IS BIBLICAL PROPHECY
IMPORTANT?
by Dr. Randy Smith
N While detailed understanding of prophecy is no requirement for salvation, the end goal for us isn’t merely to be saved, but to walk with Him and be led by Him daily.
ot long ago, I “masked up” and met a fellow pastor at a coffee shop to help him choose a subject for his upcoming preaching series. Because of this “series of unfortunate events” that popularly became known as 2020, I casually suggested preaching from a prophetic book. “I am really struggling to keep our congregation engaged in serious study,” the pastor admitted, “and the last thing I want to do is start into any passage that will sound speculative, or could be easily sensationalized by the news, or become congregationally divisive.” He flatly asked me, “Why should I include prophetic passages in the preaching diet of our church when even mature Christians don’t agree on what they all mean?” It was a thoughtful question, and it deserved a serious answer. After all, any who have tried to teach through prophetic books will admit the study to “rightly divide the text” can be quite intense, and it doesn’t easily lend itself to offering a myriad of practical instructions that equip today’s struggling families to practice their faith or reach out with the Gospel. The notion of impracticality probably wouldn’t be surprising if the prophets themselves heard the objection! Those men and their message have always been a point of contention. Long after God revealed to Moses the nature and work of both priests and Levites, He raised up the office of “seer” or “prophet.” While priests were carefully schooled in practices of atonement sacrifices and were generally
4 GraceConnect | Winter-Spring 2021
