Why We Don’t Get Prophecy… and Why That Matters
by C. Anslem Paul
We’ve witnessed an increase in Bible use and engagement in 2025, according to the American Bible Society. Some say the popularity of the biblical drama sensation, “The Chosen,” sparked curiosity. Others attribute the interest to a course correction after the COVID slump. This latest report from the American Bible Society confirms that as an ethnic group, African Americans lead the way in using the Bible and working to apply the Scriptures to their personal, social, and civic lives. Certainly now, headlines, policy shifts, and threats to human rights worldwide challenge our understanding of the word and prophecy, in particular.
When we understand that the framework of prophecy is liberation, the timelines stop feeling like charts and start looking like receipts; divine proof that oppression has an expiration date.
At the very time we require an understanding and commitment to biblical prophecy and its interpretation, its impact and power eludes many of us. I believe there are several major “design flaws” in our approach to prophecy.

First, few people have been actively framing their prophetic knowledge in ways that connect and speak powerfully to our present cultural, political, and spiritual moments. In the process they consider prophecy more about beasts and timelines than about Jesus Himself.

Second, framing prophecy as something separate from Jesus, or suggesting that the best way to honor Jesus is by stepping away from prophetic detail, misses something critical. In fact, it may be one of the very reasons so many missed Him when He came the first time.

Third, how we present prophecy tends to showcase Jesus as a Savior who is present there, where “they” are in Bible times and places. Much less often is Jesus presented through a framework that reveals Him as a Savior who is present here, where I am.

space galaxy in the shape of a clock
This matters. And it can make all the difference in the world.

  • Four fatal flaws in prophetic thinking:
  • Decrying the alleged inaccuracy of its details.
  • Bemoaning its perceived irrelevance.
  • Failing to exegete prophecy in the context of the original hearers and readers.
  • Lending more weight to the the literary and historical parts with all the word studies, variant translations, names, dates, and events that populate our charts and timelines, while minimizing the story of the people it was given to.

This is where, and sometimes why, the meaning and relevance of prophetic detail can unintentionally get lost and become little more than the monstrous melodrama of men, maps, and monotony.

Rightly Framed
When we detach the timeline from the trauma, we turn prophecy into noise. But when we read it through the lens of those who are hurting, marginalized, or living in exile, just like Daniel, we realize that prophecy was never just about information. It was always about intervention.
two rams facing each other while charging
Once we set the framework right, we begin to see precisely why the details — yes, the dates, the timelines, the prophetic math — matters. Because they show us that God is not just present in suffering, He’s punctual in His deliverance.

He sets appointments for justice. He schedules liberation. He marks time with mercy.

When we understand that the framework of prophecy is liberation, the timelines stop feeling like charts and start looking like receipts; divine proof that oppression has an expiration date. The 2300 days, the seventy weeks, the judgment hour, they aren’t just doctrinal concepts. They’re promises with time stamps. They tell us not only that God will act, but they tell us when He has acted and why we can trust Him to act again.

The Longest, Most Complicated Prophecy Satisfied Daniel’s Hurting Heart
Let’s look at Daniel 9 and apply these principles to the overlay of Daniel’s prophetic writings.

Daniel is no theologian sitting in a quiet study. He is a forced immigrant. A political exile. A marginalized minority trying to maintain faith in the capital of a regime of colonizers committed to oppression. He lives under a foreign empire with an alien religion, hostile policies, and systemic injustice. He is bound to an empire that has moved to enact policies directly intended to divest a conquered and subjugated people of their history and their culture. When he prays, he isn’t just confessing personal sin, he is crying out over generational trauma, institutional sin, and the long shadow of oppression that still haunts his people.

In response, God doesn’t just send comfort. He sends a prophecy. A divine schedule that says, “I have heard your cry, I am not indifferent, and there is a time coming when injustice will be judged, and righteousness will be restored.”

That is not abstract. That is not theological trivia. That is liberation theology. The kind rooted in time, place, people, and pain. That is a message for immigrants who feel invisible. For women who are underestimated and disrespected. For the disabled who are overlooked. For veterans discarded after their usefulness has been exploited. For people of color who navigate systems not built for them. For anyone who’s been pushed to the margins, treated as an afterthought, or made to feel like they don’t belong.

“A divine schedule that says, ‘I have heard your cry, I am not indifferent, and there is a time coming when injustice will be judged, and righteousness will be restored.’”
three angels above clouds facing a circle of fire
Conclusion
Rightly preached, prophecy reminds us that Jesus knows what injustice feels like. He knows empire. He knows exile. He knows the pressure of existing as a marginalized minority in the middle of an oppressive system. And even more, He knows the debilitating weight of sin, He Himself having become sin for us. He knows, and He acts.

And that 2300-day prophecy? It is all about Jesus. And because it’s all about Jesus, it’s about judgment. Not in the fearful, punitive sense, but in the hopeful sense. A divine assurance that one day lies will be silenced, truth will stand, oppression will end, and liberation will win. That righteousness will no longer be punished. That vindication is coming. That judgment is not about fear, it’s about justice.

This is the Jesus of prophecy. The Jesus who is not just in the past, but present in every struggle. The Jesus who walked with Daniel in Babylon.

C. ANSLEM PAUL is a pastor, author and radio host who writes from West Palm Beach, Florida.
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