unfinished - the place of predictive prophecy

8/14/2019 Unfinished - The Place of Predictive Prophecy

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The Place of Predictive Prophecy

Abstract: The scriptures of the various world's religions share many characteristics. Theydiffer markedly, however, in theology. The Bible has an edge over its competitorsthe

Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Church Fathers, the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism,

Taoism, and the unwritten lore of animalistic tribes. This edge also sets it above the witand research of modern men. This edge is predictive prophecy. No other scripture has

genuinely shown itself to have been full of foreknowledge. No other scripture is worthy

of faith. And faithlessness in the Bible is irrational if one is willing to search for truth.

Outline:

I. The Bible's great predictive propheciesa. Tyre

b. Babylonthe city

c. Jerusalem

d. Babylonthe natione. Persia

f. Greeceg. Rome

h. The Papacy

i. Jesus

j. The time elementk. Europe

II. The Bible's Use of Predictive Prophecy

III. The Underestimatesa. The Devil

b. The Old Testamentc. The Honesty of ManIV. The Nature of Faith

God predicted the fall of Tyre to Babylon. He foretold the manner of the conquest and theunlikely millennia-long future of the site.

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar

king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots,and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. 8 He shall slay with the

sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a

mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. 9 And he shall setengines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy

towers. 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee:

thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of thechariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is

made a breach. 11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets:

he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to

the ground. 12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy


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merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant

houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of

the water. 13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of

thy harps shall be no more heard. 14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock:

thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the

LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. Ez 23:7-14

Even before Babylon had conquered the known world God foretold, through Isaiah, how

she would fall from that pinnacle at the sword of the Medes. The manner of the siegewas foretold. And the unlikely result was declared, one that has defied the efforts of

might men even in modern centuries.

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and asfor gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men

to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not

spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the

Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation togeneration: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherdsmake their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their

houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs

shall dance there. Is 13:17-21

Jesus predicted not only the fall of Jerusalem, but also the manner of the destruction of

Herod's temple. He saw an event that seemed utterly unbelievable and prophesied of it

with the word "verily."

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him

for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See yenot all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone

upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Matt 24:1-2

The earlier conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was foretold along with a time

prophecy. Babylon was given seventy years to reign. She conquered Jerusalem in 538 BC

and Daniel learned while a captive in the capital city of that empire that the captivity

would end in 607 BC. So it did when Cyrus fulfilled Isaiah's and Jeremiah's propheciesand Babylon fell.

And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nationsshall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 And it shall come to pass, when

seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that

nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and willmake it perpetual desolations. Jer 25:11-12For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I

will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to

this place. Jer 29:10


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In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years,

whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would

accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Dan 9:2

To the king Nebuchadnezzar God revealed that if one counted Babylon as the first empire

(from Daniel's time) to control the then-known world, that there would be only threemore before that area would be controlled by 10 more-or-less independent nations to rise

out of the fourth empire. These would persist until the end of the world. As foretold,

Babylon was succeeded by Persia, Greece and Rome. The latter was broken into nationsas foretold. And those nations, fifteen centuries later, still persist despite was work of the

world's greatest generals to unite them under a fifth empire.

As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what shouldcome to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what

shall come to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any

wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make

known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts ofthy heart. 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image,

whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof wasterrible. 32 This images head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,

his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part

of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote

the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces

together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind

carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote theimage became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream;

and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a

king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, andstrength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of

the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made

thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall ariseanother kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall

bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:

forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that

breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawestthe feet and toes, part of potters clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be

divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou

sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part ofiron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves

with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is notmixed with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up

a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to

other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it

shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the


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mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay,

the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall

come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereofsure. Daniel 2

God further predicted, by the same prophet, that the first king of the third empire wouldbe famously powerful. Yet he would not leave his mighty kingdom to his children.

Rather, it would be divided among four others. (Daniel 8:21-22; 11:2-4).

Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to

strengthen him. 2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up

yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his

strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 3 And amighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according

to his will. 4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall

be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor

according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up,even for others beside those. Dan 11

These predictions were so striking fulfilled that skeptics a century before Christ urged

that they had been written after the facts.

This empty argument has been handed down and picked up by persons more culpable forits use. What the early skeptics unwittingly did is confirm that the book of Daniel existed

long before the time of Christ, long before the rise of Rome, long before the break-up of

Rome, etc. Nothing can be done against the truth, but for the truth.

And the skeptics also undermined themselves. They urged that Daniel was written in the

time of the Maccabees and, among their arsenal of evidence, was the famous fictitiouscharacter of Darius that is featured in chapters 5-6. No such man had ever existed. The

wrings of history showed no trace of this prince of Persia.

Many skeptics died confident in this argument. Voltaire rested in arguments of this kind,

especially easy of picking out the fictional race of the Hittites from the lore of the Old

Testament.

But since that time Darius and the Hittites have been found in the tablets of archeology.

And the fact that Darius was soon forgotten, disappeared from records, and was unknown

in the time of the Maccabees, is a powerful argument againstthe idea that the book waswritten at that time.

And Bible predicted further, in symbols, that Persia would conquer Lydia, Babylon andEgypt and that the third kingdom would be incredibly fast in the spreading of its

dominion. Four wings betokened the work of Alexander the Great..


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2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds

of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the

sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagles wings: Ibeheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and

made stand upon the feet as a man, and a mans heart was given to it. 5 And

behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side,and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus

unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a

leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had alsofour heads; and dominion was given to it. Daniel 7

The fourth beast, however, would be a fourth kingdom that would become a federation of

independent kingdoms. Three of these would be destroyed under the influence of onethat, though small and late, would rise to preeminence over the others.

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and

terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brakein pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all

the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and,behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were

three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes

like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Daniel 7

Such detailed foreknowledge of the birth of Europe, the end of the Heruli, Ostrogoths,

and the Vandals, and of the rise of the Vatican to prominence over what became known as

the Holy Roman Empire is incredible. But the foreknowledge added more that thethree kingdoms subdued before Rome would continue to have a national existence

(unlike the three tribes just mentioned). And behold Greece, Iran, and Iraq today, their

national existence continuing beyond their allotted period for world dominion. (By wayof contrast, when Romes dominion will be taken away at Christs coming, Rome will

have no more national existence.)

11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I

beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the

burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion

taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 13 I saw in thenight visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of

heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people,nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting

dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be

destroyed. Daniel 7.

How could a man, living before the time of Christ, have predicted three powers to rise

and remain and three others to rise and be gone? This is the challenge the Bible gives to

other religions, to duplicate its foreknowledge.


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That the fourth kingdom would do these things was prophecy and is now history. And

more was predicted. The eleventh kingdom, the Vatican, would develop into apersecuting religious power of blasphemous nature. This kingdom would exist, as the

dominant state for 1260 years.

And 1260 years from the very beginning of papal civil rule over Rome brings a man to

1798. In that very year the city of Rome became, again as in its ancient past, a republic.

The civil authority of the Vatican over Italys people disappeared.

Incredible.

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the

most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 23 Thus he

said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be

diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread itdown, and break it in pieces. 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten

kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diversefrom the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great

words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and

think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time

and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shalltake away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the

kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole

heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whosekingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Daniel 7

God foretold that, from the time that a Persian emperor would command to build

Jerusalem and to restore its worship and municipal government, there would be 483 years

until the Messiah (anointed one) came on the scene. (Daniel 9:24-26). That Jesus wasbaptized and anointed right on time is incredible.

Before Cyrus was born he was pointed out by name by the prophet Isaiah. God foretold

how Cyrus would enter Babylon. And why did God foretell these things? He did it so allin the nation of Israel could know that He was God.

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, tosubdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him

the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and

make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cutin sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and

hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which

call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servants sake, and

Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee,


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though thou hast not known me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is

no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they

may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besideme. I am the LORD, and there is none else. Is 45:1-6

Prophecies about Jesus: While scores of special prophecies about Jesus were fulfilled inhis life and mentioned by the gospel writers, the events of these prophecies have not

made their way into secular works of history (they not being on a national scale). For this

reason they are not elucidated in this work.

The Place of Predictive Prophecy in Scripture

God versus men and their gods the trial of Isaiah 41-48

Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of

Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the

former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them;ordeclare us things for to come.Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that wemay know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, andbehold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is

he that chooseth you. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the

rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon

morter, and as the potter treadeth clay. Who hath declared from the beginning, that wemay know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that

sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. Is

41:21-26

I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my

praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things

do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.Is 42:8-9

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am thefirst, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and

shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and

the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not,

neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are evenmy witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. Is 44:6-8

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, tosubdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the

two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the

crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder thebars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret

places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, amthe God of Israel. For Jacob my servants sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even

called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I


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am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee,

though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and

from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. Is

45:1-6

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared thisfrom ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there

is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me . Look

unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Ihave sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not

return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Is 45:21-23

Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and

there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times

the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my

pleasure: Is 46:8-10

I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my

mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I

knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I

have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it

thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and mymolten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye

declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou

didst not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before theday when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. Yea, thou

heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for

I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor fromthe womb. Is 48:3-8

--- Document yet unfinished. Yet to be done:

I. The Underestimates

a. The Devil

i. Show that men wholly underestimate the success of the Devil indeluding scholars, confusing facts, and outwitting opponents in

open arguments. Show how the Bible bids men evaluate God

without interacting with the Devil and his faithless followers.Show how this is the only sensible way to go forward when

dealing with two intelligences both much greater than your own.

b. The Old Testamenti. Show how love, faith, kindness, mercy is the amazing teaching of

the Old Testament, and how the genocides ordered by Jehovah

were, in the long run, the best thing that could be done for the


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salvation of as many rebellious persons as possible. Show how

Gods intention was to dispossess Canaan without bloodshed.

c. The Honesty of Mani. Show how men are, as a race, dishonest, and how this fact muddles

the conclusions of many unwary researchers.

II. The Nature of Faitha. Show how faith is no leap in the dark but, rather, a step into the light.

Demonstrate how faith rests on evidence and how demonstration is not

safely possible in things pertaining to morality.

In the mean time, while this article waits to be finished, persons are bidden to visit

www.bibledoc.organd to read the article on The Draft which covers The Nature of

Faith issue and the Old Testament issues mentioned above.
http://www.bibledoc.org/http://www.bibledoc.org/http://www.bibledoc.org/

unfinished - the place of predictive prophecy

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