Sunday, October 4, 2015

2 Chronicles 12:7: Further Proof Prophecy is Contingent

And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. (2 Chron 12:7)

As with many prophecies, the free-will decisions of the people to whom the oracle is delivered often affects whether or not the prophecy comes to pass. In this verse, due to the repentance of the people, the prophesied destruction against Jerusalem did not come upon them (cf. Jer 18:7-10). Indeed, the biblical authors knew that all prophecy was contingent, something the prophet Jeremiah revealed when discussing Micah's prophecy in Mic 3:12 (see Jer 26:18-19).

Further Reading:

Richard L. Pratt (non-LDS [Presbyterian] scholar), "Historical Contingencies and Biblical Predictions"

Stephen O. Smoot, “Joel Kramer vs. the Bible and Joseph Smith” (a review of Joseph Smith vs. the Bible which I helped research)

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