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16 – Bible prophecy
WHEN Brother John Thomas was urged to write down his understanding of Bible truth, in 1848, he did so in three parts:
- “The Rudiments of the World”
- “The Things of the Kingdom of God, and the Name of Jesus Christ”
- “The Kingdoms of the World in their relation to the Kingdom of God”
The third part of Elpis Israel began with the importance of Nebuchadnezzar’s Image, traced the growth of orchestrated opposition to the Truth, in all ages, and then looked at prophecies about the build-up to the coming of Christ and his millennial reign. Whilst the future had featured to some extent in the first two parts, the last part (thirty per cent of the whole book) was all about Bible prophecy. Should his readers have been left in any doubt about the importance of that subject, at their insistence and by their sponsorship, Brother Thomas made time between 1860 and 1868 to write Eureka, his three-volume treatise on the Apocalypse.
Two functions
We like to say about the prophets that: “They were forth-tellers as well as fore-tellers”. Their words contained a message from God about the here-and-now, as well as forecasting coming events, sometimes things that would only occur in the very distant future. It is the same with prophecy today: it fulfils two God-given functions.
First, many believers have been persuaded about the truth of the Bible because it foretells future events with such remarkable accuracy: things like the return of the Jews to their homeland; the state of the world, including its moral decline; and the political alignment of nations, especially in relation to Israel. In all those respects fulfilled prophecy confirms Bible truth, as it has done through the ages. But prophecy is not just of help for the present: there are many prophecies still unfulfilled.
It was E. B. Pusey, in Daniel the Prophet (1885) who said about this aspect of prophecy, that: “Prophecy is not given to enable us to prophesy, but as a witness to God when the time comes” (page 80). Whilst many of us are fascinated by future events, whenever we are tempted to treat matters of interpretation as though they were first principles of the faith, it is good to remember the distinction made by Brother Roberts between “True Principles and Uncertain Details” (The Christadelphian, 1898, page 182). He urged us to keep a sense of proportion and an open mind about “uncertain details” that have not yet happened.
Fulfilled prophecy
If you want to find out about prophecies that have already been fulfilled, some books we have already considered – about the authority of the Bible, and archaeology – will contain useful material. Alexander Keith wrote Evidence of the Christian Religion Derived from the Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy (1837), and that has been reprinted often. Years later, John Urquhart wrote a helpful little book more snappily titled Wonders of Prophecy (1939), which covers topics like Tyre and Sidon, Egypt, Edom and Babylonia.
Detailed information can be found in individual commentaries or books about the history of specific nations, for this is a subject area that naturally leads a reader to books about particular prophets, or books of the Bible.
Likewise, should you want to look at the way that Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus, whilst you might start with Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict (revised edition 1999), a more detailed study would require something like The Messiah in the Old Testament (1995) by Walter Kaiser.
Unfulfilled prophecy
As a community we have tended to concentrate on things that have not yet been fulfilled, because we are keenly expecting the return of the Lord Jesus and the establishment of God’s kingdom. Elpis Israel and Eureka have been mentioned already and there are many other well-established writings, especially about the Apocalypse, which merit a place in your library. Many of them are now available electronically as well. Details can be found here, as usual.
If your interest is in current affairs and the way in which they are seen to be fulfilling prophecy, every year the Christadelphian Scripture Study Service publishes Milestones to the Kingdom in which Brother Don Pearce reviews world events. Over the years the series, which started in 1977 (when it was published by Logos Publications), has built up a comprehensive catalogue of events which are seen as ‘signs of the times’.
There are other ways of viewing prophetic events, and some different schemes of interpretation, most of these having resulted in books interpreting the Apocalypse along rather different lines. Brother Graham Pearce, who started Milestones, wrote a helpful overview: Revelation: Which Interpretation? (1982, CSSS). If you decide to start collecting books about the Apocalypse, make sure you have plenty of shelf space!
