Good news from Stony Creek Church of Christ
By JOHN A. SMITH
Think on These Things
Do I believe in Bible prophecy? Absolutely! In fact, I am convinced that fulfilled prophecy is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the Divine inspiration of the Bible. In part, I rest my faith in a God-inspired Bible on the evidence of fulfilled prophecy.
Among the most powerful fulfilled prophecy was a God-given prophecy in Isaiah 45:1 (also Isaiah 44:28). There the prophet records that a man named Cyrus would rise to build a strong and vibrant kingdom. This was at least 150 years before there was a Cyrus or even a Persian Kingdom! How did Isaiah know that? I contend it was because an all-knowing God told him.
Even more remarkable are the over 350 Old Testament prophecies that deal with the coming Messiah. No less than 25 deal specifically with His death, burial and resurrection. These are things written hundreds of years prior to the birth of Jesus. The prophets spoke of where He would be born, His being exiled into Egypt as a child, sold for 30 pieces of silver and being buried in a rich man’s tomb.
If these prophecies were artificially manipulated, who would Jesus need to have controlled? His parents before He was born, a maniacal Herod, Judas and the Sanhedrin along with Pilate. Reasonable? After being born, many of us have manipulated one or both parents. See the whining child in the cereal aisle of the grocery? How many of you were manipulated?
Big difference, isn’t it?
There are important Biblical “bookends” to prophecies. One bookend goes where the prophecy was made. It would hardly be prophecy if the prediction was made after the event. For example, I prophesy that Joe Biden will be elected president in 2020. Prophecy? Hardly!
Acts 3:24 provides another significant “bookend.” There Peter declared, “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.” Did you catch that bookend? ALL the prophets spoke of “these days.” These would have been the days in which the apostles were preaching, the Gospel was spreading rapidly and a new covenant relationship between God and man was proclaimed.
So, what are the divinely given “bookends”? Of necessity it must have been spoken prior to the event and fulfilled by the first century. One cannot predict the future after the “future” event has occurred. When anyone takes an Old Testament prophecy and tries to find a fulfillment that is yet future, they are not dealing honestly with these valuable prophecies and their understanding of the prophecy must be rejected.
Do I believe in Bible prophecy? Yes, indeed and without hesitation. However, I also recognize that man can abuse these prophecies by looking for a yet future fulfillment centuries removed from the first century.
John A. Smith serves as the minister at Stony Creek Church of Christ in Noblesville.