Encyclopedia Of Biblical Prophecy Pdf

[Enrique Vasquez]

Bibleprophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from God.

Prophets in the Bible often warn the Israelites to repent of their sins and idolatries, with the threat of punishment or reward.[2]They attribute both blessings and catastrophes to God. According to believers in Bible prophecy, later biblical passages - especially those contained in the New Testament - contain accounts of the fulfillment of many of these prophecies.

Christianity has taken a number of biblical passages as prophecies or foreshadowings of a coming Messiah. Christians believe that Christ Jesus fulfills these messianic prophecies, while followers of Rabbinic Judaism still await the arrival of the Jewish Messiah and other signs of Jewish eschatology. Most Christians believe that the Second Coming of Christ will fulfill many messianic prophecies, though some Christians (Full Preterists) believe that all Messianic prophecies have already been fulfilled. Rabbinic Judaism does not separate the original coming of the Messiah and the advent of a Messianic Age. (For details of differences, see Christianity and Judaism.)

David's sphere of influence now extended from the Egyptian frontier on the Wadi el-Arish (the "brook of Egypt") to the Euphrates; and these limits remained the ideal boundaries of Israel's dominion long after David's empire had disappeared.[4]

Christian apologists state that the prophecy in Isaiah chapters 13 and 21 could possibly have been directed originally against Assyria whose capital Nineveh was defeated in 612 BC by a combined onslaught of the Medes and Babylonians. According to this explanation the prophecy was later updated and referred to Babylon[18] not recognizing the rising power of Persia. On the other hand, it can be mentioned that the Persian King Cyrus after overthrowing Media in 550 BC did not treat the Medes as a subject nation.

Instead of treating the Medes as a beaten foe and a subject nation, he had himself installed as king of Media and governed Media and Persia as a dual monarchy, each part of which enjoyed equal rights.[19]

The prophecy may date from 735 BC when Damascus and Israel were allied against Judah.[20] Tiglath-Pileser took Damascus in 732 BC,[20] which some apologists point to as a fulfillment of this prophecy, but this campaign never reduced the city to rubble.[citation needed] The depiction of Damascus as a "heap of ruins" has been understood as figurative language to describe the despoiling of the city, the leading of its people as captives to Kir (an unidentified city), and the way that the city lost much of its wealth and political influence in the years following Tiglath-Pileser's attack.[21] The prophecy is also believed by some to have a future fulfilment relating to end-time developments concerning Israel.

There are many scholars, however, who point out that the prophet himself spoke of Cyrus arguing that Deutero-Isaiah interpreted Cyrus' victorious entry into Babylon in 539 BC as evidence of divine commission to benefit Israel. The main argument against the idols in these chapters is that they cannot declare the future, whereas God does tell future events like the Cyrus predictions.[26][27][28][29][30]

Christian commentaries have considered the conquering Persian force an alliance between the Persians and the Medes.[36][37] One suggests the use of the term "Medes" is due to earlier recognition among the Jews and because the generals of Cyrus were apparently Medes.[38]

Tyre was an island fortress-city with mainland villages along the shore.[42] These mainland settlements were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II, but after a 13-year siege from 586 to 573 BC, the King of Tyre made peace with Nebuchadnezzar, going into exile and leaving the island city itself intact.[43] Alexander the Great used debris from the mainland to build a causeway to the island, entered the city, and plundered the city, sacking it without mercy.[44] Most of the residents were either killed in the battle or sold into slavery.[44][45] It was quickly repopulated by colonists and escaped citizens,[46] and later regained its independence.[47] Tyre did eventually enter a period of decline, being reduced to a small remnant. Echoing Ezekiel's words, historian Philip Myers writes in 1889:

The city never recovered from this blow. The site of the once brilliant maritime capital is now "bare as the top of a rock," a place where the few fishermen that still frequent the spot spread their nets to dry.[48]

Older sources often refer to the locations as a "fishing village". However, the nearby area grew rapidly in the 20th century. The ruins of a part of ancient Tyre (a protected site) can still be seen on the southern half of the island[49] whereas modern Tyre occupies the northern half and also sprawls across Alexander's causeway and onto the mainland.[50] It is now the fourth largest city in Lebanon[51] with a population of approximately 200,000 inhabitants in the urban area in 2016.[52]

This includes the claim that God will make Egypt so weak that it will never again rule over other nations.[53] Pharaoh Amasis II (who drove off Nebuchadnezzar) also conquered Cyprus,[54] ruling it until 545 BC.[55] Despite being a powerful nation in ancient times, Egypt has since been ruled by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine Empire, Ottomans, British and the French,[56] and has also enjoyed periods of independence from external rule. During the Hellenistic period, the break-up of the empire of Alexander the Great left the Ptolemaic Dynasty (of Macedonian/Greek origin) as rulers of Egypt: the Ptolemies then conquered and ruled Cyrenaica (now northeastern Libya), Palestine, and Cyprus at various times.[57] (see also History of Ptolemaic Egypt and Ptolemaic kingdom).

There is some uncertainty among modern scholars regarding when (and by whom) various portions of the Book of Ezekiel were written,[58] making the timing of prophecies difficult to unravel (see Book of Ezekiel).

Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt around 568 BC. However, the armies of Pharaoh Amasis II defeated the Babylonians (though the author did not elaborate and there are no known detailed accounts of this invasion).[59] Herodotus reports that this Pharaoh had a long and prosperous reign.[60] The Egyptians were conquered by the Persians in 525 BC.[61]

Moffatt puts it "before the Son of man arrives" as if Jesus referred to this special tour of Galilee. Jesus could overtake them. Possibly so, but it is by no means clear. Some refer it to the Transfiguration, others to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, others to the Second Coming. Some hold that Matthew has put the saying in the wrong context. Others bluntly say that Jesus was mistaken, a very serious charge to make in his instructions to these preachers. The use of ἑως [heōs] with aorist subjunctive for a future event is a good Greek idiom.[62]

Preterist scholars explain this verse as referring to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD with the phrase "before the Son of Man comes" meaning before judgment comes upon the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem for rejecting Jesus Christ as The Messiah. They reject to refer Matthew 10:23 to the second coming of Jesus because Jesus speaks to his disciples about the towns of Israel:

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Some of them that stand here (τινες των ὁδε ἑστωτων [tines tōn hode hestōtōn]). A crux interpretum in reality. Does Jesus refer to the transfiguration, the resurrection of Jesus, the great day of Pentecost, the destruction of Jerusalem, the second coming and judgment? We do not know, only that Jesus was certain of his final victory which would be typified and symbolized in various ways.[66]

Preterists respond that Jesus did not mean His second coming but a demonstration of His might when He says "coming in his kingdom". In this view, this was accomplished by the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD when some of the Apostles were still living and thus fulfilling the word of Jesus that only some will not have died.[67]Others argue it refers to the Transfiguration.[68][69] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary states:

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

Preterists claim these verses are metaphorical.[74] Others claim that the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70[75] fulfilled this despite the existence of the wailing wall.[76][77] The IVP Bible Background Commentary states:

The parts of the wall Jesus refers to in the verse may not have included the wailing wall. Recent archaeological evidence suggest that the wailing wall part of the temple complex was not completed until an uncertain date in or after 16 A.D.[79]

Christian writers have given several responses. First is that the use of Jeremiah is meant to refer to all the books of prophecy. Second is that although Jeremiah said this, any record has not survived. Third is this was the result of a scribal error because of the single letter difference in the abridged versions of the names.

Some scholars respond that this is because the Malachi reference was just an introduction,[83] which made it significantly less important than Isaiah 40:3, leading to the whole being attributed to the prophet Isaiah. Other reasons given are Isaiah's authority was considered higher than Malachi and the Isaiah text was better known.[84][85]

There are different attempts to explain the term "to take his seat in the temple of God". Some understand it as a divine attribute which the man of lawlessness arrogates to himself and hence no conclusion can be drawn for time and place.[88] Many in the early Church, such as Irenaeus, Hippolytus of Rome, Origen and Cyril of Jerusalem, believed a literal Temple would be rebuilt by the Antichrist before the Lord's Second Coming whereas Jerome and John Chrysostom referred the Temple to the Church.[89] Also some today's scholars refer the phrase "God's temple" to the Church pointing out that Paul used this term five other times outside 2 Thessalonians and does not refer it to a literal temple.[90]

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