God’s trustworthy promises

Irecently read the familiar passage in Isaiah predicting Jesus’ sacrificial death, written 700 years before his birth. Here is a portion of that amazing prophecy. “…He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5–6, NLT)

As I read these powerful words, I noticed something very easy to miss. The passage was written not in the future tense, but in the past tense. Why would something recorded 700 years before Jesus be written as if it had already taken place?

Isaiah 53 is not the only example of this found in Scripture. Genesis 15:18 reads, “So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, ‘I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt…’” (NLT). At this point, Abram had no children, and it would be years before his son Isaac was born (Genesis 21).

This writing technique is used not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New. Allow me to share an example from the Apostle Paul’s writing, “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6, NLT) Paul was speaking to Christians who had not yet been resurrected because they had not yet died.

The Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew, and whether something was expressed in the past, present, or future tense depended on context and could sometimes be misunderstood, but that does not explain why a New Testament passage would also describe a future event in the past tense.

A meaningful and logical explanation exists. Each passage I mentioned above is prophetic. Bible scholars suggest they are written in what is often called the “Prophetic Perspective.” The idea is that God’s promises are as good as done since time is no barrier to a promise made by God. Each Biblical promise was so certain to be fulfilled that it could be spoken of as though it had already taken place.

The imaginative language in each example shows that God’s promises to us are as good as done. The next time you feel overwhelmed and need assurance of God’s reliability, take a moment to reflect on these Prophetic Perspective passages. Take heart and remember that there is never a question of whether God will keep his promises, only when he will fulfill them.