Why Did God Put Prophecy in the Bible?

What is the purpose for Bible prophecy? Why did God predict the future? God shared predictions about the future for at least three reasons. First, such predictions validate God’s claims regarding His character and His power. By announcing events in advance and then causing them to happen, God demonstrated His absolute authority and control over the universe. In Isaiah 41–48 God repeatedly uses His ability to announce what the future holds to show His superiority to any other supposed god.

“I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they sprout I proclaim them to you” (Isa. 42:8–9).

“Who among them can declare this and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses so that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’ ‘You are My witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, only I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me’” (Isa. 43:9–11).

“This is what the Lord says, He who is the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of armies: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; and, let him confront Me beginning with My establishing of the ancient nation. Then let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place’” (Isa. 44:6–7).

“Gather yourselves and come; come together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge, who carry around their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save. Declare and present your case; indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this long ago? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me” (Isa. 45:20–21).

“Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My plan will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa. 46:9–10).

“I declared the former things long ago, and they went out of My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron tendon and your forehead bronze, therefore I declared them to you long ago, before they took place I proclaimed them to you. . . . For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another” (Isa. 48:3–5, 11).

Isaiah recorded these words around 700 BC after God had announced that Judah would be taken into captivity in Babylon (Isa. 39:5–7), but beginning in chapter 40 God promises to restore His people from that still-future captivity. And as if to punctuate the reality that He is in control of time itself, God provides a dramatic prediction. In the center of all these statements about His unique power God makes the following announcement. “This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and to undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. . . . For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me” (45:1, 4, emphasis added).

God identified the ruler who would defeat Babylon and issue a command to allow the Jewish people to return home. And He made that specific announcement 170 years before the event happened! How significant is this? It would be comparable to having George Washington announce at his inauguration in 1789 that another American military commander named Dwight Eisenhower would become the thirty-fourth president. From a human perspective such a prediction is impossible. And that’s God’s point. Only He can make such a dramatic announcement because He alone is God and in control of history even before it occurs.

The second reason God predicted the future was to validate both His messenger and His message. This is especially true concerning the person and work of His Son. How could Israel know when their Messiah had arrived? They could look for someone who would:

• Be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14)
• Be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2)
• Receive gold and frankincense from kings who would come to worship Him (Isa. 60:1–6)
• Perform miracles of healing on the blind, deaf, lame, and mute (Isa. 35:4–6)
• Ride into Jerusalem on the exact day predicted by Daniel (Dan. 9:25)
• Ride into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9)

And these are just some of the predictions about the Messiah that validated Jesus’ claims!

But there’s a third reason God prophesied the future. He pulled back the curtain of time and revealed the future to give His followers hope and comfort. Knowing what the Bible says about the future helps God’s followers place life’s events in their proper perspective. God reveals His plans and purposes to enable us to walk by faith rather than live in fear. Paul began his prediction of the rapture (1 Thess. 4:13–18) by saying he didn’t want believers “to be uninformed . . . about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope” (v. 13). Paul then ends his description of these events with a reassuring message of hope. “Therefore, comfort one another with these words” (v. 18).

God gave prophecy to produce stability and holy living. In 2 Peter 3 the apostle describes the coming of scoffers who deny the reality of God’s predictions regarding the future. Peter reminds them of God’s patience, but he also affirms the reality that the final “day of judgment and destruction” (v. 7) is coming. Then, having explained what the future holds, Peter shares a very practical application of how that truth should impact our lives today. “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace” (v. 11–14).

Prophecy gives God’s followers hope, comfort, and stability in what could otherwise be turbulent times!