“Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail.”
Isaiah 34:16.
How can we correctly understand prophecy? By allowing the Bible to interpret itself. For example, Revelation contains 404 verses, out of these more than 270 are taking directly from the Old Testament. So to accurately interpret Bible prophecy we need to allow other verses in the Bible to unlock the symbols used in prophecy.
One of the main aspects of the Bible that assures us of its divine inspiration is fulfilled prophecies. Only God knows the future. Through His prophets, God has revealed certain events before they were fulfilled hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of years later with pin point accuracy. We can see this by comparing history with Bible prophecy.
An example of fulfilled prophecies is the fact that Jesus Christ came as the foretold Messiah. The events related to the life of Jesus all pointed to Him being the Messiah. The book of Matthew emphasizes this. For more information read: Prophecies Relating to Christ.
Moreover, the exact timing of the Messiah was foretold by prophecy. The three wise men from the East had been studying these prophecies. That is why they traveled to the land of Judea and asked King Herod to see the Messiah. Prophecy had revealed the time of the Messiah had come. For more information read: A Great Prophetic Period.
