One of the more weighty Christian evidences for the inspiration of the
Bible are prophecies, especially Old Testament prophecies about the
coming of Christ. However, these are vigorously challenged by
Jews, atheists, people of Islam, and by Liberal Protestantism.
Since all these join in a coordinated attack on the New Testament and
Christianity, this within itself represents a fulfillment of prophecy (see
Luke 2:25-35).
Simeon said it this way:
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold,
this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and
for a sign that is opposed
35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that
thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Luke 2:34-35 (ESV)
Truly, Jesus always has been a sign to be opposed, yet those opposing
him are fulfilling scriptural prophecy.
The opponents are desperate to disprove the Christian view of these
prophecies because that would mean that the New Testament is true, that
it is inspired, and
that it is the Word of God. The Jewish stand is well articulated
in this quote:
Jews believe that no Messianic prophecy of Jewish scripture was
fulfilled by Jesus. Jews believe that the Jewish Bible is not
prophetic about Jesus, and does not speak of Jesus at all; the
prophecies claimed to speak about Jesus, were never considered
prophecies about the Messiah by any Jewish community.1
Jews understandably feel this way because if the Messianic
prophecies apply to Jesus, then the Messiah has come and they missed
Him. However, their statement that "...the prophecies claimed to speak
about Jesus, were never considered prophecies about the Messiah by any
Jewish community" does not appear to be correct. Please consider Matthew's account of the
visiting Magi and the effect this had on King Herod:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the
days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem,
2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the
Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship
him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and
all Jerusalem with him;
4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the
people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is
written by the prophet:
6 " 'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.' "Matt 2:1-6 (ESV)
(underlining mine)
Matthew, a Jew, understood that Herod had consulted "...all the
chief priests and the scribes of the people...." about the
birthplace of the Messiah. These Jewish leaders understood
that birthplace would be "Bethlehem," and they got that from Micah
5:2. Therefore, the current Jewish opinion that the Jewish
community in the first century never considered this prophecy to
apply to the birth of the Messiah is incorrect. The chief
priests and the scribes certainly did consider it as such, and Herod
acted on their interpretation. In addition, Matthew, a Jew,
clearly understood many prophecies in the Old Testament spoke of
Christ since he cited so many. It is evident that Matthew's
Gospel was written for the Jews, so it is counter-intuitive to think
that none of the Jews at the time of Christ understood that there
were prophecies pointing forward to the Christ. If so, Matthew
would not have purposefully included so many in his Gospel if he
wanted to persuade Jews.
In addition, Peter was a Jew, and he gave the first gospel sermon in
Acts 2, which was based on the fact that Jesus had fulfilled
prophecies in Joel 2:28-32; Ps 16:8-11; and Ps 110:1 (see these
highlighted in Acts 2:17-21, 25-28, and 34-35). If in fact
"...the prophecies claimed to speak about Jesus, were never
considered prophecies about the Messiah in any Jewish community" is
correct, then why is it that 3000 Jews converted to Christianity on
the Pentecost after Christ's death, burial, resurrection and
ascension (Acts 2:41) on the basis of a sermon claiming such
fulfillments of prophecy? Yes, the Jews did believe in
prophecies about the Messiah in the first century, and they recognized
that Jesus fulfilled those prophecies.
Now going onto Liberal Protestantism, we see that these scholars
quickly take the side of the unbelieving Jewish scholars so that
they stand unified against the New Testament:
Most prophetic predictions announce events to occur in the near
future. The few proclamations of distant forthcoming events
reassure the hearers that Yahweh controls nations and individuals
throughout human history. There is no unequivocal specific
predictions of the coming of Jesus Christ and/or the church in the
Old Testament. New testament speakers reinterpreted and
reapplied Old Testament texts to Christ and/or the church.2
The scholars of Liberal Protestantism have embraced Higher
Criticism that proclaims that the prophets didn't actually write
the books attributed to them. For example, Daniel served
Nebuchadnezzar (604 B.C.) down to Darius (522-486 B.C.), which
would seem plausible if Daniel was the 6th century author. However, because the prophecies in
Daniel 9:24-27 and 11:1-45 regarding kingdoms stretching down at
least until the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (died 164 B.C.),
it is of greatest importance to Liberal Protestantism to make
the author of Daniel, not Daniel, but a Jew living in second century B.C. instead
of the 6th century B.C. as it is actually portrayed in the
text. That way they can say that the "prophecies" were not really
prophecies since the author was not really the prophet. Rather,
the actual author wrote
long after the events using retrospective "prophecies" as a
teaching instrument only.
For example, Dr. Willis says concerning the author of Isaiah, "The book
of Isaiah contains materials originating over 4 centuries." He
says the book was completed "...at the end of the fifth century BCE."
3
So it would appear that he believes in multiple authors for Isaiah, just
as those of Higher Criticism think. However, there is no
manuscript evidence for this view--all the manuscripts of Isaiah have
all parts in it. It should be noted that Dr. Willis was not always
of this opinion and in an Isaiah commentary he wrote nearly 3 decades
ago, he appears to have upheld that there was but one author,
4
and that there was fulfillment in Christ.
5 Why
he changed his views over these last 30 years is unknown to me.
All of this discussion about prophecy has a very important
ending. You see, if prophecy isn't really prophecy, or if the
Messianic prophecies were not really prophecies about Jesus, then Jesus
was wrong and Jesus was a liar. For He said,
25 And he said to them, "O foolish ones,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary that
the Christ should suffer these things and enter
into his glory?"
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted
to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke
24:25-27 (ESV)
44 Then he said to them, "These are my
words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and said to them, "Thus
it is written,
that the Christ should suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead,
47 and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins should be
proclaimed in his name
to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things. Luke
24:44-48 (ESV)
This
was not something that Jesus just dreamed up at the end of His ministry.
Rather, that He was fulfilling Scriptures was very clear to Him (Matt 26:54, 56; Mark 1:15; 14:49; Luke 4:21; 22:37; John
13:18; 15:25; 17:12), and He clearly identified external events as
fulfilling prophecy (Matt 13:14-15). Therefore, the choice is
between the Son of God and what He taught His apostles, or the ones who
accuse the Bible of error. However, your decision will tell
you what you think about Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. He said that the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms bore
witness of Him. What do you say? Is Jesus a liar, or your
Lord?
