The Methodology Of Prophecy
Amos 3:6-7
If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
“God tells us that He continually speaks, but that people do not listen, saying, ‘When I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen’”(Isaiah 65:12).
He says of our idols “tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods.”
Clearly God values prophecy and displays His power and ability through giving it, being one of his chief methods for revealing truth, especially concerning His purposes in history. He surely has blown a trumpet in the city and will bring about the calamity He warns of, yet there will be many who do not heed that warning and will be swept away, like the people of Noah’s day, realizing far too late the action they were called to take.
Prophecy In The Bible
The first prophecy given by God is found in Genesis 3:15:
“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
*he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
There are about 2,500 prophecies which follow this first one. While there are different types, ranging from messianic, to predictive, to conditional, all prophecy follows the same pattern:
Revelation → Warning/Promise → Call to Action → Outcome
We see through this pattern that prophecy begins in heaven, finding its source in wisdom which is only accessible to God, and ends on earth, being that all prophecy in the Word is that which concerns God’s purposes as they relate to mankind.
We also see that, ultimately, all prophecy, and therefore all wisdom, points to one subject, which is Jesus Christ. He clearly states this when He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
With the final prophecy given being Revelation 22:20 which says:
“He who testifies to these things says,
‘Surely I am coming soon.’”
It is clear that God’s chief concern in every warning and display of power is that we would know, trust, rest in, and be changed by the knowledge of His Son.
If we are to understand God’s heart and draw near to Him, we must evaluate prophecy, seeking to understand its methodology and thus esteem it properly.
Revelation
Jesus said “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.”
We see that all truth, and anything worthy of being taught, finds its source in God, being that He alone has perspective from outside world events. It is from His position, as God, that He is able to reveal truth to those who are of lower stature.
Jesus, having seen The Father, and having been sent by Him, is able to speak from that same divine authority and is therefore able to relay those same truths. Jesus explains this when He says “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.” So we see that even the way in which Jesus spoke is a direct revelation from The Father.
For prophecy to be prophecy, it must begin as revelation, which is the act of disclosing, unveiling, or making known something that was previously hidden, secret, or unknown.
We are told, in Proverbs 25:2, that it is “God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.” So we see that God does in fact hide and keep secret certain information, for His own pleasure, which is His right, and that He has placed us in a position to enjoy the process of receiving revelation. This is why man finds enjoyment in science, philosophy, and history, for what are these things other than seeking out revelation?
Knowing that revelation comes only from God, and from His Son, it is foolish of us to seek out a matter which has been concealed from anyone other than He who has concealed it.
Warning/Promise
Being that God alone is in the position to conceal a matter, we can trust that He alone is the authority concerning what to do concerning the information He reveals.
When Jesus said “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Those in Jerusalem must get out, and those out in the country should not return to the city.” We know that He provides this warning on good authority, being that it was revealed to Him from a position high and above the earth, outside of the constraints of time and unaffected by speculation or unseen circumstances.
This prophecy was fulfilled in the exact manner it was revealed, as were all prophecies that have already come to pass, such as Isaiah 44:28 & 45:1 which says:
The Lord says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’”
“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him…”
So, we can see clearly, by examining history, that when a warning is given, it is given on good authority and that it is prudent of us to heed that warning. This same logic applies, not only to warnings but to promises as well, such as when God promised the Israelite’s, through Jeremiah:
“When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.”
Or, the promise made concerning the Hebrews, when God said:
“After four hundred years, I will bring judgment on the nation they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.”
Knowing the source of every warning and promise is a Living God who dwells in heaven, high and above any perspective we hold, we can fully trust the same and rely on both as a guide for our actions.
Call to Action
Being that the information which God chooses to reveal is only that which is pertinent to the ones for whom He reveals it, we know that each prophecy will bring with it a requirement of action on part of the hearer. Although God has access to all information and knows the answer to every question, His chief concern in prophecy is to the benefit of the hearer.
Since it is to our benefit, and not the benefit of some distant people or unseen power, each prophecy carries with it a responsibility in the form of a call to action.
For example, God says through Jeremiah:
“Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.”
So we see that God does not simply reveal the information in order that we can see He has the ability and authority to do so, but He does so in order to benefit us. This benefit is accomplished only when we heed the call to action.
There are many instances where we do not heed the call, which is also foreseen by God, for even concerning this specific prophesy, He immediately says:
“But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”
So we see that a prophecy without a call to action, or an instance where that call to action is not heeded by the hearer, is of no use to those who hear it and that each prophecy carries with it a responsibility which must be fulfilled if it is to accomplish its purpose.
Outcome
We see in the opening verse that God does nothing, in His covenantal dealings with His people, without first revealing it through the prophets. Being that He is in control of the outcomes of the world, He is also in a position to reveal those outcomes before they come to pass.
The outcome to any given situation is in His power alone, thus an outcome which He says will come to pass is contingent upon the reasoning He gives for bringing it about. This fact is summarized in His lesson over the potter and the clay, where He says:
“Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
Many prophetic outcomes—particularly those involving judgment—are conditional, while others, especially covenantal and messianic promises, are fixed by God’s sovereign decree. When God chooses to accomplish a task, He is not bound, as we are, by any sort of outside law or influence. The outcome is His to bring about or to prevent from happening, or to change at any point. Thus, Scripture presents both flexibility and certainty—not as contradictions, but as expressions of God’s sovereign freedom.
An example of a conditional outcome is found in the book of Jonah, where the outcome of the destruction of the Ninevites was changed due to their heeding the warning and following through on the call to action.
Whereas, an example of a non-conditional outcome is found in the account of Jesus, in which Pilate said:
“Why don’t you talk to me? Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” and Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
So we see that both conditional and unconditional outcomes find their authority in God alone.
Conclusion
It is God’s pleasure to organize world events through the direction of prophecy and it is to our benefit to seek out and participate in this process. God has designed a clear order and methodology in the process of prophecy and each instance carries with it a responsibility on our part. Many outcomes of individual events are not set in stone, but are contingent upon the process which God has designed and He enjoys the authority and ability to change those outcomes at any point. We serve a God who is not bound by any power outside of Himself and therefore, our faith is found in His character, being mercy, goodness and faithfulness, rather than an order of events or a set of laws which dictate them.
Prophecy does not exist to satisfy curiosity about the future, but to summon obedience in the present.