The last prophets of the Old Testament:

“For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the LORD of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.  (Mal 4:1-3, HCSB)

The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will shake. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites. 17 Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will never overrun it again. (Joel 3:16-17, HCSB)

I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see My glory. 19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations — to Tarshish, Put, Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away — who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. And they will proclaim My glory among the nations.  (Isa 66:18-19, HCSB)

New Testament: Core Issues
The Old Testament is a cliffhanger story—it was going somewhere and left off. Today we will look at some core issues and hangups when it comes to the Bible’s teaching.

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Below are some highlights that come to mind as we seek to walk through the New Testament together—things that should encourage you and make the Bible more readable for you. However, don’t miss the fact that these insights are exactly what you should find at the beginning of every book of the Bible in a good study Bible like the Life Application Bible. They are also what you will find in great detail if you read one of the recommended resources above. There’s a lot you can know and gain from an introduction to a book of the Bible that helps you read it.

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God definitely places a high importance on our having a knowledge of the future…He talks about it all the time in the Bible. And it’s not simply so that we can know what’s coming…rather its because (1) the future motivates us to act strategically in the present and (2) what we do now, echos in eternity. As believers, our witness determines who will go to heaven and who won’t, our actions are linked to heavenly rewards, our misbehavior leads to God’s discipline on our lives, the church and the country, and one of many motivations that pushes us toward the right behavior in the present is knowing what is to come.

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