the fundamentals: volume 11, chapter 4: fulfilled prophecy a potent argument for the bible

8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 11, Chapter 4: Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent Argument for the Bible

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-fundamentals-volume-11-chapter-4-fulfilled-prophecy-a-potent-argument 1/32

•

CHAPTER IV

•

FULFILLED

PROP 'HE ,CY A POTENT ARGUMENT

FOR THE BIBLE

BY ARNO C. GAEBELEIN,

EDITOR o ,UR HOPE.,'" NEW YORK CITY.

''Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your

strong reasons, saith the

King

of Jacob. Let

them

bring

them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show

the former things, what they be, that we may consider tl1em,

and know the latter end o,f them, or declare us things to con1e.

Show the thihgs that are to come hereafter, that we may know,

that

ye

are gods'' ( Isa . 41 : 21-23). ''I declare the end from

the beginning, and . from ancient times the things that are not

Yet done, saying, My counsel sha ll stand, and I wi11do all my

pleasure'' ( Isa. 46 : 10) .

This

is

Jehovah's

challenge to the idol-gods of Babylon to

Pre,dict future events.

He

alone can do that. T 'he

Lor 'd

can

declare the end

from

the beginning, and

make

lroown thing s

that are not yet done. The dumb idols of the heathen know

no hing

concerning

the future. They cannot tiredict what is

going to happen. And man himself is powerless to know

f utur ,e events an ,d cannot find out things to come.

Jehovah, who has made this challenge and declaration, has

also fully demonstrated His power to do so. He has done it in

:religious

character,

called

''sacred books.'' Not one

of

them

contains any predictions concerning the future. If the authors

would

have thereby furnished the strongest evidence of their

d~eptions.

The

Bib,le

is

the on y book

in

the world

which con

tains predictions . It is pre-eminentl)r that, which no other

55

•



•

•

•

•

\

56

T.he

Fund a1nental.s

book could be, and none other is, a book of prophecy. These

predicti

1

ons are declared to be the utterances of Jehovah ; they

show that the Bib

1

le is a s.upernatural book, the revelation

of God .

PROP 'HECY NEGLECTED AND DE.NIED

In view of this fact it is dep·lo,rable that the professing

Church of today almost

completely

ignores and neglects the

study of prophecy, a neglect which has for one

of

its

·results

the loss

of

one o·f

the

most powe .r·fuI

weapons

agains ,t

infidelity.

The denial of the Bible as the inspired ·word of Go

1

d has

.

become widespread.

If prophecy were intelligently studied such a denial could

not

flourish

as

it

does, for the

f ulfille,d

predictions

of

the Bible

give the clearest and most conclusive evidence that th ,e

Bible

is the rev

1

elatio.n

of

God.

T6

this must be a.dded the fact that

the destructive Bi'ble

cri.tici.sm,

which goes

b·y

the name of

''Higher Criticism, ,denies the

po,ssibi lity of prophecy.

The

whole reasoning method of this school, which has become so

popular throughout Cl1ristendom, may be reduc .ed to the fol

lowing:

Prophecy

is .an impossibility ; th

1

er

1

e

is no

,such

thing

as

f

0

1

retelli .ng future events ... Ther

1

efore a boo,k Which contains

predictions of · things

to come, ·which

were

later

fulfill ,ed,

must .

hav ,e been written after the events .

whi

1

ch are

predict ·ed

in the

book. The methods followed by the critics, the attacks made

by

th

1

em upon

the

authenticity of the

different

books of the

Bible, I

especially

upon

those which

co

1

ntain the

most

startling

propheci ies ( .I.saiah and Daniel), w

1

canno,t follow at th isl time.

They deny

everything which the

J w··ish Synago ,gue

and

the

Cl1ristian

·Church a]ways believed to be prophecy, a

super -

.

natural unfolding of future events.

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Th.e pro ·p,h,ecies of the Bi.b

1

le must be first of all d·ivided

1

into three c·Jas.ses. 1. Propheci ,es which h.ave found already ·

-



their

f

ulfil'lment. 2. Prophecies which ar ·e now

i·ri

p~ocess of

f·ulfilJment. Many predictions w·rit ·t

1

en several thousand

year ·s

ago are ·now b,eing acco·m·plished before our eyes. We men

tion those which re·tate to the national and spiritual condition

•

of t'he Jewish people and the predictio ,ns concerning the moral

and r,eligious

condition of the present

age.

3.

Pr

1

ophecies

which are still unfulfilled. We have ·reference to those which

predict the second, glorious and visible coming of our

Lord,

the re-gathering of Is ·rae ,l and their ·restor ·ation to the · land of

p,romise, judgments which will fall upon the ·nations of the

earth, the establishment of the Kingdom, the

conve·r'sion

of

the world, universal peace and righteousness, the

,d

1

el·iverance

of groaning creation,

an ,d otl1er·s.

These great prophecies of future tl1ings are often

~obbed

of the .r literal and solemn meaning by a pr ·ocess of s.pirituali

zation. The visions of

the

proph ,ets co

1

,;icerning

Israe ·t

and

Jerusalem, . and the glories , to come in a future age, are almost

g·enerally

explained

as

having

their fulfillment in

the Church

during the pre ·sent age.

H,owever,I

our obj 'ect is

no't

to follow

the unfulfilled prophecies, but prophecies fulfilled and in

·process of · fulfillment. At the c·tose of our treat ·ise we · shall

point

0

1

ut briefly that in the light of fulfilled p

1

ropheci

1

es,

tl1e

literal

f'ulfi11ment

of'

prophecies still future is perfectly assured.

FULFILLED · PR

1

0PHECY A VAST THEME

Ful ·fil.led

prophecy

i.s a vast

theme

of much

importanc re.

It is.equal y inspiring ·and interesting. Vol urn es could be ,vrit

ten to show how hundrecl ,s of Pivine predictions ,vritten in the

Bible have

passed

into hi.story.

What

God

a.nnounced

through

His

ch

1

os,en

ins.trume .nts , has come to pass. History

is

bearing

witn ·ess to the fact that the ev

1

ents which triln spired among

nations were pre-written . in the Bible, eyen as prophecy is

nothing less

than

history

written in.

advance. As much as

space pe1~mits we s,hall call

1

attention to th

1

e fulfilled proph ,ecies

rel.ating to the

person of Christ; to

the ,

Jewi~h .Pe~ple; and .

•



•

58

The Fundamen ta ls

to a number of natio ,ns, Whose his.tory, who ,se rise and down

fall, are divinely predicted in the Bible. Furthermore, we

shall mention

the

gre:at proph

1

etic unfol

1

dings as

gi·ven in the

Book of Daniel, and ho,w many of these predictions have al

rea.dy

found a most interes ·ting

f

ulfillm .ent.

I

•

MESSIANI

1

C PR0

1

PHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT

The

Old

Testament contains a most

wond ·erful

cl1ain 0£

prophe ,cies

conc

1

erning the person,

·th ,e

1

] f

e and

work

of

o;ur

Lord. . As H

1

e is the center of the whole rev ,elation of God, the

On ie upo :n whom , all rests, ,

we

turn

first

of

all. to

a few of the

· prophecies which speak of Him. This also is very necessary.

Tl1e destructive criticism has gone so far as

1

to

state , tha.t

ther

1

e

are no predictions at all conc,erning Christ in the Old Testa

,ment. Such a denial

lea,ds

to and is linked with the denial of

Christ Hims

1

elf,

especially

the d

1

enial of

His

Deity and

His

work on the

crosis.

I

To

f ollow

the large

number of prophecies

con

1

cerning

the

coming of Ch,rist into the world and

the

w,ork

He was

to

accomplish we cannot

attemp .t

in

these

pages.

We point

out

briefly in a general way what must be

fa-n1iliar

to most Chris

tians who

S1ar

1

ch the

Sc,riptures.

Christ

is

first announce ·d

in

Gen. 3: 15 to be the seed of the woman, and therefore a human

being. In

G

1

en.

9

:26-27

the

supremacy

of

She·m is predict

1

ed.

The full revelation of Jel1ov,ah God

is connected with Shem

and in due time a so,n of Shem, Abraham,

received

the

promise ,

that the

predicted seed

was to come from

him. ( Gen. 12: 8 . )

Messiah was

to co

1

me from

the

seed

of Abraham. ,

Then

the

fact

was revealed

that

He

was to

come from

Is .aac and not from Ishmael, , from . Jacob and not from E,sau.

But Jacob had twelve sons . The Divine prediction pointed to

Judah and

later

to the

hous

1

e·

,of

Dav ·id

o:f

the

tribe

of

Judah

from which

the

Messi.ah should spring . When we come to

·th.~

prop ,hecies. of Is,aiah we leam that

His

m,othet

is

to be, a

virgin.

(Isa.

7:

14.)

But

the

s,on born

of

the virgin is

•

•



•

Immanuel, God with us. Clearly the prop h

1

etic Word in Isaiah

states that the Me·ssiah would be a child born and a Son given

with

the

nan1es,

Wonderful,

Counsellor,

Mighty

God,

the

Everlasting Father, the Prince of Pe ,ace ( Isa. 9 : 6) . The

promised Messiah is to be the seed

1

0£ a woman, of the seed ·

of Abraham,

of·

David, born of a

virg ,in,.

He is

to

be Im-

.

manttel,

the S,on

given, God manifested in

th.i

flesh •

•

This promised Messiah,

the

Son

of David, J

should appea1·

(,acc.ording

to Isa.

11 : 1) after

the

house

of David

had

been

strip ,ped of its royal dignity and glory. And what more could

we say of the prophecies which speak

1

0£ His life, His poverty,

t:he w·orks He was t .0

1

do, Hi ,s rej ection b

1

y

His own people,

thre

Jews. In that matchless chapter in Isaiah, t he fif,ty-third, the

rejection of Christ by His own natio ,n is predicted. In another

cl1apt·er a

still more start ling

prophecy is

recorded : Then I

said,

I

have

labored in vain, I have spent

my

strength for

nau ,ght

and

in vain. Tl1is

i,s Messi .ah sl

lament ·on acco ,unt

of

His rej e

1

ction. Then fo]l ,ows the answer : which contains a

most striking pr ,ophecy : It is a light thing that Thou sho uldes ,t

be My servant to raise up the tribes of J cob

1

and to restore

the preserved o,f Is.rael : I also will give Thee for a light to

the Gentiles, that Thou m.ayest b

1

e My ,salvation unto the ends

of

th·e

e,arth ( Isa. 49: S, 6). Her

1

e

th,e

revelation is given that

He w,ould not

alone ·be rej:ected

by His

1

own nati

1

0 tt,

h ut

tl1at

He w.ould also bring salvation to the Gentiles. Wh ,at human

m·in,d could have ever inve nted such a program I

Tl1e

prom

ised Messiah of Israel, the longed-for One, is predicted to be

rej ·e

1

cted by His own people and tht1s becomes the Saviour· of

the d

1

espis

ed Gentiles. His

suff e·rin,gs

a,nd

His d

1

eath

are

eve·n

more

minutely predicte ,d.

In the Book of Psalms the ·sufferings l of Christ, the deep

agony of I-Iis soul, the exp,ressions of His sorrow and His grief,

are pre-written by the Spirit of God. We mention only ·on.e

Ps lalm,

the twenty- second. His death by crucifixion

is

prophe-

.

sied. , Yet deat h by crucifixi ,on wa1 in Dav·i

1

d

1

.s ti.me an un-

..



•

60

•

The Fu idamentals

known mod ·e: .of d,eath. Cruel Rome ·invented

that horrible

form of ,death. The ,cry of the

for ,saken

On,e is predicted

in

· the

very

words which

,came

from the li.ps

of our S,aviour o·ut

of the darkness which enshrouded the cross. So are also

predicted the words of mockery by those who looked on; the

p.iercing o,f His

han ,ds

and

feet; , the parting

of the garments

*

.

an ,d

tl1e casting

of the lots. In

the fifty-third chapt ,er o ·f

Is.aiah,

the

purpose of I-Iis

death

is

so bles.se.dly predict ,edi H ,e

was. to die the

subs ,titute of sinners. .

There

we

find

al,so

His

burial and His resurrection predicted. All this was recorded

7t00

years

before

our Lord

was

born.

In

the

Psalms we find

the prophecy that the r,ejected One would

occupy

a

place

at

the r·ight 11and o.f Go,d ( Psalm 110 : 1) . H,e· was to Ieav·e the

earth. D·avid ,s Son . and David .s. Lord was . to have

,a

pla ,ce in

the highe .st glory, ev

1

en at the right ha.nd of God, to

1

wait there

till His enemies are

made

His footstool.

It

is

indeed

a won-

derful chain of prophecies concerning Christ. We

could

give

a very few

of these

pr ·edictions,

How they .all

were

long ago

literally

fulfilled

in t·l1e

coming, in the

life,,

in

the d

1

eath,

in

the

resurrec .tion

and

ascen ,sion 0

1

£

our

ad,or,able Lord., all t:ru,e

•

believers kn

1

ow.

TI-IE .JEWISH PEOPLE

When Frederick the Great,

King

of

Prussia,

asked

the

cour ·t chaplain for an argument that the Bible is an inspired

•

_b,ook,

he answe ·red, Your

Majesty, ·the Jews. It was well

___.

sai ,d.,, To th ,e Je,vs wer ,e committed tl1e o,racles of ,God. (Rom~

3: 2.) Tl1ese oracle ·s of God, the Holy Scriptures, the Law

and the Prop ,hets,

are

filled with a large number of

predictions

relating to

their own

history. Their unbelief, the rejection of

the Messia ·h, the

r,esults ,of

that rejection, their dispersion

into

·tl1e corners of

the

earth, so tha ·t

they would be

scatfe :re ,d

among

a.11 the nation .s, the persecution .s and

sorr ,ow.s they

were

to

suffer, th ,e curses which

were

to come

upon th,em., their

mir,acu

lous preservation as a

nation, the .ir

future

great tribul .ation and

•

•

•



•

•

•

'

•

fully, though he did no

1

t know who Cyrus was. TWo centuries

later

Cyrus appeared and then issued his proclamation which

. f

ulfille ,d

.ls1iah'

s predictio ,n,. Higher

criticism denies

the

ge·n

uineness of all this.

In order

to

disprove this

prophecy as

well as others,

they

declare

that

Isaiah did n,o·t

writ ,e

the book

which bears his name. For about 2500

years

no one ,ever

thought of even suggesting that Isai .ah is not tl1e

author of the

book. They have invented an unknown person, whom they

call Deu.tero- .Isaiah,

i. e., a

s.e,cond Is,aiah.

Th ,ey

claim

that

he wrote

chapters

4~66. With

this they

hav~

not stop,ped.

Th

1

ey speak now·o·f a third Isaiah, a Trit~ ·Isaiah, a.s they call

him. With their suppos·ed learning they claim to have dis

covered that some

1

of the chapt ,ers of Isaiah wer

1

e

written

in

Babylon and others

in Palestine. However,

all

the

ar . ents,

a.dvanc ,ed b

1

y the critics for a composite authorship and against

one Isaiah who liv·ed

and

wrote

his

b,ook at the time specified in

the beginni·ng of Isaiah, [are disproven by the book itself. One

only needs to study this book to find out the unity of the

message. One pers .on must be the author o,f the k of

•

Isaiah. .

A REMARKABLE [ CH.APTER

Th .e Pentateuch cont:ains many o,f the prophecies . co11-

cerning the future history of ·the Jews. O·ne ·of the most

remarkable chapters is the twenty -eighth chapter in Deuter-

onomy.

It is one of the m,ost sole1nn chapters in th ,e Pentateuch.

01·thodox Heb ,re,ws read in their s,ynagogues ,,e·acl1year

1

through

the entire five books of Moses.

Wl1en

they read this chapter,

the 'Rabbi reads in a subdued voice. And we'll may they

re,ad

it softly and ponder over

it,

for here is pre-written the sad and

sorrow£ uI history of their wond ,erf ul n,ation. Here thou.san,ds

of years ago the Spirit of God through Moses outlined the

history of the scattered nation,

all their suffering

and

tribula

tion, as it has been for well nigh

t~ro

millenniums and as it is

•



•

•

•

•

•

•

Fulfilled Pr,oph,ecy. a P ,otent Argument for the Bible 63

still. Here are ar.gun1ents for the Divine, the supernatural

origin of this

book

wl1ich no

infidel has

ever

been

able, to

ans,wer ;,nor

will th

1

ere

ever

be.

found an

,answer ,

-

.

It would take many pages to follow the different predic-

tions

and

show

their

literal fulfillment

in

the

nation

which

•

turned

a,vay from

Jehovah

and

dis,obeyed His W ,ord.

Apar ·t from su

1

ch general

pr ,edictions

a,s are found in verses

64-66 an ,d fulfilled in

the dispersion

of

Israel,

there are

othe1·s

which are

mor ie

minute. 'The

Roman power, which

was

us~d

to bre .ak

the

Jews, is clearly pred ..cted b1y

Moses ,,.

a11d that in

a

time when no such power exi st

1

e

1

d. Read verses 49-50: ''The

Lord shall bring a

nation against

thee f'rom far,

from

the end

of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation, whose lan

guage thou .shalt not understand.''

Tl1e

eagle was· tl1e

standard

of th.e Roman armies ; the Jews understood many oriental lan

gu,ages, but were

ignorant

0

1

£

Latin.

''Which

shall

not

r

1

egard

·the person of the old, nor sh

1

,w favo1·

to the

y1oung,.''' Ro me

killed the 0

1

ld people and t·1e c:hildr ·e,n. ''And he shall besie,ge

tl1ee in all thy gates, t1ntil thy high and fenced walls con1e

down,

wl1erein tl1ou

tr ,ustedst, throughout all

thy

land'' (

verse

52). Fulfilled in tl1e siege and overthrow of Jerusalem by

the Roman

'legions.

''The tender

and

delicate

woman

among

y,ou, which wou ld not adventure

to

set the sole

of her

f,oot upon

the ground fo,r delicateness

a11d t

1

en,derness,

sha,]l eat . her chil

dren, fo·r w.an.t ,o,f all tl1ings i'n the s,iege .and ,straitness wh

1

ere

wi,th

thin

1

e enemy

sha'll dist :res~ thee in thy

ga,te,s'' (

54-5,7).

Fulfilled in the dreadful ,sieges of Jerusa .lem,, perhaps

the

most

•

terrible events in the history of blood and tears of this poor

earth.

Every

verse, beginning

with

the

fifteen

th,

to the

end

of this chapt ,er has found its oft repeated fulfillment . It does

not surprise us that th ,e

1

enemy hates this book,

wl1ich

bears such

a

testimony, and

would have

it

cla.ss,ed with

legends ,.

•

Of much

inte,res,t

,is, the last verse

1

0£

this,

great proph,etic

chapter. '' And

Jehovah wi1·1 br·ing

thee

into Egypt

again wit'h

ships,

by

the way whereof I said unto ·thee, Thou slia1t ,see

it

•



64

The

Fundan ientals

no more again;

and

there ye shall sell

you1·selves

unto your

en~mies fo

1

r bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy

. you.

When

Je1·usalem

was , des,troyed by

tl1e

Ro1na ns ,

all

w ho did not di,e in the ,awful ,calamity were . sent to the mines

of ,Egypt, where the: slaves were co,11stantly kept at work with-

out being permitted t.o rest o,r

sileep til l tl1,ey, s,uc.cumbed. .T.he

whip of Egypt fell o,,nce mor

1

e upo

1

n them .and

they suff ·ere

1

d

the

most t

1

errible agonies . Others were sold as slaves. Ac-

cording

to Joseph .us,,

about 100,000

1

were made

slaves so

th .at

the markets were glutted and the word fulfilled , No man sh.all .

buy you.

THEIR DISPERSION AND

PRESERVATION

When Balaam

beheld the camp

of

Israel he

uttered a

prophecy

which is still being fulfilled. Lo, the peo

1

pl

1

e

shall

dwell

alone

and

shall

not b

1

e rec koned among ·the

nations

(Num. 2·3: 9

1

.

1

God had sep

1

arated the

nation

and

given t,o

•

them a

land.

And ·t his peculia ·r people, livi.ng

in one O·f the

smallest co·untries of the earth, has been S

1

cattere ,d throughout

the wo,rld,

has become

a

wanderer, without

a ho,me, without a

land. Like

Cain

they

wander

from nation to nation. Though

without a land they are still a nation. Other

nations

have

pas sed away; the Jewish nati ,on has been pres ,erved. They are

among all the nations and yet not reckoned amo·ng the nations

1

, •

All

this is written

beforehan ,d in

the Bible. And

you

will I

scatter amo .ng the nation .s,

and

I will draw

out .

the sword after

you :

and

your ]and

shall

be a desolation and your cities

shall

be a w,aste (:Lev.

26:

3

3).

And

Jehovah ,will

.scatt

1

er you .

amon ,g the

people,

and y

1

e

shall be

lef .t

f ew i.n num ·ber among

the nations, whither

Jehovah

shall l

1

ead

you away j

(Deut.

4: 27).

And Je l1ovah· will sca tter you among all peoples,

f r

1

om the one end of the e,arth even unto the otl1er end of the

earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast

not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. And

among these nations shalt thou find no ease,

and there

shall

.

•

•

•



Fulfilled

Prophecy

a Potent rgument for the Bible 65

be no rest for the sole of thy foot; but Jehovah will give thee

there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul.

And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt

fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.

In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were even and at

even thou shalt say, Would it were morning for the fear

of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine

eyes, which thou shalt see" (Deut. 28: 64-67). "And yet for

all that, when tl).ey be in the land of their enemies, I will not

reject them, neither will I abhor them,

to

destroy them utterly,

and to break My covenant with them ; for I am Jehovah their

God" (Lev. 26: 44). In many other passages the Spirit of

God predicts their miraculous preservation.

"Massacred by thousand s, yet springing up again from their

undying stock, the J ews appear at all times and in all regions.

Their perpetuity, their national immortality, is at once the

most curious problem to the political inquirer; to the religious

man a subject of profound and awful admiration."* Herder

called the Jews "the enigma of history". What human mind

could have ever for eseen that this peculiar people, dwelling , in

a peculiar land, was to be scattered among all nations, suffer

there as no other nation ever suffered, and yet be kept and

thus marked out still as the covenant people of a God, who se

gifts and callings are without repentance. Here indeed is an

argu1nent for the Word of God which no infidel can answer.

Jehovah has predicted the history of His earthly people.

''Though I n1ake a full end of an ·nations whither I have scat

tered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee" (J er. 30: 11).

THE LAND AND THE CITY

Palestine, the God-given home of Israel, the land which

once flowed with milk and honey, has become barren and

desolate. Jerusalem, once a great city, the hallowed city of

*Milman : "History of the Jews."



•

66

T

ie F

utid amentals

David, is

tro ·dd,en

down

by

the

Gentil ,es.

All this is more

than once

predicted

in the

Wo

1

rd of

Prophecy. ''I will

make

•

thee a wilderness, and citi~s.

whi ,ch

are n

ot

inhabited.

And I will

prepare

1

des.troyers 1aga ·inst the ,e,

1

very one

W"th

his wea ·po,ns ;

and

they

shall cut d·own thy choice ce.dar .s, a.nd cast them into

the

fire.

And many nations

shall

pass by

this

city, a11-d

hey

shall say every man to his

neighbor, .

Where£ ore has the

Lord

do,ne thus unto this great . city '? Then they shall answer ·, ·Be

cause they have forsaken the

covenant

of the

Lord tl1eir God,

and worshipped other gods and served

them'' (Jer.

22

7-9).

''And the generation to ,come, yo

1

ur children that sl1all rise up

after you, and the

foreigner tl1at

shall co1ne fr ,om a

far

land

shall ,say·, w·hen t.hey shall . see the plague ·s of that land .. .. .

even all the nations sha·11 say, Wl1eref ore l1ath Jehovah done

thus unto this land, what meaneth the heat of this great anger?''

(Deut.

29:

22-25.)

Thus , it h.a.s come to pa .ss. Their I.and is being visited by

Gentiles from all over the wor ·l.1 who behold the desolations.

Many

other passages could

be

added to the above passages

which p1·ophesied the very condition of the promised land and

tl1e city of Jerusalem which are fou .nd there now, and which

have exist ,ed fo ,r :nearly

two

th

ousand years.

The national rejecti ,on of Israel and the fulfillment of the

threatened curses have come to pass, and the land in its

barre ·n

condition

witnesses

to

it..

Even

tl1e

duration of all this is

in

1

dic.ated in th.e prophetic Word. There is. a striking passa .ge

in Hosea I ''I will go and return to My place, till they ac

kPo'ivledge their offence and seek My face; in their affliction

they

will seek

Me

early. Come, let

us

return unto

the

Lord;

for He hath torn, and He will heal us ; He hath smitten and He

will bind us up. After two days will He revive us ; in the

third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight''

(Hos. 5: 15----6: 2). According to

this

prophecy Jehovah is to

be in their midst and is to ·return to His place. It refers to

the ma·nif

estation

of

the Lord

Jesus

Christ among

H ·is

people .

•



Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent

Argument for

tfte Bible 7

They rejected Him; :He returned to His place. They are to

acknowledge their offence.

Elsewhere in the Word predictions are found which speak

of a future ·national repentance of Israel when the remnant

of that nation will confes s the blood-guiltiness which is upon

them. According to this word in Hosea, they are going to have

affliction, and when that great affliction comes they will seek

His face, and confess their sins, and express th eir trust in

Jehovah. They · acknowledge that for two days they were

torn and smitten by the jud gments of the Lord, afflicted, as

predicted by their own prophets . A third day is coming when

all will be changed. These days are prophetic days. Several

ancient Jewish expositors mention the fact that these days

stand each for a thousand years. The two days of affliction

and dispersion would therefore stand for two thousand years,

and they are almost expired. The third day would mean th e

day of the Lord, the thousand years of the kingdom to come.

Nor must we forget that our Lord Jesus Christ, too, pre

dicted the great dispersion of the nation, the fall of

J

erusalern,

and that Gentiles were to rule over that city, till the times of

the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Lu ke 21 : 10-24.)

NO GOVERNMENT, NO SACRI F ICE, NO HOLY PLACE

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without

a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice , and

without an image, and without an ephod, and without tera

phim ( Hos. 3 : 4). No further comment is needed on this

striking prediction. Their political and religious condition for

1900 years corresponds to every word given throu gh Hosea

the prophet.

PROPHECIES ABOUT OTHER NATIO N S

Besides the many predictions concerning the people Israel,

- the prophets have much to say about the nations with whom

Israel came in touch and whose history i bound up with the



68

The undamentals

history of the chosen people of God. Babylonia, Assyria,

Egypt, Ammon, Moab, Tyre, Sidon, Idumea, and others are

mentioned in the Proph\:tic Word. Their ultimate fate was

predicted by Jehovah long before their downfall and overthrow

occurr ed. The Prophet Ezekiel was entrusted with many of

the solemn messages announcing the judgment of these nations.

The reader will find these predictions in chapters 25-37. The

predictions concerning Arnmon, Moab; Edom and the Philis

tines are recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter. Tyrus and its

fall is the subject of chapters 26 to 28 : 19. A prophecy about

Sidon is found in the concluding verses of the twenty -eighth

chapter. The prophecies concerning the judgment and degra

dation of Egypt are given at greater length in chapters 29 and

30. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum

and Habakkuk, all contain prophecies concerning differen t na

tions foretelling what should happen to them. A mass of

evidence can be produced to show that all these predictions

came true. Many of them seemed to fail, but after centuries

had passed, their literal fulfillment, even to the minutest detail,

had become history.

We must confine ourselves to a very few of these predic

tions and their fulfillment. The siege and capture of the pow

erful and extremely wealthy city of Tyrus by Nebuchadnezzar,

king of Babylon, is predicted in Ezek. 26: 7-11. It came literally

to pass. One of the proofs is to be found in a contract tablet

in the British Museum dated at Tyrus in the fortieth year of

the king. The overthrow predicted by Ezekiel had come to

pass. The walls were broken down and the city was ruined.

The noise of the song ceased and the sound of the harps was

no more heard. But not all that Ezekiel predicted had been

fulfilled by the Babylonian conqueror . The Divine predic

tion states, ''They shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy

dust in the midst of the water (verse 12). Nebuchadnezzar

had not done this. History acquaints us with the fact that

the Tyrians, before the destruction of the city had come, had



-

....

. -

-

- --

.

-

.

-

..

•

Fulfilled

Prophecy

a

Po tent Argument

for

the Bible

69

rremoved

their

treasures

to an

island about half

a

mi.le f1um

the shore. About 250 years later Alexand er came

against

the

island city. The ruins of Tyre which Nebuchadnezzar had left

standing were used by Alexander. He

1

constructed

ot1t

of the1n

With great ingenuity and perseverance a dam from the main

la11d o,

the rock city in the sea. Thus

literally it

Was fulfilled, ·

They shal l lay thy

stones and thy timber and thy dust in the

midst of

the

water.' '

The

sentence pronounced upon

that

proud city, fo

1

r so 'Jong the

powerful

mistress of the sea, '

1

'Thou

shalt be built no more,''

has

been

fully

carried

o,ut.

Of still greater interest

are

the prophecies which foretell

the doom of Egypt. Ezekie l and Nahum me11tion the Egyp

tian city No. (Ezek. 30: 14-16,; Nah. 3: 8.) No is Thebes

and was the

an.ri,ent

cap

1

ita l o,f

E ,gypt. Th ,e

E ,gyptian

nam,e

is

No-Amon. It had a hundred gates, as we learn from Homer,

and

was a

city

of marvelous beauty. It was surrounded

by

Walls

twenty-£

o,ur feet thick, an.id ha.d a

circumference of

one

tnile and thr ee quarters. The Lord

announced

through Ezekie l

that

this great

city

sl1ot1d be rent

asunder · and that its vast

Populati on should be

Cttt

off. Five hundred y·ears Irater ' Pt 16-

lerny

Laltyrus , the grandfather of Cleopatra,

after besieging

the

city several years razed to the ground the previously ruine d

city. Every

word given tl1rough

Ezekiel had come true.

One

cot1ld

fill

m,any pag ,es showin ,g

tl1

e

lit eral fulfillm .ent ,of EzekieJ' ,s,

great predictions relating to Egypt. The decline and degrada

tion predicted has come true.

The

rivers and canals

of

Egypt

have.

dried up. The

land

has become desolate. The

immense

fisheries which yielded

sucl1

a great

income

to

the

rulers of

Egypt are no longer in existence. Ezek. 30:

7

has

found a

literal fulfillment. Egypt is a land of ruins and wasted cities.

l11e instruments

whom

God ttsed in accomplishing this were

strang ·ers (E zek. 30: 12) like Cambyses,

Amroo

Ochus and

others. ·

~T·I1ere

shall be

no more

a

prince o·f the land ·of

Egypt'' (Ezek. 3,0: 13). This too

ha s

been literally fulfilled.

Ochus

subdued

rebellious

Egypt 350

B

C., and since that

\



70 The undamentals

time no native prince has ruled in Egypt. It is also written

that Egypt should become the basest of the kingdoms, "Neither

sha ll it exalt itself any more above the nation s; for I will

diminish them that they shall no more rule over the nations."

Th is degra dation has fully come to pass. Who would ever

have thought that this magnificent country with its vast re

sources, its wonderful commerce, its great pro sperity, its lux

uries, the land of marvelous str ucture s, could ever experience

such a downfall Another significant fact is that in spite of

the great humiliation and degradation through ·which Egyp t

has passed for so many centurie s, it is not to exper ience a

total extinction. In .this respect her fate differs from that of

other nations, "They shall be there a base kingdom" (Ezek.

29; 14); this is the condition of Egypt today. And other

prophets announce the same fact. One of the earliest prophets

is Joel. He prophesied between 860 and 850 B. C. He pre

dicted at that early date, "Egypt shall be a desolation." Isaiah

also foretells the awful judgment of this great land of ancient

culture. In the light of unfulfille d prophecy we discover the

reason why God has not permitted the complete extinction of

Egypt. Egypt is yet to be lifted out of the dust and is to receive

a place of blessing on1y second to that of Israel (Isa. 19: 22·

25). This will be fulfilled when our Lord comes again.

And what more could we say of Idumea, Babylonia, As-

yria and other lands. Moab and Ammo n, the enemies of

Israel, once flourishing nation s, have passed away and the

numerous judgm ent predictions have come true. ( See Jer.

48-49.) Edon1 is gone . "O thou that dwellest in the clefts of

the rock, that boldest the height of the hill, though thou

shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee

down from thence, sait h Jehovah" (Je r . 49:

16).

"Thou shalt

be desolate, 0 Mount Seir, and a11 Idumea, even all of it ''

( Ezek. 35 : 15). It was an athei st who was first used to

report that during a journey of eight days he had found in

the territ ory of Idum .ea the ruins of thirty cities.



Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent rgument f~r the Bible 71

Babylonia and Assyria, once the granaries of Asia, the

garden spots of that continent, enjoying a great civilization,

are

now in desolation and mostly unproductive deserts. The

predictions of Isaiah and Jeremiah have been fulfilled. Th e

judgn1ents predicted

to

co1ne upon Babylon were

also

fulfilled

long ago.*

THE BOOK OF DANIEL

The Book of .Daniel, however, supplies the most startling

evidences of fulfilled prophecy. No other book has been so

11luch attacked as this great book. For about two thousand

Years wicked men, heathen philosophers, and infidels have tried

to break down its authority. It has proven to be the anvil

upon which the critics' hammers have been broken to pieces.

The Book of Daniel has survived all attacks. It has been

denied that Daniel wrote the book during the Babylonian cap

tivity. The critics claim that it was written during the time

of the Maccabees. Kuen en, W ellhausen, Canon Farrar, Driv

er and others but repeat the statements of the assailant 0£

Christianity of the third century, the heathen Porphyry, wno

contended that the Book of Daniel was a forgery. Such is

the company in which the higher critics are found. The Book

of Daniel has been completely vindicated. The prophet wrote

the book and its magni~cent prophecies in Babylon. All doubt

as to that has been forever removed, and men who still repeat

the infidel oppositions against the book, oppositions of a past

*"How utterly improbable it must have sounded to the contem

Poraries of Isaiah and Jeremiaht that the great Babylon.

this

oldest

llletropo]is of the world, founded by Nimrod, planned to be a city on

the Euphrates much larger than Paris of today, surrounded by walls

four hundred feet high, on the top of which four chariots, each drawn

by four horses, could be driven side by side; in the center a large,

lllagnificent park

an

hour's walk in circumference, watered by ma

chinery; in it the king's twelve palaces, surrounding the great temple

of the sun-god with its six hundred-foot tower and its gigantic golden

statue-should be converted into a heap of ruins in the midst of a

desert Who today would have any faith in a similar prophecy _agailtst

Berlin or

London or

Paris or New York?'' (Prof.

Beuex.)



7

The Fundamentals

generation, must be branded as ignorant, or considered the will

ful enemies of the Bible.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR S GREAT DREAM

The great dream of Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in the

second chapter of the Book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar who

had been constituted by Jehovah a great monarch over the

earth Jer. 27: 5-9) desired to kno,v the future. All his

astrologers and soothsayers, his magicians and mediums, could

.not do that. Their predictions left him still in doubt (Dan.

2: 29). God gave him then a dream which contained a most

remarkable revelation. The great man-iinage the king beheld

is the symbol of the great world empires which were to follow

the Babylonian empire. The image had a head of gold; the

chest and arms were of silver; the trunk and the thighs were

of brass; the two legs of iron, and the two feet were composed

of iron mixed

with

clay. The Lord made known through the

prophet the meaning of this dream .

Nebuchadnezzar and the empire over which he ruled is

symbolized by the golden head. An inferior kingdom was

to come after the Babylonian Empire; its symbol is silver.

This kingdom was to be followed by a third kingdom of brass

to bear rule over all the earth. The fourth kingdom was to

be strong as iron and was to subdue all things. Exactly three

great world powers came after the Babylonian Empire, the

Medo-Persian, the Graeco-Macedonian and the Roman. In

teresting it is to learn, from the different metals of which the

image was composed, the process of deterioration which was

to characterize the successive monarchies. The fourth empire,

the Roman world power, is seen in its historic ·division, in

dicated by the two legs. The empire consisted of two parts,

the Ea st and West Roman sections. Then - the division of

the Empire into kingdoms in which iron (monarchical form

of government) and the clay ( the rule of the people) should

be present is also predicted. How all this has come to pass is



too well known to need

any

furt her demons.tration ,. These

e.mpires have come and gone and the ter ·ritory of the

old

Roman Empire presents . today the very condition as pre

dicted

in

N

eb·uchadnezzar s

dream.

Monarchies and republics

are in existence upon that territory, The final division into

ten kingdoms has ·not yet been ac·complisl1ed. The unfulfilled

portion of this dream we do n·ot fallow · here. The .

reader may

·find tl1is exp

1

lained

in the author s , exp

1

osition of Daniel ..

DANIEL S , GREAT VISION OF TH E WORLD POWERS

•

In the .seventh chapt ,er D.aniel relates his first gre .at vision.

The four beasts he saw rising out of the sea, the type of

na·tions, are

symb,olical o,f the s.ame wo,rld power .s. The lion

wit.h ea.gle s win.gs .is Babyloni ,a.

J

eremi,ah also pictured

Nebuchadnezzar as a lion. Th ,e lion has come

up

from his

thicket and

the

destroyer of the Gentiles is

on

his way (Jer.

4: 7). Ezekie ·1speaks of him as a ,great eagle.. (Ezek · 17: 3 .

The Medo-Persian Empire is seen as a ·bear rai sed up on one

side and having three ribs i11 its mouth. l he one side appeared

stronger because this second world ,empire had P,ersia £Qr its

stronger e]eme,nt. The thr ,ee rib,s the bear holds as, prey

predict the conquests o,f that empire. Medo~Persia conque .red

ex.actly three :great provinces ., Susian .a, Lydia and Asia Minor.

The leopard with four wings and four heads is th ,e picture

of

the

Graeco-Mac ,edonian Empire. The four wings denote

its swiftness and rapid advance so abundantly fulfilled in

the

conquests

of Alexander the Great. The four heads

of

the leopard predict the partition of this empire into the king

doms of Syria, Egypt, Maced ,onia and Asia Minor · The

f

ourt ·h beas.t, the

g·r,eat

nonde script, with

its

t,en horns, and

the little horn, still to c,ome, is the Ro

1

ma·n Empire. These

are wonder£ ul thing ·s. Be it remembered t.h.at the prophet re

ceived the vislion when th.,

Babylonian

Empire still

existed .~

He .re also the character

of

the .se empires

typified by

ferocious

beasts is revealed, . Th

1

e great nations of Christ ,en,dom which

•

•



74

•

The

Fund amentals

occupy , the

g·round

of th

1

e

Roman Empir ,e testify unc

1

onsciously

to t he:truth

,of

this

great prop ,hecy.

Th

1

e emblen1s

of t:hes,e n,a~

tions are not doves, little ]a1nb,s or otl1er· harmles ,s creatur

1

es.

They have ch

1

osen

the lion,. the

beat·,

the unicorn, the

e.agle .

and

the double-headed eagle.

ALEXANDER TI~E GREAT PREDICTED

I

In the eighth chap ,ter a n.ew pro ·phecy is revealed through

Daniel.

Once

more the Medo-Persian

Empire

is

seen,

this

time

under

tl1e

figure

of a

ram with

two horns,

one higher th ,an

the

other,

and the

higher one

came up

last ..

It foretells the

composition of that empire. . It was composed of the Me

1

des

and the Persians ; the Persians came in last and Were tl1e

stro ·11gest.

It conquered

in

three directions. Thi ,s corresponds

to , tl1.ebear with the tl1ree ribs in the previous chapter .

•

The

he-goat which

Da·niel

sees ,

com·ing

from

tl1e

west

w,i,th

a great rus ,h is

the

type of t·he leop,,ar

1

d empi .re, the Graeco

M acedonian. . The · .sa.m

1

e SWifnes,s as revealed in the leopard

with four wings is s,een here , again. The notable

horn upon

the h

1

e-goat, , symbolizing

the

Macedonian

Empire,

is Alexander

the Great. Jos

1

ephus tells us that Alexander was greatly moved

when the Jewish high priest Jaddua acquain ·ted him with the

meaning of this prophecy written

over

two hundred years

before. And how was

it

fulfilled, what is pre ,dicted in D.an.

8 : 5-8,? 334 B.

C.

the notable

horn, .Alexand ,er,

in

goat-like

fashion, leaped across the Hellespont and £ought success£ u)

· battles, then pushed on to the banks of .the Indus and the Nil ,e

and from there to Shushan. The great battles of the Granicus

( 334 B.

C.),

Issus ( 333 B.

C.),

and

:Arbel.la (

331

B.

C.)

were

f o.ugh.t, a:nd with irr ,esis.tible f,orce he stamped the power of

Persia and its king, ·

Dlarius Cod ,omannus,

to the ground. He

conquered rap

1

idl.Y

,Syria.,

Phoenicia ,,

Cyp,rus,

P yre,I

G,aza, Egyp,t,

Babylonia, Per ,sia,. In 32 9 he conquere

1

d

Bactr ·ia,I

cross ied the

Oxus

and J

xaitis

a11d

defeated the Scy,thians. , A,nd

thu,s

he

stamp ,ed upon the ram after having broke .n it ,s hont ,s. But

I



Fulfilled Prophecy a Pot ent Argum ent for the Bible 75

when the he-goat had waxed very great, the great horn was

brok en. This predicted the early and sudden death of Alex

ander the Great. He died after a reign of

12

years and eight

months, after a career of drunkenne ss and debauchery in 323

B. C. He died when he was but 32 years old. Then four

notable ones sprang up in the place of the broken horn. This

too has been fulfilled, for the en1pire of Alexander was divided

into four parts. Four of the great generals of Alexander made

the division, p.amely, Cassander, Ly simachus, Seleucus and

Ptolemy. The four great divisions were Syria, Egypt, Mace

donia, and Asia Minor.

ANTIOCHU S EPIPHANES

In verses

1 9

to 24 of the eighth chapter of Daniel the coin

ing of a wicked leader, to spring out of one of the divisions

of the Macedonian E1npire and the vile work he was to do,

is predicted. He was to work great havoc in the pleasant land,

that is, Israel's land.

History does not leave us in doubt about the identity of

this wicked king. He is the eighth king of the Seleucid

dynasty , who took the Syrian throne and is known by the

name of Antiochus Epiphanes, and bore also the name of

Epimanes,

i. e., the Madman. He was the tyrant and op

pressor of the Jews. His wicked deeds of oppression, blas

phemy and sacri lege are fully described in the Book of the

Maccabees. Long be£ore he ever appeared Daniel saw him

and his wicked work in his vision.

And all this has been fu lfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes.

·When he had conquered

J

erusa len1 he sacrificed a sow upon

the altar of burnt offerings and sprinkled its broth over the

entire building . He corrupted the youths of Jerusalem by

introducing lewd practices; the feast of tabernacles he changed

into the feast of Bacchus. He auctioned off the high-priest

hood. All kinds of infan1ies were perpetrated

by

him and the

most awful obscenity permitted and encouraged.

All

true



l

76

Tlie Fundame ntals

worship was for bidden, and idol worship introduced, especially

that of

Jupiter Olympus.

The

whole city

and land was

dev-

- --

as

tat e

d a-nd some 100,000 pious Jews were massac1

4

ed. Such

has been the remarkable ft1lfillment of this pr ,ophecy.

Even the duration of this

ti111e

of trouble was revealed; and

2,300 days are 1nenti-oned . These 2,300 days , cover about , the

period of time dLting ·which Antiocl1us Epi phanes did his wick- ,

ed deeds .

T11e

,chronology

of

these 2,300

1

days

is

interesting~

Judas Maccab ,aeus cleansed (lit, justified) the sanctuary from

the abominatio n about December

25, 165

B. C. Antio ,cht1s died

a miserab ,le death two years

later .

Going back 2,30 0 days fro1n

the tim ,e Judas

the

Maccabean cleansed the defiled temple,

brings us to 171 B. C. when

we

find

the record

of Antiochus .

inte r£erence

with

the Jews.

Menelaus

had

bribed Antiochus

to malce him

l1igh

priest, r

1

olJbed.

the temple

,and

instituted

tl1e

mttrder · of

the higl1

priest

O .nias

III. ·The

most wicked dee

1

d.s,

in the

defileme11t

o,f the templ

1

e wer

1

e perpet .rated by

tl1e leadin,g

ge,ner ,a.1 of Ant ·io

1

cl1us, Apol1oni us, in the

year

168 B. C. We

believe these 2,300 days ar

1

e therefore literal days and have

found their .Jiteral ft1.lfillme,nt in tl1e dreadf ul days of tl1is

wicked king from the North. There is no other meaning

attached to these days and the foolish speculations that these

day s are years, etc., lack Scriptural foundation altogether .

THE GREATEST OF ALL

T he greatest prophe

1

cy in the Book of Daniel is contained

in the ninth chapter, the prophecy concerning the 70 weeks,

transrriitted from heaven throug h Gabriel. (Dan. 9: 24-27.)

To

many

readers

of

the

Book of Daniel

it is

not

quite clear

Ylhat the expression seventy weeks mea.ns, and when it is

stated that each week rep resents a period o.f seven years , many

Christians do no·t know why such is the case. A brief word of

explanation

may

ther ,efore be in order. The literal transla

tion of the term seventy weeks is seventy sevens. Now

this word se vens translated weeks

may

mean

days

and

•

\



•

Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent Argume1:it for the ibl ·ej 77

it may mean ''years.'' What then is m

1

eant h er

1

e,. seventy ti1nes

.sev,en days or s

1

eventy ti·mes seven years? It is e·vident that

tl1e ''sevens ·' mea .n

year

weel<s,

seven

years to each pro phetic

week. Dani

1

el was

1

0,ccu.pied

in reading the books

a11

1

d in prayer

with the seventy years of the B.abylonian captivity. And now

Gabriel is going to, reveal to ·11imson1ething' which w·ill take

pla

1

ce in ''seventy seve·ns;' '' which means

S

1

eventy times seven

years. The pro

1

of that such ·is the:

1

case

is furnished by

the

f ulfi.11ment of tl1e

p

1

rophe ,cy its,elf.

First we notice in the prophecy that these 70 year-weeks are

divided in three parts. Seven times seven (49 years) are

to go by till the commanded rebuilding and restoration of

Jerusalem should be .acco·mplished. In

tl1e

twentieth yea.r of

Artaxerxes tl1e command was given to rebuil ,d Jerusale1n. It

was in the ,year 445 B.

1

C., ex,a

1

ctly 4.9 y,ears , af te:r the wall of

Jerusalem and th

1

e

city had been rebuilt , Then 62 weeks

are given as the time when Messiah sh,ould be cut off .and have

notI1ing. This

gives

us 434 years (62 times

7'). Here is

a

pre ,diction conce·rning the death of Ch1·is.

Has

it been ful

fillred? Chronolo -gy s.110ws that exactly 483 yea.rs after Arta·

xerxes gave the comma11d to restore

Jerusalem (

445 B. C.) ,

434 years after the city had been restor ,ed, the d,eath of our

Lord Jesus Cl1rist took place.

To ·be more exact, on the day o,n which 0

1

Ur Lord Jesus

Ch·rist entered Jerusa1em for the last time, tl1e DUn1ber of

yea·rs announced by G,abriel expired and the Lo·rd w,as crucifi

1

ed

that week.

The

proof

of it

is

p·erf ect.

But there is more to be sa.id. As a result of the

1

cutting

o,ff

of

M

1

essiah

something

else is

p,rophesied. ''

And the people

0

1

f

the prince that shall come shall destroy the

city·

and the

sanctuary.'' ' The prince that is to c,ome (and is yet to come)

is the little horn of Da·n. 7 He aris .es

0

1

ut o,£ the Rom.an

Empire. The people of the . prince that sh.all come are there

£

or

1

e the Roman peopl,e. They have fulfille

1

d this prophecy

by

d

1

estroying the temp .le and

the ci.ty. .



•

•

•

78

The ·

Fundamen.tal s

THE WAR.S

1

0F ·

THE P T

1

0L .EMIES

AND

.SELEUCIDAE

'

Th .e g.reater

part

of

·the eleventh

chaptet,.

in

D.aniel . has

been historically fulfi.11ed. It is an int

1

eresting st.t1dy. [So [ac

curate are tI1e predicti ,on.s

1

th at the ,enemies[ of · ·tl1e Bi ble have

trie

1

d their very

bes·t

to,

show tl1at D~niel d:i.d

not

w·rite the se,

pr

1

0p

1

he

1

cies s,everal ht1ndred y

1

ear ,s b,efore . they oc

1

curred ,. But

tl1ey have failed in

th.,ir

misera ·bte

[atte :mpts.

w ·e place

the

Sta ·rtling evidence befor

1

e our re.ader ·,

.

PR0

1

PHECY

GIVEN B.

C.

,534

And now will I s h,ew thee

the

tr ,uth. Behold, ther ·e s:hall st:a.nd

u.P

yet three kings in Per ·sia; and

•

the f

ou.r·th

shall b

1

e f a.r r·ich

1

er

th.an

thiey a.II : a·n

1

d by h i.s[ stren ,gth

·through his riches he

shat.I

stir up

all [against . ·the

realm

of Grecia. ·

(Ve .rse· Z)

'

And a m.ighty k·ing· s.hal.l

stan.d

·up,

th~t

shall rule with gre at

do

1

-

n1,in.ion,

and do

a.cco,tding to

1

his

will~ (Verse 3.)

And when be ,Srha.11stand up,

his kingdom .

s,hall be

·broken, a·nd

s·ha,Il be divided toward the ·four

·winds of h.eav en ; and .

not

to his

po,st

1

erity,

·nor ac.cording to h·is do

n1inion

which he ruled :

for

his

1

kingdom

s h.ail

be

pluc .ked

up

even

f

1

or other .s besides those . (Vers ·e

4.)

~•And the kin ,g of

t.he

South

shall be strong, and one of h·is·

I

FULFILLM ENT

•

See Ez:ra

4.

5-24. T he thr ee

ki:ngs were : Ahasuerus, Artaxer

x·c and D

1

arius,

.lcnown in

l1isto17

as Camb

1

ys,es,, Ps,

eudo

Smerd,is, .and

Daritts Hy,staspis1

(n .ot D ·ari .us the

M

1

ede:).

T·he

fourth

one

wa [s

Xerxes,

who·, as

:hi.st,ory

tells

us,

was immensely

rich,,

The ,

in.vasion

o ·f Gre ece t

1

ook

p

1

lace

in

·400Bi c~

The su,ccess,ors o,f Xerx

1

es ar e

n.ot menti

1

on,ed.

The

mighty

king

in

t:his

verse is the

notable

hor .n.

seen by Dani

1

el

on the

he-goat

i:n

chapt ,er

B

Alexander

the

Grea~

33.5

n. c. ·

.

B

1

•

C. 323. AJex,ande:r died

young.

Th.e no,tab

1

1e horn w·a . ·broken. I-Iis

ki11gdom was divided into

1

f 1ou,r

parts (four ,1Yin,ds )

1

a,fter the

bat

tle of lpsus 301 B c.

Hi.s

poster ity

did n.o·t re,ceive t·he

ki.ng ,dom, bu t

his four generals, Ptol

1

emy, Ly

sima1hus, . Se·Jeu.cu:s, Nicato

1

r and

Cass.ander. N o,t one

of f

these divi

s,ions reached ta the glory of

Alex ,a·nder s dom :nion.

Asia and

Gr·e

1

ec

1

e: are noit fol

Jowed but Syria a11dEgypt bec ome

•

•

•



•

•

Fulfilled Prophecy a Potent rgument for the Bible 79

princes ; and he shall be stron ,g

above him, and have dominion:

his,

domi11ion shall

hie a gre ,a·t do~

minio11.'' (Verse

5.)

•

•

•

•

,

''A11d

in the

end

of years they

s.hall

j

1

oin

thems ,elves togeth .er ;.

for the king's daughter of the

South sha ll come to th ,e K·ing of

the

North to

mak ,e an

agreement;

but she shall not

reta ·i11

he power

of

the arm .; neither shall he stand,

· nor his arm : but she shall be given

up,

and

they that broug 'ht her,

,and

he that begat her, and he that

strengthened h

1

er

in thes .e

t·imes,. '

(Verse 6,)

•

''But out of a

branch of

her

roots s·hall one

stand

up in his

e,state, which

,sha,11

com.e

with an

arn1y,

a11d

shalJ enter into the

fo,rtress

1

of the King of the North ,

and shall deal against them; and

shall prevai ·t.'' ( V,ers,e 7.)

•

FULFILL ,ME iT

prominent, be,caus

1

e th

1

e King of the

North from

Syria,

and the King

o,f the Sou .th, Egypt,. were

to

com

1

e

in touch with the

J

ew,s.

The

holy

land became involved with both .

The King of · the South was Ptol

emy Lagt1s. One of his princes

was .Seleu .cu ,s

Ni

1

cator.

He

estab

Jished a great do

1

minion,

which ex

ten1ed to

the

Indus.

Here is another ,gap. T 'his1vers ,e

takes us to 250

B. c. T·he two who

make an alliance are the Kings of

the

North (

Syr ·ian d·ivisio ,n

of

the

Grecian Empire) and of the S0.utl1

(Egypt). . This alliance

was 1 ef

f

e,cted by

the

marriage of

tbe

daughter o··

the

King of

the South,

the Egyptian Princess

Berenice.

daughter of Ptolemy II , to An

tiocl1us

Theos, t:he King

of th

1

e

North. Th

1

e agreement was that

Antiochus ha

1

d to div

1

orce his wife

and make

any

1

chi 1d of Ber ,enice

his heir in

the

kingdom. The

agreement ended in calamity ~

When Ptolemy died Anti ,ochus

Theos in 247 cal 'led 'back his for

mer wife.

Berenice

and

her

youn .g son were poisoned and the

:first wif ,e's son,

1

Callinicus,

was

put on the thr

1

one as

Seleucus

II.

The one out

of her

roots

(Bere

ni,ce,. who had

been

m·ur ,dered ·)

was her ,own brother,

Pt ,olemy

Euerge t ,es, who avenged her

deathe

He conquered

Syria. He

dea .lt

against Seleucus II, King of the

N

0

1

rth, a·nd sl

1

ew the wife of An-

•

•

•

•

•



•

I

•

•

•

•

80

The Fundamentals

,

,PR,O:PHE

1

CY Gl,VEN B . C . 534

•

And s.hall also car ·ry

captives

into

Egypt

their gods,

witl1 ·their

princes, and

with

th

1

eir

preci ,ous

vessels of silver and gold; and he

shall continue more years than

the King of

the

North. (Ver se

8.)

So the King of the South shall

come into

his ki11gdom,

and shall

ret ,urn

into

his own land.

(Verse

9.)

Littr ,al

trans,lat·ion)

:

and the

s.ame

[King

0

1

£

the

North] shall

•

come into the real .m of the Kin .g

of tl1e Sot1th, b

1

ut shall return in·to

hi ,s own land.;

•

But

his sons shall be stirre

1

d

up, and shall assemb

1

le a

multitude

of great forces; and one

shall

·cer

tainly

come. and overflow, and

pass

through :

then shall he re

turn, and be stirred up, even to

his , f

ortress.t, ,

(Verse 10.)

•

•

And the King ,of

the

South

shall be moved with choler ·, and

shall come forth and fight with

him,

1

even with the Kin,g

,of

t·be,

N 0

1

rth :

and

h

1

e

sha Il set forth

:a.

grea ·t, multitude

b1ut,

the multit ·ude

sha ,11 be

,gi·ven

into

his.

hand.

(Verse 11~

•

•

..

FULFIL LMENT

t·io,chus T heos,

Who

·had Bere :nice

poison ·ed,.

1-1,e·

seized the

f

or,tre ,s,s,

the ,

por ·t o,f An ·tio ,ch •

Ptol ·em.y

Euergetes ·

did

exactly

as predicted. . rie

returned

with

4,,000 talents of g,old and 40,000

talents of silv ,er and 2,.500 idols

and idolatr ·ous vessels.

Many

o,f

these Cambyses had

taken

to Per-

•

Sta.

In 240

B. c.

Seleucus Callinicus

the King of

the North invaded

Egypt. He had

to return def eat.ed.

His fle

1

et

peri .she

1

d in a

storm.

l

•

Th e sons of Seleucus Cailinicus

were Seleucus III and

Antiochus

the

Great.

Seleucus (

Cer,aun,os ),

III began

war against

Egyptian

Provin ,ces in Asia Minor.

He

wa ·S

unsuccessful.

The other , son An ...

tioch invaded Egyp ,t and

passed

throu gh because

Ptolemy

Philo

pat er did not

oppose

him. In 218

B. C~

Antiochus continued his war

fare

and

took the

fortress

Gaza.

In 217

B.

C .

Ptolemy arous ,ed

him ·self and

fought An ,tio ,chtts the

Great w·ith an i1nmense ar

1

my.

He

d,ef·eated Antiochus~ Tl1e multi

tu 1de wa ,s given

into the h,ands

of

Pt :o1emy

Philopater.

•



FMlfilled Prophecy a Potent Argument for the Bible

81

PROPHECY GIVEN B. C. 534

"And when he hath taken away

the multitude, his heart shall be

lifted up ;

and he shall cast

down many ten thousands : but he

shall not be strengthened by it."

(Verse

12.)

Literal:

"And the multitude

shall rise up and his courage in

crease.")

"For the King of the North

shall return, and shall set forth

a multitude greater than the for

mer, and shall certainly come

after certain years with a great

army and with much riches '

(Verse

13.)

"And

in

those times there shall

many stand up against the King

cf the South: also the robbers of

thy people shall exalt themselves

to establish the vision; but they

shall £au.• (Vcrse 14.)

"So the King of the North sha11

come, and cast up a mount, and

take the most fenced cities: and

the arms of the South shall not

...,ithstand, neither his chosen peo

ple, neither shall there be any

strength to withstand." (Verse

15.)

"But he that cometh against him

shall do according to his own

will,

and

none shall stand before

him : and he shall stand in the

FULFILLMENT

The people of Egypt rose up

and the weakling Ptolemy became

courageous. His victory is again

referred to.

It

was won at

Ra

phia. He might have pressed his

victory. But he did not make use

of it but gave himself up to a li

centious life. Thus "he waa not

strengthened by it."

About 14 years later, 203 B. c.,

Antiochus assembled a great army,

greater than the army which was

defeated at Raphia, and turned

against Egypt. Ptolemy Philo

pater had died and left an infant

son Ptolemy Epiphanes.

Antioch us had for hia ally

Philip, King of Macedon. Also

in Egypt many rebels stood up.

And then there were, as

we read

in Josephus, wicked Jews, who

helped Antiochus. These "robbers

of thy people" ~stablished the

v1s1on. They helped along the

very things which had been pre

dicted, as to trials for them.

AH this was fulfilled in the

severe struggles,

which followed.

The invasion of the gloT'ious

land by Antiochus followed. He

subjected the whole land unto

himself. He also was well dia-



•

82

The undamentaJsr

PROPHECY GIVEN B.

C.

534

glorious land, whic h

s·hall be consumedli

by

his hand

(Verse 16.)

He shall also, S·et his £ace to

ent ,er

with

the strength of

his

whp1e

kingdom, .and

an

agreemem1t

shall be made with h·im ; ·th ·tts sihal l

he do an.d

he

shall give him the

d.aughter o,£ wo,m.en, corrupting

her: but s·he

shall

not

stand

on

his side, neither be for him.

(Verse 17.)

•

After this shall he

turn

his

face

u11to

th ,e· isl est an,d shall tak ,e

many: but a prince [lit era lly :

1

C.ap-

. tain]

f

1or h·is own be.hal f sl1all

cause the reproach offered by him

to cease; without his own reproach

he shall cause it to turn upon

him. (Verse 18.)

· Then

he

s

1

hall tum his £ace

tow .ard ·the fort of h.is. own land:

but

he .shall stumble and fa ]I, and

not be ·f ,ound.. ( Verse 19.)

Then shal1 stand up in his

estate a

raiser ·

o·f

ta .xes

in

the

glory of the kingdom : but within

few days he shall be destro yed,

neith

1

er in anger, nor in battl ·e.

(Verse 20.)

•

FULFILLMEN T

posed towards the Jews because

they

sided

with

Antiochus

the

Great agains ,t Pto ,lemy Epiphanes.

This brings u·s, to the y

1

ears 198-

195 B.

c.

Antiochus aim ,ed t ,o get

f ull · possessi

1

on of E,gypt. A·n.

agreem

1

ent was made .

In

this

treaty

b1tween

Antioch ·us

and

P tolemy Epip .hanes, Cleop~tr ·a.,

daugl1ter of Antiochus was es

poused to Ptolemy. Why

is

Cleopatra called daughter of

women ? Because she was very

young and was under the ·care of

her mother and

grand ·moth ,er·.

The

treaty failed •

A

f e·w

years , later

.Anti .0

1

chus

conqu ,ere

1

d isles On the c,oast of

Asia Minor . .

The captain predicte ,d is Scipio

Asiaticus. A11tiochus had re

pro .ached the Romans by his a,cts

and he was defeated. Tl1is defeat

took place at Magnesia 190 B. c.

Antioc ·hus returns

to his

own

land. He

1

a.rne to a mi,S1erable end

trying · to p lunde :r the temple

1

0£

Belus in Elymais .

This is Seleuc11s Philop ,a.ter

ei, c.

187-176. He was known

as,

a,

raiser of tax

1

es. He had an evil

reputation with the Jews because

he was such an exactor among

them~ His tax-collector Heliodo-

- -

rus poisoned him an·d

so

he

was

slain neither in ang,er, llor in

b

-ttl - ,,

a_ e



•

Fi,l .filled

P1--ophey a

Poten ,t Argitment

1

r the Bibl e

83

•


'' And in his estate shall stand

up a vile person, to

whom

they

s.halI not give the honor of the

ki.ngdom : but h

1

e

shalt come in

peaceably, and obtain the kingdom

by

flatteries. ·(Verse

21.)

''An ,d with

th,e

arms of

,a fl,ood

sha ll they be o,verflown from be

fore h·im, and s·r1all ·be

b1@ken ;

yea, .also the prince of the c

1

ov,e

nant. '1 (Verse 22.)

''And .after the ,

lea,gue:

made

w.ith him he shall work d.eceit

fully :

for he shall come up, and

shall become strong wi·th a smal l

p,eo,ple. ' {

Verse

23.)

. ''I-Ie shall

ente ·r

p

11

eaceabty

1

ev

1

en

upon th

1

e f,att ,est places o·f the p1~ov

in,ce; and he shall do

tl1at

which

his fathers

have not

don .e, nor

his

father's father; he s,hall scatter

among them

the

prey, and spoil,

,and riches; yea, and he

shal1

fore

cast

his devices against

t 'he str ·ong

ho]ds, even

f

1

or

a tim

1

e.t'

(Ver .se

24.)

''And he sha11 stir up his power

and his co,urage agains .t the King

of

the

South with

a

great

.army ;

and the

King

of

the South shall

be stirr

1

ed up, tio IJattle witl1 ,a v,ery

grea t ,and mighty army; but l1e

shall ·not stand: for they shall

foreca st devices

agai11st him.'''

(Verse 25.) .

•

•

FULF ILLME NT

This vile person is none other

than Antiocl1us

Epiphanes.

H ·e

had 110 c·laim o·n royal dignities ,

bei11g only a. youn .ger Ison of

Antio chus the Great. H ,e seized

royal

hono1·s by

tri

1

ckery and with

fla·t·terie :s.. He i.s

th

1

e little

l1or·n

of chapter

8.

H ,e was : suc

1

ces,,1,ul in def ea·ting

his enemies ,. The prince of the

covenant may mean his nephew

Ptolemy Philo1netor ·. He also van

quished

Philom ,eto,r' ,s

generals.

He feigned

frien ,dsh.ip

to

young

Ptole ·my but

w1orked deceit£

ully.

To allay suspicion he came a.gainst

Egypt with

a

s,ma1·1 f'orce

bu.t took

Egypt

as far as Mempl1is

He took possession of the fertile

places in Egypt under the pretense

o,f peac ,e.. 1-Ie

took Pelu ,sium

and

laid seige to the

fortified places

N

aucratis

and

Alexandria.

This King of the ·South is Pto 'l

emy Physcon, who

was.

made king

af·ter Philometo r had falien into

the hands of

A11tiochus.

He had

a gr ,eat army but did n,ot succeed, .

beca.use

treason

had broken ,out

in

his own camp,

•

I



•

The unda ·mentals

PROPIIECY GIVEN B. C. 5-34

· ''Yea. they that feed of the por

tion of his meat

shall destro

1

y him,

and his army shall ovet·flow : and

n1any

shall f

a11 d

1

0,.vn slain.''

(Verse 26~)

1

''And bot·h these kings'

hea .rts

sh.all be to do mis ,chief, an

1

d

they

shall speak lies at one table ;

but

it

1hall

not

prosper : for

yet the

end shall be at the time appointed~';

(Verse 'O.)

''The• shaft he return into

his

land

with.

great

riches;

and his

hea .rt

shall

be a.gainst the holy

covena.n·t ; and. h.e sha.11 ,do ex

p1o,:ts, and return . to his own land.

(Verse~

•

•

''At

die

time appointed he sllall

return, and come toward the

South ;

but it

shall not be

as

the

f ortner, or as the latter.'~ (Vers ·e

29~)

''For the ship,s of Chittim shall

1

eome ag ·ainst h.im; the ref ore he

s11all be grieved, and return, and

have indign .ation against

the

holy

covenant : so shall he do ; he shall

even return,

and

have

intelligence

with

them that for

sake

the

holy

coTenant.,. (Verse 30.)

\

I

FULFILLM EKT

Additional actions

of Antiochus ,

and warfaret in whicll he was

successful, follo,ved.

I

The two kings ar ·e

Ant :ioch.us

Epip~1anes .and his associate Philo

metor . They

·made

an

alliance

against

Ptolemy Euergetes II,

.alse ,

called Physcon. But they spoke

lies against

each

other

and

did n

1

ot

succeed in

their

plans.

In 168 B. c. he returned from

his expedition and had great rich

es.

Then

he marched through

Jud

1

ea.

and did his

,awfu ·t

deeds. A

repo ,rt had

1

co1ne to · his

1

ears

that

t .he Jewish pe

1

ople had .rep

1

orted

him dead. In the fi·rs·t a·nd sec

1

on·d

book o·f th ,e M.accabees we read of

his atrocitie .s. Then he retire ,d to

Antioch .

He

ma.de

still

another

attempt

against the South. However, he

had not

the former

success.

The .ships of Chitti111 ar

1

e t 'he

Roman ·fleet~ When wit :hin

a

few

miles of Alex .andri la

he

heard

that

sl1ips

had arrived. He went to

salute them. ·They delivere

1

d to

'1i1n the letters of tl1e sen .ate, in

which he vras commanded . on pain

of the displeasure of the Roman

people, to put an

end to

the war

against his nephews. Antiochus

·said, ''he would go and cottsult his

•



Fulfilled

P1Yophecy

a Potent Arguni ent for the Bible 85


And arms shall stand on his

Part and they shall pollute the

sanctuary of strength, and shall

take

away

the

daily

sacrifice,

and

they shall place the abomination

that makeda desolate. ( Verse

31.)

And suc:h as

do

wicked}y

•gainst the co-Yenant shall he cor ~

rupt by flatteries : but the people

that do know their God shalJ be

strong, and do exploits.

And they that understand

arnong the people shall instruct

FULFILLMENT

friends;'' on which Popilius, one

of the legates, took his staff, and

instantly drew a circle round An

tiochus on the sand, where he

stood; and commanded him not to

pass that circle, till he

had

given

a definite answer. As a grieved

and defeated man he r eturned and.

then he fell upon Judea once

more to commit additional wick

edness. Apostate J ews sided witlt

him.

This brings us to the dimax

of the horrors under Antiochus

Epiphanes. The previous record

of

it

is contained in chapter 8. He

sent Apollonius with over

20,000

men to destroy Jerusalem. Multi

tudes were slain, and women and

children led away as captives. He

issued a command that all people

mu~t conform to the idolatry o

Greece. A wicked Grecian was

sent to enforce the word of An

tiochus . All sacrifices ceased and

the God-given ceremonials of

Judaism came to an end. The

temple was polluted by the sacri

fices of swine's flesh. The temple

was dedicated to Jupiter Olym

pius. Thus the prediction w as ful

filled.

These verses describe the con

dition among the Jewish people .

There were two classes. Those

who did wickedly against the

covenant, the apostate, and those

who knew God, a faithful rem

nant. The apostates &ided with



86

The Funda nentals


many : yet they shall fall

by

the

sword, and

by

flame,

by

captivity,

and

by

spoil, many days.

Now when

they shall

fall,

th ey

shall be holpen with a littl e help:

but many shall cleave to them

with flatteries. (Verses 32--34.)

FULFILLMENT

the enemy, and the people who

knew God were strong. This has

reference to the noble Maccabees.

There was also suffering and per

secution.

MANY MORE FULFILLED PROPHEC IES

Many other fulfi1led prophecies 1night be quoted. In the

last chapter of Daniel an interesting prediction is made con

cerning the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and

knowledge shall be increased. Sir Isaac Newton, the dis

coverer of the law of gravitation, wrote on Daniel and ex

pressed his belief that · some day people would travel at the

rate

o

fifty miles an hour. The French infidel Voltaire many

years later laughed at Newton's statement and held it up to

ridicule. The .time of the end is here and the prophecy of

Dan. 12: 4 has come true.

In the New Testament are also written prophecies which

are now in process of fulfillment. 1 Tim. 4: 1, 2; 2 Tim.

3: 1-5; 4: 1-3; 2 Pet. 2; Jude's Epistle, and other Scriptures

predict the present day apostasy.

UNFULFILLED PROPHECY

As stated before, there are many unf ulfilled prophecies

in

the Bible.

The

literal fulfillment of prophecies in the past

vouches for the literal fulfilltnent of every prophecy in the

Word of God. Some of them were uttered several thousand

years ago. The world still waits for their fulfillment. May

we remember that God does not need to be in a hurry.

He

kn9ws indeed the end from the beginning. He takes His

time in accomplishing His eternal purposes. And may we,

His people, who know and love His Word, not neglect proph,

ecy, for the Prophetic Word is the lamp which shineth in

a

dark ,place.

the fundamentals: volume 11, chapter 4: fulfilled prophecy a potent argument for the bible

Documents