Prophecy: The Signature of God
by Dr. John Barnett

Take a moment to read Isaiah 41:21-23. Prophecy and fulfilled prophecies is one of the reasons we willingly seek to keep our minds filled with God's Word, the absolutely trustworthy record of God's voice.

I am convinced of the truth God's Word because of Prophecy: God tells us exactly what He is going to do in the future, long before He does it. That act of God, declaring in minute, clear, and amazing detail the events of the future is called Biblical Prophecy.

All that we have as believers is tied to God's Word. We come to faith by the Word, we know God in His Word, and we are filled by the Spirit through His Word, and we are sanctified by God's Word.

God's Word is completed with the Book of Revelation, God's final word to mankind; it is also the most powerful book of the Bible. Nearly twenty years ago for my doctoral dissertation at Dallas Seminary--I began an intense study of the living hope each of us believers should have, grounded by Biblical prophecy.

I believed that the last book of the Bible is the most hope filled, hope inspiring, hope anchoring book in all of God's Word.

Each believer, saved and part of Christ's family, needs Living Hope for the End of Days. We need to learn from our trustworthy Bibles, how to walk each day - with the God we can know personally and trust completely. Please read with me as we hear the voice of God calling us to hear and believe His Word:

Rev 1:3 "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."

Prophecy: God's Signature Across His Word

Life is hard, the world is sometimes bleak, and we often need help to go on against the flow of the world and seek God. May I give you the single most encouraging aspect of my spiritual life?

Each day I get so recharged and renewed by God's Word that I can go out and face another day. How? By spending time with the God who has left me a daily reminder of Who He is and what He is doing-so that I can see and test and have my faith renewed!

This authenticating, verifying, faith building record God has left for us I call the Signature of God in the Book we call the Bible, God's Word - the Holy Scriptures.

Have you studied the signature of God lately? For ten years I wrote my dissertation for Dallas Seminary on the Prophetic signature God left across the pages of His Word. That study was made into a year long, personal, devotional book of 365 daily studies taking believers on a faith-building journey through every word of the book of Revelation and outward to every other book in the Bible.

The bottom line of a study of the prophetic signature of God leads us into what God offers - Living Hope for the End of Days: Walking Each Day with The God You Can Know and Trust.

The Creator and Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty who is the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe tells us that there is something He is very focused upon.

The Bible you hold in your hands this is like none other book - because God says, "I am watching over my Word - to perform it" (Jeremiah 1:12). That declaration made by the Lord Himself is what I like to call the Signature of God.

What is the simplest and yet most profound evidence the Bible offers concerning God's reality? It is prophecy fulfilled--the irrefutable verification reserved to the Scriptures alone.

Prophecy: The Test To Show Who Is God

Prophecy is the missing element in all other sacred scriptures of the world's religions. By contrast prophecy comprises more than 25% of the Scriptures! And the vast majority all of prophecy centers on the nation of Israel. God has said that if we watch Israel we will see what He is going to do in the future.

God has left His signature, the proof that He is who He claims to be-in the form of prophecies (God explaining future events in clear details that can be verified). So the huge amount of prophetic verses in our Bible is a strong and comforting place to encourage our trusting God. Only our True God can predict the future with absolute accuracy!

As we begin tracing God's prophetic signature, look at Isaiah 41:21:

"Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong [reasons,"] says the King of Jacob. (NKJV)

Only the One and True God can predict the future with absolute accuracy! Look at the challenge the Lord makes in v. 23.

Isaiah 41:23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together.

And here is the first element of God's verification through His prophetic signature. He says:

1. Only Trust The Book From: The God Who Reveals The Future.

In Isaiah 42:5-9 we find the second element of God's verification through His prophetic signature. He says:

2. Only Trust The Book From: The God Prophecy Describes.

Isaiah 42:5-9
• He is the Creator: v.5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:
• He is the Sustainer: v. 6 "I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
• He is the Redeemer: v. 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.
• He is the Revealer: v. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them."

Now turn to Isaiah 46:9-10 for the third element of God's verification through His prophetic signature. He says:

3. Only Trust The Book From: The God Prophecy Shows Is Reliable.

Isaiah 46:9-10
• He is Unique: v. 9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
• He is Accurate: v. 10a Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
• He is Reliable: v. 10b Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'

Now turn to Isaiah 48:3-5 for the fourth element of God's verification through His prophetic signature. He says:

4. Only Trust The Book From: The God Who Does All He Says.

Isaiah 48:3-5 "I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. 5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.'

Now turn to Isaiah 48:17-18, 22 for the final element of God's verification through His prophetic signature. He says:

5. Only Trust The Book From: The God Who Determines Our Eternal Destiny.

Isaiah 48:17-18, 22
• He is our Redeemer: v. 17a Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel:
• He is our Teacher: v. 17b "I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit,
• He is our Leader: v. 17c Who leads you by the way you should go.
• He is our Peace-Giver: v. 18 Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 22 "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."

So the Great and Mighty God, who has proven Himself real, reliable, and trustworthy - offers eternal peace. It is He who declares to us exactly what lies ahead in the future.

Sunday, February 15, 2009