Making Sense of Prophecy

I’m not into prophecy, much. But my friends are interested in it because of the Left Behind series.

You can get into bitter arguments over prophecy. Or, people may write you off as a Bible thumper. Many thoughtful people shy away from prophecy because of its abuses or its difficulties.

Once you become aware that the keenest scholars working across centuries still remain puzzled or mystified by some texts, you’ll feel less intimidated.

If you’re open to dialogue and if you admit you’re as likely to make mistakes as the next guy, you may find it’s a topic of interest to many folk.

What you get from becoming familiar with prophecy

Here’s a quick list of benefits of taking a careful look at some prophecies of the Bible:

• you can spot a phony from a mile off
• you find God’s footprints in current events, in history
• you get a glimpse of God’s grand purpose; things are planned, NOT totally due to chance
• you’re less afraid of the future, because you begin to see that God’s in the driver’s seat of the universe
• you see Jesus Christ in his universal beauty and majesty

For example, Malachi 4.2:  ”But for you who revere [God's] name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.” This is a poetic description of Jesus, the Messiah, dated about 500 years before his birth.

Prophecy gets muddled quickly. But you can find your way.

Note: A good study Bible will give you the basics. Depending on your level of interest, you might not need anything else.

The following is a complete, thorough approach which might take longer than you have. But, if you know what a thorough job looks like, you can tell whether an interpretation is sound or unsound.

How to make a thorough study of a prophetic text

Begin with prayer and surrender to God. Then, given your limits, find out:

1. the literal meaning of each word, name, event in the text; its genre (poetry, sermon, letter, etc.)
2. the historical circumstance of author and text
3. the context in scripture
4. parallel prophetic passages 
5. the prophecy’s nature:
   1. Does it predict, describe or confront?
   2. Is it conditional or unconditional?
   3. Is it fulfilled or unfulfilled?
6. its fulfillment
   1. How was the prophecy fulfilled?
   2. If unfulfilled, is it anticipated before or after Christ?
   3. Can it be fulfilled more than once?
7. Leave room for mystery.
8. Never interpret a text in isolation.
9. The literal meaning of the prophecy is preferred; otherwise ask, how does the Old Testament prophecy allow for any fulfillment beyond the literal?
10. The prophets weren’t systematic. Premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism are theological systems developed long after.
11. If a passage calls on you to do something; then do it. “Be doers of the Word, not hearers only.”
12. Christians interpreting the Old Testament seek Christ. The classic New Testament example is: “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Christ] interpreted to [the disciples] the things about himself in all the scriptures.” Luke 24:27 (NRSV) Secular or Jewish interpreters may see the text differently. But for Christ followers, ”Christ the sun of righteousness gives light to all the Holy Scriptures.”

These principles are adapted mostly from Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation, 3rd ed. Chapter X, “The Interpretation of Prophecy,” pp. 241-275.

Since understanding the Bible is always a work in progress, I welcome hearing from you on this topic.