Conditional prophecy
The Scriptures teach that all of the prophecies, covenants, promises, and threats found in the Scriptures are conditional
whether or not a condition is stated; their fulfillment is contingent upon man's response to God's commands. Promises of blessing cannot be fulfilled to a disobedient nation or individual, and prophecies of punishment will not be fulfilled against the repentant. This principle is clearly stated in
Jeremiah 18:23.
There are a number of examples of conditional prophecy in the Scriptures, as the following list illustrates. First we note instances in which promised doom was averted by repentance, then instances in which promised blessing was averted by wickedness.
• Jonah's prediction that Nineveh would be destroyed was not fulfilled (
Jonah 3:4, 10), even though his prophecy of doom was not qualified by any stated conditions.
• God's prophecies of Jerusalem's destruction in the days of Hezekiah were not fulfilled when the people repented (
Jer. 26:18, 19).
• Isaiah's prophecy that Hezekiah would soon die of his present sickness was not fulfilled (
2 Kings 20:1-6).
• God promised through Elijah to punish Ahab, then relented when Ahab repented (
1 Kings 21:17-29).
• Because of Eli's disobedience, God retracted His promise that his descendants would serve the Lord forever (
1 Sam. 2:30).
• God's promise to bring the Israelites who came out of Egypt into the Promised Land (
Ex. 6:8) was not fulfilled (
Num. 14:30-34).
• Though God through Moses promised the Israelites they would never see the Egyptians again (
Ex. 14:13), He threatened to break that promise if they were disobedient (
Deut. 28:58, 68).
• Ezekiel 5 contains God's promise to destroy Jerusalem, which was fulfilled a few years later. Here God promised never to repeat this terrible punishment (verses 9, 10), but the same sort of destruction happened in A.D. 70.
• God promised Aaron and his sons a perpetual priesthood that would last throughout their generations (
Ex. 40:15; Num. 25:13). Yet the Levitical priesthood was replaced with the Melchizedekian (
Hebrews 7).
Conditionalism helps us to understand why many of the prophecies of the Old Testament, such as the description of the new Temple in the last nine chapters of Ezekiel, were never literally fulfilled. Some prophecies will never be literally fulfilled on earth because their fulfillment was conditional upon the Jews' remaining faithful in their covenant relationship with God. The promise that Israel would inherit the land of Canaan was clearly conditional on their obedience (
Deut. 4:25-31; 11:13-17, 22-28; 28:1-68; 29:22-30:10; 30:15-20; 31:16-29; Jeremiah 7; 17:24-27). Though they were God's chosen people, God threatened them with destruction for unfaithfulness (
Deut. 8:19, 20).
The New Testament teaches that literal Israel, as a nation, has been rejected by God. The nation finally sealed its fate when it crucified its promised King. Because the Jews rejected the Promiser, they lost the promises; because they rejected the King, they lost the kingdom. This is clearly stated in the allegorical parable of Israel's history in
Matthew 21:33-43. According to verse 43, the kingdom of God was to be taken from the Jews and given to another
"nation"—namely, the Christian church (
1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 1:6). Christ also foretold in two other parables the rejection of the Jewish nation as His people (
Matt. 8:11, 12; 22:1-14).
"Your house," Christ said,
"is left unto you desolate" (
chap. 23:38), and Paul said that God's wrath had finally come upon them (
1 Thess. 2:16). Thus the promises to the Jews were nullified by their own apostasy.
The New Testament teaches that physical descent from Abraham is meaningless (
Luke 3:8; John 8:39-44); it is Abraham's
spiritual descendants—those who accept Christ as the Messiah—who are now God's special people and who inherit all the Old Testament kingdom promises (
Gal. 3:7, 28, 29). There is now no difference between Jew and Gentile in regard to salvation or God's favor (
chap. 3:28; Eph. 2:11-15; Rom. 10:12, 13). In fact, the term
Jew itself is redefined in the New Testament to mean the true followers of Christ (
Rom. 2:28, 29; Phil. 3:3). Not only did the Christian church appropriate the title
"Jews"; the members also called themselves
"Israel" (
Gal. 6:14-16; Rom. 9:6). Therefore James could address his Epistle
"to the twelve tribes" (
James 1:1), even though he was writing to Christians. Many of the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament are appropriated by the Christian church in the New and will be fulfilled only in the age to come.