Biblical Prophecy in a Nutshell

Part of my current devotional reading is currently in Isaiah. Today this included Isaiah 46:10 —

(10) I declare the end when it is just the beginning,
From ancient times, things that have not yet been done.
I say, “My plan will be established,
and I will do everything I desire.” — Isaiah 46:10 (my translation)

Biblical prophecy is frequently looked upon as God sort of looking into his crystal ball and seeing what is going to happen. I’m not arguing that God doesn’t know what will happen, although the openness of God is an interesting study. But I do not believe that is the primary point of prophecy. Viewing prophecy as a form of divine crystal ball encourages us to look at it as a means of satisfying our curiosity and of providing us with security and control. If we know what is going to happen, we can prepare for it.

I have a friend who has a whole house generator and a safe room. In this hurricane-prone area, that’s not a bad idea. I’m not criticizing him for that. But what he has done is looked at the probabilities and protected himself against the dangers. It gives him a sense of safety and control. In hurricane season, that is certainly not a bad thing!

The first have of Isaiah 46:10 affirms God’s declaration of future events. But the second half states it more clearly for us, I think. Prophecy is not so much prediction are promise. It is a promise that God is going to do something in the future. Why can he make that prediction? Because he is the one who is going to make it come to pass. He is not passively looking at what humans do and saying, “Watch out folks, this is what’s coming up!” I might compare that to the hurricane forecaster. God is more like the parent who tells his misbehaving children, “Something you won’t like is coming up!” The forecaster sees the hurricane forming and warns of it in advance. The parent speaks of what he intends to do.

I think the latter gives us a better perspective. Why, for example, is Jonah’s prophecy unfulfilled? Because God’s word had already accomplished what it set out to accomplish. Why could Jerusalem be destroyed when God had promised David a descendant on his throne? Because David’s descendants had departed from God’s plan. Those two events challenge the simple prediction model; they are completely in accord with the promise model.

Note here that my point is not that predictive prophecy is impossible or that God’s knowledge is inadequate. Rather, I’m talking about the mechanism and purpose. God is the actor in prophecy.

In conclusion I’d like to quote [tag]Brevard Childs[/tag]. I’m reading his commentary as I work through Isaiah in Hebrew:

. . . Biblical prophecy is not simply a description of a coming historical event made in advance, shortly to be visible to all. Rather, Isaianic prophecy interprets the effects of God’s entrance into human history. It embraces a different dimension of reality, which only in part coheres with empirical history. The eschatological appeal of God’s rule involves a vision of divine intervention that indeed enters human history, but is not exhausted by any one moment. The quality of God’s salvific presence is not limited to one specific event in time and space, but embraces the whole of God’s announced purpose for creation, which moves toward consummation. . . . — Isaiah, p. 361-2