Prophecy

          Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (I Timothy 1:18-20)

         Someone prophesied about Timothy.  I admit I tend to feel a little jealous when I hear that someone has been given a prophecy, or when God has spoken to someone. I shouldn’t feel excluded because God has given me directions more than once. Perhaps more importantly, the prophecies made about Peter and Paul, and here about Timothy tended to have to do with struggles, trials, and difficult endings. Paul mentions the prophecies about Timothy in order to encourage him to fight and not give up. I suspect if we tallied the prophecies in Scripture, we’d find there are more that challenge than that promise victory or glory.

          This morning in the park Bible study, we read a little about Samson. Before he was born, God gave his parents instructions about how to raise him because he was going to be a judge. As he grew up, I’m sure his parents tried to impress on him his place in the scheme of things. No doubt he was told of the prophecies about him. I have to wonder, however, when he finally understood.

          I hate to mention Harry Potter in connection with these Biblical folks, but there’s a tidbit in his story that may instruct us well. A prophecy was told either before his birth or before he was a year old. He didn’t hear about it until he was at least twelve, and it didn’t play much of a role in his life until several years after that. Of course, he’s a fictional character, but the logical possibility is raised here. Most of us would say that there are no prophecies told of us. We’ve never heard of one, so we assume there is none. What if the reality is that there is, but we don’t know it?

      God knows the beginning from the end. He is omnipotent and omniscient. That, to me, means that He must have declared at least some pieces of our future. He has prophesied over us even if we don’t know it. Among the possible prophecies are our adoption as sons, our salvation, and our fellowship with God.  If there are struggles we go through, they have also been prophesied and permitted.

Like Timothy, then, we are to hold on to the truth we’ve been given about God and about ourselves so that we can fight the good fight, which involves holding onto faith with a good conscience.