Often we are prone to think that what Biblical prophecies “do” in Scripture is to foretell future events, like “writing the news before it happens” or something. Under this kind of imagination, then, the only real differences between Biblical Prophecy and the palm reader at the local county fair are (1) accuracy, and (2) divine sanction. The Bible’s allowed to do it because it’s God doing it, and he’s reliable because he’s God. The fortune-teller, however, is neither reliable nor allowed to do it, even when they’re accurate. [INSERT summer-camp sermon about the witch of Endor].
But this fails to fully value what God is doing in biblical prophecy. I mean, sure, Biblical prophecy often does foretell future events… but (1) not always and (2) not only.
Frequently biblical prophets are tasked with explaining things that have already happened: Samuel declares what Saul has already done and what God has already decided (1 Sam 15), Nathan reveals what David has already transgressed (2 Sam 11), as does Elijah for Ahab (1 Kings 21). Elisha, moreover doesn’t tell people what’s going to happen, he makes something happen (2 Kings 2:19-24), as does the prophet at Jeroboam’s altar (1 Kings 13:4)
Moreover, the goal of Biblical prophecy is more than factual, more than declarative (i.e. “this has happened / is happening / will happen”), though it does do that. The goal of biblical prophecy is exegetical, homiletical, sermonic. It is to say “this is what these things mean.” This is critical. The goal of prophecy in the bible is not to “tell the news” … not even the job of news-anchors, journalists, reporters, etc. is to “tell the news” —we give awards like the Peabody Award and the Pulitzer Prize to those who not only tell us what happened, but who do so in a way that makes sense of it for us.
I was once watching the ceremonies around the Eddie Aikau with my kiddos. When the elders drank from the bowl of kava one of my kids asked “Daddy, what are they doing?” I could have answered “they’re drinking from wooden bowls.” But that’s not what my kids were asking. They wanted to know what the people were doing —by which they meant “what is the meaning of this action?” The precious little symbol-mongers knew that sheer description is not enough to capture the gestures and events of the ceremony.
So also Biblical Prophecy is not just news told in advance in an unhelpful mystical poetic idiom. It is God’s divine sermon on what those events mean. The goal of bible-study —let us understand— is not to “decode” the prophets to get to the “truth”. It is to hear what the Lord is saying in the words as they are spoken, —“Father, what are you saying? Spirit, what does this mean?”
Biblical Prophecy is the living Word of the Father. And while it sometimes concerns past or future events, it is always about the life of the one who is the Word of the Father and whose Spirit abides in the Church.