Discussing religion, prophecy, and other terms belonging to the lexicon of spirituality is frequently met with disdain. This disdain stems not only from aversion but also from a misunderstanding of their true meaning. There is a lack of knowledge on the subject. While poetry deals with feeling and philosophy with reflection, prophecy focuses on intention.

Prophecy, often viewed with skepticism, is nonetheless a concept rich in meaning and implications. It transcends simple prediction to become a bridge between worlds, influencing our perception of reality and our behavior. This article explores the multidimensional nature of prophecy, particularly that of Jesus, and its impact on transforming our understanding of the world and the afterlife.

What to expect?

No prophecy, in the common understanding of the term, is limited to predicting the future. Reading the Bible, one might think that all future predictions have already occurred or are yet to come. For example, when Jesus states, "This world and heaven will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35), he is interpreted as announcing the end times: an apocalypse, which originally meant a revelation about the future, even though over time this Greek term has taken on the meaning of "end of the world," which somewhat distorts its original meaning.

We can view this prophecy in several ways:

1. like a real promise that the world will end, come to its end. In this case, we are waiting for the end of the world and preparing for it.
2. like a prophecy already fulfilled, in that after his arrival, the entire vision of the world, and of the afterlife, was radically transformed. In this case, the end of the world has already occurred, and we are only now beginning to understand what has already happened.
3. It's like a false revelation, in that the world hasn't ended in over 2000 years, despite its promises. In this case, the more time passes, the less prepared we are for the end of the world, the less we believe it will happen.

Generally, there are three ways to interpret prophecies. First, we can consider them certainties if we trust the person who utters them. Second, they can be perceived as mere speculation if we doubt the person's credibility. Third, with a critical mind and discernment, we can seek the element of truth present in all prophecies. Indeed, prophecies are broad enough to allow for free interpretation and specific enough to give substance to those interpretations.

Since there is little to say about prophecies as false revelations other than that they are false, we will simply note that, indeed, it is impossible or very difficult to see the future. However, certain neurotypes are very good at discerning patterns in nature or human behavior, and can thus predict the future to a certain extent. There is also little more to say about prophecy as a true promise, since this requires blind faith in the person who utters it. What proves interesting to study is, on the one hand, behavior and how it changes after hearing the prophecy, whether one believes it or not, and on the other hand, how one can move beyond a prophecy by showing that it is indeed true, but already fulfilled.

The new Christian world

Let's begin by examining how Jesus' prophecy has already been fulfilled. Since his arrival, the religion of Israel no longer exists. We now have two religions that were brought about by Jesus' arrival: Christianity and Judaism. Judaism has evolved considerably since Jesus' arrival and could have become yet another religion (for example, it believes in reincarnation, which was not the case two thousand years ago). But for the purposes of this article, let's consider ancient Judaism as it existed in Jesus' time.

Indeed, the religion of Israel at the time of ancient Judaism did not have, did not know of, heaven or hell. When one died, one went into a kind of nothingness, Sheol. So after life, after death, there was death, and death was the end, except for a fortunate few who would be granted a resurrection in the distant future: our being was condemned to nothingness. The contradictions and the resurrection of Jesus both demonstrated that the world was other than what was believed. His resurrection, through the friendly magic He demonstrated that life after death was possible for all of us, because he represents us as human beings (he is like us) and he survived death. Through his contradictions, he challenged us to re-explain the world. Let's take the following example:

He who believes in me will live even if he were dead.

Jean 11.25

In the quote above, Jesus directly contradicts himself. Now, if we believe what he says, our problem then becomes this: how do we reconcile his contradictions with our worldview? Indeed, what Jesus said was not only contradictory, but incompatible with the structure of the world as it was understood. Well, to resolve these contradictions, to validate JesusThey recreated the world: they created heaven and hell and made life something transitory, a kind of test to earn one's place in the afterlife where heaven is located.

It was the actions and words of Jesus that brought about a transvaluation of values ​​and a transformation of the world. We can truly say that his word has remained, and that the world and heaven have passed away: this is what we call the Good News. It is life after death! We can renounce the old world, the old traditions, the ossified structures of the family¹and all be united in Jesus as individuals. This is what Saint Paul concludes by saying:

For we were all baptized by one Spirit and one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

1 Corinthians 12:13-14

The Christian world differs profoundly from antiquity. Emphasizing these differences is crucial. We have evolved from a universe where the gods were responsible for all tragedies to a world free from divine intervention. Saint Augustine called these gods, to whom sacrifices were offered and whom we implored not to bring about our ruin, demons. But the God who is the Father of Jesus did not even intervene to save his own son at his crucifixion, revealing a world where we are free to make our own mistakes. He will not save an innocent person condemned to death; therefore, it is our duty not to shed the blood of the innocent. We are now guarantors of justice on Earth and must answer for our actions after death. The word of Jesus forms the pivot between the old world and the afterlife, as well as our own. With Jesus, we can affirm that this world and this heaven are gone, but his word remains.

Note well that there has been a revelation of the world; this is why it is an apocalypse. It is a unveilingIt doesn't reveal the end and how the world will end. But it reveals that the world is as it is. A prophecy, therefore, has something eternal about it.

Another Advent?

The perception that all prophecies are yet to come can lead to all sorts of conclusions, such as the imminent return of Jesus Christ. We only need to read the Gospels to see that he has already had a Second Coming. He returned and said that he is with us until the end of the age, according to the very last verse of Matthew. In this sense, for Second Adventists, it's as if Jesus isn't already here, as if he isn't present, and as if it isn't his plan that we are following.

Yet he shaped the world as we understand it. He recreated the world. That they have reached his return, at the end of the world, is somewhat ironic. What Second Adventists pray for and await is nothing other than the end of the age of Jesus Christ, that his world is nothing but suffering, and that they long for paradise. It is, in a way, telling him that what comes next, the next age, will surely be better than what we have now.

Those who pray for the return of Jesus Christ are often Judaizers: it is Judaism that is supposedly awaiting the imminent arrival of the Messiah. An ideal-typical Christian is not one who awaits the imminent arrival of a Messiah. According to the Gospels, he has already come. The era we are living in is post-Messianic and will last “until the end of time,” according to the text. In short, the message of the Gospels is: Let us not wait any longer for a savior, for he came and was killed.If we're still looking for it, we only have to read the book by...Apocalypse to find out where to find it:

The bright morning star commonly refers to the appearance of Venus in the sky, which we can see approximately twice a year. It is therefore always returning, and a return of Jesus to the flesh would represent the divinity returning to the Covenant, for yet another world.

What kind of world should we create?

Prophecy, therefore, is not simply a prediction of the future: those who believe in it are always prepared for its eventual fulfillment and see in many things signs foreshadowing an end. Nor is prophecy merely a truth of the present world. When Jesus said that the world would pass away, it had not already passed away. From the perspective of those who listened to him... liveHe is indeed talking about the future. But for someone who makes an apocalypse prediction, they must take into account the multiple points of view on their statement.

One day, the world will have passed away, and will we then believe that it will pass away again when enough time has gone by for us to forget the passage we took from one world to another? Well, yes, this happened quite early in the history of Christianity, and for 2000 years Christians have been at the gates of the end of the world. For two millennia, the world has been nearing its end. Perhaps it is time to move on. Perhaps that is what Jesus was thinking at the time.

In the biblical narrative, Jesus appeared after the rebuilding of the Temple, an achievement made possible by Cyrus the Great. Subsequently, Judea was incorporated into the Roman Empire. By this time, Israel's former glory seemed to be over: the kingdom had been lost, the people deported to Babylon, and it was only thanks to Cyrus, the Persian emperor, that they were able to return and rebuild the Temple. However, the people of Israel were now divided, torn between the desire for self-determination and collaboration with the occupying forces. In this context, it seemed that no one dared to intervene, for Israel had been waiting for centuries for God to send them a savior.

When we await a Savior, we don't do much for ourselves. No doubt Jesus wanted change in his world, but especially in the mode of subjectivity. In this sense, when we make prophecies, we choose a world to create for ourselves. From the world where we are passive recipients, such as the religion of pre-Jesus Israel, he created an army that remains ready and active, poised to play a role in the coming end of the world. Jesus seems to have succeeded, because the mode of subjectivity has indeed changed, and the prophecy of the "world that is passing away" still plays its role in mobilizing populations. In its environmental form, it is what makes us recycle. In its technological form, it is what makes us fear artificial intelligence.

So prophecy is a discourse to discuss the world we hope for, the one we want and choose from among all possible worlds. It concerns the future in that it is the direction in which we look, but it is not a prediction; it is a shaping, an incubation of the future and a burial of the past. Because we intervene in a person's expectations through prophecy, the entire processing of information is altered: we look for signs of the end of the world.

In conclusion…

Ultimately, prophecy is not limited to predicting the future but actively shapes our world. The example of Jesus' prophecy illustrates how a single word can reshape entire beliefs and institutions, inviting us to re-evaluate our relationship to time, faith, and action. Prophecy thus remains a powerful agent of change, a call to finally turn the page.

Prophecy for a world without end

On the other hand, we yearn for a world where the anticipation of its end no longer exists, because we will know that it will not come to pass. Faced with a world in a perpetual terminal phase, we opt for an eternal world. We desire it this way because resources are rationed to preserve them for a conflict that will never erupt: it is time to establish ourselves on Earth once and for all and create paradise. Jesus promised to be with us until the end of time, and here we are declaring this end: the time is over, and the end will not come. If we cannot hope that God will spare us a tragedy, let us not count on Him to provide a miracle solution. It is our turn to plant, in His image, a garden from which we could drive Him out.

The advent of artificial intelligence promises a world where idleness and passivity are advantageous, since any action based on the very principle of action would disrupt an eternal order. We have reached a pivotal moment in history where, for a period, half the population stayed home, and yet we still managed to meet our basic needs. Our capacity to free ourselves from work increases every day: already, half the workforce holds pointless jobs, because, for fear of giving freely, we invent tasks to justify our wages.

We no longer need to be saved. What we need is to be supported and for the Earth to reflect Heaven: that our daily bread be given to us, that we no longer be prey to the temptation of the hungry, that our debts be forgiven us, as we forgive offenses, so that we may be freed from evil.

Amen

1. I am referring here to Matthew 10:35. In this passage, Jesus says that he came to separate the father from the son, the mother from the daughter. He came to sow division within the family in order to put an end, in a way, to this institution as it existed. Since then, Christian cultures have experienced what is called the adolescent crisis (which is a particular characteristic of Christianity) where children distance themselves from their parents' value system and find their own identity. ↩︎