Many prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled, and the ones that have not been fulfilled yet are still in the future. The amazing thing is, all the prophecies in the Bible will be fulfilled sooner or later. No matter what the odds are against a certain prophecy being fulfilled, we know it will take place. How do we know that? Think of the things that have already taken place that are in the miraculous.
God foretold many times that His people (Israel) would be dispersed across the world, but they would return home again to Israel, and be a nation again. Although no other country in the world has done this, Israel has. God also foretold the Israelites would speak their old language again, no matter what language they spoke from the different countries they lived in prior to their return. Today the Israelites are being taught the same language that King David spoke. God foretold that Israel, a complete wasteland as near back as in the 1800s, and stated as such by Mark Twain, will be fruitful once again. Today it supplies Europe with all kinds of fruit. These are three prophecies that were predicted by God a few thousand years ago that would have seemed impossible to fulfill, but have been fulfilled in the last century.
Other prophecies that you take for granted, or don’t give too much thought to, and where the odds are overwhelmingly against, also boggle the mind. In Micah 5:2 God predicts that the Christ Child would be born in Bethlehem. Think of that trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem (about 115 kilometers as the crow flies). A pregnant woman riding on a donkey over rough roads. How many things could go wrong. Could Mary get sick? Could the donkey stumble and throw Mary, and she have a miscarriage? Being she was so close to giving birth, could they have stopped in another town short of Bethlehem and given birth in the wrong place? None of these things happened. Why? because God said the Baby would be born in Bethlehem.
Another case in point. God told Paul several times he would make a journey to Rome. Who would think Paul would live long enough to make that trip. He was stoned and left for dead, but got up and walked away. He was beaten by a mob who was bent on killing him, but was rescued by the Roman army. And as he states in 2 Corinthians 11:24-26, "Five times at the hands of the Jews I received 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day in the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers." With a history like that, who would give Paul a chance to live long enough to reach Rome. Why did he reach Rome? Because God said he would.
Another group of prophecies that seemed impossible at the time, are the ones in the Book of Revelation - the predictions of world devastation, of more than half of the world's population being wiped out by forces unnamed. Although this is still in the future, you can see it's a reality today with nuclear weapons and germ warfare. But try to think what a prophecy, predicted 2000 years ago of world devastation, would mean to a people, who were still throwing spears at each other.
In Revelation 11 we have the prophecy of the two witnesses. Verses 9-10 state: "Those from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation will gaze on their corpses for three and one half days, and they will not allow their corpses to be buried. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and be glad and exchange gifts because these two prophets tormented the inhabitants of the earth." Today we have the technology to allow all the people of the earth to see anything, anywhere, with television. But think what kind of odds the people living 2000 years ago would have given on this prophecy being fulfilled - ever.
No matter how great you think the odds are against any Bible prophecy being fulfilled, don’t bet your life on it, you will certainly lose. God's Word is the only sure thing in this universe. Read up on all His prophecies that have been fulfilled, and think how easy it is to fulfill the future end time predictions, just with the technology we have today. And when you have done that, put the odds in your favor, and turn your life over to Christ. This is easy to do. Just read our comment on 4/18/04, "Abandonment of Your Will to God," and follow the instructions.
By George Konig
July 30, 2006
www.georgekonig.org
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