Prophecy
A Plain Language Thought from the Window
What It Is
Prophecy is relevant to situations in the past and details for what is the future—a future chronology of events—otherwise it's not prophecy. This is a component of the biblical text. Prophecy is a means of communication and validation and a means for God telling us what comes next. Prophecy ticks like a clock and only strikes a bell for the appropriate hour when and if the time is right.
When to Step Aside
Perhaps one of the most disappointing events we encounter today is the Bible-thumping television personality who harps on the daily news as evidence for prophecy being fulfilled in the present day. There may be occasion when there is truth to this. But more often we are turned off to the Bible, God, and even exploring what IS really in the prophetic literature, simply because the raised voice, the high emotions, and the sense of impending doom that is often projected. But is that prophecy? To be honest, the Bible says to 'test all things' and so maybe it is best to stay away from sensational presentations, especially when they are more noise than substance.
When to Pay Attention
Still, many have found faith in the scriptural text's validity and in the identification of the Messiah because of prophecy. For example, the Book of Daniel contains a time related 'riddle' that when understood shows when in the future [that is from the time when Daniel was writing] Messiah would appear on Earth. You can read about that and related prophetic events tied to the larger scheme of a prophetic time line in a book chapter we offer here.
People long ago read or heard the Daniel scroll text and in following years knew when to expect Messiah. So, on the one hand, the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) says here He comes (with specified timing) and the New Covenant later in time is written to say here He is (He came right on time). This is not the only prophecy set in place to point to Messiah's arrival. In fact there are many prophecies in the earlier text that were fulfilled by Messiah's arrival.
Some Listened When it Counted Most
What is interesting is the New Covenant describes several people who were there, waiting, and who fully expected to see Him ... and did! There is a confirmation of prophecy in this, something quiet, rational, and logical. That tells us the awareness was there in anticipation of the fulfillment of the prophetic items placed in earlier Scripture.
Lu 2:25 "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." (NKJV)
The 'Consolation' referred to above is Messiah. How did this man know to be there in waiting ... we suggest Daniel's writings.
Meeting Conditions
Elsewhere in the Secret Place we refer to how even having a present day Israel meets a condition required to open the door for prophecies to yet be fulfilled.
The conditions must be in place for prophecy to come true. No conditions, no prophecy. When conditions exist, it's possible ... but when? Not by our timing, but by God's. So evangelists may be right that certain prophecies are yet to be fulfilled, but no one by their 'setting dates' and 'saying when' have really gotten it right. You can't 'jump the gun' so to speak. Neither can we fault anyone for their enthusiasm!
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
The simple point is that some prophecies have been fulfilled and this is evidence that prophecy 'works.' And in the world today, many conditions presently do exist to make the next prophetic fulfillment possible ... right now.
The best approach is perhaps to obtain a good study guide and to look at the chronology of events that are projected, by prophecy, for time ahead. The WindowView timeline's last segment covers these future events and we list a resource [see book on Messiah's Footsteps] there for a more detailed study of the 'nuts and bolts' of how prophecy works.
Read the Bible: KJV of Hebrew (Tanach) and Greek (Brit Chadeshah); plus other translations added as available.
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