The Wonder of Fulfilled Prophecy Coming of Messiah as Savior 

Unlike all other claims of foretelling the future, biblical prophecy is 100% accurate in all of the events that should have already come to pass. Josh McDowell, in his classic book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, lists sixty-one categories of fulfilled prophecies about the coming of Messiah. All of them were fulfilled by the life of Jesus Christ. He quotes figures from Peter Stoner’s earlier book, Science Speaks, to demonstrate the astronomical odds against just eight of these prophecies being fulfilled by coincidence. Stoner wrote, “We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017.” To illustrate that number, Stoner then suggested that the reader visualize that many silver dollars spread across the whole state of Texas. They would cover the state 2 feet deep. Then, if one silver dollar were marked and buried, the chances of a blindfolded man picking that one marked silver dollar with his first attempt would be the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies down and then having them all come true in one person.3 Now, since the prophecies of Jesus‘ first advent were fulfilled perfectly, we can expect the ones that still await fulfillment to also come true.

Major Prophetic Events Yet To Be Fulfilled Restoration of Israel

Restoration of the scattered Israelites was a common theme among the Bible’s prophets. In Ezekiel 36 and 37 we read detailed predictions about the Lord’s plans to regather his dispersed people from all over the world, and bring them back to the mountains of Israel. At long last, they would have control of their own nation again. Please refer to Appendix C – Harmony of Prophecy Chart as you continue this overview of prophecy. These prophecies were partially fulfilled in 1948. After one-half of all Jewish people were killed in the prison camps of World War II, most of the nations of the world recognized the right of Jewish immigrants to the Holy Land to declare their independence. Ezekiel’s prophecies had depicted the event as a valley of dry bones. The bones started shaking and joining together into a skeleton. Then the skeleton was covered by muscles and skin. The rebirth of the nation of Israel is a stark fulfillment of this vision. However, the last part of that vision has not yet been fulfilled. Just as God had first formed Adam and then breathed life into him, in Ezekiel’s vision, God also breathes new life into Israel, and gives her a new heart. These are pictures of spiritual birth, but most of the people of Israel have not yet experienced this spiritual transformation. It will happen in time, according to this and other prophecies about God’s Chosen People. Multitudes of Jewish people have already turned to Jesus as their Messiah in our generation!

Emergence of a Final Evil World Empire

In any overview of prophecy it is necessary to review the Bible’s predictions about future world empires, leading to a final evil world government just before Christ returns to Earth as King of Kings. These world kingdoms are depicted in a series of dreams and visions in the Book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a giant statue (Daniel 2). He asked his wise men to interpret the dream, but they could not. However, Daniel, a devout young Hebrew captive, was given the ability to declare the dream and its interpretation to the king. The statue had a head of gold that represented the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar. The chest and arms were silver, and stood for the next world empire, which would have two parts. This was fulfilled by the Medo-Persian Empire that eventually conquered Babylon. A bronze waist and thighs stood for another powerful empire that would arise. This was a preview of Greece. The legs were of iron, stronger than the other metals, and they symbolized Rome, the strongest of all empires, and the last world empire to reign over the known world. The final aspect of the statue was the composition of the feet. They were partly of iron, and partly of clay. Then a rock fell from heaven, symbolizing the coming of Messiah to reign, and broke the feet, causing the whole statue to fall and break apart. The rock then grew into a great mountain, representing the coming righteous reign of Christ (Messiah). This subject will be developed more thoroughly in Chapter 8. Several other portions of Daniel’s prophecies (Daniel Chapters 7-9) and the Book of Revelation (Revelation Chapters 12-18) predict the same drama. The end result is the destruction of the final evil empire by the coming of Jesus to reign as King of King and Lord of Lords.

Time of Jacob’s Trouble/ Tribulation

The Prophet Jeremiah gave a strong warning about a terrible time in the future for Israel. These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 5 “This is what the LORD says: ” ‘Cries of fear are heard— terror, not peace. 6 Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? 7 How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.‖ – Jeremiah 30:4-7 This Tribulation is described in the book of Daniel as one “week” or seven-year period of time in the future, following 69 “weeks” or 483 years leading to the time that Messiah would be cut off (Daniel 9:24-27). Between the 69 “weeks” and the 70th “week” there would evidently be an indeterminate period of time. We now know that this interval is the period of the Church Age in which we are now living. The Apostle Paul called it a “mystery”. The Church Age and this mystery are explained more fully in Chapter 3. The time of trouble begin with a seven-year peace treaty from the future prince, whom most prophecy scholars expect will be the end-times dictator. In the middle of the seven-year peace treaty the dictator will break the agreement by setting up a statue of himself in the newly-rebuilt Temple (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13). His associate, The False Prophet will require people to worship the image, and will impose a financial dictatorship on people everywhere, requiring them to receive the “Mark of the Beast” (Revelation 13). Chapter 11 develops this aspect of the Great Tribulation.

Coming of Messiah as King

At the end of the seven years of the Tribulation, the Beast will gather his forces from all over the earth to do battle against The Lord. This will be the dreaded Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21). Jesus will appear as a rider on a white horse, followed by the armies of heaven. But he will do all the fighting, by use of his powerful words. He will come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Old Testament is full of visions of this great day and of the restored Earth over which Messiah will reign. In addition to these passages in the Major Prophets, we have other pictures of the event as well. As mentioned earlier, Christ’s coming is depicted by Daniel 2:44- 45 as a rock from heaven, landing on the brittle feet representing the final evil world empire, smashing the image, and then growing into a great mountain. In Jeremiah 30:8-11, after the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble,” there is a promise of freedom and happiness. God’s people will be brought back from distant places and will live in peace and security. From Jesus’ own teaching in Matthew 24:29-31, there is a promise of his return in power and great glory, gathering the faithful together to enjoy His restored kingdom. Finally, in the last several chapters of the Bible (Revelation Chapters 19-22), details are given about how Jesus will return with His saints to win the Battle of Armageddon and deal with Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet. Jesus will reign over the restored Earth for 1000 wonderful years, and then usher in the New Heaven and the New Earth, where there will be no tears or sorrow forever!