The gift of prediction stands on a higher spiritual level than does that of prevision, that is prophecy in visions and dreams. It is a "seeing" with the mental sight rather than the physical sight, and therefore calls for a greater degree of spirituality; for the things that are thus discerned make no impression upon the natural senses of sight and hearing. Visions and dreams are, in a sense, "mechanical" revelations, in that the Holy Spirit produces an effect upon the physical visual organs, the eyes, and the mind receives that impression and interprets it along the lines of familiar everyday objects. The prophet, to whom is given the power of prediction by means of a spiritual revelation entering into his mind, receives his consciousness of coming events, because of his being in direct communion with God attuned to the Divine Spirit. It is not in consequence of an intellectual knowledge of this world's affairs and their evident inevitable outcome, as in the case of "prophetic foreknowledge". nor is it as a result of visible appearances and dreams which appeal to his sense of sight and are understood by him in harmony with an already accepted symbolism. This was the highest level of spiritual experience to which any man could attain in Old Testament days, so to walk with God that the human mind, working as it were in parallel with the Divine mind, became able to receive knowledge from that Mind. Since God undeniably does see into the future, the mind thus closely attuned with His, is able to share, to some limited degree, in that knowledge.

This thought is borne out by the fact that the majority of such revelations appear to have come to such men at times when they were more than usually in touch with the spiritual world, or by reason of outward circumstances were more than normally susceptible to spiritual influences. This is shown more clearly in the New Testament narratives, which perhaps is to be expected since men of God lived on a higher plane of spiritual experience then than previously. Thus Zacharias, a righteous and godly man (Luke 1. 6) received the great revelation of his life standing in the Holy of the Temple burning incense, and the whole multitude of the people were praying outside ‑ the most solemn moment of the service. With his spirit thus lifted up to God, and being possessed of an intense longing for the coming of Messiah, his senses became receptive to things not normally glimpsed by men and he saw the angel of the Lord at the side of the altar, and heard his voice. It was in the power of that vision that later on, at the birth of his child, his mind came into tune with the mind of God and he uttered the notable prophecy recorded in Luke 1. 68-79. Similarly Simeon, who was evidently already accustomed to the reception of Divine revelations (Luke 2. 26) found himself led as it were by an irresistible spiritual force into the Temple (v.27). Then, his eyes falling upon the babe in Mary's arms, his mind in turn ranged itself in line with the Divine mind and he spoke of things yet to come.

The actual words in which such men clothed their predictions can be traced to the influence of their Messianic expectations. There is another class of prediction of which examples are found in the Scriptures where there is no such predisposing influence. An instance of this is the story, in 2 Kings 7. of the Syrian siege of Samaria in the days of Elisha. The prophet had announced to the famine-stricken citizens that upon the morrow food would be abundant. One of the king's lords replied sarcastically and unbelievingly, whereupon Elisha told him that he would see the abundance with his own eyes but would never eat thereof. Upon the morrow that lord was appointed to have charge of the city gate, and in the crush of citizens eager to share in the unexpected relief he was trampled to death. There could have been no human circumstance which might have indicated that man's imminent fate to Elisha; his untimely death a day later was clearly an accident. In a manner to be accounted for only by the laws which govern prophecy, the details of a circumstance still twenty-four hours in the future were impressed upon Elisha's mind and he was able to repeat them. In a similar fashion Agabus, a Christian prophet, foretold the great famine which Josephus confirms as having occurred some ten years later in the reign of Claudius (Acts 11. 28). Agabus also foretold the coming arrest of Paul (Acts 21. 11). Philip's four daughters were prophetesses (Acts 11. 9), and others among the believers shared the same gift, the "gift of prophecy".

It seems though that this great power was not confined to the believers nor even to the early Church. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in France, at the end of the second century, says that the gift of prophecy was known in his time. There is a record of a prophet Quadratus, and a prophetess Ammia, in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D 117-138). Josephus tells (Wars 6. 5, 3) of a man named Jesus Bar-Anan who began to go about the city, four years before the Jewish War, and hence only a few years after Paul's death, prophesying the destruction of the city, the temple and the people. He continued to do so in spite of the punishment meted out to him. For seven years and five months, says Josephus, he continued thus, never varying his cry in the slightest, until one day, during the siege, he mounted the wall, cried "Woe, woe to the city, and to the people, and to the holy house" and then, for the first time in seven years, changed the terms of his message, and cried out "Woe, woe, to myself also". Almost immediately a stone from one of the Romans' ballistae (giant catapults used to batter down the walls of besieged cities) struck him and killed him. Who shall say that that man was not possessed, in some degree, of prophetic insight?

That was at the fall of Jerusalem in AD.70. One is led to wonder if at such times of national stress there is a sharpening of the prophetic consciousness, a closer approach to union with unseen spiritual influences, leading to such outbursts of prediction. It is noteworthy that in Scripture narratives the prophets are most active and their prophecies most vivid at such times, and this situation appears to be repeated in subsequent history as shown by the narrative of Josephus just quoted. A later instance which reinforces this conclusion can be cited in connection with another time of stress, at an event which affected our own country three centuries ago, to wit, the Great Fire of London in 1666. For a number of years prior to the disaster a widespread conviction existed in certain religious circles that London was shortly to be destroyed on account of the sinfulness of its people. Thomas Reeve, a noted London minister, in 1657 published "God's Plea for Nineveh" in which he foretold both the Great Plague of 1665 and the Fire of the following year. He remained in London during the Plague and drew great congregations to his fervent preaching of repentance. Solomon Eccles, a noted Quaker who later in his life organised the Society of Friends in the West Indies, stalked through London during the Plague with a brazier of burning coals on his head, prophesying the coming Fire with considerable exactitude of detail. Walter Costelo, in a treatise printed in 1658, said "London, go on still in thy presumptuous wickedness. Put the evil day far from thee and repent not. Do so, London. But if the fire make not ashes of thy city, and thy bones also, conclude me a liar forever. Oh, London, London, sinful as Sodom and Gomorrah, the decree has gone out, repent, or burn. Humphrey Smith, a Quaker, in his "Vision, which I saw concerning London" printed in 1660, six years before the event, described the coming Fire, it runs in part "… and as for the city, herself and her suburbs, all, that belonged to her, a fire was kindled therein; but she knew not how, even in all her goodly places, and the kindling of it was in the foundation of all her buildings, and there was none could quench it. And the burning thereof was exceeding great, and it burned inward in a hidden manner which cannot be described. All the tall buildings fell, and it consumed all the lofty things therein, and the fire searched out all the hidden places and burned most of the secret places. And as I passed through her streets I beheld her state to be very miserable….and the fire continued, for, though all the lofty part was brought down, yet there was much old stuff, and parts of broken down desolate walls, which the fire continued burning against. And the vision thereof remained with me as a thing that was showed me of the Lord." Pepys, the famous diarist, who lived at the time, alludes to this expectation in his entry for October 20th, 1666, after the event had justified the predictions.

In assessing the value of such facts relative to our subject, it may be observed that this period was a time of intense spiritual stress for earnest Christian people, and witnessed the virtual rise of the Non-conformist churches in this country. The Ejectment, which deprived two thousand ministers of their positions in consequence of their stand for religious liberty, took place in 1662, four years before the Fire. We have here, therefore, all the necessary conditions for an uprising of the prophetic gift just as on similar occasions it is recorded in the Bible.

The scope of this treatise does not permit the citing of further similar instances. Perhaps sufficient has been said to show that at times of stress men are found whose minds, closely attuned to spiritual things, are made receptive to the imparting of Divine knowledge regarding "things that must shortly come to pass". The foretelling of imminent events is not confined to occasions belonging to Biblical days and to men who are Biblical characters, but has happened and continues to happen from time to time as the history of man unfolds. More recently there has been a considerable amount of philosophical discussion on the nature of Time and theories have been advanced purporting to demonstrate that Time as men know it, is a function only of the order of things in which we have our existence; that there can be, so to speak, more than one kind of Time and that in certain circumstances that much-beloved creature of the philosophers, the hypothetical observer can be projected into another 'Time-stream' and receive a visual or mental impression of events which have not yet materialised in human Time but will do so at a later date. The exhaustive works of J.W.Dunne during the period between the two World Wars have treated this subject in considerable detail but the arguments advanced are too abstruse for the majority of people to follow. There are however a great many well-authenticated modern research projects which appear to establish the fact of some sort of perception of matters removed from the present in point of time, although the laws governing these phenomena are definitely not yet understood. And there may be some other explanation of this apparent ability to foresee future events which does not involve the mind "travelling in time" in the manner so beloved of science fiction writers. Nevertheless, all the evidence goes to show that the reality of prophecy is not so fantastic a thing as men usually think.

There is one peculiarity about the examples that have been cited. They relate to events that were fulfilled within a very short time only a few years after the prophecy was given. These men ‑ very ordinary men in the main ‑ did not see ahead into the distant future; their prophetic consciousness was as it were restricted in its range. In the Bible, and in the Bible alone, we have cases of great men of God, such as Daniel, Zechariah, John, and above all, our Lord Himself, who did see, not a few years or centuries only, but thousands of years into the future. Their prophecies are all the more striking and important on that account. These predictions do not relate only to local matters and the affairs of a few individuals; they cover the whole world and the fortunes and fate of all mankind. For this reason they stand in the front rank of all prophecy. The reputation and the credibility of the entire Bible is involved in their accuracy; if they are not valid they cannot be removed or ignored without wrecking much of the fabric of Bible theology, for their themes interpenetrate every aspect of Scripture teaching and history. And if they are valid then they become of supreme importance to all Christians to-day. They deal with the manner in which the Most High will eventually break through into human history, for the realisation of His ideal for humanity and the process by which He will attain that ideal. It is to this aspect of the subject we must next turn our attention.