Two brothers lived in the beautiful foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains on a cattle ranch. They had asked my church to send a minister to answer their Bible questions, and I drew the assignment.

The first time I met them, they asked, "What's going to happen next in Bible prophecy?" We discussed the subject at some length. It was clear to me that they had studied the Bible's prophecies in detail. In addition to talking about what might happen next, I also showed the brothers the underlying purpose for all prophecy—something they had overlooked.

I called on them some weeks later and they asked the same question. They asked it again on my third visit. Every time, I attempted to stir them to look deeper into this important subject. I was unsuccessful.

Eventually, I realized that they actually didn't want to know; they only wanted to observe! They were students of prophecy to be sure, but they were spectators, not players. They wanted only one thing out of studying prophecy: They wanted to know if the world was close to its end. We parted company on friendly terms.

What's the difference between being a spectator and a player in regards to prophecy?

Prophecy becomes personal

Typically, spectators of prophecy are looking for disasters. It's true that Jesus foretold that in the time of the end "there will be famines [critical food shortages], pestilences [disease epidemics], and earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:7).

Christ later added through John in Revelation the famous vision of the Four Horsemen, which includes predictions of catastrophe on a world scale. (Read what Jesus told John in Revelation 6. Read "The Horsemen of Revelation," a series of our articles that explain their symbolism.)

So, it's natural for a student of prophecy to watch for major catastrophes. But what makes one "a player"? Perhaps that's an apt description of someone in the midst of one of those catastrophes!

I have friends in Iowa who have been sending me pictures of the rising rivers. The flooding there has caused an estimated $2 billion in property damage as of this writing. There will be an attendant cost in the loss of the corn crop and the destruction of livestock. In fact, food costs began to rise as a result in a matter of days.

Shortly before the river began to flood, the same weather system triggered a "shower" of tornadoes that struck the central United States, one zeroing in on a Boy Scout camp, where four young teens lost their lives and nearly 50 more were injured.

Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf coastline of America in 2005, smashing or flooding thousands of homes and businesses, reshaping the physical and the political landscape of the nation for years to come.

Everyone whose property was destroyed—everyone who was injured or who lost a loved one—might well feel that he or she was experiencing the fulfillment of prophecy.

Do you recall your feelings when you learned of the so-called Christmas Tsunami in 2004, the one spawned by a 9.0 earthquake? When a calamity of that magnitude strikes anywhere on earth, many feel themselves in a prophetic zone. The same can be said of the twin disasters this May, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) and the nearly 8.0 earthquake in Szechuan China.

The question on the minds of many when in a "prophetic zone" is, "Is this the beginning of the end?" People who were never particularly religious seek God. Those who already have a relationship with God want to renew and deepen it.

But in time, the flood waters recede; that which was destroyed is rebuilt; the news cycle moves on to other issues; and people leave the "prophetic zone" and get back to living as they choose to without much thought of God.

Living through these crises does not automatically make one "a player" in Bible prophecy.

More than a marker for "the end"

Prophecy is more than merely a roadmap by which you might guess where humankind is (or where you are) in God's timeline. It's a mistake to think of the Bible as a "GPS" location finder! You know, a device that gives you directions vocally and will tell you, "Turn right at the next intersection" or, "Turn around; you missed your exit!"

There are countless millions of people generally familiar with Bible prophecy, who are waiting for "the sign" that tells them it's time for them to make major changes in their lives, because "the end (or their end) is coming."

Bible prophecy doesn't work that way. There are indeed examples in the Bible when it suited God's purpose to make a detailed prediction about an individual. But can you imagine how huge the Bible would have to be to include such prophecies for only a small percentage of humanity?

Prophecy of necessity covers broad time spans, but it is precise enough to get the attention of those who read and/or hear it. The purpose of prophecy isn't simply to predict tragedy or the end of the age.

Another purpose is to help people discover: (1) that there is a Creator God, (2) that He has expectations for how they should live their lives and (3) that He will require them to comply with those expectations for their good!

You don't have to experience a near-death tragedy, lose a loved one or have your personal property destroyed to be in "a prophetic zone." You can choose at any time to realize the purpose of prophecy. You don't have to come close to death to come close to life!

Some won't get the point

For some, prophecy will remain merely a hobby, a curiosity. They want to know what is going to happen just so they can be in the right place to see it unfold. To them, catastrophe frankly has an element of entertainment to it.

For those young men I met decades ago in the Canadian Rockies, prophecy was simply a marker by which to judge how close they were to the end of the age. They were respectable people, but they were only onlookers to the Bible's prophecies. Their outlook was no different from that of the little child in the backseat of the family car asking, "Dad, are we there yet?"

Those brothers didn't understand the purpose for prophecy. They saw nothing in prophecy that caused them to change the way they were living. That's what "a player" does; that's the difference between a spectator and a player.

Jesus, the greatest Prophet, continued the theme He and His Father inspired the Old Testament prophets to declare: The Kingdom of God is coming from heaven to earth. This is another way of saying "the gospel."

When beginning His public ministry, He said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). "Gospel" means "good news." The greatest good news is that Jesus will establish one world government, which is subject to the laws of God. This will result in everyone changing his or her behavior, the meaning of "repent."

While prophecy may deal with a significant person, a group of people, a nation, a region, the entire earth, the weather, diseases, natural catastrophes and wars, the ultimate application of prophecy is personal. It is God speaking to you, for your benefit, nudging you to change the way you live.

Here's the question to ask!

Perhaps the most appealing question is, "What's going to happen next in Bible prophecy?" But the better question is, "What does prophecy show me that I need to do?" Even the book of Revelation, which some might say is the ultimate book of prophecy, is in the end about human behavior and the consequences of the choices that people make. It gives an array of messages, all with the common purpose of urging us to change our behavior so God can give us all that is in His heart to give us.

The first few verses of Luke 13 contain a snapshot of two tragedies that occurred in the first century, during Jesus' ministry. They help us interpret such modern tragedies as the Myanmar cyclone and the Indonesian tsunami.

One, the execution of people literally in the act of worshipping God by an unjust government, has some parallels with the millions in Myanmar whose lives are threatened today not by a storm so much as by their government's actions. The other, the collapse of a tower that killed many innocent victims, has parallels with the innocents who die in earthquakes and tidal waves today.

Of both, Jesus said we ought not think that the victims deserved to die or that they were being made to pay for sin with their lives. Instead, He said that survivors ought to think at such a time about their personal behavior; whether that behavior is what God expects. "I tell you...unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5).

Christ wasn't warning them that they would die at the hands of other people or in a natural disaster; He was speaking of "perishing" in the spiritual sense. That is, they would never realize the potential for which God through Jesus created them.

Sometimes, disasters that hit us or those we love can shock us into becoming "players" in Bible prophecy, but we don't have to wait until then. We can choose at any moment to become participants in the underlying purpose for Bible prophecy. This booklet will put you on the right track: Life's Ultimate Question: Does God Exist? Don't assume that just because you believe there is a God that your life is in line with God's purpose.

What is the next colossal fulfillment of Bible prophecy? It can be what is happening within you...Have the courage to step aside from what those around you are thinking about prophecy and investigate its truest value with the help of our booklet What Is Your Destiny? WNP