PROPHECY
FULFILLED IN HISTORY
Chapter
6
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O |
ne of the unique and fascinating aspects of the Bible is that in no other religious literature do we find the accuracy of fulfilled prophecy. Biblical predictions recorded sometimes hundreds of years in advance of their happening are fulfilled in minute detail. Following are a few of those predictions and fulfillments.
Cyrus
The prophet Isaiah, writing about 700 B.C., names Cyrus as the king who
will say to Jerusalem that it shall be built and that the Temple foundation
shall be laid (Isaiah 44:28; 54:1).
At the time of Isaiah's writing, the city of
Jerusalem was fully built and the entire temple was standing. Not until more
than 100 years later, in 586 B.C., would
the city and Temple be destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.
After Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, it was
conquered by the Persians in about 539 B.C. Shortly after that, a Persian king named Cyrus gave
the decree to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. This was around 160 years after
the prophecy of Isaiah!
Thus
Isaiah predicted that a man named Cyrus, who would not be born for about a
hundred years, would give the command to rebuild the Temple, which was still
standing in Isaiah's day and would not be destroyed for more than a hundred
years. This prophecy is truly amazing, but it is not isolated. There are, in
fact, hundreds of prophecies which predict future events.
Daniel's Seventy Weeks
In Daniel 9:24‑27, a prophecy concerning the Messiah
is given in three specific parts. The first part states that at the end of 69
weeks, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. (Actually the 7 and 62 weeks are
understood as 69 seven‑year periods. For the explanation see Hoehner
69/117ff.) The starting point of the 69 weeks is the decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem.
Concerning the first part of the prophecy (the coming of
the Messiah), Wilson explains:
Included in the prophecy of
the seventy weeks is the specific prediction that from the going forth of a commandment
to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince, there would be sixty‑nine
weeks. Those weeks are weeks of years. After four hundred and eighty‑three
years Messiah was to come. 133/139
Daniel 9:24‑27:
Seventy weeks have been
decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to
make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy
place.
So you are to know and
discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty two weeks; it will
be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the
sixty‑two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the
people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war;
desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for
one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and
grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes
desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out
on the one who makes desolate.
Beginning of Seventy Weeks
Several commandments, or decrees, in Israel's history have
been suggested as the tenninus a quo of the
483 years. These are:
1 The decree of Cyrus,
539 B.C. (Ezra 1:1‑4)
2. The decree of Darius, 519 ‑
518 B.C. (Ezra 5:3‑7)
3. The decree of Artaxerxes to
Ezra, 457 B.C. (Ezra 7:11‑16)
4. The decree of Artaxerxes to
Nehemiah, 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1‑8) 68/121ff.
J.
D. Wilson comments on the starting point of this prophecy:
The next decree is referred to in
Nehemiah 2. It was in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. The words of the decree
are not given, but its subject matter can easily be determined. Nehemiah hears
of the desolate condition of Jerusalem. He is deeply grieved. The King asks the
reason. Nehemiah replies, "The city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers,
lieth in waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire." The king
bids him make request. He does so promptly, asking an order from the King that "I be sent to the city that I may
build it." And as we read, he was sent, and he rebuilt Jerusalem.
This decree then is the
"commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." There is no other
decree authorizing the restoration of the city. This decree authorizes the
restoration and the book of Nehemiah tells how the work was carried on. The
exigencies of their various theories have led men to take some other decree for
the terminus a quo of their
calculations, but it is not apparent how any could have done so without
misgivings. This decree of Nehemiah 2 is the commandment to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem; no other decree gives any permission to restore the city. All other
decrees refer to the building of the Temple and the Temple only. 133/141‑42
Wilson
then gives the length of the year used in the calculation of the 483 years:
The only years whose length is
given in the Bible are of 360 days twelve months of 30 days each. Gen. vii 11,
vii 3‑4; Rev. xi, 2‑3, xii, 6, xiii, 5. It seems not unreasonable to
take the period designed as 360 days. In that case the 483rd year from 444 B.C. is A.D. 33, the
date of the Crucifixion. 133/143
If Daniel is correct, the time from the edict to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Nisan 1, 444 B.C.) to the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem is 483 years, each year equaling the 360‑day year (173,880 days). Will these calculations match with history and time?
Day of Christ's Crucifixion
Hoehner demonstrates that the only logical day for
Christ's crucifixion is Nisan 14, A.D. 33, or according to our calendar, April 3, A.D. 33. See chapters IV and V of
Hoehner's Chronological Aspects of
the Life of Christ.
Calculation of 69 Weeks
Using the 360‑day year, Hoehner calculates the
terminal day of the 69 weeks of Daniel's prophecy as follows:
Multiplying the sixty‑nine weeks by seven
years for each week by 360 days
gives a total of
173,880 days.
The difference between 444 B.C. and
A.D. 33 then is 476 solar years. By multiplying 476 by 365.24219879, or by 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45.975 seconds, one comes to 173,855 days. This leaves only 25 days to be accounted for
between 444 B.C. and A.D. 33. By adding the 25 days to March 5 (of 444 B.C.), one comes to March 30 (of A.D. 33), which was Nisan 10 in A.D. 33. This is the triumphal entry
of Jesus into Jerusalem. 69/138
The terminal event of the 69 weeks is the
presentation of Christ Himself to Israel as the Messiah as predicted in
Zechariah 9:9. This materialized on Monday, Nisan 10 (March 30), A.D. 33. On the following Friday,
April 3, A.D. 33, Christ was crucified or
"cut off' (Daniel 9:26).
After the termination of the 69 weeks and before the
commencement of the 70th week, two events had to occur:
(1) The "cutting off" of the Messiah.
(2) The destruction of the city and the Temple.
The Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 by Titus the Roman.
Therefore, according to Daniel's prophecy, the Messiah had to come and be
crucified between March 30, A.D. 33
and A.D. 70. Christ was crucified
April 3, A.D. 33.
Verification of the prophetic calculations using our
calendar (Julian):
a. 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 is 476 years.
(444 plus 33 is 477, but 1 B.C.
to A.D. 1 is 1 year not two.
One must subtract 1 year from 477.)
b. 476 years x 365.24219879
days = . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,855 days
c. c. March 5 to March 30
= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 25 days
173,880
days
Historical Cities
1. Tyre (E/274‑80)
Ezekiel 26 (592‑570
B.C.)
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against
you, O Tyre, and
I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. "And they will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock" (verses 3,4).
For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I
will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of
kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a great army. He will slay your
daughters on the mainland with the sword; and he will make siege walls against
you, cast up a mound against you, and raise up a large shield against you
(verses 7,8).
"Also they will make a
spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise, break down your walls and
destroy your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your
debris into the water (verse 12).
"And I will make you a
bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no
more, for I the LORD have
spoken," declares the Lord GOD (verse 14).
"I shall bring terrors
on you, and you will be no more; though you will be sought, you will never be
found again," declares the Lord GOD (verse 21).
Predictions
1. Nebuchadnezzar will
destroy the mainland city of Tyre (26:8).
2. Many nations will come
against Tyre (26:3).
3. She will be made a bare
rock; flat like the top of a rock (26:4).
4. Fishermen will spread nets
over the site (26:5).
5. The debris will be thrown
into the water (26:12).
6. She will never be rebuilt
(26:14).
7. She will never be found
again (26:21).
NEBUCHADNEZZAR
Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to mainland Tyre three
years after the prophecy. The Encyclopedia
Britannica says: "After a 13‑year siege (585 573 B.C.) by
Nebuchadnezzar II, Tyre made terms and acknowledged Babylonian
suzerainty." 43/xxii 452
When Nebuchadnezzar broke the gates down, he found
the city almost empty. The majority of the people had moved by ship to an
island about one‑half mile off the coast and fortified a city there. The
mainland city was destroyed in 573 (prediction #1), but the city of Tyre on the
island remained a powerful city for several hundred years.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
The next incident was with Alexander the Great.
"In his war on the Persians," writes the Encyclopedia Britannica, "Alexander
111, after defeating Darius III at the Battle of Issus (333), marched southward
toward Egypt, calling upon the Phoenician cities to open their gates, as it was
part of his general plan to deny their use to the Persian fleet. The citizens
of Tyre refused to do so, and Alexander laid siege to the city. Possessing no
fleet, he demolished old Tyre, on the mainland, and with the debris built a
mole 200 ft. (60m.) wide across the straits separating the old and new towns,
erecting towers and war engines at the farther end. 43/mdi 452 (Prediction #5.)
The Tyrians countered here with a full‑scale raid on the whole operation, which was very successful; they made use of fireships to start the towers burning and then swarmed over the mole after the Greeks were routed. General destruction of the mole was made to as great an extent as the raiding party was capable. Arrian progressed to the sea struggle. Alexander realized he needed ships. He began pressuring and mustering conquered subjects to make ships available for this operation. Alexander's navy grew from cities and areas as follows: Sidon, Aradus, Byblus (these contributed about 80 sails), 10 from Rhodes, 3 from Soli and Mallos, 10 from Lycia, a big one from Macedon, and 120 from Cyprus. (Prediction #2.)
With this now superior naval force at Alexander's
disposal, the conquest of Tyre through completion of the land bridge was simply
a question of time. How long would this take? Darius 111, Alexander's Persian
enemy, was not standing idle at this time, but finally the causeway was
completed, the walls were battered down, and mop‑up operations began.
"The causeway still remains," writes
Philip Myers, "uniting the rock with the mainland. When at last the city
was taken after a siege of seven months, eight thousand of the inhabitants were
slain and thirty thousand sold into slavery." 99/153
Philip Myers made an interesting observation here; he is a secular historian (not a theologian), and this is found in a history textbook:
Alexander the Great ... reduced [Tyre]
to ruins (332 B.C.). She
recovered in a measure from this blow, but never regained the place she had
previously held in the world. The larger part of the site of the once great
city is now bare as the top of a rock [prediction #31 ‑a place where the
fishermen that still frequent the spot spread their nets to dry. 99/55 (Prediction #4.)
John C. Beck keeps the history of the island city of Tyre in the proper perspective:
The history of Tyre does not stop
after the conquest of Alexander. Men continue to rebuild her and armies
continue to besiege her walls until finally, after sixteen hundred years, she
falls never to be rebuilt again. 21/41
Specific Fulfillment
1.
Nebuchadnezzar did destroy the old (mainland) city of
Tyre.
2.
Many nations were against Tyre. This fact can be seen
even in this very brief history by Beck:
Because a characteristic of waves
is that they come in succession with their destructive force due to their
repetition and continuous pounding, this author understands Ezekiel to be
referring to a succession of invaders extending over a prolonged period of
time.
With this understanding, this
summary of Ezekiel (verses 3‑6) unfolds. First, "They will destroy
the walls of Tyre and break down her towers" (Nebuchadnezzar's siege).
Next, "I will also scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock"
(Alexander's siege). And finally, "She shall become a spoil to the
nations" (history following the siege of Alexander). 21/11‑12
3. Alexander scraped the old site
of Tyre clean when he made the causeway out to the island and left a "bare
rock."
4. Numerous references have been
previously made (some by secular observers) to the spreading of nets. Nina
Nelson observes during a visit: "Pale turquoise fishing nets were drying
on the shore." 100/220
Hans‑Wolf Rackl describing
the present situation of the site of ancient Tyre, writes: "Today hardly a
single stone of old Tyre remains intact.... Tyre has become a place 'to dry
fish nets,' as the prophet predicted." 105/179
5. Alexander threw the debris into
the water in order to make the causeway.
"Ezekiel's prophecy,"
writes Joseph Free, "concerning the laying of the stones, the timber, and
the dust in 'the midst of the water'
(Ezek. 26:12b) was specifically fulfilled when Alexander's engineers built the
mole, and used the remains of the ancient land city of Tyre, laying them in the
midst of the water." 51/263‑64
6. The city was never to be
rebuilt.
Floyd Hamilton in The Basis of the Christian Faith states:
It is also written, "Thou shalt be built no
more" (XXVI:14) Other cities destroyed by enemies had been rebuilt;
Jerusalem was destroyed many times, but always has risen again from the ruins;
what reason was there for saying that Old Tyre might not be rebuilt? But twenty‑five
centuries ago a Jew in exile over in Babylonia looked into the future at the
command of God and wrote the words, "Thou shalt be built no more!"
The voice of God has spoken and Old Tyre today stands as it has for twenty‑five
centuries, a bare rock, uninhabited by man! Today anyone who wants to see the
site of the old city can have it pointed out to him along the shore, but there
is not a ruin to mark the spot. It has been scraped clean and has never been
rebuilt.
The great freshwater springs of Reselain are at the
site of the mainland city of Tyre, and no doubt supplied the city with an
abundance of fresh water. These springs are still there and still flow, but
their water runs into the sea. The flow of these springs was measured by an
engineer, and found to be about 10,000,000 gallons daily. It is still an
excellent site for a city and would have free water enough for a large modern
city, yet it has never been rebuilt.
7. The city was never to be found again.
Most commentators say that the actual site of the ancient city would be forgotten or lost because of destruction. A better interpretation of this verse is that the seeking by men would be for the purpose of elevating Tyre to her former position of wealth and splendor. It is difficult to believe that the actual location of the city could be lost when it formerly occupied completely the island with walls built to the water's edge.
CONCLUSION
Peter
Stoner's seven predictions regarding this miracle were like the ones here ‑except
for my last one, which he did not use, and one of his which is omitted. Stoner
evaluated the miracle in the following manner:
If Ezekiel had looked at Tyre in
his day and had made these seven predictions in human wisdom, these estimates
mean that there would have been only one chance in 75,000,000 of their all
coming true. They all came true in the minutest detail.
2. Sidon
Ezekiel 28:22,23 (592 ‑ 570 B.C.) And
say, "Thus says the Lord GOD,
'Behold,
I am against you, O Sidon, and I shall be glorified in your midst.
Then
they will know that I am the LORD, when I execute judgments in her. And I shall
manifest My holiness in her.
'For I shall send pestilence to her
And blood to her streets,
And the
wounded will fall in her midst by the sword upon her on every side;
Then
they will know that I am the LORD."'
Predictions
1. There is no mention of her destruction.
2. Blood will be in the streets (28:23).
3. A sword will be on every side (28:23).
George
Davis strikes a good contrast between Tyre and Sidon in his book, Fulfilled Prophecies That Prove the Bible. He says:
The prophecy against Sidon is
very different from that concerning Tyre. It was foretold that Tyre would be
destroyed, made bare like a rock, and built no more. The prediction against
Sidon is that blood will be in her streets, her wounded shall fall in the midst
of her, and the sword is to be on her every side. But there is no doom of
extinction pronounced against her as was the case of Tyre.
Fulfillment
Floyd Hamilton explains what happened in the fourth
century B.C.:
In 351 B.C. the Sidonians, who had been
vassals of the Persian king, rebelled, and successfully defended their city
against his attacks. At last their own king, in order to save his own life,
betrayed the city to the enemy. Well knowing what the vengeance of the Persian
king would be, 40,000 of the citizens shut themselves up in their homes, set fire to their
own houses and perished in the flames rather than submit to the torture of
their enemies! Blood indeed was sent into the streets. (Prediction #2.)
Mr. Davis explains that "not once but many times
blood has been in [Sidon's] streets, her wounded have fallen in the midst of
her and the sword has been 'upon every side.' " (Predictions #2 and 3.)
In The Basis of the Christian
Faith, Floyd Hamilton cites another time Sidon was destroyed,
writing that Sidon
was soon rebuilt, however, and
though it has been captured over and over again, its citizens butchered and houses
razed time after time, the city has always been rebuilt, and is today [19271 a
town of over 15,000 inhabitants. Blood has flowed in the streets again and
again, but the city stayed in existence and stands today, a monument to
fulfilled prophecy. 65/300
George
Davis records: "In the days of the Crusades (Sidon) was taken and retaken,
again and again, by opposing forces. Three times it was captured by the
Crusaders, and three times it fell before the Moslem armies."
And he further notes that
even in modern times tribulation
has continued to be meted out to the city. It has been the scene of conflicts
between the Druses and the Turks, and between the Turks and the French. In 1840
Sidon "was bombarded by the combined fleets of England, France and Turkey."
Morris explains: "No fate of extinction was foretold for Sidon and even
today it is a city of about 20,000 [19561. However, it has had one of the
bloodiest histories any city ever had." 97/113 (Predictions #1 and 2.)
CONCLUSION
George Davis concludes with a chilling claim:
No human mind could have foretold
2,500 years ago that Tyre would be extinct, and Sidon would continue, but
suffer tribulation during the succeeding centuries, instead of Tyre enduring
sorrows, and Sidon being desolate and deserted during the long period.
3. Samaria
Hosea 13:16:
Samaria will be held guilty, for she has rebelled
against her God. They will fall by the sword, Their
little ones will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped
open.
Micah 1:6:
For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open
country,
Planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley,
And will lay bare her foundations.
Predictions
1. The city will fall violently
(Hosea).
2. It will become "as a heap
in the field" (Micah).
3. Vineyards will be planted there
(Micah).
4. Samaria's stones will be poured
down into the valley (Micah).
5. The foundations shall be
"discovered" (Micah).
Fulfillment
According
to the International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, Sargon took Samaria in 722 B.C. Not only did Samaria fall by
the sword in 722, but also in 331 B.C. by Alexander and a third time in 120
B.C. by John Hyreanus, all conquerors causing great damage and death to the citizens
of Samaria. Even the skeptic who would contend that the destruction of Samaria
came after the event will not be able to disagree about the rest of the
ramifications.
John
Urquhart records Henry Maundrell's reaction in 1697 to what he witnessed:
Sabaste is the ancient Samaria, the imperial city
of the ten tribes after their revolt from the house of David.... This great
city is now wholly converted into gardens, and all the tokens that remain to
testify that there has ever been such a place, are only on the north side, a
large square piazza encompassed with pillars, and on the east some poor remains
of a great church. (Predictions #2 and
3.)
Predictions
#4 and #5 find fulfillment through Van de Velde, who calls Samaria
a pitiable hamlet, consisting of a few squalid houses,
inhabited by a band of plunderers.... The shafts of a few pillars only remain
standing to indicate the sites of the colonnades.... Samaria, a huge heap of
stones! Her foundations discovered, her streets ploughed up, and covered with
corn fields and olive gardens.... Samaria has been destroyed, but her rubbish
has been thrown down into the valley; her foundation stones, those ancient
quadrangular stones of the time of Omri and Ahab, are discovered, and lie
scattered about on the slope of the hill. 128/128 (Predictions #4 and 5.)
4. Gaza‑Ashkelon
There are two cities on the Mediterranean coast west
of the Dead Sea, Gaza and Ashkelon, which have been mentioned in prophecy.
Amos 1:8 (775 ‑
750 B.C.)
"I will also cut off the inhabitant
from Ashdod,
And him who holds the scepter,
from Ashkelon;
I will even unleash My power
upon Ekron,
And the remnant of the Philistines
will perish,"
says the Lord GOD.
Jeremiah 47:5 (626
‑ 586 B.C.)
Baldness has come upon Gaza;
Ashkelon has been ruined.
0 remnant of their valley,
How long will you gash yourself?
Zephaniah 2:4,6 (640
‑ 621 B.C.)
For Gaza will be abandoned,
And Ashkelon a desolation;
Ashdod will be driven out at
noon,
And Ekron will be uprooted...
So the seacoast will be pastures,
With caves for shepherds and folds
for flocks....
And the coast will be
For the remnant of the house of
Judah,
They will pasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they
will
lie down at evening;
For the LORD their God will
care for them
And restore their fortune.
Predictions
1. The Philistines will not continue (Amos 1:8)
2. Baldness shall come upon Gaza (Jeremiah 47:5).
3. Desolation shall come on Ashkelon (Zephaniah 2:4).
4. Shepherds and sheep will dwell in the area around
Ashkelon (Zephaniah 2:6).
5. Remnant of the house of Judah will reinhabit Ashkelon (Zephaniah 2:7).
Fulfillment
George Davis comments:
And not only was Ashkelon
destroyed but the entire nation of the Philistines was "cut off"
precisely as predicted by the prophet Ezekiel 2,500 years ago. The Philistines
have been destroyed so completely that there is not a single Philistine living
anywhere in the world today. 37/46 (Prediction #1.)
Davis
gives a good picture of present‑day
Ashkelon:
Following the establishment of the
State of Israel the Jews recognized the splendid location of the old city of
Ashkelon on the seacoast of their country. They decided to make it a beautiful
city of Israel's new State. The Jerusalem Post says
the new city of Ashkelon has been "designed on the lines of a Garden
City."
Davis adds that today, "after long centuries of mighty Ashkelon lying waste and
desolate, it is now being transformed into a garden city. The coast of the Mediterranean is indeed for 'the
house of Judah,' and 'in the house of
Ashkelon shall lie down in the evening.' " (Prediction #5.)
Davis presents a good conclusion:
Ashkelon was destroyed exactly as
foretold! The Philistines were "cut off" from the face of the earth
till not one Philistine remains in all the world! [Prediction #1.) And lastly,
long desolate Ashkelon (prediction #31 has been revived from its ruins of
centuries, and is becoming a Garden City.
Of Gaza, Peter Stoner writes,
A city of Gaza still exists, so for a long time, the prophec