HRB.Chapter9.docx

Prophecy in the Bible Old Testament Old Testament prophets spoke for God. They admonished God’s people, convicting them of their sins (Law). The prophets also spoke of God’s mercy and compassion, encouraging the people to repent and believe (Gospel). Sometimes, during the course of their work, proph...

Prophecy in the Bible Old Testament Old Testament prophets spoke for God. They admonished God’s people, convicting them of their sins (Law). The prophets also spoke of God’s mercy and compassion, encouraging the people to repent and believe (Gospel). Sometimes, during the course of their work, prophets would predict the future. One way to tell if a prophet was a true prophet or a false prophet was whether his predictions came true (Deuteronomy 18:22). This was not the only test for a prophet, however. If a prophet led the people away from the one true God, or if he prophesied in the name of another god, he was to be put to death (see Deuteronomy 13). The office of prophet was so important as God’s spokesman in the Old Testament that the coming Messiah could be described as a prophet. (See Deuteronomy 18:15–20.) Both men and women could be prophets in Old Testament times.1 New Testament The prophet in the New Testament seems to have a somewhat narrower “job description.” For example, Agabus is a prophet (Acts 21:10), but seems to limit his activity to predicting future events. Most of those who prophesy reveal future events, but not all who prophesy are true prophets (as Jesus warns in Matthew 24:11 and Mark 13:22).2 As in the Old Testament, both women and men prophesy.3 Interpreting Prophecy The modern student of the Bible needs to ask an important question when reading about prophecy: Can a prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit, predict the future? In Acts 11:28 Luke records an incident where Agabus, led by the Spirit, predicted a famine. Luke also notes that this prediction was fulfilled in the reign of Claudius (who died in A.D. 54). The date of the prediction was approximately A.D. 44 (as indicated by the death of James the son of Zebedee in Acts 12). Later this same prophet, Agabus, predicts that Paul will be arrested and handed over to the Gentiles (Acts 21:10–11). His prediction is fulfilled when Paul reaches Jerusalem (Acts 21:27–36). The testimony of God’s Word is that prophecy, specifically the prediction of future events, is a gift that God gives when and where it pleases Him. Satan also “inspires” people so that they can tell something of the future (as in the case of the slave girl in Philippi, Acts 16:16–18). Yet it is only the true prophet who has the message of salvation and points people to the one true God. Thus we see that Jesus is our prophet par excellence (Deuteronomy 18:18; Matthew 13:57; 21:21; John 6:14). Since the few New Testament prophetic passages are fulfilled shortly after the prophecy is given (with the exception of some passages in Matthew 24–25, Mark 13, Luke 21, and Revelation’these will be covered in chapter 11), we will consider Old Testament prophecy in this chapter. Interpretation of prophecy can be difficult. Sometimes a prophet clearly predicts a future event, quite often fulfilled centuries later in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Sometimes a prophet acts out his prophecy, like a visual aid in a children’s sermon. Sometimes the New Testament sees prophetic meaning in an Old Testament event, which by itself may not seem prophetic. Guidelines for Interpretation We can use three guidelines to help us understand Old Testament prophecy: Look for the intended meaning of the prophecy. See if the New Testament refers to the Old Testament passage under study. Understand the difference between direct (verbal) prophecy and symbolic (action) prophecy. Practicing the Guidelines Micah 5:2 The prophet Micah lived about eight hundred years before the birth of Jesus. He warned God’s people to repent of their sin, turn away from idols, and give up empty ritualism. He promised God’s forgiveness to those who would turn to Him in faith and looked forward to the day when God’s promised Messiah would take away the sins of the world. Read Micah 5:2 and answer the following questions: Whose birth does Micah predict? Where is this person to be born? How important is the place of this person’s birth? In Micah 5:2 he predicts the birthplace of that Savior: the village Bethlehem in the region of Ephrathah in the tribal area occupied by Judah. This was an unimportant village in Micah’s day, but because the Messianic king would be born there, its historical importance would be very great. This kind of prophecy is the easiest to interpret. It contains no codes or secret messages. The message is quite plain. Sometime in the future God’s promised Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Jewish scholars had this same understanding of Micah 5:2 when the Magi came to Jerusalem looking for the one who had been born king of the Jews. The chief priests and teachers of the Bible, gathered by Herod the Great, knew exactly where the Messiah would be born (Matthew 2:1–6). These experts in the Old Testament even quoted Micah 5:2 to Herod. The prophecy seems very straightforward in Micah and (using the second guideline) our understanding is confirmed by Matthew in the New Testament.4 This is the simplest form of prophecy’predicting a single event that Scripture later records as fulfilled. Jeremiah 31:15 Sometimes New Testament writers look at Old Testament events and see a pattern that resembles an incident in the life of Jesus. We will look at two examples in the second chapter of Matthew. In Matthew 2:18 the author cites Jeremiah 31:15 and sees a connection between that verse and the slaughter of infants at Bethlehem. The wailing of the mothers for their murdered sons fulfills (or repeats) a pattern highlighted in Jeremiah 31. Rachel, favorite wife of Jacob, had been buried near the town of Ramah. Ramah was about five miles north of Jerusalem. When Babylon conquered Jerusalem, the captives were led away on a route that passed near Ramah. Jeremiah pictures Rachel, dead for more than 10 centuries, weeping for her descendants as they are taken into captivity in a foreign land (Babylon). As we have seen before, the original context is important. Jeremiah 31:15 appears in the midst of consolation, a promise by God to bring back the captives, a message of hope and life in the midst of death and destruction. That is, of course, the same kind of situation we find in Matthew 2. In the midst of the death and destruction of the infants, the message of life and hope (Jesus Christ) shines brightly.5 Hosea 11:1 Matthew also sees a pattern when Jesus and his parents returned from Egypt, where they had gone to escape Herod the Great. In 2:15 Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” In Hosea, the prophet refers to the original Exodus as he reminds his readers that God is calling them to repentance as a loving father calls a wayward son. The tragedy is that Israel did not listen to God’s gracious invitation and continued in their idolatrous and sinful ways. Like them, Jesus travels from Egypt to Palestine. But unlike them, He follows the Law perfectly, the ideal Son. Jesus fulfills the pattern of sonship and thus fulfills an action prophecy. Jeremiah 31:15 Sometimes the intended meaning of a prophecy is broader than it first appears. We can use Jeremiah 31:31–34 as an example. Read this passage and answer the following: To whom does God promise a new covenant? How will God give them this covenant What is the essence of this new covenant? The author of Hebrews twice quotes this passage (Hebrews 8:8–12 and 10:16–17). He makes the point that this new covenant (or testament) is superior to the covenant God made with Moses for four reasons: God will write this on their hearts (minds) and not on stone tablets. God will establish a personal fellowship with His people. God will remove all ignorance and disobedience from His people. God will forgive all sins forever. This new testament will replace the old, the author of Hebrews says. Because this prophecy looks forward to the time when the final sacrifice for sin will have been made, the new testament era contains no sacrificial system. Jesus makes thesacrifice once, for all. As is clear in both the Old and New Testaments, God intends to include Gentiles in this new covenant. This becomes evident in Paul’s understanding of the Gospel (Romans 1:16–17).6 It is also true that this promise will not be completely fulfilled until Jesus returns, judges the living and the dead, and provides the new heavens and the new earth for His people. The “Now” and the “Not Yet” Living between the first and second coming of Jesus, we find ourselves in a time of joy and sorrow. We celebrate the victory of Jesus over sin, death, and the devil; yet we struggle daily with sin, fear death, and are tripped up by the devil. The end of the world has already come in the person and work of Jesus Christ; yet, somehow, we await the end of the world that is yet to come. This can create challenges for us when we interpret prophetic passages. Let us take Joel 2:28–32 as an example. Read this passage and answer the following: When does God pour out His Holy Spirit? When do all God’s people prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions? When does the sun turn to darkness and the moon to blood? When is it that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved? We might think that the answer to all these questions is “On the last day.” Yet Peter quotes this passage in the first Christian sermon spoken on Pentecost (Acts 2:14–26). He tells the crowd that this prophecy of Joel is fulfilled on that day, as the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Gospel in languages they had not studied. We might also remember that the sun was darkened by day at Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 27:45), and that people were raised from the dead when Jesus died (Matthew 27:52). The next age (post-resurrection) has already begun. And yet it has not fully arrived. In a way, it’s like dawn. Darkness fades as the sun begins to rise and, for about half an hour, it’s almost light. This is sometimes called “false dawn.” It seems like dawn; yet when the sun finally comes up, real dawn is so much brighter. The New Testament age is a little like a “false dawn.” The Son has arisen, the light shines, but the full light of the Son won’t be evident until His glorious return. Many Old Testament prophetic passages that look forward to the coming of Messiah conceive of the first and second coming as though it were one event, which it is’the victory of Christ, crucified and risen!