Old Testament Prophecy

[Dingleberry]

No shortage of these. I'll use this thread as a place for some of my favorites.

He prophet Isaiah makes mention several times in Isaiah 44 and 45 of Cyrus, the Persian king. He spoke of how God would use Cyrus to rescue Israel from their captivity at the hands of the Babylonians.

Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’ - Isaiah 44:28

“Thus says the LORD to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut.

‘I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.

I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel. - Isaiah 45:1-3

It goes on. Bottom line, Israel is being warned that Cyrus will allow them back to the Promised Land to rebuild the temple. Even more, Cyrus will become a follower of the God of Israel. Why are these chapters such amazing prophecy?

1. Isaiah wrote this 300+ years before there even was a Cyrus!

2. When Isaiah wrote this, Persia wasn't even a power. In fact, the Babylonians weren't even the major power. The Assyrians were the powerful enemy of Israel. The Jews had to believe that they would be taken into captivity by the Babylonians (who were nothing), be rescued by a Persian (whoever they were) named Cyrus, and this Persian would convert to be a servant of the God of Israel.

3. In the coming century, the Babylonians DID conquer the Assyrians. The Babylonians DID conquer Israel and take them into captivity. The Persians DID conquer the Babylonians. The Persian king Cyrus DID convert and serve God. And Cyrus DID send the Jews back to Israel with full support.

All of this occurring in Isaiah's time was not only unlikely, it was nonsensical. And yet it happened.

 

[Dingleberry]

Speaking of the Babylonians....

The prophet Jeremiah also warned of the coming Jewish captivity in Babylon. Then God said...

"Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon
And that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity," says the Lord; "and I will make it a perpetual desolation."

- Jeremiah 25:12


The historical length of Jewish captivity in Babylon? Yes, it was 70 years until the Persians took out the Babylonians.

The site of the capital city of Babylon? Desolate still today.

 

[Kontradiction]

Isaiah 7:14 said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

 

[Kontradiction]

Jews think Mary is a whore per the Talmud, by the way. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

 

[Dingleberry]

Jews think Mary is a whore per the Talmud, by the way. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

And Romans teach their sheep that Mary was.without sin, died a virgin, and can answer prayers.

Just as heretical.

 

[Kontradiction]

And Romans teach their sheep that Mary was.without sin, died a virgin, and can answer prayers.

Just as heretical.

Well they have a prayer to her. They’re lost. That’s the definition of a false idol, IMO.

 

[Dingleberry]

Well they have a prayer to her. They’re lost. That’s the definition of a false idol, IMO.

100% idolatry. They have many of them.

Then again, so do we. Anything ungodly we put before God is an idol. Our worst idols are ourselves.

 

[Dingleberry]

The most famous example. Isaiah 53. Jesus described centuries beforehand.

Thinking of trying to memorize this chapter.


Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.