Understanding all Prophecies

Call to Prayer

Title: Understanding All Prophecies

By: Simon Maina Nuhu

Date: 07.02.2025

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4).

As we know, the Holy Scripture was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and everything therein, is significant for our learning and instruction. There are quite a lot of subject matters that concern us that we must really understand;  prophecy is one of them. Prophecies are discoveries of mysteries of the past, the present, and the accurate forecast or predictions of the future through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Moses was not physically there during the creation, and certainly was not there in the garden of Eden, yet was able to give an account of them after an encounter with God. We are to understand that all prophecies given by the Spirit operate in two ways: conditional prophecies and unconditional prophecies.

Conditional (reversible) prophecies: These prophecies are bounded by mercy and grace. Their fulfillment depends mainly on our lifestyle, attitude, faith, obedience, conviction, behaviour, decision, acceptance, rejection, and choices. There are noteworthy examples of conditional prophecies in the scripture where the actual people reversed them through their attitude, decision, and faith.  Take, for instance, God’s declaration of judgment on Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-10). Despite it was a true prophecy from God concerning them, nevertheless, they put on sack clothes, fasted, and repented of their sins and God reversed the judgment on them. Similarly,  Hezekiah received a judgment of death (Isaiah 38:1-6), nonetheless, he sought the face of God and prayed, God eventually reversed that and added him 15 years.  We see also the prophecy of Jacob to all his sons (Genesis 49:1-10). Other examples are the prophecy regarding the choice between life and death (Deuteronomy 33:3-4) and promises about earthly welfare (Deuteronomy 28:1-40).

Unconditional (irreversible) prophecies: These prophecies cannot be changed or prevented by will, prayer, choice, or decision of a man, in fact, they are forever sealed until they are fully fulfilled. Examples are the birth and coming of Jesus (Isaiah 9:6-9), and the death and resurrection of Jesus. Also, the promise of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28, Luke 24:49), the perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1-7), the rapture of saints of God and great tribulation ( 1 Corinthians 15:51-52), the judgment day (Revelation 20:11-15), the emergence of fake prophets and anti-Christ (Matthew 24:11-12), Nations will rise against Nations (Matthew 24:7).

There are times when both prophecies come in one form: such as the prophecy of whom to deny and betray Jesus. It was a conditional prophecy for Peter and Judas Iscariot because they could ask for forgiveness but also unconditional because the scripture must be fulfilled.

Prayer point:

Let’s thank God for today. Let’s ask Him for more understanding of prophecy.