Until. Until you get the job. Until you pass the test. Until you’re healed from cancer. Until you receive, you earn, you remove, you inherit, you complete, you develop – until you see it with your own eyes. Pause. Note, the word until calls you to maintain, hold fast, not give up or get distracted, but stay steady, remain ready, bounce back, all while looking forward, up and ahead. Until, says this is not the end, there is more coming. Prepare and believe that your hope will be fulfilled.

Prophecy is the fulfillment of fate and destiny. It provides an internal and external mechanism to confirm with finality the accuracy of God’s Word. Jesus said, “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe” (John 14:29, NKJV; see also John 13:19).

The primary role of prophecy is not to tell us the future, but it is to prepare us for the future and provide guidance on what to look for as time moves forward. Until. Prophecy confirms God’s deep desire to remain in relationship with the people He loves — us, until this becomes a permanent situation in the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21).

Prophecy forewarns so we are ready/prepared for the manifestation; not surprised nor discouraged by what we see or experience (death, pain, trials, etc.) while waiting for the fulfilment. Jesus told us that prophecy is given to us ahead of time, from God to a messenger, who then shares it, so when we see the fulfillment, it serves as confirmation that God is indeed reliable, and provides waymarks and sustainable assurance. For example, it was foretold that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, and Matthew 1:18-23; 2:1 – reliable), crucified (Zechariah 12:10, John 19:16-18 – reliable), raised on the third day, (Hosea 6:2, Acts 10:38-40 – waymark) and is coming again (Revelation 1:7 – assurance).

Reliability. The Bible contains prophesies that are not common sense or “guesstimateable,” meaning someone did not just make it up and then it happened. Prophetic predictions provide strength, warnings, courage, and inspiration. Christ is the culminating theme of the Old Testament and the New Testament and as such, the authenticity and historicity of the texts provide a foundation of reliability that can be trusted. In a day and age when the truth is not readily apparent, it is good to know that you can trust the prophecies to be truth. Biblical prophecies are not alternate facts nor myths, they are truths that will manifest and remain true always.

Here are a few Bible predictions of future events that have come to pass and dramatically confirm the divine inspiration of Scripture:

• Four world empires would arise: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (Daniel chapters 2, 7, 8).
• Cyrus to be the warrior to capture Babylon (Isaiah 45:1-3).
• After Babylon’s destruction, it would never be inhabited again (Isaiah 13:19, 20; Jeremiah 51:37).
• Egypt would never again have a commanding position among the nations (Ezekiel 29:14, 15; 30:12, 13).
• Jesus would be born in Bethlehem of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:18-23; 2:1).
• Earth-shaking calamities and fear toward the end of time (Luke 21:25, 26).
• Moral degeneracy and decline of spirituality in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Waymarks. Waymarks are signs used to mark a route. When I travel to a new area, as I am driving, I Iook for signs along the route that will enable me to know I am moving in the right direction toward my targeted location. Prophecy provides signs/waymarks from the Word of God that are pivotal to know, understand and follow in order to be and remain in position to see/experience the prophetic fulfillment in real time. Along with the prophecy, God also gave us waymarks that serve as evidence, as confirmation and warnings, that what we see is a foreshadowing of what shall be.

When we are discouraged, prophecy encourages our soul (Amos 3:7). When we lose our way, prophecy returns us back to God’s will (2 Kings 20:5). It is built on Jesus, the Rock (1 Corinthians 3:11; 10:4), and “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). We are not to fear the stressful signs, powerful pronouncements, the chaotic changes or maddening manifestations of prophecy. We are not to fear or be afraid because the waymarks are markers in real time to keep alignment and move us forward in this life journey.

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19, NIV).

Pay attention to it. For many, the tension is not that you cannot conceive that the foretelling will come to pass, rather it’s the tension between the chaotic apparent life realities and the projected climatic future that is problematic. You know, the tension between seeing the increasing wars and rumors of wars (Nations will rise against nations says Matthew 24:7), the famines, genocides, insurrections, global warming, economic crises, symbolisms, figurative language against the backdrop of miracles, manifestations, and divine inspiration. However, if we pay attention to the signs from a perspective of faith and not fear, then the prophetic waymark is a light unto your feet and a lamp unto your path (Psalm 119:105). Pay attention to the reliable light of prophecy. It will convict the heart and shine a light into the harsh darkness that will cause your heart to arise with rejoicing and patient peace.

Assurance. Prophecies are God’s way of continuing His conversation with us. God promised He would never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). As we see the rapid manifestations, we have this blessed assurance that the prophetic wars, the diseases, political uprisings and decline of respect for humanity do not have power over the prophetic epitome of God’s message of love and hope that He would die for us to save our souls. Jesus, who was crucified for our sins, was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9–11). His resurrection power in our lives is one of Jesus’ essential gifts to His people (Philippians 3:10).

“Until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Prophecy reminds the believer that this world is not our home. Oh, the joy that fills our hearts as the morning star of God’s love and ultimate deliverance is revealed and remembered. My eyes can focus on the prophecy and the promise and not the chaos and the confusions. He lived so we can live. There is more and we can live each day with purpose and hope. So as the song says, “Until then, my heart will go on singing. Until then, with joy I’ll carry on. Until the day my eyes behold the city; until the day God calls me home.”