Have the Prophets been right? ...

Tuesday, Jan 12, 2010. When we study the prophets of the Old Testament, we are impressed by the power of their words. The visions which are pictured here are attracting considerable attention. You might think, that old texts must die at some point, but these texts are as active and valid today as they have been 2500 years ago. In modern films words of Isiah, Jeremiah or the revelation of John (New Testament) are worked into fantastic stories.

But have the prophets been right? Are their prophecies valid? Have they been fulfilled, or which prophecies have been fulfilled? Here, I would like to describe basic questions regarding biblical prophecies which are naturally asked - in particular when a heterogeneous group of people (for example Christians and Non-Christians) discuss the questions.

One difficulty is usually the dating of biblical books. We are not 100% clear about the date of the origin of prophecies. For example, the book of Isaiah is often split into three parts, which obtain a different dating. Sometimes the argument is used, that an event mentioned in a text shows that the text has been written after the event took place. That of course by assumption excludes prophecy, the writing about an event before it took place. Of course the matter is more complicated, we need to observe how things are written and what exactly is claimed in any part of the prophetic books.

A second point is the understanding of the prophecies themselves. They are usually not written in a way which would allow one interpretation only. They are texts which are partly vague. If we do not know the outcome, we could imagine many events which would fit into their framework. Or we have difficulties to interpret them at all. Some prophecies are more clear. About God's coming servant and Messiah it is written in Isaiah 53: “But he was pierced for our transgressions”. On the one hand this is a rather clear prophecy, written 700 years before Jesus lived. On the other hand, we do not know in what way he is pierced, when it will happen and there is still a significant interpretation work to be done to realize that this is in fact fulfilled in Jesus.

There are more things to take into account when studying the prophecies. Critics have brought all different kinds of arguments how people might have changed the reports about the actual events later, to twist them to fit the prophecies. In particular, the life of Jesus with the reports of the gospels have been taken into pieces and doubted. But all this criticism can not destroy the amazement we experience when we study these documents. All these words about the coming savior culminate in the events which are the basis of the gospels and the New Testament. In this sense, the Old Testament and the New Testament are one large unit. They all talk about God's history, his will to save and to restore, his love, purity, justice and mercy.

Have the prophets been right? From what I see, I can only say that I am amazed how right they were with so many things. But I also see the need to look in more detail - which will probably lead me to even more fascination about God, his people, his word and his work in and with us. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

... more texts