Why Did God Give Us Prophecies? Part 1

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Since we are talking about prophecies in the Bible and them coming true or being fulfilled, it's only fair that we ask why would God give us prophecies? (Tweet that!) I can think of at least three reasons why God would give us prophecies. (Tweet that!)

This is God's prophet Isaiah speaking in Isaiah 48:3-6:

I foretold the former things long ago, 

    my mouth announced them and I made them known; 

    then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

For I knew how stubborn you were;

    your neck muscles were iron,

    your forehead was bronze.

Therefore I told you these things long ago;

    before they happened I announced them to you

so that you could not say,

    'My images brought them about;

    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'

You have heard these things; look at them all.

    Will you not admit them? 

From now on I will tell you of new things, 

    of hidden things unknown to you...

These verses tell us at least two reasons why God gives us prophecies:

• To tell us what will happen. This also means that He knows what will happen before it does. (Tweet that!) Because God is eternal, He is outside of time and He is able to see the end from the beginning.

• Secondly, God tells what will happen in advance so that when we see it happening, we know it is Him doing it. (Tweet that!) For those of us who believe in Him, we know He is doing these things, or at least is allowing them to happen. We know God is still in complete control of everything happening on the earth. For those who do not know or believe in God, God, in His mercy, is bringing them evidence that He is real, that He is involved in human history taking place on the earth, and that He wants them to believe that He is real and truly exists.

 A third reason is...

• ...so that we, those of us who believe in Him, will not be afraid—even when we see these things taking place right before our very eyes. (Tweet that!) Knowing God forecast everything that is happening means that we do not need to be afraid but can trust Him with our very lives and every detail of them.

Jesus said in John 14:27-29:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

Jesus told us before it happened so that:

1. We will have peace, we will not let our hearts be troubled, and we will not be afraid.
2. And also so that when it happens we will believe.

What about you? Do you believe? If yes, do you feel fear creeping in? How can you refocus on Jesus and chase fear away?

If you do not believe, why not? What would it take for you to believe? Are Bible prophecies predicted and then fulfilled enough to convince you? Or are you one who will never believe, no matter what? If that's you, why?