Unfulfilled Prophecy

Introduction:  

As part of the world wide Pentecostal and Charismatic church, we have experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and power. A significant dimension of this new life in the Spirit is being able to hear from the Spirit today. The New Testament era in which we live is a time of prophecy, dreams and visions (Acts 2:17-18). We believe in a Christ who still speaks (John 10:27) and of being led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14). This divine voice or information can come to us in so many ways: perhaps through the prophetic ministry; a highlighted verse of Scripture; an impression or a God-inspired feeling of the heart; and in many other ways.

Of course, in our daily lives we also experience seasons or occasions where things that we believed God had said to us do not seem to come to pass. We wait and wait and the word of the Lord that we have clung to, perhaps for years, seems to bear no fruit. We can be left confused and disappointed. Did we make a mistake? Has God failed to fulfil His promise to us? It may be comforting to know that there are a number of solid, biblical reasons why prophetic promises do not find fulfilment. This happened in Bible days as well as in the present day. Let us examine a few of them:

1. Timing

Some prophetic words are very much connected to a specific time in our lives. In Daniel 12:4,9, the prophet is told “Close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end….” Many biblical prophecies were fulfilled at an exact time and location, while others have yet to be fulfilled because the time is not yet right. It took thirteen years for the dreams of Joseph to become reality in his life and the day before they were to come true, the jailed Joseph must have seemed further away from their fulfilment than ever! But God had a time. So if you have been awaiting something to happen, maybe the time is not yet right. God is never late – our problem is we usually want Him to be early!

2. Conditions

Many Christians believe that a prophetic word or insight given from God about our future carries no conditions attached. “If God has truly said, then it will come to pass,” they say. However, while there are some events in history that God has sovereignty over completely and their fulfilment is assured (for example, the second coming of Jesus), the “whatever will be, will be” doctrine is not biblical at all.

For example, the Lord spoke through Jeremiah and said, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it” (Jeremiah 18:7-10). Jonah understood this when he prophesied that Nineven would be destroyed in forty days (Jonah 3:4). Due to the city’s genuine repentance, by the close of the same chapter the judgment has been completely averted!

King Hezekiah had a similar experience in Isaiah 38:1-6: "In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life”

So even if God has genuinely spoken something to us, we must not think that it will automatically come to pass. It may be best to see prophecy as the Lord showing us His will and desire for our lives, rather than showing the filmed footage of our future to us. If God says we are going to be an evangelist, for example, then we should get ourselves in training; if He reveals that He wants to use us to help the poor, then it is over to us to start the research and the work. Many prophetic words fall down because the character of the person does not develop sufficiently to sustain the gifts and ministry God desired to impart to them. Samson is an obvious biblical illustration of this, for it was surely not the will of God that he should perish under the fatal stones of the Philistine temple.

Given the conditional nature of prophecy, the good news is that for many it is not too late to change the situation and to move oneself into a position where we might receive blessing and be used of the Lord in the way that He has desired and perhaps even shown to us!

3. Error

Sad to say, many have been mistaken when hearing from God. This is why humility is very important in the prophetic. It is always best to say “I believe God has said” rather than being overly dogmatic. Many tears have been shed and disappointment suffered because of mistakes made, either by the prophet or, just as common, by the person listening who “heard what they wanted to hear” rather than what the Spirit may have been saying.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22 is clear: “You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord: "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously.” Truly, we can both speak and hear in a presumptuous way. A young couple looking to sell their house will see this as 'done and dusted' if a prophetic word merely tells them that they are going to “be blessed”! A young woman seeking marriage could see her desire for the dream man being confirmed when someone tells her that the Lord is about to fulfill His Word to her. But we often put our personal desires into these words from God, and ultimately blame the prophet, or even the Lord, when they don't come to pass as we had planned. It is important where errors have been made that we acknowledge them and move on. Only the Bible is the infallible Word of God. Everything else is open to mistakes!

4. Intercession

Finally, it is worth noting that some prophetic information is not intended to come to pass - quite the opposite. God the Father revelaed to Jesus that the devil had plans to 'sift as wheat' the disciples. This information was intended to fuel Christ's prayer for the Twelve and the evil that Satan had intended to do was thwarted (Luke 22:31-32). The same principle occured in the days of the prophet Amos (7:1-6):

"This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king's share had been harvested and just as the second crop was coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, "Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!" So the LORD relented. "This will not happen," the LORD said. This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: The Sovereign LORD was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, "Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!" So the LORD relented. "This will not happen either," the Sovereign LORD said".

Never take a nightmare to be a revelation of the future. The Sovereign Lord promises that His plans are to give us a hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11). If we feel that something difficult or dark is coming, we should pray. The problem may be averted in this way, or we may receiev God's strength to help us through the situation (Psalm 23:4).

Conclusion

Don't be disheartened if your prophetic word has not come to pass yet, rather run the checklist!

1. Are there some timing issues I need to pray through?

2. Have I made a mistake? Am I sure God really said it?

3. Have I been inspired to change my life in accordance with that prophetic word?

4. Am I ready to receive the promise of God? If not, some alterations of my life are needed.