How can we trust that biblical prophecy can indeed predict the future?

The words of Jeremiah, or rather the words of the Lord through him, have been abundantly proved to be of divine origin, by the exactness of their execution; being fulfilled with such preciseness in public, private, and personal detail, as to exclude any upright questioning. And that which awaits accomplishment will doubtless be carried out with the same perfection. Our God who fixed the months and years, and timed the shining of the moon and of the sun, spake all the words of prophecy, and His word must be done,

I should define prophecy as an infinite reasoning — the conclusions formed by perfect wisdom on the basis of perfect knowledge. Men can tell by their imperfect wisdom and limited knowledge that certain results will follow such and such causes. But even the wisest men are often entirely at fault. Metternich, who was one of the most astute diplomatists, said to Lord Hardinge in 1848 at Vienna, that he thought there would be "disturbances, but nothing much;" yet four days afterwards he was flying for his life, and his house was sacked. If one knew everything and reasoned correctly, he could tell the whole chain of results to all eternity: of course God alone can do this, and therefore, as Newton said, "If the scripture prophecies are accomplished, the scripture must be the word of God;" and this kind of evidence to the inspiration of scripture is a continuous one, as years progress and the prophecies are fulfilled — and a cumulative one. Miracles attest a revelation at the time of its announcement; prophecies, which are miracles of knowledge, attest it for subsequent times; so that we are never without supernatural evidence of God's words. Regarding prophecy in this light, we can get some slight idea of that august and stupendous Mind which, comprehending and remembering all phenomena, reasons to their consequences through millions of ages.

And further, fulfilled prophecy is one of the strongest proofs of the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, giving us complete assurance that unfulfilled prophecy will surely be fulfilled in God’s good time.

No book in the world could stand the test that the Word of God does. It is the only Book in the world which has prophesied numerous events which have been fulfilled to the letter; prophecy marks the Scriptures as inspired of God and inerrant. For prophecy as a young believer I was profoundly thankful, and found it confirmatory of my faith. Now as life speeds on to its close the testimony becomes more and more convincing and precious.

Is there such a thing as prophecy? The modern mind rejects the suggestion with scorn. But the Scriptures are full of prophecy. That which has been already fulfilled constitutes a great mass of divine testimony. Concerning Christ Himself: — His birth — the fact and the place of it; His ministry and miracles; His rejection by Israel; His sufferings at the hands of men and of God; His death, burial, resurrection and ascension; and His present session in manhood at the right hand of God, were all put into writing by the Holy Spirit centuries before He came into the world. Concerning Israel and the nations in general: — their downfall and sufferings were predicted while they were at the height of their prosperity, and in some instances long before they rose to power at all. If so much has been fulfilled to the letter, faith confidently expects the full accomplishment of all that yet remains. Man is incapable of forecasting the future, for he is but the creature of a day; God, on the contrary "calls those things which be not, as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). Men who in their pride and independence of heart reject the prophetic lamp which God has graciously placed within the reach of all who can appreciate it, must of necessity grope in darkness. Light from God, which cheers the spirit and guides the steps, is not far away; but they desire it not. Never was the word of prophecy more necessary for the people of God than in this Twentieth century of the Christian era, with its manifold complications and perplexities (2 Peter 1:19).

There is no book in the world that can boast of – or that even claims to have – anything comparable by way of fulfilled prophecy. The precision and number of fulfilled Biblical prophecies can leave no doubt in any honest mind. Biblical prophecy has been – and the future part will be – fulfilled.

Now here again in Isaiah, seven centuries before Christ came, the prophecy of His coming is given. Prophecy is that which utterly shipwrecks a false prophet, and absolutely confirms a true prophet and the more extended the prophecies are the more will that rule hold good. A man might prophesy of one item, and by a lucky chance—a fluke—it might come true, but if he puts two items together, the chances are much more remote that they will come true. If be puts three, four, five, six, or if he puts a dozen together, unless he is inspired in his prophecy, there is not one chance in a million that He will be right. But the Scriptures prophesy not once nor twice, nor a dozen times, but, as we have been saying, over three hundred times, as to the person of Christ, His birth, His life, His death, the results of His work, His glory; and all these things have come true with the exception of the glory to come, which is yet future. How truly they are God’s Word!

We read in Galatians 3:8 a very striking statement, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." "THE SCRIPTURE, FORESEEING!" What a momentous statement! Who can foresee but God alone? Man may foresee a little way ahead when circumstances plainly pointing in a certain direction accumulate, but who can look down the centuries, and say what is going to happen when there are no outward circumstances foreshadowing the future. But this is what God does, and God alone can do. If the Scriptures foresee in this way, it is proof that they are inspired of God, and if inspired of God entirely trustworthy.

Here we have a prophecy which covers the history of the world for long centuries. That history has fulfilled the prediction of this prophecy in a very remarkable way cannot be gainsaid. Who but the omniscient God could have moved Daniel, a young captive at the Babylonian court, to outline unerringly a future of this world-wide character? This prophecy cannot be explained away, and there can be only one true conclusion drawn from it in the light of history, viz., that it was verbally inspired by God through his servant Daniel.

All these things are spoken with exactness of detail, and all have come to pass exactly as foretold, proving conclusively that the writers spake by the Word of the Lord, who alone knows the end from the beginning.