The Importance of Prophecy - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Ezra 1:1,

"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah..."

Here begins the book of Ezra. I note it is a reference to the fulfillment of prophecy. Jeremiah had prophesied Judah would be destroyed with a remnant of Jews enduring a seventy year captivity and a return to the homeland following. Ezra refers to that prophecy and says the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to allow Jews to return to their homeland now that the seventy year captivity had come to completion.

How important is predictive prophecy? The Lord has employed prophecy for millennia to both inform and authenticate. There are things the Lord wants people to know and he provides the assurance that what he has to say will take place with precise certainty.

All prophecy in Scripture is important as our Creator has determined that what he has to say is obviously something he wants us to know. When our Creator speaks, nothing approaches the importance of what that is he has to say.

The prophesies that address the following issues appear to me to be of such importance, any one who has lived should be aware of them.

-- Since we have all sinned, the Lord has prophesied we all face his judgment, following this age, in a fiery lake of burning sulfur.

-- Since the Lord loves mankind, he prophesied he would provide a sacrifice of atonement for our sins in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, providing us salvation from that judgment.

-- The Lord has prophesied that all who will embrace his Son in faith will be forgiven their sins and be given a place in his kingdom for all eternity.

-- The Lord has prophesied that our existence in his eternal kingdom will be one of "eternal pleasures" at his right hand.

I will leave to you the joy of finding the many places in Scripture he has provided prophecy for these things. It really is a fascinating and wonderful way to learn what is in our Bibles.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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