Religious dreams and visions were more common in the past days as compared to today. The change has occurred in that primarily; prophets could declare new revelation based on God's message. However, modern prophecy involves working towards the fulfillment of the completed revelation God has already given. Traditionally, the prophets offered insights into everyday occurrences as well as providing opportunities that connected a religious group to their maker. A prophecy is a divine message from God that is intended to communicate a particular message to the people. In Christianity, prophecy is a spiritual gift that can be listed among the gifts of the holy spirit. It is common that most people mistake the gift of prophecy as the ability to predict some future occurrences. Based on biblical perceptions, not all prophecies were understood to be positive. God could either warn people, lead them or advise them on what to do when faced with different situations.
Forms of Prophecy
God used several methods to communicate with his people. First, there was the element of writing which is used often in the Bible. An example is when God gave Moses the ten commandments in written form. The message was intended for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. The Israelites were to keep the commandments as a sign of the covenant between them and God. Secondly, God communicated orally through the angels. In most cases, the method was used when the precise wording was crucial. An example is when God used an angel to instruct Moses on the message that he was to deliver to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
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Thirdly, there is the use of visions and dreams which were sometimes given even when the prophet was awake and fully conscious (Doohan, 2016). When the ideas were so vivid, the prophets had a chance to participate and communicate with God. When God spoke to the prophets while they were sleeping, there was no disjointedness. The messengers could easily describe what they saw or heard upon waking up. Isaiah had a dream after which he wrote: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted, and the train of His robe filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1).
Lastly, God used the aspect of mental guidance upon which He controlled the thoughts of his people to help convey the intended message. The element highly contributes to the Biblical statement that "God inspires all scripture.” It is through this that God communicated his ideas into the minds of his servants. The message to be conveyed was God's, but the prophets choose the wording through the guidance of the holy spirit.
Importance of Prophecies
Based on Christianity, prophecy has been God's pattern of communication from the beginning. God shares his will through prophets. The reason is that he wants his people to learn and prosper in Christianity. The will can be communicated through instructions, warnings, and revelations. God also builds faith through the prophets. Foretelling is an important event, mainly when used on cases of warning people so that they can be prepared on the occurrence of a specific event (Shore, 2016). When prophecies come to pass, there is strengthened faith in God's word. The Bible contains both the fulfilled prophecies as well as the events that are yet to come. Prophets also teach and remind the Christians on how to live better and became ultimately happy while on earth.
Conclusion
There are many reasons why believers should be interested in Biblical prophecies. Prophecy constitutes almost one-third of the Bible hence profitable for teaching. Some of the main ideas communicated include marriage and relationships guidance, financial prudence, faith during trials among others. The moral principles are still relevant today.
References
Doohan, L. (2016). Mark: Visionary of Early Christianity . Wipf and Stock Publishers.23-45.
Shore, M. (2016). Religion and Conflict Resolution: Christianity and South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission . Routledge.
