Bible prophecy

Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from God. Prophetic passagesinspirations, interpretations, admonitions or predictionsappear widely distributed throughout Biblical narratives. Some future-looking prophecies in the Bible are conditional, with the conditions either implicitly assumed or explicitly stated. In general, believers in biblical prophecy engage in exegesis and hermeneutics of scriptures which they believe contain descriptions of global politics, natural disasters, the future of the nation of Israel, the coming of a Messiah and of a Messianic Kingdom—as well as the ultimate destiny of humankind. Prophets in the Hebrew Bible often warn the Israelites to repent of their sins and idolatries, with the threat of punishment or reward. They attribute both blessings and catastrophes to God. According to believers in Bible prophecy, later biblical passages - especially those contained in the New Testament - contain accounts of the fulfillment of many of these prophecies. Judaism and Christianity have taken a number of biblical passages as prophecies or foreshadowings of a coming Messiah. Christians believe that Christ Jesus fulfills these messianic prophecies, while followers of Rabbinic Judaism still await the arrival of the Jewish Messiah and other signs of Jewish eschatology. Most Christians believe that the Second Coming of Christ will fulfill many messianic prophecies, though some Christians (Full Preterists) believe that all Messianic prophecies have already been fulfilled. Rabbinic Judaism does not separate the original coming of the Messiah and the advent of a Messianic Age. (For details of differences, see Christianity and Judaism.) A much-discussed issue within Christianity concerns the "end times", or "last days", particularly as depicted in the Book of Revelation.