Many modern Christians treat biblical prophecy like a secret codebook—deciphering signs in the sky, tracking global politics, and panicking at every Middle Eastern rocket launch. But this “populist” reading of prophecy is more about headlines than holiness. And popular isn’t the same as faithful. Remember: in AD 33, the popular view was that Jesus was a blasphemer. So a better question might be: How did the early church understand prophecy? Do any New Testament examples help us reframe our assumptions?
It might be surprising to hear that in the early church prophecy was something that found its fulfillment in the immediate, immanent, and practical “now.” It would be generally unheard of for someone to prophecy the specifics of an event 1000 years down the road—that is simply not how the ancient mind understood prophecy. That sort of prophecy held no impact or bearing on the life of the living. Rather, the normative mode for prophecy was one in which the prophet could be judged and weighed according to the correctness of his declaration. As such, in the Jewish world, vague oracles were not considered helpful nor divine. The case of Agabus—one of the few named prophets in the New Testament—offers an illuminating glimpse into how prophecy functioned within the apostolic community. That glimpse, when rightly understood, shines light upon how we should approach John’s Revelation.
Agabus: A Prophet of the Present
Agabus appears twice in Acts. First in Acts 11, where he predicts a famine under Claudius, which occurs soon after (AD 46-48). Second, in Acts 21, he foretells Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem. But each time, the pattern is clear: Agabus tells the church what is imminent, not what is distant. His prophecies are specific and time-bound—fulfilling the Deuteronomic standard (Deut. 18:22) and coming to pass within the lifetime of the hearers.. But perhaps most importantly, they prompt a tangible response from the church.
When Agabus warns of the famine the disciples determined to send relief to the brothers living in Judea (Acts 11:29). No speculation, no panic: just action. The same realism holds in Acts 21. Paul does not question the prophecy—only what it demands of him. Agabus doesn’t speak in riddles or vague, partial fulfillments: he interprets unfolding events with Spirit-given clarity.
Prophecy and the Shape of New Testament Expectations
This raises an important hermeneutical question: If New testament prophecy functions this way—why do we treat Revelation differently? A preterist reading (from praeter, Latin for “past”) sees Revelation speaking to the urgent realities facing the first-century church: persecution, the corrupting power of empire, and the impending judgment on apostate Israel. As G.K. Beal writes, “the book’s purpose is not to satisfy curiosity about the future, but to fortify believers to remain faithful in the present.”1 That purpose aligns perfectly with how prophecy operated in the early church—guiding believers through immediate historical crises. Agabus helps us read Revelation not as detached eschatology, but as pastoral prophecy. This is one of the roles of the “Apocalyptic” genre of prophecy. It does not attempt to tell you how God will do something, but rather, what he will accomplish in the most epic and convincing terms possible. As John tells us at the beginning of his letter, “These things must soon take place” (Rev. 1:1). In John’s life, the time was near (Rev 1:3), not distant.
Why This Matters
The early church saw itself as living at the culmination of covenantal history. We must distinguish between the end of the world and the end of a covenantal world. The early church didn’t expect the collapse of creation, but the closing of an age—the Mosaic age (cf. Heb. 8:13). The prophetic word, then, is not an abstract oracle—it is God’s interpretation of unfolding covenantal realities. Thus, Revelation is covenantal judgment, not cosmic annihilation. As such, we must not understand the prophetic word as something floating in abstraction—no, it was significantly tethered to a present unfolding reality.
This can be seen in Acts 2, where Peter specifically ties eschatological prophecy to Pentecost: “your sons will prophesy” (Joel 2). In this verse, Peter is stating something controversial for many of today’s readers: the end time prophecies were being fulfilled in Peter’s day. This whole argument can be summarized in a sentence: prophetic testimony pointed to Christ, not to distant geopolitical puzzles. Prophecy is about covenant, not conspiracy.
Agabus and Revelation Read Together
So how does Agabus clue us in on how to read Revelation? Well, Agabus provides a template: prophecy was given for the hearers’ immediate application and edification. Agabus doesn’t just predict events—he shepherds the church through them. This is the key: prophecy is pastoral, not predictive for its own sake. Which brings us to Revelation. Revelation should do the same for us today and all generations past and present—just on a larger, symbolic scale. As Richard Bauckham observes, “Revelation is a work of prophetic interpretation of the contemporary situation of the churches.”2 Whereas Agabus warns of famine and persecution, John warns of impending covenantal undoing–an “unmaking” of a people who rejected their Messiah, culminating in the fulfillment of the old covenant–which simultaneously results in the judgment of those in said covenant. When a covenant is broken, so is the relationship. Thus, as the old covenant is fulfilled and executed, the new covenant is inaugurated (Rev 11; Matt 24; Mark 12-13), the covenant Israel had long awaited (Deut. 30:6; Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:25–27). Thus, Revelation does not serve to warn of impending global doom, rather, it warns of the danger of covenant failure–and encourages those who finish the race well.
Conclusion: Recovering Prophetic Literacy
N. T. Wright, when speaking of prophecy writes, “Prophets were not fortune tellers. They were covenant watchdogs.”3 In other words, they were covenantal lawyers, telling the people when they violated the covenant and how God intended to respond. But these perspectives have been lost amongst the popular views of the “end times,” attributing weight and purpose that were not originally intended. As such, to read Revelation rightly, we must do the difficult work of recovering the church’s prophetic literacy:
- Prophecy is not prediction, but perspective—God’s commentary on history.
- We live in the overlap of the ages (1 Cor. 10:11)—not on the brink of escape, but in the thick of endurance.
- Revelation calls us to faithfulness, not fear—to worship, not worry.
Agabus reminds us that prophecy is timely, clear, and covenantal. So let us read Revelation not as a puzzle for tomorrow, but a call to faithfulness today. Because Christ has triumphed—and that changes everything.
Weston Blaha 