Understanding Bible Prophecy - Study 1

What is Bible Prophecy?

Bible prophecy is a message believed to come from God, often revealing His plans, warnings, or promises for the future.  Most prophecies were given through the prophets in the Old Testament.  However, there are New Testament prophecies given by Jesus and Paul.

The greatest prophecies center around the coming of Jesus and the last days.  Of the Messianic prophecies there are believed to be somewhere between 300 – 450 that point to Jesus.  The reason for such a wide range is that scholars cannot agree on the number.  Some of the disagreements are around:

• Direct vs. indirect prophecies – some prophecies are cryptic and not all agree on their viability.

• What prophecies count as “Messianic” – Messianic prophecies focus on the birth, life, and death of Jesus.  Some prophecies that are not as pronounced as Micah 5:2 which is around His birth and Hosea 11:1, "Out of Egypt I called My son," is one of the disputed passages. In its immediate context, Hosea is referring to Israel's Exodus, yet Matthew later applies the verse to Jesus, leading many scholars to view it as typological fulfillment.  Some prophecies can have two meanings.

• Is the prophecy direct or typology – As in the case of Hosea 11:1 this is called typology.  Typology refers to a person, event, or institution in the Old Testament that foreshadows a greater fulfillment in the future; for example, Adam as a type of Christ or the Passover Lamb.  In the Passover lamb the typology is Jesus as the Lamb of God.

• Does the prophecy have more than one meaning – An example would be Isaiah 53 where Jesus is: rejected by men, suffers for sins, is silent before His accusers, buried with the rich, and dies with the wicked.  Some scholars count Isaiah 53 as a single Messianic prophecy, while others count each individual prediction within the chapter separately, resulting in multiple prophecies from the same passage.

When we try to get a concise number of prophecies in the Bible, we will have a sizeable difference depending on the source you use for counting. 

The bottom line is that the number and specificity of biblical prophecies make accidental fulfillment extraordinarily difficult to explain. It is believed that over 31% of the Bible is prophetic in nature.  The Old Testament contains dozens of named prophets and hundreds of references to prophetic activity. The writing prophets ministered over several centuries, culminating with Malachi around the fifth century B.C., after which no new prophetic books were written until the arrival of John the Baptist. In the New Testament, John the Baptist, Jesus, Agabus, John the Apostle, and several others are identified as prophets or exercised prophetic ministries. Acts also refers to groups of "prophets and teachers" serving in the early church. Together, the prophetic witness of Scripture points to God’s unfolding plan of redemption, culminating in Jesus Christ and His future return.

Why God Uses Prophecy?

From a biblical perspective, God uses prophecy for several important purposes. While many people think prophecy is primarily about predicting the future, the Bible presents it as a means by which God reveals Himself, calls people to respond, and confirms His sovereign control over history. God uses prophecy to:

• Reveal His plans – prophecy allows people to see that history is moving according to God’s plan rather than by chance.

• Call people to repentance – often the goal of prophecy was not merely to foretell judgment but to prevent it through repentance.

• To encourage and give hope – prophecy reminds God’s people that He has not abandoned them.

• To confirm His sovereignty – when prophecies are fulfilled, they testify that God knows and directs future events.

• To strengthen faith – When Jesus predicted His death and resurrection, and those events occurred as foretold, the disciple’s faith was strengthened.

• To prepare His people – prophecy often prepares believers for future events.

At its core, prophecy is not merely about foretelling the future but about revealing the character, purposes, and redemptive plan of God; not prediction, but revelation.

The Difference Between Foretelling and Forth-telling

In biblical studies, foretelling and forth-telling describe two different functions of prophecy.  Foretelling is the predictive aspect of prophecy.  The prophet reveals something that God says will happen in the future. An example would be the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:5-24).  The key question is: What will happen?  Forth-telling is proclaiming God’s truth to people in the present.  It focuses on declaring God’s will, confronting sin, encouraging obedience, and calling people to repentance. An example would be Nathan confronting David over his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12).  The key question is: How should we live now?

Many people assume prophecy is primarily foretelling, but much of the prophetic material in Scripture is actually forth-telling. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and the other prophets spent much of their ministries confronting sin, calling Israel to repentance, and urging faithfulness to God.

Conclusion

As we have seen, Bible prophecy is far more than a collection of predictions about future events. Through prophecy, God reveals His purposes, calls people to repentance, offers hope, and demonstrates His sovereign control over history. Whether through foretelling future events or forth-telling God's truth to a generation in need of correction and encouragement, prophecy serves as a vital means by which God communicates with His people. Yet understanding what prophecy is only raises another important question: How does biblical prophecy actually work? In our next article, we will explore the mechanics of prophecy in Scripture, examining how God delivered prophetic messages, how prophets received and communicated them, and how prophecy can involve both immediate and future fulfillments within God's unfolding plan of redemption.

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, or prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

- 2 Peter 1:20-21 (NKJV)