Do Prophetic Words Always Have To Come To Pass?

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I want to tackle something I find absolutely fascinating!

It’s all related to prophecy….and it’s going to go deep, so buckle up!

Earlier today I covered this:

FROM JEHU TO JOSIAH: Powerful New Prophecy Given For Trump and America

Which led me to the topic I want to cover right now….

We do not shy away from covering prophetic words here at WLTReport, but then the big question becomes: how do you know who is “real” and who isn’t?

I am excited about covering real prophetic words, but I don’t want to put fake ones out there.

It’s a tough thing to figure out, but right now I specifically want to focus on one question: If a person claims to give a prophetic word from God and it does NOT come to pass as they say, are they a False Prophet that we should no longer cover?

Yes, I know the two verses most commonly cited:

Deuteronomy 18:20–22 (ESV) 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.
21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’—
22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

And:

Deuteronomy 13:1–3 (ESV) 1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ … you shall not listen to the words of that prophet.”

 

But now I want to advance the discussion a bit and challenge you (and myself) by asking this very simple question: What if God himself had a prophetic word that never came to pass?

Do you know what’s actually in your Bible?

We’re going to go deep into three topics that are related, closely interwoven, but distinct topics: Prophecy, Foreknowledge and Predestination.

I told you, it’s gonna go deep!

And for something like this, there’s no one better to go to that Dr. Michael S. Heiser.

Sadly, we lost him recently, but he was such a brilliant mind and he made things so easy to understand.

In his Naked Bible Podcast Episode 115, he talks about 1 Samuel 23 and he talks about David while he is in Keilah and he asks two questions of God about what will happen in the future.

David asks the Lord two direct questions:

  1. Will Saul come down to Keilah if I stay?
    God answers: “He will come down.”
  2. Will the people of Keilah deliver me over to Saul?
    God answers: “They will deliver you over.”

But here’s the catch….

When David hears this, he leaves Keilah, and these events never materialize. Saul does not come to Keilah, nor do the people betray David (because David is gone).

So God had foreknowledge about two events that would never actually happen!

Let that sink in a bit…

God tells David these two things will happen, but then they don’t!

MIND.

BLOWN.

  • Conditional Prophecy: God’s statement about what “will happen” is contingent upon David remaining in Keilah. Once David changes his behavior, the prophesied outcome changes as well.
  • Not All Prophetic Words Are Inevitable: Even though God Himself provided the warning, the prophecy wasn’t a locked-in certainty—its fulfillment depended on David’s choice to stay or leave.

Listening to Dr. Heiser explain it is way better than my short summary, so please listen here:

Backup here if needed:

I think there’s a reason this story is in your Bible, and that’s because it teaches an important concept.

It sometimes feels like a copout to say if a prophetic word does not come to pass, it was because it was Conditional and the Conditions changed.

For example, God can give a prophetic word of Judgment but if the people repent and change their ways, that Judgment may not come.

Ever read the story of Jonah and Nineveh?

That’s EXACTLY what happened to Jonah.

In fact, he was worried he would be labeled a False Prophet for delivering a message that would not come to pass.

Jonah told Nineveh they would be destroyed, but even as he delivered that prophetic word he knew if they repented and changed their ways God would spare them.

And what would happen then?

Jonah would look like a fool for giving a word that never came to pass.

It’s all right here:

“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…’”
(Jonah 4:1–2)

So now let’s wrap it all up and pull it all together.

Is it possible for God to have foreknowledge of things that may actually never happen?

I think that’s pretty clearly a yes from the story of David at Keilah and even from Jonah and Nineveh.

And if that’s the case, is it possible for prophets to give a prophetic word that could be conditional and never come to pass if certain things change?

Yes.

So I’m going to leave you with a little bit of a “fuzzy ending” here because I don’t think there’s a 100% clear line in the sand you can draw to say if every single prophetic word ever uttered by someone doesn’t come to pass exactly as they say, then they are a false prophet.

I don’t think that’s Biblically accurate.

If it were, we may have to give a “False Prophet” label to God himself in 1 Samuel 23, and I don’t know about you but I’m not prepared to do that myself, thank you very much!

Food for thought.



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