Upon receiving brother Bryan Denlinger's response that I had forwarded him (and posted on my blog What about prophets today?), he wrote to me saying he was so very impressed with his concise answer. Here he also responds to brother Bryan, and asks further:
Dear brother Bryan,
I am J. from India who raised the question about prophets
(through sister Helga).
I am profusely blessed to get your profound reply.
I am happy to say that, many of my doubts are cleared.
But still one more stands..
Brother, can there be any (at least one) true prophets at the end times,
because Acts 2:17 says that
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men
shall dream dreams"
but still
in
Hebrews 1:(1-2)
1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past
unto the fathers by the prophets,
2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
It confuses and puts me in dilemma.
I do believe that in KJV of bible there exist no contradictions,
but Acts 2:17 and Hebrews 1:(1-2) looks problematic(contradicts) to
my little mind.
It would be a great help, if u could clear my doubts, by your valuable reply..
Love In Christ,
J.
I am so very grateful that someone as busy as brother Bryan is, takes the time to respond, in true Christlike fashion! Praise God!:
Hello brother J[name withheld - I forgot to ask him for permission to divulge it],
Thank you for your kind words concerning the information I wrote on
the subject of prophets. I am happy that you were able to learn from
it.
I should have been a little clearer on Acts 2 versus Hebrews 1. I'll
try to explain it better in this email.
Whenever you study God's word, you must always keep 2 Timothy 2:15 in mind.
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly DIVIDING the word of truth."
The problem comes when we try to make the whole Bible say the same
thing, because it doesn't! You must keep in mind that God wrote
different portions of scripture to different groups of people. For
example, compare the Old Testament laws found in Leviticus, to the way
Paul writes to Christians. There is a VERY obvious difference!
Also, when reading the Bible you have to keep a passage's HISTORICAL
context in mind too. In other words, the early part of the book of
Acts was written at a time when the book of Revelation had NOT yet
been written. So these early Christians would not understand all that
we can read about today.
The early Christians were also preaching mostly to the Jews. It wasn't
really till Paul showed up, that our present gospel was being preached
to non-Jewish people like you and me. So the early Jewish Christians
were thinking about promises being fulfilled that God had spoken in
the Old Testament, specifically to the nation of Israel.
Now having said all of that, we will look at what was happening in Acts 2.
First turn to Acts 1:4-5. Here Jesus is still on the earth after His
resurrection. He tells the early Christians that they are to remain in
Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost comes upon them. Now look at what they
say to Jesus in verse 6. "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again
the kingdom to Israel?" In verse 7, Jesus responds that it wasn't up
to them to know when His second coming would be.
Now, the thing you need to understand about this is that the Jews at
that time were waiting to have their nation restored. Jerusalem was
under the control of Rome. They knew that the Bible prophesied that
one day Jesus would restore the nation of Israel, and that He would
rule from Jerusalem. BUT, they did not know about the events of
Revelation!
In Acts 2, they received the Holy Ghost (just like Jesus said they
would) and they began to preach to the people. Peter believed that
Jesus was going to be returning soon, and so he preached from Joel
2:28-32 (Acts 2:16-20) which tells of the second coming of Jesus
Christ. The predominately Jewish crowd would have been able to
understand this prophecy from Joel.
Now, it is important to realize that Peter believed that Jesus was
going to be returning very soon. But he didn't realize that there was
going to be a 2,000 year period of time before Christ's second coming.
The "mystery of the church" was revealed first to Paul. (Ephesians
3:1-7)
So, while the Bible does teach that there were "prophets" in the early
church. The actual events of Acts 2:16-20 have NOT taken place yet.
Acts 2:19-20 describes what will happen immediately before Jesus
physically returns to the earth. Compare these two verses with Matthew
24:29-30 and Mark 13:24-26.
The term "day of the Lord" refers to Christ's 1,000 year kingdom which
He sets up here on the earth. (Read 2 Peter 3:8 and you will see that
ONE day with the Lord is as 1,000 years) This 1,000 year "DAY of the
Lord" begins with His second coming at the end of the 7 year long
great tribulation.
Now, before His second coming occurs, the Jews are going to
"prophecy". One of the reasons for this is that in the coming time of
great tribulation, the Antichrist is going to outlaw the Bible.
Revelation 6:9 describes saints who are executed for "the word of
God." Mark 13:11 says that the Holy Ghost will speak through them when
they are brought in for their trial. Today we do have God's written
word in the King James Bible.
The Bible teaches that the Christians are going to leave (1
Corinthians 15:51-53 & 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) before the Antichrist
shows up. After this "rapture" of Christians, God turns His attention
to the nation of Israel. The Jews require "signs" before they will
believe. (1 Corinthians 1:22) So God is going to give them seven years
of signs and wonders, to show them that Jesus Christ was and IS their
messiah. This time period ends with the fulfillment of Acts 2:16-20,
Joel 2:28-32, Matthew 24, and Mark 13.
What about Hebrews 1:1-2? The Old Testament prophets in verse 1,
prophesied the events of Jesus Christ's first coming to die on the
cross. (Isaiah chapter 53) They also prophesied Christ's second coming
to bring in His kingdom. (Joel 2:28-32) So what is at the center of
their "prophecy"? Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Read Revelation 19:10.
It says, "...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy". Jesus'
life is the fulfillment of prophecy.
Hebrews 1:1-2 is saying that Jesus is at the center of bible prophecy.
When we tell people how Jesus died on the cross for their sins, we are
confirming the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus Christ. When we
tell people that Jesus is coming back again, we are giving a prophecy
about His second coming. The events of Acts 2:16-20, haven't happened
yet. BUT they will occur shortly before Christ's return.
Unfortunately, many false "prophets" today try to claim that they are
fulfilling Acts 2:16-18, and yet they somehow miss verses 19 and 20!
We are to speak to people about the Lord Jesus Christ. We are NOT to
take verses out of context, to try and prove things that don't line up
with scripture.
I hope that clears things up for you. Sorry that this email got so
long! But it is a very complex subject.
Your brother in Christ.
Bryan Denlinger
-----------------------------
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