CAN A PROPHECY BE CHANGED? PROPHECY PART II

CAN A PROPHECY BE CHANGED

PROPHECY – PART II

BY DR MERVYN ABREO

          A prophecy is a message given by a prophet, who communicates the thoughts of God to man. Therefore, whether a prophecy can be changed or not, depends entirely upon the type of prophecy and the reason for which the prophecy is given.

(For a better understanding it is essential to read PROPHECY-PART I)

PROPHECIES THAT CAN CHANGE: Here the prophecy is basically in the form of a warning, which, if taken in the right spirit and heeded, could appease the wrath of God, and bring about a change, and not the fulfillment of the prophecy.

Following are the instances when, due to God’s mercy, prophecy did change:

1) In the first Book of Kings, in the twenty-first chapter, king Ahab sinned and the prophet Elijah warned him that he was going to die. The king repented and God forgave him. (1Kings. 21:29).

2) King Hezekiah was warned by the prophet Elijah that he would become seriously ill, and die. The king prayed to God, reminded Him of his righteousness and wept. And God healed him of his deadly illness. (2Kings. 20:4-6).

3) The entire city of Nineveh was condemned by God, as prophesied by the prophet Jonah. The entire population repented, turned from their evil ways, and were forgiven. (Book of Jonah).

PROPHESY THAT CANNOT CHANGE:

          Man, without God’s intervention cannot change a prophecy. And so a true prophet is identified as one who can accurately predict the future.

          Keeping the Omnipresent nature of God in mind, a prophecy can never be changed by man.

A Biblical prophecy fulfilled in spite of man’s attempt to foil it:

          The prophet Micaiah prophesied to Ahab, the king of Israel, that he would be killed in battle and that his army would be scattered. (1 Kings 22: 17).

To prevent this prophecy from coming true, the king went into battle totally disguised, because the first target for the enemy bowmen is always the king. However, a certain man drew his bow at random, and smote king Ahab between the joints of his armor. And he died at night fall.

WHY IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR A PROPHECY NOT TO FAIL

One of the essential reasons for a prophecy to come to pass is given by the prophet Isaiah: ‘Therefore I have declared things to you from old; before they came to pass I announced them to you, so that you could not say, my idols have done them, and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.

You have heard [these things foretold], now you see this fulfillment. And will you not bear witness to it? I show you specified new things from this time forth, even hidden things [kept in reserve] which you have not known.

They are created now [called into being by the prophetic word], and not long ago; and before today you have never heard of them!’ (Isa. 48:5-7).

In the last verse we see how these events, which are to take place in the future, are ‘created new or called into being by the prophetic word,’ because the prophetic word is spoken, ‘after these events have taken place, in the future.’

Because, as explained in Part I, my definition of prophecy is: “foretelling, that which has already taken place, in the future.”

Following topics will be covered in subsequent articles:

 Validity of blood sacrifices in the Old Testament. I.e. what would happen to the O. T. blood sacrifices had Jesus not been killed, or had died without the spilling of blood? (PROPHESY PART III)

 Could Jesus have changed what had been prophesied about Himself? (PART IV)

 Did God manipulate prophecies to make them come true?  (PART V)

..............................................................

Dear friend,

          I look forward to getting your feedback. Do write in to me at:

                                        drmervynabreo@gmail.com 

………………………………………………………….