Fulfilled, fulfilled, fulfilled… What NEXT?
Everyone wants to know what will happen next. The newspaper prints yesterday’s news, and sells it for $1 a copy. A paper that could print tomorrow’s news would be a bargain at $50, and the presses would not be able to run fast enough to satisfy the demand.
One of these days something dramatically new will happen. Jesus Christ will come to set up a worldwide Kingdom, and all who live will be faced with an ultimatum: submit or perish. The result will be the battle of Armageddon, its outcome predetermined. Then will follow a thousand years of rehabilitation, re-education, restoration, reconstruction, peace, progress and prosperity. All this is forecast in the Word of God—it is enough to overwhelm the human mind!
Incredible as it all may seem, it will happen—the God of heaven has decreed it. It will happen, and right here in our world! The ground on which we now stand (wherever we are) will soon be under the jurisdiction of the new Kingdom. So will the land that is called Canada, or Germany, or Japan, or China, or Egypt. The Bible tells us that “all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (Isa. 52:10). All people everywhere shall bow before the new King, “all nations shall serve him.” His dominion shall extend “from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Ps. 72:8).
What do you think?
Maybe you are one who scoffs at this. Maybe you are one who thinks that things will continue just as they always have. Maybe you look upon the Bible as just another book, and its prophecies as mere fancies of human imagination.
You do not have to change your mind–not yet. But someday soon you will, for whether you believe or not, “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness ” (Ps. 24:1), and what He has foretold will happen.
Why? Simply because the God of Heaven has foretold it, and has recorded that prophecy in His written Word, the Bible. We have every reason to believe it because past prophecies—and there are many of them—have been fulfilled just as foretold.
Prophecy God’s Patent
The accurate forecasting of future events is one of the strongest evidences of the authority of God and of the integrity of His Word. Who on earth can tell what will happen tomorrow—or yet today? No one. But God can foreknow and record the future with the same accuracy that we record the past.
Both the Old and New Testaments record predictions that were accurately fulfilled years—even centuries—later. For example, consider the prophecies relating to the birth of Christ. Hundreds of years in advance, the prophets of God revealed just when, where and under what circumstances the Messiah should come into the world, what He would do and how He would do it.
Some fulfillments of Scripture prophecies are recorded by secular history as well. Along with these are other forecasts yet unfulfilled. There are prophecies of Jesus’ second advent and the worldwide government He will establish, also certain details about that government. There are also prophecies telling of the times and seasons when all this will begin to happen. This unique combination of fulfilled, fulfilling and soon-to-be-fulfilled prophecies gives us a solid basis for faith.
Every prophecy of Scripture will be fulfilled, because the God of heaven has spoken. Nothing and no one can hinder His plan. What He has spoken He will do; what He has foreseen will be, He who knows the end from the beginning and in whose Hand are the destinies of all.
We today, in the strength of what has been fulfilled, we can cling with new certainty to that which is still future, realizing the intrinsic value these prophecies hold for each of us personally. The prophecies are foundation the God of the Bible has provided stones on which we can build a stronger faith.
Meanwhile, we want to be alert and watchful. Our Lord may not come this year. On the other hand—He may!