Saturday, March 30, 2013

Prophetic Fulfillment Of Jesus' Last Days

This is a repeat of last year's post during Easter weekend, and I believe it is worth putting up again:






The biblical scriptures pertaining to the death and resurrection of Jesus are found in all of the Gospels but Luke's account provides for a fascinating and detailed view of these events, particularly in terms of what transpired just after the resurrection. Two stories which are found in Luke 24 are of great interest.

In Luke 24 we see the story of the two men walking to Emmaus, three days after the events of the cross (just after the resurrection of Jesus, of which they were unaware). It doesn't take much imagination to read into their despair, as they mentioned that they had "hoped" that Jesus would have redeemed Israel (Luke 24:21) and seemed disappointed that things didn't work out as they had envisioned - thus the walk to Emmaus.

It was at this time that Jesus appeared to these two men - only Jesus hid his identity from them and appeared as a stranger to them while they continued their journey to Emmaus. It quickly became apparent to Jesus that these two men had no understanding of what had just taken place in Jerusalem - specifically - the events around His life, death and resurrection. Lets see what Jesus had to say (after revealing Himself):


"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself." (Luke 24:25-26).


There are several points to be made from this passage:

Jesus was explaining that the prophetic scriptures were fulfilled by these events. Importantly (especially for "prophecy scoffers") - Jesus declared that these men were "foolish" and "slow of heart" for not having understood the prophecies as pertaining to His death and resurrection.

That is a serious accusation. Jesus clearly felt that the men should have read and understood these prophecies.

Is it any different today? Would Jesus give people in our generation a pass for not understanding today's prophecies as they pertain to the modern day era?

Note also that Jesus declared that the men were "slow of heart". Not slow of intellect. Not slow of brain power. Not lazy. But slow of heart.

Why? It begs the question of "Why do we study prophecy?" Is it an intellectual exercise?

No. It is most definitely a matter of the heart.



We study prophecy because it tells us that we are that much closer to being in the presence of Jesus. Being with Jesus should be an all consuming passion - and fulfillment of modern-day prophecies tell us that it will happen soon.



How can someone profess to love Jesus - but not have any care or concern about that approaching moment of being in His presence?


This is why it is a matter of the heart - as Jesus explained.

Also note what else Jesus said to these two men: "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself".


For someone who doesn't believe that the prophetic scriptures are important, I would ask them to turn to this particular scripture. Just moments after Jesus' resurrection, He felt it necessary to teach these men "all the (prophetic) scriptures concerning himself". That must have taken hours upon hours. It was obviously of great importance to Jesus.


The next scene described in Luke's account is Jesus appearing before His disciples. So what was on His mind? Below we see what Jesus said to this gathering:


"This is what I told you while I was still with you: 'Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms.' Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'"



The phrase "Law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms" is a way of stating all prophecies pertaining to Jesus.

As stated in "Signs of the Coming Christ", we can make the following observations about Luke 24:



Lessons from Luke 24: 


1) Jesus explains that they are foolish for not understanding the prophecies. 
2) Jesus explains that they should understand ALL of what the prophets have spoken. 
3) Jesus took significant time explaining the prophecies regarding His coming and most of His last words on earth were about prophecy. 
4) Jesus explains that everything written by the prophets must be fulfilled.


In fact, you could push this point to see how Jesus staked His claim as the long awaited messiah based on the fulfillment of prophecy.

And this idea takes us to the next point and that point is described in the title above:

"Prophetic Fulfillment of Jesus' Last Days". This is good time to review the prophecies which were fulfilled during passion week. Just in this one week we see at least 17 specific prophecies which were fulfilled.


The fact that only Jesus could confirm these prophecies screams to the world that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah and Son of God.


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*PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT OF JESUS LAST DAYS:

1. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey:
Given: Zechariah 9:9.....fulfilled: Matthew 21:5-7

2. Jesus betrayed by a friend:
Given: Psalm 41:9.....fulfilled: Mark 14:17-18

3. Jesus betrayed for 30 pieces of silver:
Given: Zechariah 11:12.....fulfilled: Matthew 26:14

4. 30 pieces of silver to be used for the "Potter's Field":
Given: Zechariah 11:13.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:3-5

5. Jesus accused by false witness:
Given: Psalm 109:2.....fulfilled: Matthew 26:59-60

6. Jesus stood silent before His accusers:
Given: Isaiah 53:7.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:12

7. Jesus beaten and whipped:
Given: Isaiah 50:6.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:26

8. Jesus hands and feet pierced:
Given: Psalm 22:16.....fulfilled: John 19:37; 20:27

9. Peter's denial of Jesus:
Given: Mark 14:30.....fulfilled: Mark 14:66-72

10. Jesus garments divided:
Given: Psalm 22:18.....fulfilled: John 19:23

11. Jesus mocked as He died:
Given: Psalm 22:7-8.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:39-40

12. Jesus cried out to God at the cross:
Given: Psalm 22:1.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:46

13. Jesus offered vinegar on the cross:
Given: Psalm 69:21.....fulfilled: John 19:28

14. Jesus bones not broken on the cross:
Given: Psalm 34:20.....fulfilled: John 19:32-33

15. Darkness would cover the earth while Christ crucified:
Given: Amos 8:9.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:45

16. Jesus burial in a rich man's grave:
Given: Isaiah: 53:9.....fulfilled: Matthew 27:57-60

17. Jesus resurrected in 3 days:
Given: John 2:19-21.....fulfilled: Acts 10:40





Some authors point to the fulfillment of these prophecies and declare it a "fingerprint" which points to Jesus and only Jesus who could and did fulfill these prophecies.

Author Grant Jeffery, who conducted a similar exercise - looking at fulfilled prophecies pertaining to Jesus and estimated that the odds of such prophecies having this specific fulfillment are approximately:
1 chance in 480,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.



As stated in his book "The Signature of God", Mr Jeffery says the following:

"Regardless of the size of the estimates for probability you assign to these individual predictions, you will be confronted with a combined probability so staggering in its magnitude that it will be impossible to convince yourself that these things occurred by chance."

Indeed.

Perhaps more importantly, the apostle Peter put things in perspective regarding Jesus death and resurrection. Lets recall Peter - who had only days earlier denied his relationship with Christ - who - like the other apostles was cowering in hiding - in fear prior to Jesus' resurrection.

Then, after seeing the resurrected Jesus, this fearful, hiding individual was suddenly and boldly declaring to the Roman soldiers (and anyone else who would listen) that Jesus is indeed the Messiah: This same Peter, who had been in hiding behind locked doors - completely fearful of being arrested and put to death - suddenly loses all fear and suddenly has no concern of the Roman soldiers and what they could do to him.


Why?



What happened to suddenly give Peter such boldness in proclaiming the gospel?

We can easily see what happened in 2 Peter 1:16:


"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty"


In other words, Peter saw the resurrected Jesus with his very eyes. And as a result, changes from a scared, cowardly individual who was in hiding - to someone boldly proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God without any fear whatsoever - despite the strong possibility of experiencing a gruesome death just as Christ had experienced.


Only that level of assurance - having seen a resurrected Jesus - could Peter have alleviated these fears and subsequently boldly proclaimed the Gospel to anyone willing to listen.


And similarly - we can never forget the promises assured to us. Not only the promises of salvation - made possible by what Jesus did on the cross - but also the promises given to the prophecy watchers who have such a deep love for Jesus that we care enough to watch the signs of His coming:


"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8)



We will all stand before Christ - and that moment appears to be rapidly approaching.
And when that moment does arrive, we can stand before Jesus and tell Him that we loved Him enough to care about His coming. It mattered to us. It mattered enough to watch the signs diligently - daily - because we desperately want to be in His presence. Our love dictates such. The signs tell us that we will be with Him soon. In His paradise. The paradise that He created just for us. Our eternal home.


We now turn to the very last words in the Holy Bible:

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.'
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.
Amen."










17 comments:

Bella G. said...

Good morning Everyone!

Wow, I needed to hear & be reminded of all of this today!

Scott, I read this blog everyday and have learned so much.

Thank you Thank you!!

God bless!

Scott said...

Bella - its my pleasure - have a wonderful and meaningful Easter as we celebrate the risen Christ!

Sandra said...

Scott, thank you for this post and all your hard work! It truly is a blessing.

Sandra

Caver said...

Wow! What a message in these days of darkness. Thanks so much for putting this together. Its such a blessing to have such a wonderful sure and certain eternity. I morn at the price that had to be paid for my sins but, even so, have such hope because that price was paid...in pain and blood.

Thank You Jesus. Your bride awaits Your calling so very soon.

WV, will get you something on the question you asked about the coins when I have a chance.

foretastes said...

Scott... thanks much for repeating this wonderful, giant nugget of Truth. A blessed resurrection remembrance time to you and yours. Hope to see you soon. —Dave

WVBORN56 said...

Scott that was so good! Thanks for re-posting it! What an encouragement to our hearts. It is reassuring to know the reason why I study prophecy based of Jesus' own words.

Thanks Caver I look forward to hearing from you on the subject. We do have a coin shop in town but I would have no idea what to buy.

Happy Easter everyone! :) He is Risen and coming back soon!

Anonymous said...

HE IS RISEN INDEED!
Thank you Scott for posting that for us again.All of your time you put into this blog means so much to all of us.
Maybe the rapture will happen tomorrow on Resurrection Sunday.Wouldn't that be cool.
Hope to see you all very soon.
Come Lord Jesus, your bride is weary.

Robin said...

Beautifully written Scott . . .im book marking this page for future reference.

There's a slight typo, however, this verse actually comes from 24:25-27, not 21:24 :)

Luke 24:25-27
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Have a beautifully blessed Resurrection Sunday to all

Scott said...

Robin - Thanks for picking that up - I immediately corrected that! (its my dyslexia acting up again apparently :)

I can't help but think - we can't be here much longer. Too many things are converging too rapidly. And as Mary said, it would be incredibly awesome to happen on resurrection Sunday.

Caver said...

WV, I’m certainly not an expert but have dabbled and done some research. For any number of reasons, silver is expected to have a much bigger initial and extended “pop” than gold. The whole object is to have something that will save value AND serve as barter if needed. The prices of both have been artificially suppressed for a while now but its geeing harder and harder and an end is in sight. The longer this artificial manipulation last the bigger will be the gains when it comes to an end.

In both gold and silver, you have several ways to invest in the smaller denominations. Considering the state of today’s economy, I consider the speed of delivery to be almost as important as the purity content guarantee. The pure silver is guaranteed 0.9999 pure.

1. National Mint Coins / Bars: Such as Canadian Maple Leaf and American Liberty or Eagle. These can be in several weights, but the most common is the 1oz. For high dollar stuff, like the gold coins, you may wish to check out the ¼, ½, ¾ 2, or 5 oz coins too.
Advantage: More recognizable and trusted, often faster delivery, normally in mint condition. Speed of delivery can vary, depending on demand , but these days they are normally much faster than private mints when buying in quanity. Trusted outlets being some banks, recognized dealers such as Gold Line (http://www.goldline.com/goldcoinsbullion) Known companies with long reputations have no advantage in trying to pass less than advertised metal content at these sizes.
Disadvantage: You will pay a higher premium for these coins. Most consider this premium of little importance at today’s prices of the base silver and gold. It does cost something to mint the coin. The typical premium is about 9%.
2. Private Mint Coins / Bars: Such as Northwest Territorial Mint offer very interesting designs and highly desirable / valuable wrinkles…..such as 1 oz coins with scour marks so it can be broken into ¼ oz pieces should barter or low value trade be necessary. Many have a guaranteed buy back, even if broken into the smaller units.
Advantages: Several of them offer their coins at far less premium over the base spot metal price. Many have a guaranteed buy back, even if broken into the smaller units. My favorite is the Northwest Territorial Mint Stagecoach Coin. (http://bullion.nwtmint.com/) Click on the Stagecoach coin and look at the back. The 1 oz coin is made to be divided if needed.
Disadvantage: Currently unless you buy from the company store and pay a much higher price you must place your order. Delivery has been running several months. My last order was about 3 months but they were to be getting another coin press so that could have changed.
3, Junk silver coins: This generally refers to the coin we remember, the pre 1965 silver coins that were 90% pure precious metal. That’s a far cry from the 99.99% purity that can be had from the more modern specialty coins identified in 1 & 2 above.
Advantages: Available from any number of places from the local pawn shop to international bullion dealers. Sometimes immediate delivery but this is getting to be less and less the case. Many cases of waiting a month or more even when buying from large established precious metal bullion brokers / dealers, such as Goldline. These coins are easily recognized and accepted as the real thing. For example, a quarter is 90% of ¼ ounce of silver.
Disadvantages: Calculating what 90% of the value of ¼ ounce of the base metal might be a little tricky at the start of bad times. Premiums vary widely. Need to count the coins if buying from someone other than a recognized dealer you trust.

Hope that helps!

Stephen said...

Here is an update >>>>

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/343220/argentina-presents-conditions-for-debt-repayment

AND AS STATED BEFORE, I would only
be in CASH now...NO GOLD NO SILVER
just cash. EWI counts have metals
dropping BADLY soon in the face
of a huge dollar rally.....

Stephen >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Seek But Don't Hide said...

Happy Easter to all!

WVBORN56 said...

Caver, thanks so much for taking the time to give me an education on gold and silver. I was already thinking silver was the way to go but have never looked at this or considered it the past. It seems that keeping it at the bank would defeat the purpose but without a safe at home not sure how smart that would be either? I guess I have never worried about this before as I have always thought the rapture would come before a collapse but now that it may be getting close I suppose I want to be prepared just in case. Thanks again!

Robin said...

Stephen, in 1933, Roosevelt devalued the cash by 40% after tricking the masses into doing their "patriotic duty" by turning in their gold for cash. I personally think it's very risky to have cash and CERTAINLY think having that cash in a bank account is utter foolishness. The latest Cyprus deal, which I think was their plan all along, is to take everything over €100,000 and return 37.5% in BANK STOCK. As in failed, bailed out, bank stock.

If they'd announced that from the start, the "98%" wouldn't have had the sigh of relief after being told they were losing a percentage. This way, the political hacks saved the day by going after the rich dudes. They're heroes to the overwhelming majority.

Watching all this go down, makes the whole Occupy Wall Street movement make sense. They're just conditioning the masses for what lies ahead in the near future.

As for silver, there's some scams being run with fake silver from China. A small scale specifically designed for weighing coins in Troy Ounces, a good earth magnet and a 10X jeweler's loop are good tools for ensuring you're not purchasing a well made fake. And above all . . .if there's no buyer's premium, beware. Reputable suppliers are the now way to go, IMHO.

Hal Lindsey re-aired his annual Resurrection Week timeline and it's definitively worth watching. Every time I see it, I pick up something missed previously.

Robin said...

Stephen, have you by any chance seen this Kyle Bass quote? The YouTube video has evidently been removed:


"How do you solve a problem when you are running a 10% fiscal deficit. You are not going to get growth in the absence of private sector demand. So the government's idea now is we are going to export our way out of this. When I asked a senior member of the Obama administration last week, 'how are we going to grow exports if we do not allow nominal wage deflation?', and he just said we're going to kill the dollar. It's a dead answer but that's where we're headed".

Robin said...

Here's a YouTube video of it:

http://youtu.be/ILKolTI1s50

Caver said...

Hi again WV,
Spending the day in reflection but first just a word on the safe keeping.

Yup, safe deposit boxes are not considered safe anymore. Start getting imaginative....maybe something like a length of PVC pipe filled with what you want secure. Cement and caulk a cap on one end, pack with what you want kept, then packed with something that will absorb moisture, then topped with several inches of foam, then a cemented and caulked cap with a screw off plug, then that end bagged in plastic. Then post hole diggers and the foam end sticking up and covered over with at least 12" of dirt. Now its safe from even a metal detector.

OK, now back to Resurrection day.