He Gave Us Prophets: The Purpose of Predictions

Dear Church Family,

In our continuing Sunday school lessons using a video curriculum and discussion format entitled, “He Gave Us Prophets,” the eight lessons in this series are as follows:

1. Essential Hermeneutical Perspectives
2. A Prophet’s Job
3. People of the Covenant
4. Dynamics of the Covenant
5. Historical Analysis of Prophecy
6. Literary Analysis of the Prophets
7. The Purpose of Predictions
8. Unfolding Eschatology

The Purpose of Predictions

In this seventh lesson, we learned how prophetic predictions were not intended to merely foretell the future. Rather, prophetic predictions and utterances were intended to elicit a response from the people.

1. Divine Sovereignty

First, however, we must have a proper understanding of God’s sovereignty and providence. By sovereignty, we mean that God is immutable (unchanging) in His character (Hebrews 13:8), His covenant promises (Hebrews 6:6-7), and His eternal council (Ephesians 1:11; Isaiah 46:9-11). God’s providence speaks to how He interacts with creation, how He governs all His creatures and all their actions (WSC 11).

Specifically, it is important to recognize that God works out His providence and causes all things to come to pass according to the nature of secondary causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently (WCF 5.2). “Necessary” secondary causes include things like the physical laws of nature (Genesis 8:21-22; Jeremiah 31:35), e.g., seasons, gravity, etc. “Free” secondary causes include those things that seem random to us (Deuteronomy 19:4-7). And, “contingent” secondary causes are the responses of human beings to God’s promises or warnings, sometimes taking the form of if/then statements in Scripture (1 Kings 22:28-34; Jonah 3:4-10; Revelation 3:1-3).

2. Predictions and Contingencies

Thus, we find in prophetic utterances of Scripture this general pattern of expected historical contingencies. For example, in Jeremiah 18:1-6, the Lord speaks to His people, explaining through Jeremiah that He is the potter and His people are the clay. Then, the Lord explains that if He declares judgment upon a nation or kingdom to destroy it and they turn from their evil, He will relent and not do what He warned that He would do (Jeremiah 18:7-8). However, if the Lord promises to bless a nation or kingdom and then they do evil in His sight, He will relent from the good which He had intended to do to it (Jeremiah 18:9-10).

This is what is meant by “intervening historical contingencies.” The judgment and blessings which the Lord spoke through the prophets were often contingent upon the response of the people: if they repented or rebelled. A clear example of the relationship between predictions and contingencies may be found in the book of Jonah. Jonah’s message to the people of Nineveh was clear, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). However, after the people of Nineveh repented (Jonah 3:7-9), the Lord had compassion upon them and dd not bring upon them the destruction that He had threatened (Jonah 3:10). See 2 Chronicles 12:5-8 for another specific example of an intervening historical contingency.

3. Certainty of Predictions

Thus, we see that there were different levels of certainty regarding the predictions of Old Testament prophets. Some predictions were explicitly conditional (Isaiah 1:18-20); some were unqualified (Haggai 2:21-23); some were confirmed by words and signs (Amos 2:4-5; 5:4-7; Isaiah 7:11-17); and some were sworn predictions (Amos 4:2; Ezekiel 5:11; Amos 6:8; Isaiah 62:8).

4. Goals of Predictions

So, in the final analysis, we find that the predictions of prophets were not simply prognostications or tests to determine if a prophet was true (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). Instead, the predictions of prophets were intended to activate people to respond to God’s messengers. And, there are really only two possible reactions to prophecy: rebellion/sin or repentance.

If you’d like to delve deeper into understanding the purpose of prophetic predictions, I recommend this address by Richard Pratt entitled, “Historical Contingencies and Biblical Predictions” (https://thirdmill.org/newfiles/ric_pratt/TH.Pratt.Historical_Contingencies.pdf).

Conclusion

In our final lesson this coming Sunday, we will see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the latter-day hope of the prophets, and how He fulfills this hope in three phases of the coming of His kingdom: inauguration, continuation, and consummation. I hope you will join us this Sunday morning at 9:15 am as we learn how better to interpret the prophetic books of the Old Testament!

The Lord be with you!
Pastor Peter M. Dietsch