Black Helicopters???
Here are two passages, Is 53 and Is 42, that most Christian Denominations use freely to teach fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy through Jesus Christ.
Suggest reading all of Is. 53 and Is 42
Prophecy …. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” Is 53:4
Fulfillment …
“ And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever; he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and served him. That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Matt. 8:14-16
Prophecy ….. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” Is 42:1-4
Fulfillment ….. . “ Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all, and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any one hear his voice in the streets; he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till he brings justice to victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope.” Matt. 12:15-21
The passages did clearly show that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected Messiah. Yet, all of the Jewish Community did not flock to Jesus as they saw him fulfill passage after passage of Messianic prophecy. Of all the learned Jews and all the well versed and studied Sadducees and Pharisees only 2 people were waiting when Jesus’ parents brought him to be dedicated at the Temple in Jerusalem. [Luke 2:25-38]. The implication here is that the information was within the books of the Old Testament or Torah that told them to look for a baby and even what the timing would be. The information was there but only two people, two witnesses, a man and a woman were listening to God’s word.
The Rabbis or teachers of that day were teaching that Messiah would come and destroy the Roman Empire and make them a great kingdom that would rule the world using the Dan 2:44-45 passage.
Well, the Roman Empire was destroyed eventually so modern Rabbis have gone back and look at these passages again. Because the Roman Empire is no more and clearly there is not a Jewish kingdom here on earth they have found the need to reinterpret these passages. Now they are teaching that these passages speak of the suffering of the Jewish people and the new State of Israel. They still do not except their Messiah; He still does not fit the picture of what they want.
Our purpose in writing this paper is to warn the modern church. How many times has some well known evangelist or pastor made a pronouncement or written a book explaining “End Times Prophecies” only to have to rewrite or reinterpret several years later because what they said did not happen? Why did they sell even one of those second and third rewrites? Matthew 7:15ff clearly tells us not to listen to these people but to call them for what they are “false prophets”!
See also.. Jer 23:16-22
…. “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes; they speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord…..” 16
…. “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied…” 21
Why do the Jewish people continue to follow the words of men who blew it? And why do Christians continue to follow men and women who claim special insight or revelation but are proven wrong over and over either through scripture or unfulfilled prophecy?
Beware that you are not one who will be caught up watching for something your favorite teacher has taught you when God wants you to be watching for something else. What is it that you are being taught to watch for by your favorite teacher?
A political antichrist?
The Temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem?
A seven headed flesh and blood monster to rise up out of the ocean?
Black Helicopters?
If you want to increase your ability to discern truth from fiction; Godly word from self-inspired words, refer to our postings on Revelation. Our intent is not to tell you what to expect but to give you the tools and examples of fulfilled prophecy so that you can study on your own and watch with open eyes for what is to come soon.
Another prophecy given in Psa 78:1-2 that is fulfilled by Messiah also goes along with our point here.
Prophecy … “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.” Psa. 78:1-3
Fulfillment … “He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Matt. 13:33-35
Sounds to us like He is saying that He is repeating Himself from time-in-memorial and yet we will still get it wrong. We here in the Twenty-first Century are in no better stead than the Jews of Messiah’s time or during the Prophet’s time or Moses’ time and undoubtedly earlier. Jesus said in Matt 13:10-17 …..[15] .. “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.”
Unfortunately the Church today isn’t listening any better than the first century Jews. We are so busy with all the technology available to us to spend time in something so boring as reading The Book. We have become deaf! Blind! We are naked!
It is must easier to go to a building once a week, or maybe twice a week, and have somebody, that we pay, teach us for an hour. Because we have set these teacher/ pastors up on a pedestal by paying them we believe them to have more knowledge and understanding then we could possibly have. We let them take over our theological training and look after our spiritual wellbeing. That is a lot of power to give away to another human being. The Messiah/ Jesus said that He wanted us to turn to Him for healing, healing of our eyes, ears, and heart. Only with that healing will we be able to see, hear, and understand what has been given in parables and what has been given in prophecy.
“Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.” Rev. 3:18
You may still think that we are crying wolf about something that will work out in the end. But we believe blindness leads to apostasy, deafness leads to complacency, and nakedness leads to spiritual death. All lead to corruption in the church and in our lives.
“You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.” Rom 11:19-22
We need to heed the teachings of John the Baptist once more.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matt.3:2
The coming dispensation will reveal a more complete picture of His Kingdom. [see also Dispensations] Just as the children of Israel had to bathe to become clean before entering The Temple, we too must be spiritually clean to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Repent of the sin of blindness, deafness, and nakedness.
The joy of being clean is also in the healing spoken of earlier in Matt 13. This healing will then bring about understanding which is given not by man but by the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that inspired the scripture to begin with and will always be confirmed by those same scriptures.