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Feb 07

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THE BIBLE (4)

One of the things a person needs to know when looking at the Old Testament books, after getting them in an order as laid out in article number three, as we were able to see the books divided on a shelf; noting the five books of law, the twelve history books, the four books of poetry, and finally the books of the prophets; both the five major ones and the twelve books of minor prophets. However, we would be in a total “miss” if we failed to note that there is a “golden” line that runs through every Old Testament book and it is that of the coming savior! Space will not allow us to point out how the coming Christ is in every Old Testament book, but it would be a greater “miss” if we did not notice a few such! Therefore, let us do just that, as it is a fascinating study.
We have already pointed to the first pronouncement of the coming savior in Genesis three, verse fifteen; so, let us look at a few other prophecies. Just a word about the “prophecies” first. It, the Old Testament “prophecies,” are not anything like the mere “fortune tellers” who have come and gone through the years, or the present ones! No, not at all! These might be called “fortune” tellers who have appeared through the years but just what is a “fortune teller?” Here is one quote that will do as an answer to our question: “Since time immemorial humans have longed to learn that which the future holds for them. Thus, in ancient civilization, and even today with fortune telling as a true profession, humankind continues to be curious about its future, both out of sheer curiosity as well as out of desire to better prepare for it.” (Isaacs, Ronald H. Divination, Magic, and Healing the Book of Jewish Folklore. Northvale N. J., Jason Aronson, 1999, pg 55). The Old Testament books are nothing like this! One of the strongest reasons in proving that the Old Testament is divinely inspired is the “prophecies” within it! Most anyone can be “right” in “fortune telling” what will take place in a day or two; in other words, a person might be right occasionally!! But the Old Testament prophecies are always right, down to the smallest point and may reach into the future a thousand years! The beautiful 53rd chapter of Isaiah will bring this truth to us. Looking at verse three: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” This is Jesus! “He” was truly: 1) “despised and rejected of men;” 2) he was “a man of sorrows;” 3) he was a man “acquainted with grief;” 4) men “hid as it were our faces from him;” and 5) “we esteemed him not!” If you have read any one of the gospel accounts, you know these points to be true of Jesus! One might write one, or even two of these about any man but not about one man; and to do so hundreds of years before his birth! Look at these words: “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth” (verse 9). Who crucified him but the “wicked;” and in whose grave was he buried, it was in the sepulcher of a rich man: “When the evening was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, …” (Matt. 27:57). Get this now, a sinless man, put to death by the “wicked,” but he made no protest: “And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly” (Matt. 27:14). We could go on and on, but this will do! No mere human can fullfill all of this!
Yet, men will put their faith in pseudo “fortune tellers,” before they put their faith in the word of God! Have you heard about those who tell us what is called “the end time,” the “future tellers;” but the word of God tells us this: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; …” (2 Pet. 3:10). Do you know when a “thief” is going to come to your house? Of course, you do not! So is the coming “day of the Lord!” What is the manner of that “coming day?” The Holy Spirit had Peter write about the “end times:” “… in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).
No, there is no book like the “Book of God,” the Bible! Knowing the above is true, what should we be doing? Once more let God speak: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Pet. 3:11). God always gets to the point and it is always the right point!
Well, we have looked at one Old Testament prophecy and have gone into the New Testament just a little, to show real “future telling!” There is no person, nor is there any book, that is even near the Bible!

Frank R. Williams

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