Purposes of Predictive Prophecy (Part 3)
This column has been exploring why God has given us prophecy, and why so much. [See Part 1 and Part 2] We have explored that question with a view to understanding what we are to do with the prophecies that are yet future—how we are to interpret and apply them. The most definitive way to answer these questions is to explore what God Himself says are the purposes and effects of prophetic revelation.
Part 1 examined NT passages that reveal some of the purposes of prophecy. Part 2 turned to the OT, particularly Isaiah and Ezekiel. In spite of multiple passages that shed light on the purposes of prophecy, however, I posited that there is one that tends to be downplayed (sometimes even denigrated), especially by those of a nonpremillennial persuasion. The most fundamental function of prophecy, I posited, is to provide understandable information and certain knowledge about future events. All the other purposes are hollow without this. All the other purposes are meaningful only if God communicates reliable, understandable, precise, verifiable, and essentially clear predictions about the future.
Certainly prophecy is intended to have a present impact on the believer’s faith and practice. No one should dispute that. But some posit that viewing eschatological prophecy as a detailed prediction of specific events short-circuits the ethical intention of such prophecy. I am positing that God tells us about the future because He actually wants us to know what is going to happen and expects us to believe that it is going to happen just as He says. As I mentioned in the previous column, this may seem obvious, but it’s worth stating unambiguously because the emphasis in many works on interpreting prophecy tends to undermine this role of predictive prophecy. Many argue that prophecy doesn’t so much provide information about the future as it does highly symbolic, metaphorical pictures of the future. In the last column I cited the alarming assertion of Graeme Goldsworthy that “a method of interpretation that demands that the promises of the OT be literally fulfilled, so that there is exact correspondence between what is promised and what eventually comes to pass, does not fit the evidence of the Bible” (According to Plan, 65–66). Another hermeneutical text argues,
Prophecy has a notorious reputation for being difficult to interpret, and that reputation is justified because prophecy … tends to be expressed in highly metaphoric language. … But a great deal of the notoriety comes not from the difficulties of the symbolic language, but from misconceived notions about what kind of information prophecy is conveying. … Prophecy encourages us regarding the future not by giving us the news headlines in advance, but by pointing out our victorious God, who has already won the decisive heavenly battle (McCartney and Clayton, Let the Reader Understand: A Guide to Interpreting and Applying the Bible, 232–33).
Yet another popular work on Bible interpretation asserts that because prophecy is so intrinsically metaphorical, the details simply cannot be pressed (Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, 2nd ed., 183). Of course, there is a greater concentration of symbols in prophecy than in most other genres, but what is inadequately appreciated by many is that (a) there are not nearly so many “symbols” as many suppose, and (b) beneath every symbol is an intended literal reality.
We should not eagerly rush to concede the primacy of the ethical purpose without adequate reflection on what that concession entails. The pendulum has swung so far that otherwise premillennial interpreters can be intimidated into interpretational uncertainty, swayed by the overemphasis on the ethical purpose of prophecy to the diminishing, or even ignoring, of the informational function of prophecy.
One hermeneutics text is quite correct: “Fundamentally, prophecy is a biblical phenomenon by which God conveyed messages to his people through human speakers or writers. It assumes that God has something important he wants his people to understand—that he wishes to communicate not obfuscate . . .” (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 371, emphasis added). Their agreement on this point is gratifying, even though some of their proposed prophetic fulfillments seem inconsistent with this assertion.
Someone may rightly object, “This is all fine theory, but is there any Scriptural confirmation that this ‘informational function’ is one of the important purposes of prophecy?” Besides the intuitive fact, already noted, that virtually none of the other purposes carry any meaning and weight apart from God’s purposeful communication of knowable information, there are a number of other passages that underscore this purpose. Here are just a few.
Daniel 2
Why did God reveal to Nebuchadnezzar, then to Daniel, and through Daniel to every reader of Daniel’s prophecy, the subsequent course of human history over the next several centuries? Daniel himself answers this question: “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. … He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. … The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter” (2:28, 29, 45). This assertion counters one commentator’s remark about interpreting Revelation:
The Book of Revelation was inspired by God to help hurting disciples cope with the realities of spiritual warfare for his name. … If you were a first-century disciple being persecuted for your faith, a history lesson about people and events that had absolutely no connection with your plight would be of little comfort (Gordon Ferguson, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, 10, 19).
But it seems “a history lesson about people and events that had absolutely no connection” with the immediate plight of Daniel and his fellow Jews in captivity was exactly what God wanted to reveal.
Matthew 24
In Jesus’ most detailed and extended prophetic discourse, He repeatedly states that one of the purposes of these details is to forewarn people how to react when prophesied events begin to unfold (see 24:15–20, 23–26).
Jesus then inserts a parable about the obvious, recognizable, unmistakable signs of spring. The analogy itself emphasizes that His purpose in giving this detailed predictive information is so that people will know what will happen, will be able to anticipate it, and will recognize when it happens (24:32–35)—even though the precise timing is withheld to constrain watchfulness (24:42; 25:13), readiness (24:44; 25:10), and faithfulness (24:46; 25:21, 23) in the meantime.
Revelation
A perpetual debate simmers regarding the intent of the opening statement. The letter is described as “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Does this refer to a revelation by Jesus Christ or a revelation about Jesus Christ? In the vernacular of Greek grammar, is this a subjective or objective genitive? However the subsequent content of Revelation may supplement our answer, the rest of the verse would seem to settle the question decisively: it is a revelation given by Jesus Christ. How do we know? Because of the next phrase: it is a revelation “which God gave unto him.” Why did God give this revelation to Jesus? Next phrase: “to shew unto his servants.” To show them what? Next phrase: “things which must shortly [or suddenly, swiftly] come to pass.” It sounds as if God actually intends His people to know and understand what is going to happen. The letter ends on the same note: “These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly [or suddenly, swiftly] be done” (22:6).
Conclusion
The pendulum needs to be pulled back to the center of gravity. We should never minimize, ignore, or (God forbid) scoff at the notion that one of the driving purposes for predictive prophecy is accurate, understandable, interpretable information. God means for His people to know what He has purposed, what will happen, what He is going to do. It is one of the primary ways in which He magnifies His power, His sovereignty, His wisdom, His trustworthiness and reliability, and His uniqueness as God who alone can and will do everything He has said, just as He has said. And that should always have a powerful, immediate, ethical impact on God’s people—on their relationship to Him, their confidence in Him, and their conception of Him—no matter how near or distant the prophesied events may be.
Each of the twenty-two purposes/effects of prophecy explored in the previous two Glance columns could be categorized under one of these major headings of the purposes of prophecy:
- Doxological—The glory of God (to display His unique deity and attributes).
- Informational—The communication of future events.
- Inspirational—The encouragement of believers in God’s control and victory.
- Transformational—The conformity of believers to God’s purposes and priorities.
- Ethical—The repentance of sinners and the purity of saints.
Previously:
Purposes of Predictive Prophecy (Part 1) – Proclaim & Defend
Purposes of Predictive Prophecy (Part 2) – Proclaim & Defend
Dr. Layton Talbert teaches theology and apologetics at Bob Jones Seminary, Greenville, SC and is a Frontline Contributing Editor.
(Originally published in FrontLine • July/August 2013 30. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)
Photo by takomabibelot Pier-Francesco Sacchi. Les Docteurs de l’Église (Genoa?, 16th c). Louvre INV 598. Use of photo under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.