PROPHESY

/ Bible Study / By
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Key Verses

  • And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision1 and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by. For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day. Habakkuk 2:2-3 AMP
  • Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am [actively] watching over My word2 to fulfill it.” Jeremiah 1:12 AMP
 

Examples of Personal Prophesy

1. Joseph

  • Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. … Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers Genesis 37: 2,5 NKJV
  • Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. Genesis 41:46 NKJV

Time to fulfilment: 13+ years (Age 17 to Age 30+)

Dream to Fulfillment Sequence

  1. Pit
  2. Potiphar
  3. Prison
  4. Prime Minister

2. Abraham

  • Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. … Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:4,7 NKJV
  • Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Genesis 21:5 NASB

Time to fulfilment: 25 years (Age 75 to Age 100)

Promise to fulfillment. What happens in the gap?

  • Until the time that his word [of prophecy regarding his brothers] came true, The word of the LORD tested and refined him. Psalm 105:19 AMP

Purpose of prophesy 

What to do with prophesies?

1. Believe prophesy/prophets

  • Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 2 Chronicles 20:14,15 NKJV
  • believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 2 Chronicles 20:20 NKJV
Other versions

2. Write down prophesies

  • “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. Jeremiah 30:2 NASB
  • Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:2-3 NKJV

3. Hold on to prophesy in the wilderness: to have hope & to fight fear

  • This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, so that [inspired and aided] by them you may fight the good fight 1 Timothy 1:18 AMP
  • Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. Psalm 119:49 NKJV
Other versions
 
  • Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well 1 Timothy 1:18 ESV

4. If prophesy delayed, pray

  • in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel 9:2,3 NKJV

Avert Negative Prophesies

1. By taking action

  • And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account. 11Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” “He will,” said the LORD. So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” “They will,” said the LORD. Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth. 1 Samuel 23:1-10 BSB

2. Through Prayer

  •  In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ ” Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years. 2 Kings 20:1-6 NKJV

3. Through Fasting

  • On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!” And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them. Jonah 3:4-10 BSB

Prophesy Changes Us - Sequence

  • Fact: Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Genesis 18:11 BSB
  • Prophesy/Promise: behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” Genesis 15:4 ESV
  • Faith/Believe: By faith even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive [a child], even [when she was long] past the normal age for it, because she considered Him who had given her the promise to be reliable and true [to His word]. Hebrews 11:11 AMP
  • Statement: Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister3.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. Genesis 20:2 NKJV
  • Fulfillment: Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised. Genesis 21:2 BSB

Sequence of events

  1. Receive Prophesy 
  2. Believe
  3. Changes happen (Read: YOUNGER)
  4. Fulfillment

Prophecies can be time bound

  • Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’ ” 2 Kings 7:1 BSB
  • And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.” 2 Kings 4:16 BSB

Responses to prophesy

1. Hezekiah

  • In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.  And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. Isaiah 38:1-5 BSB

First Prophesy: Responded by praying 

  • Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord.  ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ” So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.” Isaiah 39:5-8 NKJV

Second Prophesy: Responded by simply accepting

2. Eli

  • So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.” 1 Samuel 3:18 BSB

Responded by simply accepting
 

3. Abraham

  • And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:20-25 NKJV

Responded by interceding

4. Ninevites

  • On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!” And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them. Jonah 3:4-10 BSB
Responded by repentance, prayer & fasting

5. Sons of the Prophets (Trainees)

  • Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?”
  •  Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do
    you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” 

They knew Elijah was going to be taken up but appear to have taken no action other than talk about it – unlike Elisa who pressed on to be with Elijah. 2 Kings 2:3&5 BSB

Media

Footnotes

Post Views: 874
  1. .2377 חזון [châzôn] \khaw-zone'\ From 2372; a sight ({mentally}) that {is} a {dream} {revelation} or oracle: - vision.
    2372 חזה [châzâh] \khaw-zaw\ A primitive root; to gaze at; mentally to {perceive} contemplate (with pleasure); specifically to have a vision of: - {behold} {look} {prophesy} {provide} see.
  2. 1697 דּבר [dâbâr] \daw-bawr'\ From 1696; a word; by implication a matter (as spoken of) of thing; adverbially a cause: - {act} {advice} {affair} {answer} X any such ({thing}) + because {of} {book} {business} {care} {case} {cause} certain {rate} + {chronicles} {commandment} X commune ({-ication}) + concern {[-ing]} + {confer} {counsel} + {dearth} {decree} {deed} X {disease} {due} {duty} {effect} + {eloquent} {errand} [evil favoured-] {ness} + {glory} + {harm} {hurt} + {iniquity} + {judgment} {language} + {lying} {manner} {matter} {message} [no] {thing} {oracle} X {ought} X {parts} + {pertaining} + {please} {portion} + {power} {promise} {provision} {purpose} {question} {rate} {reason} {report} {request} X (as hast) {said} {sake} {saying} {sentence} + {sign} + {so} some {[uncleanness]} somewhat to {say} + {song} {speech} X {spoken} {talk} {task} + {that} X there {done} thing ({concerning}) {thought} + {thus} {tidings} what {[-soever]} + {wherewith} {which} {word} work.
  3. At this point in time Sarah was 90 years of age. Read Genesis 17:17 AMP