Is prophecy about the future, the present, or the past?
I have a “Word” for you...
Sometime ago, in fact 27 years ago, I went to a prayer meeting here in KC. It was early in the morning. After the prayer meeting a man who attended the meeting, who sincerely felt that he was led to give me a word of prophecy, approached me. He stopped me and said: “Johan, I have a “word” for you. It has been revealed to me that you are going to go back to South Africa and you are going to meet up with 3 men and together God is going to use you in a powerful way.” That was it, and off he went. It is interesting to note that my house was on the market at that time. As I reflect back on that “word” given to me, all I can say is... I am still waiting for those 3 guys.
What is it about us that we are so easily captivated by those who think they know history in advance? Could it be, that as a human race, with all the turmoil around us, we want to feel secure. We want to know what is going to happen to us. This is why fortune-tellers, tarot readers, psychics, mediums, sorcerers and witchdoctors are so popular and have been around for a long time. However, the Bible warns against a neurotic interest in the future and escapist fantasy into the future. In fact, the Bible forbids trafficking with people who make predictions and are into clairvoyance. (Deut. 18:14-15). And yet, in spite of this warning, there are those who persist in wanting to read Revelation primarily through the lens of prediction.
A much overlooked factor in reading revelation is that the letter from John is not addressed to the Christians in North America who live in the 21st century, but to the Christians of the seven churches in Asia. Futuristic interpreters usually assume that Revelation's message will become clearer as the final days approach, and yet there are many scholars who believe just the opposite. They are convinced that Revelation's message would have been clearest to those who lived in John's own time. So, instead of looking for clues by combing recent headlines or news broadcasts, these scholars would rather study the language and literature of the ancient world. What these scholars are saying is that Revelation is not a coded collection of secrets that will finally become intelligible at the end of time, but it was an open book right from the beginning designed to communicate with the Christians who were alive in Rome at the time of John’s writing.
And this is where I believe we will find our best clues into the nature of prophetic literature.
What is it about us that we are so easily captivated by those who think they know history in advance? Could it be, that as a human race, with all the turmoil around us, we want to feel secure. We want to know what is going to happen to us. This is why fortune-tellers, tarot readers, psychics, mediums, sorcerers and witchdoctors are so popular and have been around for a long time. However, the Bible warns against a neurotic interest in the future and escapist fantasy into the future. In fact, the Bible forbids trafficking with people who make predictions and are into clairvoyance. (Deut. 18:14-15). And yet, in spite of this warning, there are those who persist in wanting to read Revelation primarily through the lens of prediction.
A much overlooked factor in reading revelation is that the letter from John is not addressed to the Christians in North America who live in the 21st century, but to the Christians of the seven churches in Asia. Futuristic interpreters usually assume that Revelation's message will become clearer as the final days approach, and yet there are many scholars who believe just the opposite. They are convinced that Revelation's message would have been clearest to those who lived in John's own time. So, instead of looking for clues by combing recent headlines or news broadcasts, these scholars would rather study the language and literature of the ancient world. What these scholars are saying is that Revelation is not a coded collection of secrets that will finally become intelligible at the end of time, but it was an open book right from the beginning designed to communicate with the Christians who were alive in Rome at the time of John’s writing.
And this is where I believe we will find our best clues into the nature of prophetic literature.
So, what shall we make of Prophetic literature?
- A common way to misunderstand prophecy, and especially the prophecy of revelation, is to suppose that it means prediction. But that is not the Biblical use of the word. Prophets are not fortune-tellers. The prophet is the person who declares, “Thus saith the Lord.” right here and now. The prophet says that God is speaking now, not yesterday and not tomorrow.
- We see throughout the OT and NT that prophets speak words of comfort and/or challenge, on behalf of God, to the people of God in their concrete historical situation.
- Some believe that Revelation is like a WWF wrestling match. Before the two wrestlers crawl in the ring, the outcome is already decided. We just have to wait till the end of the match to know who wins. God’s mind is made up. History is already plotted from beginning to end. Prophetic literature, however, is more like the World Series. The outcome is up for grabs. How each person plays makes a difference in the outcome. It really matters what we do.
- Prophetic literature calls for ethical responsibility, holy living, and repentance from sin, and social justice. The outcome of history is not in the hands of a boxed-in God. The future belongs to a God who makes covenants with people and is free to respond to what we do. God is free to come in mercy or judgment. God is free to bring this present evil age to an end now or later. This prophetic style is seen very strongly in the letters written to the churches.
- The prophets were convinced that a covenant making God works in history and through his people to accomplish His purposes. It is important to note that John doesn’t see salvation sweeping in from outside of history. John wants the readers of the seven churches to know that salvation is already present... in history. The true Savior of the world is the slaughtered Lamb whose Kingdom is already unfolding.
- One of the strong characteristics of prophets is that they always try to connect the God of the beginning with the God of the end. That is, they communicate consistently that God cares about his creation and wants to redeem it and not destroy it. We see this very strongly in Revelation. John wants to communicate that God is going to finish what he started. John speaks of a God who makes all things new. Those in the first century were encouraged to follow the Lamb into the new creation and this applies to us as well. Of course, this rules out a God who blows the planet to pieces or rain asteroids down on us.
- Given the presence of false prophets like Jezebel, we can determine the authenticity of a prophet's message if the prophet promotes faithfulness to God or whether it leads people away from God. The preface to Revelation says that John wants people to respond to his prophecy by "keeping" it (Rev. 1:3).
Questions to ponder:
- How do you discern a prophetic word? Is it truly a "word from God" or someone's well intentioned belief?
- If someone was to share with you a predictive prophetic word, how do you think it would affect your life? Would it impact your view of the present and/or the future? Would it be a blessing or a distraction?
Up Next: Where is heaven?
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