Tim LaHaye - The Merciful God of Prophecy: His Loving Plan for You in the End Times

2002 by LaHaye Publishing Group LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scriptures noted NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scriptures noted KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scriptures noted TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinios 60189. All rights reserved.

First eBook Edition: October 2002

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ISBN: 978-0-446-54948-6

T o the merciful God of prophecy, who lovingly designed Bible prophecy to prove his existence and true nature. His boundless mercy and love moved him to send his only begotten Son (in fulfillment of prophecy!) into this world to die for our sins, making it possible for us to enjoy eternal life with him. And to his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, the spirit of prophecy.

We also dedicate this book to the millions of readers of the Left Behind series of prophetic novels (written with Jerry B. Jenkins), and to all others who have yet to appreciate how merciful our heavenly Father really is. May they discover soon what he has done and what he plans to do to demonstrate his amazing love!

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

Exodus 34:67

S o many people have a distorted view of God. Whether their confusion results from a legalistic background or because skeptics in school or at work have turned them against God, the God they envision either does not exist or he looks nothing like the God revealed in the Bible.

It is crucial that all of us get a clear idea of the God who actually exists, for the day will come when all of us will look to him for mercy and help. I hope that day will not come for you in the form of a major life crisis, especially nothing like the 9/11 terrorist attack that, without warning, claimed approximately three thousand innocent lives and left an entire nation grieving, bewildered, and groping for answers.

Those who gain a good understanding of the merciful God of the Bible are quick to turn to him, where they find comfort in their time of desperation. Those who do not know Godor who have the wrong understanding of what he really ishave to face their time of tribulation alone. Consequently they find themselves facing both the present and the future with fear and dread.

Knowing the true Godas he is revealed by the Hebrew prophets and by his Son, Jesus Christcan be the most comforting experience of life. When our youngest daughter, Lori, was five years old, she had double pneumonia twice within two months. I shall never forget the experience of standing at the side of her hospital bed, her body enveloped by an oxygen tent. As I watched her little chest rise and fall in desperate gasps for breath, the doctor turned to my wife and me and said, If you folks know how to pray, you'd better do it now. I have done everything for her that I possibly can! Beverly and I immediately bowed our heads and prayed to our heavenly Father and put Lori's plight in his strong hands.

As we finished our prayer, a deep sense of peace and assurance washed over us. No one can understand such an experience except those who have walked through something like it. Even then we knew that whether she lived or died, she remained in God's loving care and that someday we would see her again. Two days later, Lori was out of the oxygen tent and well on the road to recovery. Today she is the busy mother of four of our nine grandchildren.

But the story doesn't end there. Next to us in that room so long ago sat a couple about our age with a daughter in the same plight. They wept uncontrollably. Though I tried, I could not console them, for God was obviously a stranger to them. That is when I began to realize how very important it is to gain the right understanding of who and what God really is before we face that unknown tragedy or circumstance that will come inevitably to every life.

That is what this book is all aboutgetting to know the real God, just as he has revealed himself through the most spiritual men in the Bible: the Hebrew prophets and the apostles of Jesus. Even though God is Spirit (John 4:24) and no one has seen God at any time (John 1:18), God has given us many ways to come to know him. As the Psalmist said, the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1). Certainly the marvels of creation prove that he exists, that he is all-powerful, and that he is the Master Designer of all things. But creation does not tell us much of who God iswhat he is like, how he feels, and whether he is for us or against us. Somehow we all know he is holy, while we are sinners who have fallen short of his standard of holiness. But it is only in the Bible that we learn what he is really like and what kind of relationship we can have with him.

The apostle Paul spoke of two ways to know God: through the revelation the Lord has given of himself through the Hebrew prophets and through God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who came into this world not only to die for the sins of mankind but also to reveal God as Father.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son the express image of His person. (Heb. 1:13)

Think of it! The Bible calls Jesus Christ the express image of God. When Jesus walked on this earth, everything he did expressed the true nature of God. His attitude toward children reflected the heavenly Father's attitude toward the totally dependant of our world. Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me (Mark 10:14 kjv), which shows God's love for children. We learn that when the Savior felt the hurt and sorrow of his friends, Jesus wept (John 11:35). He saw the sorrow of Mary and Martha at the death of their brother, Lazarus, and he revealed himself to be completely in tune with human sorrows, grief, and hurts. By doing so he revealed how God the Father responds when we hurt.

While in this book we shall examine the life of Christ as the crowning illustration of God's character, we shall also explore the writings of the most spiritual men of the ancient world: the Hebrew prophets. From Enoch, Moses, Samuel, and the twelve minor and four major prophets, we learn things about God that would otherwise remain unknown. No other religion or philosophy in the world gives anything that will convince us that we do not have to quake in fear before God, afraid of what he may do next. But in this study we will learn that he is a merciful God, longsuffering, compassionate, and forgiving. We will learn that God loves us and is for usa welcome thought in times of need!

Sooner or later we will all face our own personal time of crisis. Your time of need may be self-inflicted. Or it may occur simply because you are a human being living in a fallen world. I pray you will see that, whatever the cause of your misfortune, you can turn from wherever you are, like the Prodigal son, and return to your heavenly Father.