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Why the Subject of Biblical Prophecy is Important
No Bible
subject holds more practical implications than the
matter of prophecy. (Vance Havner)1
Much of the
Bible is devoted to prediction. Nothing God has yet done
for us can compare with all that is written in the sure
word of prophecy. (A. W. Tozer)2
Is the subject and study of biblical prophecy really that
vital?
Many people today, even some Christians, think that the
study of prophecy is of little or no relevance. Some
further claim there are so many differing views on the
subject that it’s difficult to know what to believe.
Others argue biblical prophecy deals with general or
obscure predictions that could mean anything to anyone.
Thus, rather than consider prophecy of spiritual or
apologetic value (apologetics involves the defense of the
Christian faith), such individuals consider it more of a
nuisance.
But we disagree. Prophecy is vital because prophecy is God
speaking to man in the Bible. Who can logically argue that
what God says is unimportant?
Anyone who seriously begins to study the biblical
prophecies will find that, first, the subject of prophecy
is not something that is rare or occasional to the pages
of Scripture. There are over 600 direct references in the
Bible to "prophecy" and "prophets."3
Significantly, approximately 27% (!) of the entire Bible
contains prophetic material, some of which has already
come true and some which remains to be fulfilled. Only 4
of the 66 books of the Bible are without prophecy – Ruth,
Song of Solomon, Philemon, and 3 John.4 Even
the shortest book of the Bible mentions prophecy (Jude 14,
17-18):
…out of the
OT’s 23,210 verses, 6,641 contain predictive material,
or 28½ percent. Out of the NT’s 7,914 verses, 1,711
contain predictive material, or 21½ percent. So for the
entire Bible’s 31,124 verses, 8,352 contain predictive
material, or 27 percent of the whole.5
Of these,
over 1,800 verses (including 318 in the New Testament)
deal with the Second Coming of Christ.6
Second, the study of prophecy is a serious matter because
God Himself tells us to study it. The Apostle Peter
informs us that we "will do well to pay attention to it"
because biblical prophecy is not the words of men, nor the
interpretations of men, but the words and interpretation
of God Himself:
And we have
the word of the prophets made more certain, and you
will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light
shining in a dark place,… Above all, you must understand
that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the
prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its
origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet.
1:19-21, emphasis added)
The Apostle Paul taught, "All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man
of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2
Tim. 3:16, emphasis added). If all Scripture is
inspired by God and useful, then this must also refer to
all prophecy, for it, too, is Scripture. God
Himself, therefore, teaches that the study of prophecy is
useful for teaching, for training in righteousness and, as
we shall see, for much more.
Jesus and Prophecy
Third, prophecy is important because in Matthew 24, our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself encouraged the study of
prophecy.
On one particular occasion Jesus was asked a question
about the future by his disciples: "Tell us," they said,
"when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your
coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).7
This is a question on future events and the end of the
world if there ever was one.
His answer clearly reveals what Jesus thinks about the
subject of prophecy.
Did Jesus inform His disciples the issue was irrelevant?
Did He say the subject dealt with predictions so obscure
that they were useless? Did He report that there were so
many commentators who disagreed over the issue that a
discussion of it was futile? No. Instead, He answered
their question directly and in detail, supplying a great
deal of information about future events – including those
that would immediately precede His personal physical
return to the earth from heaven (see Matthew 24).8
To realize the importance Jesus placed on prophecy, one
only need read some of His statements in Mark 13:
Watch out
that no one deceives you…. The end is still to come….
You must be on your guard…. So be on your guard; I
have told you everything ahead of time…. When you
see these things happening, you know that it [my
return] is near, right at the door…. Be on guard! Be
alert!… Therefore keep watch…. What I say to you, I
say to everyone: Watch!" (Mk. 13:5, 7, 9, 23, 29,
33, 35, 37, emphasis added).9
In fact, Jesus never chided His disciples for seeking to
be informed on prophecy, but He did scold them for
ignoring it: "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" (Lk.
24:25).10
Jesus taught that Old Testament predictions concerning
Himself were of crucial importance.11
He said, "This is what I told you while I was still with
you: "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about
me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" (Lk.
24:44, cf. v. 27; Matt. 5:17; Jn. 5:39).
Here and elsewhere, Jesus taught that the entire Hebrew
Bible was about Him – that 39 separate books written by 30
different authors over a period of 1,100 years (from 1,500
B.C. to 400 B.C.) predicted the events of His life in
particular detail.
This is why Christian scholars have recognized that the
entire Bible is Christological: "Jesus Christ remains the
heart of prophecy."12
In a fascinating study, Christ: The Theme of the Bible,
Dr. Norman Geisler concludes that Christ is everywhere
present in all 66 books of the Bible, even though 39 were
written before He lived.
Christ fulfills literally dozens of Old Testament types,
pre-figures, and prophecies, from the Priesthoods and
Tabernacle to Levitical feasts and offerings, from
Messianic principles and pictures, even to the complex
structural architecture of the Bible itself.13
Throughout its pages, "Christ is seen as the implicit or
underlying theme of all of Scripture."14
Indeed, in every book of the Bible Christ is seen.15
For example, in another book Dr. Geisler summarizes his
discussion showing how Christ is seen in each of the 66
books of the Bible:
As we have
just seen, Christ is the theme of both Testaments of the
Bible as well as each of the eight sections of
Scripture. In addition to this, Christocentric themes
are found in each one of the 66 books of the Bible. As a
sample, Christ is the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15); He
is the Passover Lamb (Exod. 12:3f.), the Atoning
Sacrifice (Lev. 17:11), the Smitten Rock (Num. 20:8,
11), and the Faithful Prophet (Deut. 18:18). Christ is
the Captain of the Lord’s Host (Josh. 5:15), the Divine
Deliverer (Judg. 2:18), and the Kinsman Redeemer (Ruth
3:12). Christ is anticipated as the Anointed One (1 Sam.
2:10) and as the Son of David (11 Sam. 7:14). In I and
II Kings Christ may be viewed as the coming King and in
I and II Chronicles as the Builder of the Temple (1
Chron. 28:20). Ezra represents Christ as the Restorer of
the Temple (Ezra 6:14, 15), Nehemiah shows Him as the
Restorer of the Nation (Neh. 6:15), and Esther portrays
Him as the Preserver of the Nation (Esther 4:14). Christ
is also seen as the Living Redeemer (Job 19:25), as the
Praise of Israel (Ps. 150:6), the Wisdom of God (Prov.
8:22, 23), The Great Teacher (Eccles. 12:11), and the
Fairest of Ten Thousand (Song of Sol. 5:10). Christ is
the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:11), the Maker of the New
Covenant (Jer. 31:31), the Man of Sorrows (Lam.
3:28-30), the Glory of God (Ezek. 43:2), and the coming
Messiah (Dan. 9:25). He is also depicted as the Lover of
the Unfaithful (Hos. 3:1), the Hope of Israel (Joel
3:16), the Husbandman (Amos 9:13), the Savior (Obad.
21), the Resurrected One (Jon. 2:10), the Ruler in
Israel (Mic. 5:2), the Avenger (Nah. 2:1), the Holy God
(Hab. 1:13), the King of Israel (Zeph. 3:15), the Desire
of Nations (Hag. 2:7), the Righteous Branch (Zech. 3:8),
and the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2).
In the New
Testament Christ is presented as the King of the Jews
(Matt. 2:2), the Servant of the Lord (Mark 10:45), the
Son of Man (Luke 19:10) and the Son of God (John 1:1).
Christ is the Ascended Lord (Acts 1:10), the believer’s
Righteousness (Rom. 1:17), Sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30),
Sufficiency (II Cor. 12:9) and Liberty (Gal. 2:4). He is
revealed as the Exalted Head of the church (Eph. 1:22),
the Christian’s Joy (Phil. 1:26) and the Fullness of
Deity (Col. 2:9). In the Thessalonian epistles Christ is
the believer’s Comfort (I Thess. 4:16, 17) and Glory (II
Thess. 1:12). He is seen as the Christian’s Preserver (I
Tim. 4:10), Rewarder (II Tim. 4:8), Blessed Hope (Titus
2:13), and Substitute (Philem. 17). He is also High
Priest (Heb. 4:15), the Giver of Wisdom (James 1:5), the
Rock (I Peter 2:6), and Precious Promise (II Peter 1:4).
John represents Christ as the Life (I John), the Truth
(II John), and the Way (III John); Jude portrays Christ
as the Advocate and Revelation shows Him as King of
Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16). It is literally
true that the Bible is all about Christ!16
No Christian maintains that Messianic prophecy concerning
Jesus is unimportant. It cuts to the core of who He is and
why He came. But we must also remember that Messianic
prophecy is equally concerned with Christ’s Second Advent
and the events surrounding it as much as it is with His
First Advent. The Bible verses speaking of events in the
last days (eschatology) are important for all.
The fourth reason prophecy is important is seen in its
great evidential or apologetic value in confirming the
divine inspiration of the Bible. There are many convincing
reasons for believing that the Bible is God’s Word to us
(see John 17:17). We have given some of these in our
books, Ready with an Answer and The Case for
Jesus the Messiah: Incredible Prophecies That Prove God
Exists.17
Prophecy is perhaps the single most credible proof that
the Bible really is God’s Word to mankind. Many religious
scriptures claim to be a revelation from God, but only the
Bible offers definite proof in detailed, predictive
prophecy. Prophecy proves that the Bible is divinely
inspired because only God could predict the future in such
specific detail again and again, century after century.
Again, there are only four books in the Bible that do not
contain some prophecy.
Few people appreciate the magnitude of the fact that 27%
of the Bible was prophetic when first written. If the
Bible is not God’s Word, this provides an astoundingly
large margin for error. 27% of the Bible is 8,352 verses,
and all it takes is one false prophecy to discredit
the claim that the Bible is God’s inerrant Word to us.
Notes
1 John
Blanchard, compiler, More Gathered Gold
(Hertfordshire, England: Evangelical Press, 1986), p.
254.
2 Ibid., p.
255.
3 Augustus H.
Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
4 J. Barton
Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy: The
Complete Guide to Scriptural Predictions and Their
Fulfillment (NY: Harper & Row, 1973), p. 681.
5 Ibid., p.
13.
6 John Wesley
White, Re-Entry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
1971), p. 14; cf. Payne, p. 680.
7 Jesus had
just finished His own startling prediction that Herod’s
magnificent temple would be completely destroyed. It was
unthinkable that this should ever happen, but Jesus
foretold its destruction to the unpredictable extent
that "not one stone here will be left on another." This
prophecy was literally fulfilled in 70 A.D. during
Titus’ overthrow of Jerusalem in a most unusual manner.
The heat of the flames of war melted the temple gold so
that it ran between the stone crevices, forcing the
Romans to tear every stone apart to recover the precious
metal:
"The
temple itself – though Titus actually tried to preserve
it against being destroyed – was nevertheless put to
fire. Its vast treasures were plundered, and as much as
possible of the gold sheeting which covered the walls
and doors and columns was removed by the soldiers.
However, the heat of the fire was so intense that much
of the gold was melted and ran between the stones of the
building, which had been laid without mortar. For the
next twenty-five years or more, men continued to pry
these stones apart, one by one, to obtain the gold which
they knew had run between them. And thus it came about
the Lord’s words were exactly fulfilled: ‘There shall
not be left here one stone upon another.’ (Matt. 24:2)."
(Arthur Custance, "Some Striking Fulfillment of
Prophecy" in Hidden Things of God’s Revelation
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1977), p. 135.)
8 cf. John
Ankerberg, et. al., One World: Bible Prophecy and the
New World Order (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1991).
9 Some
skeptics may assume that Jesus was only a man and so His
words were devoid of divine authority. But Jesus Himself
repeatedly emphasized that "whatever I say is just what
the Father [God] has told me to say" (John 12:50).
Further, Jesus proved His claim to deity (John 1:1, 14;
5:17-18, 21-23; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9) by resurrecting
Himself from the dead, something accomplished by no
other man in human history (see Jn. 2:19-22). (John
Ankerberg, John Weldon, Do The Resurrection Accounts
Conflict And What Proof Is There That Jesus Christ Rose
From The Dead? (Chattanooga, TN: Ankerberg
Theological Research Institute, 1990).)
Christ
even commanded believers to understand and to keep the
words of prophecy. These commands were given or implied
not once, but several times in the New Testament. For
example, in Matthew 24 Jesus speaks of the "abomination
of desolation which was spoken of through the prophet
Daniel," and he specifically instructs – "Let the reader
understand" – clearly indicating his desire to "let the
reader understand" the prophecy of Daniel concerning the
last days and its significance to them personally.
Jesus
prophesied of the end time, "For then there will be
great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the
world until now – and never to be equaled again. If
those days had not been cut short, no one would survive,
but for the sake of the elect those days will be
shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22). Can any believer
logically maintain that being informed about those days
is insignificant, especially if they may be approaching
(see v. 20)?
10 The only
time Jesus didn’t answer questions on eschatology
concerned a very specific setting of dates (Acts 1:7;
Matt. 24:36; see v. 42-44).
11 See Norman
Geisler, Christ: The Theme of the Bible (Chicago,
IL: Moody Press, 1969).
12 Payne, p.
7.
13 Geisler,
Christ: The Theme of the Bible, pp. 31-87.
14 Ibid., p.
88.
15 Ibid., pp.
88-110.
16 Norman
Geisler, A Popular Survey of The Old Testament
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1978), pp. 24-25.
17 A. J.
Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (NY: MacMillian,
1976). Even the archaeological accuracy of the
Scriptures is difficult to explain if the Bible was only
written by erring men. For example, "over 25,000 sites
from the biblical world have been confirmed" by modern
archaeological discoveries. (Geisler, Christ: The
Theme of the Bible, p. 29n.) As the famous
archaeologist Nelson Glueck once observed, "As a matter
of fact... it may be stated categorically that no
archaeological discovery has ever controverted a
Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological discoveries
have been made which confirm in clear outline or in
exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by
the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical
descriptions has often lead to amazing discoveries. They
form tesserae [i.e., tessellate] in the vast mosaic of
the Bible’s almost incredibly correct historical
memory." (Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert
(New York: Farrar, Strauss & Cudahy, 1959), p. 31.)
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