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Bible Prophecy
The Bible is unlike all other books in that it bases it's authenticity and authority on prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy is stronger evidence for the inspiration and authority of the Bible than miracles. Prophecy is not a a haphazard guess nor a probability made up of uncertain data such as weather probabilities. prophecy is history written in advance.
The importance of the study of Biblical prophecy is seen when we discover that two thirds of the Bible is prophetic, either in type, symbol, or direct statement. More than one half of the Old Testament prophecies and nearly all of the New Testament point to events yet future.
The religious leaders of Christ's day mis-understood the Biblical prophecies and because of this, they failed to recognize Christ when he came.
The same type of thing will happen today if religious leaders incorectly interpret prophecy, by only trusting in their traditional teaching and understanding with out a true Biblical base. They will not be ready to be used by the Lord in bringing forth the Kingdom of God.
What is true prophecy and what are the requirements of genuine preditctions?
1. It must have been known prior to fulfillment.
2. It must be beyond human forsight.
3. It must give details.
4. A sufficient time must elapse between it's publication and fulfillment to exclude the prophet or an interested party form fulfilling it.
5. There must be a clear and evident fulfillment in fact as stated by the prophecy.
Compoound probabilities:
The value of the argument for the inspiration of the Bible from prophecy is evident when we study the law of compound probabilities.
If we were to predict an earthquake in Phoenix, Arizona next year, the chances would be 1 in 2 that it would occur. If I should add another prediction, that it would be on the 4th of July, that chance is decreased 1 in 4. If I would add another detail, such as it would happen in the day time, the chances would be 1 in 8. A fourth detail would make the chances 1 in 32 and if the details were 10 in number, the chances would be 1 in 1,024.
Of the many prophecies given in the Old Testament, 25 are specific. Prophecies bearing on the betrayal, trial, death and burial of Jesus, were uttered by different prophets durring the period 1000 BC to 500 BC, yet they were all literally fulfilled in one person in one 24 hour period.
According to the law of Compound Probabilities, there was 1 chance in 33,554,432 that these 25 predictions would be fulfilled as prophecised let alone by one person in a 24 hour period.
If one prophet should make several predictions for a coming event, he might by colusion with others to bring it to pass, however, when a number of prophets distributed over several centuries, give detailed and specifiec predictions to a single event the charge of collusion cannot be sustained.
It is a fact that there were at least 109 predictions literally fulfilled in the birth, death and resurection of Jesus Christ.
When we appply the law of Compound Probabilits to this number, we find that the chances that it would be fulfilled in one person is 1 in several billion.
There are over 800 quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. Over 300 of these refer to Christ, some being in the form of types and figures and some direct in the minutest details.
Prophecy in Time
Prophets spoke to people what God told them to speak. At times they themselves did not know the meaning of what they were speaking in these prophetic words that they recorded. Time is at the heart of every prophecy.
2 Peter 3:8 declares that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and then it says a thousand years are as one day.
The fact that a thousand years are as one day with the Lord is one fact and one day as a thousand years at first seems to be just restating the previous fact. However in the Bible the way things are stated also have aditional meanings.
So the one thousand years as one day may open up an entirely new meaning and concept of God's time.
Now we know the length of the millenium is 1000 years(Revelation 20:1-9), and that it coresponds with the seventh day of the creation week. Since we have understanding of the seventh day, then it would seem to be a natural conclusion that the preceding six days are of the same length.
Using this formula from the begining of human history to the millenium should be 6,000 years of history. However the word of God spoken through Peter may add a whole new understanding of how God sees time. One day as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
One possibility to keep in mind is that the Lord may be saying, One thousand years of days, with each day being one thousand year.
Of course this is just my statement and one should not act upon this as a doctinal belief, but only to consider as one possibility in understanding How God speaks of time and eternity.
