Prophecy as prediction?
As we read about Matthew’s use of Messianic prophecies this Advent, we may wonder about prophecy and what it’s meant to do. Today’s post reflects on this topic.
Most Christians are taught in our churches to think of prophecy as an arrow that hits its target in the fulfilment. It is thrilling to think that God knew hundreds of years before what would happen, then it came to pass, and we are in the know about it all! While some prophecies are in a predictive mode and God certainly holds the future in His hands and is capable of telling us what it will look like, there are reasons that should make us cautious about equating prophecy with prediction. First, in Deut 18:15-18 Moses tells Israel that God will raise a prophet like him, who will speak everything God has commanded. Prophecy, then, is primarily about challenging people to obey God, not about telling the future. Secondly, in Deut 18:9–14, Moses warns of and forbids witchcraft, sorcery, divination, inquiring of mediums and of the dead. These practices aim at revealing the future and/or manipulating it for human ends without recourse to God and to obedience.
God reveals enough to enable obedience and often these ‘predictions’ are short-term and may be described as giving the consequences or are conditional on human action: if people continue in sin, judgement will follow, if they repent, God will bring blessing (e.g. Isa 1:19-20). Sometimes consequences are presented as unalterable: Jonah tells the Ninevites that in forty days they will be destroyed (Jonah 3:4). However, they repent, and God does not bring judgement. The aim of telling ‘the future’ is often to bring about repentance, so that such a future may not happen!
Hopeful prophecies likewise are given to bring about obedience. For instance, when God’s people are taken into Babylonian exile, Jeremiah sends them a letter and reveals that after seventy[1] years God will bring them back to the Promised Land and will restore their relationship with Him (Jer 29:10-14). Such a revelation is given so that the people may not become utterly discouraged but submit to God’s discipline for the present and look to future restoration. Some of the hopeful prophecies are actually looking into the distant future of ultimate restoration and speak of an anointed one (Messiah), who will rule as a Davidic king. However, these long-range prophecies cast out a vision of hope, but do not give all the details of what such a future will look like. It is mostly a general picture with images and metaphors that aim to lift our spirits and reassure us of the overall direction history is to take.
If we compare this overview with our life experiences, we
may discern a similar pattern. When God reveals some aspect of the future it is
usually so as to enable our obedience and walk with Him. We are given enough
information to take the next step and our specific calling may cast a larger
vision of our future long-term, but without a route map of how it will unfold. God
does not reveal all our future because we live by faith, not by sight.
[1] The first wave of people went into exile in 597 BC, the second in 587 BC. They were allowed to return home in 539 BC. This is less than 70 years, which is likely used here as a figure of speech for a lifetime (Ps 90:10).
