Sometimes the devil doesn't tempt us with evil; sometimes he allures us with good, distracts us with obligations, confuses us with compromise, or hinders us with business to keep us from that which is best- service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Remember, the devil always offers his best, before Christ will offer His will for your life.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Bible Prophecy and History



This is by no means an exhaustive study. There are many more passages in the Bible that prophesied about events before they happened, and many other passages that are still yet to happen. 

Jewish people go into captivity to Babylon- Written around 626 BC;  Happened 606 BC
Jeremiah 25:11-12- And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Cyrus conquers Babylon and allows the Jews to return to their homeland- Written between 701 to 681 BC; Happened 539 BC
Isaiah 45:1-Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

Messiah will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and it will be cast to the potter in the temple- Written between 570 BC to 420 BC; Happened between AD 29 to AD 35
Zechariah 11:10-13-  And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

The temple will be completely destroyed- Spoken around AD 29 to AD 33; Happened 70 AD
Matthew 24:1-2- And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Worldwide dispersion of Jewish people- Written 1590 BC to 1570 BC; Happened AD 135
Deuteronomy 4:27- And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.

Jewish people return to the land of their forefathers- Happened during the early 1900's
Amos 9:14-15- And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.Isaiah 11:12 - And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Israel signs a peace treaty- Happening NOW
Daniel 9:27a- And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:

This verse says the treaty will be for about 7 years.

Timeline Prophecy: Most of this prophecy has been fulfilled, but there is one last part that remains unfulfilled-
Daniel 2:36-42- This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

(Head) Babylon falls to Media Persia- Happened 539 BC
(Chest and arms) Media Persia falls to Alexander the Great- Happened 333 BC to 330 BC
(Belly and thighs) Alexander the Great= see below
(Legs) Roman Empire= see below
(Feet and Toes) Antichrist kingdom

Daniel 8:19-26- And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

Daniel received much prophecy during his years. After Babylon had fallen, he saw the vision in Daniel 8 which spoke about Alexander the Great conquering Media Persia, and that four kindgoms would stand up in its place. This was a prophecy that Alexander's four generals would take over and split the kingdom since he had no heir; Happened 323 BC.

These four kingdoms would battle until one remained in power. That one was the Attalid dynasty. The last ruler had no heir, but was a faithful ally to the Roman Empire and when he died he willed his kingdom to the Roman Republic; Happened 133 BC. Rome had already conquered the kingdoms created by the other three generals. It was now the ruler of the "civilized world". They were in power under the rule of Caesar when the Messiah was born.

In the latter time of their kingdom (Rome and the Middle East) a terrible ruler will stand up who does awful things. He is demonic and yet takes over by peace. He kills many people, and is known in the New Testament as the AntiChrist. This is part of the prophecy that hasn't happened yet. But with all the prophecy that has already been fulfilled, can you doubt that it will come to pass?