By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #51 ~
All kinds of people try to predict the future, and they may guess right some of the time, but most of the time they are wrong. But God predicts the future and He is right all the time. Our primary subject on this blog site is Bible prophecy. But what is prophecy? In a general way it is defined as the speaking forth of God’s truth. It is also used to speak of the entire inspired word of God. More specifically, it is defined as God predicting the future, which is the way I’ve been using it in this blog site and will use it today.
As Christians we understand fulfilled prophecy as that which was predicted in God’s word and has already come true. For example, Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and about 700 years later He was (Micah 5:2). Jesus Himself predicted He’d be killed and raised up, and that came true a short time later (Luke 9:22). Then there’s unfulfilled prophecy, predictions which will be fulfilled in the future. My main objective is to explain to you and get you excited about unfulfilled prophecy. Today I want to share some verses to give you a better understanding of prophecy.
2 Peter 1:21 – “No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” Prophecy is from God – it is definitely not from man. It was God speaking to men through the Holy Spirit who then proclaimed it to the people. Many prophets began by saying, “The word of the Lord,” for they wanted their listeners to know it wasn’t what they were saying, but it was God Himself who was speaking to them and through them (Jeremiah 1:11, Ezekiel 28:1, Jonah 1:1, Micah 1:1).
2 Peter 1:19 – “Until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart.” Prophecy predicts events that will take place in the future. This word “until” is a timing word telling us that “the day dawns” in the future. This prophecy was given at a particular time, and at a later time it will come true. Specifically, it is predicting that Christ will return in glory to rapture the believers, and then set up His kingdom on earth.
2 Peter 1:19 – “We have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” Prophecy is given by God to man, and we need to listen to what He’s telling us, and be looking forward to its fulfillment. It’s 2018, about 2000 years after Christ’s 1st coming, and many prophecies have already been fulfilled, but since we’re living in the end times then we know it won’t be long before His 2nd coming. It is those who pay attention to God’s prophetic word who will literally see His word being fulfilled in the world around us. Might we be like the “men who understood the times.” 1 Chronicles 12:32
Luke 24:44 – “All things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” As we now know, some prophecies about Jesus came true at His 1st coming which means the rest will be fulfilled at His 2nd coming. And there’s not one single prophecy about Jesus which will remain unfulfilled. “All things… must be fulfilled.” It’s imperative and important to take heed and pay attention to God’s prophetic word, and especially what it says about the return of Christ.
Isaiah 46:9-11 – “I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure… Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.’” God purposed what He was going to do, God planned what He was going to do, and He predicted many of the things He was going to do. Our loving, holy, powerful, omniscient, wise and sovereign God knew exactly what He was going to do. Long before God made this world, He had determined His eternal purposes and made plans to fulfill them. And all that God planned to do, He has either already done, or will be doing in the future. I encourage you to seek the Lord and study His word, and find out what He wants you to know about the future. Revelation 22:7, 10, 12
Mark 13:23 – “But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.” Prophecy contains critically needed information about the end times. In a great number of prophetic passages, Jesus tells us every future end time event and detail that He wants us to know, as well as specific instructions as to how we are to live. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, 2 Thessalonians 1-2 and Revelation.
Revelation 1:3 – “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.” Do you see that you will be blessed as you read and believe the words of prophecy, and then live by what is written in it? What a great privilege and opportunity it is to be alive at this time in history. “Amen. Come Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20
P.S. Here is an informative and encouraging article that goes along with this post: A Summary of the Work of God, from the Time of Abraham to Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.