Speaking of the Future

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]

Last week we took a brief look at the prophecy of Amos, one of the minor prophets whose accounts are included in the second half of the Old Testament. The term ‘minor’ relates to the lengths of the books that bear their names; it certainly does not signify that their messages were of any lesser importance.

Are we often tempted to dismiss these minor prophecies as being largely historical and not relevant to our time? A few of the stories, such as the scandal of Hosea’s wife or Jonah attempting to sail off into the sunset, may catch our attention but are we at risk of missing the messages that the rest of these texts may have for us?

Jesus himself used the words of the prophets:

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Luke 24 v27 [NIVUK]

The apostle Paul wrote to his protege Timothy, to remind him of the value of Scripture in its entirety:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,
2 Timothy 3 v16 [GNT]

Once we accept that Biblical prophecy is not just speculation on the part of a few spiritually-minded men thousands of years ago we need to ask whether any of their words are relevant to our times.

In last week’s reflection we saw a possible contemporary application of the words that Amos said concerning Gaza. This is not the only time that Gaza is mentioned in the Old Testament. God had intended Gaza to be part of the Promised Land; it is included in the lands allocated to the tribe of Judah[1] who conquered it in due course.

Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
Judges 1 v18 [ESVUK]

Later we read that Solomon … ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides.[2]

The current speculation about the viability of a ‘Two State’ solution to the Middle East crisis brings to mind another Old Testament prophecy:

On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
Zechariah 14 v4 [NIVUK]

That verse is part of a prophecy that describes how the whole world will join to fight against Jerusalem and the city will initially be defeated Jerusalem has been sacked before several times so what makes this prophecy different?

The Great Rift Valley is a geological split that runs south to north from eastern Africa through the countries of the Middle East. The split that is described in the quotation above runs east to west – it is not a natural occurrence that could be dismissed as a simple earthquake but rather evidence of divine intervention.

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.
[Jerusalem] will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.
Zechariah 14 v3,11 [NIVUK]

Maybe prophecy is not as irrelevant as we are tempted to think.


References:
[1] Joshua 15:47
[2] 1 Kings 4:24

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys
Published, 02/Aug/2025: Page updated, 03/Aug/2025

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