The Purposes of Prophecy

Download Article

Download in MP3 Format

Does God use prophecy to punish humanity out of some perverse sense of enjoyment? Of course not! But if there are positive purposes to prophecy, what are they?

Why do some people think that God gets enjoyment out of prophetic punishments? Does God have a fundamentally cruel streak that He randomly satisfies, targeting people who can't defend themselves?

Historically, writers of apocalyptic literature promote this satanic notion, as Dante Alighieri did in his Divine Comedy. Why would anyone perpetuate this concept? Your Bible makes clear that there are purposes for prophecy; and those purposes, contrary to conventional wisdom, serve us.

Defining prophecy and classic examples

Prophecy is a divinely inspired prediction of the future, and there are many examples of fulfilled prophecy in Scripture.

A classic example is when God promised a revival of His true religion under a king named Josiah (1 Kings 13:2And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
See All...). This amazing prophecy was fulfilled 300 years later when God restored the rebellious kingdom of Judah by installing young Josiah as king (2 Kings 22:1Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
See All...). Josiah's grandfather was the infamous evil King Manasseh who ruled Judah for 55 years.

Josiah had a different heart, and God used him to turn the nation around. It worked, but not for long. God also predicted that Judah would go into captivity for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:8-12 [8] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
[9] Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
[10] Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
[11] And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
[12] And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

See All...), which He fulfilled to the letter.

After Josiah's premature death, Judah went right back into following false religious practices and, as God had prophesied, the nation went into captivity under the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24).

While the Bible records prophecies that have been fulfilled, it also lists prophecies yet to be fulfilled. A classic case is that of the coming Beast and False Prophet who are predicted to rise to power in the future (Revelation 13; 17). Today, significant signs show this prophecy will come to pass by the rising power of the European Union, the coming king of the North, and the rising power of a great Muslim confederation power, the coming king of the South (Daniel 11:40And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
See All...).

Let's look at some purposes for prophecy.

Cause and effect

One purpose of prophecy is to teach mankind that terrible consequences result from disobeying God. This is a great key to understanding prophecy. Most view prophecy as God sitting around contemplating how He can make the lives of human beings miserable. Instead, humans incur their own prophetic punishments through disobedience to God's law and through their own poor conduct (Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
See All...).

God's laws are automatic (Romans 2:11-12 [11] For there is no respect of persons with God.
[11] For there is no respect of persons with God.
[12] For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
[12] For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

See All...); that is to say, they are designed so that our good actions eventually lead to good results and our evil actions lead to bad results. God's spiritual laws are like His physical laws. For example, when we throw an object into the air, we know it must eventually fall back down to the ground. We depend on those laws every single day.

God's automatic laws directly affect human life. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 reveal the cause and effect of either obeying or disobeying Him. Obey God and be blessed. Disobey and bring curses on yourself. These polar opposites help determine the effects of prophecy. Indeed, they embody prophecy.

A good example of doing good and being blessed for it can be found in the prophecy regarding the New Testament Church, in part, at the very end time. There will be relatively few who keep God's commandments, honor Christ as the Head of the Church and endure to the very end (Revelation 3:8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
See All..., 10).

God prophesies to them that they will escape the Great Tribulation, "I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world" (verse 10). This is a blessing, a direct application of choosing to do what's right and being blessed for obeying God's laws.

God allows human beings free moral agency, to choose and make decisions to receive an abundant life now and live forever later, or to choose and make decisions to curse themselves now and to die (Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
See All...). Clearly mankind determines his own destiny, either for bad or for good.

God is in control

A second purpose of prophecy is to show that God controls events throughout history for the purpose of fulfilling His plan. Ultimately, God will see His plan through, no matter what people do.

There are prophecies that turn out for good even though humans are ignorant of them. For instance, God said He would bless Israel and the world at Christ's return based on His covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3 [1] Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
[3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

See All...). In this case, good for modern Israel comes through a promise God made to Abraham thousands of years ago.

God highlights this kind of prophecy to those who are ignorant in Ezekiel 36:22-24 [22] Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
[23] And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
[24] For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

See All.... At the time of the end, modern Israel will be in captivity, scattered among the nations, as God prophesied. When Christ returns, He will free Israel from captivity and bring them again to the Holy Land.

Here's a case of prophetic blessings to an ignorant Israel, which happen in spite of, not because of, anything Israel did. The key to this prophecy is that God is doing this for Himself, not Israel. They profaned His name, and He will restore His good name through them:

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes"'" (Ezekiel 36:22-23 [22] Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
[23] And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

See All...).

In a sense, the initial fulfillment of this prophecy eclipses choice. Once freed and restored to the Promised Land, Israel will then have to choose to do what's right in God's eyes.

Interloper behind prophecies of punishment

Prophecy is also directly tied to the great interloper. Christ's spirit-led disciples know this, but the world doesn't. America and the Christian West have willingly closed their eyes to God's revealed truth.

"And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them'" (Matthew 13:14-15 [14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
[15] For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

See All...).

Behind this willing blindness, there lurks Satan the devil whose avowed purpose is to dupe people into doing his dirty work. He strives to motivate mankind to destroy itself, for God won't allow Satan to do this evil deed directly.

Human beings are Satan's competition. He knows that we will one day judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
See All...) and constantly tries to tell God that His redemptive plan to save mankind is a lost cause (Revelation 12:10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
See All...).

The interloper, Satan the devil, the god of this world, affects how prophecy works in the worst of ways. Isaiah writes about the heinous cruelty of Satan, who "made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners" (Isaiah 14:17That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
See All...).

This verse summarizes Satan's wicked rule on this earth and over mankind. From the time of Adam to Christ's second coming, he has and will continue to peddle, traffic and merchandise his lies, which is precisely how he changed himself from Lucifer to Satan the devil (Ezekiel 28:15-19 [15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
[16] By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
[17] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
[18] Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
[19] All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

See All...).

Prophecy warns, punishes and blesses

Prophecy is a prediction of the future under divine inspiration. It shows us that human beings cause their own troubles.

Prophecy regarding punishment shows us that God simply predicts how uncontrolled human nature reaps its own sown seeds of destruction (Galatians 6:7-8 [7] Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
[8] For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

See All...).

Prophecy regarding encouragement and blessings shows us how faithfully obeying God brings on blessings in this life and the blessing of life eternal. For prophetic blessings to come about, we must keep God's laws of love (1 John 5:3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
See All...).

Prophecy also shows God's ultimate control over history as He completes His plan of salvation for everyone.

These are the purposes of prophecy, which contrast the false notion that God is cruel or that He sits in heaven all day figuring out novel ways to make humankind experience fear and suffering. This type of behavior describes the god of this world, as depicted in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Satan is the one that influences the world and well-meaning Christians with such aberrations.

Prophecy is a helpful, encouraging and merciful tool in the hands of an all-loving Savior, given for the good of mankind. We should use it wisely. WNP