Messianic Prophecies

As Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah ("Messianic" prophecies) ultimately shape world religions, this subject can be a bit touchy. I'll preface this by saying I'm not looking to convince anyone of a certain religion, I'm just noting some observations I've made about Messianic prophecies.

My grandparents on my mother's side were Jewish (both of lineage as well as practicing Jews). My mother is of Jewish lineage, and was brought up practicing Judaism. She converted to Christianity, and though I am of Jewish lineage (ultimately my ancestry leads back to Jacob, or, Israel) I was brought up under the Christian religion.

The Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament have really shaped the 3 major "Abrahamic" religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. A major difference in each lies within interpretations of the Messianic prophecies. Why is this?

Basically, Christians believe the events recorded of Jesus fulfilled many of the Messianic prophecies, however many of the Messianic prophecies still have yet to be fulfilled. Christianity teaches that Jesus will return to fulfill the rest of the prophecies. Jews argue that the Old Testament prophets made no claims to separate comings. I personally see valid points to both views.

Let's view an example of a Messianic prophecy that appears to have been fulfilled: "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles" - Isaiah 42:6. This passage refers to the "Servant of the Lord" bringing knowledge of God to Gentiles (non-Jews). One must admit, the rise of Christianity after Constantine declared it the official religion of Rome certainly brought the God of the Hebrews out of obscurity and more available to the rest of the world than ever before.

Let's now look at an example of a Messianic prophecy has not yet been fulfilled: "In the last days ... Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train anymore." - Isaiah 2:2-5. This passage refers to the "Messianic Age", when there will be peace, and no more war. One must admit, though Christians believe Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, war still exists today.

So this brings us to one of two roads: either Jesus was not the Messiah, or prophets were referring to separate and distinct times when these events would play out. The former being the stance of Judaism, the latter the stance of Christianity.

I believe where a lot of the confusion comes from is that Old Testament prophets prefix many of their prophecies with the phrase "In that day, ..." or "The day of the Lord". This would most certainly appear to be a reference to 1 specific point in time. Moreover, nowhere do the prophets specifically say that any of the events "In that day" will occur at different times. Of course, nor do they necessarily state that they won't either.

This being the case, I had always felt quite compelled by the case that Judaism makes - that Jesus could not have been the Messiah as not all of the prophecies were fulfilled in His time. Until I read one specific chapter of Isaiah that completely changed my mind. "See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants ... The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered." - Isaiah 24:1-3. "In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below... The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed" - Isaiah 24:21-23. Isaiah is prophesying here the annihilation of the Earth as we know it. In fact, neither the sun or moon will shine "In that day".

Now let me refer to another prophesy of Isaiah - one I wrote about a couple weeks ago - the destruction of Babylon. "See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light... Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations" - Isaiah 13:9-20. Again, as in the passage before, the sun and moon will no longer shine during the Day of the Lord. Adjacent to this passage is the prophecy of the destruction of Babylon.

Clearly, we can take as emperical fact that one prophecy has been fulfilled with striking accuracy (the complete destruction of Babylon), while the other has not (the destruction of Earth). Yet, while Isaiah does not specifically refer to the two prophecies as occuring in separate times, they in fact do. Thus in my opinion, Messianic prophecies need not necessarily be fulfilled all at once.

So what does this mean? I find this answer to be even more interesting. If you are a Christian, then you believe Jesus fulfilled some of these prophecies. Meaning, the "Day of the Lord" has begun. Moreover, as a Christian you would believe we are currently living "In that day", and these Messianic prophecies are referring to us, now.

Present-Day Prophecies - Isaiah and Babylon

In discussing religion with folks, sometimes the topic comes up of whether or not any Biblical prophecies are being fulfilled today, as we speak. I believe the answer is Yes. In fact, one Old Testament prophecy comes to mind that is simply irrefutable - the prophecy of the downfall of Babylon in Isaiah.

Isaiah began his ministry around 740 BC, and he lived until sometime around 681 BC. It is disputed as to whether he composed the entirety of the book that bears his name, as certain events place the 2nd half of the book at somewhere around 560 BC, however this is irrelevant concerning the prophecy of Babylon.

The earliest mention of Babylon dates back to the 24th century BC, in an Akkadian tablet. In Isaiah's time, Babylon was one of the largest (if not the largest) cities in the world - and was possibly the first city in the world to reach a population of 200,000. To put it in our perspective, we could equate Babylon to Tokyo or Los Angeles in terms of population.

In chapter 13, Isaiah announces the following prophecy: "Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations". To me, this is a horribly bold statement. Not only will one of the largest cities in the world be destroyed, but never again in the history of the world will anyone live in it. This, put in today's perspective, would almost be equivalent to a statement that Tokyo or Los Angeles would soon not only be destroyed, but moreover never again to be inhabited.

In Isaiah's time, the most important event regarding this prophecy was Cyrus' invasion of Babylon in 539 BC. The Israelites were currently in exile and in quite despair. Cyrus freed the Israelites from bondage and allowed them to return to their home country. While he conquered Babylon, it remained an inhabitable city nonetheless. However in 330 AD, Alexander the Great completely destroyed the city, laying it to ruins. It has been uninhabited since.

In 1985, Saddam Hussein attempted to begin rebuilding the city ontop of the old ruins, inscribing the following on many of the bricks: "This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq"^a. His project was halted with the US invasion in 2003.

Isaiah's prophecy of the fall of one of the largest cities in the world was in fact exactly fulfilled, and is one that we can actually witness today. Whether you are religiously oriented or not, this is simply fact.



^aNebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in 587 BC and began the Babylonian deportation.