SG098, I believe one's faith must be built on knowledge. This knowledge one attains through study. Study fields: History, language studies, everyday events, and yes, prophecy.
Viv, some prophecies pertain to the future. E.g. some of Daniel's prophecies. Here's a few quotes:
Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar: “However, there exists a God in the heavens who is a Revealer of secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what is to occur in the final part [’acharith] of the days” [“the latter days,” KJV] (Dan. 2:28).[1]
Later the angel Gabriel informs Daniel: “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of [the] end” [“the end time,” NAB] (Dan. 8:17b).[2] He continues: “Here I am causing you to know what will occur in the final part [’acharith] of the denunciation, because it is for the appointed time of the end.” The “final part of the denunciation” refers to God’s anger during “the time of the end” (cf. Dan. 8:19, 25).
The small horn or fierce king will rise “in the final part [’acharith] of their kingdom, as the transgressors act to completion” (cf. Dan. 8:23). Gabriel concludes: “And you, for your part, keep secret the vision, because it is for many days” [“it concerns the distant future,” NIV] (cf. Dan. 8:26b).
Concerning the final vision, the angel reveals: “And I have come to cause you to discern what will befall your people in the final part [’acharith] of the days, because it is a vision yet for the days [to come]” [“for the vision pertains to future days,” NET] (cf. Dan. 10:14). [Cursive script added.][3]
The final King of the North “will certainly prove successful until [the] denunciation will have come to a finish.” Again the “denunciation” here refers to God’s wrath, indicating that the final King of the North would from hereon remain the same, enjoying great success, until his destruction during the closing phase of “the end time” (cf. Dan. 11:36, 40, 45 NAB).
[1] This eschatological marker often occurs in the prophetic books of the Bible, corresponding to a new era in human history (Is. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; 30:24; 48:47; 49:39; Dan. 12:13; Hosea 3:5; Mic. 4:1; cf. Ezek. 38:8, 16).
[2] This eschatological marker occurs six times in the book of Daniel. Only the prophet Daniel would make use of it (cf. Dan. 8:17, 19; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9).
[3] Like the Septuagint text of Jeremia, the Messianism of Daniel would look towards a future fulfillment beyond the historical fulfillment of Ezra-Nehemiah (cf. Dan. 7:13, 14; 9:25). In Dan. 2:28 the Hebraism (“at the end of the days”) sets the stage for the eschatology of the book. It is also a connection between the Aramaic and Hebrew section (cf. Dan. 2:28; 10:14). See Michael B. Shepherd, The Verbal System of Biblical Aramaic: A Distributional Approach (Studies in Biblical Literature, vol. 116), Peter Lang Publishing, New York 2008, pp. 14, 15.
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