Prophecies can have conditions
Prophecies can have conditions
Prophecies can have conditions.
Different outcomes can be possible depending on which conditions are met.
A prophecy can have conditions even if the conditions are NOT STATED within the prophecy itself. The absence of STATED conditions does not necessitate the absence of conditions.
You can find evidence for that below.
Prophecies can have CONDITIONS:
Prophecies can have conditions, as illustrated by the use of the conditional particle "IF". For example:
Jeremiah 7:
It is written: "Thus says the LORD" (Jeremiah 7:3): "IF you make your ways straight, and your pursuits" (Jeremiah 7:5), "THEN I will cause you to dwell in this place, in (the) land which I gave to your fathers" (Jeremiah 7:7).
2 Chronicles 7:
It is written: ": "GOD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him" (2 Chronicles 7:12): "IF you shall walk before Me as David your father (did), and shall do according to all which I commanded you" (2 Chronicles 7:17), "THEN I will establish the throne of your kingdom" (2 Chronicles 7:18).
Different OUTCOMES can be possible depending on which conditions are met:
Prophecies can have conditions, as illustrated by the use of the conditional particle "IF", and can have DIFFERENT OUTCOMES depending on which conditions are met. For example:
Isaiah 1:
It is written: "let us reason together,” says the LORD" (Isaiah 1:18), "IF you are willing, and obey Me, YOU SHALL EAT THE GOOD OF THIS LAND; BUT IF you are not willing, nor obey Me, A SWORD WILL DEVOUR YOU" (Isaiah 1:19-20).
Jeremiah 22:
It is written: "Thus says the LORD: “Execute judgment and righteousness" (Jeremiah 22:3), "For IF you will do this word, then THEY WILL ENTER IN THE GATES OF THIS HOUSE, kings sitting upon (the) throne of David" (Jeremiah 22:4), "BUT IF you will not do these words, by Myself I swore an oath,” says the LORD, “that THIS HOUSE WILL BE FOR DESOLATION”" (Jeremiah 22:5).
Prophecies can have conditions even if they are NOT STATED:
A prophecy can have conditions even if the conditions are NOT STATED within the prophecy itself. For example:
Jonah 3:
It is written that Jonah the prophet said to Nineveh: "Yet forty days, and NINEVEH WILL BE OVERTROWN" (Jonah 3:4). No conditions were STATED in this prophecy concerning if Nineveh would be overthrown or not. Yet the prophecy did not come to pass, as Nineveh was not overthrown forty days later.
Indeed it is written that as a response the people of Nineveh "TURNED EACH AWAY FROM HIS EVIL WAY" (Jonah 3:8), "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; AND GOD RELENTED from the bad (things) which He spoke to do to them; AND HE DID NOT DO (THEM)" (Jonah 3:10).
An explanation may be found in Jeremiah of the possible conditionality of such prophecy (even if the conditions were not stated in the original prophecy in Jonah), as it is written: "(the) word of the LORD came to me, saying" (Jeremiah 18:5): "IF I will pronounce an end upon a nation, or upon a kingdom, to drive them out, and TO BE DESTROYING (THEM); AND THAT NATION SHALL BE TURNED FROM ALL THEIR EVIL (WAYS), THEN I WILL RELENT concerning the bad (things) WHICH I CONSIDERED TO DO TO THEM" (Jeremiah 18:8)
2 Kings 20:
It is written: "In those days Hezekiah was deadly ill. And the prophet Isaiah son of Amos came in to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Give orders to your household; for YOU (WILL) DIE, AND NOT LIVE’”" (2 Kings 20:1). No conditions were STATED in this prophecy concerning if Hezekiah would die or not. Yet the prophecy did not come to pass, as Hezekiah was given to live further instead.
Indeed it is written that as a response to the prophecy "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, remember now indeed as much as I walked before You in truth and with a full heart, and I did the good in Your eyes.” And HEZEKIAH WEPT WITH A GREAT WEEPING" (2 Kings 20:2-3), and as a result the next verse indicates: "Now Isaiah was in the middle court, and (the) word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Return, and you will say to Hezekiah the ruler of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I heard your prayer; I SAW YOUR TEARS; behold, I will heal you! On the third day you will go up to (the) house of the LORD. And I WILL ADD TO YOUR DAYS FIFTEEN YEARS" (2 Kings 20:4-6). Tears in the Bible can also be associated with someone turning away from their current sins. Hezekiah may have remembered his past righteousness was and cried as a result of falling short from it in the present.
An explanation may be found in Ezekiel of the possible conditionality of such prophecy (even if the conditions were not stated in the original prophecy in Isaiah), as it is written: "thus says the LORD" (Ezekiel 33:11), "when I say to the ungodly (person), ‘YOU WILL SURELY DIE’ AND HE SHALL TURN FROM HIS SIN, and do judgment and righteousness, and give back a pledge [...]; HE WILL SURELY LIVE, AND BY NO MEANS SHALL HE DIE" (Ezekiel 33:14-15).
Comments
Post a Comment