It has been a while since I have heard the Holy Spirit speak to me — drop a thought into my mind — during that time between awake and asleep. But last night was one of those moments. Sometimes, He says things that can be difficult to understand. But I recognize it as something He is prompting me to write about. This one is a bit difficult, but bear with me as I attempt to describe this thought.

He said, “The past of things to come.”

What?

It’s pretty simple. The Holy Spirit was giving me a peek at how He perceives time. Imagine being able to see from the beginning to the end—all at once. You would be able to look at various points along the timeline and recognize that the future will look essentially the same as the past that brought it to its place on the timeline. It occurred to me that when the prophecies in Revelation come to pass, these events won’t be anything new.

The Holy Spirit is pointing to the decline of societies in the past as corruption and immorality took over. When we see these similarities, it’s another sign of His coming. It’s a warning to be ready to be found about our Father’s work.

9 What has been will be again,
 what has been done will be done again;
 there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
 “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
 it was here before our time. (Ecclesiastes 1: 9–10)

We have been here before and witnessed the Lord revive our lands. Jesus is always working. Society may look grim with all of the problems we face, but it is good to remember that Satan is in the business of trying to erase any good The Creator has done in history. He is at work on the timeline that matters. 

If you are getting off kilter because of the constant prognosticators saying that World War III is at hand, take time to revisit the Great Awakenings and Great Transforming Revivals that Satan couldn’t stop. 

The Past of Things to Come. A Reminder of the Lessons from History.