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God's prophets of old predicted the coming of the Messiah. Their predictions were not
ambiguous, vague speculations like Nostradamus or the fortune telling of Jeanne Dixon.
They spoke specifically. Micah foretold of the Messiah's place of birth (Micah
5:2). Isaiah not only foretold that a Son would be born but that a virgin would
conceive and give birth (Isa. 7:14). Daniel predicted the time frame (Dan.
9:24-27). One of the most detailed predictions ever penned for posterity is
Isaiah chapter 53. Herein, inspiration has given mankind a complete summary of
the life of the coming Prince of Peace. All of these prophecies, and another 300, were
uttered centuries before their precise fulfillment.
Restricting our references to Isaiah and Daniel, nearly 2,700 years ago, it was predicted that the Messiah would be worshipped by all nations. Isaiah told the people of his day that a new kingdom would be established made up of all nations, he predicted, "...It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isa. 2:2). Daniel expanded on this proclamation, saying, that God would give the Messiah "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom"; and then, astoundingly, added, "that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him" (Dan. 7:14). Putting this in proper prospective, what is the likelihood of a farmer predicting that a young farmhand would succeed and be exalted to the highest office in America? Zero! One summer, when Jim Garfield was a teenager, working on Worthy Taylor's farm in Ohio, Garfield sought the hand of the farmer's daughter. His request was refused-because he had no money, no name, and with few prospects of things getting any better. The boy left. Thirty years later, Worthy Taylor tore down his barn. Carved on one of the rafters in the loft was the name James A. Garfield, who at that very time was the President of the United States. Because of the farmer's inability to see a mere three decades into the future, Taylor lost a valued member of the community. But it is an even greater feat to have foretold 60 and 70 decades in advance of One whom all the world would happily exalt higher than any in America's highest office. Worthy Taylor could no more predict the success and presidency of a young Ohio farm boy than could ordinary men predict the universal exaltation of Jesus. Obviously, Isaiah and Daniel were men of extraordinary, God-given skills. This God-given prediction of world wide worship was not fulfilled (1) in the days of Jesus' birth nor (2) in the three years of His ministry nor (3) when He died. Actually, years after His death, the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his subjects thought that they had successfully eliminated Christianity and its King. The Romans thought so highly of their accomplishment that they erected two monumental pillars in Spain, on which the following was written: Diocletian Jovian Maximian Herculeus Caesares Augusti, for having extended the Roman Empire in the east and the west, and for having extinguished the name of Christians, who brought the Republic to ruin.About a century after the death of the Christ, and hundreds of years after it was foretold, Jesus was exalted as King the world over. In Justin Martyr's apology to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and the sacred Senate, and in his apology to Trypho, a Jewish unbeliever, he indicates that the prophecies of the nations were fulfilled by the middle of the second century. Astonishing! This amazing prophecy stands fulfilled until this very day, for even now, the name of Jesus is exalted above the hills in every nation. In honor to Jesus, even time is calculated with the date of His birth in mind. Others have been praised worldwide, but of none has it been predicted. Others are praised worldwide, but of none was it foretold. Only of Jesus! |