Prophecy

The Fulfilment of Prophecy

Blackwood’s Comprehensive Aids to the Study of the Bible · Vol. I, p. 44

§The Messiah and the Establishment and Diffusion of the Christian Religion

Among the particulars foretold respecting the promised Messiah were, the time when he was to appear (Dan. ix. 25, etc.); the nation, tribe and family from which he was to descend, and the place of his birth (Isa. xi. 1; Jer. xxiii. 5, 6; Mic. v. 2, etc.); his divine as well as his human nature (Isa. vii. 14; ix. 6, 7, etc.); the poverty and meanness of his external condition (Isa. xlix. 7; lii. 14; liii. 2, etc.); and the unparalleled excellence and dignity of his personal character, combining wisdom and knowledge, purity, righteousness and invincible courage with meekness, kindness, compassion and humility, more than human forbearance, unfaltering trust in God and complete resignation to his will (Isa. xi. 2-5; xl. 10, 11; xliii. 2, 3; l. 5-7; Dan. ix. 26, etc.). The prophecies are also as minutely descriptive of his work and sufferings. They set forth the greatness and the benignity of his miracles and the gracious character of his ministry (Isa. xxv. 6; liii. 4; lxi. 1, etc.); they foretell his rejection by his countrymen and his judicial condemnation; they describe him as "bearing the sins of many;" "healing by his stripes;" "giving his soul an offering for sin;" and "making intercession for transgressors" (Isa. lii. 13-15; liii.; Zech. xiii. 7; xii. 10, etc.). To all this they add the most glowing descriptions of his subsequent exaltation and glory, and his success in his great enterprise as the consequence and reward of his sufferings (Isa. ix. 6, 7; lii. 13-15; liii. 10-12, etc.). That all these predictions were fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, the whole history of his life and death, his resurrection and ascension, abundantly testifies, as will be seen by turning to the references here quoted and to others similar in character.

The prophecies further present to us the character of the Gospel as well as of its Author. They explicitly foretell a future and perfect revelation of the Divine will (Isa. xi. 9; xl. 5; Jer. xxxi. 31-34, etc.); and the promulgation of the gospel and the conversion of the Gentiles to a religion proceeding from Judea (Isa. ii. 2-4; xlii. 1-7; xlix. 6; lx. 1-3, etc.)—a place and a people which might seem the most unlikely to have been the instruments of communicating such a gift to the world. For separated as the Jews were from the rest of mankind by their civil institutions, their peculiar prejudices and the feeling of contempt with which they were regarded by other nations, they appeared, especially in their broken and humbled state, the last people from whom a universal religion could be expected to arise. Yet the history of the establishment of Christianity as a known, unquestionable fact contains the fulfilment of all these prophecies which were recorded so many ages before. And though we see not yet that universal reception of the gospel, and that prevalence of Christianity over the whole earth, which these great promises reveal, it is to be remembered, that what has been accomplished is in itself a sure pledge of a more perfect consummation, and the present state of the world in many of its relations encourages the hope, as it affords the opportunity and the means, by the power and grace of God's Holy Spirit, of such universal diffusion.

§The Jews and the Land of Judea

While promises were given to the chosen people that prosperity and happiness should attend their obedience, they were threatened, if disobedient, with punishments proportioned to their sins. The first predictions upon this subject were delivered by Moses more than 3200 years ago (Lev. xxvi. 36-39, 44; Deut. iv. 27; xxviii. 20-68), and the writings of succeeding prophets abound with similar declarations. These predictions contain several remarkable peculiarities out of the usual course of human affairs.

1. It was repeatedly foretold that they should be scattered and removed into the utmost parts of the earth (Jer. xv. 4; Ezek. xiii. 10-16; Hosea ix. 17, etc.). And all the records of history attest that dispersion has been the fate of the Jewish people in a manner and degree in which it has never befallen any other race. The first infliction of this national calamity was by the Assyrian power, when the ten tribes were swept into captivity. The second great infliction of it befel the surviving kingdom of Judah at the time of the Babylonian conquest, and after the days of the Messiah, followed the catastrophe effected by the Roman arms, which extended and aggravated the calamity of dispersion beyond any former example.

Not only in the extent and manner of their dispersion, but in its continuance, the case of the Jews is without a parallel. To this day their own country is lying waste and desolate, whilst they, its proper owners, are to be seen everywhere, living in the heart of cities and taking a part among the busiest traffickers in the great markets of the world; present in all countries, but with a home in none; closely incorporated among themselves, yet universally dispersed, intermixed, and yet separated; neither amalgamated nor lost. What race has suffered so much and yet endured so long? What nation has subsisted as a distinct people in their own country so long as the Jews have done in their dispersion in all countries?

2. It was further foretold of them that they should become "an astonishment, a proverb and a by-word among all the nations whither the Lord should lead them" (Deut. xxviii. 37; Jer. xxiv. 9, 10; xxix. 18, etc.). Here a circumstance apparently dependent upon the capricious judgment of men was made the subject of a specific prediction. But is it not one of the most observable things, among all which this outcast people has been made to endure, that over and above spoliation of property, civil disfranchisement and severe persecutions under the name of law, their cup of suffering has had that last ingredient largely infused—that they have been marked out for the scorn and contempt of the world?

3. Another prediction respecting this nation was that while the kingdom—the body politic—was to be destroyed, and the people were to be "sifted" through the nations, yet the seed so sifted was not to perish (Jer. xlvi. 28; Amos ix. 8, 9). And how remarkable is the history of the Jews, made up of these opposite particulars, destruction and preservation, scattering and safekeeping, combined! They have not been utterly destroyed, though "a full end has been made of their enemies." Though oppressed and vanquished, banished and spoiled, they have survived the mightiest monarchies, and now overspread the world.

It is worthy of notice, with reference to the present condition of this people, that whilst an obstinate attachment to the name and memory of their law is the proximate visible cause which cements and perpetuates their scattered race, their rejection of Christianity, when it was offered to them, is imputed in the Christian Scriptures to their corruption and violation of the moral law, and their culpable blindness as to the sense of the prophecies (Acts vii.; xxviii. 25-28; Rom. ix.-xi.; 2 Cor. iii. 14-18, etc.), and these appear still to be the hindrances to their reception of the gospel.

Many prophecies of more propitious import concerning the Jews, that yet remain to be accomplished, are reserved for testimonies to future generations, if not to the present (Deut. xxx. 3-5; Isa. xi. 11, 12; Jer. xxxi., xxxiii.; Ezek. xxxvi., xxxvii.; Amos ix. 13-15, etc.). And it is a very observable circumstance that, throughout all the changes which have occurred among the kingdoms of the earth during so many centuries, nothing has happened to render the accomplishment of these prophecies impossible, but that, on the contrary, the state of the Jewish people, as well as of Christian and heathen nations at this day, is such as to render them easily capable of receiving a complete fulfilment. And when these predictions of their conversion to Christ shall be accomplished, the whole taken together will be indeed a sign and wonder to all nations, and a prelude to the universal triumph of true Christianity.

Another large class of prophecies (intimately connected with those last mentioned) concerning the Land of Judea has received an equally striking fulfilment. The particular features of the future desolation, as foretold by the prophets, exactly accord with the descriptions of modern travelers. The country has been "overthrown by strangers," is "laid waste," and is "utterly spoiled;" has become as a "desolate wilderness;" "few men are left," and "the mirth of the land is gone."