So, do we, as modern-day Christians, read all prophecies in the Bible as predictions of future events that will happen? The problem is that we've never learned -- or been taught -- [in the Church] how we are to rightly discern the predictive truth of prophecies? If the Lord gives a prophet a message to share with the people, can we assume that it will happen? And can a prophecy in the Old Testament [which was fulfilled] also apply to us in the present? There seem to be similarities in ancient prophetic world events that coincide with what we're seeing in 2024. Are those prophetic outcomes meant to be warnings to us? How does God want us to perceive our truth in His prophet's messages?
For instance, ancient Babylon has long been considered [by theologians and Biblical commentators] to be a "type" for wicked nations and governments that rebel against God. And I have certainly written about the obvious parallels in Revelation 18 between ancient Babylon and New York City. Since God doesn't specifically tie the two together, are we to recognize the shared sins, yet dismiss the possible judgment? Or has God intended for His Word to be examined and researched by righteous people in the hopes they can receive His warning of judgment? Prophecies -- are they meant to "predict the future", or are they simply warning signs; or both?
Interestingly, as I've contemplated these questions, I have come to realize that all of the above are possible, and a lot of the outcomes depend on people. The prophets shared what the Lord had spoken to them at the time about how things could be in the future (either judgment or blessings), depending on what people decided to do. Predicted punishment could be avoided if the people repented; or a predicted blessing could be withheld if they continued to do evil. Because God is sovereign, He reserves the right [and the possibility] to change direction at any time -- even after the prophet speaks a blessing or a curse!
Scripture makes that very clear in Jeremiah 18:5-10 ... Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.
I don't know about you, but I can clearly see that we might identify as the nation that God built, but since we've quit listening to His voice, we thereby face the very real possibility that He has changed His mind about continuing to do good to us. This is a very explicit warning to all nations! Prophecies like this one are not predicting an unavoidable future, but hopefully pierce the hearts of people to change their behavior and activate their will to avoid the predictive outcome.
For those who doubt the accuracy or purposes of Biblical prophecy, how do you explain Daniel's inerrant dream of the four empires from Babylon to Medo-Persia to Greece to Rome? He even predicted that there will be a final, Divine Kingdom that will never be destroyed. The truth that these empires really existed in history, just as Daniel prophesied, gives credence to the importance of learning from Bible prophecy. So what are we to do in the midst of a world that seems to be sliding ever further towards violence, destruction, and moral decay? Is there value in reading what God had to say through His prophets in similar times? Can we get clues as to whether we are headed towards blessings or judgment/curses? And can we discern how to avoid any judgment that are due to mankind's rebellious nature?
Let's consider the Book of Habakkuk. In the first chapter, Habakkuk talks to God about his concerns that God is going to use the Babylonian empire (called the Chaldeans) to bring judgment on Judah because of their sins. Let's listen in on parts of their conversation:
Habakkuk: O LORD, how long will I call for help and you will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!", yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? For destruction and violence are before me; strife continues and contention arises. Therefore, the law is ineffective and ignored and justice is never upheld, for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice becomes perverted.
[The LORD replied,] "Look among the nations! See! Be astonished! Wonder! For I am doing something in your days -- you would not believe it if you were told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans [who rule in Babylon], that fierce and impetuous nation who march throughout the earth to take possession of dwelling places that do not belong to them... They all come for violence; their horde of faces move [eagerly] forwards, they gather prisoners like sand... They will sweep by like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty. They [and all men] whose own power and strength is their god".
Habakkuk: Are you not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, My Holy One? ... Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look favorably on wickedness. Why then do You look favorably on those who act treacherously? Why are you silent when the wicked destroy those more righteous than they? ... I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the tower; And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, and what answer I will give [as His spokesman] when I am reproved.
Then the LORD answered me [Habukkuk] and said, "Write the vision and engrave it plainly on tablets so that the one who reads it will run. For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time. It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail. Even though it delays, wait [patiently] for it, because it will certainly come; it will not delay. Look at the proud one, his soul is not right within him. But the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God]. Moreover, wine is treacherous and betrays the arrogant man, so that he does not stay at home. His appetite is large like Sheol, and he is like death, never satisfied. He gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples [as if he owned them].
Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him, and in mocking derision against him say, 'Woe [judgment is coming] to him who increases that which is not his -- how long will he possess it? And woe to him who makes himself wealthy with loans. Will your creditors not rise up suddenly, and those who collect from you awaken? Then you will become plunder for them..."
You get the picture, right? Yes, this is a prophecy against the kingdom of Judah who received judgment because they had fallen into idolatry and forgotten the God who had delivered them from Egypt and blessed them in the Promised Land.
Now, you can stop there and look at this from a purely historical perspective. Or you can receive it as a warning to our own nation who suffers from the same sins -- we have become proud; the soul of our nation is sick. Our leaders have become drunk on their arrogance and do not take care of those at home. Their hunger for power and wealth is huge; they are never satisfied. We have acted as if we own the world, doing to other people and nations what we please, adding to our wealth. But how long will we possess the blessings we have accumulated? We owe trillions of dollars in debt and we see our creditors chomping at the bit to collect. Was the Lord's warning to Habakkuk meant for us, too? "You will become plunder for them".
How will you receive these prophecies? It is up to you. You can choose to see them as fixed and literal [for another time], and therefore of no significance to us. Or you can do what Habakkuk did... Live by your faith in the One True God, and let them strengthen you and anchor you. Stand at your guard post; become a watchman to see what God will say to you and have you speak to those with ears to hear.
We must receive the truth that God did not speak to His prophets so that His Word would die in the hearts of the spiritually dead. I believe that He intended -- and expected -- that His prophetic words be shared through all generations; especially those that included warnings to His people about the consequences of choosing the path of wickedness over the path of righteousness.
It's true that God never changes. He judges righteously and we can receive His blessings or we can receive His judgment and wrath. His prophecies make it plain and simple that it's up to us. Heed the warnings! Pray and Repent for our nation, that we might avoid God's judgment and change His mind about what we deserve!
Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; In wrath, remember compassion and love.
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