KING'S BUSINESS PROPHECY SECTION Edited by Dr. Charles L. Director Talbot Theological Feinberg, Seminary
Reasons Why You Should Study Prophecy ecy. Ten of them are suggested here for consideration. I. Prophecy Forms a Large Portion of the Bible. Estimates of just how much of the Bible is prophetic naturally vary according to one’s definition of prophecy. But, limiting our count to the Biblical books which are (or were when written) predominantly predictive in nature, we may list the four Major Prophets and the twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, and Re velation in the New Testament. The Book of Jonah might be excluded by some, although its typology is certainly predictive of the history of the nation Israel. The Song of Solomon would be included by others, since it also appears to be prophetic in its typical significance. This gives us no less than seventeen books which are predominantly prophetic, over one-fourth of the volumes in the Sacred Library. If all the chapters were added up which are either largely prophetic or at least contain one or more divine forecasts, an imposing percentage of the Bible’s 1,189 chapters would be included in the figure. The inevitable conclusion is that, if one is to be a well-rounded Bible student, it is imperative that he study prophecy. A score of less than 75 per cent is failing in most examinations; yet many Christians feel they can afford to ignore at least 25 per cent of their Bibles! At best, they satisfy themselves that a remote acquaintance with these precious portions is sufficient. Paul’s reminder to Timothy is most pertinent: “ All scripture,” he declares, “ is given by inspiration of God, (Continued on Next Page)
by Paul Nevin, Th.M. A h ig h l y respected and greatly loved pastor and teacher once told me that he seldom studied pro phecy. He had his reason. He had observed in his earlier ministry that sensationalists were continually startling their gullible hearers by dogmatic identifications of this or that infamous dictator with the coming Antichrist. Some announced with an air of finality the date for the end of the world. This particular pastor decided that, if such extremism was a sample of prophetic studies, he could afford to let prophecy alone; and he did. Others, on the other hand, are impressed with the belief that prophecy is necessarily a nebulous and enigmatic high way, travelled only by the very scholarly or the ex tremely odd; a highway which often terminates in a dead-end street. At best, it must be strictly for the sub tler tastes of the more mature Christian, and can in no wise constitute frequent fare for the believer who is just beginning the Christian life. But these are unfortunate and altogether erroneous impressions of that which right ly constitutes one of the most fascinating, profitable, and practical studies in which the Christian may engage. In its broadest scope, prophecy includes all the Scrip tures, since each Biblical book was written under divine inspiration, and constituted God’s message to men, through the agency of the Scriptural writer. But in the more restricted sense, as used in this article, prophecy may be defined as that portion of Scripture which was predictive when written. Many reasons could be given for the far-reaching importance of the probing of proph
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