| Author | Message | ||
| Animal Registered user Username: Animal Post Number: 474 Registered: 7-2008  |
May I ask a question.....? When you study the prophetic sections of the Bible, how do you determine if the passage you are studying is a prophecy that is conditional or non coditional?(literal) For example...I have been studying thru the book of Isaiah. I really enjoy the passages that describe Gods promises of restoration of Israel. Is God describing what will happen to Israel in the future, or is God describing what could have been their destiny as a people if they had remained faithful to HIM ? I know that some of Gods promises are conditional ( for example 2 Chronicles 7:14). But what about prophecy? I would greatly appreciate any insight you could offer me....Thanks in advance. Your friend ....ANIMAL | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 1626 Registered: 5-2007  |
Animal, Everything God says will happen...will be. In God's conditional prophetic statements, reguardless of who is being addressed, it follows the pattern of: 1. Sin and you will suffer the consequences. 2. Repent and you will be blessed. All prophecy is fullfilled, even the conditional ones. To see some things as figurative and other things as literal is not the issue. In the study of any Scripture, ask: What does it say? What does it mean? Who is being addressed? How does it apply to me? One rule of thumb is; unless something is clearly symbolic, consider it literal until you learn otherwise. Fearless Phil | ||
| 8thday Registered user Username: 8thday Post Number: 944 Registered: 11-2007  |
Ditto that Phil. Jer 31:35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name: Jer 31:36 "If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever." Jer 31:37 Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD." I kinda think it's unconditional unless it gives a condition. Alot of things in Law were conditional (Deut.) but at the end of all the "conditions" God says. "And WHEN you have turned away and been scattered... I will restore you and bring you back" (my paraphrase) - so even in the conditional passages, there is still unconditional restoration - where God says, "this WILL happen. I know there are other persuasions here on Israel, but I have to just take it at face value. I'm not smart enough to do anything else with it. lol. Sondra P.S. I am still totally amazed that the world even knows what a Jew is. What other people have survived and kept an identity for two thousand years without a land or country? Regardless of your take on Zionism, that is hard to explain, esp. considering the repeated attempts to banish and murder them out of existence. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 9908 Registered: 12-2003  |
And ditto that also, Sondra! I agree with you. If God declares He will do something, that is unconditional. He will do it. His promises are sure. The Jeremiah passage you quoted, Sondra, dovetails with Romans 11. The interesting thing I'm still discovering is that the more literally I take the Bible, the better it all fits together. It has come as something of a surprise to see that the OT contains prophecies that are still to be fulfilled rather than prophecies that have been abandoned because humans "failed". God's promises, unless explicitly stated as cause and effect (as Phil explained above), are 100% certain and do not depend upon human cooperation. Amazing. Colleen |
