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Chapter 3: The Foundations Of Prophecy
There are seven major religious organizations in the world today, and these are; Christianity, (3 groups, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) Judaism, Islam (the Moslems), Hinduism, and Buddhism. Only the religions that are founded on all or part of the writings of the Hebrew prophets in the book that has come to be known as the bible, include in their body of sacred literature, prophecy, predictions concerning future events that will happen on Earth. The only predictions for the future found in the writings of all of the other religions are those concerning the afterlife, heaven and hell, and judgment after death. The reason for this is because the books that are held in high esteem by these religions are only the writings of men, who cannot foretell the future. All that men can do is set down in writing rules and regulations for living life on Earth. The God who is worshipped by the Christians and the Jews is different from all other Gods who are worshipped by the people in this world. He claims to control the events on Earth, and has proved he has the power to do so by past history. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the proofs that the God of the bible is the all powerful God of the universe. 6000 years ago God created Adam and Eve, and when they sinned, he promised to send a Savior to redeem them. The fulfillment of this promise is the turning point of history. When Christ came the first time, 4000 years after God gave the promise to Adam and Eve, even the calendar changed. Our calendar today reflects the fact that about 1,995 years ago, (in 1995) Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was born. The books of the Old Testament trace God's dealings with men as he prepared the way for the Messiah to come. Jesus himself verified the fact that much of the Old Testament was history written about him in advance, which is what prophecy is, pre-written history. Luke 24:25-27 & 44-47 KJV Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. The primary purpose of biblical prophecy is to reveal the Messiah, Jesus Christ. every verse of messianic prophecy in the bible that Jesus did not fulfill during his 33 years on the Earth must occur at some time in the future. There is a problem however, that has split the Jews and the Christians, who both believe that the Old Testament is God's word. The problem came about because God did not make it explicitly clear in the Old Testament that there would be two phases to the coming of the Messiah, one as a suffering servant to redeem the fallen human race, and another when he comes as the king and the judge of the universe. That is the reason why the Jews and the Christians have separate religions. We will look at some scriptures from the book of Isaiah that show how and why the division occurred. The First Coming Of Christ As Predicted
In Isaiah
Isaiah 9:5-6 KJV Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Events Pertaining To The Second Coming
Isaiah 9:7 KJV Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. The Jews are still looking for a Messiah who will redeem them and set up a kingdom in Israel, without a time break between the two events. Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, Luke 4:14-21 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus stopped reading from the book of Isaiah before speaking of the vengeance of God, which pertains to the last judgment and the resurrection of the dead, and also the comfort that will come to those who are on his right side at the judgment. He stopped because he was not going to fulfill those prophecies during his first advent. In a spiritual sense there has been a partial fulfillment of comforting those who mourn, when the Holy Spirit was given, but in the physical realm it remains to be fulfilled. The Promised Messiah
Isaiah 11:1-9 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the Earth. He will strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the Earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. As you can see the prophecies concerning the Messiah in Isaiah chapter eleven, verses three to nine pertain to both the first and the second coming of Christ. It is easy to see how the Jews became confused because of this and rejected Jesus as their Messiah. The Regathering Of Israel
Isaiah 11:10-12 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the Earth. The Jews were also expecting the Messiah to regather their brethren the lost ten tribes, the Israelites who were taken captive from Israel more than 700 years before and scattered throughout the Earth. In fact, the very opposite occurred. In 70 AD the two tribes (Judah and Benjamin, known as the Jews) were driven from Israel, their temple was destroyed, and they too were scattered with their brethren the Israelites, over the face of the whole Earth. To this day there is a veil over the hearts and the minds of most of the Jews, and they cannot understand the scriptures. 2 Corinthians 3:12-16 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The study of biblical prophecy is one of the most exciting subjects that a person can undertake, and it builds faith. By seeing that God has kept his promises in the past, it helps us to believe he can keep his promises to us today. Some have misused biblical prophecy out of ignorance and set dates for Christ’s return that did not happen, and some have used the subject for personal gain. But, the errors of men in no way diminish the power of God to keep his own word. Romans 3:4 KJV God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, Titus 1:2 KJV In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; In order to study God's word, one must have the assistance of the Holy Spirit and cross reference every verse pertaining to a particular subject with every other verse pertaining to that subject. God's word must be rightly divided in order for us to understand it correctly. 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. |