In | Predictions, Prophecies, Promises, and Foreshadow

It’s critical when reading prophecy to realize the difference between prediction, prophecy, promise and foreshadow. 

Predictions occur throughout the Bible, beginning with Genesis 3:15 where God declares, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (NIV). Predictions are what most think of as prophecy, but prophecy also anticipates the future with words of warning that often follow an if . . . then . . . format (Deuteronomy 28). Along with prophecy, the Bible also uses promises to guide the story line of redemptive history. As Old Testament scholar Gerhard von Rad put it, the Bible “leans forward” toward its climax. One final term used for the anticipation woven into Scripture is foreshadow. This is a sign or hint of things to come, usually found in narrative and related to prior promises.