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8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 11, Chapter 4: Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent Argument for the Bible
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•
CHAPTER IV
•
FULFILLED
PROP 'HE ,CY A POTENT ARGUMENT
FOR THE BIBLE
BY ARNO C. GAEBELEIN,
EDITOR o ,UR HOPE.,'" NEW YORK CITY.
''Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your
strong reasons, saith the
King
of Jacob. Let
them
bring
them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show
the former things, what they be, that we may consider tl1em,
and know the latter end o,f them, or declare us things to con1e.
Show the thihgs that are to come hereafter, that we may know,
that
ye
are gods'' ( Isa . 41 : 21-23). ''I declare the end from
the beginning, and . from ancient times the things that are not
Yet done, saying, My counsel sha ll stand, and I wi11do all my
pleasure'' ( Isa. 46 : 10) .
This
is
Jehovah's
challenge to the idol-gods of Babylon to
Pre,dict future events.
He
alone can do that. T 'he
Lor 'd
can
declare the end
from
the beginning, and
make
lroown thing s
that are not yet done. The dumb idols of the heathen know
no hing
concerning
the future. They cannot tiredict what is
going to happen. And man himself is powerless to know
f utur ,e events an ,d cannot find out things to come.
Jehovah, who has made this challenge and declaration, has
also fully demonstrated His power to do so. He has done it in
:religious
character,
called
''sacred books.'' Not one
of
them
contains any predictions concerning the future. If the authors
would
have thereby furnished the strongest evidence of their
d~eptions.
The
Bib,le
is
the on y book
in
the world
which con
tains predictions . It is pre-eminentl)r that, which no other
55
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8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 11, Chapter 4: Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent Argument for the Bible
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•
•
•
•
\
56
T.he
Fund a1nental.s
book could be, and none other is, a book of prophecy. These
predicti
1
ons are declared to be the utterances of Jehovah ; they
show that the Bib
1
le is a s.upernatural book, the revelation
of God .
PROP 'HECY NEGLECTED AND DE.NIED
In view of this fact it is dep·lo,rable that the professing
Church of today almost
completely
ignores and neglects the
study of prophecy, a neglect which has for one
of
its
·results
the loss
of
one o·f
the
most powe .r·fuI
weapons
agains ,t
infidelity.
The denial of the Bible as the inspired ·word of Go
1
d has
.
become widespread.
If prophecy were intelligently studied such a denial could
not
flourish
as
it
does, for the
f ulfille,d
predictions
of
the Bible
give the clearest and most conclusive evidence that th ,e
Bible
is the rev
1
elatio.n
of
God.
T6
this must be a.dded the fact that
the destructive Bi'ble
cri.tici.sm,
which goes
b·y
the name of
''Higher Criticism, ,denies the
po,ssibi lity of prophecy.
The
whole reasoning method of this school, which has become so
popular throughout Cl1ristendom, may be reduc .ed to the fol
lowing:
Prophecy
is .an impossibility ; th
1
er
1
e
is no
,such
thing
as
f
0
1
retelli .ng future events ... Ther
1
efore a boo,k Which contains
predictions of · things
to come, ·which
were
later
fulfill ,ed,
must .
hav ,e been written after the events .
whi
1
ch are
predict ·ed
in the
book. The methods followed by the critics, the attacks made
by
th
1
em upon
the
authenticity of the
different
books of the
Bible, I
especially
upon
those which
co
1
ntain the
most
startling
propheci ies ( .I.saiah and Daniel), w
1
canno,t follow at th isl time.
They deny
everything which the
J w··ish Synago ,gue
and
the
Cl1ristian
·Church a]ways believed to be prophecy, a
super -
.
natural unfolding of future events.
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Th.e pro ·p,h,ecies of the Bi.b
1
le must be first of all d·ivided
1
into three c·Jas.ses. 1. Propheci ,es which h.ave found already ·
-
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their
f
ulfil'lment. 2. Prophecies which ar ·e now
i·ri
p~ocess of
f·ulfilJment. Many predictions w·rit ·t
1
en several thousand
year ·s
ago are ·now b,eing acco·m·plished before our eyes. We men
tion those which re·tate to the national and spiritual condition
•
of t'he Jewish people and the predictio ,ns concerning the moral
and r,eligious
condition of the present
age.
3.
Pr
1
ophecies
which are still unfulfilled. We have ·reference to those which
predict the second, glorious and visible coming of our
Lord,
the re-gathering of Is ·rae ,l and their ·restor ·ation to the · land of
p,romise, judgments which will fall upon the ·nations of the
earth, the establishment of the Kingdom, the
conve·r'sion
of
the world, universal peace and righteousness, the
,d
1
el·iverance
of groaning creation,
an ,d otl1er·s.
These great prophecies of future tl1ings are often
~obbed
of the .r literal and solemn meaning by a pr ·ocess of s.pirituali
zation. The visions of
the
proph ,ets co
1
,;icerning
Israe ·t
and
Jerusalem, . and the glories , to come in a future age, are almost
g·enerally
explained
as
having
their fulfillment in
the Church
during the pre ·sent age.
H,owever,I
our obj 'ect is
no't
to follow
the unfulfilled prophecies, but prophecies fulfilled and in
·process of · fulfillment. At the c·tose of our treat ·ise we · shall
point
0
1
ut briefly that in the light of fulfilled p
1
ropheci
1
es,
tl1e
literal
f'ulfi11ment
of'
prophecies still future is perfectly assured.
FULFILLED · PR
1
0PHECY A VAST THEME
Ful ·fil.led
prophecy
i.s a vast
theme
of much
importanc re.
It is.equal y inspiring ·and interesting. Vol urn es could be ,vrit
ten to show how hundrecl ,s of Pivine predictions ,vritten in the
Bible have
passed
into hi.story.
What
God
a.nnounced
through
His
ch
1
os,en
ins.trume .nts , has come to pass. History
is
bearing
witn ·ess to the fact that the ev
1
ents which triln spired among
nations were pre-written . in the Bible, eyen as prophecy is
nothing less
than
history
written in.
advance. As much as
space pe1~mits we s,hall call
1
attention to th
1
e fulfilled proph ,ecies
rel.ating to the
person of Christ; to
the ,
Jewi~h .Pe~ple; and .
•
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•
58
The Fundamen ta ls
to a number of natio ,ns, Whose his.tory, who ,se rise and down
fall, are divinely predicted in the Bible. Furthermore, we
shall mention
the
gre:at proph
1
etic unfol
1
dings as
gi·ven in the
Book of Daniel, and ho,w many of these predictions have al
rea.dy
found a most interes ·ting
f
ulfillm .ent.
I
•
MESSIANI
1
C PR0
1
PHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT
The
Old
Testament contains a most
wond ·erful
cl1ain 0£
prophe ,cies
conc
1
erning the person,
·th ,e
1
] f
e and
work
of
o;ur
Lord. . As H
1
e is the center of the whole rev ,elation of God, the
On ie upo :n whom , all rests, ,
we
turn
first
of
all. to
a few of the
· prophecies which speak of Him. This also is very necessary.
Tl1e destructive criticism has gone so far as
1
to
state , tha.t
ther
1
e
are no predictions at all conc,erning Christ in the Old Testa
,ment. Such a denial
lea,ds
to and is linked with the denial of
Christ Hims
1
elf,
especially
the d
1
enial of
His
Deity and
His
work on the
crosis.
I
To
f ollow
the large
number of prophecies
con
1
cerning
the
coming of Ch,rist into the world and
the
w,ork
He was
to
accomplish we cannot
attemp .t
in
these
pages.
We point
out
briefly in a general way what must be
fa-n1iliar
to most Chris
tians who
S1ar
1
ch the
Sc,riptures.
Christ
is
first announce ·d
in
Gen. 3: 15 to be the seed of the woman, and therefore a human
being. In
G
1
en.
9
:26-27
the
supremacy
of
She·m is predict
1
ed.
The full revelation of Jel1ov,ah God
is connected with Shem
and in due time a so,n of Shem, Abraham,
received
the
promise ,
that the
predicted seed
was to come from
him. ( Gen. 12: 8 . )
Messiah was
to co
1
me from
the
seed
of Abraham. ,
Then
the
fact
was revealed
that
He
was to
come from
Is .aac and not from Ishmael, , from . Jacob and not from E,sau.
But Jacob had twelve sons . The Divine prediction pointed to
Judah and
later
to the
hous
1
e·
,of
Dav ·id
o:f
the
tribe
of
Judah
from which
the
Messi.ah should spring . When we come to
·th.~
prop ,hecies. of Is,aiah we leam that
His
m,othet
is
to be, a
virgin.
(Isa.
7:
14.)
But
the
s,on born
of
the virgin is
•
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Immanuel, God with us. Clearly the prop h
1
etic Word in Isaiah
states that the Me·ssiah would be a child born and a Son given
with
the
nan1es,
Wonderful,
Counsellor,
Mighty
God,
the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Pe ,ace ( Isa. 9 : 6) . The
promised Messiah is to be the seed
1
0£ a woman, of the seed ·
of Abraham,
of·
David, born of a
virg ,in,.
He is
to
be Im-
.
manttel,
the S,on
given, God manifested in
th.i
flesh •
•
This promised Messiah,
the
Son
of David, J
should appea1·
(,acc.ording
to Isa.
11 : 1) after
the
house
of David
had
been
strip ,ped of its royal dignity and glory. And what more could
we say of the prophecies which speak
1
0£ His life, His poverty,
t:he w·orks He was t .0
1
do, Hi ,s rej ection b
1
y
His own people,
thre
Jews. In that matchless chapter in Isaiah, t he fif,ty-third, the
rejection of Christ by His own natio ,n is predicted. In another
cl1apt·er a
still more start ling
prophecy is
recorded : Then I
said,
I
have
labored in vain, I have spent
my
strength for
nau ,ght
and
in vain. Tl1is
i,s Messi .ah sl
lament ·on acco ,unt
of
His rej e
1
ction. Then fo]l ,ows the answer : which contains a
most striking pr ,ophecy : It is a light thing that Thou sho uldes ,t
be My servant to raise up the tribes of J cob
1
and to restore
the preserved o,f Is.rael : I also will give Thee for a light to
the Gentiles, that Thou m.ayest b
1
e My ,salvation unto the ends
of
th·e
e,arth ( Isa. 49: S, 6). Her
1
e
th,e
revelation is given that
He w,ould not
alone ·be rej:ected
by His
1
own nati
1
0 tt,
h ut
tl1at
He w.ould also bring salvation to the Gentiles. Wh ,at human
m·in,d could have ever inve nted such a program I
Tl1e
prom
ised Messiah of Israel, the longed-for One, is predicted to be
rej ·e
1
cted by His own people and tht1s becomes the Saviour· of
the d
1
espis
ed Gentiles. His
suff e·rin,gs
a,nd
His d
1
eath
are
eve·n
more
minutely predicte ,d.
In the Book of Psalms the ·sufferings l of Christ, the deep
agony of I-Iis soul, the exp,ressions of His sorrow and His grief,
are pre-written by the Spirit of God. We mention only ·on.e
Ps lalm,
the twenty- second. His death by crucifixion
is
prophe-
.
sied. , Yet deat h by crucifixi ,on wa1 in Dav·i
1
d
1
.s ti.me an un-
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60
•
The Fu idamentals
known mod ·e: .of d,eath. Cruel Rome ·invented
that horrible
form of ,death. The ,cry of the
for ,saken
On,e is predicted
in
· the
very
words which
,came
from the li.ps
of our S,aviour o·ut
of the darkness which enshrouded the cross. So are also
predicted the words of mockery by those who looked on; the
p.iercing o,f His
han ,ds
and
feet; , the parting
of the garments
*
.
an ,d
tl1e casting
of the lots. In
the fifty-third chapt ,er o ·f
Is.aiah,
the
purpose of I-Iis
death
is
so bles.se.dly predict ,edi H ,e
was. to die the
subs ,titute of sinners. .
There
we
find
al,so
His
burial and His resurrection predicted. All this was recorded
7t00
years
before
our Lord
was
born.
In
the
Psalms we find
the prophecy that the r,ejected One would
occupy
a
place
at
the r·ight 11and o.f Go,d ( Psalm 110 : 1) . H,e· was to Ieav·e the
earth. D·avid ,s Son . and David .s. Lord was . to have
,a
pla ,ce in
the highe .st glory, ev
1
en at the right ha.nd of God, to
1
wait there
till His enemies are
made
His footstool.
It
is
indeed
a won-
derful chain of prophecies concerning Christ. We
could
give
a very few
of these
pr ·edictions,
How they .all
were
long ago
literally
fulfilled
in t·l1e
coming, in the
life,,
in
the d
1
eath,
in
the
resurrec .tion
and
ascen ,sion 0
1
£
our
ad,or,able Lord., all t:ru,e
•
believers kn
1
ow.
TI-IE .JEWISH PEOPLE
When Frederick the Great,
King
of
Prussia,
asked
the
cour ·t chaplain for an argument that the Bible is an inspired
•
_b,ook,
he answe ·red, Your
Majesty, ·the Jews. It was well
___.
sai ,d.,, To th ,e Je,vs wer ,e committed tl1e o,racles of ,God. (Rom~
3: 2.) Tl1ese oracle ·s of God, the Holy Scriptures, the Law
and the Prop ,hets,
are
filled with a large number of
predictions
relating to
their own
history. Their unbelief, the rejection of
the Messia ·h, the
r,esults ,of
that rejection, their dispersion
into
·tl1e corners of
the
earth, so tha ·t
they would be
scatfe :re ,d
among
a.11 the nation .s, the persecution .s and
sorr ,ow.s they
were
to
suffer, th ,e curses which
were
to come
upon th,em., their
mir,acu
lous preservation as a
nation, the .ir
future
great tribul .ation and
•
•
•
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•
•
•
'
•
fully, though he did no
1
t know who Cyrus was. TWo centuries
later
Cyrus appeared and then issued his proclamation which
. f
ulfille ,d
.ls1iah'
s predictio ,n,. Higher
criticism denies
the
ge·n
uineness of all this.
In order
to
disprove this
prophecy as
well as others,
they
declare
that
Isaiah did n,o·t
writ ,e
the book
which bears his name. For about 2500
years
no one ,ever
thought of even suggesting that Isai .ah is not tl1e
author of the
book. They have invented an unknown person, whom they
call Deu.tero- .Isaiah,
i. e., a
s.e,cond Is,aiah.
Th ,ey
claim
that
he wrote
chapters
4~66. With
this they
hav~
not stop,ped.
Th
1
ey speak now·o·f a third Isaiah, a Trit~ ·Isaiah, a.s they call
him. With their suppos·ed learning they claim to have dis
covered that some
1
of the chapt ,ers of Isaiah wer
1
e
written
in
Babylon and others
in Palestine. However,
all
the
ar . ents,
a.dvanc ,ed b
1
y the critics for a composite authorship and against
one Isaiah who liv·ed
and
wrote
his
b,ook at the time specified in
the beginni·ng of Isaiah, [are disproven by the book itself. One
only needs to study this book to find out the unity of the
message. One pers .on must be the author o,f the k of
•
Isaiah. .
A REMARKABLE [ CH.APTER
Th .e Pentateuch cont:ains many o,f the prophecies . co11-
cerning the future history of ·the Jews. O·ne ·of the most
remarkable chapters is the twenty -eighth chapter in Deuter-
onomy.
It is one of the m,ost sole1nn chapters in th ,e Pentateuch.
01·thodox Heb ,re,ws read in their s,ynagogues ,,e·acl1year
1
through
the entire five books of Moses.
Wl1en
they read this chapter,
the 'Rabbi reads in a subdued voice. And we'll may they
re,ad
it softly and ponder over
it,
for here is pre-written the sad and
sorrow£ uI history of their wond ,erf ul n,ation. Here thou.san,ds
of years ago the Spirit of God through Moses outlined the
history of the scattered nation,
all their suffering
and
tribula
tion, as it has been for well nigh
t~ro
millenniums and as it is
•
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•
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Fulfilled Pr,oph,ecy. a P ,otent Argument for the Bible 63
still. Here are ar.gun1ents for the Divine, the supernatural
origin of this
book
wl1ich no
infidel has
ever
been
able, to
ans,wer ;,nor
will th
1
ere
ever
be.
found an
,answer ,
-
.
It would take many pages to follow the different predic-
tions
and
show
their
literal fulfillment
in
the
nation
which
•
turned
a,vay from
Jehovah
and
dis,obeyed His W ,ord.
Apar ·t from su
1
ch general
pr ,edictions
a,s are found in verses
64-66 an ,d fulfilled in
the dispersion
of
Israel,
there are
othe1·s
which are
mor ie
minute. 'The
Roman power, which
was
us~d
to bre .ak
the
Jews, is clearly pred ..cted b1y
Moses ,,.
a11d that in
a
time when no such power exi st
1
e
1
d. Read verses 49-50: ''The
Lord shall bring a
nation against
thee f'rom far,
from
the end
of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation, whose lan
guage thou .shalt not understand.''
Tl1e
eagle was· tl1e
standard
of th.e Roman armies ; the Jews understood many oriental lan
gu,ages, but were
ignorant
0
1
£
Latin.
''Which
shall
not
r
1
egard
·the person of the old, nor sh
1
,w favo1·
to the
y1oung,.''' Ro me
killed the 0
1
ld people and t·1e c:hildr ·e,n. ''And he shall besie,ge
tl1ee in all thy gates, t1ntil thy high and fenced walls con1e
down,
wl1erein tl1ou
tr ,ustedst, throughout all
thy
land'' (
verse
52). Fulfilled in tl1e siege and overthrow of Jerusalem by
the Roman
'legions.
''The tender
and
delicate
woman
among
y,ou, which wou ld not adventure
to
set the sole
of her
f,oot upon
the ground fo,r delicateness
a11d t
1
en,derness,
sha,]l eat . her chil
dren, fo·r w.an.t ,o,f all tl1ings i'n the s,iege .and ,straitness wh
1
ere
wi,th
thin
1
e enemy
sha'll dist :res~ thee in thy
ga,te,s'' (
54-5,7).
Fulfilled in the dreadful ,sieges of Jerusa .lem,, perhaps
the
most
•
terrible events in the history of blood and tears of this poor
earth.
Every
verse, beginning
with
the
fifteen
th,
to the
end
of this chapt ,er has found its oft repeated fulfillment . It does
not surprise us that th ,e
1
enemy hates this book,
wl1ich
bears such
a
testimony, and
would have
it
cla.ss,ed with
legends ,.
•
Of much
inte,res,t
,is, the last verse
1
0£
this,
great proph,etic
chapter. '' And
Jehovah wi1·1 br·ing
thee
into Egypt
again wit'h
ships,
by
the way whereof I said unto ·thee, Thou slia1t ,see
it
•
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64
The
Fundan ientals
no more again;
and
there ye shall sell
you1·selves
unto your
en~mies fo
1
r bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy
. you.
When
Je1·usalem
was , des,troyed by
tl1e
Ro1na ns ,
all
w ho did not di,e in the ,awful ,calamity were . sent to the mines
of ,Egypt, where the: slaves were co,11stantly kept at work with-
out being permitted t.o rest o,r
sileep til l tl1,ey, s,uc.cumbed. .T.he
whip of Egypt fell o,,nce mor
1
e upo
1
n them .and
they suff ·ere
1
d
the
most t
1
errible agonies . Others were sold as slaves. Ac-
cording
to Joseph .us,,
about 100,000
1
were made
slaves so
th .at
the markets were glutted and the word fulfilled , No man sh.all .
buy you.
THEIR DISPERSION AND
PRESERVATION
When Balaam
beheld the camp
of
Israel he
uttered a
prophecy
which is still being fulfilled. Lo, the peo
1
pl
1
e
shall
dwell
alone
and
shall
not b
1
e rec koned among ·the
nations
(Num. 2·3: 9
1
.
1
God had sep
1
arated the
nation
and
given t,o
•
them a
land.
And ·t his peculia ·r people, livi.ng
in one O·f the
smallest co·untries of the earth, has been S
1
cattere ,d throughout
the wo,rld,
has become
a
wanderer, without
a ho,me, without a
land. Like
Cain
they
wander
from nation to nation. Though
without a land they are still a nation. Other
nations
have
pas sed away; the Jewish nati ,on has been pres ,erved. They are
among all the nations and yet not reckoned amo·ng the nations
1
, •
All
this is written
beforehan ,d in
the Bible. And
you
will I
scatter amo .ng the nation .s,
and
I will draw
out .
the sword after
you :
and
your ]and
shall
be a desolation and your cities
shall
be a w,aste (:Lev.
26:
3
3).
And
Jehovah ,will
.scatt
1
er you .
amon ,g the
people,
and y
1
e
shall be
lef .t
f ew i.n num ·ber among
the nations, whither
Jehovah
shall l
1
ead
you away j
(Deut.
4: 27).
And Je l1ovah· will sca tter you among all peoples,
f r
1
om the one end of the e,arth even unto the otl1er end of the
earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast
not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. And
among these nations shalt thou find no ease,
and there
shall
.
•
•
•
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Fulfilled
Prophecy
a Potent rgument for the Bible 65
be no rest for the sole of thy foot; but Jehovah will give thee
there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul.
And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt
fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.
In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were even and at
even thou shalt say, Would it were morning for the fear
of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine
eyes, which thou shalt see" (Deut. 28: 64-67). "And yet for
all that, when tl).ey be in the land of their enemies, I will not
reject them, neither will I abhor them,
to
destroy them utterly,
and to break My covenant with them ; for I am Jehovah their
God" (Lev. 26: 44). In many other passages the Spirit of
God predicts their miraculous preservation.
"Massacred by thousand s, yet springing up again from their
undying stock, the J ews appear at all times and in all regions.
Their perpetuity, their national immortality, is at once the
most curious problem to the political inquirer; to the religious
man a subject of profound and awful admiration."* Herder
called the Jews "the enigma of history". What human mind
could have ever for eseen that this peculiar people, dwelling , in
a peculiar land, was to be scattered among all nations, suffer
there as no other nation ever suffered, and yet be kept and
thus marked out still as the covenant people of a God, who se
gifts and callings are without repentance. Here indeed is an
argu1nent for the Word of God which no infidel can answer.
Jehovah has predicted the history of His earthly people.
''Though I n1ake a full end of an ·nations whither I have scat
tered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee" (J er. 30: 11).
THE LAND AND THE CITY
Palestine, the God-given home of Israel, the land which
once flowed with milk and honey, has become barren and
desolate. Jerusalem, once a great city, the hallowed city of
*Milman : "History of the Jews."
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•
66
T
ie F
utid amentals
David, is
tro ·dd,en
down
by
the
Gentil ,es.
All this is more
than once
predicted
in the
Wo
1
rd of
Prophecy. ''I will
make
•
thee a wilderness, and citi~s.
whi ,ch
are n
ot
inhabited.
And I will
prepare
1
des.troyers 1aga ·inst the ,e,
1
very one
W"th
his wea ·po,ns ;
and
they
shall cut d·own thy choice ce.dar .s, a.nd cast them into
the
fire.
And many nations
shall
pass by
this
city, a11-d
hey
shall say every man to his
neighbor, .
Where£ ore has the
Lord
do,ne thus unto this great . city '? Then they shall answer ·, ·Be
cause they have forsaken the
covenant
of the
Lord tl1eir God,
and worshipped other gods and served
them'' (Jer.
22
7-9).
''And the generation to ,come, yo
1
ur children that sl1all rise up
after you, and the
foreigner tl1at
shall co1ne fr ,om a
far
land
shall ,say·, w·hen t.hey shall . see the plague ·s of that land .. .. .
even all the nations sha·11 say, Wl1eref ore l1ath Jehovah done
thus unto this land, what meaneth the heat of this great anger?''
(Deut.
29:
22-25.)
Thus , it h.a.s come to pa .ss. Their I.and is being visited by
Gentiles from all over the wor ·l.1 who behold the desolations.
Many
other passages could
be
added to the above passages
which p1·ophesied the very condition of the promised land and
tl1e city of Jerusalem which are fou .nd there now, and which
have exist ,ed fo ,r :nearly
two
th
ousand years.
The national rejecti ,on of Israel and the fulfillment of the
threatened curses have come to pass, and the land in its
barre ·n
condition
witnesses
to
it..
Even
tl1e
duration of all this is
in
1
dic.ated in th.e prophetic Word. There is. a striking passa .ge
in Hosea I ''I will go and return to My place, till they ac
kPo'ivledge their offence and seek My face; in their affliction
they
will seek
Me
early. Come, let
us
return unto
the
Lord;
for He hath torn, and He will heal us ; He hath smitten and He
will bind us up. After two days will He revive us ; in the
third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight''
(Hos. 5: 15----6: 2). According to
this
prophecy Jehovah is to
be in their midst and is to ·return to His place. It refers to
the ma·nif
estation
of
the Lord
Jesus
Christ among
H ·is
people .
•
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Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent
Argument for
tfte Bible 7
They rejected Him; :He returned to His place. They are to
acknowledge their offence.
Elsewhere in the Word predictions are found which speak
of a future ·national repentance of Israel when the remnant
of that nation will confes s the blood-guiltiness which is upon
them. According to this word in Hosea, they are going to have
affliction, and when that great affliction comes they will seek
His face, and confess their sins, and express th eir trust in
Jehovah. They · acknowledge that for two days they were
torn and smitten by the jud gments of the Lord, afflicted, as
predicted by their own prophets . A third day is coming when
all will be changed. These days are prophetic days. Several
ancient Jewish expositors mention the fact that these days
stand each for a thousand years. The two days of affliction
and dispersion would therefore stand for two thousand years,
and they are almost expired. The third day would mean th e
day of the Lord, the thousand years of the kingdom to come.
Nor must we forget that our Lord Jesus Christ, too, pre
dicted the great dispersion of the nation, the fall of
J
erusalern,
and that Gentiles were to rule over that city, till the times of
the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Lu ke 21 : 10-24.)
NO GOVERNMENT, NO SACRI F ICE, NO HOLY PLACE
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without
a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice , and
without an image, and without an ephod, and without tera
phim ( Hos. 3 : 4). No further comment is needed on this
striking prediction. Their political and religious condition for
1900 years corresponds to every word given throu gh Hosea
the prophet.
PROPHECIES ABOUT OTHER NATIO N S
Besides the many predictions concerning the people Israel,
- the prophets have much to say about the nations with whom
Israel came in touch and whose history i bound up with the
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68
The undamentals
history of the chosen people of God. Babylonia, Assyria,
Egypt, Ammon, Moab, Tyre, Sidon, Idumea, and others are
mentioned in the Proph\:tic Word. Their ultimate fate was
predicted by Jehovah long before their downfall and overthrow
occurr ed. The Prophet Ezekiel was entrusted with many of
the solemn messages announcing the judgment of these nations.
The reader will find these predictions in chapters 25-37. The
predictions concerning Arnmon, Moab; Edom and the Philis
tines are recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter. Tyrus and its
fall is the subject of chapters 26 to 28 : 19. A prophecy about
Sidon is found in the concluding verses of the twenty -eighth
chapter. The prophecies concerning the judgment and degra
dation of Egypt are given at greater length in chapters 29 and
30. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum
and Habakkuk, all contain prophecies concerning differen t na
tions foretelling what should happen to them. A mass of
evidence can be produced to show that all these predictions
came true. Many of them seemed to fail, but after centuries
had passed, their literal fulfillment, even to the minutest detail,
had become history.
We must confine ourselves to a very few of these predic
tions and their fulfillment. The siege and capture of the pow
erful and extremely wealthy city of Tyrus by Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, is predicted in Ezek. 26: 7-11. It came literally
to pass. One of the proofs is to be found in a contract tablet
in the British Museum dated at Tyrus in the fortieth year of
the king. The overthrow predicted by Ezekiel had come to
pass. The walls were broken down and the city was ruined.
The noise of the song ceased and the sound of the harps was
no more heard. But not all that Ezekiel predicted had been
fulfilled by the Babylonian conqueror . The Divine predic
tion states, ''They shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy
dust in the midst of the water (verse 12). Nebuchadnezzar
had not done this. History acquaints us with the fact that
the Tyrians, before the destruction of the city had come, had
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-
....
. -
-
- --
.
-
.
-
..
•
Fulfilled
Prophecy
a
Po tent Argument
for
the Bible
69
rremoved
their
treasures
to an
island about half
a
mi.le f1um
the shore. About 250 years later Alexand er came
against
the
island city. The ruins of Tyre which Nebuchadnezzar had left
standing were used by Alexander. He
1
constructed
ot1t
of the1n
With great ingenuity and perseverance a dam from the main
la11d o,
the rock city in the sea. Thus
literally it
Was fulfilled, ·
They shal l lay thy
stones and thy timber and thy dust in the
midst of
the
water.' '
The
sentence pronounced upon
that
proud city, fo
1
r so 'Jong the
powerful
mistress of the sea, '
1
'Thou
shalt be built no more,''
has
been
fully
carried
o,ut.
Of still greater interest
are
the prophecies which foretell
the doom of Egypt. Ezekie l and Nahum me11tion the Egyp
tian city No. (Ezek. 30: 14-16,; Nah. 3: 8.) No is Thebes
and was the
an.ri,ent
cap
1
ita l o,f
E ,gypt. Th ,e
E ,gyptian
nam,e
is
No-Amon. It had a hundred gates, as we learn from Homer,
and
was a
city
of marvelous beauty. It was surrounded
by
Walls
twenty-£
o,ur feet thick, an.id ha.d a
circumference of
one
tnile and thr ee quarters. The Lord
announced
through Ezekie l
that
this great
city
sl1ot1d be rent
asunder · and that its vast
Populati on should be
Cttt
off. Five hundred y·ears Irater ' Pt 16-
lerny
Laltyrus , the grandfather of Cleopatra,
after besieging
the
city several years razed to the ground the previously ruine d
city. Every
word given tl1rough
Ezekiel had come true.
One
cot1ld
fill
m,any pag ,es showin ,g
tl1
e
lit eral fulfillm .ent ,of EzekieJ' ,s,
great predictions relating to Egypt. The decline and degrada
tion predicted has come true.
The
rivers and canals
of
Egypt
have.
dried up. The
land
has become desolate. The
immense
fisheries which yielded
sucl1
a great
income
to
the
rulers of
Egypt are no longer in existence. Ezek. 30:
7
has
found a
literal fulfillment. Egypt is a land of ruins and wasted cities.
l11e instruments
whom
God ttsed in accomplishing this were
strang ·ers (E zek. 30: 12) like Cambyses,
Amroo
Ochus and
others. ·
~T·I1ere
shall be
no more
a
prince o·f the land ·of
Egypt'' (Ezek. 3,0: 13). This too
ha s
been literally fulfilled.
Ochus
subdued
rebellious
Egypt 350
B
C., and since that
\
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70 The undamentals
time no native prince has ruled in Egypt. It is also written
that Egypt should become the basest of the kingdoms, "Neither
sha ll it exalt itself any more above the nation s; for I will
diminish them that they shall no more rule over the nations."
Th is degra dation has fully come to pass. Who would ever
have thought that this magnificent country with its vast re
sources, its wonderful commerce, its great pro sperity, its lux
uries, the land of marvelous str ucture s, could ever experience
such a downfall Another significant fact is that in spite of
the great humiliation and degradation through ·which Egyp t
has passed for so many centurie s, it is not to exper ience a
total extinction. In .this respect her fate differs from that of
other nations, "They shall be there a base kingdom" (Ezek.
29; 14); this is the condition of Egypt today. And other
prophets announce the same fact. One of the earliest prophets
is Joel. He prophesied between 860 and 850 B. C. He pre
dicted at that early date, "Egypt shall be a desolation." Isaiah
also foretells the awful judgment of this great land of ancient
culture. In the light of unfulfille d prophecy we discover the
reason why God has not permitted the complete extinction of
Egypt. Egypt is yet to be lifted out of the dust and is to receive
a place of blessing on1y second to that of Israel (Isa. 19: 22·
25). This will be fulfilled when our Lord comes again.
And what more could we say of Idumea, Babylonia, As-
yria and other lands. Moab and Ammo n, the enemies of
Israel, once flourishing nation s, have passed away and the
numerous judgm ent predictions have come true. ( See Jer.
48-49.) Edon1 is gone . "O thou that dwellest in the clefts of
the rock, that boldest the height of the hill, though thou
shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee
down from thence, sait h Jehovah" (Je r . 49:
16).
"Thou shalt
be desolate, 0 Mount Seir, and a11 Idumea, even all of it ''
( Ezek. 35 : 15). It was an athei st who was first used to
report that during a journey of eight days he had found in
the territ ory of Idum .ea the ruins of thirty cities.
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Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent rgument f~r the Bible 71
Babylonia and Assyria, once the granaries of Asia, the
garden spots of that continent, enjoying a great civilization,
are
now in desolation and mostly unproductive deserts. The
predictions of Isaiah and Jeremiah have been fulfilled. Th e
judgn1ents predicted
to
co1ne upon Babylon were
also
fulfilled
long ago.*
THE BOOK OF DANIEL
The Book of .Daniel, however, supplies the most startling
evidences of fulfilled prophecy. No other book has been so
11luch attacked as this great book. For about two thousand
Years wicked men, heathen philosophers, and infidels have tried
to break down its authority. It has proven to be the anvil
upon which the critics' hammers have been broken to pieces.
The Book of Daniel has survived all attacks. It has been
denied that Daniel wrote the book during the Babylonian cap
tivity. The critics claim that it was written during the time
of the Maccabees. Kuen en, W ellhausen, Canon Farrar, Driv
er and others but repeat the statements of the assailant 0£
Christianity of the third century, the heathen Porphyry, wno
contended that the Book of Daniel was a forgery. Such is
the company in which the higher critics are found. The Book
of Daniel has been completely vindicated. The prophet wrote
the book and its magni~cent prophecies in Babylon. All doubt
as to that has been forever removed, and men who still repeat
the infidel oppositions against the book, oppositions of a past
*"How utterly improbable it must have sounded to the contem
Poraries of Isaiah and Jeremiaht that the great Babylon.
this
oldest
llletropo]is of the world, founded by Nimrod, planned to be a city on
the Euphrates much larger than Paris of today, surrounded by walls
four hundred feet high, on the top of which four chariots, each drawn
by four horses, could be driven side by side; in the center a large,
lllagnificent park
an
hour's walk in circumference, watered by ma
chinery; in it the king's twelve palaces, surrounding the great temple
of the sun-god with its six hundred-foot tower and its gigantic golden
statue-should be converted into a heap of ruins in the midst of a
desert Who today would have any faith in a similar prophecy _agailtst
Berlin or
London or
Paris or New York?'' (Prof.
Beuex.)
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7
The Fundamentals
generation, must be branded as ignorant, or considered the will
ful enemies of the Bible.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR S GREAT DREAM
The great dream of Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in the
second chapter of the Book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar who
had been constituted by Jehovah a great monarch over the
earth Jer. 27: 5-9) desired to kno,v the future. All his
astrologers and soothsayers, his magicians and mediums, could
.not do that. Their predictions left him still in doubt (Dan.
2: 29). God gave him then a dream which contained a most
remarkable revelation. The great man-iinage the king beheld
is the symbol of the great world empires which were to follow
the Babylonian empire. The image had a head of gold; the
chest and arms were of silver; the trunk and the thighs were
of brass; the two legs of iron, and the two feet were composed
of iron mixed
with
clay. The Lord made known through the
prophet the meaning of this dream .
Nebuchadnezzar and the empire over which he ruled is
symbolized by the golden head. An inferior kingdom was
to come after the Babylonian Empire; its symbol is silver.
This kingdom was to be followed by a third kingdom of brass
to bear rule over all the earth. The fourth kingdom was to
be strong as iron and was to subdue all things. Exactly three
great world powers came after the Babylonian Empire, the
Medo-Persian, the Graeco-Macedonian and the Roman. In
teresting it is to learn, from the different metals of which the
image was composed, the process of deterioration which was
to characterize the successive monarchies. The fourth empire,
the Roman world power, is seen in its historic ·division, in
dicated by the two legs. The empire consisted of two parts,
the Ea st and West Roman sections. Then - the division of
the Empire into kingdoms in which iron (monarchical form
of government) and the clay ( the rule of the people) should
be present is also predicted. How all this has come to pass is
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too well known to need
any
furt her demons.tration ,. These
e.mpires have come and gone and the ter ·ritory of the
old
Roman Empire presents . today the very condition as pre
dicted
in
N
eb·uchadnezzar s
dream.
Monarchies and republics
are in existence upon that territory, The final division into
ten kingdoms has ·not yet been ac·complisl1ed. The unfulfilled
portion of this dream we do n·ot fallow · here. The .
reader may
·find tl1is exp
1
lained
in the author s , exp
1
osition of Daniel ..
DANIEL S , GREAT VISION OF TH E WORLD POWERS
•
In the .seventh chapt ,er D.aniel relates his first gre .at vision.
The four beasts he saw rising out of the sea, the type of
na·tions, are
symb,olical o,f the s.ame wo,rld power .s. The lion
wit.h ea.gle s win.gs .is Babyloni ,a.
J
eremi,ah also pictured
Nebuchadnezzar as a lion. Th ,e lion has come
up
from his
thicket and
the
destroyer of the Gentiles is
on
his way (Jer.
4: 7). Ezekie ·1speaks of him as a ,great eagle.. (Ezek · 17: 3 .
The Medo-Persian Empire is seen as a ·bear rai sed up on one
side and having three ribs i11 its mouth. l he one side appeared
stronger because this second world ,empire had P,ersia £Qr its
stronger e]eme,nt. The thr ,ee rib,s the bear holds as, prey
predict the conquests o,f that empire. Medo~Persia conque .red
ex.actly three :great provinces ., Susian .a, Lydia and Asia Minor.
The leopard with four wings and four heads is th ,e picture
of
the
Graeco-Mac ,edonian Empire. The four wings denote
its swiftness and rapid advance so abundantly fulfilled in
the
conquests
of Alexander the Great. The four heads
of
the leopard predict the partition of this empire into the king
doms of Syria, Egypt, Maced ,onia and Asia Minor · The
f
ourt ·h beas.t, the
g·r,eat
nonde script, with
its
t,en horns, and
the little horn, still to c,ome, is the Ro
1
ma·n Empire. These
are wonder£ ul thing ·s. Be it remembered t.h.at the prophet re
ceived the vislion when th.,
Babylonian
Empire still
existed .~
He .re also the character
of
the .se empires
typified by
ferocious
beasts is revealed, . Th
1
e great nations of Christ ,en,dom which
•
•
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74
•
The
Fund amentals
occupy , the
g·round
of th
1
e
Roman Empir ,e testify unc
1
onsciously
to t he:truth
,of
this
great prop ,hecy.
Th
1
e emblen1s
of t:hes,e n,a~
tions are not doves, little ]a1nb,s or otl1er· harmles ,s creatur
1
es.
They have ch
1
osen
the lion,. the
beat·,
the unicorn, the
e.agle .
and
the double-headed eagle.
ALEXANDER TI~E GREAT PREDICTED
I
In the eighth chap ,ter a n.ew pro ·phecy is revealed through
Daniel.
Once
more the Medo-Persian
Empire
is
seen,
this
time
under
tl1e
figure
of a
ram with
two horns,
one higher th ,an
the
other,
and the
higher one
came up
last ..
It foretells the
composition of that empire. . It was composed of the Me
1
des
and the Persians ; the Persians came in last and Were tl1e
stro ·11gest.
It conquered
in
three directions. Thi ,s corresponds
to , tl1.ebear with the tl1ree ribs in the previous chapter .
•
The
he-goat which
Da·niel
sees ,
com·ing
from
tl1e
west
w,i,th
a great rus ,h is
the
type of t·he leop,,ar
1
d empi .re, the Graeco
M acedonian. . The · .sa.m
1
e SWifnes,s as revealed in the leopard
with four wings is s,een here , again. The notable
horn upon
the h
1
e-goat, , symbolizing
the
Macedonian
Empire,
is Alexander
the Great. Jos
1
ephus tells us that Alexander was greatly moved
when the Jewish high priest Jaddua acquain ·ted him with the
meaning of this prophecy written
over
two hundred years
before. And how was
it
fulfilled, what is pre ,dicted in D.an.
8 : 5-8,? 334 B.
C.
the notable
horn, .Alexand ,er,
in
goat-like
fashion, leaped across the Hellespont and £ought success£ u)
· battles, then pushed on to the banks of .the Indus and the Nil ,e
and from there to Shushan. The great battles of the Granicus
( 334 B.
C.),
Issus ( 333 B.
C.),
and
:Arbel.la (
331
B.
C.)
were
f o.ugh.t, a:nd with irr ,esis.tible f,orce he stamped the power of
Persia and its king, ·
Dlarius Cod ,omannus,
to the ground. He
conquered rap
1
idl.Y
,Syria.,
Phoenicia ,,
Cyp,rus,
P yre,I
G,aza, Egyp,t,
Babylonia, Per ,sia,. In 32 9 he conquere
1
d
Bactr ·ia,I
cross ied the
Oxus
and J
xaitis
a11d
defeated the Scy,thians. , A,nd
thu,s
he
stamp ,ed upon the ram after having broke .n it ,s hont ,s. But
I
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Fulfilled Prophecy a Pot ent Argum ent for the Bible 75
when the he-goat had waxed very great, the great horn was
brok en. This predicted the early and sudden death of Alex
ander the Great. He died after a reign of
12
years and eight
months, after a career of drunkenne ss and debauchery in 323
B. C. He died when he was but 32 years old. Then four
notable ones sprang up in the place of the broken horn. This
too has been fulfilled, for the en1pire of Alexander was divided
into four parts. Four of the great generals of Alexander made
the division, p.amely, Cassander, Ly simachus, Seleucus and
Ptolemy. The four great divisions were Syria, Egypt, Mace
donia, and Asia Minor.
ANTIOCHU S EPIPHANES
In verses
1 9
to 24 of the eighth chapter of Daniel the coin
ing of a wicked leader, to spring out of one of the divisions
of the Macedonian E1npire and the vile work he was to do,
is predicted. He was to work great havoc in the pleasant land,
that is, Israel's land.
History does not leave us in doubt about the identity of
this wicked king. He is the eighth king of the Seleucid
dynasty , who took the Syrian throne and is known by the
name of Antiochus Epiphanes, and bore also the name of
Epimanes,
i. e., the Madman. He was the tyrant and op
pressor of the Jews. His wicked deeds of oppression, blas
phemy and sacri lege are fully described in the Book of the
Maccabees. Long be£ore he ever appeared Daniel saw him
and his wicked work in his vision.
And all this has been fu lfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes.
·When he had conquered
J
erusa len1 he sacrificed a sow upon
the altar of burnt offerings and sprinkled its broth over the
entire building . He corrupted the youths of Jerusalem by
introducing lewd practices; the feast of tabernacles he changed
into the feast of Bacchus. He auctioned off the high-priest
hood. All kinds of infan1ies were perpetrated
by
him and the
most awful obscenity permitted and encouraged.
All
true
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l
76
Tlie Fundame ntals
worship was for bidden, and idol worship introduced, especially
that of
Jupiter Olympus.
The
whole city
and land was
dev-
- --
as
tat e
d a-nd some 100,000 pious Jews were massac1
4
ed. Such
has been the remarkable ft1lfillment of this pr ,ophecy.
Even the duration of this
ti111e
of trouble was revealed; and
2,300 days are 1nenti-oned . These 2,300 days , cover about , the
period of time dLting ·which Antiocl1us Epi phanes did his wick- ,
ed deeds .
T11e
,chronology
of
these 2,300
1
days
is
interesting~
Judas Maccab ,aeus cleansed (lit, justified) the sanctuary from
the abominatio n about December
25, 165
B. C. Antio ,cht1s died
a miserab ,le death two years
later .
Going back 2,30 0 days fro1n
the tim ,e Judas
the
Maccabean cleansed the defiled temple,
brings us to 171 B. C. when
we
find
the record
of Antiochus .
inte r£erence
with
the Jews.
Menelaus
had
bribed Antiochus
to malce him
l1igh
priest, r
1
olJbed.
the temple
,and
instituted
tl1e
mttrder · of
the higl1
priest
O .nias
III. ·The
most wicked dee
1
d.s,
in the
defileme11t
o,f the templ
1
e wer
1
e perpet .rated by
tl1e leadin,g
ge,ner ,a.1 of Ant ·io
1
cl1us, Apol1oni us, in the
year
168 B. C. We
believe these 2,300 days ar
1
e therefore literal days and have
found their .Jiteral ft1.lfillme,nt in tl1e dreadf ul days of tl1is
wicked king from the North. There is no other meaning
attached to these days and the foolish speculations that these
day s are years, etc., lack Scriptural foundation altogether .
THE GREATEST OF ALL
T he greatest prophe
1
cy in the Book of Daniel is contained
in the ninth chapter, the prophecy concerning the 70 weeks,
transrriitted from heaven throug h Gabriel. (Dan. 9: 24-27.)
To
many
readers
of
the
Book of Daniel
it is
not
quite clear
Ylhat the expression seventy weeks mea.ns, and when it is
stated that each week rep resents a period o.f seven years , many
Christians do no·t know why such is the case. A brief word of
explanation
may
ther ,efore be in order. The literal transla
tion of the term seventy weeks is seventy sevens. Now
this word se vens translated weeks
may
mean
days
and
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Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent Argume1:it for the ibl ·ej 77
it may mean ''years.'' What then is m
1
eant h er
1
e,. seventy ti1nes
.sev,en days or s
1
eventy ti·mes seven years? It is e·vident that
tl1e ''sevens ·' mea .n
year
weel<s,
seven
years to each pro phetic
week. Dani
1
el was
1
0,ccu.pied
in reading the books
a11
1
d in prayer
with the seventy years of the B.abylonian captivity. And now
Gabriel is going to, reveal to ·11imson1ething' which w·ill take
pla
1
ce in ''seventy seve·ns;' '' which means
S
1
eventy times seven
years. The pro
1
of that such ·is the:
1
case
is furnished by
the
f ulfi.11ment of tl1e
p
1
rophe ,cy its,elf.
First we notice in the prophecy that these 70 year-weeks are
divided in three parts. Seven times seven (49 years) are
to go by till the commanded rebuilding and restoration of
Jerusalem should be .acco·mplished. In
tl1e
twentieth yea.r of
Artaxerxes tl1e command was given to rebuil ,d Jerusale1n. It
was in the ,year 445 B.
1
C., ex,a
1
ctly 4.9 y,ears , af te:r the wall of
Jerusalem and th
1
e
city had been rebuilt , Then 62 weeks
are given as the time when Messiah sh,ould be cut off .and have
notI1ing. This
gives
us 434 years (62 times
7'). Here is
a
pre ,diction conce·rning the death of Ch1·is.
Has
it been ful
fillred? Chronolo -gy s.110ws that exactly 483 yea.rs after Arta·
xerxes gave the comma11d to restore
Jerusalem (
445 B. C.) ,
434 years after the city had been restor ,ed, the d,eath of our
Lord Jesus Cl1rist took place.
To ·be more exact, on the day o,n which 0
1
Ur Lord Jesus
Ch·rist entered Jerusa1em for the last time, tl1e DUn1ber of
yea·rs announced by G,abriel expired and the Lo·rd w,as crucifi
1
ed
that week.
The
proof
of it
is
p·erf ect.
But there is more to be sa.id. As a result of the
1
cutting
o,ff
of
M
1
essiah
something
else is
p,rophesied. ''
And the people
0
1
f
the prince that shall come shall destroy the
city·
and the
sanctuary.'' ' The prince that is to c,ome (and is yet to come)
is the little horn of Da·n. 7 He aris .es
0
1
ut o,£ the Rom.an
Empire. The people of the . prince that sh.all come are there
£
or
1
e the Roman peopl,e. They have fulfille
1
d this prophecy
by
d
1
estroying the temp .le and
the ci.ty. .
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78
The ·
Fundamen.tal s
THE WAR.S
1
0F ·
THE P T
1
0L .EMIES
AND
.SELEUCIDAE
'
Th .e g.reater
part
of
·the eleventh
chaptet,.
in
D.aniel . has
been historically fulfi.11ed. It is an int
1
eresting st.t1dy. [So [ac
curate are tI1e predicti ,on.s
1
th at the ,enemies[ of · ·tl1e Bi ble have
trie
1
d their very
bes·t
to,
show tl1at D~niel d:i.d
not
w·rite the se,
pr
1
0p
1
he
1
cies s,everal ht1ndred y
1
ear ,s b,efore . they oc
1
curred ,. But
tl1ey have failed in
th.,ir
misera ·bte
[atte :mpts.
w ·e place
the
Sta ·rtling evidence befor
1
e our re.ader ·,
.
PR0
1
PHECY
GIVEN B.
C.
,534
And now will I s h,ew thee
the
tr ,uth. Behold, ther ·e s:hall st:a.nd
u.P
yet three kings in Per ·sia; and
•
the f
ou.r·th
shall b
1
e f a.r r·ich
1
er
th.an
thiey a.II : a·n
1
d by h i.s[ stren ,gth
·through his riches he
shat.I
stir up
all [against . ·the
realm
of Grecia. ·
(Ve .rse· Z)
'
And a m.ighty k·ing· s.hal.l
stan.d
·up,
th~t
shall rule with gre at
do
1
-
n1,in.ion,
and do
a.cco,tding to
1
his
will~ (Verse 3.)
And when be ,Srha.11stand up,
his kingdom .
s,hall be
·broken, a·nd
s·ha,Il be divided toward the ·four
·winds of h.eav en ; and .
not
to his
po,st
1
erity,
·nor ac.cording to h·is do
n1inion
which he ruled :
for
his
1
kingdom
s h.ail
be
pluc .ked
up
even
f
1
or other .s besides those . (Vers ·e
4.)
~•And the kin ,g of
t.he
South
shall be strong, and one of h·is·
I
FULFILLM ENT
•
See Ez:ra
4.
5-24. T he thr ee
ki:ngs were : Ahasuerus, Artaxer
x·c and D
1
arius,
.lcnown in
l1isto17
as Camb
1
ys,es,, Ps,
eudo
Smerd,is, .and
Daritts Hy,staspis1
(n .ot D ·ari .us the
M
1
ede:).
T·he
fourth
one
wa [s
Xerxes,
who·, as
:hi.st,ory
tells
us,
was immensely
rich,,
The ,
in.vasion
o ·f Gre ece t
1
ook
p
1
lace
in
·400Bi c~
The su,ccess,ors o,f Xerx
1
es ar e
n.ot menti
1
on,ed.
The
mighty
king
in
t:his
verse is the
notable
hor .n.
seen by Dani
1
el
on the
he-goat
i:n
chapt ,er
B
Alexander
the
Grea~
33.5
n. c. ·
.
B
1
•
C. 323. AJex,ande:r died
young.
Th.e no,tab
1
1e horn w·a . ·broken. I-Iis
ki11gdom was divided into
1
f 1ou,r
parts (four ,1Yin,ds )
1
a,fter the
bat
tle of lpsus 301 B c.
Hi.s
poster ity
did n.o·t re,ceive t·he
ki.ng ,dom, bu t
his four generals, Ptol
1
emy, Ly
sima1hus, . Se·Jeu.cu:s, Nicato
1
r and
Cass.ander. N o,t one
of f
these divi
s,ions reached ta the glory of
Alex ,a·nder s dom :nion.
Asia and
Gr·e
1
ec
1
e: are noit fol
Jowed but Syria a11dEgypt bec ome
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Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent rgument for the Bible 79
princes ; and he shall be stron ,g
above him, and have dominion:
his,
domi11ion shall
hie a gre ,a·t do~
minio11.'' (Verse
5.)
•
•
•
•
,
''A11d
in the
end
of years they
s.hall
j
1
oin
thems ,elves togeth .er ;.
for the king's daughter of the
South sha ll come to th ,e K·ing of
the
North to
mak ,e an
agreement;
but she shall not
reta ·i11
he power
of
the arm .; neither shall he stand,
· nor his arm : but she shall be given
up,
and
they that broug 'ht her,
,and
he that begat her, and he that
strengthened h
1
er
in thes .e
t·imes,. '
(Verse 6,)
•
''But out of a
branch of
her
roots s·hall one
stand
up in his
e,state, which
,sha,11
com.e
with an
arn1y,
a11d
shalJ enter into the
fo,rtress
1
of the King of the North ,
and shall deal against them; and
shall prevai ·t.'' ( V,ers,e 7.)
•
FULFILL ,ME iT
prominent, be,caus
1
e th
1
e King of the
North from
Syria,
and the King
o,f the Sou .th, Egypt,. were
to
com
1
e
in touch with the
J
ew,s.
The
holy
land became involved with both .
The King of · the South was Ptol
emy Lagt1s. One of his princes
was .Seleu .cu ,s
Ni
1
cator.
He
estab
Jished a great do
1
minion,
which ex
ten1ed to
the
Indus.
Here is another ,gap. T 'his1vers ,e
takes us to 250
B. c. T·he two who
make an alliance are the Kings of
the
North (
Syr ·ian d·ivisio ,n
of
the
Grecian Empire) and of the S0.utl1
(Egypt). . This alliance
was 1 ef
f
e,cted by
the
marriage of
tbe
daughter o··
the
King of
the South,
the Egyptian Princess
Berenice.
daughter of Ptolemy II , to An
tiocl1us
Theos, t:he King
of th
1
e
North. Th
1
e agreement was that
Antiochus ha
1
d to div
1
orce his wife
and make
any
1
chi 1d of Ber ,enice
his heir in
the
kingdom. The
agreement ended in calamity ~
When Ptolemy died Anti ,ochus
Theos in 247 cal 'led 'back his for
mer wife.
Berenice
and
her
youn .g son were poisoned and the
:first wif ,e's son,
1
Callinicus,
was
put on the thr
1
one as
Seleucus
II.
The one out
of her
roots
(Bere
ni,ce,. who had
been
m·ur ,dered ·)
was her ,own brother,
Pt ,olemy
Euerge t ,es, who avenged her
deathe
He conquered
Syria. He
dea .lt
against Seleucus II, King of the
N
0
1
rth, a·nd sl
1
ew the wife of An-
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80
The Fundamentals
,
,PR,O:PHE
1
CY Gl,VEN B . C . 534
•
And s.hall also car ·ry
captives
into
Egypt
their gods,
witl1 ·their
princes, and
with
th
1
eir
preci ,ous
vessels of silver and gold; and he
shall continue more years than
the King of
the
North. (Ver se
8.)
So the King of the South shall
come into
his ki11gdom,
and shall
ret ,urn
into
his own land.
(Verse
9.)
Littr ,al
trans,lat·ion)
:
and the
s.ame
[King
0
1
£
the
North] shall
•
come into the real .m of the Kin .g
of tl1e Sot1th, b
1
ut shall return in·to
hi ,s own land.;
•
But
his sons shall be stirre
1
d
up, and shall assemb
1
le a
multitude
of great forces; and one
shall
·cer
tainly
come. and overflow, and
pass
through :
then shall he re
turn, and be stirred up, even to
his , f
ortress.t, ,
(Verse 10.)
•
•
And the King ,of
the
South
shall be moved with choler ·, and
shall come forth and fight with
him,
1
even with the Kin,g
,of
t·be,
N 0
1
rth :
and
h
1
e
sha Il set forth
:a.
grea ·t, multitude
b1ut,
the multit ·ude
sha ,11 be
,gi·ven
into
his.
hand.
(Verse 11~
•
•
..
FULFIL LMENT
t·io,chus T heos,
Who
·had Bere :nice
poison ·ed,.
1-1,e·
seized the
f
or,tre ,s,s,
the ,
por ·t o,f An ·tio ,ch •
Ptol ·em.y
Euergetes ·
did
exactly
as predicted. . rie
returned
with
4,,000 talents of g,old and 40,000
talents of silv ,er and 2,.500 idols
and idolatr ·ous vessels.
Many
o,f
these Cambyses had
taken
to Per-
•
Sta.
In 240
B. c.
Seleucus Callinicus
the King of
the North invaded
Egypt. He had
to return def eat.ed.
His fle
1
et
peri .she
1
d in a
storm.
l
•
Th e sons of Seleucus Cailinicus
were Seleucus III and
Antiochus
the
Great.
Seleucus (
Cer,aun,os ),
III began
war against
Egyptian
Provin ,ces in Asia Minor.
He
wa ·S
unsuccessful.
The other , son An ...
tioch invaded Egyp ,t and
passed
throu gh because
Ptolemy
Philo
pat er did not
oppose
him. In 218
B. C~
Antiochus continued his war
fare
and
took the
fortress
Gaza.
In 217
B.
C .
Ptolemy arous ,ed
him ·self and
fought An ,tio ,chtts the
Great w·ith an i1nmense ar
1
my.
He
d,ef·eated Antiochus~ Tl1e multi
tu 1de wa ,s given
into the h,ands
of
Pt :o1emy
Philopater.
•
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FMlfilled Prophecy a Potent Argument for the Bible
81
PROPHECY GIVEN B. C. 534
"And when he hath taken away
the multitude, his heart shall be
lifted up ;
and he shall cast
down many ten thousands : but he
shall not be strengthened by it."
(Verse
12.)
Literal:
"And the multitude
shall rise up and his courage in
crease.")
"For the King of the North
shall return, and shall set forth
a multitude greater than the for
mer, and shall certainly come
after certain years with a great
army and with much riches '
(Verse
13.)
"And
in
those times there shall
many stand up against the King
cf the South: also the robbers of
thy people shall exalt themselves
to establish the vision; but they
shall £au.• (Vcrse 14.)
"So the King of the North sha11
come, and cast up a mount, and
take the most fenced cities: and
the arms of the South shall not
...,ithstand, neither his chosen peo
ple, neither shall there be any
strength to withstand." (Verse
15.)
"But he that cometh against him
shall do according to his own
will,
and
none shall stand before
him : and he shall stand in the
FULFILLMENT
The people of Egypt rose up
and the weakling Ptolemy became
courageous. His victory is again
referred to.
It
was won at
Ra
phia. He might have pressed his
victory. But he did not make use
of it but gave himself up to a li
centious life. Thus "he waa not
strengthened by it."
About 14 years later, 203 B. c.,
Antiochus assembled a great army,
greater than the army which was
defeated at Raphia, and turned
against Egypt. Ptolemy Philo
pater had died and left an infant
son Ptolemy Epiphanes.
Antioch us had for hia ally
Philip, King of Macedon. Also
in Egypt many rebels stood up.
And then there were, as
we read
in Josephus, wicked Jews, who
helped Antiochus. These "robbers
of thy people" ~stablished the
v1s1on. They helped along the
very things which had been pre
dicted, as to trials for them.
AH this was fulfilled in the
severe struggles,
which followed.
The invasion of the gloT'ious
land by Antiochus followed. He
subjected the whole land unto
himself. He also was well dia-
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82
The undamentaJsr
PROPHECY GIVEN B.
C.
534
glorious land, whic h
s·hall be consumedli
by
his hand
(Verse 16.)
He shall also, S·et his £ace to
ent ,er
with
the strength of
his
whp1e
kingdom, .and
an
agreemem1t
shall be made with h·im ; ·th ·tts sihal l
he do an.d
he
shall give him the
d.aughter o,£ wo,m.en, corrupting
her: but s·he
shall
not
stand
on
his side, neither be for him.
(Verse 17.)
•
After this shall he
turn
his
face
u11to
th ,e· isl est an,d shall tak ,e
many: but a prince [lit era lly :
1
C.ap-
. tain]
f
1or h·is own be.hal f sl1all
cause the reproach offered by him
to cease; without his own reproach
he shall cause it to turn upon
him. (Verse 18.)
· Then
he
s
1
hall tum his £ace
tow .ard ·the fort of h.is. own land:
but
he .shall stumble and fa ]I, and
not be ·f ,ound.. ( Verse 19.)
Then shal1 stand up in his
estate a
raiser ·
o·f
ta .xes
in
the
glory of the kingdom : but within
few days he shall be destro yed,
neith
1
er in anger, nor in battl ·e.
(Verse 20.)
•
FULFILLMEN T
posed towards the Jews because
they
sided
with
Antiochus
the
Great agains ,t Pto ,lemy Epiphanes.
This brings u·s, to the y
1
ears 198-
195 B.
c.
Antiochus aim ,ed t ,o get
f ull · possessi
1
on of E,gypt. A·n.
agreem
1
ent was made .
In
this
treaty
b1tween
Antioch ·us
and
P tolemy Epip .hanes, Cleop~tr ·a.,
daugl1ter of Antiochus was es
poused to Ptolemy. Why
is
Cleopatra called daughter of
women ? Because she was very
young and was under the ·care of
her mother and
grand ·moth ,er·.
The
treaty failed •
A
f e·w
years , later
.Anti .0
1
chus
conqu ,ere
1
d isles On the c,oast of
Asia Minor . .
The captain predicte ,d is Scipio
Asiaticus. A11tiochus had re
pro .ached the Romans by his a,cts
and he was defeated. Tl1is defeat
took place at Magnesia 190 B. c.
Antioc ·hus returns
to his
own
land. He
1
a.rne to a mi,S1erable end
trying · to p lunde :r the temple
1
0£
Belus in Elymais .
This is Seleuc11s Philop ,a.ter
ei, c.
187-176. He was known
as,
a,
raiser of tax
1
es. He had an evil
reputation with the Jews because
he was such an exactor among
them~ His tax-collector Heliodo-
- -
rus poisoned him an·d
so
he
was
slain neither in ang,er, llor in
b
-ttl - ,,
a_ e
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Fi,l .filled
P1--ophey a
Poten ,t Argitment
1
r the Bibl e
83
•
PROPHECY GIVEN B. C. 534
'' And in his estate shall stand
up a vile person, to
whom
they
s.halI not give the honor of the
ki.ngdom : but h
1
e
shalt come in
peaceably, and obtain the kingdom
by
flatteries. ·(Verse
21.)
''An ,d with
th,e
arms of
,a fl,ood
sha ll they be o,verflown from be
fore h·im, and s·r1all ·be
b1@ken ;
yea, .also the prince of the c
1
ov,e
nant. '1 (Verse 22.)
''And .after the ,
lea,gue:
made
w.ith him he shall work d.eceit
fully :
for he shall come up, and
shall become strong wi·th a smal l
p,eo,ple. ' {
Verse
23.)
. ''I-Ie shall
ente ·r
p
11
eaceabty
1
ev
1
en
upon th
1
e f,att ,est places o·f the p1~ov
in,ce; and he shall do
tl1at
which
his fathers
have not
don .e, nor
his
father's father; he s,hall scatter
among them
the
prey, and spoil,
,and riches; yea, and he
shal1
fore
cast
his devices against
t 'he str ·ong
ho]ds, even
f
1
or
a tim
1
e.t'
(Ver .se
24.)
''And he sha11 stir up his power
and his co,urage agains .t the King
of
the
South with
a
great
.army ;
and the
King
of
the South shall
be stirr
1
ed up, tio IJattle witl1 ,a v,ery
grea t ,and mighty army; but l1e
shall ·not stand: for they shall
foreca st devices
agai11st him.'''
(Verse 25.) .
•
•
FULF ILLME NT
This vile person is none other
than Antiocl1us
Epiphanes.
H ·e
had 110 c·laim o·n royal dignities ,
bei11g only a. youn .ger Ison of
Antio chus the Great. H ,e seized
royal
hono1·s by
tri
1
ckery and with
fla·t·terie :s.. He i.s
th
1
e little
l1or·n
of chapter
8.
H ,e was : suc
1
ces,,1,ul in def ea·ting
his enemies ,. The prince of the
covenant may mean his nephew
Ptolemy Philo1netor ·. He also van
quished
Philom ,eto,r' ,s
generals.
He feigned
frien ,dsh.ip
to
young
Ptole ·my but
w1orked deceit£
ully.
To allay suspicion he came a.gainst
Egypt with
a
s,ma1·1 f'orce
bu.t took
Egypt
as far as Mempl1is
He took possession of the fertile
places in Egypt under the pretense
o,f peac ,e.. 1-Ie
took Pelu ,sium
and
laid seige to the
fortified places
N
aucratis
and
Alexandria.
This King of the ·South is Pto 'l
emy Physcon, who
was.
made king
af·ter Philometo r had falien into
the hands of
A11tiochus.
He had
a gr ,eat army but did n,ot succeed, .
beca.use
treason
had broken ,out
in
his own camp,
•
I
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•
The unda ·mentals
PROPIIECY GIVEN B. C. 5-34
· ''Yea. they that feed of the por
tion of his meat
shall destro
1
y him,
and his army shall ovet·flow : and
n1any
shall f
a11 d
1
0,.vn slain.''
(Verse 26~)
1
''And bot·h these kings'
hea .rts
sh.all be to do mis ,chief, an
1
d
they
shall speak lies at one table ;
but
it
1hall
not
prosper : for
yet the
end shall be at the time appointed~';
(Verse 'O.)
''The• shaft he return into
his
land
with.
great
riches;
and his
hea .rt
shall
be a.gainst the holy
covena.n·t ; and. h.e sha.11 ,do ex
p1o,:ts, and return . to his own land.
(Verse~
•
•
''At
die
time appointed he sllall
return, and come toward the
South ;
but it
shall not be
as
the
f ortner, or as the latter.'~ (Vers ·e
29~)
''For the ship,s of Chittim shall
1
eome ag ·ainst h.im; the ref ore he
s11all be grieved, and return, and
have indign .ation against
the
holy
covenant : so shall he do ; he shall
even return,
and
have
intelligence
with
them that for
sake
the
holy
coTenant.,. (Verse 30.)
\
I
FULFILLM EKT
Additional actions
of Antiochus ,
and warfaret in whicll he was
successful, follo,ved.
I
The two kings ar ·e
Ant :ioch.us
Epip~1anes .and his associate Philo
metor . They
·made
an
alliance
against
Ptolemy Euergetes II,
.alse ,
called Physcon. But they spoke
lies against
each
other
and
did n
1
ot
succeed in
their
plans.
In 168 B. c. he returned from
his expedition and had great rich
es.
Then
he marched through
Jud
1
ea.
and did his
,awfu ·t
deeds. A
repo ,rt had
1
co1ne to · his
1
ears
that
t .he Jewish pe
1
ople had .rep
1
orted
him dead. In the fi·rs·t a·nd sec
1
on·d
book o·f th ,e M.accabees we read of
his atrocitie .s. Then he retire ,d to
Antioch .
He
ma.de
still
another
attempt
against the South. However, he
had not
the former
success.
The .ships of Chitti111 ar
1
e t 'he
Roman ·fleet~ When wit :hin
a
few
miles of Alex .andri la
he
heard
that
sl1ips
had arrived. He went to
salute them. ·They delivere
1
d to
'1i1n the letters of tl1e sen .ate, in
which he vras commanded . on pain
of the displeasure of the Roman
people, to put an
end to
the war
against his nephews. Antiochus
·said, ''he would go and cottsult his
•
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Fulfilled
P1Yophecy
a Potent Arguni ent for the Bible 85
PROPHECY GIVEN B. C. 534
And arms shall stand on his
Part and they shall pollute the
sanctuary of strength, and shall
take
away
the
daily
sacrifice,
and
they shall place the abomination
that makeda desolate. ( Verse
31.)
And suc:h as
do
wicked}y
•gainst the co-Yenant shall he cor ~
rupt by flatteries : but the people
that do know their God shalJ be
strong, and do exploits.
And they that understand
arnong the people shall instruct
FULFILLMENT
friends;'' on which Popilius, one
of the legates, took his staff, and
instantly drew a circle round An
tiochus on the sand, where he
stood; and commanded him not to
pass that circle, till he
had
given
a definite answer. As a grieved
and defeated man he r eturned and.
then he fell upon Judea once
more to commit additional wick
edness. Apostate J ews sided witlt
him.
This brings us to the dimax
of the horrors under Antiochus
Epiphanes. The previous record
of
it
is contained in chapter 8. He
sent Apollonius with over
20,000
men to destroy Jerusalem. Multi
tudes were slain, and women and
children led away as captives. He
issued a command that all people
mu~t conform to the idolatry o
Greece. A wicked Grecian was
sent to enforce the word of An
tiochus . All sacrifices ceased and
the God-given ceremonials of
Judaism came to an end. The
temple was polluted by the sacri
fices of swine's flesh. The temple
was dedicated to Jupiter Olym
pius. Thus the prediction w as ful
filled.
These verses describe the con
dition among the Jewish people .
There were two classes. Those
who did wickedly against the
covenant, the apostate, and those
who knew God, a faithful rem
nant. The apostates &ided with
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86
The Funda nentals
PROPHECY GIVEN B. C. 534
many : yet they shall fall
by
the
sword, and
by
flame,
by
captivity,
and
by
spoil, many days.
Now when
they shall
fall,
th ey
shall be holpen with a littl e help:
but many shall cleave to them
with flatteries. (Verses 32--34.)
FULFILLMENT
the enemy, and the people who
knew God were strong. This has
reference to the noble Maccabees.
There was also suffering and per
secution.
MANY MORE FULFILLED PROPHEC IES
Many other fulfi1led prophecies 1night be quoted. In the
last chapter of Daniel an interesting prediction is made con
cerning the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased. Sir Isaac Newton, the dis
coverer of the law of gravitation, wrote on Daniel and ex
pressed his belief that · some day people would travel at the
rate
o
fifty miles an hour. The French infidel Voltaire many
years later laughed at Newton's statement and held it up to
ridicule. The .time of the end is here and the prophecy of
Dan. 12: 4 has come true.
In the New Testament are also written prophecies which
are now in process of fulfillment. 1 Tim. 4: 1, 2; 2 Tim.
3: 1-5; 4: 1-3; 2 Pet. 2; Jude's Epistle, and other Scriptures
predict the present day apostasy.
UNFULFILLED PROPHECY
As stated before, there are many unf ulfilled prophecies
in
the Bible.
The
literal fulfillment of prophecies in the past
vouches for the literal fulfilltnent of every prophecy in the
Word of God. Some of them were uttered several thousand
years ago. The world still waits for their fulfillment. May
we remember that God does not need to be in a hurry.
He
kn9ws indeed the end from the beginning. He takes His
time in accomplishing His eternal purposes. And may we,
His people, who know and love His Word, not neglect proph,
ecy, for the Prophetic Word is the lamp which shineth in
a
dark ,place.