THE INTENT OF PROPHECY.
By J. F. Shuler
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. Before visiting the world with judgments, God has always sent warnings to enable the righteous to escape His wrath, and to witness against those who heeded not the warning. In order to do this, God reveals His designs to the prophets. When such revelation has been made known to others by the prophet, it then becomes a prophecy, and belongs to all the human race as a gift from God. The prophecy is, then, no longer a secret, but a revelation from God to man, that he may know what the future will be, and thus be prepared to meet it. Thus the design of prophecy is to point out the dangers and perils to which we are exposed. The old proverb is, “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” In view of this fact, whoever pays no attention to the prophecy, and is overtaken by any disaster which the prophecy pointed out, will be held guilty by Him who revealed the danger. Then is it not of great importance that we give heed to the prophecies? Prophecy is also a remarkable proof of the inspiration of the Bible. God sets it forth as a proof that He is God. “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, . . . declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Isa. 46:9, 10. See, also, Isa. 41:21-23. Thus the prophecies and their fulfilment prove the existence of a God who continues to live, and rule all the affairs of both heaven and earth. God foretells the rise and fall of nations before they come into existence. History bears witness to the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Bible with unerring accuracy. When a prophecy is fulfilled, it strengthens faith in God’s Word, because the prophecy was given sometimes ages before its fulfilment. The prophetic Word was given that “we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” The prophecies and their fulfilment are living witnesses against infidelity. Thus prophecy becomes a grand testimony to the inspiration of the Bible. If we throw aside the prophecy, we can not prove that the Bible is the Word of God. These facts being true, it is exceedingly strange that so many people give little or no time to the study of the prophecies. The ability to foretell future events, and the force of their fulfilments, are proof of the divine origin of prophecy, and show the power of the Lord above all the gods of the heathen. Isa. 48:3-7. From the words of Christ to His disciples we can learn one of the objects of God in giving prophecy. Telling them of the one who would betray Him, which was Judas, He said, “I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He.” Prophecy occupies an important place in the Bible. It is a deception of Satan to make men believe that prophecy can not be understood; for by thus doing, he may keep them ignorant of the fate of his kingdom, and also of the soon coming of Christ’s glorious kingdom.