It may appear that it does not matter how we interpret prophecy, for how can prophetic events affect our way of life and our salvation? If we look carefully into the Bible, however, we find examples indicating that it does matter how we view Bible prophecy.

One clear example is found in Matthew 24 where Jesus warned the Jews about the coming invasion of the Romans into Jerusalem. Jesus said:

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle." (Matthew 24:15-18)

To the Jews that were living at that time, this was a very important prophecy because the Roman army later surrounded Jerusalem and the Jews who understood the words of Jesus fled from the city and were saved. Those who did not correctly understand this prophecy stayed in the city to be trapped by the Roman army and die in the siege that followed.

Another clear example is found in the Jews' rejection of Jesus. If the Jewish people had correctly understood the Old Testament prophecies which indicated that their Messiah would have to suffer and even die before he could reign as king, then they would not have rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Tragically, most of the Jews did not understand Bible prophecy correctly, since they expected the Messiah to overthrow the Romans in their day and then establish the kingdom in Israel. Their wrong understanding of prophecy caused them to reject Jesus Christ!