Articles
Predictions
Man has always had an interest in what the future holds, and has, from time to time, made predictions about what was to come. If we look back on some of the predictions made about the future in the 1960s, we would get a good laugh out of most of those predictions [no flying cars, no moon cities, and no 20-hour work weeks], but be surprised at some others [home computers, genetically-altered foods, population estimates]. The problem with man's predictions, though, is that they are nothing more than educated guesses; the predictions are not based on certain knowledge.
And man's habit of making predictions has not been reserved just for the social and scientific realms, either. Many men have made predictions about the end of the world since almost from its beginning! Since God's word came to man in written form, there have been numerous predictions about the second coming of Christ, with all of the self-proclaimed prophets citing Scripture for their reasoning, and many claiming, "The Bible Guarantees It!" [This claim was pasted on billboards across the country in 2011, based on Harold Camping's prediction of the end of the world on May 21, 2011.] Of course, they all were wrong.
Some religious denominations in this country, in fact, came into existence due to their leader making predictions about the end of the world. Back in the 1800s, a man named William Miller began predicting the end of the world between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When the latter date passed, he 'recalculated' and found it to be April 18, 1844, but that also passed by without its fulfillment. He 'recalculated' yet again and named October 22 of that same year as the new date, but it also passed without fulfillment. Despite these failures [sometimes called 'The Great Disappointment'], he still had followers, and they became what we now know as Seventh-Day Adventists.
They were not alone in their date-setting failures. The Jehovah's Witnesses and their leaders have continued to make end-of-time predictions since the 1860s, and have continuously revised their predictions as if no one should ever take note of their failed predictions and what it says about the ones predicting it. It is ironic that within their own publications, we find the following statement: "…the best method of proof is to put a prophecy to the test of time and circumstances. The Bible invites such a test…the Bible…established rules for testing a prophet at Deuteronomy 18:20-22." (Watchtower, March 1, 1965, New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p. 151.) That passage states, “when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22). From their own words, the Jehovah's Witnesses identify their own leaders as false prophets!
So why is it that man continues to make predictions, and these predictions continue to fail? And maybe we should also ask, "Why do man's predictions fail so often, yet God's statements about the future are always true?" The answer should tell us some things worth noting about ourselves and about God, if we are willing to stop and think about it.
First, let us note that God once said to His people [who were following after false gods at that time], “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods” (Isa. 41:22, 23). Well, those useless idols could not predict the future, and neither could their followers. As a contrast, God says of Himself, “And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses” (Isa. 44:7, 8), and, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it” (Isa. 46:9-11). The basic difference is clear: The idols can predict nothing; their followers can only guess at the future; but God knows all, and what He says will come to pass.
The essential difference in man's predictions and God's predictions is that His are based on foresight and foreknowledge, while man is merely guessing. As we just noted in His statements to His people as recorded in Isaiah, God knows all things, from beginning to end of time, but He also knows our every need even before we ask (Matt. 6:8), and “He knows the secrets of the heart” (Psa. 44:21). Simply put, God knows everything of all time.
Imagine a timeline of all events that will ever take place, set before God so He can always see each and every event. Now, since He is not bound by time or space, He can see each of the 'moments' [down to the millisecond] and all events simultaneously, and nothing passes by without Him knowing it. So, when He looks at an event that, to man, took place in the first century, He could say to those who lived 1000 years before that time exactly what would happen; there would be no doubt and there would be no 'what if something changed' to it. When we acknowledge the omniscience of God, the omnipotence of God, and the omnipresence of God, we can at least partially comprehend that God knows all and sees all and is in control of all things to accomplish His will and speak truth at all times. With God, there simply is no possibility of getting a date or person or event wrong.
So, what do we learn from this? There are a couple of things we should learn when we consider the inability of man and the certainty and totality of God's knowledge and foreknowledge.
Man does not know the day of Christ's coming. Actually, we should know this because the Bible tells us this plainly! Paul tells us, “the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2), and Peter told us, “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (2 Pet. 3:10). In other words, we won't know when He is coming!
We may trust the word of the Lord. Since “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18), and the record shows God always keeps His word (cf. Josh. 21:43-45), we may know that if God said Christ will come again (cf. 2 Thess. 1:7-10), we can be sure it will happen, though we may not know when it will happen.
When we acknowledge the certainty of Christ coming again and the certainty we do not know when that day will be, we should then realize we must be prepared before that day comes, lest we be caught unprepared for eternity! When He comes, there won't be some 'second chance' at belief and obedience, but a time of separation and judgment; of that we may be certain, too (Heb. 9:27).
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” —— Steven Harper
