The Purpose of Prophecy is Not to Foretell the Future

[The Cub]

The Purpose of Prophecy is Not to Foretell the Future

"The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2Pe 3:9)


“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I had intended to do to it.” (Jer 18:1-10)


The purpose of prophecy is not to predict the future. Consider the discussion on this topic by then Cardinal Ratzinger:

"We have thus moved from the somewhat negative clarifications, initially needed, to a positive definition of private revelations. How can they be classified correctly in relation to Scripture? To which theological category do they belong? The oldest letter of Saint Paul which has been preserved, perhaps the oldest of the New Testament texts, the First Letter to the Thessalonians, seems to me to point the way. The Apostle says: "Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything, holding fast to what is good" (5:19-21). In every age the Church has received the charism of prophecy, which must be scrutinized but not scorned. On this point, it should be kept in mind that prophecy in the biblical sense does not mean to predict the future but to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future. A person who foretells what is going to happen responds to the curiosity of the mind, which wants to draw back the veil on the future. The prophet speaks to the blindness of will and of reason, and declares the will of God as an indication and demand for the present time. In this case, prediction of the future is of secondary importance. What is essential is the actualization of the definitive Revelation, which concerns me at the deepest level. The prophetic word is a warning or a consolation, or both together. In this sense there is a link between the charism of prophecy and the category of "the signs of the times", which Vatican II brought to light anew: "You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; why then do you not know how to interpret the present time?" (Lk 12:56). In this saying of Jesus, the "signs of the times" must be understood as the path he was taking, indeed it must be understood as Jesus himself. To interpret the signs of the times in the light of faith means to recognize the presence of Christ in every age. In the private revelations approved by the Church-and therefore also in Fatima-this is the point: they help us to understand the signs of the times and to respond to them rightly in faith." Source: Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith



Was Isaiah a False Prophet? There is nothing in his prophecy of 2Ki 20: 1 that states that it is conditional: “For you shall die, you shall not recover.” It is a fact that Hezekiah lived on. That is to say, that the prophecy was not realized......yet, 2Kings continues to be a part of the Canon. As a matter of fact, the book of Isaiah is a part of the Canon.

Consider the following, noting the information provided above i.e. “prophecy in the biblical sense does not mean to predict the future but to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future.”:

2Ki 20:1 In those days Hezeki'ah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover.'"
2Ki 20:2 Then Hezeki'ah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying,
2Ki 20:3 "Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight." And Hezeki'ah wept bitterly.
2Ki 20:4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him:
2Ki 20:5 "Turn back, and say to Hezeki'ah the prince of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6 And I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake."


Was Elijah a False Prophet? "Then the word of the LORD came to Eli'jah the Tishbite, saying, "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Sama'ria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed, and also taken possession?"' And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD: "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'" Ahab said to Eli'jah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon you; I will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel; and I will make your house like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'asha the son of Ahi'jah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. And of Jez'ebel the LORD also said, `The dogs shall eat Jez'ebel within the bounds of Jezreel.' Any one belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and any one of his who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat." (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jez'ebel his wife incited. He did very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.) And when Ahab heard those words, he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about dejectedly. And the word of the LORD came to Eli'jah the Tishbite, saying, "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the evil upon his house." (1 Ki 21:17-29)



To Fr. Gobbi⁽¹⁾, Our Lady said:
#282 – MY BOOK – January 21, 1984
"This is what I want to tell you. Don't be delayed, therefore, by the predictions I give you in the effort to make you comprehend the times in which you are living.

Like a mother, I am telling you the dangers through which your are going, the imminent threats, the extent of the evils that could happen to you, only because these evils can yet be avoided by you, the dangers can be evaded, the plan of God's justice always can be changed by the force of his merciful love. Also, when I predict chastisements to you, remember that everything, at any moment, may be changed by the force of your prayer and your reparative penance.

Do not say therefore: "How much of what you predicted to us has not come true!" Instead, give thanks with me to the Heavenly Father because at the response of your prayer and consecration, your suffering, and on account of the immense suffering of so many of my poor children, again He alters the period of justice, to permit that of the great mercy to come to flower".



Let’s pray that enough people pray, fast, repent/convert and receive the sacraments to avoid, delay or mitigate this prophesized chastisements.



Footnote:

(1) Fr. Stefano Gobbi, To the Priests Our Lady's Beloved Sons, (The Marian Movement of Priests), p 381. Fr. Gobbi received messages from Our Lady from 1973 - 1997 --- (25 years). His mystical occurrences have yet-to-be-approved by the Church as worthy of belief; however, the messages carry IMPRIMATURS from several Cardinals, several Archbishops, and several Bishops of the Catholic Church. Three of the Cardinals are: the late Cardinal Echeverria of Ecuador, Cardinal Vidal of the Philippines and Cardinal Mikai of Thailand.

[Off-Grid Organics]

Rubbish. You are trying to cover for John Leary who has a 'jesus' telling him stuff like:

this could trigger more Covid restrictions
You could see another forced shutdown coming
but now events could quickly lead to My call
you could see a coming lockdown shortly

IOW, a 'messiah' who knows nothing of what is coming and offering pure speculation.


PROPHECY---foretelling of the future---IS a hallmark of the true YHUH! As matter of fact, YHUH uses the foretelling of the future as a challenge to the fake gods (elohim akrim) which CANNOT foretell the future.

Isa 41:21 Produce your cause, says Yahuah; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Ya`aqov.
Isa 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and show us את what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
Isa 41:23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are elohiym: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure

And look what Leary does:

Claimed that the Pope after John Paul II would be an Antipope, who would help the United Nation control the world

The message of April 6, 1999 claims: "As a result of a world depression and a world famine, the United Nations will call for a global government to restore order. During a time of martial law, a One-World religion will be imposed, which will be a means for religious persecution to force everyone to worship the Beast and take his mark on their body. All those who refuse this mark will be outlaws and liable for death. The Anti-Pope, who will replace John Paul II, will assist in forming this One-World religion of false gods. Once the United Nations controls the world, the Anti-Christ will assume full control and eliminate ALL of the current leaders."

This kind of false prophecy is common in the messages of John Leary. If one reads the older messages, it is clear that such predictions did not come true. The next Pope after John Paul II is now Pope Benedict XVI, a holy Pope who was close to John Paul II for many years. Also, no one in their right mind claims that Benedict's election was not valid or that he is an antipope.

Furthermore, the idea that the United Nations would control the world is absurd. The U.N. has very little power. And, of course, the Antichrist is not in the world today. Now is not the time of his reign or of the mark of the beast, etc.

In Conclusion

There are very many messages in the false private revelations of John Leary. I could go on and on pointing out the worldly language, the false claims about the Antichrist and the future, and the sensational commentary on current events that show no real knowledge about the future. But this should be sufficient to show that the messages of John Leary (johnleary.com) are not true private revelation from Heaven.

http://catholicplanet.com/apparitions/false04.htm

TRUE prophets of YHUH have NEVER failed a prophecy. He is very serious about it:

Deu 13:1 IF there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto you, saying, Let us go after other elohiym, which you have not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3 You shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for Yahuah Elohaykem proves you, to know whether ye love Yahuah Elohaykem with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after Yahuah Elohaykem, and fear him, and guard his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Deu 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn you away from Yahuah Elohaykem, which brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the way which Yahuah Elohayka commanded you to walk in. So shall you put the evil away from the midst of you.

[Off-Grid Organics]

2Pe 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more certain, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture came to be of one’s own interpretation,
2Pe 1:21 for prophecy never came by the desire of man, but men of Elohim spoke, being moved by the Set-apart Spirit.


Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “See, do not do it! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who possess the witness of יהושע. Worship Elohim! For the witness of יהושע is the spirit of prophecy.”

[consteacher1]

just to stir the gumbo pot a little more, I see in only one or two places in the Word where God said I'm gonna clean your clock unless you repent. Jonah had that message. But the vast majority of the prophesies made were pretty specific and there was no if than you about them. The Word is fixed, its non-changing and try as we may to twist things to suit a particular viewpoint, God takes no sides. He's for the little guy and those who try to do His will. period. get right and get ready. prep and pray, the end has arrived.

[The Cub]

just to stir the gumbo pot a little more, I see in only one or two places in the Word where God said I'm gonna clean your clock unless you repent. Jonah had that message. But the vast majority of the prophesies made were pretty specific and there was no if than you about them. The Word is fixed, its non-changing and try as we may to twist things to suit a particular viewpoint, God takes no sides. He's for the little guy and those who try to do His will. period. get right and get ready. prep and pray, the end has arrived.

If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom,


You might want to read Jer 18, closely after praying for discernment.

[Off-Grid Organics]

praying for discernment.

The Purpose of Prophecy is Not to Foretell the Future

Were it not for foretelling of the future concerning Messiah, who would they have looked for? Some have listed over 300 prophecies Messiah has fulfilled.

https://biblicalfoundations.weebly.c...rophecies.html

[consteacher1]

I will not engage in bible bashing over each others head. point is there are declarations by God and prophesies stating future facts. God's word is a love letter and a warning to His kiddos and non-believers as well. My overall goal is that "...none should perish.." but come to ..."everlasting life...". period. have a blessed Christmas. perp and pray, the end has arrived.

[The Cub]

This response probably belongs in another thread, as it is completely off point in respect of the OP.


FACT: God can do whatever He wants, except sin.

If He threatens, and man responds appropriately, He will relent.