ABOUT BIBLE PROPHECY
By Ron Graham
The Bible is largely prophetic. There are literally hundreds of prophecies in the Bible. Many Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled, and there are still many more that will be fulfilled in the future.
Jesus Christ coming on the scene fulfilled over three hundred of these
prophecies. In actuality by fulfilling just twenty of these specific prophecies
related to Him would have been a mathematical impossibility.
Why doesn’t everyone believe the truth about who Jesus Christ is? The whole idea
of the rejection of Jesus Christ is also prophetic. “He is despised and rejected
of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our]
faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not,” Isaiah 53:3. “Jesus
saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” Matthew 21:42. “And he began to teach
them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the
elders, and [of] the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again.” Mark 8:31.
As we read the Bible and discern its meanings we must come to the realization
that it is the only book in the history of mankind that actually proclaims its
accuracy by its fulfilled prophecies. No other religious book ever written has
withstood the vigorous attempts by unbelieving man to dispel the truths of the
scriptures. As a matter of fact no other religions books are even questioned by
natural man. Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you why! Because the Bible is
the only Holy book that claims its authorship is God Himself. Nothing can stand
against God’s word. Nothing contrived by man, absolutely nothing of this world,
will ever prevail against it. “…and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. Matthew 16:18.
God created the Heaven and the Earth. Having done so, He certainly has the means
to get a message to us; but how does He validate His message so that we know
that it is really from Him and not a contrivance or a fraud? He relies on an
attribute that is unique to Him. You see God is outside of our time dimension so
He sees the beginning and He sees the end and it’s all in the present for Him.
He knows what will happen tomorrow, the next day, and what will happen on the
world's last day.
When God, through His Holy Spirit, directed and dictated the scriptures to the
forty writers of The Old and New Testaments, He designated two thirds of that
manuscript to be what we see as prophecy. He shows us, with this unique
attribute of His, what will come to pass in the future. He did this to
authenticate His Holy Scriptures. He did it so we would believe His word. Why?
Because He knows what stiff-necked people we are. Of course He also knew that by
hearing or reading His word comparatively few would be convinced of His
existence so, through His creation, He also proclaims His existence. “For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so
that they are without excuse:” Romans 1:20. Sadly, many will never accept the
unmistakable evidence of His existence. Because of their unbelief they won’t
accept His Son, Jesus, as their Lord and Savior. Because of this rejection they
are already condemned. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18.
What do we do with His Holy Scriptures when we come to the understanding that He
is the Author? When we are really sure that God is talking to us through His
word, we must obey His teachings, and we can in no way dismiss any portion of
His word as irrelevant. This means all prophecy, whether fulfilled or not, is
relevant to our future.
In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God starts out by explaining how He
created everything we see, and when He had completed His work He proclaimed it
very good. Then He moves on to how man’s rebellion resulted in the curse of all
of His creation (death is man’s punishment for his rebellion). He then kills an
animal to cover Adam and Eve, teaching them that only by the shedding of
innocent blood may they receive salvation. This first sacrifice is
representative of our need for a perfectly innocent savior and only by the
sacrifice of God’s Son could this be accomplished. God tells us how He, even
before the creation of the world, intended to offer His Son as a sacrifice for
the sins of the world, “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” 1Peter 1:20. Aside from
all the prophecies that Christ fulfilled with His life, many prophecies were
also fulfilled in His death.
Prophetically speaking in the book of Genesis, God gives us a glimpse into the
future that from the seed of the woman would our savior come. “And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15. This is a hint
to the virgin birth. Think about it. The seed isn’t in the women; it’s in the
man.
To see a type of Christ and His sacrifice for us we can go to the 22nd chapter
of Genesis. Here God is speaking to Abraham, “And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah;
and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will
tell thee of,” Genesis 22:2. We are told that Abraham followed through with the
sacrifice of Isaac as God had instructed, right up to the point of stabbing
Isaac. Before Abraham could bring his knife down to kill his son, God stopped
him.
While Abraham and Isaac were readying the altar for the sacrifice, Isaac had
asked his father “where is the sacrifice we are to use for the burnt offering?”
And Abraham answered Isaac, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt
offering:” Genesis 22:8. This is another of God’s prophecies. God’s telling us
that He would enter into His creation and become a sacrifice for all mankind.
Oh, by the way, did you notice the reference God made to Isaac being Abraham’s
only son? That pretty much closes the book on Ishmael who is considered the
father of the Arabs and the false claims of the Muslim religion.
All through The Old Testament we find prophecies that are pointing to the savior
of mankind. Jesus Christ is all throughout it prophetically until, of course, He
came in the flesh.
As I’ve mentioned above, Jesus, through His birth, death, burial, resurrection,
and ascension, fulfilled hundreds of prophecies. One of the prophecies that
Jesus fulfilled was when He rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass. This
prophecy we find in the book of Zechariah “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just,
and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of
an ass,” Zechariah 9:9. Also, in the book of Daniel, we find that the angel
Gabriel told Daniel the exact date of when the Messiah would enter into
Jerusalem, and this was hundreds of years before the fact. In effect, Gabriel
told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until
the presentation of the Messiah as King.
Jesus, exactly on the day prophesied, rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass.
God’s unique attribute of knowing what will happen in the future is God’s alone.
The prophets saw visions and heard His voice, recorded the prophecies, and
established as truth the proof of who God is, all in accordance to His will.
Since God is real, and through His word we see His divine presence in our midst,
shouldn’t we hold fast to His word? Many Christians believe that the end times
is all an allegory. They say all Biblical prophecy was fulfilled by AD 70. This
is a huge misinterpretation and misrepresentation of God’s truth. We are in the
last of the last days, whether those individuals want to believe it or not. The
time is very short; Jesus stands at the door and is knocking, seeking whoever
will repent and accept Him as their Lord and Savior. I can’t emphasize this
truth enough.
If you’re reading this and you aren’t saved or if you have wandered away from
your walk with Him, I would suggest to you, before it’s too late, that you take
the necessary steps to begin your relationship with the Lord or get back into
fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There will come a time when it will be
too late.
Lastly, if it is your belief that all roads lead to God, i.e. all religions, you
should know you are absolutely correct. All religions of Earth lead to God but,
sadly, not in the way you might be expecting.
All those religions that reject the truth of the scriptures, the truth of the
doctrine of Jesus Christ will be judged by none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
Then, on that day, those who have refused God’s free gift of salvation will be
sent directly to Hell. Those of us who are His followers, who are of the one
true way to God, will enjoy a different welcome.
Eternal security or eternal damnation. Either way it’s everlasting, never-ending, perpetual and will never cease. Amen.
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