Bible Prophecy 101Uddrag

Can We Really Understand Bible Prophecy?

Simply put, Bible prophecy is God revealing history in advance. Prophecies are divinely inspired revelations given by God through a person. Prophecies were given as predictions, warnings, or directives for taking action. In the New Testament, Peter tells us how prophecies were given:

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

The technical term for the study of end-time Bible prophecy events is eschatology. Eschatology means “the study of last things.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind.” Eschatology touches on all other key areas of systematic biblical study.

Genesis, the first book of the Bible, introduces key themes that are progressively revealed in later books, and these themes find their final resolution in Revelation—the last and distinctively prophetic book of the Bible. The Bible, though written by at least 39 men on three continents over a period of at least 1500 years, tells one complete story beginning with eternity past and ending with eternity future.

There are several important aspects of Bible prophecy that can help you gain a better understanding of it and how it relates to your life.

First, unlike the vague predictions of modern-day psychics and palm readers, Bible prophecies are specific predictions of future events given through God’s appointed prophets. The main test of a true prophet is that their predictions must come true 100 percent of the time (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).

A second important test of a prophet is that their prophecies must agree with Scripture and not cause anyone to worship false gods (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).

Another important aspect of prophecy is that it displays the character and nature of God. Through the prophets, God made it clear that only He can appoint and predict future events. In essence, God ties His own credibility and character to the accuracy of Bible prophecy (Isaiah 42:8-9).

Finally, to understand Bible prophecy, you must understand the language of prophecy. Once you correctly understand basic prophecy terms you will have a firm footing for your understanding of Bible prophecy. You will move from confusion and ambiguity to a clear understanding of the key components of Bible prophecy.