Bible Prophecy

 

By Ron Graham

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 2 Peter 1:19.

 

The Bible is largely prophetic. There are literally hundreds of prophecies in the Bible; the Apostle Peter admonishes us in the above verse to heed the 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 relating to Him would have been a mathematical impossibility.

 

Why doesn’t everyone believe the truth about Jesus Christ? The whole idea of the rejection of 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 marvellous 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 ultimately 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 Heaven and the Earth. Having done so, and since God has the technology to create us, 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 and 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 worlds last day.

 

When God through His Holy Spirit directed and dictated the scriptures to the forty plus 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, 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 through the Bible prophetically until, of course, when He came in the flesh, and as I’ve mentioned above, how 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 Zachariah “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,” Zachariah 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, Jesus 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, and 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, 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, and then 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

 

God bless you all,