God’s message through Jeremiah was clear. Â God can prophesy future blessings upon a nation or kingdom, but if it turns rebellious he can cancel the intended good. Conversely, God might foretell destruction upon a kingdom or nation, however if it repents God can refrain from pouring out his judgment (Jeremiah 18:7-10).
Nineveh provides an example of prophecy’s conditional nature. God sent Jonah to announce Nineveh’s destruction in 40 days (Jonah 3:1-4). Yet, when God saw how they turned from their evil ways and called out to him, "God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them" (Jonah 3:8,10).
Notice that Jonah never announced the prophecy was conditional. He simply proclaimed, "40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed." In other words, a national prophecy can be conditional even when a prophet never revealed its conditional nature.
So what about the prophecies regarding Israel? Was Israel exempt from the conditional nature of prophecy or were all of them guaranteed to come to pass?
Although the LORD had announced through Micah that Jerusalem would be destroyed (Micah 3:12), when Hezekiah showed reverence for God and sought the Lord’s favor, the LORD chose to relent from turning the city into a pile of rubble (Jeremiah 26:18-19). Although Micah’s message did not indicate conditionality, condemnation was contingent upon the human response.
Someone might object by asking, doesn’t Matthew 5:18 indicate that all prophecies must be fulfilled? In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place." Does this mean that every prophecy in the Old Testament must be fulfilled?
For several reasons, obviously not. First of all, Micah’s foretelling of Jerusalem’s impending destruction was not fulfilled. Prophecy’s conditional nature applied to Israel too!
Second, the context of Jesus’ words focused upon how his ministry and teachings related to the law and the prophets. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17). The conditional nature of national prophecies was not in view.
Thus we return to a version of our earlier question. When blessings were prophesied for Israel, were all of these guaranteed, that is, was she exempt from the conditional nature of prophecy (Jeremiah 18:9-10)? This question is important. How we answer it will contribute toward shaping our understanding of yet-to-come last things.
When we read a prophecy promising blessings upon Israel that has remained unfulfilled, how will we understand this?
- Will we assume this is something yet to occur?
- Will we regard it as remaining unfulfilled because Israel never responded at that time as she should have in order to have received it?
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