An eBook to give you the tools you need to better understand Bible prophecy
In this free eBook you'll learn:
- What Bible prophecy is
- The different schools of thought when it comes to Bible prophecy
- How prophetic symbolism works
- How prophetic fulfillment works
- How to interpret prophetic texts (and what to avoid)
- And much, much more...
Here's a peek inside!
What is Bible prophecy?
Today we think of “prophecy” as a near synonym for “prediction.” If someone makes a prophecy, he is issuing a prediction about the future.
The biblical prophets did often make predictions, but that was only part of what they did.
The Greek word prophet (prophētēs) comes from roots that indicate a person who speaks in front of a group of people (pro- “in front of” + phētēs “speaker”). If we were to give it a fresh translation into English, spokesman would be a good equivalent.
That’s what the prophets were: God’s spokesmen. As a result, they were tasked with giving people whatever message God wanted delivered, whether or not that message had to do with the future.
Sometimes people even wanted prophets to reveal information about things that had happened in the past. Thus, when Jesus’ opponents were mocking him, they first blindfolded and then slapped him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” (Luke 22:64).
God wasn’t interested in satisfying facetious demands like that one, but he was interested in warning his people against sin—and that’s what the biblical prophets did much of the time. Warning Israel against its sins—idolatry, bloodshed, oppression of the poor—was one of the principal tasks of the biblical prophets. Of course, warning people about sin involves warning them about what will happen if they don’t repent, and so the prophets also discussed future events.