Revelation 1:3. “The
words of this prophecy.”
This
phrase establishes that the Book of Revelation is a prophecy. In order to understand the Book as a prophecy, we must know the meaning of the
word. Some of the relevant questions are: “Is prophecy foretelling or
forth-telling?” “How was a true prophet recognized?” “If a prophecy has been
literally fulfilled, does it still have relevance to our times?”
There
can be no doubt that prophecy, in the Biblical sense, is
foretelling. Regardless of the unbelieving critics who say that Biblical
history was written after the event, under the pretense that the events had
been predicted, the Bible text makes it
clear that true prophets did foretell.
In the
beginning God Himself foretold future events. He told Adam, “In the day that ye eat thereof, ye shall
surely die.” He foretold to Cain that if he did
well, he should be acceptable, but if not then the beast (sin) lying at his
door should devour him. He foretold to Noah that the flood would come. He
foretold to Abraham that Israel would
go down into Egypt for four hundred
years and that afterward He would give them the land of Canaan. He foretold
also to Isaac and Jacob that they should
possess the land of Israel. He foretold to Moses that He would
deliver the people from Egyptian bondage. Indeed, the ability to foretell
events is one thing that distinguishes the true God from idols according to
Isaiah 41:21-29.
However,
with Moses at Sinai, a new era began in prophecy. Here God spoke to the
whole congregation of Israel. The event inspired such fear that the people
requested of Moses that he receive the oracles of God and transmit them
indirectly to them rather than endure again the awesome presence and voice of
God: “Let not God speak with us lest we
die.” From that time forward to the time of Christ, God spoke to the people through prophets, (Exodus 19:9;
20:19; 24:2; 33:11; 34:3, 29-35).
But
prophecy is not merely foretelling. Moses, as a prophet, foretold future events. He foretold that
they should inherit the Promised Land but that they should in time go after
other gods and be taken into captivity, (Deuteronomy 27-30 and 32). Every prophet
from that time forward foretold events which were yet future in his time. But
the aspect of foretelling is a mere adjunct of the essence of prophecy.
Biblical prophecy is
primarily forth-telling – declaring or speaking forth the Word of God.
Its purpose is to be God’s voice, and to make God’s will and nature known to the
congregation. The prophet foretells on the basis of cause and effect:
God has spoken, therefore it must be. God’s Word is the creative
cause and is certain to produce an effect. God cannot speak in vain.
Foretelling
is merely a means of forth-telling. Soothsayers, diviners, astrologers and
other idolaters saw man as fated by the gods and their future as
pre-determined, but true prophecy is based upon the creative force of God’s
Word, His authority, infallibility, holiness and power to perform. False prophets attempt to know the future in order to work out their
own salvation; God’s people wish to know His will in order to conform to His
eternal plan.
Prophecy is God’s means of
forewarning people of the dangers of wrong decisions so that they might turn
from their sins. The prophet’s message is always: “Turn ye! Turn ye! Why will ye die?” and “Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand!” Thus in true
prophecy, the choice of good and evil is set before the people, rather than a
fatal decree. Typically, there is one predicted fate for sinners and another
for the righteous. The individual chooses into which category he shall fall.[1]
The choice must answer the question:
“What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?”
The
determining factor is faith in the Word of God and His holiness. For example,
the Jews of the time of Christ failed to
recognize this principle and so depended upon a fleshly lineage instead of
repentance and righteousness by faith. Christianity, in the true prophetic tradition, declared that
according to God’s Word sinners were destined to receive the cursings while the
righteous were destined to receive the blessings, regardless of fleshly
lineage. The individual was not predestined; he had the power of choice. The categories
of sin and righteousness, however, were predestined for evil or for
good. To trust in the flesh was to be lost; to trust in Christ was to be saved.
Many commentators do not understand the Biblical definition of
prophecy. Therefore, they mistakenly assume that the entire Book was a “prediction
of the future” when it is actually a prophecy. A true prophecy is the testimony
of Jesus Christ according to
Revelation 19:10. Since
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, there is an element
of prediction in the testimony of Jesus Christ, but the primary purpose and
meaning of “prophecy” is not prediction, but rather testimony. The
predictive element of Biblical prophecy was not
to foretell events just for the sake of demonstrating a supernatural power, as
a fortune-teller would do, but rather to demonstrate that the word of God is
eternally relevant. The events that were foretold were significant in
demonstrating God’s eternal power and purposes. For example, when the prophets
foretold the birth of Christ, the prophecies were based upon the Word of God, which
had been spoken to Eve in the garden promising a deliverer, and the event
foretold was eternally significant.
Prediction
is a forecast of future events based upon observations of trends, movement of
various forces and judgment of how these forces will interact with each other.
When the observer has good access to all the relevant information and is well
trained to interpret these facts, his predictions may be highly reliable and
accurate, as, for example, a good weatherman.
Good
predictions are based upon knowledge as well as understanding of how to
interpret that knowledge. Prophecy, however, is based upon wisdom, which requires an
understanding of the basic spiritual laws that pertain. While weather may be
predicted based upon knowledge of the physical forces that are interacting, human
events can only be predicted based upon the spiritual forces at work.
Discernment of these spiritual forces comes only through revelation.
However,
true prophecy is a declaration of spiritual forces and conditions. Just
as there is cause and effect in the physical world, so also is there in the
spiritual dimension. Therefore, true prophecy can predict the future
effects of present spiritual forces and conditions.
How was
a true prophet to be recognized? We find that there were certain guidelines and
tests that were laid out in order to distinguish false prophets from true ones.
The false prophets were to be put to death, (Deuteronomy 13:5). Consider the case of
Jesus. The Jews’ accusation against Christ was that He had
prophesied falsely concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and so should be put to death. It was necessary then
that Christ undergo the tests of a true prophet and be proven. The destruction
of Jerusalem about forty years later, within the lifetime of His generation,
was proof of Christ’s calling as a true prophet. In a sense, therefore, the
destruction of Jerusalem was a revelation of Christ – that He was indeed
a true prophet.
The
accepted proofs of prophetic anointing in those days were three: (l) According
to Deuteronomy 18:18-22 and
Jeremiah 28:9, the true
prophet would be known when his words should come to pass. (2) According to
Jeremiah 23:22, the true prophet would turn the people from their evil ways
and, conversely, Deuteronomy 13 shows that the true prophet will not
turn the people to other gods.
These
proofs of a prophet served the nation well and distinguished true prophets from
false. Old Testament prophets submitted to these tests. (See Ezekiel. 2:5; Jeremiah. 26:8-24, and
others.) However, the time came when
false prophecies were said to be for an indefinite distant time and therefore
was not to be judged by the present generation.[3]
This brought about the sad state of degenerate prophecy witnessed in the Book of
Amos. Amos was ashamed to be called a prophet and said he
was only a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit, but even so, when the Lord
said: “Go, prophesy,” he went, for “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The
Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8).
(3) In Ezekiel’s day, false prophecy was such a problem that the Lord
made another rule: The prophet should be proven in his own generation:
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of
man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, the Days
are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
Tell them
therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they
shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel: but say unto them, The days are at
hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain
vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the
Lord: I will speak, and the word that I
shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in
your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it,
saith the Lord God.
Again
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house
of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he
prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but
the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God, (Ezekiel 12:21-28).
Christ was willing to submit to these tests of a true
prophet for He declared that all these things should be fulfilled “in this generation,” (Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30). “These
things” of which He spoke were the destruction and judgments of the wrath
of God upon Jerusalem and Judea. If “these things” had not happened in that generation, Christ would
have been proven a false prophet. But they did happen. Therefore Christ was
revealed as a true prophet, and therefore the Son of God, and the promised
Messiah.
We find
in Revelation 1:1 that the
prophecy is given “to shew unto His
servants things which must shortly come to pass.” Are we to believe
that after almost two thousand years this “shortly”
has never yet happened? If these things had not transpired “shortly,” the writing would never have
been preserved and passed on as a true prophecy because of the rule that a
prophet must be proven in his generation.
Does
this mean that, if the prophecy was fulfilled in that generation that it has no
further relevance? Not at all; rather, the fact that it was fulfilled as
predicted upon the Jewish nation of the
flesh gives more proof that it shall be fulfilled also upon the whole
world as predicted. The pattern was set by Jesus and carried
through by Paul that the gospel
was “to the Jew first, and also to the
Gentile,” (Matthew 10:6; 15:24; 28:18-20; Romans 1:16), and that
God’s righteous judgments were also “to
the Jew first, and also the Gentile.” (Matthew 23; John 9:39-41; Acts 28:
23-28; Romans 2:6-11.) God is not partial in judgment but made the sovereign
choice to reveal Himself to the fleshly seed of Abraham first in order to
set the pattern and example of His dealing with mankind. When the gospel has
gone forth to the whole world as a witness, then the predicted end will also
come upon the whole world according to the pattern and example set in the
judgment and destruction of the Jewish nation; the righteous were saved in
Christ and the wicked
and unbelieving were destroyed and dispersed.
We
should realize therefore that true prophecy is eternally relevant for it
witnesses to the faithfulness of God to fulfill His promises both for blessing
and for judgment. It is the faithfulness of God that lies behind the true
prophets’ confidence that the things he foretells are certain to come to pass.
This removes prophecy from the realm of soothsaying as far as east is from
west.
Predictive
prophecy foretells a then future historical fulfillment of an event based upon
an eternally relevant principle. Therefore, although a prophecy has been
literally fulfilled, it remains relevant to every age, for the same principle
still applies and the same essential judgment will transpire again and again –
blessing and deliverance for the righteous, cursing and destruction for the
wicked – to the Jew first, because
they had the full revelation of God first, then to the Gentile when they, too,
will have had the full Gospel.[4]
But, although the principle may apply again and again, both to nations
and to individuals, there will also be a final judgment that will come
upon the entire world according to the same pattern.
Prophecy is the immutable
truth of eternity applied to the fleeting moment of history. It is the common
denominator between time and eternity. It is the voice of God that spoke in
times past by the prophets now mediated through Christ.
Prophecy is a kind of seeing, capable of greater
distance and depth than natural vision. It is seeing another dimension, the
spiritual. The faculty necessary for this kind of seeing is faith. Prophecy
sees the unseen by faith. It might be compared to the fact that one can see his
natural surroundings in the daylight, but can see the much more distant stars
only at night. We do not doubt that the stars are still there even though the
light of day hides them from our vision. Likewise, we do not doubt that the sun
is there even in the nighttime, although we cannot then see it. Even so, by
faith we know that the realities of the Spirit are there.
[1] Buber, Martin in The
Prophetic Faith, (New York, N.Y, Macmillan,
1949, 103-4), says: “The true prophet does not announce an immutable decree. He
speaks into the power of decision lying in the moment, and in such a way that
his message of disaster just touches this power. The unformulated primal
theological principle of the Garden of Eden story about the divine-human relationship,
namely that created man has been provided by the Creator's breath with real
power of decision and so is able actually to oppose YHVH's commanding will– this
mysterious article of faith rises now to awfully practical force. The divine
demand for human decision is shown here at the height of its seriousness. The
power and ability are given to every man at any definite moment really to take
his choice, and by this he shares in deciding about the fate of the moment
after this, and this sharing of his occurs in a sphere of possibility which
cannot be figured either in manner or scale; it is to this personal decision of
man with its part in the power of fate-deciding that the prophetic announcement
of disaster calls. The alternative standing behind it is not taken up into it;
only so can the prophet's speech touch the innermost soul and also be able to
evoke the extreme act: the turning to God.’
[2] F. G. Smith, The Revelation Explained: An Exposition, Text by Text, of the
Apocalypse of St. John, Fourth Edition, , (Guthrie, OK 73044, Faith Publishing House, 1973).
A. Q. Bridwell, Unraveling Revelation,
paperback edition, (Guthrie, OK, 73044, Faith Publishing House. No date given.)
[3] Daniel's prophecy
was sealed up and reserved for a time in the future, (8: 17, 26; 12:4, 9, 13)
but it was not an indefinite time. Daniel gave an exact time that
could be calculated precisely, (9:24-27; 12:11-12.) Also, Daniel had already
been proven a true prophet by his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream and
Belshazzar’s ‘handwriting
on the wall,’ (4:19-33).
[4] The Gospel was fully preached to every ‘nation’ of the
Jews before AD 70, (Rom.
10:18-21; Colossians 1:6, 23; 1 Thess. 1:8). The pattern was
followed upon the Jews: the Gospel must first be preached, and then the end
will come. This is proof that the same pattern will come upon the entire world:
the Gospel will first be preached, and then the end will come.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation in Context. My book is available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It is also available online at www.Amazon.com and www.xulonpress.com . Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net
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