Studies in the Prophecies
The Nature and Purpose of Prophecy
TAKING our definition from the unpublished but generally accepted dictionary of religious terms, we should declare that prophecy is history in advance. And so it is, but this is an incomplete definition, and being incomplete, it may convey an incorrect idea concerning the fundamental purpose of prophecy. Prophecy is more than a record of occurrences which are still in the future, and it is not given merely to foretell the course of human history. The whole purpose of revelation, whether it deals with the past, the present, or the future, and whether the subject-matter is facts of history or moral precepts, is to make known the gospel of salvation to man. Past history is “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” We thus learn the concrete meaning of abstract principles. “The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his [man’s] power, ambition, and caprice. But in the Word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counter-play of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently, working out the counsels of his own will. The Bible reveals the true philosophy of history. In those words of matchless beauty and tenderness spoken by the apostle Paul to the sages of Athens is set forth God’s purpose in the creation and distribution of races and nations. He “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him.” In the Bible record of the rise and fall of kingdoms “it is shown that the strength of nations, as of individuals, is not found in the opportunities or facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is not found in their boasted greatness. It is measured by the fidelity with which they fulfil God’s purpose.” Thus are the principles of the gospel taught in Bible history. Prophecy is history in advance, but it is future history written in such a way as that in the very writing of it there are revealed the divine principles which control the destiny both of the nations and of the individuals that are the subjects of prophecy. Thus prophecy is not simply history in advance, but it is also the concrete gospel in advance. This is made clear in the divine commentary given to us upon that remarkable prophecy which is the key to all Jewish history. Here it is: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.” By reading the whole prophecy as recorded in Gen. 12:1-3 it will be seen that the promised greatness of Abraham and of the Jewish nation was in the proclamation of the power of the gospel of the coming Seed. So long as the Jewish nation would stand in right relation to this gospel, so long would they stand as great among the nations of the earth, but when they rejected the promised Seed, then the nation sealed its own fate. Thus was the power of the gospel of Christ preached beforehand to Abraham in foretelling the blessing which would come to all nations through him and his seed. This is further illustrated in the commission which was given to Jeremiah the prophet: “I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations. . . . Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth: see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” The prophet’s words were the words of the Lord. In them was life or death, blessing or cursing, according as they were received or rejected. Thus the prophets, like the apostles, “are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life.” The whole principle is clearly stated in the interpretation given to Nebuchadnezzar of his dream of the tree. “The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. . . . Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” The gospel message of prophecy declares that only in the principles of righteousness and mercy, the fundamental principles of the gospel of Christ, can there be stability either for nations or for individuals. And it further declares that “the wicked shall be turned back into Sheol, even all the nations that forget God.” In the prophetic method of teaching the gospel, future events are so revealed as determined by the rejection or acceptance of gospel principles that in the fulfilment of these predictions the faith of believers is strengthened. The words of Jesus to his disciples, after prophesying of his death and resurrection, reveal this principle: “I tell you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe.” “But these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you.” Fulfilled prophecy builds a solid foundation upon which faith may rest its superstructure. Since prophecy is a preaching of the gospel beforehand, and since one purpose at least of prophecy is to strengthen the faith of believers, we should certainly study the prophecies in such a way as to receive the full benefit of their gospel messages, and in considering the fulfilment of prophecy our faith should be increased. It is not enough to place history beside the prophecy to prove the inspiration of the Bible. This may often be done to much profit, but this is only an incidental and subordinate purpose in the study of prophecy. There is a more important purpose, and especially in this closing generation. “At this time, before the great final crisis, as before the world’s first destruction, men are absorbed in the pleasures and the pursuits of sense. Engrossed with the seen and the transitory, they have lost sight of the unseen and eternal. . . . From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the pages of Holy Writ, they need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and magnificence, the like of which our world has never since beheld,— . . . how completely has it5passed away! As ‘the flower of the grass,’ it has perished. So perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only that which is bound up with his purpose, and expresses his character, can endure. His principles are the only steadfast things our world knows. . . . We need to study the working out of God’s purpose in the history of nations and in the revelation of things to come, that we may estimate at their true value things seen and things unseen, that we may learn what is the true aim of life; that, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity, we may put them to their truest and noblest use. Thus, learning here the principles of his kingdom and becoming its subjects and citizens, we may be prepared at his coming to enter with him into its possession. The day is at hand. For the lessons to be learned, the work to be done, the transformation of character to be effected, the time remaining is but too brief a span.” “Believe in Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”