03 C. What is Prophecy?

What Is Prophecy?

Revelation 1:3:  “The words of this prophecy.”

             This phrase establishes that the book is a prophecy.  In order to understand the book as a prophecy, we must know the meaning of the word.  Some of the relevant questions are: “Is prophecy foretelling or forth-telling?”  “How was a true prophet recognized?”  “If a prophecy has been literally fulfilled, does it still have relevance to our times?”

            There can be no doubt that prophecy, in the Biblical sense, is foretelling.  Regardless of the unbelieving critics who say that Biblical history was written after the event, under the pretense that the events had been predicted, the Bible text makes it clear that true prophets did foretell.

            In the beginning God Himself foretold future events.  He told Adam, “In the day that ye eat thereof, ye shall surely die.”  He foretold to Cain that if he did well, he should be acceptable, but if not then the beast (sin) lying at his door should devour him.  He foretold to Noah that the flood would come.  He foretold to Abraham that Israel would go down into Egypt for four hundred years and that afterward He would give them the land of Canaan.  He foretold also to Isaac and Jacob that they should possess the land of Israel.  He foretold to Moses that He would deliver the people from Egyptian bondage.  Indeed, the ability to foretell events is one thing that distinguishes the true God from idols according to Isaiah 41:21-29.

            However, with Moses at Sinai, a new era began in prophecy.  Here God spoke to the whole congregation of Israel.  The event inspired such fear that the people requested of Moses that he receive the oracles of God and transmit them indirectly to them rather than endure again the awesome presence and voice of God: “Let not God speak with us lest we die.”  From that time forward to the time of Christ, God spoke to the people through prophets.  (Exod. 19:9; 20:19; 24:2; 33:11; 34:3, 29-35.)

            But prophecy is not merely foretelling.  Moses, as a prophet, foretold future events.  He foretold that they should inherit the Promised Land but that they should in time go after other gods and be taken into captivity.  (Deut. 27-30 and 32:33.)  Every prophet from that time forward foretold events which were yet future in his time.  But the aspect of foretelling is a mere adjunct of the essence of prophecy.  Biblical prophecy is primarily forth-telling – declaring or speaking forth the Word of God.  Its purpose is to be God’s voice, and to make God’s will and nature known to the congregation.  The prophet foretells on the basis of cause and effect: God has spoken, therefore it must be.  God’s Word is the creative cause and is certain to produce an effect.  God cannot speak in vain.

            Foretelling is merely a means of forth-telling.  Soothsayers, diviners, astrologers and other idolaters saw man as fated by the gods and their future as pre-determined, but true prophecy is based upon the creative force of God’s Word, His authority, infallibility, holiness and power to perform.  False prophets attempt to know the future in order to work out their own salvation; God’s people wish to know His will in order to conform to His eternal plan.

            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.[1]

            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.

            Smith and Bridwell[2], as many others, do not understand the Biblical definition of prophecy.  Therefore, they mistakenly assume that the entire book was a “prediction of the future” when it is actually a prophecy.  A prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ according to Revelation 19:10.  Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, there is an element of prediction in the testimony of Jesus Christ, but the primary purpose and meaning of ‘prophecy’ is not prediction, but rather testimony.

            The predictive element of Biblical prophecy was not to foretell events just for the sake of demonstrating a supernatural power, as a fortune-teller would do, but rather to demonstrate that the word of God is eternally relevant.  The events that were foretold were significant in demonstrating God’s eternal power and purposes.  For example, when the prophets foretold the birth of Christ, the prophecies were based upon the Word of God, which had been spoken to Eve in the garden promising a deliverer, and the event foretold was eternally significant.

            Prediction is a forecast of future events based upon observations of trends, movement of various forces and judgment of how these forces will interact with each other.  When the observer has good access to all the relevant information and is well trained to interpret these facts, his predictions may be highly reliable and accurate, as, for example, a good weatherman.

            Good predictions are based upon knowledge as well as understanding of how to interpret that knowledge.  Prophecy, however, is based upon wisdom, which requires an understanding of the basic spiritual laws that pertain.  While weather may be predicted based upon knowledge of the physical forces that are interacting, human events can only be predicted based upon the spiritual forces at work.  Discernment of these spiritual forces comes only through revelation.

            True prophecy is a declaration of spiritual forces and conditions.  Just as there is cause and effect in the physical world, so also is there in the spiritual dimension.  Therefore, true prophecy can predict the future effects of present spiritual forces and conditions.

            How was a true prophet to be recognized?  We find that there were certain guidelines and tests that were laid out in order to distinguish false prophets from true ones. The false prophets were to be put to death, (Deut. 13:5). Consider the case of Jesus.  The Jews’ accusation against Christ was that He had prophesied falsely concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and so should be put to death.  It was necessary then that Christ undergo the tests of a true prophet and be proven.  The destruction of Jerusalem about forty years later, within the lifetime of His generation, was proof of Christ’s calling as a true prophet.  In a sense, therefore, the destruction of Jerusalem was a revelation of Christ – that He was indeed a true prophet.

            The accepted proofs of prophetic anointing in those days were three:  (l) According to Deuteronomy 18:18-22 and Jeremiah 28:9, the true prophet would be known when his words should come to pass.  (2) According to Jeremiah 23:22, the true prophet would turn the people from their evil ways and, conversely, Deuteronomy 13 shows that the true prophet will not turn the people to other gods.

            These proofs of a prophet served the nation well and distinguished true prophets from false.  Old Testament prophets submitted to these tests.  (See Ezekiel 2:5; Jeremiah 26:8-24, and others.)  However, the time came when false prophecies were said to be for an indefinite distant time and therefore was not to be judged by the present generation.[3]  This brought about the sad state of degenerate prophecy witnessed in the book of Amos.  Amos was ashamed to be called a prophet and said he was only a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit, but even so, when the Lord said: “Go, prophesy,” he went, for “The lion hath roared, who will not fear?  the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8)

            (3) In Ezekiel‘s day, false prophecy was such a problem that the Lord made another rule:  The prophet should be proven in his own generation:

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, the Days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?

Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel: but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.  For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.  For I am the Lord:  I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.  Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.  (Ezek. 12:21-28.)

             Christ was willing to submit to these tests of a true prophet for He declared that all these things should be fulfilled “in this generation.”  (Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30.)  These things” of which He spoke were the destruction and judgments of the wrath of God upon Jerusalem and Judea.  If “these things” had not happened in that generation, Christ would have been proven a false prophet.  But they did happen.  Therefore Christ was revealed as a true prophet, and therefore the Son of God, and the promised Messiah.

            We find in Revelation 1:1 that the prophecy is given “to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.”  Are we to believe that after almost two thousand years this “shortly” has never yet happened?  If these things had not transpired “shortly,” the writing would never have been preserved and passed on as a true prophecy because of the rule that a prophet must be proven in his generation.

            Does this mean that, if the prophecy was fulfilled in that generation that it has no further relevance?  Not at all; rather, the fact that it was fulfilled as predicted upon the Jewish nation of the flesh gives more proof that it shall be fulfilled also upon the whole world as predicted.  The pattern was set by Jesus and carried through by Paul that the gospel was “to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile,” (Matt. 10:6; 15:24; 28:18-20; Romans 1:16), and that God’s righteous judgments were also “to the Jew first, and also the Gentile.” (Matt. 23; John 9:39-41; Acts 28: 23-28; Romans 2:6-11.)  God is not partial in judgment but made the sovereign choice to reveal Himself to the fleshly seed of Abraham first in order to set the pattern and example of His dealing with mankind.  When the gospel has gone forth to the whole world as a witness, then the predicted end will also come upon the whole world according to the pattern and example set in the judgment and destruction of the Jewish nation; the righteous were saved in Christ and the wicked and unbelieving were destroyed and dispersed.

            We should realize therefore that true prophecy is eternally relevant for it witnesses to the faithfulness of God to fulfill His promises both for blessing and for judgment.  It is the faithfulness of God that lies behind the true prophets’ confidence that the things he foretells are certain to come to pass.  This removes prophecy from the realm of soothsaying as far as east is from west.

            Predictive prophecy foretells a then future historical fulfillment of an event based upon an eternally relevant principle.  Therefore, although a prophecy has been literally fulfilled, it remains relevant to every age, for the same principle still applies and the same essential judgment will transpire again and again – blessing and deliverance for the righteous, cursing and destruction for the wicked – to the Jew first, because they had the full revelation of God first, then to the Gentile when they, too, will have had the full Gospel.[4]  But, although the principle may apply again and again, both to nations and to individuals, there will also be a final judgment that will come upon the entire world according to the same pattern.

            Prophecy is the immutable truth of eternity applied to the fleeting moment of history.  It is the common denominator between time and eternity.  It is the voice of God that spoke in times past by the prophets now mediated through Christ.

            Prophecy is a kind of seeing, capable of greater distance and depth than natural vision.  It is seeing another dimension, the spiritual.  The faculty necessary for this kind of seeing is faith.  Prophecy sees the unseen by faith.  It might be compared to the fact that one can see his natural surroundings in the daylight, but can see the much more distant stars only at night.  We do not doubt that the stars are still there even though the light of day hides them from our vision.  Likewise, we do not doubt that the sun is there even in the nighttime, although we cannot then see it.  Even so, by faith we know that the realities of the Spirit are there.


[1] Buber, Martin in The Prophetic Faith, (New York, N.Y, Macmillan, 1949, 103-4), 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 not 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.”

[2] F. G. Smith, The Revelation Explained: An Exposition, Text by Text, of the Apocalypse of St. John, Fourth Edition, , (Guthrie, OK 73044, Faith Publishing House, 1973).  A. Q. Bridwell, Unraveling Revelation, paperback edition, (Guthrie, OK, 73044, Faith Publishing House.  No date given.)

[3] Daniel‘s prophecy was sealed up and reserved for a time in the future, (8: 17, 26; 12:4, 9, 13) but it was not an indefinite time.  Daniel gave an exact time that could be calculated precisely, (9:24-27; 12:11-12.)  Also, Daniel had already been proven a true prophet by his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar‘s dream and Belshazzar’s “handwriting on the wall”, (4:19-33).

[4] The Gospel was fully preached to every “nation” of the Jews before AD 70, (Rom. 10:18-21; Colossians 1:6, 23; 1 Thess. 1:8.)  The pattern was followed upon the Jews: the Gospel must first be preached, and then the end will come.  This is proof that the same pattern will come upon the entire world: the Gospel will first be preached, and then the end will come.

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