The crayons of prophecy

We usually think of a prophecy as a prediction that some event will come to pass and, years later, when it does come to pass, the prophecy is fulfilled; end of story. Everything in between is unrelated to this prophetic cause-and-effect.

Not really.

At least not always. Very few prophecies in the Bible actually fit this simple SOFO template. (SOFO = spoken once, fulfilled once)

Remember that the Scripture says "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

How does that work?

Well, ALL of the Scriptures speak of Jesus' testimony in some way. So the spirit of that testimony -- that is, the spirit of prophecy -- permeates ALL the words of the Bible.

This changes everything.

For example, when John writes "God is love," it is as much a prophetic utterance, in this larger sense, as any passage in Isaiah or in one of the other "prophetic" books.

How is "God is love" prophetic?

When is "God is love" fulfilled?

It is fulfilled whenever you acknowledge from your heart, "Amen, God is love." And deep calleth unto deep.

In other words, every day, every minute, all over the world, "God is love" is being fulfilled by those who live in its truth, and who live out its truth for the world to see.

Understood in this way, prophecies are not singular utterances waiting for singular fulfillments.

The prophecies of Scripture are like crayons we use in our everyday lives to color our everyday world as it should be colored.

God is love.

Color in this prophecy today in your life and in your world.

Logos2Go

Revelation 19.10 ... Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

1 John 14.16 ... God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.