BiblicalTheological Seminary

ST762 TheApologetic Value of Fulfilled Prophecy

Dr. Robert C. Newman

 

I. Introduction

 

A. Types ofFulfilled Prophecy

 

1.The Claims of Scripture

 

a.Establishment and Purpose of Prophecy

Deut18:9-22

alternativeto pagan divination

prophetdescribed:

tobe raised up by God

likeMoses

anIsraelite

youmust obey him

whatyou asked for at Sinai

hewill speak God's words

falseprophecy

punishableby death

detectedby failed prediction

 

b.Evidential Value of Prophecy

Isa41:21-29

challengeto idols

giveevidence re/ deity

predictfuture

explainpast

actin present

can'tdo anything

bycontrast God calls shots

announcesand calls conqueror

Isa42:8-9

Godwill not give away his glory

certainlynot to idols!

thus He has and will continue to predictthe future as they cannot

Isa44:24-28

Yahwehcharacterized:

Israel'sredeemer & creator

makerof heaven & earth

Hisactions re/ prophecy:

makesfalse prophets fail

makesHis prophets succeed

Samplepredictions:

Jerusalemwill be reinhabited

Judahwill be rebuilt

Seawill be dried up

Cyrus will be command rebuilding ofJerusalem and its temple

 

2.The Problem of Prediction

 

a.From a scientific point of view

(1)Complexity

most events depend on too many featuresbeing just right

(2)Uncertainty

quantum uncertainty - cannot specify bothposition and movement of elementary particles to arbitrary levels of preci­sion

chaos (the butterfly effect) - infini­tesimaldifferences in initial conditions pro­duce very large differenceseventually, destroying all long-range prediction

human decisions - sometimes individualdoes­n't even know what he/she will do until the event

 

b.From a theological point of view

(1)If just general oversight

howcould prophecy be so detailed?

(2)If mere foreknowledge

howexplain Rom 8:28?

orIsa 46:9-11

orProv 16:33

 

c.The Biblical picture

(1)Information comes from infinite God,

whois "outside" the universe

(2)God controls history

Prov19:21; 16:33,9,1

 

3.The Nature of Proof           

 

See discussion in Mavrodes, Belief inGod, where hedistinguishes between valid, sound, cogent, and convincing arguments; he treatsthe last two cate­gories as person-variable.

To prove something to someone, we mustconvince them, that is, start with something they accept and move them step-by-stepto the end desired.

This will be important in designing ourmaterials apol­ogetically to be convincing to a particular audi­ence.

 

4.Various Subject Areas of Prophecy

 

a.Messianic

Luke24:25-27

                                                Jesusexplains M prophecy to two on road to Emmaus.

John5:39

                                                These(OT) Scriptures testify about me.

 

b.Jewish

Deut29:19-29

                                                EvenGentiles will ask why these disasters have happened.

Ezk28:25-26

                                                Israelwill realize when they are regathered from exile.

 

c.Gentile

Jer28:8-9

                                                Prophetsprophesying against the nations and kingdoms.

Ezk29:6

                                                EgyptÕsdisaster as predicted will show who is God.

 

d.In Process

Matt24:23-27,32-34

                                                Signswill precede JesusÕ return.

 

 

5.Various Methods of Presentation (by Scripture)

 

a.Straight-Forward Literal

Gen15:13-16

                                                AbrahamÕsdescendants will be enslaved 400 years.

1Kings 13:2-5

                                                Josiahwill burn the bones of priests right here.

Hos3:4-5

                                                Israelwill lack these six features for many days.

 

b.Literal w/ Unexpected Twist

Jdg4:8-9

                                                Siserawill be defeated by a woman (but not the one expected).

Jer22:30

            TheMessianic line is cursed (but still he will come).

 

c.Parabolic

Dan2:31ff

                                                Statuerepresents coming empires.

Ezk37:15ff

                                                Rejoinedsticks represent rejoined Israelite kingdoms.

Jer19:1-2,10-11

                                                Smashedjar pictures smashed nation.

 

d.Typological

Hos11:1 (as cited in Matt 2:15)

            Sonis both Israel and GodÕs true Israel, the Messiah.           

Allusionsto Levitical typology in:

John1:29

                                                            GodÕslamb is a human person, the Messiah.

2Cor 5:21

                                                            Jesusas sin offering

Heb9:1-10

                                                            Tabernaclestructure and how God will be approached

 

6.Various Time Relationships

 

a.Ancestor stands for descendant

Gen49:1ff

                                                JacobÕssons stand for the tribes to arise from them.

Hos3:5

                                                Davidstands for his son, the Messiah.

 

b.Distant events juxtaposed

Luke4:17-21 (citing Isa 61:1-2)

                                                Jesusstops reading after Òyear of LordÕs favorÓ but before Òthe day of vengeance ofour God.Ó

Dan11:2-3

                                                Jumpfrom fourth Persian king to Alexander

Matt25:31ff

                                                JesusÕcoming and last judgment?

 

c.Short range to verify longer range

1Kings 13:2-5

                                                Altarsplits, arm paralyzed to verify Josiah prophecy.

2Kings 20:5-6,8-11

                                                Shadowreverses to verify 15-year extension of life.

Dan2, 7, 9, 11 - sequence then jump

                                                4kingdoms, 70 weeks, Antiochus => Antichrist

Luke21:20ff

                                                Predictionre/ AD 70 destruction => eschatological destruction?

 

d.Explicit chronological indicators

Dan9:24ff

                                                70ÔweeksÕ = 70 sabbatical cycles?

Matt24:15,21,29,32-34 (use of #6a, above?)

                                                When,then, immediately after, budding tree => summer

 

B. Works onFulfilled Prophecy

 

1. Fritz Ridenour, ed.  Who Says God Created.... Glendale, CA:  G/LPublications, 1967 (pb, 186 pp).  Apopular presentation of Christian evidences, including a dis­cussion offulf prophecies regarding four ancient cities, the Jews and the Messiah.

 

a.Babylon (Isa 13:19-21; Jer 25:12-14)

b.Tyre (Ezk 26:3-14,19)

c.Edom (Isa 34:5-12; Amos 1:11-12; Ezk 25:14)

d.Nineveh (Nah 1:1-8; 2:3-6; 3:7; Zeph 2:13-15)

e. Messiah (Gen 3:15; Mic 5:2; Zech 9:9;Isa 50:6; 53:12; Ps 22:18; 34:20; 16:10)

f. Israel (Deut 28:64-68; Isa 43:5-6; Jer29:14; Isa 61:4; Ezk 36:34-35)

 

2. Peter W. Stoner and Robert C.Newman.  Science Speaks. 4th ed.  Chicago:  Moody,1976 (pb, 128 pp).  A popular workon evidences, with chap­ters on science and ful­filled prophecies.

 

a.Tyre (Ezk 26:3-5,7,12,14,16)

b.Samaria (Mic 1:6)

c.Gaza & Ashkelon (Zeph 2:4,6; Amos 1:8; Jer 47:5)

d.Jericho (Josh 6:26)

e.Golden Gate (Ezk 44:1-3)

f.Zion plowed (Mic 3:12)

g.Jerusalem enlarged (Jer 31:38-40)

h.Palestine (Lev 26:31-33; Ezk 36:33-35)

i.Moab & Ammon (Ezk 25:3-4,9-10; Jer 48:47; 49:6)

j.Edom (Jer 49:16-18)

k.Babylon (Isa 13:19-21; Jer 51:26,43)

l.Sidon (Ezk 28:20-23)

m.Capernaum & Bethsaida (Lk 10:13,15)

n.Highway from Egypt to Assyria (Isa 19:23-25)

o.Egypt (Ezk 29:12-15; 30:13)

p.Messiah's birthplace (Mic 5:2)

q.Messiah's forerunner (Mal 3:1)

r.Messiah's entrance (Zech 9:9)

s.Messiah's wounds (Zech 13:6)

t.Messiah's betrayal money (Zech 11:12-13)

u.Messiah's reaction to oppression (Isa 53:7)

v.Messiah's piercing (Ps 22:16)

 

3. Josh McDowell.  Evidence That Demands a Verdict. San Bernardino, CA:  CampusCrusade/Here's Life, 1972 (pb, 387 pp). A nice sourcebook of materials on historical evidence for Christianity,with two chapters on ful­filled prophecy:

 

a.Chapter 9: The Messianic Prophecies (pp 147-184)

withbibliography

b.Chapter 11: [Other] Prophecy (pp 277-335)

withbibliography

 

4. Fred John Meldau.  Messiah in Both Testaments. Denver:  Christian VictoryPublishing Co., 1956 (pb, 96 pp). An extensive treatment of Messianicprophecies, including a good section on the paradoxical aspects which makefaked fulfillment of the messianic prophecy complex untenable.

 

a.The Credentials of the Messiah

12topics re/ descent, birth, time of coming

b.Life and Ministry of the Messiah

holiness,miracles, sacrifice

c.Paradoxes concerning Christ

13topics

d.Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Christ

 

5. Bernard Ramm.  Protestant Christian Evidences. Chicago:  Moody Press, 1953(pb, 252 pp).  Textbook on Xn evi­dences,with a chapter on fulfilled prophecy which uses examples from the minorprophets only.

 

a.Hosea (1:4-5; 1:7; 1:11; 3:4)

b.Joel (2:28-32; 3:6-8)

c. Amos (1:3-5; 6-8; 9-10; 13-15; 2:1-3;4-5; 3:12-15; 5:27)

d.Obadiah

e.Micah (1:6; 3:12; 4:10; 5:2)

f.Nahum

g. Zechariah (1:12-21; 2:4; 7; 10-11;3:8; 9; 6:8; 9-15; 9:9; 11:1-14; 12:10; 13:7-9)

h.Malachi (1:2-5; 3:1; 4:5)


            6. John Urquhart.  The Wonders of Prophecy. Harris­burg, PA: Christian Publications, n.d. (pb, 241 pp).  A classic work on fulfilled prophecies, originally writtenabout 1900 and in print until recently. Tries to select prophecies that liberals cannot easily redate.

 

a.Tyre (Ezk 26)

b.Sidon (Ezk 28:20-23)

c.Egypt (Ezk 29-30; Isa 19)

d.Edom (Ezk 35:3-7)

e.Philistia (Ezk 25; Jer 47; Zeph 2; Zech 9)

f. Judea (Lev 26; Deut 29; Isa 6; Amos 3,5; Mic 1, 3; Matt 11)

g.Babylon (Isa 13; Jer 25, 50, 51)

h.World History (Dan 2)

i.Messianic (many passages)

j.Jewish History (many passages)

 

7. Frederick A. Aston.  The Challenge of the Ages. Scars­dale, NY: Research Press, 1963.  (pb,24 pp).  A translation, commentaryand discussion of the fulfill­ment of Isa 52:13-53:12 by a Russian ofJewish back­ground who did graduate studies on OT here in the US.  Responds to liberal arguments.  Reprinted in edited form as chapter 11in Newman, The Evidence of Prophecy,below.

 

8. J. Barton Payne.  Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy. New York:  Harper and Row,1973 (hb, xxiv + 754 pp).  Dividesall 8,352 predictive verses in the Bible into 1,817 predictions, and tries tosuggest when each was or will be fulfilled.  Contains bibliography, tables, indices and the followingfour summaries:

 

a. Biblical Predictions in Order ofFulfillment (pp 631-59)

b. Prophecies concerning Foreign Nationsmore prominent in Scripture (pp 660-64)

c. Prophecies with personal reference toChrist (pp 665-70); 2nd coming prophecies starred (*)

d.Biblical Types (pp 671-72)

 

9. Robert C. Newman, ed.  The Evidence of Prophecy:  Ful­filled Prediction as aTestimony to the Truth of Chris­tianity.  Hatfield,PA:  IBRI, 1988 (pb, 147 pp).  12 chapters by various authors (severalare BTS grads) on various examples of fulfilled prophecy regarding the nations,Israel and the Messiah:

 

a.Biblical Prophecy and Pagan Oracles

CalvinE. Stowe

b.The Destruction of Tyre

RobertW. Manweiler

c.Alexander's Conquest of Palestine

PerryG. Phillips

d.The Fall of Nineveh

ElaineA. Phillips

e.The Dispersion and Oppression of the Jews

SamuelH. Kellogg

f.Hosea's Prophetic History of the Jews

JohnA. Bloom

g.The Return of the Jews

EugenieJohnston

h.The Person of the Messiah

RobertC. Newman

i.The Time of the Messiah

RobertC. Newman

j.The Work of the Messiah

FrederickA. Aston

 

10. John W. Montgomery, ed.  Evidence for Faith:  Deciding the God Question. Dallas:  Probe/Word, 1991(pb, 366 pp).  22 chapters onevidences for Christianity, of which 3 are on fulfilled prophecy.

 

a.Truth via Prophecy

JohnA. Bloom

b.Israel's History Written in Advance

RobertC. Newman

c.The Testimony of Messianic Prophecy

RobertC. Newman

 

11. Kenny Barfield.  The Prophet Motive:  Examining the Reliability of theBiblical Prophets.  Nashville:  Gospel Advocate, 1995 (pb, 340 pp).  26 chapters on introductory matters andnumerous specific prophecies.

 

a.Introduction to Prophecy (chs 1-5)

b.Oracles against the World Powers (chs 6-8)

c.Oracles against Israel's Neighbors (chs 9-12)

d.Announcing the Coming Messiah (chs 13-15)

e.Oracles against Israel (chs 16-17)

f.Blasting the Competition (chs 18-20)

g.Answering Objections to Prophecy (chs 21-25)

h.Summary (ch 26)

 


C. LiberalResponses to Fulfilled Prophecy

 

1.Liberal Models of Reality

 

a.Quite varied:

 

(1)Atheism

non-religiousliberals

Marxists

SecularHumanists

 

(2)Old Liberalism

pantheistic

 

(3)  Neo-Orthodoxy

transcendental

 

b.But agree on non-occurrence of miraculous

sono actual prediction beyond human foresight

 

2.Liberal Attitudes toward the Bible

 

a.Inspiration

varieswith model of reality as to whether they think God "inspired" thewriters or not

 

b.Result

Biblenot a miraculous book, it is product of humans groping for God, or (findingHim) unable to express the reality they have experienced

 

c.Unity

manyauthors, many theologies, so no real unity

 

d.Prophecy

proclamation,not prediction

forthtelling,not foretelling (Oxtoby, 106)

 

3.Devices Used to Avoid Fulfilled Prophecy

 

a.Prophecy written after event "predicted"

vaticiniumex eventu

 

Daniel,2nd Isaiah (Pfeiffer, 765)

OtherExamples (Oxtoby, 78)

 

b.Prophecy written before event, but

 

(1)Fulfillment invented

Psalm22 in Gospels (Schonfield, 87)

(2)Fulfillment intentional

Triumphalentry

Otherevents in Jesus' ministry (Schonfield)

Ahijah(Oxtoby, 77)

(3)Fulfillment foreseeable

Jeremiah(Oxtoby, 77)

(4)Fulfillment coincidental

GoldenGate?

(5)Fulfillment questionable

Isa7:14

Psalm16 (Schonfield, 58-59)

 

 

D. MakingApologetic Use of Fulfilled Prophecy

 

1.Consider your Audience

 

a.What kind of background do they have?

b.What sort of presuppositions do they hold?

 

2.Choose your Prophecy

 

a. Is the fulfillment demonstrably after the pre­dic­tion?

b.Is the prediction only typological?

c. Is the fulfillment only theapplication of a general principle?

d. Is the interpretation of the prophecyseriously questionable?

e.Can intentional fulfillment be ruled out?

f. Is the fulfillment sufficientlycomplex or unusual so as to forbid its being naturally foreseen?

 

3.Exegete your Prophecy

 

a.Use the original languages if you possibly can!

b.Check for significant textual variants.

c. Consider alternative translations andinterpreta­tions that might be suggested by an unbeliever.

 

4.Examine its Fulfillment

 

a.What historical sources are available?

b. Can they reasonably be charged asconspiring with the Biblical writers?

c.Are there any complications?

d. Have you subjected the prophecy andfulfillment to the questioning an unbeliever would give them?

 

5.Write up your Presentation

 

a.Again, consider the audience.

b. Try to "short-circuit"objections, rather than drag­ging them all out to distract your audience.

c.You don't need to showall your work, just doit!

d.Try to make your presentation interesting.

 

 

Note: After this course was offered the first time, a number of the bestpapers were collected, edited and added to some existing papers to produced thebook Evidence of Prophecynoted as item B9 on pages 7-8, above. Other examples have been included in Montgomery, Evidence for Faith (item B10, page 8) and in Geivett andHabermas In Defense of Miracles.  A number of examples have been workedup into PowerPoint talks that are posted on the IBRI website (www.ibri.org), as are the two papers ÒPublicTheology and Scientific MethodÓ (Philosophia Christi[2002] 4:45-48) and ÒPublic Theology andProphecy DataÓ (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46/1 [March 2003]: 79-100).