Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I Told You So

What is the most important prophecy in the scriptures? For as many students of the Word as there are, there will be that many answers to such a question. Although Genesis 3:15 or Isaiah 53 would have to be considered in such measure, imho, something a bit obscure, and yet eminently practical may actually take the bill: Amos 3:7.

What this passage leads me to believe is that if events have significance to God's plan of redemption, those events will be foretold by prophets. Where such a supposition finds practical application is in understanding redemption history during the church age. For instance, events like the disintegration of the Pax Romana, the pandemic of Bubonic plague in the 1340's, or the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust are events that, no doubt, affected redemption history, and therefore, should be anticipated to be foretold by biblical prophecy.

If the last biblical prophetic revelation, the Apocalypse, was actually inspired in 95 CE (as is generally supposed), where in the Bible are these earth shattering events that have befallen mankind since then? I believe there are biblical answers to that question, and more, and will be visiting (off and on) the subject of eschatology for the next little while. I actually believe I have some insight on the subject you may find a blessing, but even if you end up not agreeing with that assessment-- when it's all said and done, and we meet those inspired saints of prior years in the air, they will be able to shamelessly trump our shock and mystery at what we've had to go through until then, with that age old gem of the smug, "I told you so!"