Commercial Break: Prophecy Hardly Comes Alive

 

“”If you pick up any of the four Gospels and read them at random, it will not be long before you learn that such and such an action or saying, attributed to Jesus, was done so that an ancient prophecy should come true. If it should seem odd that an action should be deliberately performed in order that a foretelling be vindicated, that is because it is odd. And it is necessarily odd because, just like the Old Testament, the "New" one is also a work of crude carpentry, hammered together long after its purported events, and full of improvised attempts to make things come out right.

—Christopher Hitchens,

There are numerous Biblical prophecies, some vaguely fulfilled, others strangely unfulfilled. Of course, like the Bible, the Quran also contains what its followers maintain are fulfilled prophesies. Christians tend to find these unconvincing or silly — which is coincidentally the attitude which non-Christians have towards the claimed biblical prophecies.

Some Christians claim that fulfilled prophecies — if they actually existed — would prove that the Bible is inerrant or even literally true. Creationists conclude it is accurate even on scientific subjects.

This article examines various prophecies from the Bible and gives an analysis of whether or not they have been fulfilled.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_prophecies#The_nature_of_prophecy_in_the_Bible

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The topic and use of Biblical Prophecy is a huge drawing card and tool used by the Splinters to draw people to them.  While a huge topic, one fact of history remains clear. Many if not most Biblical prophecies never came to pass or failed miserably. This is true for both the Old Testament and the New.  

The Book of Revelation, a favorite of the Churches of the God and one which they alone possess the keys to or have the puzzle solving skills to reveal its real meaning and timing, is historically and simply a failed first century prophecy for that time just prior to the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. I realize most will yell foul but this is the truth and why the Book of Revelation was never meant for today. Hard to grasp and swallow I know. 

Apologetics will fix this reality by insisting that "not yet" is the real answer and so the Bible is accurate but just not yet.  This is bogus theology and historical sleight of hand. IMHO of course, and that of many critically thinking Biblical scholars and historians. 

Time would fail, as well as attention spans to cover this topic here as it deserves but it is an important one because so many Church of God members are assured that they live in the end times and "it won't be long now."  Actually, everyone will die in time and not see that which they are assured they will see in their lifetimes. The Apostle Paul made the same mistake and after all his many references to soon, shortly and quickly, faded, he had to admit at least he fought a good fight and it would happen "someday". 

So, a sample of teaser realities in the world of Bible prophecy badly mistaken and unfulfilled. A comprehensive analysis of both OT and NT prophecies and how they failed is to be found at the site above for those with a true interest in the topic. 

Of course, apologetics exist for every apparent failed OT and NT prophecy but that is to be expected if one insists in the inerrancy of scripture or the fact that it is a puzzle one has to figure out or a code one has to break to unveil it at last!

As well, I completely understand the emotional reactions and responses that such topics create depending on our wishful or actual understanding of the topic. Prophecy is the carrot used by most of the Splits, splinters and slivers to draw people in and they do it with fear over the times in which we live, as has been done by "the prophets" for the last 4000 years. 

I personally predict that Bob Thiel, Dave Pack and Gerald Flurry will all die with nothing of their interpretations of the times as they relate to their concept of Biblical Prophecy having actually come to pass. 

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Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre  (A Favorite WCG Proof of God)

In Ezekiel 26:1-21, God states that Nebuchadnezzar II (a neo-Babylonian monarch, reigned circa 605 to circa 562 BCE, notable for his ambitious military conquests^[2]) would conquer, sack, and completely destroy the city of Tyrus (Tyre) and that Tyre's land would never be built upon again:

The ruins of modern Tyre

However, this never occurred. After a 13-year siege, Tyre compromised with Nebuchadnezzar and accepted his authority without being destroyed. Despite being conquered and razed by Alexander the Great 240 years later,^[3] Tyre still exists.^[4]

Ezekiel even admits that Nebuchadnezzar failed to conquer Tyre three chapters later in Ezekiel 29:18

Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre, every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it.

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Damascus would be destroyed

Damascus, a heap of ruins

Isaiah 17:1-2 tells us that Damascus will be laid waste, and it will remain uninhabited forever.

An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins. Her cities will be deserted for ever; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.

Damascus is currently the capital of Syria and has a population of approximately 1.5 million people. But it is remarkable that the words "for ever" are completely absent in the Masoretic Text^[11] (the Hebrew version of the Bible officially in use among Jews) and the Text of the Great Isaiah Scroll^[12] (the oldest complete copy of the book of Isaiah), but in the Septuagint (a Greek translation of Hebrew Bible) one can find the expression "εις τον αιώνα"^[13] meaning literally "till the age", that in certain contexts can mean "for ever". It could be an addition of a translator.

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Egypt would be a barren wasteland

In Ezekiel 29:1-15, God states that Egypt will be made into a desolate wasteland:

...

This passage is one of the most erroneous in the Bible. Since Ezekiel was penned, Egypt has never been recorded as a 'desolate waste'. There is no historical evidence of a time when people have not walked through Egypt; when for forty years Egypt was uninhabited after the civilization started there; or for when Egypt has been surrounded by other desolate countries.^[5] God sets out a checklist of specific events that will occur:

1. Egypt and everything from the tower of Syene to Ethiopia will be desolate and waste
2. God will own the Nile
3. No humans will walk through Egypt
4. No animals will walk through Egypt
5. Nobody will live in Egypt for 40 years
6. Egyptians will leave Egypt and be scattered among other nations
7. After 40 years of scattering, Egypt will be repopulated by the scattered Egyptians
8. Egypt will be a weak kingdom, and will never control "the nations"

Never happened.

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The Nile River would dry up

In Ezekiel 30:12, God promises to dry up the Nile:

I will dry up the streams of the Nile and sell the land to evil men; by the hand of foreigners I will lay waste the land and everything in it. I the LORD have spoken.

There is no evidence that this has happened in recorded history. At least not yet?

Zechariah

The prophet Zechariah makes some audacious and even absurd predictions, but one that happens to stick out is his prophecy that the Nile River will be dried up.

Zechariah 10:11 tells us the following:

They shall pass through the sea of Egypt, and the waves of the sea shall be smitten, and all the depths of the Nile dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.

Once again, the Nile has never been 'dried up'.

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Jesus will be called out of Egypt

NOTE: There are 8 "And thus it was fulfilled" tales about Jesus birth written by Matthew. All of them misquote and misuse the original OT text and make them mean for him what they never actually meant when written. 

Matthew 2:15 cites Jesus' return from Egypt as being the fulfillment of a prophecy:

And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

The source is Hosea 11:1:

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Note that the quote as it appears in Matthew is incomplete. The first part, the reference to Israel, is missing. In fact, the passage in Hosea is not a prophecy of Jesus leaving Egypt but rather a reference to the exodus of the Israelites.

In defense of the claim that Matthew gave an incomplete quote to hide the fact that Hosea was not intended as a prophecy, biblical inerrancy site AboutBibleProphecy.com notes, "Matthew wasn't trying to hide anything, he was trying to show that the life of Jesus had many parallels with the history of the Jewish people."^[ It should be noted, however, that per Matthew's own words he in fact intended to show that the words of "the prophet" were "fulfilled" and not to show a parallel.

It should also be noted that among the gospel accounts the journey of Jesus to Egypt is unique in Matthew.

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Jeremiah prophesied Judas' silver

Before Judas commits suicide in Matthew, he renounces the money he got for betraying Jesus. It is stated that the chief priests used that money to buy a field, and this act somehow fulfilled a prophecy made by Jeremiah.

Matthew 27:5-10 explains this:

And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

The problem is that no such verse exists anywhere in the Book of Jeremiah.

There is a reference to something like this in Zechariah 11:12-13, but it is has nothing to do with Judas and the purchase of a potter's field.  Close enough for Matthew I suspect even though he got the book wrong and then misquoted it. 

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Why is the recognition that Biblical Prophecy has failed in many circumstances? Because Biblical prophecy is used far too often and inaccurately to motivate the fearful to give monies that they to not have to men who they should not listen to. They will be given a false life narrative and waste an inordinate amount of life time trying to figure out just where they are in Biblical Prophecy as if it can never fail. 

Even Paul admitted they do and I suspect that was near the end of his life when he realized "this does not apply to us". His "we shall not all die" turned into "Oh well, I guess we do".

I recognize the irritation with the topic factor for many. However it is a good exercise in "seeing if these things be so".  

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Biblical_prophecies#Wrong_prophecies