The Bible Reveals the Future

In this article, we are going to examine Rule No. 6 of Bible interpretation which reads:
“God has revealed things to come, by visions, in figures and parables, and in this way, the same things are oftentimes revealed again and again, by different visions, or in different figures and parables. If you wish to understand them, you must combine them all in one. Psalms 89:19; Hosea 12:10; Habakkuk 2:2; Acts 2:17; 1 Corinthians 10:6; Hebrews 9:9, 24; Psalms 78:2; Matthew 8:13, 34; Genesis 41:1-32; Daniel 2:7, 8; Acts 10:9-16.”
In the 1843 and 1850 prophetic charts, we see a pictorial representation of the visions of Daniel and John. There we find illustrated the visions of Daniel 2, 7, and 8. In the comparison of these three chapters that is given in the 1850 chart published by Ottis Nichols, we see a clear illustration of this rule. There one vision is an enlargement and more detailed representation of the previous vision. By combining them and studying them together we can see the whole picture.
This is the principle of revelation and expansion. We see that the images that are used change (a statue, beasts, horns, etc.), but the events that are stated remain the same, with the only difference being that they are later given in more detail, with a more advanced explanation.
Let us take for example the Medo-Persian Empire. In the vision of the image in Daniel 2, the arms of silver represent Medo-Persia. In Daniel 7 the same power is represented by a bear, raised on one side. In Daniel 8 we see the same empire, this time represented as a ram. But then, when we delve into the study of these different figures and what they represent, we get a greater picture. If we follow the whole vision all the way through, we learn even more and we find that each of those parallel visions culminates with the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we go from there and we look at the parables of Christ or we consider different visions of the Old Testament prophets, or the Revelation that was given to John on the isle of Patmos, we get even more detailed descriptions.
So if we would just single out Daniel 2 and not take into context all this weight of evidence that goes beyond it, we would have a very basic picture of the history and future of our world. But we are not left there at all. So much more has been given to us, and if we want to understand it, we must put all the prophecies together, look at all the different aspects, and harmonize them, and then we will have a very clear understanding of the truth.
There is a prophecy in the Bible that predicts the publication of the 1843 and 1850 charts and it is found in Habakkuk 2. We are told:
“And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” Hab. 2:1-3.
The tables that Habakkuk talks about are the two charts, explaining “the vision” – the prophecies of Daniel and John that in essence describe the same thing, only from different angles. According to this text, even though it may seem to us that the fulfillment of the vision tarries, it will surely come to pass.
Habakkuk tells us that there is going to be a tarrying time. And if we consider the parable of the ten virgins, what did the virgins do while they were waiting for the Bridegroom? They fell asleep. When we sleep, do we know what is happening around us? Do we keep track of what is taking place among those who are awake? No, we don’t. When we consider Miller’s rule No. 6, we learn that we need to be awake and take everything into consideration if we want to be sure that we know the truth.
Another thing that we need to take into consideration is the seventh trumpet of Revelation 7-11. This trumpet began to sound on October 22, 1844. This is in essence what we are to announce unto the ends of the world – that the seventh (and last) trumpet is sounding and the Coming of Christ is at hand.
We need to remember that we are to consider all the visions that are related to a particular topic. So when we consider the topic of the coming of Jesus Christ, what helps us understand how close we are to his coming, is very closely following history and seeing how history interacts with 1) figures (symbols), 2) parables, and 3) visions that we have in the Bible.
When we look at the whole picture, we will come to a startling conclusion, and that is: we are closer to the coming of Christ than many of us realize or that we are ready for. We cannot say in numbers how much time we have left, but it would be wise for us to spend it proving that history has brought us to this point and in preparing to meet the Bridegroom when he comes.
We are told that during the final crisis, the whole world is going to wonder after the beast. The world will say: Who is able to make war with the beast? And then, through the image of the beast the faithful ones are going to be brought to a place where they would not be able to buy or sell (Rev. 13:17) unless they go along with the decree to desecrate one of God’s Ten Commandments, and ultimately there will be a death penalty that will be enforced.
We should be able to see that it is by following the rules of prophetic interpretation that we come to the truth. We don’t come into it by listening to someone whom we think sounds better than the other and by just taking one aspect only, disregarding everything else. We are not going to come to the truth of the prophetic understanding if we do that. We would have to take all these things into consideration. This is what we have been striving to do with our studies, in accordance with Miller’s rule no. 6.