Most people are interested in the future. We wonder what tomorrow will bring. We want to know about possible careers, retirement, what the stock market will do and how to plan for things to come. We anticipate the next season of whatever show we have been following after one of those season ending cliff hangers. Most followers of Jesus, are curious as to when He will return. We delve into studies on Revelation, Daniel and Ezekiel hoping to find the key to the day of His return. Some add up Biblical numbers and others try to figure out the number of generations that need to pass before He can return. I have been told that as soon as the Gospel is preached unto the whole world, Jesus will return. With radio and the internet this could happen at any moment. Or not. There is only one way to know for sure if a prophecy is true. That is after it has come to pass. I am not saying we cannot trust God's predictive Word, we can be confident that these things will come to pass. We just seldom can know when until after it is over. Perhaps we have missed the main point of the prophetic words given.
The Hebrew language has no real word for the future. Even where translators have used the English word "future" it is more of an interpretation than a translation. Jeremiah 31:17, "There is hope in your future, says the LORD, that your children shall come back to their own border." The Hebrew word, shuwb, means to return or turn back. There is hope in their return or coming back. This will happen later so there is a future thought that goes with it. However, it is more about things that follow these events than a specific predictive future. The Hebrew idea of the future is what comes after me. What is behind me that I cannot see. In 1 Samuel 24:21 Jonathan asks David to not cut off his, Jonathan's, descendants after him or those coming behind him. His future generations. If we are honest, our view of the fulfilled prophecies of Messiah in the Gospel accounts were seen less as predictive in the actual prophets' writings. At the time of Isaiah the prediction of a maiden or virgin conceiving and bearing a son was about David's continued line. The Isaiah 7 passage becomes or is understood as predictive when it is applied to the advent of God's Son. The angel applies this to Joseph's situation and he now understands that the passage is predictive. The same is true for John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." During this time in Exodus no one thought, "Oh, this must be about Messiah's crucifixion." We understand it to be after the fact, after Jesus makes it clear.
We should believe and trust that God's predictions are true. Daniel believed that the statue revealed to Nebuchadnezzar was about a series of coming kingdoms. We know it is true because they have come to pass. Except for the toes and you can find lots of diverse opinions on that kingdom. However, the truth is that we will not really know for sure what it is until after it has been fulfilled. We know this ten toed kingdom is coming, we just cannot really know when or what until it is over. That does not keep us from spending an inordinate amount of time making conjectures as to what Daniel meant and when this will occur. If we cannot really know the future, meaning the actual time of events, then what is the purpose of our prophetic books? What is the purpose of knowing there are things behind us, or after us if they are in the shadows until they actually happen?
Perhaps the illustration of the row boat will help. I have heard and read this from a variety of sources so I do not know who to credit; however it helps me understand God's revelation of things to come. If you have ever rowed a rowboat you know that your back is toward where you are going. You get an occasional glance to keep on course, but your clearest view is what has already come to pass. Each stroke takes you further into the future and reveals what the future was as you see it become reality. God has directed us to row. To continue moving into the future knowing He has it all under control. Each stroke verifies that the Lord will see us through. Each stroke builds our confidence in the One directing our path, even if we cannot see it. Each time we read a Scripture that has clearly come to pass our faith is strengthened concerning the things yet to come. Our responsibility is to keep on rowing. Not to know the precise times and plans of God.
Acts 1:6-7, "Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority." The followers of Jesus Messiah today are not much different than they were back there outside Jerusalem. We still ask the question, "Is now the time You will establish your kingdom? Is now the time of Your return?" The answer is still the same, "It is not for you to know." However, Acts one does not stop there. Verse 8 gives this instruction, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” We may not be privy to the time of His return but we do know what we are to be doing now. We are to be His witnesses in what we say, what we do, how we live, where ever we go.
Fulfilled prophecy gives us confidence to keep on rowing. God is with us. His promises are true. However, His timing is His alone. Yet, our mission is clear. We are called to make Him known and to make disciples by teaching them all that He has commanded and revealed to us. The future will come no matter what we do or how much time we spend in conjecture trying to guess what we have been told is not ours to know. Or we can be busy doing what we know He has called us to do. Keep rowing and invite as many others as we can to get in the boat.
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