How many times have you heard someone say: “These are the Last Days?” Or: “The Bible says these things would happen?” I have heard these and similar statements made concerning the condition that the world is in today. How is it that so many people (Saint and Sinner alike) want to refer to Bible Prophecies when trying to explain what’s going on in the world today? Could it be that no other explanation is making any sense?
PROPHECY is a divine gift by which a human being is enabled to speak divinely authoritative words.
PROPHECY An oral, divine message mediated through an individual that is directed at a person or people group and intended to elicit a specific response.
PROPHECY Defined In the Old Testament and ancient Near East, prophecy was one among many forms of divination. Prophecy differs from other forms of divine-human interaction in that a deity speaks directly to the audience.
PROPHECY —or prediction was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture.”
OTHER ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN FORMS OF DIVINATION (e.g., the examination of entrails or the casting of lots) were fundamentally interpretive enterprises undertaken by priests. Although the deity could be described as “speaking” through such forms of divination, the human interpreter neither heard nor proclaimed a direct, oral message.
PROPHECY can also be distinguished from visions or message-dreams, which were primarily visual. Although the role of the prophet is often defined by the act of prophecy, it also involves a variety of actions done on behalf of a deity or in accordance with the deity’s will.
TYPES OF PROPHECY The two major categories of divine message are:
- Prediction – or the foretelling of future events.
- Admonition – This can be either accusatory or exhortatory. These categories often overlap.
PROPHECY AS PREDICTION. – Prophecy is most commonly viewed as prediction or foretelling.
Biblical examples of predictive prophecy are found in many passages of scripture in the Bible. Here are just a few of the many prophecies which appear in Malachi, Matthew, Revelation, and can also be found in many other books of the Bible:
- “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6
Matthew 24: – 1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers’ places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. Revelation 11:1-10
THE BIBLE ALSO CONTAINS EXAMPLES OF PROPHETS PREDICTING
DIVINE SALVATION (Hosea 2:14–23) and MILITARY VICTORY (Judges 4:4–9).
Remember, our ZOOM Podcast airs live on Tuesdays at 7:00am:
Pastor Cotton is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82997714213
Meeting ID: 829 9771 4213
You can always reach me through our website and our email:
Website: https://stjamesmbcphilly.com Email: pastor@stjamesmbcphilly.com
