Question: My husband teaches a men's Bible class in a Baptist Church. He wanted to teach a separate ...

Question: My husband teaches a men's Bible class in a Baptist Church. He wanted to teach a separate Bible class on Prophecy and was told the subject would not be well received. Why?

Response:Nearly 30 percent of the Bible is prophecy, so to omit that is to miss a great deal! Indeed, prophecy provides the essential proof that the Bible is God's Word and that Christ is the Messiah. It tells us of future events and is the backbone of the Bible. To avoid prophecy is to deliberately consign oneself to ignorance and is almost like thumbing one's nose at God and His Word.

I don't know why this church avoids prophecy, but I can give you some of the most common excuses offered by others. Some argue that prophecy is too confusing, creates speculation, involves so many symbols that it is impossible to understand, and could therefore only cause division. Of course, none of these objections is valid.

The greatest prophecy book is Revelation. It promises a special reward to him "that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein" (Rv 1:3). I would encourage your husband to persist in his biblical and God-honoring desire. Perhaps the church would discover that there is a prejudice against prophecy only because there is ignorance concerning it.