Category Archives: Keys To Prophecy

Keys to Prophecy: A Proper Mindset, Part III

Posted on by
Reply

Realizing We Need to Use ALL of Scripture

It is a simple statement, but one that many, even in the church, do not really believe.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
2Tim 3:16 KJV

That word doctrine is the Greek word didaskalia and means a teaching, and that is the way it is translated most of the time. This means that the Bible needs to be taken as a whole in order to get what we need, for “All scripture is … profitable for doctrine.” Yes, it is true that the law of Moses has been taken out of the way (Col 2:14), nailed to the cross, and we are under the law of Christ (1Cor 9:21). Still even Moses’ law is profitable for doctrine, for teaching, and we need it to be,

“ … complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2Tim 3:17 KJV

Some do no believe all of the Bible, often
without realizing it!

Sometimes what we really believe is a human narrative about Scripture, and not really Scripture itself. So what is a “narrative”?

“a representation of a particular situation or process in such a way as to reflect or conform to an overarching set of aims or values: the coalition’s carefully constructed narrative about its sensitivity to recession victims.”
New Oxford American Dictionary

Often the “narrative” we have believed is the words of some honored men of old, or pioneers in the faith. If we are doing this, and we read a Scripture which is in accord with the narrative, then we will believe it. On the other hand, if we read a Scripture which contradicts the narratives we have been taught, then we will often openly doubt the Scripture. Often without realizing it, our standard of doctrine is a human narrative, and not Scripture. But Jesus said,

“And in vain do they worship me,
Teaching as doctrine rules made by men.”
Mtt 15:9 WEB

We need to teach “the whole counsel of God,”
Acts 20:27 WEB

A rough estimate is that 30% of Scripture is prophecy. Some want to leave prophecy out of their teaching, and that’s what they do! But you cannot leave 30% of God’s word out of out preaching and still be teaching “the whole counsel of God.”

We hear God’s plans for the future, then we
either we believe and lineup
with them or,

we disbelieve, and stand aside or oppose them.

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.”
Mtt 12:30 WEB

And prophecy is something to do.

 “Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Rev 22:7 WEB

Who can keep these words, if they do not understand them?

Peter says it is good to pay attention to these things.

“We have the more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day star arises in your hearts:”
2Pe 1:19 WEB.

None of this is meant to imply that prophecy is ALL we need, but it is an important part of the whole.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: A Proper Mindset, Part II

Posted on by
Reply

In Genesis 19 Lot had been told a prophecy that Sodom was to be destroyed. He was getting his family ready to leave, and it says,

“Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.”
Gen 19:14 WEB

They could not see how this could be, so they did not believe Lot’s warnings, and so were destroyed with the city. We need to have an eternal focus if we are comprehend and believe what we need to in prophecy.

We Need Focus on Jesus and a Future World.

“looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Heb 12:2 WEB

We need to absorb that eternal perspective which Jesus exemplified in his life here on earth. Often our worldly perspective comes from the world, which does even recognize God working in the world, so the things taught in prophecy seem so outlandish that we cannot conceive such a thing as happening, so we reject the correct answers out of hand.

We need to focus on the “world to come,” Heb 2:5.

“1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. ”
Col 3:1-14 WEB

These things are necessary to “get it.”

Also, prophecy is much like learning math.

If we do not learn the first principles, or even outright reject them, we will never get the right answers on more involved prophecies. Many do this on Bible prophecy, both inside and outside of the faith.

The Angle of Entry is important.

Whether we see what we need to see often depend on the angle at which we approach a subject. To whatever extent we have rejected the many basic premises of Scripture, to that extent we are less likely to see, or to understand what we need to see. Often even believers do these things with even realizing it. If we come from false perspectives we are less likely to see or understand, or if the answer is too foreign to our worldly view, we may simply say, how can that be? and reject what is said. That sadly is often the case. We understand what is siad and reject it as impossible to ever be!

It is important to be willing to be open to anything which God says, and to assume that God is right and that He indeed foresees what will actually happen.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: A Proper Mindset, Part I

Posted on by
Reply

Of course, if we outright do not believe there is no such thing as prophecy it will hurt our understanding. Actually many have such an outlook, even of those who consider themselves sincere Bible believers. Many have listened to so many opposing interpretations of the same prophecy that they do not consider it possible to understand what these things mean.

For some that is true of Scripture generally.

Satan tries to make sure that hundreds of bogus
interpretations are floating around
just to confuse us.

This often works. Even scholars often are so dazzled by the excess of interpretations, that even they often think that there is no for sure way to understand these things. That is a basic strategy that Satan uses in seminaries and in life, to disillusion us.

The truth is that Scripture IS rational and consistent,
although it may at times use thought
patterns with which we
are not familiar.

At times we may want to put the blame on Scripture, but the real blame may be with false perspectives which we have often unconsciously absorbed. Satan, and the mystery of lawlessness, and Mystery Babylon the Great try to continually seed us with false ideas (Mtt 13:24-30, 36-39). Intellectual mine fields and snares and traps lie all around us. Literally.

The Bible is rational and consistent, and also it IS inspired of God, and can give us the right answers, IF we will use it correctly. That takes some study and some practice. If we have absorbed some false ideas, and all of us have at times, we can sort them out by patiently and carefully using Scripture.

None of us EVER understand everything
perfectly.

“But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know.”
1Cor 8:2 WEB

Abraham was a faithful man of God. He definitely believed anything God said. So of course when he was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah (later know as Mount Zion), then he proceeded to comply (Genesis 22). Of course, God was just testing him, and stopped Abraham before he went to kill the son though whom God had promised him rich and great promises. Scripture tells us that Abraham was,

“accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.”
Heb 11:19 WEB

That is some insight into how true faith really works. Even if we are misunderstanding some things, faith always gives God the benefit of the doubt, always assumes God is right in what He says.

Focusing on ourselves or the interests of the
world will always blind us.

Peter was trying to talk Jesus out getting ready to die in Matthew 16.

“But he turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.””
Mtt 16:23

Not setting our mind on the things of God will blind us to prophecy, and many other things.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: God Often Uses Evil Nations to Punish and Limit Each Other

Posted on by
Reply

The book of Habakkuk, written during Judah’s decline in the seventh century BC, is instructive. Times are really bad in Judah. Judah was a high crime and sin place. Habakkuk cries out to the Lord.

“Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will
not hear? …” Hab 1:2a

“2 … I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save? 3 Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.”
Hab 1:2b-4

Indeed, why? Then God says He will do something astonishing! God says He will raise up the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, to punish sinful Judah. What are they like? God says they are a bitter and hasty nation. “They are feared and dreaded.” They have horses swifter than leopards. They gather prisoners like sand, and they laugh at kings and fortified cities. Strength is their god. Hab 1:6-11.

But now Habakkuk has a bigger problem!

Yes, Habakkuk recognizes that God’s decision, Hab 1:12; but he asks,

“You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you … keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,”
Hab 1:13 WEB

So he essentially says, but Lord, the Babylonians are worse than we are! Are you really going to let the Babylonians swallow up everything? Will you really let them “kill the nations without mercy?” Hab 1:17.

Habakkuk decides to wait for God’s answer.

“I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”
Hab 2:1

Then God says, write all of this down, in big letters so that even a running man can read it. This is true, and it will NOT prove to be false. “Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come.” Hab 2:2-3.

Yes, Babylon is puffed up, and is not upright,
“but the righteous will live by his faith.”
Hab 2:4

Babylon, once the mightiest nation on earth, situated on plains as fertile as the American Mid-West, now it is a mound of rubble to be dug through, situated in the midst of salt marshes. God raises up nations, and lowers them.

In essence God says in chapter two, Judah will be punished severely, and God will also get around to Babylon, but the righteous man will survive by his faith in God. God will care for him.

This the grand theme of the book of Romans, Rom 1:17.

Things are out of OUR control, but they are
NOT out of control.

“6 Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city,
Without the people being afraid?
Does evil happen to a city,
And Yahweh hasn’t done it?
7 Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing,
Unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.”
Amos 3:6-7

The grand scheme of history is laid out in prophecy, from Genesis to Revelation. This is part of the grand scheme, and is also reflected in Revelation.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: God Raises Up Nations, and Lowers Them

Posted on by
Reply

This is not something new. God has given Jesus present rule.

“ … “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.”
Mtt 28:18 WEB

Jesus is now, and will be “the ruler of the kings of the earth,” Rev 1:5. He will continue to rule from the heavenly Jerusalem until,

“… he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
1Cor 15:25 WEB

To think that Jesus would step down from ruling ALL from the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-2, etc.), to rule from earthly Jerusalem, is a gross misunderstanding of prophecy. The premillenialists confuse prophecies of this present earth, with prophecies of heaven.

These are ongoing processes.

“He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.”
Job 12:23 WEB

Sometimes nations seek good things, and God prospers them. Or they turn away from good things, ruin themselves, and God disciplines or destroys them. Once again, these are ongoing processes in history, reflected in prophecy, all the way from Genesis to Revelation, and is definitely still going on. In the words of the prophet Daniel,

“21 He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.”
Dan 2:21-22 WEB

We often act as if God does not know what we are doing, but it says,

“9 He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear?
He who formed the eye, won’t he see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish?
He who teaches man knows.”
Psa 94:9-10 WEB

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (ruling 605-562 BC) wrote of Yahweh,

“34 … his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or tell him, What do you?”
Dan 4:34-35 WEB

That is history. It is the Liberal theories that are myths and fantasies, mere narratives to distract us from the truth.

Some of this is scarcely complimentary to either
rulers or the peoples.

A coin of Nebuchadnezzar, the preeminent King of Babylon, and author of Daniel chapter 4

Again this is the words of Nebuchadnezzar.

“… to the intent that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.”
Dan 4:17 WEB

Isn’t that the truth.

God decides where peoples will live, Acts 17:26.

Yahweh says,

“… “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?””
Amos 9:7 WEB

And purpose, what is the purpose?

“that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”
Acts 17:27 WEB

We are studying the context in which God deals with men, earth age long!

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: God has Divided Mankind

Posted on by
Reply

It is not an accident. It is part of the deliberate counsel and policy of God.

Of course it is true that unity is best … IF …
we are united in good things.

“being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Eph 4:3 WEB

But, not all men are intent on the seeking the things of the Spirit. In fact, not many men are. Jacob, by this same Spirit of God, gave both blessings and prophetic warnings to his sons, but not all of it was in any way pretty.

“5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Weapons of violence are their swords.
6 My soul, don’t come into their council;
My glory, don’t be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they killed a man,
In their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
Gen 49:5-6 WEB

Evil deeds, wrong directions, are not good things in which to be united.

At One Time All of Mankind was United.

All of our races of men came from one man, Noah, and his three sons and their three wives, seven in all. This was before extensive damage to our DNA which then limited our life spans. It says of those days,

“The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.”
Gen 11:1 WEB

“As men “travelled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.” Gen 11:2 WEB. Shinar was in the area latter called Babylon, and is now called Iraq. It was in those days a very fertile plain, nothing like what it is today,

The command of God was to be fruitful, replenish,
literally to fill, the earth, Gen 9:1

Babel become symbolic of the confusion that wrong directions bring, and of the results of sinful overreach among men.

But men said, let’s make some really good bricks, and,

“Come, let’s build us a city, and a tower, whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
Gen 11:4 WEB

They did not want to scatter out and fill the earth as God commanded.

Then Yahweh came down to see what
they were doing.

“… “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.””
Gen 11:6 WEB

So God agrees this would give them great power, but does NOT AGREE that it is good for sinful men to have this power. So He confused men’s language, so that they could not understand each other.

“So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.”
Gen 11:8 WEB

God deliberately DIVIDED MEN, so that Authority
among men would also be divided. This way
no single authority could tyrannize
all mankind.

God laid foundations for restraining governments that get out of control. These ARE barriers to big government, and world-wide tyrannies.

Only at the end, when mankind overall deserves to be handed over to Satan, will these things change … for a little while.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: God Frustrates the Plans of the Wicked

Posted on by
Reply

You can call it a promise, you can call it a prophecy, but Psalm 37 indeed is perspective on how God deals with the wicked in history, and how the righteous should react to evil plans which we often see in history.

Psalm 37 is very much a part of Revelation’s view
of the plans of evil men.

It does view sinful inclinations of men as producing evil plans that are often of monstrous proportions. Revelation concentrates on two principal covert actors in history: Mystery Babylon the Great, and the beast organization (called the mystery of Lawlessness in 2Thessalonians chapter two).

The other side of these things is that such things are often seen and recognized as evil in history. Through crafty manipulation and covert action, great fortunes and power are often amassed in history. Evil men often dominate nations and even continents, and they care nothing about whether they ruin, or hurt or slaughter the innocent. These are continual things in history. Those trying to do what is right are often exasperated by these things, but such things are outside of their power or influence. Should we envy such power and wealth, and seek it ourselves?

What should be the perspective of the
men and women of God?

The theme is announced in the first four verses.

“1 Don’t fret because of evil-doers,
Neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in Yahweh, and do good.
Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Also delight yourself in Yahweh,
And he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psa 37:1-3 WEB

It continues along such a line for a full forty verses. Should we fear them? Center our lives around opposing them?

“7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him.
Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.
Don’t fret, it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off,
But those who wait for Yahweh shall inherit the land.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.
Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.”
Psa 37:7-10 WEB

All of this life, and ALL of human history is but a little while. This is really advice to those caught in such times, and in the violent storms which will surround the end of life in this universe as pictured in the book of Revelation. It is a commentary and a reminder on on,

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1Pe 5:5

“28 For Yahweh loves justice,
And doesn’t forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
But the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land,
And live in it forever.”
Psa 37:28-29 WEB

It is talking about heaven, the new heavens and the new earth of Revelation 21 and all the rest.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: God Does Sometimes Frustrate Our Plans

Posted on by
Reply

There are many things which we may want, but we really do not need. They may not be things which are wrong in themselves, but they are not what is important. Many of these desires are often the root of terrible crimes and atrocities.

Pleasure gone amuck can ruin us.

“Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?”
Jas 4:1 WEB

Other translations make more plain that these are not just things of the big picture, but are also of the small things of our lives. The New English Translation, The Translation That Explains Itself, says, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? …” Some of these conflicts over our pleasures are in our homes.

So why don’t we get the things we want?
As nations, as individuals?

“You lust, and don’t have. You kill, covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. 3 You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.”
Jas 4:2-3 WEB

We didn’t really need it. We merely wanted it, and God denied it.!

A focus on this present world is a focus on civilizations
plunging into wrong directions.

We need to realize the impact of focusing on a lost world.

“4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Jas 4:4-5 WEB

God is trying to turn us around, from a life going nowhere, to a life going somewhere good. So sometimes He frustrates our plans, so that perhaps, we can attains goodness and life that lasts forever.

Some of the “unneeded” drains the energy of our lives,
leaving us unable to pursue life that
life indeed.

It is a barrier to our becoming what we should become. Jesus says we need to be in Him to be what we should become.

“I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Jn 15:5 WEB

If we do not remain in the One who is Life Itself, ultimately we are cut off as a branch and put on the burn pile, Jn 15:6. If we are productive, then God will cut off those parts of us draining our productivty.

“… Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Jn 15:2 WEB

God is willing to help us, but He resists some,
and helps some.

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.””
Jas 4:6 WEB

Go in new directions, while you still have room to move. This is part of God’s plan for our age.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: Cycles of History

Posted on by
Reply

I think one of the most majestic of the psalms is Psalm 107. It describes the cycles which nations go through, cycles which still exist. This psalm can only be summarized here, but it is well worth reading in detail in multiple translations and being mulled over.

God will lead the humble

Heavy things fall on sinful people. Some of the troubles are built right into our sins. Often we end up in desolate times.

“4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way.
They found no city to live in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them. ”
Psa 107:4-5WEB

Then they cried out to the Lord.

“6 Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble,
And he delivered them out of their distresses,
7 He led them also by a straight way,
That they might go to a city to live in.
8 Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness,
For his wonderful works to the children of men!”
Psa 107:6-8 WEB

Parts of the psalm explicitly mention their sins.

“10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Being bound in affliction and iron,
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And condemned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labor.
They fell down, and there was none to help. ”
Psa 107:10-12 WEB

But they cried out to the Lord, and He heard them, and broke their bonds, and led them in good ways.

Negative Environmental Changes Sometimes
Happen Because of Sin!

“33 He turns rivers into a desert,
Water springs into a thirsty ground,
34 And a fruitful land into a salt waste,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.”
Psa 107:33:34 WEB

You can see this story almost daily on the evening news.

But then are turned around for a humble people

“35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
And a dry land into water springs.
36 There he makes the hungry live,
That they may prepare a city to live in,”
Psa 107:35-36 WEB

Then it goes on for several verses about the blessings He brings on them.

But then it is implied they turn aside again

“39 Again, they are diminished and bowed down
Through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
40 He pours contempt on princes,
And causes them to wander in a trackless waste.”
Psa 107:39-40 WEB

It has been so in the past. It is still so in the Christian Age
and in the book of Revelation.

“41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction,
And increases their families like a flock.
42 The upright will see it, and be glad.
All the wicked will shut their mouths.
43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things.
They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh.”
Psa 107:41-43 WEB

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Keys to Prophecy: Sometimes Trouble is Necessary to Discipline Us

Posted on by
Reply

The author of Hebrews asks us if we have forgotten warnings in the book of Proverbs, given to us as sons. He tells us we should not irritated with God’s discipline.

“5 …My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by him;
6 For whom the Lord loves, he chastens,
And scourges every son whom he receives.”
Heb 12:5-6 WEB

If God loves us, He tries to straighten us out
when we are wrong.

“It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?”
Heb 12:7 WEB

And if we do not receive any discipline from God? The King James Version is the plainest here.

“But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”
Heb 12:8 KJV

It is only when we have gone so far that we will
NEVER turn back, that destruction
comes upon us.

That is true for both individuals and nations. Satan of course desires such, and tries to get us to harden our hearts and minds. Satan is not about building, only about destroying as many as he can. You can hear this in the Satanic media of today as they promote the vilest of perversions, and declare they will “never again go back into the closet.” These ups and downs in morality throughout the ages are at best temporary. If a society tolerates the very worst for very long, it risks its own destruction. Normally the built-in shamefulness breeds its own backlash, and the worms and insects crawl away to their holes on their own, no longer daring the glare of close examination.

Jewish history is instructive here. Without kings, they went through cycles of debauchery, then under pressure from their enemies, repented and turned back to God. The cycles seem to have been very short in the times of the Judges. Then organized punishment of wickedness came through the kings of Israel and Judah, and cycles were still there, but they were lengthened. Still, when they got to the point that they would not change, no matter what, as in the times of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, then Israel and Judah were removed, their lands were given to other people and the remnant that remained was deported to other countries.

Such is typical for the entire Christian age, so much so that Revelation chapter 6 it describes the world as being turned over to violence, and a pale horse of Death and Hades had authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, and famine, Rev 6:3-8.

That is an apt picture not only ancient and medieval history, but also of modern history, until we get to the point where,

“and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn’t repent of their works.”
Rev 16:11 WEB

A picture of the entire Christian Age.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901