We learn from the Scriptures that prophecy is an important part of God's message to mankind. Unfortunately, people often misunderstand the nature of prophecy. Many think that prophecy always involves things that will happen in the future. When someone mentions the word prophecy, many start thinking of such men as Elijah or Isaiah, perhaps of John who penned the Revelation, or even of people like Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce. What, then, is prophecy? Who spoke the prophesies? What were the messages spoken through prophecy?

According to Webster's dictionary, the basic meaning of the word prophecy involves "a foretelling, prediction, a declaration of something to come." In the Bible, however, prophecy is a message from God, given through the Holy Spirit, and communicated to us by a prophet or some other person chosen by God (2 Peter 1:20-21, Jeremiah 2, Hosea 4, etc.) Many times, those messages did involve the future, either in terms of future consequences that would arise because of people's sins, or the promise of God's future blessings through Christ and His Kingdom (cf. Isaiah 7; Jeremiah 31-34; Isaiah 2, 53; etc.) Yet, the message can just as easily involve current events and condemnation of present sinfulness (Isaiah 1-3; Jeremiah 2; etc.) Prophecy, therefore, does not always involve the future.

The Bible demonstrates that God normally spoke through prophets. There are examples of others who prophesied by God's power, e.g., Eldad and Medad (Numbers 11:26-27), Saul (1 Samuel 10:10-11), and Caiaphas (John 11:50-51); but the prophetic messages were generally spoken through men whom God chose. God directly called many of these men--Elisha in 1 Kings 19:16-21; Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1, etc. However, at least during the days of Elijah and Elisha, there does seem to have been a class of prophets ("the sons of the prophets;" cf. 2 Kings 2:15; 2 Kings 6:1-2). These men were called from all sorts of backgrounds, everything from shepherds (Amos in Amos 1) to priests (Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:1).

All that was required of them was that they present God's message, spoken through the Holy Spirit, to the people. They were not involved in the interpretive process; their messages came directly from God and were not of their own invention (2 Peter 1:20.21). This set the true prophets apart from the false prophets who dared to speak as if God had spoken to them. But in reality, they were speaking from their own imaginations (Hananiah in Jeremiah 28).

God communicated through His prophets in different ways. Many times they were instructed to stand and present a direct message to the people, or to the king (cf. Isaiah 7, Jeremiah 7). Sometimes, God communicated through them by way of signs; He used instructive examples (the potter and clay in Jeremiah 17); events in the prophets' lives (Isaiah and Maher-shalal-hash-baz in Isaiah 8, Hosea and Gomer in Hosea 1-4); or He commanded them to act in certain ways for instructive purposes (Isaiah 20, Ezekiel 4:4-17). To others, God spoke through visions (Daniel in Daniel 7-9; John in Revelation).

In the Old Testament, the prophetic messages were rather consistent, as indicated in Zechariah 1:4: "Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets cried, saying, 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings:' but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD."

All the prophets, from Moses to Zechariah, warned the people to cease from sin and follow God according to the Law. Many of the prophets went on to inform Israel of the consequences of their continued sin. This usually involved the prediction of destruction and devastation--both from natural forces such as pestilence and famine, and from invading armies. Israel's defeat and exile at the hands of the Assyrians, and Judah's defeat and exile at the hands of the Babylonians, validated all of the prophetic warnings (cf. 2 Kings 17; 2 Kings 25).

Although Israel was the main audience of the Old Testament prophets, they also prophesied regarding the approaching condemnation of other nations around Israel (cf. Isaiah 13-20; Jeremiah 46-51, etc.) The entire messages of Jonah, Nahum, and Obadiah focused on other nations and their fates. All such messages, however, were designed to glorify the LORD's name and demonstrate His power, not only over Israel, but also over all nations.

Many of the Old Testament prophets also spoke of the glory that God would return to His people after His judgments. These prophecies involved the coming Messiah and the Kingdom that would be established. These are the classic predictive, or Messianic, prophecies with which many are most familiar. Such prophecies include Isaiah 2:1-4; 9:1-6; 53; Jeremiah 31-33; Ezekiel 41-48; Daniel 7-9; and a host of others.

Although prophecy ceased in Israel between Malachi and the days of Jesus' birth (ca. 420 BCE--4 BCE), the New Testament features many prophets. These prophets were believers on whom God bestowed the gift of prophecy (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:10). These prophecies include the messages of Agabus, along with God's revelation to John (cf. Acts 11:28; 21:10-12; Revelation). Much of the work of the New Testament prophets, however, involved encouraging the brethren (Acts 15:32; 1 Corinthians 14). In the days before the written New Testament, the prophets played the vital role of communicating God's message to the believers, strengthening them in their faith, and exhorting them to follow God's purposes for their lives.

Prophecy, therefore, certainly involved predicting future events; but fundamentally, it involved delivering God's message to mankind. If we wish to properly understand God's prophetic word, we must understand to whom the prophecy was first spoken, whether it involved only the immediate audience or also people in the future, and the referent of predictive prophecies. If our interpretation of a prophecy makes no sense in light of its original audience, it serves as a clear warning that our interpretation may be inaccurate. If we remember this, we will better escape the tyranny of the present (presuming all prophecy actually involves our own day).

God spoke through prophets to encourage His people to do the right thing and to comfort them, to establish what would come to pass and show them He was the one true God, the Creator, and Lord. This is as true for the New Testament audience as it was for those who lived during Old Testament times. (edited KMG)