Can You Trust Bible Prophecy?
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The Desire to Know the Future.
People are constantly trying to predict the future. Evidence of this is the attempt to predict the weather, which is very often correct. Economists study trends in the money market and try to foresee what the future holds, sometimes they are right but very often they are wrong. We humans feel that if we knew what the future holds then we can plan our lives for the better.
Many turn to horoscopes and fortune telling. In fact it is not generally known that many political leaders have resorted to horoscopes and psychics. I have heard that it was said that Britain actually had a group that were reading Hitler’s horoscope, in an attempt to find what his people were telling him. If they knew what his good days were, chances were that this was the time when he would make certain moves.
Apart from the scientific methods of statistics and probability, most of the other methods have to do with spiritualism. I have dealt to some degree with this in the article “Can We Contact the Dead?”
What we can ascertain from the scientific methods applied is that if we had all the information available it seems that it could be possible to predict the near future with some accuracy. However when we consider God’s position, not only is it possible for him to predict the future if he chooses because he created the laws of the universe, but we can safely say that he can have all the information available.
Fortunately he generally does not exercise his ability to predict the future preferring to allow his intelligent creation to choose their own future, although he helps us to make the right choices.
in certain cases when he purposes something to happen nothing can prevent him from accomplishing his purposes, and as our creator he also reserves the right to change his mind.
Is the Future Predestined?
Let us check with the Bible to see how this happens.
We might recall that at one time Jehovah sent Jonah with a message to Nineveh, prophesying that in just 40 days he was going to destroy Nineveh. What do you think happened? The Ninevites got such a shock that they actually repented. What did God do? He changed his mind and did not fulfill this prophecy. Apparently Jonah was upset because what he had predicted did not occur and so God had to correct him. You can read about this event yourself.
(Jonah 1:1-2) 1 And the word of Jehovah began to occur to Jo´nah the son of A·mit´tai, saying: 2 “Get up, go to Nin´e·veh the great city, and proclaim against her that their badness has come up before me.”
When finally Jonah went to the city the following occurred.
(Jonah 3:1-4,10) . . .Then the word of Jehovah occurred to Jo´nah the second time, saying: 2 “Get up, go to Nin´e·veh the great city, and proclaim to her the proclamation that I am speaking to you.” 3 At that, Jo´nah got up and went to Nin´e·veh in accord with the word of Jehovah. Now Nin´e·veh herself proved to be a city great to God, with a walking distance of three days. 4 Finally Jo´nah started to enter into the city the walking distance of one day, and he kept proclaiming and saying: “Only forty days more, and Nin´e·veh will be overthrown.” 5 And the men of Nin´e·veh began to put faith in God, and they proceeded to proclaim a fast and to put on sackcloth, from the greatest one of them even to the least one of them. ——————10 And the [true] God got to see their works, that they had turned back from their bad way; and so the [true] God felt regret over the calamity that he had spoken of causing to them; and he did not cause [it].”
(Jonah 4:10-11) 10 But Jehovah said: —————-11 And, for my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nin´e·veh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, ………………
God took into account there changed attitude and permitted them some relief. Of course in time they went back to their bad ways and were actually overturned by the Babylonians.
What we learn from these important Biblical accounts is that God allows his creation to choose and does not predestine their future. This does not mean that he cannot predestine the future in specific cases. The Bible helps us to see in some occurrences of prophecy where God made sure that these prophecies were fulfilled.
The Time of Messiah’s First Presence
Consider the outstanding prophecy recorded at Daniel chapter nine that gives the exact time when Messiah would appear, the length of his ministry and the final destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 CE.
(Daniel 9:24-27) . . .“There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people and upon your holy city, in order to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite, and to imprint a seal upon vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. 25 And you should know and have the insight [that] from the going forth of [the] word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Mes·si´ah [the] Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks. She will return and be actually rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in the straits of the times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Mes·si´ah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. “And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. And the end of it will be by the flood. And until [the] end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations. 27 “And he must keep [the] covenant in force for the many for one week; and at the half of the week he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease. “And upon the wing of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation; and until an extermination, the very thing decided upon will go pouring out also upon the one lying desolate
The prophecy delivered by an angel to Daniel begins with these words:-
“There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people and upon your holy city, in order to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite, and to imprint a seal upon vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
70 weeks are about one year and approx, four months. However history does not record anything very significant occurring. However occasionally with regard to certain prophecies to do with Israel God applies a rule of “a day for a year”
A Day for a Year
(Numbers 14:33-34) . . .And YOUR sons will become shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and they will have to answer for YOUR acts of fornication, until YOUR carcasses come to their end in the wilderness. 34 By the number of the days that YOU spied out the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, YOU will answer for YOUR errors forty years, as YOU must know what my being estranged means.
The 70 weeks can become weeks of years. 70 times 7 = 490 years.
Daniel’s people and Daniel’s Holy City is Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.
“There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people and upon your holy city,”
According to the prophecy. A period of 490 years had been assigned to Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. To accomplish What?
“in order to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite, and to imprint a seal upon vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies”.
The Prophecy has to do with the Messiah who was to give his life (make atonement) for man’s sin and cancel out what Adam had passed on to us)
“to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite”
The prophecy then indicates that starting with a command to rebuild Jerusalem with square and moat in very difficult times a period of 7 + 62 = 69 weeks of years would pass before the Messiah the Leader would appear. 69 weeks of years was 483 years. Just 7 years short of the total 490 years assigned to Israel
Calculating the Time of Messiah’s 1st Presence
25 And you should know and have the insight [that] from the going forth of [the] word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Mes·si´ah [the] Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks. She will return and be actually rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in the straits of the times.
When did the command go forth to accomplish this rebuilding of Jerusalem occur?
(Nehemiah 2:1-6) . . .And it came about in the month Ni´san, in the twentieth year of Ar·ta·xerx´es the king, that wine was before him, and I as usual took up the wine and gave it to the king. But never had I happened to be gloomy before him.
The 20th year of the Persian King corresponds to the year 455 BCE. Nehemiah answered the King’s question with a request to go to Jerusalem and rebuild it.
2 So the king said to me: “Why is your face gloomy when you yourself are not sick? This is nothing but a gloominess of heart.” At this I became very much afraid. 3 Then I said to the king: “Let the king himself live to time indefinite! Why should not my face become gloomy when the city, the house of the burial places of my forefathers, is devastated, and its very gates have been eaten up with fire?” 4 In turn the king said to me: “What is this that you are seeking to secure?” At once I prayed to the God of the heavens. 5 After that I said to the king: “If to the king it does seem good, and if your servant seems good before you, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of the burial places of my forefathers, that I may rebuild it.”
Artaxerxes gave his permission for Nehemiah to return and rebuild the city.
6 At this the king said to me, as his queenly consort was sitting beside him: “How long will your journey come to be and when will you return?” So it seemed good before the king that he should send me, when I gave him the appointed time.
Therefore the start of the 483 year period was 455 BCE. Counting down during the BCE (Before our common era) period and crossing over to the CE (Common era) period, with the understanding that there is no such thing as a zero year. (1 BCE —1 CE= 1 year) not (1BCE -–0— 1CE = 2 years)
We now arrive at 29 CE when Jesus was baptized and by being anointed with God’s spirit he became the Messiah (anointed one)
Now is not this incredible? The actual year was predicted about 500 years before it actually occurred. This explains why the Bible says that the people were in expectation regarding the Messiah.
(Luke 3:15-16) 15 Now as the people were in expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John: “May he perhaps be the Christ?” 16 John gave the answer, saying to all: “I, for my part, baptize YOU with water; but the one stronger than I am is coming, the lace of whose sandals I am not fit to untie. He will baptize YOU people with holy spirit and fire.
This example shows that the religious leaders of Jesus day were well aware of the time when Messiah was to appear. But let us consider what the prophecy tells us next.
“And after the sixty-two weeks Mes·si´ah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. “And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. And the end of it will be by the flood. And until [the] end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations.
Remember that the prophecy had divided the time period into 7 weeks and 62 weeks (69 weeks or 483 years) Sometime after the 483rd year Messiah would be cut off (put to death). Later, Jerusalem and its temple would be brought to ruin by means of a war led by a leader. Was this fulfilled? Yes Jesus was put to death in 33 CE, three and a half years after his baptism. Thirty seven years later Jerusalem and its temple was destroyed by a Leader. Who was the leader and what was the occasion?
History records that the Roman General Titus destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in the year 70 CE. The temple has never been rebuilt to this day, and since then the Jews have been unable to practice their worship according to the law covenant that God made with them at Mount Sinai, because their genealogical records perished with the temple. Since they do not know who are from the tribe of Levi or Judah, they are unable to select their priesthood nor can they check anyone’s lineage today to ascertain whether they are in David’s line of descent from the tribe of Judah. Therefore it is now impossible for them identify anyone who might claim to be their Messiah. When this prophecy was fulfilled after the completion of the 70 weeks of years at 36 CE, Jehovah God ended his special relationship with the nation of Israel and made it impossible for them to live up to his covenant with them. From that time onward all nationalities have an equal opportunity to become part of the new “Spiritual Israel.” God had promised the Israelites, that if they kept his covenant that they would become a ” spiritual nation” which was to be a “kingdom of priests.” That was what the 70 weeks of years was about. God honored his covenant and gave them a special opportunity to fulfill this prophecy. Only a small remnant compared to the whole nation accepted and became part of the “kingdom of priests” or spiritual Israel”
This scripture shows what God actually promised the Israelites. Can you see how reliable and trustworthy God’s word is. From 1513 BCE until 36 CE the Jews were his special people but that was now over and all nationalities had an equal opportunity to become part of “spiritual Israel”
(Exodus 19:5-6) . . .And now if YOU will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, then YOU will certainly become my special property out of all [other] peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me. 6 And YOU yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the sons of Israel.
Peter applied the fulfillment of the prophecy to the Christian Congregation which constituted the new “Spiritual Israel”
(1 Peter 2:9-10) . . .But YOU are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that YOU should declare abroad the excellencies” of the one that called YOU out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 For YOU were once not a people, but are now God’s people; YOU were those who had not been shown mercy, but are now those who havebeen shown mercy. .
No Longer “Israel” but now “Spiritual Israel”
According to the prophecy of Daniel 9, Messiah was to honor the covenant made with the nation of Israel for 490 years. So from 29 CE when Jesus was baptized and became the Messiah until CE 36, God gave this special invitation to the Jews for the final week or seven years. However Jesus made an end to the validity of their sacrificial offerings in 33 CE when he was put to death after a ministry of 3½ years (at the half of the week). The apostles kept preaching to the Jews for another 3½l years in 36 CE when God’s special relationship with Israel ended. From that time God gave people of all nations the opportunity to become part of “spiritual Israel.”
27 “And he must keep [the] covenant in force for the many for one week; and at the half of the week he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease.
To sum up:- Jesus preached exclusively to the Jews during his 3½ year ministry and after his death his disciples preached exclusively to the Jews for a further 3½ years. After that the gentiles (nations) were given an opportunity to become part of the new “spiritual Israel” based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. However when Jesus was put to death, his sacrifice became the basic sacrifice that the new covenant was based on and that meant that the sacrifices and offerings made at the temple according to the covenant made at Mount Sinai was no longer valid. That was the end of the old covenant.
This prophecy written in Daniel chapter 9 written approx, 500 years before Jesus Christ was finally fulfilled to the letter, 37 years after Jesus died, and today the Arch of Titus in Rome confirms the historical record as faithful and true.
Does this not put the stamp of reliability on the Bible as providing us with trustworthy prophecy?
The Arch of Titus confirms Titus to be the leader mentioned in the prophecy and all that is left of the temple today is one wall. Furthermore the failure of Jewry today to practice their worship according to the covenant made at Sinai confirms that God ended the validity of their form of worship. Henceforth they can only be accepted on the basis of Jesus ransom sacrifice.
Paul shows us in this scripture that the Christian Congregation is now “Spiritual Israel”
(Romans 11:25-27) . . .For I do not want YOU, brothers, to be ignorant of this sacred secret, in order for YOU not to be discreet in your own eyes: that a dulling of sensibilities has happened in part to Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in, 26 and in this manner all Israel will be saved. Just as it is written: “The deliverer will come out of Zion and turn away ungodly practices from Jacob. 27 And this is the covenant on my part with them, when I take their sins away. .
Jesus pronounced the divorce decree against Jerusalem showing that God’s special arrangement with natural Israel ws officially ended.
(Luke 13:34-35) . . .Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her—how often I wanted to gather your children together in the manner that a hen gathers her brood of chicks under her wings, but YOU people did not want [it]! 35 Look! YOUR house is abandoned to YOU. I tell YOU, YOU will by no means see me until YOU say, ‘Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name.’”
Those persons who trusted the prophecy to be true and accepted the words of Jesus Christ were spared the horrible destruction that came upon Jerusalem in 70 CE
Jesus when on earth actually had Daniel’s prophecy available to him. The disgusting thing that cause desolation was in fact the Roman armies that desolated Jerusalem
(Luke 21:20-22) 20 “Furthermore, when YOU see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. 21 Then let those in Ju·de´a begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her; 22 because these are days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled.
Those who listened and obeyed benefited from the prophecy and had their lives preserved.
(Matthew 24:15-16) 15 “Therefore, when YOU catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment,) 16 then let those in Ju·de´a begin fleeing to the mountains. . .
From this prophecy it should be very clear to you, the reader that the prophecies in the Bible are reliable and can be trusted to occur. There are also a number of very important prophecies that God has had recorded to alert us to the significance of our times. We need to know these so that we can be alerted and able to take action and benefit ourselves.
Page two will examine a prophecy that is in the process of fulfillment today
Posted in Categories :- Religion, all