Prophecy and news seem to be two disconnected types of communication, working at cross purposes. News is ideally an objective reporting of current events, focused on the present as its name implies. Prophecy is predictive and subjective with a heavy dose of religion. News should inform, prophecy should influence.
Unfortunately, the intense open-market of the internet has forced news services to cater to opinion at the expense of absolute adherence to the truth. Rather than serving as the source of facts, news sources are now the focus of fact checking. News stories are bent to conform more closely to what people want and expect with a sprinkling of truth as an afterthought.
Prophecy, however, may not be what most people believe it to be. A study of prophetic literature in the Bible will show that it does not deal exclusively with predictions. Prophets generally preface their divinations with a review of past events. This serves an essential purpose, and is the real purpose of a prophet. When a prophet is sent by God to transmit a message, it is usually given over as reframing the past. Once the past is presented in the context of a God-based reality, predicting the future becomes a moot point.
King Ahab believed he was within his rights as king to take the field of Naboth, but Elijah reframed the reality, making it clear that he had transgressed. King David as well. After Nathan reframed his actions, David himself declared that he had sinned, a fact that was not apparent to him until his actions were retold in a prophetic manner. Once he realized what had actually occurred in the past, his possible futures, repent and live or don’t and die, were clear.
The proper way to make decisions is to envision a cause and effect framework, a timeline in which the facts and actions from the past are taken into account. The path these events took, considered as a logical product of their sum, lead to the present. When the past is seen as a certain point in reality, the present as another point, then a line drawn from the past to the present indicates what the future should be.
A prophet comes to tell that the past is not what you thought. It is, in fact, a point way off to the side containing factors that were not given due consideration. The present is also in a different place. Now, with those two points realigned, the point representing the future is in an entirely different location. Once the prophet redefines the past and the present, his job is done, tte prophecy complete.
Similarly, prophecy in the news does not involve crystal balls. Prophecy in the news is reframing current events, bringing in the Biblical element. When reporting the news in Israel, it is absurd not to do so, and leads to inaccurate reporting.
The Breaking Israel News Prophecy in the News Conference will be focused on combining news and prophecy for the mutual benefit of both. Fake news, a nuisance in the West, is taken to an extreme when applied to reporting the politics and events in Israel.
It was not widely reported when Yaaser Arafart astounded all of the participants at the 2000 Camp David meetings by asserting that there had never been a Jewish Temple, and Israel had no claim over to the Temple Mount. The claim was simply too absurd to be printed. Yet history is now so fluid that Arafat’s version was universally accepted by UNESCO. It is now accepted by many that Israel was spontaneously created in a region devoid of Jews, officially recognized as a Palestinian State. This is believed to be the history as it actually occurred less than 70 years ago. Less than ten years ago, the name ‘Al Aqsa’ referred to the silver-domed mosque on the Temple Mount. Now, the golden-domed shrine known in Arabic as Qubbat al-Sakhrah is universally recognized as Al Aqsa.
History is being rewritten at an alarming pace and the media is accommodating at modem speed. In the politicized environment of academics, historians and even archaeologists can no longer be relied upon to be unbiased.
I believe the Bible and prophecy can play a key role in resetting this dire situation. The Bible, considered a historical sourcebook for a millennium, should become a staple for news professionals reporting on the Middle East. Religion is at the core of the conflict and should be understood, even by secular reporters. Despite what the politicians say in public forums, the most powerful motives and intentions for the Jews are to be found in black and white in the Torah, for the Christians in the New Testament, and for the Muslims in the Koran. In this region of the world, history is written in stone and signed in blood. Not a single letter of our history and our connection to the land has changed for over 2,000 years. Fake news fades in the light of Prophecy.
Another major topic of the conference will be the growing connection between Jews and Christians. Seen in a secular context, this connection seems illogical and is certainly unprecedented. Jews have historically suffered at the hands of the Christians. The conflict was based on religious differences that seemed irreconcilable. In the last ten years, Israel’s most powerful support is coming from devout Christians. This is inexplicable when explained by secular reporters trying to avoid prophecy in the news. The most accurate and simple way to report this story is in prophetic terms, reframing the past in a manner that makes the end result clear: Christians and Jews are coming together to help Israel manifest God’s eternal covenant.
Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz will speak at the The Prophecy in the News media conference, taking place in Jerusalem on June 5. Click here to register for the live broadcast.
