- The
Scriptures (the Bible) is God’s message to us through the prophets and
apostles
a.
“All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)
b.
“Above all, you must understand that no
prophecy of Scripture came about by
the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets,
though human, spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
- One of the
greatest proofs that the Bible is from God are the multitudes of fulfilled
prophecies
a.
“Tell
us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things
were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell
us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods.” (Isaiah
41:22-23)
b.
“Remember the former things, those of
long ago; I am God, and there is no
other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is
still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I
please.’” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
- Prophecy is
not guessing, predicting, or forecasting
a.
Making enough guesses about the future will
result in eventually getting something right by chance
b.
Weather forecasting is trying to
predict what the weather will do based upon models and statistics
c.
In the Bible, the criteria for prophecy
is 100% accuracy or that “prophet” was to be put to death
i.
“But
a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded,
or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” (Deuteronomy 18:20)
ii.
“If
what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come
true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken
presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” (Deuteronomy 18:22)
iii.
God is never wrong, therefore if the
“prophecy” turns out to be wrong then it wasn’t from God
- None of the
prophets in the Bible chose to be prophets or even wanted to be prophets
a.
“Moses
said to the LORD, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have
spoken to your servant. I am slow of
speech and tongue.’” (Exodus 4:10)
b.
“But
Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to
Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he
went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to
flee from the LORD.” (Jonah 1:3)
c.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, before you were born I set you
apart; I appointed you as a prophet
to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
- Many of the
prophets were mistreated, persecuted, and killed
a.
“I have been very zealous for the LORD
God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your
altars, and put your prophets to death
with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:10)
b.
“So they took Jeremiah and put him into
the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the
guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes
into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into
the mud.” (Jeremiah 38:6)
c.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be
glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
- God’s
prophets had some bizarre experiences. Who makes up stories like these?
a.
Elijah ate food brought to him by birds
and drank from a muddy creek (1 Kings 17)
b.
Jonah was swallowed by a big fish then
vomited onto land (Jonah 1)
c.
Isaiah had to walk naked and barefoot
for three years as a sign (Isaiah 20)
d.
Ezekiel was made to lie on his right
side for 390 days then on his left side for another 40 days while eating only
barley cakes baked over dung, and drinking only water (Ezekiel 4)
e.
“For
the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom … God chose the lowly
things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to
nullify the things that are, so that no
one may boast before him.” (1 Corinthians 1:25, 28-29)
- From the
beginning to the ending, the Bible is all about Jesus Christ
a.
“And beginning with Moses and all the
Prophets, he explained to them what was
said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
b.
“He said to them, ‘This is what I told
you while I was still with you: Everything
must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the
Prophets and the Psalms.’” (Luke 24:44)
c.
“But this is how God fulfilled what he
had foretold through all the prophets,
saying that his Messiah would suffer.”
(Acts 3:18)
- The
prophecies about Christ become progressively more detailed the closer it came
to His coming
- From creation
to Abraham (about 2,000 years) there were prophetic types of Christ
a.
Adam and Eve were a type of Christ and
the Church – “Adam, who is a pattern
of the one to come.” (Romans 5:14),
“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will
become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians
5:31-32)
b.
Cain killing his brother Abel was
figurative of Christ’s shed blood – “The LORD said, ‘What have you done? Listen!
Your brother’s blood cries out to me
from the ground.’” (Genesis 4:10), “Jesus
the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews
12:24)
c.
The flood was a type of water baptism –
“… in the days of Noah while the ark was
being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through
water, and this water symbolizes baptism
that now saves you …” (1 Peter 3:20-21)
d.
The Tower of Babel and the Day of
Pentecost – “Come, let us go down and confuse
their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:7), “Utterly
amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is
it that each of us hears them in our
native language?’” (Acts 2:7-8)
- From
Abraham to David (about 900 years) there were many more prophetic types of
Christ
a.
Abraham’s two sons were figurative of
the Old and New Covenants – “Abraham had
two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. ... These things are being taken figuratively:
The women represent two covenants.”
(Galatians 4:22, 24)
b.
The life of Joseph – “You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)
c.
Various types of Christ in the Exodus
from Egypt
i.
The Passover lamb – “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
ii.
Manna from heaven – “Very truly I tell
you, it is not Moses who has given
you the bread from heaven, but it is my
Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.” (John 6:32)
iii.
Water they drank from a rock – “… they drank from the spiritual rock that
accompanied them, and that rock was
Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:4)
iv.
The snake on a pole – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the
wilderness, so the Son of Man must be
lifted up” (John 3:14)
d.
The kinsman redeemer – “Then Boaz said,
‘On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name
of the dead with his property.’” (Ruth 4:5)
- From David to
the writings of the prophets (about 700 years), there were many verbal
prophecies
a.
David’s Psalms contain many detailed
prophecies about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection
i.
“they pierce my hands and my feet …
They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” (Psalm 22:16,
18)
ii.
“They put gall in my food and gave me
vinegar for my thirst.” (Psalm 69:21)
iii.
“He protects all his bones, not one of
them will be broken.” (Psalm 34:20)
iv.
“because you will not abandon me to the
realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” (Psalm 16:10)
v.
“The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Psalm 110:1)
b.
The writing prophets, particularly Isaiah,
spoke many detailed prophecies about Christ
i.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give
you a sign: The virgin will conceive
and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
ii.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will
be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah
5:2)
iii.
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout,
Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes
to you, righteous and victorious, lowly
and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)
iv.
“I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my
face from mocking and spitting.”
(Isaiah 50:6)
v.
“But
he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are
healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
vi.
“He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he
had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)
- Daniel’s
prophecy of the seventy ‘sevens’ is the most detailed prophecy about the
timing of Christ
a.
“Seventy
‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish
transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
Most Holy Place. Know and understand this: From
the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed
One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’
It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed
One will be put to death and will have nothing.” (Daniel 9:24-26)
b.
From the decree to rebuild Jerusalem
until Christ’s death would be sixty-nine ‘sevens’ or 483 years (seven ‘sevens’
is 49) + (sixty-two ‘sevens’ is 434)
c.
Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Nehemiah,
and Malachi were about 80 years, then there was about 400 silent years, then Christ’s
ministry was about 3 years until His death: 80 + 400 + 3 = 483
- From creation to Abraham about 2,000 years, from Abraham to David about 900 years, from David to the last prophets about 700 years, about 400 silent years until Christ = 4,000 years