Prophetic Messages from the Bible - Truth and Reliability Revealed

Posted on Sep 01, 2022 Topic : Prophecy
Posted by : Todd Hampson

We have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place. —2 Peter 1:19

Have you ever really stopped to think about that verse? God’s Word is our stability in the darkness—and it is inherently prophetic and reliable. The two terms go hand in hand.

At its core, the Bible is a “prophetic message” and it is “completely reliable.” Fulfilled prophecy proves its reliability. The concepts are two sides of the same coin. Fulfilled prophecy is the strongest apologetic (evidence) that the Bible is from God. The Bible is the only religious book that claims to be the very Word of God and backs this claim up with hundreds of specific fulfilled prophecies. Prophecies are promises. A promise is only as good as the character and ability of the promise-maker.

We read this bold statement from God in Isaiah 46:9-10: “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, and what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” In a similar manner, Jesus—after telling the disciples some of what was to come—said these words in John 16:4: “I have told you this so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.”

I’ll readily admit that as Christians, we believe some crazy stuff! We believe in creation and miracles, a global flood and supernatural plagues, the incarnation where God became a man, the resurrection of the dead, the future rapture of the church, a future time of God’s judgment, and the creation of a new heaven and earth. We have not personally witnessed any of those things. So why in the world would believe they are true?

Experts cite that the Bible is made up of 26–33% prophecy. About 75%-80% has already been fulfilled. That is a big down payment that ensures that the remaining 20-25% percent will in like manner be fulfilled. The single greatest reason we can trust the seemingly-insane claims about supernatural events of the past and the miraculous events related to our future—is the clear and compelling apologetic of fulfilled Bible prophecy.

Even more compelling is the fact that the 26–33 percent of the Bible that is made up of prophecy is not peripheral content—it is inherently connected to the core message of the Bible! I often refer to prophecy as the central nervous system of the Bible. Biologists study systems in organisms—the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, the muscular system, etc. None of those systems can work without the central nervous system. They are all connected to it and rely on it. Just as living things like humans and animals can’t function properly without a healthy central nervous system, the Bible can’t be accurately understood without the all-important feature of prophecy.

All key teaching (doctrine/theology), stories, people, and themes in the Bible are somehow connected to Bible prophecy. This is because the Bible (though penned by at least 39 human writers, on 3 different continents over a period of 1500 years) was inspired by God, who knows everything that is to come. And only God can bring about the perfect fulfillment of every prophecy given in Scripture.

Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible was “God-breathed.” Second Peter 1:21 tells us that those who wrote prophecy “spoke from God” and were “carried along by the Holy Spirit.” In other words. God told them what to write. That is why the whole Bible tells one complete story—a story that is tied together by prophecy and in every way ultimately points to Jesus!

Now more than ever we need to let the concrete statistics and logical facts of prophecy strengthen our faith as believers in Christ. He has promised to be with you always—even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)!