History Interprets Prophecy

 

Down through the ages, prophecy often could not be understood until the event actually happened. History is the best interpreter of prophecy. When unfolding history matches up with what God has prophesied, then the wise and the faithful can know what God was foretelling or warning, and be assured that He is fulfilling His purpose and plan.

Last days prophecy can be very confusing, almost impossible to understand. That is because God intentionally veiled the full and clear meaning so that it would remain a mystery until the time it was needed to be known (cf. Dan 12:4-10). The problem is, most interpreters don’t want to wait for history to unveil it. So, they become experts at fabricating interpretations, speculatively. And their conjecture, which sounds so good, becomes “gospel truth”. It is not the privilege of interpreters to become a “prophet” and predict the meaning of God’s prophecies. Prophecy is God speaking. History will have the final say what God meant.

The prophet Amos wrote, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.”  But God does not reveal His plan just to satisfy our curiosity, rather to warn mankind and to guide His faithful, at the appropriate time.

Joseph had a dream of his brother’s sheaves bowing down to him. It wasn’t clear what it meant until the time it was fulfilled. His brothers and his father denied that the dream could have any truth to it, and Joseph must have wondered the meaning as he spent time in an Egyptian prison.

Daniel’s dream of five beasts (Dan. 7) could not be fully interpreted at the time. Yes, the beasts represented nations, but exactly which nations was not made clear until history unfolded. And the identification of the fifth beast, the little horn nation, has only recently been fulfilled in history. The birth of a new nation, America, and its rise to world power, is proof positive of God’s providence. Do we see it?

The prophecies of the birth and ministry of Jesus were the same. They could not be interpreted predictively, but when history interpreted them then the wise should have recognized their long-awaited Messiah. But, no, only a small handful of people believed the fulfillment of prophecy. The Pharisees denied that unfolding history was confirming the Prophets, and insisted that Jesus was an imposter, not the Christ. Jesus later wept over Jerusalem, saying, “How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” (Lk 12:56) “You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Lk 12:56; 19:44).

Now, what about those prophecies of Revelation? The accurate interpretation, once again, will come from history. But will we recognize history’s fulfillment, or will we hold on to our cherished conjectures and speculations? That question is very, very relevant. Why? Because Revelation is happening, now. Five of the seven trumpet warnings have already occurred, over the last 100 years. Which means that Armageddon is next. History also confirms that the little horn of Daniel 7 and the seventh beast of Revelation 13 are not the Antichrist, rather a powerful nation at the end of the age. History has confirmed America’s place in prophecy, and inherent in that accurate interpretation is the warning that America will be destroyed. History is interpreting God’s prophecies quite differently than what most Christians have been taught to expect.