I do not doubt that prophecy and premonitions can be true, but I am highly skeptical of taking the Bible or Nostradamus or Tarot reading or Spiritualist mediums as predictive in a useful way. Even worse — to me at least — is when prophecy is claimed as a basis to believe. After all, to be practical about it, why not delay belief until the prophecy comes true?
I wouldn’t touch Nostradamus, tarot cards or mediums, but that’s just me.
God has a very specific reason for prophecy - though, admittedly, it’s hard to set exact dates on such (so we try not to do that).
One thing: The prophecies are meant to display the reality of God (verses to follow) - some people will be dead and their eternal fate already decided by waiting to believe.
God bless.
A couple reasons.
One is that it shows that you believe what God is telling you in Scripture by believing it before you see the fulfillment.
I'm sure there were people in Jesus' day who believed He was coming before He showed up on the scene. By believing the prophecy ahead of time, it enables you to recognize when it is fulfilled.
The other things is, some prophecy has already been fulfilled. Israel becoming a nation in 1948 and Jerusalem coming under Israeli control in 1967 are just two examples.