Prophecy and Its Fulfillment

Prophecy and Its Fulfillment The Bible contains many remarkable prophecies which were written hundreds of years before the events described occurred and which have been accurately and minutely fulfilled. It is as if a man should now write a history of the nations which shall inhabit the earth and the wars they shall fight a thousand years hence and at that time those very things should come to pass. No stronger proof not only of the truthfulness but of the inspiration of the writers of the Bible can be found than prophecy and its fulfillment. The criteria of true prophecy has been listed as the following: The event must be beyond the power of man to foresee; it must not be a vision of hope nor a result of fear; it must not be a scientific or political forecast. The prediction must be written before the event occurs and must be applicable to it. The language of the prophecy must be clear and the fulfillment plain. I here give some prophecies which meet all these requirements. The Prophecy of Noah.

Noah was chosen to be the second father of the human race and from him have come all people who dwell on the earth. lie uttered a prophecy in Genesis 9:25-27 which sketches the grand outline of all history as it is given in the lives of his three sons and their descendants. These three sons of Noah were Shem, Ham and Japheth.

"Cursed be Canaan (or Ham); a servant of servants shall he be." A curse has always rested upon the nations of Hamitic origin. The Canaanites were cursed with the most abominable idolatries. Sodom and Gomorrah, Phoenicia, Tyre and Sidon were destroyed. Egypt is black with ruins, Africa is the dark continent. "Most of the slaves of the world have come from this continent. "A servant of servants shall he be" was, I think, a simple statement of what was to be rather than a judgment from heaven. At any rate, it is truth.

"Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem." The descendants of Shem were blessed in that God providentially cared for them, committed the Old Testament scriptures to their care, sent the Messiah from their race and started the Kingdom of Heaven among them.

"God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Japheth had seven sons; Shem, five; and Ham, four. The races which have come from Japheth have always ruled the largest territory and have scattered throughout the world and ruled it. In numbers, art, science, commerce and in many other ways the descendants of Japheth have been "enlarged." This prophecy is conclusive and there could be no other application.

Prophecy Concerning Ishmael.

Abraham was not only the father of the Jewish nation but was the father of the Ishmaelites also. The prophecies concerning both Jews and Ishmaelites are abundant in the Old Testament. Let us study the prophecy concerning Ishmael.

"Twelve princes shall he beget" (Genesis 17:20). Moses names these princes in Genesis 25 and Eusebius, writing about A.D. 350 speaks of the twelve Arabian princes of his time.

"I will multiply thy descendants exceedingly." (Genesis 16:10-12). This was God’s promise to Hagar. During the time of Joseph the Ishmaelites carried on an extensive trade with Egypt. The Nabatheans, Arabs, Itureans and Saracens are Ishmaelites.

"And he will be a wild man." What better description could be given of the Arabs as they roam the desert?

"His hand will be against every man and every man’s hand will be against him." The Arab has always lived by robbery and plunder. This is literally fulfilled today.

"And he shall dwell (tabernacle) in the presence of his brethren." For four thousand years the Ishmaelites have dwelt in the presence of their brethren, the descendants of Abraham and Lot. Other nations have changed but they remain as a witness for the inspiration of God’s Word.

Moses’ Prophecy Concerning the Jews (Deuteronomy 28).

One of the most remarkable and minute prophecies ever uttered is found in Deuteronomy 28. This prophecy was written by Moses and was fulfilled fifteen hundred years later. This prophecy was that God would bring against the Jews a nation from afar as swift as the eagle flieth, with a fierce countenance caring for neither young nor old and speaking a language which the Jews would not understand. Moses said that this nation would besiege Jerusalem until the high and fenced walls should come down, that the people would suffer untold horrors; that they would devour human flesh and a woman would eat her own child. He prophesied that Jews would be sold into Egypt as slaves until no purchaser could be found and others would be scattered throughout the nations of the earth. He said that they would become a hiss and a byword, that they would find no rest and would be oppressed and despoiled evermore, that their plagues would be of long continuance but that God would not utterly abhor them nor utterly destroy them. The fulfillment of each prediction of this prophecy is well known to all. In A.D. 70, a nation from afar, the Romans, speaking a strange language, besieged the city of Jerusalem. They were fierce men of battle having the swift eagle for a standard and they regarded neither old nor young. Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, has given a wonderful account of the destruction of Jerusalem. He says, "They did not so much as spare young children, but everyone at that time, snatching up many, and casting them down from the citadel." He says that a mother ate the flesh of her own child, that the number slain was 1,240,490 and that 99,200 were taken prisoner. These were sold into Egypt until no buyer could be found and many were slaughtered while others died of disease. Jews are now found in every nation. Where have they not been oppressed and despoiled? Since they rejected their Messiah where have they found rest? Murdered by Russian mobs under the Czar, persecuted by modern dictators and driven from nation to nation, the Jews are today living monuments to the inspiration of the Bible. The Destruction of Babylon (Isaiah 13:19-22, Isaiah 14, Jeremiah 50).

These prophecies refer to things which have happened to the ancient city of Babylon since the Old Testament was completed. The city was to be destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah and should never be inhabited nor dwelt in from generation to generation, the Arab would not pitch his tent there nor would shepherds spend the night there with their flocks and herds. Wild beasts should dwell there, owls and doleful creatures should infest it and the cry of the bittern would be heard from its many pools of water. This city was to be plundered until the walls and foundations were overturned, the sower and harvester cut off and even the people passing by should be astonished at the desolation.

Founded in 2234 B.C., Babylon was one of the outstanding cities of ancient times. It had walls fifteen miles square, 350 feet high, and 87 feet thick, a hundred gates and towers; it had hanging gardens and splendid palaces. It was built in the fertile valley of the Euphrates and was the capitol of the great Babylonian Empire. When Babylon was at the height of her glory these prophecies were written. Twenty-five centuries have looked down upon the great city since that time. It now lies in ruins. The valley is not fertile, the farmers no longer reap and sow, the Arab and the shepherd do not live there. Pools of water now stand where once great palaces stood and the hunter pursues the wild boast and doleful creatures where once the great streets were filled with commerce. Even Volney, a skeptical historian, expressed astonishment at the desolation of the city. The Destruction of Nineveh (Zephaniah and Nahum). This great city was to be destroyed when its rulers were drunken, it was to be destroyed by fire, water and the armies of the enemy. It should become like a wilderness or a desert. Flocks and herds should not lie there and all who came that way would hiss and wag the head in sympathy.

Dozens of travellers have described the desolation of Nineveh. It was captured by the Medes and Persians, the floods ail fires assisting them. Diodorus, the ancient historian, tells how its rulers and defenders were too drunken to cope with the enemy. The city is now a dry wilderness though much of its charred remains have been excavated, it has not been rebuilt.

Prophecy Concerning Tyre.

Located on the Mediterranean Sea between the trading centers of East and West, Tyre enjoyed much of the world’s commerce. It was one of the greatest cities of ancient times and at the time of the prophecies given by Isaiah and Ezekiel was at its height.

Tyre was to be taken and destroyed by the Chaldeans. (Isaiah 23:13, Ezekiel 26:7-11.) Nebuchadnezzar was to destroy it. Its inhabitants were to pass to other lands and find no rest. After seventy years the city was to be rebuilt. Tyrian history recorded by Menander says Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city for thirteen years, the Tyrians escaping in boats to Africa, Spain and the Islands of the Mediterranean. Finding no rest, they returned seventy years later and rebuilt the city.

Tyre was to be taken and destroyed the second time. (Isaiah 23:6, Ezekiel 27:32, Zechariah 9:3-4.) The ruins of old Tyre were to be cast into the sea, fire and sword were to destroy the new city and the inhabitants were to be sold into slavery. This prophecy was fulfilled when Alexander the Great destroyed the city. New Tyre was built off the shore on an island in the sea. Alexander used the ruins and soil of the Old Tyre to build a causeway, marched into the city and destroyed it. Fifteen thousand were saved and thirty thousand were sold into slavery. The people of Tyre were to forsake idolatry and accept the true word of God. (Psalms 45:12, Zechariah 9:1-7, Isaiah 23:18.) Multitudes came from Tyre and the sea coast to hear Jesus. Jesus preached in the cities nearby and Paul found a church there and tarried seven days. Eusebius says these prophecies were fulfilled in his day. This city was to be finally destroyed and become a place where fishermen would spread their nets. "Thus sayeth the Lord, Behold I bring against thee, O Tyrus, and I will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth her waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her top like a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord." (Ezekiel 26:3.) "Thou shalt be no more." (Ver. 14.) This is the present condition of Tyre. Brother J. W. McGarvey in his "Lands of the Bible" gives a striking description of this desolation. Another traveller long ago wrote, "This city, standing in the sea, upon a peninsula, promises at a distance, something magnificent. But when you come to it you find no similitude of that glory for which it was once so renowned in the ancient times. On the north side is an old broken Turkish garrison, besides which you see nothing but a mere Babel of broken wall, pillars, vaults, etc., there being not so much as one entire house left; its present inhabitants are poor wretches, harboring themselves in the vaults and subsisting chiefly upon fishing, who seem to be preserved in this place by divine Providence, as a visible argument how God fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, viz., that it should be ’as the top of a rock, a place for fishers to dry their nets on’."

Prophecy Concerning Egypt. The ancient prophets said that Egypt would become desolate in the midst of desolation; that there would no longer be a prince of Egypt but that the country would be ruled by strangers. It was to become a base kingdom but idolatry was to be destroyed and the country finally redeemed. (Isaiah 19:19-25, Ezekiel 29:3-20.) This country has literally become desolate. The valley of the Nile is strewn with the monuments of departed glory. The pyramids, temples, and deserted cities of ancient Egypt are silent witnesses to the inspiration of the prophets. Since 350 B. C. Egypt has been ruled and oppressed by the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracens, the Mamelukes and the Turks. In later years it has been ruled by England. It became a base kingdom--its people, its rulers, its government and its barbarism. Yet idolatry was destroyed by the false prophet (Mohammedanism) as predicted. There are signs that Egypt is now waking from her long sleep and she may yet hold an important place in the history of the world. The Universal Empires of the earth. The second chapter of Daniel predicts that there would be five and only five universal, world-wide empires. These were to be the Babylonians, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and Roman and the Kingdom of Christ. The fulfillment of these prophecies is verified in every outline of the history of the great empires of the world. Daniel said Babylon was represented by the head of gold on the great image which he saw showing that it was first and lasted longer than any of the other kingdoms. The Medo-Persian Empire was inferior to Babylon and was represented by the breast and arms of silver. These two arms represented Media and Persia. This empire was rich in silver. The Grecian Empire was represented by brass. The soldiers of Alexander the Great were called the brazen-coated Greeks. The Roman Empire was represented first in its two divisions, then in its ten divisions, by the iron legs and the feet of iron mixed with clay. The kingdom of Christ is represented by the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands showing that it was a divine institution and not a political kingdom. The civilized world is now so large and so divided that there could scarcely be another world-wide empire, hence Daniel was correct in his outline of the empires of the world. The Rise of Mohammedanism. The rise of the false prophet, Mohammed, and his system of religion is clearly foretold by Daniel in chapter seven. He sees two animals on the banks of the river Ulai. The ram represents the Persian power and the he-goat, with a horn between his eyes, represents the Grecian power under Alexander the Great. The single horn is broken off and four others come in its place. This represents the death of Alexander the Great and the four-fold division of his kingdom into Greece, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt. Out of one of these horns grew the little horn representing the Mahometan power. These points of history are well known. The items of prophecy were that it should rise in a division of Alexander’s empire after Greece had lost her power, that it should be peculiar in cunning and skill. It was to make war on the Holy Land and be broken without hands. All this exactly fits the rise of Mohammedanism and its continual war on Christianity.

Conclusion.

These prophecies are examples from the Sacred Scriptures and scarcely "touch the hem of the garment". The history of dozens of nations and cities may be found in prophecy in the Old Testament. The prophecies given are clear and hundreds of years intervene between the prophecy and its fulfillment. In every case the agreement is perfect. The divisions of the human race, the fate of specific peoples, the rise and fall of cities and the course of universal empire are predicted with startling clearness. Chance, mathematical calculation, and ingenious interpretation cannot account for these remarkable prophecies and their fulfillment. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." This outline of prophecy was used half a century ago by H. W. EVEREST.