Why is a prophecy important?

Answer 1

--ANSWER--

Definition:

Prophecy is the gift and action of predicting the future.

* Sometimes it is done as a warning - if something is done, or not done, then another thing will happen. This type of prophecy is generally seen as a case of "If you don't stop doing X, then dreadful consequences will ensue. * Other prophecy is not connected to the present - and is a genuine foretelling of the future. --ANSWER--

Religious interpretation:

Prophecy is the future written in advance; only God can do this, because He is outside space and time, and only He controls it. In ancient Israel, if you tried to usurp God's prerogative and lead people astray through false prophecy, then you died, even if it actually occurred.

Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

Deu 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

Deu 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death;

because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Deu 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

Deu 18:16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

Deu 18:17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.

Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Deu 18:19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Deu 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

Deu 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Prophecy is God's way of authenticating His message, because only He can cause an event still future to us to occur as prophesied in the future, but to God the future has already occurred, and if God said such-and-such will happen, then it already has. Prophecy is God's validation of a true message: People have given counterfeit and half-truthful prophecies all through the ages, and are still doing it today (eg Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons), but God will deal with them.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shalladd unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take awayfrom the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Answer 2

Answer:

Prophecies are important because the Father in heaven gave them to Jesus:

"...to show His servants what must soon take place... Blessed is the one who reads the words... and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." (Rev.1:1-3 NIV)

"...These Words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His servants the things that must soon take place. Behold, I AM COMING SOON! Blessed is he who keeps the Words of the prophecy in this book... Worship God!... Do not seal up the Words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy. Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done." (Rev.22:6-12 NIV)

God's prophecies are merely "Words to the Wise."

"...the Words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the WISE shall understand." (Dan.12:9-10)

The prophecies are for the servants of God... those who "tremble at His Words" (Isa.66:2)... that they may be at peace in His Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding... and take Hope in the future that the nations of this world don't have.

"Hear the Word of the Lord, you who tremble at His Word: Your brothers who hate you, and exclude you because of My Name, have said, 'Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy!' Yet they will be put to shame. Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord repaying His enemies all they deserve... As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants, but His fury will be shown to His foes..."

"...See, the Lord is coming with fire, and His chariots are like a whirlwind; He will bring down His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with His Sword the Lord will execute Judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the Lord." (Isa.66:5- 16 NIV)

The prophecies of God are important to all men. They are "history written in advance."

To those who believe them, now, words of hope and good news. To those who believe them not, words of warning to repent and believe.

"The time has come, He said. The Kingdom of God is near, Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15 NIV)

The prophecies of God are "fair warning."

Answer 3

The meaning of the word prophecy, is what a man of god tells the people of what is going to happen . Sometimes it may take many tears for the prophecy to be a reality, but it will be as the prophet said one day.

Another answer:

Prophecy is "history told in advance."

Answer 4

Jesus gave a good example in Matthew 24 as to why Prophecy is important. Jesus told the disciples that when they saw the "abomination of desolation" stand in the holy place they were to flee into the mountains.

Here Jesus was pointing to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 by the Romans. Now the Romans surrounded the city once, but then retreated. This was the sign for those who heeded Christ's prophecy to flee the city, which they did. But the Jews who did not heed Christ's words stayed in the city because the Romans retreated and they thought there was nothing to worry about.

But the Roman army came back, attacked the city and brought it to ruins. And the 1,000,000 Jews were killed in the seige because they didn't heeds Jesus' prophecy.

This is why prophecy is important. It tells us in advance what is going to happen, so that we can be prepared.

Answer 5

Prophecy basically means "to tell forth". That can be telling future events, such as Isaiah's prophecy of Jesus' birth, or it can be telling the truth as applicable to certain situations.

The importance of prophecy is to draw a person into a deeper relationship with God because of the truth revealed.

Answer:

Prophecy is "history told in advance."

It's God's revealing of His plan to man, created in His image: a witness and warning of what's coming upon the earth against Judgment Day.

God's Plan: the redemption and salvation of man and the restoration of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

Answer 6

Among the Hebrew people, a prophet was simply someone thought to be able to communicate with God. Thus the 'prophets' were not expected to predict the future, but could tell the people what God commanded. Gradually, and particularly in Christian times, prophecy has come to mean the ability to predict the future, with divine assistance. People now look for predictions - or prophecy - among the writings of the early prophets.

Answer 7

Isaiah 46:10New International Version (NIV)10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’

Fulfilled prophecy supports the veracity of The Bible while future prophechy gives humankind a look into what is to come and help motivate us to change our ways to be more prepared for these future events.