INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETS

WHAT IS A PROPHET?

1. They functioned as Preachers.

Jonah provides an excellent example of this role as he travels to Nineveh and warns of coming judgment. He preaching brings about repentance throughout the city.

2. They functioned as Predictors.

If the preaching function was that of forth-teller, then the predictive function was that of foreteller. These predictions were never meant to satisfy men’s curiosity. They were given to produce faith and obedience.

3. The Distinctive Roles of Prophet Versus Priest.

Priest

Prophet

Represented the people to God.

Represented God to the people.

Ministered the ceremonies of worship

Ministered the proclamation of the Word.

Priests and prophets held two very different roles. The priest faced toward the Lord while the prophet faced toward the people.

The prophets functioned as Ambassadors between God and men. They served as diplomats of the covenant of God and represented His interests to the nation. In this regard, Israel was viewed as the client kingdom to the Kingdom of God.

 

THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS

There are several common themes that run through the prophets.

  1. The Covenant.

Central to the idea of God's relationship with His people was the idea of the covenant. From earliest times, God had entered into a covenant with His people.

    1. What is a covenant?
    1. Covenant-cutting.
    2. The earliest covenant ceremony called for cutting an animal into two pieces. The parties to the covenant would then pass between the pieces of the animals, indicating that they were bound by life and death to keep the terms of the covenant.

      This is vividly pictured in Genesis 15 where Abraham cuts the animals in two and then the presence of God moves between the pieces of the animals.

      This idea of the cutting of a covenant was so prevalent that the term "cut" came to be used by itself as the making of a covenant.

      Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make (literally "cut") an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David (Isaiah 55:3).

      There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant (literally, "cut" as the word for "covenant" is not even used here) with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. (2 Chronicles 5:10).

    3. The Covenant Lawsuit.

The prophets not only appealed to the covenant to call people to repentance; they also utilized the same format that was commonly used in covenant-making to call the nation to account.

  1. The Day of the Lord.
  2. The theme of the Day of the Lord came to be used as a description of God's coming judgment. This same term could be used for a localized and immediate judgment and it could also be used for the ultimate judgment of God at the end of the age.

  3. The Promise of Messiah.

Although the promise of Messiah is not limited to the prophets (we see it going all the way back to the book of Genesis), we see more and more revealed about the Messiah in the prophets. Here are just a few examples:

 

 

ISAIAH

No prophet says so much about the coming of the Messiah as Isaiah. For this reason, his book has been called the fifth gospel. Indeed, the book of Isaiah has a curious likeness to the Bible in brief.

The Bible

Isaiah

Old Testament: New Testament:

39 books

27 books

Judgment:

Comfort:

39 chapters

27 chapters

Total books

66 books

Total chapters:

66 chapters

The main division of Isaiah takes place at the close of the first 39 chapters of Isaiah in the same way that the Old Testament ends after the 39th book of the Bible.

Chapters 1-35

Chapters 36-39

Chapters 40-66

Judgments in the Present

Historical Interlude

Glory in the Future

The Judgment of God

The Comfort of God

Messiah the Judge

Messiah the Servant

Groan

Glory

God’s Government

"A throne" (6:6)

God’s Grace

"A Lamb" (53:7)

If you happen to be asked on a test as to the two major parts of Isaiah, this is the answer. The first 39 chapters focus upon the judgment of God while the last 27 chapters focus upon the comfort of God.

 

JEREMIAH

Jeremiah has been known as the "weeping prophet." It isn’t that he was a crybaby. It is that he loved his countrymen and saw what they were going through and it brought him to tears.

 

JEREMIAH CONTRASTED WITH ISAIAH

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Saw the Northern Kingdom of Israel taken into Captivity at the hands of Assyria

Saw the Southern Kingdom of Judah taken into Captivity at the hands of Babylon

Isaiah foretold of the judgments that would come in the future

Jeremiah explained the reasons for the judgments that Judah was experiencing

Looks primarily to the future

Looks primarily to the present

Bold and fearless

Gentle and compassionate

Was married to a prophetess and had children with prophetic names

Was commanded not to take a wife or have any children

 

OUTLINE OF THE BOOK

Chapter 1

Chapters 2-20

Chapters 21-45

Chapters 46-51

Chapter 52

Prologue

From Josiah to the first year of Nebuchadnezzar

From Josiah’s sons to the Captivity

Oracles for the Nations

Epilogue

Call of Jeremiah

Fall of Jerusalem

Judgment against Judah

Nations

The book of Jeremiah can be divided into two major portions.

 

THE NEW COVENANT

We have mentioned that the covenant concept is present throughout most of the prophets. Jeremiah introduces us to the promise of a new covenant.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Throughout the book of Jeremiah, he has continually charged the people with being a nation of covenant-breakers. They have transgressed the covenant and have therefore brought the curses of the covenant upon themselves. They are called to repent, but they continue to refuse. Why? Because of an INTERNAL problem. Jeremiah has already pointed out this problem:

9 The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind,

Even to give to each man according to his ways,

According to the results of his deeds. (Jeremiah 17:9-10).

Hebrews 8 quotes this passage to show that the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. There are four specific reasons why this is so.

  1. The New Covenant is Better because it is an Internal Covenant: I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it (31:33).
  2. The participant in the New Covenant has something that the believer of past ages never had. He has the Holy Spirit living within him. He has the Keeper of the Covenant indwelling him. And that makes a big difference. It means that God has gifted His people in a special way, working from the inside out.

  3. The New Covenant is Better because it in All-Inclusive: And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD (31:34).
  4. The Old Covenant was primarily Jewish in scope. It was focused upon the land of Israel and upon the sacrifices that took place in Jerusalem. If you wanted to enter the Old Covenant and were not Jewish, you had to proselyte to Judaism. This called for circumcision and an adherence to the Law.

    But this changes with the New Covenant. Even though it is made with the House of Judah and with the House of Israel, it looks outward to the world to invite all men to enter the Kingdom.

  5. The New Covenant is Better because it Forgives Sins: For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (31:34).
  6. The Israelites broke the Old Covenant. God wrote His commands on tablets of stone and when the Israelites disobeyed, Moses took the tablets and shattered them. But the New Covenant is not written upon tablets of stone. It is written in men’s hearts. And because it is written in men’s hearts, it brings with it the means of fulfilling its obligations.

    How can you possibly fulfill the obligations of the New Covenant? It is only by trusting in the One who fulfilled them on your behalf. That is what verse 34 says: For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

    This was the greatest failure of the Old Covenant. It could not forgive sins. It could temporarily cover sins with animal sacrifices that looked forward to a future fulfillment. But the blood of sheep and goats can never take away sin. For this there needed to be a New Covenant relationship.

  7. The New Covenant is Better because is does not become Obsolete.

When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13).

All other things being equal, new is better than old. A new dress versus an old dress. A new loaf of bread is better than an old crusty one. People naturally gravitate to that which is new. The fact that a New Covenant was promised indicates that the Old Covenant would be rendered obsolete.

 

 

LAMENTATIONS

There are five chapters to the book; just as there are five books to the Torah. Unlike most chapter divisions in our English Bible, these chapter divisions find their origin in the Hebrew text. They are evidenced by the fact that each chapter forms an acrostic.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

3rd person plural ("they")

1st person singular ("I")

1st person plural ("we")

Each verse begins with an acrostic

Each line begins with an acrostic

Each verse begins with an acrostic

No acrostic

Writer addresses himself to his readers

Writer prays to God

The author of this book is not named. Jewish tradition has it that it was Jeremiah. There is no reason to doubt that this was the case.

If the author is Jeremiah, and I think that it is, he had every right to say, "I told you so." They ignored everything he told them and they treated him harshly.

But instead, we see in this book that he has identified himself with the people of the Captivity. He does not look down his nose at them. Instead he associates himself with the sins of the people.

Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.

We lift up our heart and hands Toward God in heaven;

We have transgressed and rebelled, Thou hast not pardoned (Lamentations 3:40-42).

  1. God is Sovereign over the Events of Men.
  2. 37 Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,

    Unless the Lord has commanded it?

    38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High

    That both good and ill go forth? (Lamentations 3:37-38).

    The writer realizes that, even as bad things have taken place and they face great tragedy, God is still in control.

  3. Sin brings forth Tragic Consequences.
  4. 15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;

    Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

    16 The crown has fallen from our head;

    Woe to us, for we have sinned! (Lamentations 5:15-16).

    The writer recognizes that the reason for the sorrow and the heartache and the lament is because of sin.

    The lie of the devil echoes from Eden: "You shall surely not die. Sin will not bear fruit. It has no lasting consequences. It doesn't matter as long as it is between two consenting adults."

  5. There is Hope in the Darkness.

19 Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.

20 Surely my soul remembers

And is bowed down within me.

21 This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

22 The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:19-23).

The writer of this book sees the most bitter afflictions, yet he is able to remember the compassion and the lovingkindness of God. This gives him HOPE.

What is hope? It is faith in the future. It is faith that the God of the past will continue to be faithful in the future.

 

EZEKIEL: THE PROPHET-PRIEST

The Book of Ezekiel can be divided into two major parts.

1:1

25:1

33:1

God’s Judgment on Judah

Oracles against the Nations

Oracles of Salvation

  • Ezekiel's Call (1)
  • Oracles of Judgment (3-7)
  • Visions in the Temple (8-11)
  • Oracles of Judgment (12-14)
  • Parables & Pictures (15-19)
  • Oracles of Judgment 20-23)
  • Parables & Pictures (24)
  • Ammon
  • Moab
  • Edom
  • Philistia
  • Tyre
  • Sidon
  • Egypt
  • Ezekiel commissioned as a watchman (33)
  • Oracles of Restoration (34-37)
  • Gog & Magog (38-39)
  • Glorious Temple (40-48)
  • Message of Judgment

    Message of Restoration

    The entire first part of Ezekiel deals with the subject of the judgment of God. This section is divided into two parts:

    Chapters 1-24 deal with the judgment of God against His own people.

    Chapters 25-32 turn to God’s judgment against the enemies of His people.

    There is a lesson here. It is that when judgment first comes, it begins with the people of God. He judges His own people first.

    Why is this? It is because His people represent Him on earth and God takes very seriously how He is represented.

    But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. (Ezekiel 20:9).

    But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. (Ezekiel 20:14).

    But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. (Ezekiel 20:22).

    Three times in this chapter, God says that the reason He brings judgment against His people is because He will not allow his name to be profaned in the sight of the nations. He will not allow His name to be associated with sin. He will not allow pagans to look at the sins of His people and to say, "If that is what it means to be a Christian, then I want no part of it."

    This is important. When you become a Christian, you take on the official position of an ambassador of Christ. You represent the God of the universe on planet earth. He will not allow you to misrepresent Him.

    Do you see it? God disciplines and then He hugs.

     

    THE GLORIOUS TEMPLE

    Early during the ministry of Ezekiel (chapter 8), he is given a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. He sees the idolatry that is taking place within the very house of God.

    Do you know which mountain is to the east of the city? It is the Mount of Olives.

    This was a sign of judgment against the Jews. The Temple was the place when you went to go and meet God. But God left the Temple.

    There is a principle here. The way God destroys His Temple is by leaving it. For a number of years the physical structure of the Temple was to remain in Jerusalem, but for all intents and purposes, it had already been destroyed. In light of this passage, it is almost anticlimactic when Ezekiel hears in chapter 33 that Jerusalem has been destroyed. The Temple is not even mentioned. Why? Because it had already ceased to function as a Temple when God left it.

    We say that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple, but we are only partially correct. God had already destroyed the Temple by leaving it. Remember the principle: The way God destroys His Temple is by leaving it.

    Do you remember the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem? Where did He go? To the palace of Herod Antipas? To the Fortress of Antonia? No. He went to the Temple. And when the religious leaders of the Temple rejected Him, He left the Temple and went out to the Mount of Olives where he foretold the eventual destruction of the Temple.

    It is no coincidence that the last place we see Jesus before His ascension into heaven is on the Mount of Olives -- the same place where we last see the presence of God in Ezekiel’s vision.

    This brings us to a question. Where is God’s Temple today? It is here. It is the church. It is you guys. It is the corporate body of believers that come together to meet the Lord.

    There is a warning here. It is that God is still in the Temple-destroying business. God destroys His Temple by leaving it. And God destroys churches in the same way. He does not bring a bulldozer or a stick of dynamite. He just leaves. The building and the services and the people might all remain. But it is no longer a church.

    This is why it is so important that we have a repentant attitude when we come together to worship the Lord. We come together to meet Him. He will only be there as we have put aside the world’s idols -- those things that draw our attention from Him.

    The book of Ezekiel ends with a glorious vision of a New Temple. The prophet is taken on a guided tour through the structure -- a structure that is tantalizingly familiar if we have read the book of Revelation.

    Ezekiel’s Vision

    John’s Revelation

    A Temple within the city (40-48)

    The New Jerusalem (21-22)

    Ezekiel is taken in this vision to a very high mountain (40:2)

    John is carried in the Spirit to a great and high mountain (21:10)

    A man uses a rod to measure the dimensions of the temple (40:5-ff)

    An angel measures the city with a rod (21:15-17)

    The entire temple area is measured as a perfect square (42:15-20)

    The entire city is measured as a perfect cube (21:16)

    The presence of the glory of the Lord enters the temple (43:3-4)

    There is no need of sun or moon because the Lord illumines His city (22:5)

    No foreigner is admitted into the temple (44:9)

    Nothing unclean and no unbeliever is allowed into the city (21:8, 27)

    A river of water flows out of the temple (47:1)

    A river of the water of life comes from the throne of God (22:1)

    There are a total of 12 gates around the city (48:30-34)

    There are 12 gates to the city (21:21)

    The name of the city shall be: "The Lord is there" (48:35).

    The throne of God shall be there (22:3)

    Just as Ezekiel had previously seen the glory of the Lord leave the Temple in Jerusalem, now he sees the glory of the Lord come into this house.

    And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. 5 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. (Ezekiel 43:4-5).

    DANIEL: THE STATESMAN-PROPHET

    The first chapter of Daniel is written in Hebrew. When we come to Daniel 2:4 there is a change:

    Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic...

    From this point until the end of chapter 7, the book is written in Aramaic. Then from chapter 8 to the end of the book is written in Hebrew. Aramaic was the lingua franca -- the common language of that day. It is similar to Hebrew. Indeed, our Hebrew Bible generally uses the Aramaic alphabet. As we look at this section, we find that it is primarily concerned with narratives and prophecies that relate to GENTILES.

    1:1

    8:1

    Written in the Third Person

    Written in the First Person

    Seven Historical Narratives

    Four Prophetic Visions

    Hebrew

    2:4

    Written in Aramaic

    Written in Hebrew

    Prologue

    Prophetic History relating to the Gentiles

    Prophetic History relating primarily to the Jews

    Because of this language division, we can suggest an outline of the book of Daniel.

     

    THE NARRATIVE/ARAMAIC PORTION OF DANIEL

    Daniel 2:4 says, "Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic." From this point on to the end of chapter seven is written in Aramaic.

    Dream of the image of the four kingdoms (2)

    Rescue of Daniel’s friends from the fiery furnace (3)

    Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the tree

    Daniel’s interpretation

    Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation (4)

    Belshazzar’s feast and handwriting on wall

    Daniel’s interpretation

    Belshazzar’s death (5)

    Rescue of Daniel from the lion’s den (6)

    Night vision of four beasts (7)

    This section of Daniel begins and ends with visions and dreams that set forth a scheme of prophetic history.

    Chapters 3 and 6 each give an account in which the reigning king mandated a form of worship that was unacceptable to the Jews.

    Chapters 4-5 also give parallel accounts.

     

    THE VISIONS OF DANIEL 2 AND 7

    Chapters 2 and 7 give a series of corresponding visions. As the vision of chapter 7 opens, Daniel sees the four winds of heaven that are driving the sea. Remember that the word for "wind" and the word for "spirit" are the same. Daniel would be reminded of a time when the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters (Genesis 1:2). Now God is again moving the waters.

    Vision of Daniel 2

    Interpretation

    Vision of Daniel 7

    Vision of a Great Statue

    Kings and their Kingdoms

    Vision of Beasts coming out of the Sea

    Head of fine Gold

    Babylon

    Lion with 2 wings of an Eagle

    Breast and Arms of Silver

    Media-Persia

    Bear with three ribs in its teeth

    Belly and Thighs of Bronze

    Greece

    Leopard with 4 wings of a bird and 4 heads

    Legs of Iron and Clay and 10 toes

    Rome?

    Antiochus?

    Beast with iron teeth and 10 horns

    All destroyed by Stone cut without hands

    Coming of the Lord and His Kingdom

    Ancient of Days takes His seat and passes judgment

    A kingdom which will never be destroyed (2:44)

    His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom (7:27)

    The four in the series is characterized by the number 10. There are ten toes in the image and there are 10 horns on the fourth beast. The number 10 goes back to the 10 commandments. It carried the idea of a number of completeness.

    We have a tendency to read this and think of these kingdoms as being "on the earth" instead of "in the land." Antiochus best fits this prophecy if we do not identify the fourth beast as Rome. This will especially be seen to be true when we compare chapter 7 with chapter 8. On the other hand, while we can see Antiochus as a pre-figure, it is in the days of Rome that Christ came to establish His kingdom.

     

    VISION OF THE RAM AND THE GOAT: DANIEL 8

    Daniel 8 starts a new section of the book, yet there are interesting parallels to be seen between this chapter and the previous chapter.

    Daniel 7

    Daniel 8

    Dream comes in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon

    Vision given in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king

    Successive beasts rise up out of the ocean

      • Babylon
      • Medea-Persia
      • Greece
      • Other Kingdom

    A ram is standing by the canal; a goat comes from the west

    · Medea-Persia

    · Greece

    Terrible beast has ten horns

    Large horn broken gives way to 4 smaller horns

    Out comes a small horn...

    • Three previous horns pulled up
    • Eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts
    • Intends to make alterations in times and in law
    • Wages war against the saints and overpowers them
    • Saints are given into this hand for a time, times and half a time
    • Then sovereignty, dominion, and greatness are given to the people of the saints of the Highest One

    Out comes a small horn that...

    • Grows exceedingly
    • Magnifies itself against the hosts of heaven
    • Removes the regular sacrifice and throws down the sanctuary
    • Flings truth to the ground and performs his will
    • Endures for 2300 mornings and evenings
    • Then the holy place will be properly restored

    There seems to be considerable overlap within these two visions, yet there are also some considerable differences.

    The vision of chapter 7 contains the description of animals that would have been unclean by Jewish standards. By contrast, the animals of chapter 8 are clean by the cultic standards of Jewish religion. These were the animals used in the rituals of Yom Kippur.

    In order to further see the fulfillment, we need to know something of Jewish history as it took place between the Old and New Testament.

     

    ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES

    When Alexander the Great lay on his deathbed, his general gathered around and asked, "To whom do you bequeath your kingdom?" He replied, "To the strongest." With those words, he plunged his empire into civil war as each of his generals attempted to carve up a piece of the kingdom. After a hundred years of fighting, two main powers emerged from this.

    These two superpowers continued to oppose one another until the days of Antiochus IV who took the throne and set out to make himself another Alexander.

    He had heard that Egypt was making offers to Judah to turn against him, so he decided to make sure that his hold there remained undisturbed. In order to stabilize his position in Judah, he appointed men whom he could trust to positions of responsibility. One of these positions was that of high priest.

    In doing this, he touched the Jews at their most sensitive spot — their religion. He created the very explosive situation that he had sought to avoid. Judah became a powder keg, waiting for a spark to set it off.

    Antiochus invaded Egypt in 168 B.C. and was victorious. Only the capital city of Alexandria stood against him. As Antiochus marched on Alexandria, a Roman emissary came out of the city to meet him.

    On their first approach he [Antiochus] saluted them and held out his right hand to Popilius; but Popilius put into his hand a written tablet containing the decree of the Senate and desired him first to read that. (Livy).

    The Senate’s message was a crisp order to Antiochus to put an end to his Egyptian campaign and retreat. Antiochus replied that he would call his advisors together and consult them on what was to be done. The Roman emissary responded by taking a swagger stick that he had been carrying and using it to draw a circle around Antiochus on the sand. He told Antiochus not to step out of the circle until he had given his decision concerning the contents of the letter. Antiochus agreed to leave.

    As Antiochus left Egypt, he received news that the Jews had rebelled. He was furious. Antiochus now began an intense persecution of the Jews. He set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple and forced the Jews to worship it. The statue had an uncanny resemblance to Antiochus. This is described in Daniel as an "abomination that makes desolate."

    The Maccabean Revolt started in 166 B.C. in the small, village of Modi’in, 17 miles to the northwest of Jerusalem. A Seleucid officer arrived in the village early one morning with a few soldiers. They proceeded to erect an altar in the middle of the town square.

    Assembling the villagers, the Seleucid official ordered that Mattathias, a Jewish priest, slaughter a pig upon the altar and offer it to Zeus. The villagers would then eat of the pig’s flesh, signifying their acceptance of the Greek religion. When Mattathias did not respond, the old man was offered wealth and honor if he would obey. Mattathias refused.

    Suddenly one of the villagers stepped out of the crowd and walked up to the altar, announcing that he was willing to make the sacrifice. Mattathias was enraged. Grabbing the sacrificial knife from the villager, he slit the villager’s throat and then turn and killed the Seleucid official. Before the astonished soldiers could take in what was happening, the five sons of Mattathias attacked them and slaughtered them.

    The villagers banded together under the leadership of Mattathias and his five sons, stripping the soldiers of their weapons and uniforms and hiding the bodies. The handful of rebels moved out into the hills. The revolt had begun.

    In the following years, the sons of Mattathias and specifically his son Judas organized the resistance movement. Judas was given the nickname of Maccabee, meaning "Hammer" because of his hammer strikes against the Seleucids.

    After three and a half years of fighting, the Jews liberated the Temple Mount and were able to purify the Temple and restore the sacrifices. To this day, the Jews celebrate this time in the Feast of Chanukah.

    The parallels between the prophecies of Daniel 8 with the career of Antiochus Epiphanes are striking.

    I have to conclude that Antiochus did indeed fulfill these prophecies. On the other hand, Jesus indicated that there would come "an abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet" that would come in the future who would again stand in the holy place (Matthew 24:15). The implications of this are obvious. Jesus said that it would happen again.

    It did. Within 40 years from the time that Jesus spoke these words, the Romans landed three legions in Palestine while a fourth marched up from Egypt. They converged upon Jerusalem and the city fell in August of A.D. 70. The Roman General Titus entered the Temple and burned it to the ground. It has never been rebuilt and to this day there remains upon the site an abomination that renders it desolate to Jewish worshipers.

    Will there be a third fulfillment of this prophecy in the future? I don’t believe that the Scriptures mandate such a fulfillment, but I would not presume to tell God what He can and cannot do. What we CAN do is to point out the fulfillments that have already taken place.

     

    COMPARISON OF THE THREE MAJOR PROPHETS OF THE EXILE

    Jeremiah

    Ezekiel

    Daniel

    His ministry began in the reign of Josiah

    His ministry began with the Second Deportation

    His ministry began with the First Deportation

    The Weeping Prophet

    Prophet of Hope

    Prophet of the Nations

    Main focus upon the land

    Main focus upon the land

    Main focus on the nations

    Prophesied to the Jews of Jerusalem

    Prophesied to the Jews by the River Chebar

    Prophesied to the Chaldeans in Babylon

    Writes from Jerusalem

    Writes from Mesopotamia

    -

    Mentions Daniel three times

    Mentions Jeremiah

    Ends with the fall of Jerusalem

    Ends with a vision of a future temple

    Ends with a promise of future resurrection

     


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