“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand and I will do all My pleasure”

Isaiah 46:10

There are many ways that people have sought to discover future events in their lives but all fail. Fallen mankind will look for knowledge of the future everywhere except to their Creator. Yet God is the only one who is outside time and therefore knows in detail all that is to come. This is why He said through Isaiah, “To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me that we should be alike?” (Isaiah 46:5). We have tried to place our astrologers, crystal ball readers and the like on an equal footing with God. Think about this from God’s view point. In Psalm 2:4 we read, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.”

One of the key reasons that the Lord has made so much mention (much of it in considerable detail) of events, future to the time when given, is so that people will know the truth of Isaiah 46:9 when it comes to pass: “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me.” People may like to arrogantly argue and may think that they can find excuse but the Lord says, “I will not arbitrate with a man” (Isaiah 47:3). The Lord says, “I have declared the former things from the beginning … Suddenly I did them and they came to pass … I have declared it to you; before it came to pass … lest you say, ‘My idol has done them’ … I will not give My glory to another” (Isaiah 48:3-5, 11).

The reason the Lord tells us things to come is so that, when they happen in the detail He has given, we will know that He alone is God.

For now the world mocks those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even some Christians cast doubt on God’s faithfulness to His word especially in regard to His covenant with Abraham and King David. In Isaiah 49:6 the Lord promises to redeem both Israel and Gentiles. When this is eventually fulfilled everyone “will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me” (Isaiah 49:23). Those who deny God’s faithfulness to His word will be greatly ashamed when He fulfills it in all the detail He has revealed. Those who live in expectation and faith that the Lord will fulfil His word will not be disappointed even if there is what we consider a long wait.