Background

About three years ago my friend Nathan Richardson shared a paper with me by Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr. titled Historical Contingencies and Biblical Predictions that had some insightful ideas about prophets and prophecies. Dr Pratt, like most Protestant Christians, shares ideas within a historical perspective of the Bible. As Latter-Day Saint Christians, we believe in a living reality of prophets and prophecies. So his thoughts resonated with my views on the Bible as well as my opinions of living prophets and prophecy.

Historical contingencies

Dr. Pratt groups prophetic statements into three types;

Prophecies of what might be

Explicit conditions

When prophets spoke about things to come, they did not necessarily refer to what the future would be. At times, they proclaimed only what might be. Prophets were ‘attempting to create certain responses in the community’ by making their predictions explicitly conditional. They spoke of potential, not necessary future events. Thus, their predictions warned of judgment and offered blessings in order to motivate listeners to participate in determining their own future. As we will see, this feature of Old Testament prophecy is central to understanding the prediction-fulfillment dynamic.

Implicit conditions

Uni-polar conditional predictions point to another important feature of Old Testament prophecy. Prophets did not always speak explicitly of all possible conditions related to their predictions. The context of Isaiah’s uni-polar word to Ahaz (Isa 7:9) implied that the king would be blessed if he relied on Yahweh (Isa 7:3-9). Jeremiah’s words concerning the temple (Jer 7:5-7) warned of exile for disobedience (Jer 7:8-15). Yet, the explicit conditions mentioned in the oracles themselves only focused on one side of each situation. We should not be surprised, therefore, to find that in other circumstances Old Testament prophets did not state all conditions applying to their predictions. In fact, we will see that considering unexpressed conditions is vital to a proper interpretation of prophecy.

Assured Prophecies

Predictions qualified by assurances reveal two important features of Old Testament prophecy. On the one hand, these passages make it plain that some predicted events were inevitable. With reference to these declarations, Yahweh would not listen to prayers, turn back, relent, or violate his oaths. Nevertheless, we must remember that these kinds of predictions are few in number and usually not very specific in their descriptions of the future. They assure that some events will take place, but they do not guarantee how, to what extent, when, or a host of other details. As we will see, these details are subject to historical contingencies.

Predictions without qualifications

As we have seen, a number of passages contain explicit conditions and assurances. Now we will give attention to a third category of passages: predictions without qualifications. These materials contain neither expressed conditions nor assurances. From the outset, we may say without hesitation that intervening historical contingencies had some bearing on this class of predictions. The Old Testament abounds with examples of unqualified predictions of events that did not take place. For instance, Jonah announced, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned” (Jonah 3:4), but God spared the city (Jonah 3:10). Shemiah told Rehoboam, “You have abandoned me; so, I now abandon you to Shishak” (2 Chr 12:5), but the attack was mollified (2 Chr 12:7-8). Huldah declared to Josiah, “I am bringing disaster on this place and its inhabitants” (2 Kgs 22:16), but the punishment for Jerusalem was later postponed (2 Kgs 22:18-20). Micah said to Hezekiah, “Zion will be plowed like a field” by Sennacherib (Mic 3:12; cf. Jer 26:18), but the invasion fell short of conquering the city (2 Kgs 19:20-35). In each of the examples, the predicted future did not take place. What caused these turns of events? Each text explicitly sights human responses as the grounds for the deviations. The people of Nineveh (Jon 3:6), the leaders of Judah (2 Chr 12:6), Josiah (2 Kgs 22:17) and Hezekiah (Jer 26:19) repented or prayed upon hearing the prophetic word.

Summary of prophetic understanding

He then lays out the context for how prophets work within the revelation of God.

The prophets themselves point in a helpful direction. As we will see, they did not believe Yahweh was free to take history in any direction. On the contrary, they looked to past revelation to understand the parameters to which Yahweh had bound himself. To be more specific, the prophets looked to Yahweh’s covenants to guide their expectations of what the future held.

All of this is to say that whenever prophets offered predictions they did so with the firm conviction that Yahweh would keep his covenants with Israel. It was unthinkable that he would violate the structures of blessing and curses given through these solemn oaths. Yahweh would never react to historical contingencies in ways that transgressed his covenants.

Divine covenants were not declarations subject to revision. They were divine oaths whose invariance reflected the immutable character of God himself.

In summary, the original recipients of Old Testament predictions could rest assured that Yahweh would fulfill all of his covenant promises, but no particular prophecy was completely free from the potential influence of intervening historical contingencies. In this sense, those who heard and read the prophets faced a future whose precise contours remained hidden. They could hope, but the manner in which Yahweh would react to human responses remained open until the moment he acted.

How we should respond to prophecy

Finally, he shares the key thoughts that resonated with me and how I see my relationship to prophecies from scripture and in our day.

Instead of looking for how actions today fit within a fixed future, we should explore how actions today effect the future. In a word, we should be less concerned with foreknowledge of the future and more concerned with the formation of the future.

In much the same way, our focus on current events in the light of biblical prophecy should entail our efforts to form the future. The fatalism of popular approaches should be replaced by piety and activism intent on avoiding judgment and securing blessing. If we believe that human responses to biblical predictions effect the ways in which the future unfolds, we should make certain that our responses direct the future toward divine blessing. Turning away from sin, offering prayers, and working for the kingdom must become our central hermeneutical concern.

Our study of biblical prophecy opens the way for exploring a number of interesting passages. Perhaps it provides a framework for understanding why Jesus told the apostles, “some standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). Did intervening contingencies delay the return of Christ? Maybe Peter was operating with a similar concept when he admitted that the apparent delay of Christ’s return was due to the fact that God “is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). Does this view explain why he then exhorted his readers, “You should be holy and godly, looking forward to the day of God and speeding its coming” (2 Pet 3:12)? Perhaps John had this outlook as he heard Jesus announce, “Yes, I am coming soon,” (Rev 22:20). Was this the reason he responded, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20)?

If the proposal of this study is correct, we are not involved in an irrelevant academic debate. The way we handle biblical predictions will greatly effect how they are fulfilled. Our failure to respond properly may actually extend the sufferings of the church by delaying our ultimate victory. Even so, if we make proper use of biblical predictions, they will enhance our hopes for the future and incite us to live today in ways that will hasten the consummation of all things.

I remember listening to a talk by S. Michael Wilcox at Education Week or the now-defunct CES Week where he discussed the prophecy by Joseph Smith in section 118 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Scott Woodward has an excellent summary of the verses and the quotes from the brethren that fulfilled the prophecy. Brother Wilcox then asked, “What would it be like to be the one that brings God’s prophecy to past?”. He was echoing a message that I felt in Dr. Pratt’s message.

I appreciate a prophecied plan from God that sets the vision for his people that allows us to bring it to pass. I want “to live today in ways that will hasten the consummation of all things.”

• openness
• lds
• principles