Bible Prophecy FAQ
Contents
Introduction
One of pages on the talk.origins website, Index to
Creationist Claims CH110 by Mark Isaak says there are no prophecies
in the Bible that cannot easily fit into one
or more of the following categories:
1. Retrodiction (prophecy was written
or modified after the events
occurred)
2. Vagueness (any outcome can be said to be a fulfillment)
3. Inevitability (event was almost sure to happen anyway)
4. Denial (the claim that a prophecy was fulfilled when it was not)
This FAQ is intended to briefly refute the above claim.
Preliminary Comments
The purpose of prophecy
- The Apostle Peter wrote saying Christians should pay attention to
Bible prophecy, which is intended as a light in a dark place [2 Peter
1:19]:
We
have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
- It confirms the promises of God to believers
- Promises of God are prophecies - the gospel is a prophecy
- Prophecy shows that God is in control
The nature of prophecy
- Prophecy gives God's viewpoint on things.
- Prophecy provides us with an overview of events, and it puts them
in their
proper perspective in God's plan for man.
- Prophecy is for the benefit of those who believe.
- The world will be told, but will not understand it, Daniel 12:10,
Matt
13:13.
- Prophecy uses symbolic language; it is often cryptic, so we only
see that it was fulfilled
in retrospect. Prophecy is not given
to make men prophets but as a witness of God when it is fulfilled.
So said Sir Isaac Newton.
- Prophecy is often similar to a riddle, using
metaphor, e.g. Sampson's riddle in Judges 14:18.
- Many prophecies are comparable to parables of Jesus, which are
often
prophecies.
- Peter wrote that no prophecy is intended for private
interpretation, 2 Peter 1:20. I suggest he means the symbols are
explained in the Bible itself.
- Prophecy is usually based on previous revelation, Isa 28:10,13.
- The prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 is said to "seal up the vision and
prophecy", so understanding it is crucial.
- Prophecies of Daniel that were fulfilled show the nature of
his prophecies and their interpretation.
- Christ says his spirit is 'the spirit of prophecy', Rev 19:10.
Fulfilled prophecies about Christ
These prophecies about Jesus were recorded long before they occurred.
They are specific, not vague. Writers of the New Testament
claimed these scriptures applied to Christ. They are all examples of
the interpretation of Old Testament prophecy by the Church at the time
of the Apostles. Who can deny they were
fulfilled?
- The place of his birth, Micah 5:2, cited in Matt 2:5-6.
- His return from Egypt, Hosea 11:1, cited in Matt 2:15.
- The time of his appearance was foretold in Dan 9:24-27; see Daniel's
Time, Times, and a Half.
- The ministry of John the Baptist, Isa 40:3, cited in John 1:23.
- The spirit of God was upon Jesus, who read from Isa 61:1, see
Luke 4:21.
- Christ riding on an ass, Zech 9:9, cited in Matt 21:5.
- His betrayal, Psa 41:9, cited in John 13:18.
- The crucifixion, Num 21:8-9, John 3:14 & 12:32, Dan 9:24-27
- His crucifixion was pictured by the sacrifice of the passover
lamb, Deut 16:1-6, referred to in 1 Cor 5:7.
- His crucifixion occurred outside Jerusalem, Lev 24:14, referred
to in Hebrews 13:12.
- The dividing of his garments, Psa 22:18, cited in John 19:24.
- None of his bones were broken, Num 9:12 & Psa 34:20, cited in
John 19:36.
- He was raised after 3 days, Psa 16:10, cited in Acts 2:27,31,
Acts 13:35. See also Mark 8:31.
- He was given the throne of David over the New Jerusalem, the
Church, Luke 1:32, Acts 13:34.
Prophecies about Israel
These are some prophecies that have come to pass:
Prophecies about the Nations
- The great image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream described in Daniel 2
is interpreted as the successive world empires, Babylon, Persia,
Greece, and Rome.
- Babylon was to be overthrown, Isaiah 13:19.
- The 4 beasts of Dan 7 are the successive world empires,
Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
- The ram and the male goat, and the four horns of the goat in Dan
8 depict the defeat of the Persian empire by the Greeks under Alexander
the Great. Alexander's kingdom
was divided after his death into four territories, depicted by four
horns
of the goat. These are listed in the following table.
| Dynasty |
Territory |
| Cassander |
Macedonia, Greece |
| Lysimachus |
Thrace, Bithynia |
| Seleucus |
Syria, Mesopotamia |
| Ptolemy |
Egypt |
- One of the four horns was the Seleucid empire in the region of
Syria and
Mesopotamia, which had its capital at Antioch. The little horn which
arose
out of one of the four horns, and extended itself towards the east, and
the south, and the holy land, and grew great, and extremely tall,
represents Antiochus
IV, son of Antiochus the Great.
- The fate of the city of Tyre was foretold; its stones and timber
were to be cast into the sea, Ezekiel 26:12. This was fulfilled by
Alexander the Great.
Prophecies about Jerusalem
- These prophecies were recorded long before they occurred. They
are specific, not vague. Who can deny they were fulfilled?
- Jesus foretold the destruction of the temple in Matt 24:2. It
occurred in 70 AD.
- The temple's destruction and the abolition of the temple service
which occurred in 70 AD was foretold in Daniel 9:27.
Prophecies about the Church
These prophecies were recorded long before they occurred. They are
specific, not vague. Who can deny they were fulfilled?
- The spirit of God was given as foretold in Joel 2:28, Acts 2:16.
- The Gentiles were included as foretold in Amos 9:11-12, Acts 10,
11 & 15; Ephesians 3:6, and many similar passages in Paul's letters.
- False teachers, many would come in Christ's name, Matt
24:5.
- Because of false teachers, the way of truth would get an evil
reputation, 2 Peter 2:2.
- The Church would be made desolate by antichrist, foretold in
Daniel 8:24
Prophecies about Antichrist
- Antichrist includes anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, 1
John 2:22.
- Paul foretold a falling away from the faith, and the revealing of
a 'man of sin' or antichrist in 2 Thess 2:3.
- Daniel 7 refers to him as a 'little horn' who makes war with the
saints, and prevails against them.
- In Daniel 8:23 the antichrist is referred to as a 'king of fierce
countenance', who destroys the holy people.
- See: Antichrist
for-a-day Award
Particular false teachings foretold
- Teachers of heresies would bring an evil reputation on the
Church, 2 Peter 2:2.
- Men would despise government, 'walking after the flesh',
2 Peter 2:10.
- Men of corrupt minds will resist the truth, 2 Timothy 3:8.
- There would be people in the Church who would be teaching lies,
forbidding to marry, 1 Tim 4:3.
- Doctrine of the fate of unbelievers; see The Fifth Angel.
Prophecies about the Bible
- Bible cosmology was corrupted, but this was foretold. See the Was Bible
Cosmology Revised? FAQ.
- 'My words shall not pass away', Jesus said in Matt 24:35.
- The Bible accomplishes its purpose, Isa 55:10-11.
- The Two
Witnesses, one of
which can be identified with the Bible, are 'killed', (by the beast
that emerges from a bottomless pit which
represents an evil spirit), Rev 11:7, and are subsequently revived, Rev
11:11.
Prophecies about the modern world
- These prophecies were recorded long before they occurred. Who can
deny they were fulfilled?
- The western world is represented by the beast in Rev 13. See: http://tinyurl.com/7w7ka
- The image of the beast [Rev 13:15] may represent TV.
- The number of the beast [Rev 13:16] is probably 'annual income'.
See: What is the
Number of
the Beast?
Prophecies about modern science
These prophecies were recorded long before they occurred. Who can deny
they were fulfilled?
They show that far from discrediting the truth of the gospel,
scientific discoveries show that God has been working out his plan with
man, and that revealing scientific truth about the universe is part of
that plan. Men have simply failed to understand it, because the day of
the Lord 'comes as a thief'. It occurs while no one is aware, until it
is accomplished.
Peter said heavens would 'pass away with great noise', 2 Peter 3:10.
The 'great noise' is the controversy about science vs the Bible. See The Great
Noise.
Isaiah foretold the scientific work of Isaac Newton and others, and the
collapse of the geocentric cosmology, in these words [Isaiah 34:4]:
And
all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be
rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the
leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
Stars falling like figs refers to the law of universal gravitation; the
heavens being rolled together like a scroll means man's belief in the
revolutions of the heavens stopped, when the old
cosmology was abandoned. The rotation was transferred to the earth!
John wrote of stars falling to the earth (Revelation 6:13):
And
the stars of heaven
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when
she is shaken of a mighty wind.
The reference to the host of heaven falling like figs from a fig tree
foretells the discovery of Newton's law of universal gravitation.
Voltaire, in a popular treatise about Newton's theory, said that the
heavenly bodies fall like apples. Thousands of years before Newton,
Isaiah had written that stars fall like figs. Equating the mechanisms
of the fall of figs and apples is straightforward. The earth falls
towards the sun, and the sun and moon fall to the
earth. According to the law of gravity, all mass in the universe
attracts all other mass. Gravity keeps the earth in its orbit around
the sun; the stars and planets are subject to the same laws of gravity
that govern the fall of figs from a fig tree.
John refers to Isaiah's prophecy that the heavens will be "rolled
together as a scroll" (Revelation 6:14):
And
the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island
were moved out of their places.
How could the heavens be rolled together like a scroll? When a scroll
is rolled up, the spindles stop rotating. Once they meet, they no
longer rotate. This prophecy pictures what happened to man's concept of
the heavens in the scientific revolution. The revolutions of the starry
heavens stopped; the earth moved instead. Men realized that it is the
earth
that rotates, not the sky. Like a scroll rolled together, the imagined
diurnal revolutions of the heavens ceased, and the diurnal rotation was
assigned to the earth.
John's prophecy that "every mountain and island were moved out of their
places" describes the exploration and mapping of the world, which
occurred over the past several centuries, that completely revised the
ancient view of world that prevailed in the days of the apostles.
Peter's prophecy in 2 Peter 3:3-6 foretold the rise of skepticism,
characterised by "where is the promise of his coming"? It also foretold
the idea of uniformitarianism, and denial of the flood.
Daniel accurately foretold the scientific revolution, 2,300 years
before; see Daniel's
2,300 Days Prophecy FAQ
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