Pastor and 1st Lady Mims

Mims Chapel Church

Week 5, July 5, 2026

LESSON 5

Prophecy May Be Conditional

Lesson Text:

1 Kings 21:17-29; 2 Kings 20:1-6;
Jeremiah 18:7-10; Jonah 3:1-10

Memory Verse
"If that nation, against whom /have pronounced, turn from their evil, / will repent of the evil that / thought to do unto them."
Jeremiah 18:8

Key Terms
conditional • subject to one or more conditions or requirements being met; made or granted on certain terms.

corrective • designed to counter something harmful or undesirable.

reprieve • a cancellation or postponement of punishment.

Suggested Emphasis

Conditional prophecy is contingent upon human response to the pronouncements given. It stands in contrast to the irrevocable edicts of God or the sure promises of the faith. The typical example of conditional prophecy uses "if...then" wording. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (1 Chron. 7:14). Sometimes, the "if...then" formula is not used, but the prophetic language is so disturbing, it seems designed to provoke the hearers; this is another indication of conditional prophecy. Certainly, most prophecy that is directed to the people of God is corrective in its intent. The Lord often wants to shock us out of our moral stupor and compel us to repent and return to Him.

Emphasis 1:
Pronouncements Against Nations
Are Always Conditional

The Lord Himself says that judgments upon nations have to be read as conditional. "If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would" (Jeremiah 18:7-10, NLT). In principle, we can assert that repentance in us prompts repentance in God. But, of course, when we repent is a matter of the heart first, and then behavior. It is theologically distinct from when God repents, which is just a change in His actions. As Scripture attests, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Num. 23:19). The point is that the Lord's purposes are perfect, and therefore immutable, even though He may shift and adjust His methods.

Emphasis 2:

The Conditional Judgment
Against Ninevah

The quintessential example of a conditional prophecy without the "if...then" formula is Jonah's message to Ninevah. After being vomited out on the shore by the great fish, the prophet must have cut an intimidating figure. I imagine him scared by the gastric juices he encountered in the belly of the beast. He must have been a frightening visage, with an angry demeanor, screaming about citywide destruction in forty days! Although he only walked one-third of the way through the massive capital city of Assyria, the effectiveness of his message indicates that Jonah terrified the populace. Everyone in Ninevah was convinced that the danger was real, especially the king who issued an edict to that effect. "No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us" (Jon. 3:7-9). So, the Ninevites fasted and prayed in the hope that those tokens of repentance would elicit God's mercy. There was no hint of the possibility of deliverance in the prophetic pronouncement, but the reputation of this God must have preceded His prophet's arrival. The Ninevites stumbled into the same reasoning demonstrated by commentators that knew God better, like King David (2 Sam. 12:22) and the prophet Joel (Joel 2:14).

Emphasis 3:

King Ahab Won a Brief Reprieve

There are even historical instances when personal prophecy proved to be conditional. When King Ahab took possession of the vineyard of Naboth after the latter had been framed for blasphemy and stoned to death, the Lord sent Elijah to him with a word of judgment. "So now the LORD says, 'I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel! I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin— (1 Ki. 21:21,22, NLT). In this instance, Ahab was shaken enough to openly repent: "he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning" (1 Ki. 21:27, NLT). God acknowledged the king's gestures. As the Lord told Elijah, "Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty" (1 Ki. 21:29, NLT). Examples like the reprieve given Ahab, or the extension of Hezekiah's life (2 Ki. 20:16), show that conditionality is a matter of God's sovereignty.

Missions Application Questions

What is the most common format of conditional prophecies?
Why do conditional prophecies sometimes use provocative and disturbing imagery?
Have you ever received a prophetic word that did not come to pass? Do you think it was a conditional prophecy, or was it simply false?

World Missions Prayer Points

Let us thank God that even His pronouncements against His people are always intended to bring them to repentance.
Let us pray for the fortitude to change our ways when we are confronted about our sin.
Let us pray that our prophets speak candidly and fearlessly what God reveals to them.