True Prophecy Presents A Choice
True prophecy does not announce a future fate but rather offers a choice. True prophecy is a declaration based upon the spiritual forces and conditions at work. Just as there is cause and effect in the physical world, so also is there in the spiritual dimension. Therefore, true prophecy predicts the future consequences of present spiritual choices, according to the Word of God, Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15.
Prophecy is God’s means of forewarning people of the dangers of wrong decisions so that they might turn from their sins. The prophet’s message is always: “Turn ye! Turn ye! Why will ye die?” and “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Thus in true prophecy, the choice of good and evil is set before the people, rather than a fatal decree. Typically, there is one predicted fate for sinners and another for the righteous. The individual chooses into which category he shall fall. The choice must answer the question: “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?”
Faith Is The Determining Factor
The determining factor is faith in the Word of God and His holiness. For example, the Jews of the time of Christ failed to recognize this principle and so depended upon a fleshly lineage instead of repentance and righteousness by faith. Christianity, in the true prophetic tradition, declared that according to God’s Word sinners were destined to receive the cursings while the righteous were destined to receive the blessings, regardless of fleshly lineage. The individual was not predestined; he had the power of choice. The categories of sin and righteousness, however, were predestined for evil or for good. To trust in the flesh was to be lost; to trust in Christ was to be saved.
Not An Immutable Decree, But A Personal Choice
Martin Buber in The Prophetic Faith* says: “The true prophet does not announce an immutable decree. He speaks into the power of decision lying in the moment, and in such a way that his message of disaster just touches this power. The unformulated primal theological principle of the Garden of Eden story about the divine-human relationship, namely that created man has been provided by the Creator’s breath with real power of decision and so is able actually to oppose YHVH’s commanding will– this mysterious article of faith rises now to awfully practical force.
“The divine demand for human decision is shown here at the height of its seriousness. The power and ability are given to every man at any definite moment really to take his choice, and by this he shares in deciding about the fate of the moment after this, and this sharing of his occurs in a sphere of possibility which cannot be figured either in manner or scale; it is to this personal decision of man with its part in the power of fate-deciding that the prophetic announcement of disaster calls. The alternative standing behind it is now taken up into it; only so can the prophet’s speech touch the innermost soul and also be able to evoke the extreme act: the turning to God.”
* (New York, N.Y, Macmillan, 1949, p. 103-4)