament, and some of the charts are primers to help us understand the plans that God has for His chosen people, a remnant of Jews, those physical descendants of Abraham who will be saved at the end of Daniel’s 70th week. Some charts depict how God’s working with the Jews is in conjunction with His working with the church. You need to understand that He is working with both Jews and Christians in the end times. Matthew 24, Luke 21, Romans 11, Revelation 7 and Acts 3.
16. Most all charts have two big “arrows”, one pointing to eternity past, and the other to eternity future. These arrows are to help you see that there’s an eternal God who has plans for the future, that He is moving things straight ahead, and that what is going on in the world today isn’t static or circular or haphazard or going in all kinds of directions. God is supremely focused, extremely focused, future focused, and has plans for this world, and for our individual lives. And everything is moving ahead and towards that next major event in the history of our world, the return of Jesus Christ. God has told us clearly what is going to be taking place, and His purposes, plans, predictions and prophecies will not in any way, shape or form be thwarted, changed, compromised, redirected, stopped or altered. Matthew 24:35
17. Most charts have a little man, and in most cases this little man depicts you. One of my goals is for you to see that your life is important, that your life is part of God’s plan, that your life fits in with what God is doing, that your life is not going backwards, is not sitting still, is not going up and down, and is not going in circles. But rather, your life has purpose and direction and is moving straight ahead to the end of your life when you go to heaven and are with the Lord, or to the end of the age when you are raptured, and are taken into heaven and are then with the Lord. It’s not just important but it’s imperative that you believe that God has plans for your life in these days. You must know that your one small life can make a difference in this big world. This means that you need to be part of a church that believes all of God’s Word, teaches all of God’s Word, and is actively doing God’s work right up to the end of the age. Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 28:19-20
18. The charts have vertical lines and these lines usually mark some past or future Biblically prophesied event, or an event in history proving and / or corroborating the prophetic truth of God’s Word. These lines typically illustrate points in time, but when put together, they show chronology and a sequence of events taking place one after another, God ordered events all moving towards the big event, the return of Christ to take up the saints, take out the enemy and take over the world.
19. There are many horizontal lines in the charts. These horizontal lines indicate that some events don’t take place at a point in time, but take place over time, that some events begin and then continue on for a while, whether that’s for a finite period of time, or an infinite period of time.
20. The overall theme of most charts is the coming of Christ, the end times, and how God will bring about His eternal kingdom and His everlasting glory. But there are many charts that speak about some particular theme, some other piece of the puzzle. Here are some examples of some of the specific themes: big picture charts about prophecy, going back in time and going forward in time; end time charts about events taking place at the present time and up to Christ’s return; rapture charts, and what we need to know, and how we should live in view of Christ’s coming; Jewish charts – their history, and God’s future plans for them; judgment charts about God’s wrath on the unbeliever; the millennial and eternal kingdom charts; verse charts – verses related to one main topic, one theme; song charts – verses from songs that speak about the coming of Christ; and world charts – one verse that is relevant to the church in these days.
21. There is much, much overlap and repetition in these charts, but this is good, and needs to be done so that so you can learn, understand and be convinced of prophetic truth.
22. My desire is for these charts to look sharp. I want the charts to be grammatically correct and artistically pleasing. If you see any errars, misspeled words, incorrect Bible references, something of out place, something not centered , any content you believe is incorrect, please let me know. Most importantly, I want to do that which is Biblical accurate, is true to God’s Word, to the prophetic truth of the Bible about the great future God has for us.
23. These charts are not in any particular order, but have been written and designed as the Holy Spirit has put them on my heart. Please let me know if you think of other charts that are needed, and that would be helpful.
24. Please feel free to print these charts for your own personal use and study, or for your family or church.
Our Lord, Savior and King, Jesus Christ, will be coming back soon! Might we love Him and be faithful to Him, learning what He tells us in His word about the coming of Jesus Christ. Mark 13:23. Might we not be in error concerning this vital and most important subject. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. Might we be encouraging others about the return of Christ, and all the more as we see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:25. Might we be like the men of Issachar and understand the times that we are living in, so that we can know what we should do and how we should live. 1 Chronicles 11:32. Might we remember the words of our Lord Jesus, “Behold, I am coming soon.” And might we be saying, with all our heart and soul, “Come Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20