After the children of Israel became slaves to the Egyptians, and when the Lord was about to free them, He revealed His intentions to the Prophet Moses. He chose this man to prepare the people for deliverance and to lead them out of Egypt.
When the Jews were about to be taken captives by the Babylonians, prophets were sent to warn them of their danger. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were two of those prophets. The people heeded not their warning, and many were slain or taken as prisoners.
When the Lord was about to destroy Nineveh, unless the people repented of their sins, He sent the Prophet Jonah to call them to repentance. The people listened to and obeyed his words and were saved.
When the Jewish kingdom was about to be entirely overthrown for the last time, John the Baptist and the Savior Himself appeared to point out the way for the people's salvation; but they were rejected by the great majority.
THE FUTURE DETERMINED BY THE PAST.
Jesus says about His second advent:
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24: 37).
As Noah was sent to warn the people of the approaching flood in his day, is it not reasonable to expect that a prophet will be sent in the latter days to warn the people of the destruction of the wicked, when the Savior comes to take vengeance upon them?
The Bible fully establishes the fact that all important things done by the Lord in past ages have been preceded by the appearance of inspired prophets. Surely the greatest event of the world's history—Christ's glorious reign on earth—will be preceded by the appearance of divinely inspired messengers!