Thus, we can say that in the Holy Scriptures, prophecy is an expression of God's will in this world and about this world.

Then a prophet can be called a person through whom this will is proclaimed.

But these definitions, instead of helping to understand the prophecy, so far raise many new questions. Here are just a few of them:

— What is the will of God?

— What is its content?

— How does it manifest itself in the world?

— How is it perceived?

— What are the criteria for its reliability?

— Through whom is it transmitted?

"Who can be a prophet?"

— How do people become prophets?

– To what extent does the prophecy change (distort) in the process of its transmission by the prophets?

"In what language is it proclaimed?"

— How should it be understood and interpreted?

This small book is devoted to an attempt to give answers to these and many other questions.

2.3. What is the difference between prophecy and prediction?

Prophecy, as already noted, is an expression of God's will in the world. In this respect, it does not directly refer to the physical, social, political, cultural, or any other such processes taking place in this world. The only thing that prophecy has to do with is the measure of good and evil that reign in the world, with the growth of sin and with the opposition to the holiness of the Church.

In contrast to prophecy, prediction, in whatever way it occurs, is connected with this world in all its manifestations. These can be global predictions about possible changes in the climate on earth, the development of the country's economy, etc. These can be particular predictions relating to the life of an individual – his health, successes or failures in various activities, etc. Prediction can have as its subject any processes of life, except for spiritual ones, since it does not take into account the phenomena of spiritual life.

Prophecy can also refer to the life of an individual or a group of people, but not as a consequence of the accumulated events and tendencies of a previous life – this is how predictions and forecasts are made – but as God's will for them.

Prediction tells us what a person or group of people might become in the future, while prophecy tells us what God wants them to be. It speaks of God's plan for a given person or group of people, a plan that is always inimitable and unique, just as each person and each nation is inimitable and unique in the eyes of God.