Come Now, And

The Backwards Principle

Chapter 1

I am often amused and sometimes amazed at hearing commentary of the Second Coming of Christ as if the details of this great happening had already been printed in yesterday's newspaper. People speak with such certainty about how He will make His entrance to the world, the great signs that will accompany His arrival, and the spectacular events - some bringing salvation to the Faithful, others damnation to the wicked - which the peoples of the earth will witness with awe. Such accounts include unmistakable conditions that the world will experience at that time, and unequivocal visible signs in the heavens and on earth, both joyous and catastrophic, which will compel the peoples of the earth.

Images of the Second Coming are based, of course, on the prophecies of the Bible, which are regarded by many as quite clearly spelling out future events. These prophecies are seen as assured promises whose meanings are obvious, and which only the blind could fail to see.

While all this certainty seems to be only a matter of reading what the future holds, for God has foretold the Second Coming in the Bible, what people are actually doing is trying to predict the future.

At first sight, of course, it seems rather natural that one would use prophecies to see into the future. Isn't that what prophecies are for? After all, the many prophecies of the Old Testament foretold with accuracy the First Coming of Christ centuries before it occurred. We now look forward to the Second Coming - and we have equally as many prophecies - and they seem, by the way, much clearer than the ones foretelling Christ's First Coming.

Certainly it would seem that predicting the future through prophecy is not only a reasonable thing to do, but even a duty of the faithful, so that they might prepare themselves for the coming of their Lord. And those whose vision of the Second Coming is based upon the words of the Bible should be assured that their vision is correct - except for one unavoidable fact: there is no evidence to support the commonly held assumption that the meaning of prophecies can be understood before they have been fulfilled. Quite the contrary, the evidence of the Bible overwhelmingly demonstrates that until they are fulfilled, prophecies are ignored, misunderstood, and, in many cases, present a barrier between the seeker and his goal.

Having no foreknowledge of the meaning of a prophecy, one cannot, therefore, use it to predict the future. It must first be fulfilled for its meaning to be revealed.

The Backwards Principle

But, isn't that backwards? It must first be fulfilled? Certainly it seems backwards, but this is only because we have assumed that the reverse is true: that prophecies should be fulfilled according to our understanding of them. In other words, in thinking that we know how a prophecy is going to be fulfilled, we are essentially saying that God cannot fulfill it in a different way. This is presumptuous, to say the least.

As surprising as this aspect of prophecy may be, the surprises don't stop here.

Fulfillment is not the only condition necessary for a prophecy to be understood. There is another: namely, that the One fulfilling the prophecy must be recognized and accepted by the individual trying to understand the prophecy. That is, one must first recognize and accept Christ as the divine Son of God in order to understand the prophecies that He has fulfilled.

And there is more: These two conditions - fulfillment and recognition - present us with a facet of prophecy that seems to go against yet another commonly held assumption: that prophecy is given to lead one to Christ. This is simply not the case.

As difficult as this may be to accept, the story of the New Testament leaves us no alternative: for there is no mention of anyone accepting Christ because they understood prophecies given them in sacred scripture. Though we may at first object to this statement - it certainly does go against much of what many of us have been taught, either directly or through implication - eventually though, after thoughtful investigation, we see much to our surprise that it is true.

Now, even those who do come to this realization may argue of course that just because no one understood the prophecies, it does not necessarily follow that the prophecies were not meant to be understood. They may still have had the purpose of leading souls to Christ, but because of the shortcomings of human beings their purpose was not fulfilled. For example, could not the peoples' pride and stubbornness have prevented them from understanding? Certainly this was a factor. But the question then arises, "Was every soul at the time of Christ proud and stubborn?" What about the holy souls through whom Christ chose to bring salvation to the masses by imparting His love and teachings? What about His disciples? If even these souls - glorified for centuries by millions, souls who gave their very lives for their love of Christ - could not understand the meaning of the prophecies, what chance would anyone else have of understanding them?

The Purpose of Prophecy

There were many, of course, at the time of Christ who were aware of the prophecies pointing to the Messiah, but the prophecies did not lead them to Christ. This is not to say that the followers of Christ failed to understand the prophecies of the Old Testament that referred to Christ; certainly they understood many of the prophecies, but only after they were fulfilled.

It was not their understanding of the prophecies that led them initially to believe in Christ; it was other things. Some were led to believe through dreams, some through visions, some through visits from angels or the Holy Ghost. There were some who recognized that His teachings were from God, and some who witnessed miraculous things in Him. And then there were some who having none of these blessings, simply followed Christ at His words "Follow me"[1], and this they did without the least hesitation. Thus, many people came to Christ by different paths, but none, as far as we know, came to Him by way of prophecies. This surprising truth becomes clearer, the more closely we examine scripture.

Christ himself explained the meaning of certain prophecies to His disciples; the meaning of other prophecies were revealed as the events of His noble Life unfolded. A careful look at these prophecies, as they are stated in the Old Testament, reveals the fact that, without exception, the prophecies referring to Christ's First Coming were fulfilled in a manner that could not have been, and indeed were not, predicted by anyone.

Now, this immediately raises some profound questions: Why did God give these prophecies? If the people who received them did not understand what they meant, if the prophecies did not light a clear path to the Christ, what were they for? Why, if none were to be led to Christ through them, wouldn't God have made them clearer, more obvious so that people could have figured them out?

The problem here, of course, is our assumption that prophecies are given to lead us to Christ. This incorrect assumption causes us to ask such troubling questions - questions, however, that miss a vital point: although prophecies did not lead anyone to Christ, nevertheless, many hundreds of millions have understood the prophecies, and have, therefore, benefited from them. The prophecies have thus fulfilled their real purpose though it is a purpose different from what at first might have been expected.

What then is the real reason for the prophecies of the Old Testament, their true purpose? Why were they given to us?

The prophecies of the Old Testament were given for the same purpose all prophecies are given: to confirm the faith of those who already believe. They were given to show the believer that all things lie within the Almighty's grasp; that with Him are the knowledge and destinies of the future and the past. They were given to strengthen the believer against tests of faith which surely come to all believers. Christ's explanations of the meaning of prophecies filled his disciples with divine assurance in the plan of God. This not only confirmed their faith in Him, but prepared them for their future trials and tribulations. And there have no doubt been countless souls since that time who have been lovingly nurtured in their faith in Christ through study of these prophecies which, along with their other vital purposes, reveal to the believer the proper perspective from which we are to view Christ’s life and words.

The Necessity of Recognition

The principle of the necessity of recognizing Christ in order to understand prophecies relating to Him, and, thereby being confirmed by these prophecies, is constantly demonstrated even to this day. Those who already believe in Christ have no problem accepting all of the prophecies referring to Him - even ones he or she has never previously seen or heard. A Christian, for example, opening a Bible that has been annotated to indicate which Old Testament prophecies refer to Christ, will discover with awe and wonder that a verse he or she formerly never noticed definitely refers to Christ; they simply believe, and this belief enables them to see with new eyes, and to understand. This is because they have accepted Christ, the One Who has fulfilled these prophecies. Having thus accepted Him, they regard all aspects of His life as sacred, and view the written record of His life as sacred scripture. And whatever the scripture says, the same is true. To those who have accepted Christ, the words of the New Testament have acquired a divine status, and these words have then become the standard by which all other words are weighed and judged. Once accepting the Bible as the divine standard, all things contained therein are accepted as true.

On the other hand there are many who, to this day, regard not a single prophecy of the Old Testament as having been fulfilled in Christ - not because they have dispassionately examined the evidence we have about Him and His life and compared it with their prophecies, but simply because they don't believe in Him. They read the scriptures, but do not see that the words "mean" Christ. In a way their unbelief is a barrier to their understanding the prophecies.

Generally, everyone who recognizes Christ believes in all the prophecies referring to Him, and no one who disbelieves in Him, believes in any of these prophecies. How else could this phenomenon be explained except that the recognition of Christ is necessary for the understanding of prophecies?

The Misunderstanding Of Prophecy

Chapter 2

The story of Christ's life depicted in the New Testament presents us with example after example of misinterpretation of scripture by both the religious leaders and lay people of His time. This misunderstanding is seen by many to be the cause of the great suffering inflicted not only upon Christ Himself, but also upon His followers. A misunderstanding of prophecy, however, is not harmful in itself. The disciples themselves did not correctly understand the prophecies referring to Christ - in many cases even after He Himself had explained their meaning to them. The problem associated with the misunderstanding of prophecy comes not from the misunderstanding itself, but from our holding to a particular interpretation in the face of fulfillment in a manner that runs counter to our interpretation.

Those, who at the time of Christ, did hold to their own interpretation, despite evidence that the prophecies were being fulfilled in other ways, crucified Him. So great was the faith they placed in their own ability to understand the words and plan of God that their own understanding became in effect their "scripture". Unknowingly, they had let pride obscure their God-given capacity to distinguish the truth. Had any of Christ's disciples blindly held to their particular pre-conceived interpretation of prophecy, that disciple also would have rejected Christ, but they didn't. They struggled to understand and accept the Will of the Heavenly Father, though it is evident from the scriptures that they were gravely shaken by what was happening in their lives. For, although they had been warned in the scriptures regarding the Coming of Christ, there was virtually no way for them to have been fully prepared for what was to come.

How People Prove Their Interpretation

In spite of the evidence the New Testament gives regarding the inability of people to understand prophetic language before it is fulfilled, and the role that prophecy played in confounding and even leading astray those who would interpret it, there are still many people today, who are sure of their interpretation regarding the Second Coming, and feel very secure regarding what signs will accompany it and what they will look for. I refer here not to any specific group of Christians, or to any particular denomination, but rather to the multitude of Christ's followers from all walks of life, who claim to know what the prophecies mean. And they can "prove" that their interpretation is correct. They do this, of course, by using the Word of God itself.

Some people articulate their reasoning, and for some it is an inner reasoning that is implied in their approach to scripture. And this reasoning, according to my understanding, goes something like this:

“The meaning of the Holy Word is clear and evident. The meaning is based, not on our interpretation, but on what the Bible itself gives as the proper interpretation, knowing that because we are only human, our own interpretation will be flawed, whereas the Bible's explanations are perfect. These interpretations given by the Bible are easy to understand - even obvious to those who are fair minded - once they have been carefully thought upon, or pointed out and explained by someone who understands them.

“A proper interpretation never excludes any part of the Bible, but encompasses all parts. At the same time, recognizing that some aspects of scripture have more relevance to prophecy than others, not all scripture can be given equal weight. That is, a proper interpretation is based on a knowledge of the relative importance of the different aspects of the Bible, and because we have taken into account the Bible in its entirety, our interpretation is not narrow minded.

“The proofs are conclusive and complete, i.e. there are no holes in an interpretation of this kind or things that don't make sense. Of course, there are some things that cannot be known or explained, but these are such things as are only known of God, but surely God has given us enough of His word to enable us to recognize the Christ, when He comes. There are no contradictions in our reasoning. Our interpretation stands on the Revealed Word of God . . . period. So in a sense, it is not our interpretation, but God’s interpretation that we are following.

“Regarding the interpretation of others, we can see in the teachings of other Christian Faiths either flaws in their interpretations, or errors in their understanding, or outright disregard for scripture. We understand what others have either overlooked in their study of scripture or what they have added. Unlike others, however, we refuse to tamper with scripture; we know that you can neither add nor subtract from the Word of God.

“In a word, we "follow the scriptures"”.

This is seemingly sound reasoning, and one that appears to provide a good foundation for the interpretation of scripture. There is, however, a problem with this: others use the same reasoning and come up with different results - different interpretations. Indeed, this reasoning (i.e. that we can figure it all out ourselves), when applied to the practice of religion, has led to Christianity breaking up into hundreds of sects, with most, but not all, claiming, of course, to be the correct one.

That so many people can be so sure that they correctly understand the prophecies regarding the Second Coming, while at the same time giving widely differing scenarios of the events that will take place (or have already taken place), is in itself the greatest sign of the nature of prophecy: namely that it is a mystery until it is fulfilled.

These Words Constitute a Prophecy

What is the flaw with the reasoning given above? Can the Bible not speak for itself? Of course it can. It does. However, the only thing is, there is no way for us to understand fully what it means - more specifically, there is no way for us to tell which words of the Bible are to be taken literally, and which symbolically. We can all agree on what it “says”, but not on what it “means”.

The Bible rarely states anything to the effect that "These words constitute a prophecy", and never gives us clues such as "this prophecy has a literal meaning" or "this one has a symbolic meaning", or "this prophecy has both a literal and a symbolic meaning" and then goes on to indicate which parts are to be taken literally, and which symbolically. Rather, prophecies are simply stated, and as we shall see, sometimes without even a clue that they are indeed prophecies.[2]

Filling In the Details

Along with an inability to distinguish which words should be taken literally, and which words symbolically, another obstacle presents itself before us. Even in the case where the words might have a purely literal meaning and therefore could be understood correctly (if there were some way for us to know that the meaning was purely literal, which there is not), practically all details are absent in the picture given by prophecy. The prophecy uses but a few words, to express what are sometimes great, even magnificent themes or events. This leads to a rather natural, but possibly fatal consequence: we ourselves fill in the details of the picture. We read the words, we make sense out of them, and by this we form a picture of what they mean. This picture, then, becomes our "vision" of what will happen.

Our picture may or may not be the true picture.

The inadequacy and the deceptiveness of forming a picture through words can be easily demonstrated. Simply have a friend get a picture that you have never seen, say, from a magazine, and then have the friend describe it for you. As it is described, you will "see" in your mind an image. Afterwards, take a look at the actual picture. The picture will not be the same as you imagined. As you study it, you will then understand what was "meant" by the words that your friend used to describe it. This is a rather simple experiment, which you may want to try. It demonstrates the inadequacy of words in trying to convey something which can really only be conveyed by the sense of sight. In any case, we're going to try a variation on this right here which will more closely illustrate the subtleties involved in trying to fully understand the meaning of a prophecy before it is fulfilled. Here we will begin not with the picture, but as in the case of our attempting to understand prophecies, with words:

Read the following sentence which I have entitled "The Traveler":

The traveler, weary from a long journey, arrived at a vast plain stretching as far as the eye could see, and stopped to rest before continuing.

As you read these words, you see an image. This is what words are used for much of the time. The prophecies of the Old and New Testaments are full of images. Christ Himself constantly offered images to illustrate His teachings and so did His disciples after Him. But we must realize that the images that words provoke in us actually often come more from our own imagination than from the words themselves. No one but ourselves knows exactly what we "see" because we see with the imagination that is particular to us.

Now, imagine, if you will, that this sentence, which I have called "The Traveler", were a prophecy and that you were awaiting its fulfillment. What would you look for? By what event or sign would you know that it was fulfilled? Well, you would look for the picture you see in your mind, the same thing we do when we await the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Second Coming. We have a "picture" we are waiting for, a vision of what those glorious signs will bring.

Now, let's examine what is happening here. "The Traveler" is 26 words long, but to make a picture from these words, we have to add details - details that simply aren't in those 26 words. Of course, the details we add may indeed be true, but, then again, they may not.

We have to assume many things, otherwise we can't "see" a picture. There's no harm done in adding details; it's automatic, a natural outcome of the capacity of the human mind. However, what would happen if this "prophecy" were fulfilled in a way that didn't match our picture? What would we do? How would we react? Is it possible that we would miss the fulfillment because of a preconceived notion of how it "should" be fulfilled? Or could we accept that a higher wisdom was operating and could we adjust our thinking. Could we keep our assumptions from getting in the way?

Now, before continuing, take a moment to think about "the traveler" for whom you are hypothetically waiting.

In the picture, what do you see?

Did you assume that the traveler was on foot? What if he arrives on horseback, or by canoe? Did you assume that the traveler was alone? What if he is a soldier in an army? What if he is the commander of an army? Did you assume that the traveler would cross the plain? What if after resting, for some reason he turns around and returns the way he came? Did you assume that the traveler was to stop for a short while? What if he marries, and raises children before continuing. Did you assume that the traveler was to live? What if he dies as he rests? Did you assume that the plain was empty? What if a city were built there? And did you assume that the traveler was a man? What if the traveler is a woman?

To illustrate how we automatically form a "picture", and how this picture may vary from the one intended, I have, through my "what-if's" suggested certain details that may have been associated with the fulfillment of this "prophecy". I have not tried to be clever or deceptive in this. The only "rule" I have followed in suggesting these, is that if it were not ruled out by the "prophecy", then it could be part of the "fulfillment".

As we study, in the following chapters actual prophecies and their fulfillment, we will see that God is not even bound by this "rule"; indeed, of course, He is not subject to any "rule" whatsoever, and fulfills prophecies according to His wisdom. Using the life of Christ as an example of the fulfillment of prophecy, we will see that even things that seem to be clearly ruled out in a prophecy, may indeed be present in the fulfillment. And if this weren't enough to confound anyone who would place their confidence in their own understanding of the scriptures, this may be: things that are clearly stated as elements of the fulfillment of a prophecy, may be absent in the actual fulfillment. Moreover, the Word of God gives no explanation as to why this is the case. It is as if God is telling us that, through the events that have come to pass in the life of Christ, we are to understand the meaning of the prophecies referring to Him. For this is exactly what has happened. Now that we have knowledge of Christ and His life through the word of God in the New Testament, we can go back to the Old Testament, and understand His words. Without the New Testament, we cannot understand them.

Now if, as shown in the example of “The Traveler”, common words are subject to widely differing interpretation, how could we possibly assume to have grasped the correct interpretation of the holy words we have been given that describe the Advent of the Lord?

The tongue of the prophets described things that others could not perceive. Like a man seeing a coming thunderstorm that his blind friend cannot see, so the prophet sees and tells of things to come.

We, who read their words, or the words of Christ, are not prophets. Yet, generally, we assume we understand the precise meaning of their words. And though to make this assumption is a perfectly natural thing to do, now that we have the life of Christ described in the New Testament before us as the supreme example of how all assumptions were blown to smithereens at His Coming, can we persist in this practice?

The prophecies of the Bible are like seeds, and their fulfillment is like the plants into which these seeds grow. By looking at the seed, there is no way to tell what shape or color or form lies within it. It is only after the seed develops into a plant that we know the "meaning" of the seed.

In the same way, by studying the words of a prophecy, there is no way to tell what it signifies, or what future events will fulfill it. It is only after the prophecy has been fulfilled that we can understand what the words of the prophecy mean.

Implications for the Seeker

So what does all this mean to us? Is this just a new way of looking at prophecies and their interpretation? I believe it means much more than this. For if we consider thoughtfully, we can see that there is implied in the story of the life of Christ something far more important than anything that I have stated so far, in fact, something of infinite significance to the seeker of Christ. It is this: Although God did not reveal to us plainly how we should know who the Messiah was, and although His Coming ran counter to everyone’s expectations, we were expected to accept and follow Him anyway.

I use the word “we” here to refer, in one sense, to the children of God - of whom we are all a part - past, present and future. But there is another, more appropriate significance in using the word "we". In one very important sense, those spiritual principles which governed the people at the time of Christ are applicable to all who currently inhabit the planet - for Christ said that He would return, and when He does, "we" must accept and follow Him no matter how He comes, whether His coming fits our particular interpretation or not.

If You Had Lived at the Time of Christ

Chapter 3

Even among people who are sure of the signs that will accompany the Second Coming, and to whom the prophecies of the Second Coming seem quite clear, intuitively they know that the prophecies of the First Coming were not clear. We can demonstrate this by asking a simple question:

"If you had lived at the time of Christ, would you have recognized Him?"

A simple question, but hardly an easy one to answer. Although some may, I personally have never heard anyone answer this question "Yes". The response is usually that one would hope to recognize Christ, but one cannot be sure. Intuitively we know that the recognition of Christ was not a simple matter of hearing His message or His words, or of even seeing Him as He moved through the streets of ancient Israel or preached in the temple. For we know that there were many who did indeed have the great blessing of living at His time, and of even meeting Him face to face, but who alas, did not follow Him. Even those who saw or heard of the wondrous acts that Christ performed doubted and even rejected Him.

This question also reveals another aspect of thinking that seems to be prevalent. In answering this question, I've not heard a response that referred to prophecies. Few regard them as tools by which they would have recognized Him. I have never heard anyone say something like "if I had had the prophecies, I would have recognized Him" or "I would have used the prophecies to find Him", or "the prophecies would have helped me". Intuitively we know also, that prophecies would not have been our guide because we can see now, through the record of Christ’s life, that in many cases their apparent meaning was not only unclear, but also actually misleading.

However, if you ask someone today, "Will you recognize Christ when He returns?" You can easily get a response to the effect "Recognize? How can you miss Him!" Although nowhere does it state in the Bible that the New Testament prophecies are easier to understand than those of the Old Testament, it seems that many people assume that this is the case.

Now, if one cannot be sure that they would have recognized Him at His first Coming, how can one be sure that they can recognize Him at His Second Coming? It seems that, in the same way that the people of His time felt sure about how the Christ should come, the people of this time feel sure about how He will return.

In the Bible, story after story unfolds showing how people - even (and sometimes especially) those who thought they were following the teachings of God - have been so sure of their plans, but how God has had other plans. It is a basic need of human beings to feel secure about the world around us, and to understand what the past means and what the future holds. A sense of security is conducive to a feeling of peace and wellbeing. To insure this, we sometimes form beliefs about things, even to the point where we "know" them - even things that cannot be known. This is why today, regarding the Second Coming, there are millions who are all confidently expecting . . . completely different things.

This question - If you had lived at the time of Christ would you have recognized him? - I do not ask idly, for it has profound implications. For, all those who lived at the time of Christ were, in effect, asked this question - not in so many words, of course, but by their place and time in history. And they didn't have the luxury of answering the question as follows: "One would hope to recognize Him, but one cannot be sure". They had to answer, and they did answer, "yes" or "no". Without knowing that this question was being asked, they answered it by their response to Christ.

They had no sign, no halo, no warning that their whole life - their very existence - would be judged by their response to the moment: to the message that they had heard, and to His Person. Although warned in the scriptures, they had not an inkling as to the true manner Christ would come to them. They had formed their own vision of Christ’s Coming, yet God's plan was being carried out according to His own wisdom and His vision surpassed those of mortal man. Those who accepted Christ knew to some extent the role they were playing in God’s plan. Those who rejected Him played a role opposite the one they had fondly imagined they would play.

Now, with His Second Coming, what assurance do we have that we will know the role we will play? To be utterly wrong, yet feel utterly righteous, is well within the capability of human beings. The Bible abundantly demonstrates this truth.

Looking back on that time, with the perspective we now have, it is all too easy to understand the things that went wrong at Christ's First Coming - the people's misunderstandings, their blindness and pride. There are certainly things which we, at this time, understand about the plan of God which simply could not have been understood by the people to whom Christ appeared. But this fact should not deceive us into thinking that we fully understand His plan, that God has blessed us with knowing what the future holds. Of course we understand those things that have gone before us and of which we have a record in the scriptures, but so did the people of Christ's time. At any point in time, God has given to His people a sacred record of the past, and promises of the future. The past is understood; the promises of the future are not. Yes, we understand the prophecies referring to Christ's First Coming because their meaning was revealed through His First Coming, but how can we presume to understand those referring to His Second Coming until we witness it?

Seeking the Christ in His Time Without Our Present Knowledge

Consider this: If you had lived at the time of Christ, you no doubt would have been given all the blessings that the people of His time were given. To aid you to recognize the Promised Messiah, you would have been given God’s guidance through scripture and prayer, and His assurance that He would always be with those who love Him.

But you would have also been given all the distractions, all the cares and troubles with which God, in His wisdom, endows life on this planet. Your culture would have been the culture into which Christ was born; your thinking, the thinking of His time. Your mind would have been biased by the same erroneous interpretations that were circulated by the religious leaders of His age. With all this, you would have had to seek out the Promised One.

There would have been no one to whom you could have turned for true guidance; no one who could have led you. All those who were regarded with respect, who were noted for their wisdom and faith, and who seemed to understand the scriptures, nevertheless, would have had the wrong "picture" of the coming Messiah. These same people who completely misunderstood the meaning of the scriptures, however, would have been the very people you would have been brought up to obey and revere.

Furthermore, although the religious leaders of Christ's time were completely wrong in their understanding of the scriptures, still they did not cease to pray for the Messiah to come. They continued to long for the peace, justice, and victory promised them in their sacred scripture. These same people who ignored, rejected, and even persecuted Christ, in their hearts beseeched God to send the Messiah to fulfill the ancient prophecies which their ancestors had longed to see. If you had asked those at the time of Christ, "Will you accept the Messiah when he comes?", no doubt they would have replied, "Accept? We'll lay down our very lives for so Holy a One!"

But how would they have identified the Holy One? Prophecies are words, not pictures. The "picture" comes from the mind of those trying to understand the prophecy, not from the prophecy itself. At the time of Christ, there was no infallible authority that could interpret the words or provide the key that would explain their secrets and inner meanings, and thus lead the people to identify the Christ. Since there was no infallible authority, the seeker could not rely on his fellow men for guidance.

So who could the seeker have relied on? The only answer that makes sense to me is God, alone. For the seeker at the time of Christ, only an attitude of humble supplication to God and acceptance of His Will could have ensured that he would have recognized Him.

The conditions at the time of Christ were certainly perplexing, and the choices facing seekers of truth formidable. What greater predicament, in fact, could be imagined than the one that faced the people living at the time of Christ. Their choices were bewildering, never simple, and they were fraught with sacrifice. The choices of those who witnessed the birth of Christianity involved ultimately the severing of many ties – ties both of blood and of faith. Choices, however, made in humility and purity of heart held the promise, not only of forging new ties, transcending both blood and faith and all human limitations, but also of leading the seekers themselves to the one everlasting tie with God's Beloved Son.

This story of Christ’s Coming into the world, moreover, continues in our time; it did not end in first century Israel. We too have choices to make. Until we recognize Christ at His Return, we, like those who lived at the time of His First Coming, cannot claim to understand the meaning of prophecies about our own time. We likewise have no one to whom we can turn for guidance except God. And for us too, only decisions made in humility and purity of heart can lead us to recognize the Christ at His Second Coming.

Introduction to the Proofs

Chapter 4

Thus far in this book, I have made certain assertions regarding the interpretation and purpose of prophecies, but I have not yet supported these assertions with scriptural evidence. This chapter and the following three will provide that evidence. Following these, we will direct our attention in stages to a subject of greater importance: the implications for the Second Coming.

The principles, which I have introduced, can be summed up as follows: (1) Prophecies must first be fulfilled for their meaning to be understood. (2) One must already believe in Christ to understand the prophecies referring to Him, and therefore (3) Prophecies are not given to lead one to the Christ. (4) The purpose of prophecies is to confirm the faith of those who already believe.

I have numbered these principles here for clarity only, and don’t really think of them as having any particular order, or really as being distinct things. The above four statements can just as easily be thought of in this way: Prophecies are given to us by a loving God to strengthen our belief in Him. We cannot understand their full meaning until He, Himself, reveals it to us.

These principles, the truth of which I proceed to demonstrate in these four chapters, have not come to me through years of research or deep thinking, or actually from any effort whatsoever on my part; they were given to me. I was told these principles by my sister, Jeanne.

About twenty years ago, I had a conversation with her, in which, as I recall, she said something like this: “You know, prophecies can only be understood after they have been fulfilled, and only by those who already believe. They are given to confirm the faith of the believer.” All that I have written so far has merely been an elaboration of what she stated on that day.

From the instant she expressed her intuition on this subject I have never had any doubt as to its truth; it seemed to fit with everything I knew. And since that time, everything I have read or seen or heard regarding prophecies has confirmed her intuition.

Since I know that many people will accept these principles in the same manner that I did, simply by having it stated explicitly, and because it is much more interesting to get straight to the point, I did not begin this book with proof. However, because these principles are new to many people and, as mentioned earlier, may seem “backwards”, I here offer the proof that they do indeed hold true under the scrutiny of scripture.

The proof will be presented here in four parts: The remainder of this chapter introduces our investigation of the proofs and briefly introduces some implications for the Second Coming. Chapter five presents a compilation of prophetic references to Christ from the Old Testament. Chapter six looks at the fulfillment of some of these prophetic references, and discusses their significance. Chapter seven concludes the presentation on proof with a look at three situations of special relevance to prophecy that are related in the New Testament.

Chapters five and six are “working” chapters, of sorts, as they ask you to consider intently a number of prophecies. Since for some of you who would rather move past the proofs on to the implications for the Second Coming, spending too much time regarding the proofs might seem to be a digression, you are given the option in the introduction of these two chapters, to read only the beginning of the chapter to get a feel for its content, and then move on, returning later to the material, if you wish. Hopefully, in this way, proceeding at your own pace, you’ll find answers to the extent you have questions.

Which Verses Constitute Prophecies?

Several years ago, I purchased a reference Bible and found the following note in the first few pages:

A star immediately following a verse in the Old Testament indicates that in the concurrent opinion of many scholars and theologians, the verse embodies a prophetic reference to Christ.

In this particular Bible, almost two hundred verses were thus identified by these stars. Other Bibles, and other references cite more than this. There are arguably many hundreds, some say thousands, of verses in the Old Testament which refer in some way or another to Christ. After all, the Old Testament contains more than twenty three thousand verses, and it would seem rather strange, given the station of Christ, that only a few hundred verses would refer to Him. When we consider the role that God's Son has played and will play in the redemption of mankind, we could assert that the Old Testament in its entirety was written as a prelude to and prediction of the Coming of Christ.

We could, therefore, make a study of the Old Testament as a whole to demonstrate the purpose of prophecy. However, of these thousands of verses, certain ones stand out as having been especially inspired to announce, describe, and praise the Christ. Since these prophecies include what must be considered the most outstanding references to the Coming Christ, we will choose these as our basis of investigation. Although our compilation of prophetic references will not be exhaustive, it will demonstrate certain principles stated above.

Certainly, people may disagree on some of the verses chosen to receive stars - on the one hand considering some verses as not referring to Christ, and on the other, questioning why certain other verses were not included. My purpose, however, is not to justify why these verses are considered prophetic references to Christ. The fact that many scholars and theologians, and, I believe, Christians in general, through their research of both the Old and New Testaments feel that they are prophetic references, is sufficient for me. My purpose is rather to demonstrate that within the generally accepted body of prophecy and the record of its fulfillment, there are implied principles that until now have been overlooked.

A Word About Prophecy

Reading through the Old Testament, and coming upon the verses recognized as references to the future Christ, can be at times quite puzzling. These verses contain some of the most beautiful, poetic, and meaningful descriptions of Christ and His life found in the Bible. But a single reading through these verses should convince anyone of the virtual impossibility of understanding from them the manner of Christ's First Coming. Although, in retrospect, the accuracy and depth of understanding of the Old Testament references to Christ are truly astonishing, nevertheless, at that time, these verses simply did not present in any way a clear image of how Christ would come. This, I feel, is not a small thing.

Consider: even after 2000 years of research by Christian scholars and theologians - those who have recognized Christ and are therefore in a position to understand properly the meaning of the prophecies referring to Him - these verses, which we recognize as referring to Christ, still do not present a picture which someone could have followed in order to find Him. Not only do these references present rather universal descriptions of Christ with very little detail, but the references appear both confusing and contradictory in their meaning.

The prophetic verses appear confusing for a variety of reasons. First of all, many of the verses simply do not "look" like prophecies, but simply seem to be stating something, and how would one distinguish one of these statements from thousands and thousands of other statements in scripture? Many references speak in the past tense as if referring to events that have already happened with no clue that they were referring to the future. Many of the verses which are clearly references to the future, use such mysterious symbolism that there would be no way to figure out what in the world they mean. And some seem to refer to the writer rather than to someone else.

The prophetic references, moreover, appear to be as contradictory as they are confusing. Thus, Christ is portrayed as both the “desire of all nations”[3], whom the people shall praise “for ever and ever”[4], and before whom “all kings shall fall down”[5], while at the same time He is “a reproach of men”, and “despised of the people”[6]. He is both “leader and commander”[7], “ruler in Israel”[8], and “The mighty God”[9], while being “smitten”, “afflicted”[10], and spat upon[11]. He is “fairer than the children of men”[12], yet possesses neither “beauty” nor “comeliness”[13]; He is the “Holy One of Israel”[14], and a “worm”[15].

It is certain that many of the above references, especially the ones referring to Christ's lowliness and suffering, would not have been considered references to the Messiah at all until after Christ's Coming. Of course, now the references to Christ can be reconciled and understood in the light of the New Testament. The fact that He is the “desire of all nations” does not, in our minds, preclude the fact that he was also “despised of the people”. But, before the coming of Christ, this could simply not be imagined. For those living before Christ, there would be no way of understanding how the different references to the Messiah that we now recognize - references to both His transcendent glory and dominion, and also to His humiliation and suffering - could be reconciled. Therefore only references to the Christ that seemed to harmonize with others would be kept in the body of prophecy. And with clear references to the greatness of their coming Messiah and Saviour, and no clear references otherwise, any verse which seemed to run counter to that image, would no doubt have been understood as referring to someone else. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that all accounts in the New Testament seem to indicate that in the thinking of the time, the Messiah was to triumph, both spiritually and physically. A suffering Messiah, despite the fact that there were many references that He would suffer, was not imagined. God had warned of His suffering, but no one understood.

The prophecies about the sufferings, lowliness, and humility of Christ were thus not even recognized to be prophecies by the people, so they could hardly have served as guides to the recognition of Christ.

Having the Benefit of Living After Christ

Having the benefit of living after Christ and believing in Him, we can now go back and see what verses refer to Him. Now we can see that Christ's suffering and crucifixion were destined to be, and that His great sacrifice was the symbol of His glory. But before Christ, the scripture contained no stars, and the people were "on their own".

Prophetic references from the Old Testament clearly demonstrate that God has revealed many prophecies which not only cannot be understood until after fulfillment, but which cannot even be recognized as being prophecies until after they have been fulfilled.

This is no small thing, for it then follows, that there may be verses in the Bible which refer to Christ's Second Coming, which have not yet been recognized as prophecies. And, as in the case of His First Coming, is it not possible, that these prophecies describe aspects of His Coming that are as yet unsuspected? And again, as in the case of His First Coming, could not the verses which have been recognized as prophecies give a picture to people that they might cling to so stubbornly that it would prove a barrier to their recognizing Christ at His Second Coming?

In other words, the same mistakes that were made in failing to recognize Christ at His First Coming may easily be made at His Second Coming. Indeed, unless we learn from the errors in judgment, the presumption, and claims to omniscience that prevented people from recognizing Jesus as the Christ, won't we surely fail to recognize Him at His Second Coming, and for similar reasons?

In order to prevent the consequences of such a terrible misjudgment, we should reflect, deeply reflect, on that which separated those who believed, from those who did not believe, that Jesus was the Christ.

Remember, people in the first century had no stars in their scriptures to designate the prophetic references, nor any sure guide by which to interpret them. Why did some believe and others reject the Christ? This we will need to understand and ponder.

What Was the Determining Factor?

From the evidence in the New Testament, what do we find was the determining factor that separated those who believed, from those who didn't? Was it knowledge of the prophecies? Did those who had knowledge of the prophecies accept Him, and those who didn't have knowledge reject Him? No. Was it knowledge of the sacred scripture as a whole? Did the religious doctors of His age accept him, while the unlearned rejected Him? No. Was it adhering to the laws of the Old Testament? Did those who observed strictly their sacred laws follow Him, while others rejected Him? No. Was it seeing Him? Was it hearing His words? Was it witnessing Him perform miracles? No.

The determining factor was this: Those who manifested humility and purity of heart, accepted Him; those who didn't, rejected Him. At the time of Christ, knowledge of the prophecies was beside the point, so to speak. Salvation was gained through humble acceptance of the will of God as manifested through the words and actions of Christ, and not through knowledge of the prophecies.

Through Christ's coming, the people were tested. The humble and pure in heart were separated from the proud and hypocritical even as the "wheat" is separated from the "tares"[16]. People were not separated according to their knowledge, their religious practices, their rank in life, or the particular circumstances in which they happened to be. They were separated according to the condition of their hearts.

If God had wanted us to know how the Christ would come in order that we could have easily recognize Him, He could have given us, in simple language, the year, the place, His name, a description of His life with all the details that would distinguish Him from others, and then stated that this prophecy was to be taken literally.

Obviously, it was not ours to know these things.

Some Prophetic References to Christ

Chapter 5

This chapter is simply a compilation of some of the prophetic references to Christ found in the Old Testament. In the interest of brevity, I have not set the prophecies in their scriptural context, nor have I explained what the context is. Neither have I given notes or cross references to these verses. Some of the related references we will investigate in the following chapters and comment on their implications, and of course, you are encouraged to further investigate these and other aspects of these verses on your own. But our investigation will begin with reading these verses as they appear in the Old Testament. Therefore the verses from the Old Testament are presented without cross references to verses of the New Testament, without footnotes, without commentary.

The approach to our investigation will be straightforward. I ask you simply to put yourself in the position of someone living at the time of Christ. All that's required is to read and think about these prophetic references. Each reference to Christ illustrates aspects of God's purpose in revealing prophecy that, if you spend time considering it, may become clear. Of course, your insights will not be the same as mine. You will find things that I have overlooked, and may disagree with some of the things I put forward. This is the fruit of the human intellect. On the whole, however, I have complete confidence, that the evidence given in the Bible is so overwhelmingly in favor of the need for a new way to look at prophecy, and that fulfillment and acceptance are required to understanding prophecy, that our disagreements will give way to our consensus.

In many cases our experience with these precious words has been within the context of the great meaning of their fulfillment. Thus, for many of them, we have seen them only surrounded with the correct details with which they would eventually be associated. By this historic association, these details have crept into our understanding of the prophecies themselves and have become an integral part of them, and rightly so. But stripped of these future details, they reveal quite a different picture - a much more mysterious, subtle, and in some cases, deceptive picture, than the one with which we are familiar. It is for this reason, to allow us to see through the eyes of seeker at the time of Christ, that they have been compiled without commentary.

I realize that the many prophecies presented below may prove uninteresting or even difficult when they are read at one sitting. If you prefer not to read them through at this time, I suggest that you at least read some of them to get a sense of what is being presented in this chapter. Feel free, however, if you desire, to skip directly to the following chapter, where further study of the nature and purpose of prophecy will be undertaken through the direct examination of some specific prophecies and their fulfillment. The prophecies compiled here can then be visited later if you wish.

The reader needs to remember that the prophecies listed here do not present a coherent whole which is easily understood. Many of the prophecies require considerable concentration to understand, even by those who have already recognized Christ, and this fact underscores the utter impossibility - without the benefit of the New Testament - of someone trying to predict from prophecies alone the manner of Christ's Coming.

If a thorough "study" of the prophecies, therefore, does not appeal to you at this time because of the effort and difficulty it involves, let me at least urge you, on some occasion, to simply read the prophecies with an open heart to experience their naked glory, the beauty of their depiction of Christ, the depth of their knowledge, and their exalted vision of the future.

Genesis

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15

God shall enlarge Japeth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Genesis 9:27

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 12:3

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Genesis 17:19

Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:18

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Genesis 21:12

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Genesis 22:18

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed

Genesis 26:4

And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

Genesis 28:4

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 28:14

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Genesis 49:10

Numbers

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

Numbers 24:17

Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.

Numbers 24:19

Deuteronomy

The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

Deuteronomy 18:15

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19

1 Samuel

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the Earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

1 Samuel 2:10

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

1 Samuel 2:35

2 Samuel

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

2 Samuel 7:12-13

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

2 Samuel 7:16

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

2 Samuel 23:3-4

1 Chronicles

He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.

1 Chronicles 17:12

But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

1 Chronicles 17:14

Job

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

Job 19:25

If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:

Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.

Job 33:23-24

Psalms

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psalm 2

I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Psalm 16:8-10

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Psalm 22:1

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Psalm 22:6-8

They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and roaring lion.

Psalm 22:13

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Psalm 22:16-18

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Psalm 22:22

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Psalm 22:31

He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Psalm 34:20

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears has thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Psalm 40:6-8

Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

Psalm 45:2

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows

Psalm 45:6-7

I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

Psalm 45:17

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them.

Psalm 68:18

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Psalm 69:9

They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 69:21

Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.

He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.

He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.

There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

Psalm 72:1-17

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

Psalm 78:2

Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

Psalm 89:4

Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

Psalm 89:19

Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

Psalm 89:27

His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

Psalm 89:29

His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

Psalm 89:36-37

Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

Psalm 102:25-27

The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many counties.

He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Psalm 110

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

Psalm 118:22

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

Psalm 118:26

Isaiah

And it shall come to pass in last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the work of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:2-4

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Isaiah 6:9

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:14

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Isaiah 9:2

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Isaiah 11:1-5

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Isaiah 11:10

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Isaiah 22:22

Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Isaiah 28:16

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 35:6

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isaiah 40:3

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:10-11

Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel

Isaiah 41:15-16

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Isaiah 42:1-4

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

To open the blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

Isaiah 42:6-7

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Isaiah 45:21

Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy one of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

Isaiah 49:7-10

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

Isaiah 50:6

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men:

So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

Isaiah 52:13-15

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

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.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

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.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53

Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

Isaiah 55:4-5

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

Isaiah 59:16

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.

Isaiah 59:20

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Isaiah 60:3

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Isaiah 61:1-3

Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Isaiah 62:11

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Isaiah 63:1

I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

Isaiah 63:3

For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Isaiah 63:8-9

Jeremiah

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Jeremiah 30:9

Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

Jeremiah 31:15

In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land

In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

Jeremiah 33:15-16

Ezekiel

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.

Ezekiel 34:23-24

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

Ezekiel 37:24-25

Daniel

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter;: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Daniel 2:44-45

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7:14

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Daniel 9:24-26

Hosea

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 3:5

When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.

Hosea 11:1

Micah

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Micah 5:2

Haggai

And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.

Haggai 2:7

Zechariah

Here now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

Zechariah 3:8

And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:

Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Zechariah 6:12-13

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon as ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah 9:9-10

And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces or silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

Zechariah 11:12-13

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Zechariah 12:10

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

Zechariah 13:6-7

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Zechariah 14:4

Malachi

Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 3:1

Commentary on the Fulfillment of Prophetic References to Christ

Chapter 6

That the compilation of prophetic references to Christ presented in the previous chapter defies accurate interpretation, even meaningful interpretation, without the benefit of the New Testament, is, I think, apparent, and by itself constitutes proof of sorts, that prophecies are not given to lead one to the Christ.

However, there is additional proof available to us: their fulfillment. Having looked at these references by themselves, we will now take our investigation one step further by looking at their fulfillment, and the light that it throws on the purpose of prophecy.

It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss the fulfillment of all of the prophecies presented in the previous chapter. Rather, to achieve the purpose of demonstrating the nature of prophecy, while at the same time attempting to be brief, I have chosen to present all of the references cited in the first book of the New Testament - the nineteen occurrences in the Book of Matthew where it is specifically stated that a prophecy has been fulfilled. Although only a partial set of prophecies, yet because it encompasses those of an apostle's description of the life of Christ, there is a kind of completeness to the list that Matthew presents. Of course, these nineteen occurrences are not the only references that find fulfillment in the life of Christ as described by Matthew. A reference Bible will cite hundreds of verses in the Old Testament. These nineteen are only the ones specifically mentioned by Matthew as having been fulfilled.

The same principles which these occurrences will uncover can be seen throughout the rest of the New Testament. I don't believe that the actual spiritual principles, which influenced the peoples of Christ's time, are hidden beneath layers of information that can only be uncovered by scholarly research. If this were the case, how could God's Word be available to the common man? Does one need to be a scholar to understand why the Beloved Christ was rejected, or that He laid down His life for the salvation of the world, or what Christ desires for those who follow him? Does one need years of study to understand the pride of the Pharisees, or the humility of the disciples? No. So, why would another fundamental message of the Bible, one that implies that God, alone, knows the meaning of prophecy before its fulfillment, require anything more than to read the Bible with the sincere intention of understanding?

The prophecies presented here will be generally in this form: I have numbered the prophecies as they appear in the order Matthew has presented them. For each of these, after having given the Old Testament reference, under the heading "Predictions", I explore briefly what these words could have meant to someone seeking the Christ at His First Coming. That is, we will attempt to look at the words through the eyes of the seeker. After this, the verses from the book of Matthew, indicating fulfillment of these words, are given. Finally I conclude with commentary on the possible significance of the whole process.

As with the previous chapter, you may not want to read the presentation of all nineteen prophecies at this time. By reading the first few of these, you will get a feel for the relationship between prophecy and fulfillment. The rest can be revisited at a later time if you choose.

I think you will agree, that it is evident from the very first prophecy examined, how difficult a task it would have been to recognize the Christ through scripture.

1. The Virgin Birth and Immanuel

Verse from Old Testament

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel[17].

Isaiah 7:14

Predictions

This verse clearly states that "the Lord himself" will give a sign: A virgin will bear a son and will call Him "Immanuel". The fact that "the Lord himself" would be the one giving the sign would certainly seem to indicate that there would be no doubt as to its impact. For, of anyone who could give a sign, certainly the Maker of the heavens has power to make great signs. Who but the Lord could cause such a thing to happen?

For a virgin to have a child is certainly miraculous, and one acquainted with this verse might think that when the birth occurred - whenever that might be (for there was no time given) - it would be the cause of wonder and excitement in the community, possibly in all of Israel. Such a strange and wonderful thing would surely cause people to contemplate God and His power.

And this child would have its life, in large part no doubt, determined by this birth - growing up as the child born of a virgin - the child from God, the divine child. We can imagine what his childhood would bring, how he would be loved by all, and would become the hope of His people. And what a joy for the mother to bear such a child.

Isaiah's words also clearly state that this child would be called "Immanuel".

From this verse, it seems clear, at sometime in the future, that a child called Immanuel would be born of a virgin. It also seems, when this miraculous event was to occur, that the people would immediately recall these words of Isaiah. The words would not be forgotten, for not only was his birth to be miraculous, but the name of the child embodied a wonderful promise: for “Immanuel” means “God with us”.

Fulfillment

Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example[18], was minded to put her away privily[19].

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel[20], which being interpreted is, God with us.

Matthew 1:18-23

Commentary

Right away we see that this prophecy was not fulfilled in a way that could be predicted.

The scriptures promised that "a virgin shall conceive" and this is what happened, but the New Testament's reference to Joseph not being willing to disgrace her publicly seems to indicate that there was no great sign associated with this miraculous conception, no way for people to know that it was happening, or that it had occurred. The Bible doesn't indicate that the news of the virgin birth was spread to anyone. A crier did not go out through the city, and give the glad tidings of the virgin birth. No. The New Testament clearly indicates that the initial reaction to Mary's becoming pregnant would be the assumption that she certainly was not a virgin. Her own husband needed the reassurance of an angel that she had conceived of the Holy Ghost. In fact, there is no mention that anyone in the community at large was told or believed in the virgin birth, except Mary's cousin, Elisabeth. After the description of Christ's birth in the Gospels, that is the last we hear of the virgin birth. Not only do we find that knowledge of the virgin birth had not reached the ears of the people, there are clear references that during Christ's ministry, the people assumed that He was the son of Joseph.

Did Isaiah mention anywhere that although it would be a sign from "the Lord himself" generally, the virgin birth would be unknown to the people? That during the child's life, he would not have been known as the child of the virgin birth? Did he say that this virgin would have a husband? Could this situation have been inferred from Isaiah's prophecy? Did Isaiah say anywhere that even the man who would take this virgin as his wife, would want to divorce her because of the child? Did he give any hint as to the details that would surround the virgin birth? No. Isaiah simply referred to her conception as a sign from "the Lord himself"

And what about being called Immanuel? There is no mention in the New Testament of anyone referring to Christ as Emmanuel. No mention of anyone even using the word "Emmanuel". Is there any indication in the words of Isaiah that we should look to any name but "Immanuel" for the fulfillment of his prophecy? Any indication that Isaiah's words have a purely symbolic, rather than a literal meaning? Did Isaiah anywhere say "his name might not be Immanuel, and no one during His time will call Him by that"? Did he give any clue that He may be called by another name? That a new interpretation in the future would have Him called by a name that means not "God with us", but "Saviour"?

Isaiah mentions nothing about other names; he mentions only what he was to be called. What recourse would anyone have had but to assume that this would be the name given this child, or at least that He would have been called this, if given another name? Could we have predicted by Isaiah's words that Christ's name would be Jesus and that no one would call Him "Emmanuel"? No.

Isaiah's words are silent regarding many things. He didn't explain the circumstances surrounding the fulfillment of this prophecy. He didn't even hint at them. He simply stated the truth.

As we will see with the other prophecies pointing to Christ's appearance, there is no way that this prophecy could have been understood before its fulfillment. If we had clung to the thinking that the sign from "the Lord himself" was to be great, that news of the virgin birth was to be heard, or that someone named or called “Immanuel” was to appear, we would have missed the Christ.

Reflect how disastrous holding stubbornly to particular interpretations and clinging to assumed details, or even a mere name can be.

Yet, for those who believe, how beautiful and timeless are the words of Isaiah. Cherished by multitudes as the great and holy promise of the Lord, these simple words became clothed with majesty through their fulfillment. Though not fulfilled as one could have foreseen, to those who believed, it mattered not, for the words were true.

2. Ruler From Bethlehem

Verse from Old Testament

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth[21] have been from of old, from everlasting.

Micah 5:2

Predictions

Well, it seems that Micah has given the precise place where he "that is to be ruler in Israel" is to come from. From this verse, the seeker would no doubt understand that a ruler - a great ruler, for he is described as one "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" - would come from Bethlehem. It is not stated whether this will be the birth place or the dwelling place of this great one. It also is not explained what is meant by the term "shall he come forth unto me".

As with all prophecies of the Bible, the prophet - in this case Micah - says nothing to indicate that some of his words should be taken literally, and others symbolically. One acquainted with this verse would look for that “ruler in Israel’ who would come from “Bethlehem”.

Fulfillment

And When he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Matthew 2:4-6

Commentary

Once again we see that the seeker would have great difficulty being led to Christ through this prophecy. The name Bethlehem was to be taken literally in Micah's prophecy, but "ruler in Israel" was to be taken symbolically. How was the seeker to know? Is the seeker to assume a meaning and then judge the Promised One by his assumptions? Is the seeker to guess the meaning, when what is at stake is the salvation of His soul?

Did Micah explain that by "ruler" was meant a purely heavenly ruler or that He would rule the souls of men? Did he indicate that he would have divine authority rather than earthly sovereignty? To help the seeker find the Christ, is there any indication that "Bethlehem Ephratah" should be taken literally, but "ruler" should be taken symbolically?

No. Micah is silent as to the meaning of his prophecy, and it was left up to time and the coming of Jesus to reveal what his words meant. There was no way for anyone to know with certainty the meaning of Micah's words before they were fulfilled.

This great prophecy, predicting the Sovereignty of the Savior, and His place of birth, was revealed in heavenly words, not earthly. Its meaning is correctly understood only in the light of the words revealed by the One who fulfilled it; He Whose kingdom was not of this world.

3. Out of Egypt

Verse from Old Testament

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Hosea 11:1

Predictions

Predictions? This prophecy speaks in the past tense - "was", "called", "loved". How could anyone know that this was even a prophecy? How could we assume that this was speaking about the future?

Personally, it is beyond me how anyone could know that this was a prophecy! As far as I can see, there is no help to the seeker, here, before fulfillment.

Fulfillment

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

When He arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Matthew 2:13-15

Commentary

Once again, in this prophecy, we see that in the same sentence, the word of God as revealed through Hosea, goes from speaking symbolically: referring to Israel as a child, to using literal language: referring to His Son coming out of Egypt. However, the words of the Old Testament, give no clue to the reader that would have helped him know which parts to take symbolically, and which literally.

This clearly shows that prophetic language follows no rules of past, present, or future tense. The word of God, while seemingly referring to the past, can be referring to a future time. What clearer demonstration could there be of the difficulty in understanding prophetic language before fulfillment? These words would, no doubt, have been overlooked by someone looking forward to the future Christ.

After their fulfillment, however, these words of Hosea stand out above his other words as a jewel that God had set in the scriptures, awaiting the time for their beauty to be revealed. With the coming of Christ, the hidden meaning of these words were revealed. From the actual fulfillment of this prophecy, we get a picture of the omnipotent, benevolent Father watching over His Son. We can see from these words that at no time was Christ in danger, for His Father had known, even from the beginning of time, that there would be those who would seek to take His life, and He had made a plan for His protection.

In these simple words of Hosea, great meaning is contained. But who could have known?

4. Lamentation and Bitter Weeping

Verse from Old Testament

Thus saith the Lord; a voice was[22] heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

Jeremiah 31:15

Predictions

As with some other prophecies, in considering what one may have been able to predict from Jeremiah's words, the first question we have to ask is "How could someone have known that this verse could have been used to see into the future?"

However, for those who may have thought that these words referred to the future (outwardly they speak in the past) it seems to refer to the suffering of a mother - specifically Rachel - for her children, who may have perished following some kind of tragedy.

Fulfillment

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Matthew 2:16-18

Commentary

This prophecy refers not to Christ Himself, but rather refers to circumstances associated with His Coming. For Matthew it is a divine testimony to events in the life of his Lord.

The mysterious nature of prophecy is again demonstrated in this verse from Jeremiah. One wonders whether Jeremiah himself knew the significance of the words he had written, or whether it was left to Matthew to unfold their meaning. Whatever the case, the heart is moved at his description of the suffering which the slaying of the children of Bethlehem and the surrounding area must have caused.

Although both meaningful, and highly significant, this could not have led one to the Christ.

5. Nazarene

The next occurrence of mention of fulfillment of scripture in the Book of Matthew presents us with an interesting question. The verse from Matthew is the following:

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 2:23

The question is "What prophet, and what prophecy is Matthew referring to?" The word "Nazarene" is not mentioned in the Old Testament, neither is the city of Nazareth.

In any case, not knowing the prophecy that this verse refers to, we cannot discuss how it may have been interpreted by the seeker.

6. Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord

Verse from Old Testament

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God[23].

Isaiah 40:3

Predictions

This seems to be an exhortation from "him that crieth". And the exhortation seems to encompass two things: prepare "the way of the Lord", and "make straight" "a highway for our God".

Since this verse gives no details regarding how to effect the exhortations given, or who was exhorting us, we would have as many different pictures of "him", "wilderness", and "Highway in the desert" as we would people interpreting it.

Fulfillment

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Matthew 3:1-3

Commentary

The symbolism of these mystical words of Isaiah could only have been understood through recognition of Christ. This prophecy refers to both John the Baptist and Christ: John the Baptist is "him that crieth in the wilderness" calling people to prepare for the Coming of Christ.

In these words of Isaiah, both Christ and John the Baptist are exalted. That John the Baptist is referred to in the Old Testament, is an indication of his greatness. Christ Himself also refers to the greatness of John.

As much as Jesus and John are exalted, however, there was little or no help to the seeker in these words. Isaiah's words are far too mystical to have been decoded before fulfillment.

7. A Great Light

Verse from Old Testament

The people that walked[24] in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Isaiah 9:2

Predictions

Again, Isaiah's words seem to refer to an event in the past: the shining of a great light. Therefore, as with many other verses from the Old Testament, it is hard to imagine that someone would have regarded this verse as foretelling a future event or circumstance.

As with all prophecies, a seeker might have assumed that the "light" spoken of above, may have been either a physical light, or a symbol of God's blessings, and Isaiah's words don't explain whether a literal or symbolic meaning (or both) was intended.

It would certainly seem that at the time the light shined, the people would be astonished, maybe even overjoyed. They were a people who walked in darkness, who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death. Whether literal or figurative, the light would surely be a welcome change from the darkness.

Fulfillment

Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed in Galilee;

And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Matthew 4:12-16

Commentary

We see from the fulfillment of this prophecy, the great meaning intended by Isaiah. Christ was the Light of the world, and the people to whom He appeared were living in darkness.

That the "light", which was intended by Isaiah, was to be the Messiah is something that could hardly have been guessed. Seeing Jesus of Nazareth as that light required recognition of Him as the Son of God.

8. He Hath Borne Our Griefs

Verse from Old Testament

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4

Predictions

This verse appears to be simply a statement, not a prophecy. This would clearly seem to refer to someone who had suffered, but gives no details as to his suffering. It also seems to refer to either rejection by the people or simply disregard or ungratefulness for one who had suffered for their sakes.

It seems to imply that the station or qualities of the person spoken of had not been recognized or appreciated. The words "yet we did esteem him . . . " seem to indicate some sort of error in judgement on the part of the observer.

Fulfillment

When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Matthew 8:16-17

Commentary

Although it remained hidden until after the coming of Christ, Isaiah here foretells both the suffering of Christ and His healing ministry - both recognized now as signs of His glory.

Speaking in the past tense, once again, it offered no help in predicting how the Christ would come. It could not have been recognized as a prophecy pointing to the Messiah, nor could it have led one to recognize Him.

9. The Lord, Whom Ye Seek

Verse from Old Testament

Malachi 3:1

Predictions

This verse clearly seems to be a prophecy. What is not clear, however, is what it means. Malachi's words refer to "I" (later referred to as "the Lord of hosts"), "my messenger", "the Lord whom ye seek" who "shall suddenly come to his temple", "the messenger of the covenant".

Anyone considering this verse would no doubt get a sense of some momentous happening to be looked forward to.

Fulfillment

And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Matthew 11:7-10

Commentary

This prophecy, just as the one presented earlier from Isaiah (40:3), refers to both John the Baptist and Christ. We get a sense from these prophecies of the oneness of their ministries and the love they bore for each other. It is Christ, Himself, who quoted this prophecy of Malachi.

The symbolism of these words, however, is far too mysterious for anyone but God, and perhaps a prophet to have understood before fulfillment. The passage itself from Matthew indicates that no one, in fact, did understand the Old Testament saying until Christ Himself revealed its meaning.

10. He Shall Bring Forth Judgment to the Gentiles

Verses from Old Testament

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles[25].

He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax[26] shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law[27].

Isaiah 42:1-4

Predictions

Any reader of these words would have to be struck by Isaiah's reference to the "servant" who would not only "bring forth judgment to the Gentiles" but who would "set judgment in the earth". The "servant"'s greatness is also shown by references to His holding “truth”, and the “law”, and having divine determination. And that this great One is the servant of the speaker, would seem to indicate that the speaker would have to be none other than God Himself.

While some of these verses present the greatness and authority of the "servant", the remaining verses speak of other qualities. The images they give are not easily understood, and would no doubt have led to many different interpretations. They may either have been taken by the seeker at their literal meaning, or as symbols of the personality or doings of the servant. I don't feel it is necessary to go into possible interpretations of these images. However, to me it seems clear that to anyone trying to understand them, they would be puzzling to say the least.

Fulfillment

Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

And charged them that they should not make him known:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles

He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

Matthew 12:14-22

Commentary

Though a prophecy, it is clear that it was not intended to lead one to Christ. It offers no clues that the seeker might have used to find the Christ in his search. There are some details given in the prophecy; some of which have literal, and some symbolic meanings. Understanding the meaning of this prophecy would have been an insurmountable task before its fulfillment. Even after fulfillment, the meaning is subject to varying interpretation.

Intuitively, from our knowledge of the Savior given us in the New Testament, we understand the meaning of the first verse of Isaiah's prophecy. From the second verse on, however, our intuition fails us.

What does it mean by "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street."? And what about the reed and the flax? The word "reed" is used with various meanings in the New Testament: sometimes literal, sometimes symbolic. There is no use in the New Testament of the word "flax", besides the above mention in Matthew. And which "isles" and which "law" are meant?

Of course, it is possible that there are several different interpretations to each verse in this prophecy, which are all correct. But certainly, it is only after fulfillment that they could have been understood.

11. Understand Not

Verse from Old Testament

And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Isaiah 6:9

Predictions

None, as far as I can see. This just appears to be a statement.

Fulfillment

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Matthew 13:11-14

Commentary

This prophecy refers not to Christ directly, but to "them", the people of Christ's time. It is a reference to their having attained the presence of the Holy One, having heard His words and witnessed His person, yet not having realized the significance of the privilege they were given, or having benefited from it.

Once again, I see no help here for the seeker.

12. I Will Open My Mouth in A Parable

Verse from Old Testament

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings[28] of old:

Psalm 78:2

Predictions

The speaker of these words seems to be saying that he will speak in parables and reveal hidden things of old.

What a seeker reading this verse might predict is that, God willing, the author of these words would at some time proceed to fulfill his promise and speak in parables of hidden things of old.

Besides this, I cannot see or understand anything more from this verse.

Fulfillment

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 13:34-35

Commentary

Matthew here explains that this verse from the Psalms was not merely meant as the voice of the writer, but referred to the Messiah Himself.

Who could have known?

13. With Their Lips

Verses from Old Testament (note: although only the first of the following verses is referred to in the New Testament, the one following it is included for the sake of completeness)

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

Isaiah 29:13-14

Predictions

These words of Isaiah speak in general about three things. The first verse seems to be a condemnation of the people by the Lord God. This is followed by the Lord's promise that he will perform marvelous things. There is then a reference to the utter feebleness of the wisdom and understanding of men.

One pondering these verses may have expected marvelous things to be performed by the Lord. And why would the Lord perform these things? Well it seems that they would be performed in response to the low state of the people. Would the wondrous work be to awaken them? To guide them? To bless them? To punish them? Isaiah doesn't say. But surely, the people would be astonished.

Or would they?

Regarding where or when or of what nature the things were to be, Isaiah, once again is silent. However, the first verse's reference to "this people" may have led one to believe that the people of Isaiah's time would witness what the Lord would perform.

Fulfillment

But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you saying,

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Matthew 15:3-8

Commentary

Isaiah recorded the words which the Lord spoke through him "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth". Seven hundred years later someone claims that the words refer to himself. Who could have predicted this? Isaiah's words say nothing of the Messiah. Who could have guessed that this would be the case?

Yes, it is abundantly clear from the New testament that Christ certainly did marvelous things. It is also abundantly clear, however, from the story of Christ, that He regarded those who "seeketh after a sign" as "evil and adulterous"[29].

So, was the prophecy meant for one to find Christ by looking for a "wondrous work?, or seeking after a sign? Or was it meant that one could find the Christ by looking for someone whom the people would draw unto with their lips, but from whom their hearts were far? Wouldn't a myriad of government and religious leaders have fulfilled this criteria?

Isaiah's words were simply not meant to help in the recognition of the Christ. We can now understand the meaning of his words only because Christ Himself has revealed them to us. Before fulfillment, Isaiah’s words would have provided no help for the seeker.

14. Thy King Cometh Unto Thee

Verse from Old Testament

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Zechariah 9:9

Predictions

This verse seems to describe a joyous happening for Israel, and Jerusalem in particular: the arrival of their King. The King described in this verse possesses several wonderful qualities: he is just, holy - “having salvation”, and humble. Possessing these qualities would surely be the cause of His being loved by the people, which would be the source of the great rejoicing referred to by Zechariah.

The verse gives what seems to be a straight forward prediction of a future event, one that anyone would seem eager to attend.

Fulfillment

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them and straightway he will send them.

All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Matthew 21:1-5

Commentary

Once again, we can see that the tongue of the prophet moves from symbolic to literal language in the same sentence, as if it matters not what style is used, and giving no hint that he is doing this. Might not the significance of the prophet's speaking in this way be that it really doesn't matter whether the words are to be taken literally or symbolically? That prophecy is not intended as a signpost pointing the way to the Christ? That it is enough simply to glorify Christ, to tell of His wonderful qualities, or events in His life?

The prophet was simply speaking the holy words that were revealed to him. Eventually the meaning of these words would become clear to those who believed in Christ. Isn’t this all that really mattered?

Speaking of the use of literal and symbolic language, we can see now that both His Kingship and riding upon a donkey can have both literal or both symbolic meanings. In a sense Christ was, and is, King in a symbolic way. In another sense, he is King in a more real and literal sense than any king whose kingdom was of this earth. At the same time, it can be said that His riding upon a donkey was a symbol of His meekness before men, a meekness, which despite His great power, no man can ever hope to attain. At the same time, the manner of His entrance into Jerusalem fulfilled in a literal sense the words spoken by Zechariah, some five hundred years previous.

15. Son of Man Goeth

The next mention in the book of Matthew of the fulfillment of prophecy is this:

And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.

The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Matthew 26:21-24

Here, Christ confirms the fact that the manner of His departing from this world is foretold in the Old Testament. He does not, however, cite specific verses or the name of the prophet to whom He is referring. It is left, therefore, to the believer in Christ to discover what verses are "written" of Him.

There is a wide range of verses that Christ may have intended when He spoke these words. We cannot know for sure exactly which He meant, since He did not tell us. Many verses of Psalm 22 are regarded by scholars as relevant to Christ's words here, as is the entire chapter five of the Book of Isaiah. Also, Daniel, verse 9:26 is often cited. Furthermore, there are many other verses which scholars cite in this connection.

Since there are so many verses regarded as applicable to Christ's words above, I will not comment on them individually. They contain many symbolic and some literal references to Christ, all of whose meanings are, of course, very great. For the most part, the Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 speak about Christ's suffering and humiliation. Daniel gives the prophecy, well known for its astounding accuracy, of the time that the Messiah will be "cut off"[30] – 490 years after the command to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem.

As with all other prophecies, it seems clear to me, that these verses could only have been rightly understood after fulfillment.

16. Smite The Shepherd

Verse from Old Testament

Zechariah 13:7

Predictions

This verse seems to foretell punishment and/or death, at the will of the Lord of hosts. The objects of this justice will be the "shepherd", also referred to as "the man that is my fellow", and "the little ones". No explanation is given regarding why these people should deserve this treatment, nor what the purpose of the scattering of the sheep should be.

One who pondered this verse would wonder who are the shepherd and the little ones, and why they would receive this action from the hand of God.

Fulfillment

And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

Matthew 26:30-31

Commentary

Before the coming of Christ, one could hardly have imagined that the shepherd would be the Messiah Himself. In fact, it seems that the premise that this verse referred to the coming Messiah and His followers would have been most strenuously objected to, or at the least, ridiculed. For, was the Messiah to herd sheep? Was He to be punished by God?

These divine words of Zechariah held a meaning that only the Christ Himself was to know and reveal. They were revealed to none before His Coming, and after His Coming they hold meaning for only those who believe in Him.

17. Scriptures Fulfilled

The next mention in the book of Matthew of the fulfillment of prophecy is this:

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.

But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.

Matthew 26:52-56

Here, again, Christ Himself confirms that the events associated with His ministry have been foretold in the sacred scriptures. He also indicates that having been foretold by the word of God, these events are irrevocable, and not subject to the will of man. Thus He assured His followers that no matter what was to happen, and whether or not they understood the significance of the coming events or not, they should have faith that the Father was the mover of events in this world.

Christ's words here seem to be an extension and reiteration of His earlier statement in Matthew 26:24, that the prophets of old have testified of Him. Once again Christ gives no specific reference to help us discern to which verses of the Old Testament He is referring. As with Matthew 26:21-24 commented above, given the many verses that Christ may have intended, commentary on them would be lengthy, and I don't feel this is necessary. And once again, the reader is referred to chapter five or, of course, the Old Testament, to determine the meaning of the Lord's words given here.

Although these occurrences in Matthew of the fulfillment of prophecy offer no specific references to those prophecies for us to consider, they do offer us something of considerable significance: By not focusing on particular words of the Old Testament, while at the same time indicating that events were unfolding according to the plan of God revealed to His chosen people, Christ has opened the door for His believers to search the scriptures for all that was written of Him. By this statement, we are freed from a narrow view that only verses specifically referred to by Christ or His disciples are prophecies.

The search for these prophetic references to Christ, which has continued up to this day, has been undertaken in the following manner: Using the words Christ spoke, and the events of His life as a searchlight, people looked back at the scriptures revealed before His Coming, and discovered verses whose meanings were previously unknown but which refer to Him. The vast majority of prophetic references to Christ have been found in this way - an indication of the validity of the necessity of fulfillment and acceptance of Christ to an understanding of the meaning of these prophetic references.

18. 30 Pieces of Silver

The next occurrence in Matthew of a stated prophecy fulfilled is the following:

Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.

And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.

Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;

And gave them for[32] the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.

Matthew 27:3-10

Although Matthew here states that "Jeremy the prophet" has given a prophecy regarding the thirty pieces of silver, no such prophecy can be found in the book of Jeremiah. What is the reason for this discrepancy? Many questions may arise, and there may be a definitive explanation, but I am not aware of one. In any case, as in the prophecy regarding "Nazarene" (Matthew 2:23) above, we cannot comment on the prophetic reference referred to by Matthew, because we are not sure what it is.

There is however a prophecy in the book of Zechariah which we can consider. Although not the one referred to by Matthew, it refers to the thirty pieces of silver. One thing to note regarding this prophecy and its fulfillment, is that whereas Matthew states that the Old Testament prophetic reference (Jeremiah's words) refers to the purchase of a field with the silver coins, the words of Zechariah say nothing of this.

Verses from Old Testament

And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear[33]. So they weighed for my price[34] thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces or silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

Zechariah 11:12-13

Commentary

The incident of Judas' betrayal of Christ for the price of thirty pieces of silver could not have been either predicted or led one to the Christ. Consider the words of Zechariah above. These verses present nothing that could have been taken as reference to a future event. I personally do not see what one could have predicted from this.

19. Parted My Garments

Verses from Old Testament

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Psalm 22:18

Predictions

These words appear to be the voice of the writer of the Psalm, in this case, David. I cannot see any predictions coming from these words.

Fulfillment

And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

Matthew 27:35

Commentary

Matthew here has revealed that the words spoken by David were actually spoken as if they were the words of his holy Descendant, Jesus. This sheds light on the bond between the two - a bond that was much more than that of mere blood relationship.

Although speaking in the voice of his Lord, and predicting with divine accuracy the details of His utter humiliation centuries before it was to occur, his words still offered the seeker after the Christ no help in finding Him. There was no hint of the great meaning of David’s words, no signal that would have directed the seeker to Christ.

Once again, as with all other prophetic references to Christ, the holy meaning of the words of the prophet remain hidden to those who have not accepted Him, while at the same time they are a source of awe and wonder to those who have.

How They Were Led to Christ

Chapter 7

To conclude the presentation of proof of the principles introduced in this book, we look, in this chapter, at one more facet of evidence presented in the New Testament.

I'm sure that for some, even after considering the difficulties in understanding the prophecies presented in previous chapters, there may still be a feeling that there were, indeed, souls that were led to Christ through them. There are many references in the New Testament to prophecies referring to Christ, and the circumstances of some of these at first do appear to confirm that prophecies were correctly understood and that they did lead people to Him. Thoughtful reflection on these verses, however, demonstrates otherwise.

The verse that first caught my attention and decided me to include a chapter dedicated to considering these circumstances was the following:

Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

John 1:45

Here we see a reference to two things: (1) someone finding Jesus, and (2) a reference to the sacred scripture referring to Him. One might assume from this verse of John that the two are related - that it was the scripture that caused Philip to recognize Christ. If we consider carefully the words of John, however, we see that there is really no evidence to support this initial impression. Such an impression must come from us making assumptions.

If it is through the scriptures that Philip came to believe, then what is the scripture? and what did he hear or see through which he witnessed its fulfillment? Neither John, nor any other book in the New Testament provides answers to these questions. For us to allow ourselves to think that Philip was led by scripture to believe in Christ, we would have to assume certain things that simply are not in scripture.

How Philip actually did find Christ is found in the scriptures. John states:

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.

John 1:43

It seems that it was Christ who found Philip, and not Philip who found Christ. Given this knowledge, however, there are still questions that must be answered: Why did Philip follow Him? How did he attain to the gift of faith? What made him know Who it was who addressed him? Was it scripture? Was it Christ's love? Was it His divine authority? What was it that touched the mind and heart of Philip? This, John does not say.

One might say that there may be other evidence that would suggest, not directly, but possibly indirectly, that Philip was led to Christ through the scriptures. Did the other early believers influence Philip? Might not they have reasoned with Philip? Can we find, if we look closely into the scriptures, something to suggest this? I certainly cannot.

John does mention in this context certain other disciples that were led to believe in Christ. He gives a trail of how the message that Jesus was the Christ was transmitted to His followers. Here is what his words reveal: Some were told that He was the Christ by those who already believed. But how had the first believers come to believe? Those who already believed had been told that Jesus was the Christ by John who referred to Jesus as the "Lamb of God"[35]. Well, how did John know that Jesus was the Christ? He had a vision in which he "saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him"[36]. And how did he know that this signified that Jesus was He that was to come after him? He was told by God that "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."[37]

Although John's words do not give us a clue as to how Philip came to believe in Christ, we do know from them that Philip must have been familiar with the prophecies of Moses, and that he believed that Jesus was the One Whom Moses referred to. Having attained to this belief, having found the Object of the scriptures, the way was then opened for Philip to understand all the scriptures referring to Him. It would be reasonable to assume that from then on, Philip's approach to understanding the Messianic Prophecies would not be one of interpreting them and looking for their fulfillment, but rather would be simply to understand how they were fulfilled in Jesus. This approach to the understanding prophecy, I submit, is the one intended by God.

When I began this chapter, I had a vague feeling that there were actually many such instances in the New Testament in which prophecies were referred to in a way that could be viewed as implying that they were the cause of people believing in Christ. Upon study of the New Testament, however, it became clear that this initial vague feeling was not correct. A careful look at the New Testament reveals the startling fact that there are not hundreds, not even dozens, but only two other instances, besides the one mentioned above, in which it appears that prophecies may have led people to find and believe in the Christ.

Of course, you do not need to take my word on this matter. I encourage you to read through the entire the New Testament and search for yourself. To do justice to the subject, it must be considered as a whole. And when and if you do make such a search through the New Testament, I ask you to consider, were the people led to Him by prophecy, or were they led by His humility, His majesty, by His healing powers, by His words and example, by dreams, by visions, or angels.

Following are the two other instances in the New Testament that at first may seem to indicate that scriptures led to belief in Christ:

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men[38] from the east to Jerusalem,

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:1-11

To many, these words of Matthew indicate that it was common knowledge where the Christ would be born. At first glance, then, it seems that the Bethlehem prophecy was indeed understood, and that as we can see here, it did lead people to the Christ.

Let's look closely, however, at how the Magi were led to Christ. First of all, they had somehow come to believe that the king of the Jews had been born. We are not told how they had come to this belief, but we do know that they somehow had knowledge of this. Had one of the wise men had a dream? Were they visited by an angel or the holy ghost? We do not know. And how were they inspired to know that the star that appeared in the East had anything to do with His birth? The New Testament does not say.

Furthermore, not only did they believe that He had been born, but they knew of His exalted station. They had come not merely to visit Him; nor to pay their respects: no, they had come to worship Him. They knew that He was divine. They had set out from their homes, traveling for a sacred purpose, and were so certain that they would find Him that they had prepared themselves for their expected meeting to the extent that they were carrying with them precious gifts to lay before Him. They had no doubt that they would find Him.

These three men, in such extraordinary circumstances, possibly led by the star that had appeared, arrived in Jerusalem.

Now, consider, all this took place before the wise men had any knowledge of any prophecy referring to Bethlehem. So, was the cause of their belief in Him, the words of this prophecy? Hardly. Their belief was based on other things about which the New Testament says nothing.

The question does arise, of course, "Well, maybe they knew He had been born and that He was King, but didn't they still have to find Him? Could they have found the place of His birth without the prophecy?" Well certainly, they didn't know that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem until after they had been told. We know this because they asked of the place of His birth. This seems to indicate the prophecy was necessary to their finding the Christ.

But, consider also, how did they actually find the Christ? Did they "Go and search diligently for the young child"? No. It was the star that led them to the precise location of the Savior's birth. Unless you feel that the star also required to be pointed in the direction of Bethlehem by the chief priests, the guidance of the chief priests had little to do with their journey. This seems to indicate that something other than the scriptures led them to find the Christ. If not for the star, if they had simply gone to Bethlehem without its help, could they have found Him? Could they have found Him by asking people, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?"

It's quite interesting to me that one could imagine that the Bethlehem prophecy could have led people to find Christ in the first place. I personally don't understand how this could be, even if one could have been sure that they had properly understood this prophecy.

Imagine someone searching for the Christ by this prophecy? What, for example, could they have done to find Him once they had arrived in Bethlehem? Could they have asked people where the "king" was? Could they have searched for all the newborn children and asked the parents regarding the circumstances of the birth? Could they have interviewed the townspeople to see if there was anything unusual at all of recent report, and by this try to find the child? I suppose this is possible, but was this what was intended by God? What would have happened if after their search, they had found nothing unusual about the recent births, and instead had merely caused the people, the government, and the religious leaders to think strangely of them? What would you, yourself, have done if you had searched Bethlehem and found nothing?

Found nothing?

Now, I'm sure some readers considering what I have written above may question my line of reasoning. They may be thinking that surely, if one had searched earnestly enough, he or she would have come upon the holy family. After all, Bethlehem, could not have been that big a place, and with effort and the help of God, and given the holy circumstances of the birth, He surely would have been found. Those who come to this conclusion, however, have allowed themselves quite a convenient assumption. And by this assumption they have removed, without basis, a dimension of life that would have complicated immensely the seeker’s search. They have focused on an outcome and then shaped their "picture" to produce that outcome. But what they have done, is also nothing more than what we all do when we consider the past - and this by reason of our not having immediate access to the details of what we are trying to understand – we narrow the possibilities, simplify the circumstances, and generously whittle away at reality to fit into our own preconceived image.

The assumption is this: that the one searching for the Christ had arrived in Bethlehem at precisely the proper time. But how could one have known what the proper time was, and that he or she was living at that time? How could anyone searching for Christ have been sure that they hadn't arrived in Bethlehem eighty five years late? Or three hundred years early? The prophecy was given centuries before His Coming, and it gave no clue about the time it was to be fulfilled.

If the Bethlehem prophecy was indeed intended to lead the faithful to Christ, had God intended that they were to have settled in Bethlehem and spent the rest of their lives making their “inquiries”? Did God intend that they go to Bethlehem and wait? And after years, or generations, of not finding Him, then what? Wouldn't they possibly have felt that God would have to reveal the "ruler in Israel" in His own time?

To me, it is clear that it would simply take much more than this prophecy to find the Christ. All those who worshipped Jesus at the nativity - His parents, the shepherds, the Magi - were given some kind of special blessing to be allowed to recognize Him. In the case of the Magi, we know that they were somehow in communication with God on a higher than normal level: God had led them to the knowledge of His Son's birth and greatness, had guided them by a star, and when they had completed their holy mission, we know that they were warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod.

Of course, we all have our own understanding of these events. I personally don't feel that the Bethlehem prophecy can take credit for the Magis' belief in and finding of the Christ. You may. If you do, then certainly you must consider this an outstanding instance of the power of prophecy and an exception to certain assertions that I make in this book. In any case, however, if this is an exception, as far as I can see, it is the only exception, for it is certain, that although the Magi may have been led by this prophecy, none of the Jewish people were led to Christ by way of this or any other prophecy.

To me, the incident of the Magi, signifies a divine invitation to the people of Jerusalem to seek out their Lord. If you'll forgive my paraphrasing, basically, the Magi came and said "We know that your king is born, somewhere. Tell us where." The Magi announced His Coming.

Tragically, no one responded to this invitation.

And many of the people believed on Him

And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.

Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.

Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?

So there was a division among the people because of him.

And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?

But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)

Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

And every man went unto his own house.

John 7:31-53

These verses of John make clear that it was correctly assumed by the people of Christ's time that His birthplace would be Bethlehem. No doubt this thinking had been given them by the Pharisees who appear to boldly assert the same. At first glance then, to some it may appear that this prophecy did indeed lead people to the Christ. There was a division among the people; some believed, and some didn't. Some recognized Him as the Christ, while others questioned His fulfilling the prophecies.

Upon thoughtful examination of these verses, however, it becomes clear that there is not only no real evidence that anyone in the situation described above was led to the Christ by the prophecy of Bethlehem, but it actually shows that the prophecy was a barrier to belief in Him.

There is a subtle but important difference between, on the one hand, knowing the meaning of a prophecy beforehand and thereby using it to seek out the Christ, and, on the other hand, realizing that the Christ has come, and then going back and considering the prophecies that He was supposed to have fulfilled. The former is, according to my understanding, quite an unlikely possibility. The latter, however, represents the interaction intended by God between prophecies and man.

In the above verses that John has recorded, it is quite clear that no one in that situation was led to believe that Jesus was the Christ because they believed that the Christ would come from Bethlehem. These verses offer additional confirmation that everyone who believed in Him must have had some other reason for believing than prophecy. How do we know this? We know this because John makes it clear that the people assumed that Jesus was from Galilee. To paraphrase, the people said: “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? But our understanding is that He should come from Bethlehem.”

For the people of Christ's time, then, the prophecy of Bethlehem would be more of an obstacle than an aid in finding the Christ. If someone were looking for a ruler from Bethlehem, they would not have found Him. In the minds of the people, Jesus was Jesus of Nazareth, a Galilean, the leader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Jesus Himself said "I am Jesus of Nazareth"[39]. There is no mention of Jesus of Bethlehem in the Bible. In fact, after the story of Christ's birth, that is the last we hear of any association of Jesus with Bethlehem. It is possible, of course, that during Christ's ministry, it may have been explained to some that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem, and that this may have confirmed some in their belief in Him. There is, however, nothing in the New Testament to suggest this.

Although it appears that none were led to Christ through the Bethlehem prophecy, a question still remains regarding the understanding of this prophecy, namely: Was it correctly understood before it was fulfilled? The Bible clearly shows that it was - half of it, that is. The religious leaders did correctly understand the part of this prophecy referring to Bethlehem. But does understanding part of a prophecy mean anything? Should they have been trusted to interpret the other half, the one referring to “ruler in Israel”? Did they really know what they were talking about, or were they guessing? If the answer to this question does not seem clear to you, then let’s try asking another, more-to-the-point question: Should the people have followed the interpretation of the religious leaders, or not?

To really understand the meaning of a prophecy requires some divine confirmation, as in the case of the prophecies we now understand regarding the First Coming of Christ. As far as I can understand, there is essentially no difference between not understanding the true meaning of a prophecy, and understanding the true meaning, but having no way of confirming it.

If the Pharisees had sought with humility from Christ Himself, the answer to their questions, they could have attained unto true understanding of the scriptures. But the New Testament reveals the fact that they essentially did not have any questions. "Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet", is not a question, and it betrays an attitude whose sole object is opposition. Having essentially no questions regarding Christ, they could receive no answers, and they were therefore, unable to attain salvation.

The people, however, had questions: "Hath not the scriptures said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" They also had an interesting dilemma: where to find answers. Here the seeker had to decide whether to ask the religious leaders who had denounced the Person in question, or the Person in question who had denounced the religious leaders.

Of course, the religious leaders, having assumed that they correctly understood the prophecies (and this being their first, fundamental, and most grievous error) would have said that when He comes, there will be no questions: He will be a ruler, will save us from oppression, will promulgate the same glorious teachings which we now have, and will exalt us over other peoples. O, for the glory of that day!

They thought they knew it all.

The fact that none were led to Christ through prophecies, does not mean that the prophecies did not influence the people of Christ's time. They certainly did. They did not, however, influence everyone in the same way. To those who disbelieved, the prophecies were a barrier; to those who believed, divine confirmation.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the coming of Christ, and one which is the subject of the following chapter, is that those who rejected Him, expected that He was to be their savior, that God had promised the One who would love them, help them, guide them, protect them. In their hearts and minds they knew that He should be all these things. And the truth is, He was, but only to those who believed.

The Jew and the Christian

Chapter 8

At Christ's First Coming, some believed, and some didn't.

God does not force us to conform to His ways, to obey His laws, or even to follow His Son. He does not force us; we are free to choose. This freedom of choice is an eternal aspect of God's religion. Of course, it matters a great deal what choices we make in life. For every action we take, there will be consequences. We are told that we are rewarded for choosing the right, and punished for choosing the wrong; but we are free to choose, nonetheless.

At Christ's First Coming, belief or non-belief in Him was left to the individual's choice. It was not easy to recognize Him. If it had been easy, if God, in whatever way He chose, made all people recognize Jesus as the Christ, how would Christ have fulfilled His mission of Teaching people of their own free will to accept and practice His message of Salvation? Were all the people of Christ's time deserving of the great honor of recognizing and following Him without any exertion of will or effort on their part? This does not seem likely, just, or even possible given that God has endowed us with a free will to choose. However, neither was it impossible at the time of Christ to recognize Him. If God had placed insurmountable obstacles between Christ and the people of His time, how could the sincere soul have fulfilled its purpose and destiny?

For the seeker of Christ, there was a divine balance between these two extremes. For every compelling sign pointing the way to the Christ, there were things to cause doubt: “When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?” [40] . . . but . . . “when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils”[41]. And for every promise of eternal happiness and joy at accepting the Christ, there was also the threat of pain and suffering: "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven"[42] . . . but . . . "Then shall they deliver you up, to be afflicted, and shall kill you"[43].

To believe in Christ was a question of faith, which one had to resolve for oneself. There was no simple formula that one could have followed. Each individual had their own tests of faith that they had to overcome in order to accept Him. For some, their test may have been His suffering and seeming helplessness, for others His call to self-sacrifice, and for still others, fear of persecution. You could not simply have opened up the Scriptures to see if Jesus were the Christ. The answers were there, of course, but were not understood.

Before Christ appeared in the world, the meaning of prophecies referring to Him remained a mystery - a mystery which none could unravel. Not only this, one could not even, at that time, have discerned, in many cases, which verses in the Hebrew scripture were, indeed, prophetic references at all. And this led to a critically difficult situation for the people of His time: Not having complete knowledge of all of the aspects of the Christ's mission, and a natural gravitation to those prophecies reflecting His greatness and dominion, and the exclusion of ones indicating His lowliness, they were ill equipped to receive a suffering Messiah.

Imagine! Prophecies referring to Christ actually had the effect of leading people away from Him; not all people, of course, but some. Certainly, they were not given by God to lead people astray. Why then, did this happen? Of course, we can't find fault with the Creator who revealed them. The fault must lie with God's creatures. The key ingredient, according to my understanding, was lack of humility. It seems the approach that the people of Christ's time used in interpreting the scriptures was quite a simple one: They wanted Him to appear in a certain way, and they then understood the prophecies to predict that He would indeed come in that way. In retrospect, we can now see that the correct approach would have been to first admit that our limited understanding falls far short of claiming to understand fully the word of God, and then to wait for fulfillment in whatever way God's wisdom would decree.

Could this rejection - because of misinterpretation of the scriptures - have been foreseen? Does it say anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures that interpretation of the words contained therein would lead people away from the Holy One of Israel? Did it explain anywhere how to interpret itself? Did it warn people not to put faith in their own interpretations? If it did explain these things, no one heeded its words. In fact, when Christ came, the Jewish people used their holy books, in vain of course, to try to discredit Him.

At the time of His appearance, there was much expectation and much longing that the Christ would come, but not a single soul, however, knew how He would appear.

But then something happened, something that changed all of this, something that will forever mark the entrance of divine knowledge into the heart of humanity: some people believed in Him. To those few souls, whose faith in Him overcame whatever difficulties were before them, Christ imparted the knowledge that enabled them to understand the true meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures. For the first time since their having been written centuries before, the mystery of these scriptures was gone, and their truth revealed.

But not to all. Only to the few elect. To the rest of the world, they remained a mystery.

A World of Faith

In a sense, a new world had been opened to those who believed in Him - a world of faith and knowledge. To those souls Christ gave the keys to understanding what their leaders and countrymen had for generations past failed to understand. At long last the purpose of these holy words was being fulfilled. The fruit that these words bore was an unconquerable faith and love that was destined to spread throughout the planet. In understanding the true meaning of the prophecies pointing to the Christ, His followers had been set free from the ignorance and fanaticism of those who rejected Him.

Christ’s followers saw with new eyes the prophetic references to Him. Whereas before His Coming, one could only guess at their meaning, now there was knowledge of their meaning. Previously, in many cases, the literal meaning was assumed, but now their symbolic meaning became clear. And whereas before, a suffering Messiah could not have been imagined, now God's word seemed to proclaim loudly that this had been His Plan since the beginning of time; a plan that until then, was known only to Him.

This new world, entered into through their belief in Christ, allowed the early Christians not only to understand prophetic references to Him, but also understand the true meaning and purpose of their Scripture as a whole. Thus, everything had new meaning, and it all seemed to revolve around Christ. Christ's ministry represented more than merely three and a half years of time. It signified the consummation of a holy and historical process. All things were looked at in the light of His life: the Passover, the temple, the ten commandments, even creation; all these had new meaning. And not only did Christ fill the believer's world with meaning, but no aspect of history or of one's individual life had meaning without His life and words. No event, no matter how remote, no matter how seemingly insignificant in the life of the individual, was outside of the influence of Christ's divine knowledge and power. To the followers of Christ, He had become their beginning and their end: for they would “live”, “move”, and have their “being”[44] in Him. All things proclaimed Him. He had become the source of life and its goal.

At Christ's Coming, a world had opened up. Those who had entered it saw clearly the signs of its greatness and power, and looked forward to the blessings it was sure to bestow upon all peoples. This world was as real, nay more real, that what they had previously regarded as the substance of their lives. Their love for Him and their fellowship with one another sustained them through all things. Their world was filled with divine purpose and promise.

What a world it was; and what a world with which it had to contend. Though the world of Faith brought by Christ was clearly a reality to the believer, what those outside this world saw was quite different. From the story presented in the New Testament, it seems that those in the outside world, in fact, simply could not see it. It was, in a sense, invisible to them. The Jewish people had no way of comprehending what was going on in the minds and hearts of the followers of Christ - no way of judging the merits of their new pattern of religious practice, no way of seeing what His followers saw with undoubted clarity: the future rise and triumph of His Faith.

The Jews, who disputed in vain, to invalidate the truth of the appearance of the Christ, remained oblivious of this world of faith. Without the acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the door was closed to understanding either His words or the significance of events in His life. Without such an understanding, the meaning of the scriptures remained a mystery. And, not understanding the meaning of the Hebrew scriptures, the world and life itself was a mystery to them. At the Coming of the Holy One of Israel, far from responding to the spirit of the world of faith offered to them, the Jewish people viewed as insignificant and troublesome the small band of Christ's followers.

In contrast, Christ's followers could fully comprehend the Jewish people and the rest of the outside world. They understood the doctrine, customs, and laws, as well as the actions and motives of those who had not recognized the Christ. To Christ’s followers, all was clear - nothing was a mystery.

New Teachings

Besides the reality of this wonderful new faith residing in the hearts of the believers, and the beginnings of a new pattern of religious practice, there was something else that was new: divine revelation. At first purely oral, and in later years in written form, the followers of Christ possessed what they regarded as a new body of "scripture": the word of God, on a par with their other sacred scripture. In what would come to be known as the New Testament, they possessed what they believed were teachings from God - new teachings.

Where did this new "testament" come from? No one was expecting it. None were aware of prophecies pointing to such a "New Testament". Certainly, the existing scripture seemed complete with all the laws and guidance, the recorded history, and the promises of the future that God had given His chosen people. If they had needed more than this, God would have given it to them. To the Jewish people, the scripture was complete.

To Christ's followers, however, the fact that this new scripture was not expected or predicted was irrelevant. The New testament was seen as a blessing from God: the eternal voice of the Almighty speaking to His children. It was God's fulfillment of the sacred scriptures, and God did not need permission to reveal it. It was the very spirit of the believers' lives, and the food of their souls. No matter that it was not expected or predicted, or that no one could have imagined what a new body of scripture was to say, or why it would have been needed. For the Christians, it was enough that after it had come, its utter indispensability to the children of men was completely obvious. Obvious, that is, to those who believed in it.

And to those who didn't believe? To some it was foolishness; to others, blasphemy.

Both the world of the believers, and the world of those who did not believe, "made sense". Those who had not accepted Jesus as the Christ could explain the folly, the unfortunate errors in judgement that had caused some to accept Him. And, those who had accepted Jesus could explain why the world had rejected Him. People in both worlds felt that they were correct, and each could produce their own set of proofs to substantiate their claims.

Truth, however, depends not on who or how many believe in it. It was, of course, the view of the believers in Christ, that was, in fact, the correct - the only way - to view the world. It was reality.

Those who perceive reality see things that only they can know. And if we had lived at the time of Christ, and been blessed with faith in Him, we would have witnessed a truly strange and wonderful thing:

A chosen people await their Promised One. He appears in the world, but not in the way they expect Him to appear. His mission is far greater than what they could have conceived. At His appearance, all their assumptions about His Coming become their downfall - for they cling to their own expectations, and reject Him. They are utterly unaware of what they have done. They label the divine, satanic, and the satanic, divine. As if nothing has happened, they go on with their lives. They vainly imagine to be beloved of God above all the peoples of the world, and to hold the keys to spiritual authority. That authority, however, unbeknownst to them, has passed from their hands. While denouncing anyone who would arise against their Promised One, they themselves fulfill the prophecies referring to His enemies.

The Promised One chooses a few, humble souls to follow Him. To them He imparts the knowledge of His Mission, and patiently prepares them for theirs. He has come not for the triumph of the chosen people, but for the salvation of the whole world. His message will be delivered by His followers. Though looked down upon as the lowliest of people, they have been exalted above kings. Though outwardly powerless, they withstand everyone. Though esteemed as misguided and ignorant, these souls understand everything.

Such is God's way: the first are last; and the last, first.

Being "first" in the eyes of God, and "first" in the eyes of man are very different things. And the same, of course, goes for being "last". Those who recognized Christ, in a sense, were able to see with "God's eyes". For they did indeed see correctly who was first, and who last.

I have often wondered how it could be that a Jewish and Christian person, could have two so radically different views regarding the return of the Messiah, yet both seem to base themselves on the same evidence. Take, for example, the instance of a Jew and a Christian considering the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). The Christian generally sees hundreds of references to the Christ as having been fulfilled, while the Jewish person generally sees none. It seems that it is either all, or nothing at all. Essentially, there seems to be no reconciling the interpretation of the Jewish person who has not accepted Jesus as the Christ, with the interpretation of the Christian who has. The domain of meaning which these two individuals perceive from the scriptures does not seem to allow for an exchange of thought that would bridge the gap between them.

The fact that these two seemingly contradictory views of the world could coexist - and even today, can coexist - I have always found fascinating, and at times puzzling. Having thought deeply regarding this phenomenon, I have found that there is a physical analogy, however, that we can use to demonstrate the relationship between these two viewpoints. This analogy helps us solve, to a certain extent, the puzzle. Of course, it is only an analogy and as such, has limited value. However, since it seems to be appropriate to demonstrate certain aspects of the relationship between these viewpoints, I would like to share it. The analogy is that of wakefulness and sleep.

An Analogy

A person who is asleep, but dreaming, may think that he is awake. The person that is awake, however, knows that he is awake. There is a fundamental difference between these two. We immediately recognize the waking state as the higher one.

If a sound, say, thunder, for example, reaches the ears of one who is asleep, he may incorporate this into a dream and make sense of it. He may understand the noise as a felled tree crashing to the ground, for example. The person who is awake, however, hears the thunder, and understands what it really is. To both people, the sound makes sense.

The believer is like the person who is awake - he is conscious. He has been "awakened" through his belief in Christ, and therefore is able to understand things as they really are. He has attained a new spiritual condition - a condition we call "faith". Those who have not been "awakened" by faith are as one who sleeps. They may sense things, and make sense of them, and think they understand them, but because of their condition, they are unable to truly do so. They are spiritually "asleep".

The conscious person can comprehend the condition of the one who sleeps. Moreover, he is aware of the fact that he has the power to comprehend that condition. But the one who sleeps is in no way capable of understanding the condition of the one who is conscious. And, of course, he is unaware of his own lack of ability to understand. In the same way, the Christian person at the time of Christ could understand the condition of the Jewish person, but the Jew could not understand the condition of the Christian. Just as the conscious person has knowledge that the sleeping person does not, the person who has attained faith, has knowledge, of which a person without faith is deprived.

This is not to say that the person with faith is inherently superior to the person without faith, or that any group of people are inherently superior to any others because of their faith. Here our analogy provides further help in our understanding of this. However much their conditions might differ, the one who is awake is not inherently superior to the one who sleeps. Absolutely not. Sleep is not a permanent condition of the body, and the conscious person realizes this. In the same way, lack of faith is not a permanent condition of the soul. One with faith should not feel in the least superior to those who have not yet attained it; neither can one with Faith look down on others because of their lack of it. In the true spirit of Christ's teachings, the Christian is concerned for the spiritual welfare of all people, and does not judge them because of their condition at the time.

Viewed in this way, it is seen that the world of faith is available to all, at any time. All people possess the capacity for faith. To attain faith, one merely needs to "wake up" spiritually. As we awake from physical sleep, we go from mere illusion to reality. How many times have we dreamed of things, which seemed perfectly normal in the dream state, but which upon waking, we find them to be totally senseless? The same occurs when one attains faith. A Jew, for example, brought up believing the interpretations of his contemporaries regarding the Coming of Christ - interpretations that seemed founded upon reality - would have, after accepting Christ, regarded those same interpretations as mere fantasy. To illustrate, consider that the thinking that the Christ was to be an earthly king, would seem meaningless, compared to the reality of His heavenly, His eternal and everlasting sovereignty. As we awake, we become aware of reality.

How Do We Wake Up?

But how does one wake up? For some, the light of the sun is enough. Though asleep, with their eyes closed, the light penetrates into their consciousness and stirs them from their slumber; their condition changes. In the same way, at the time of Christ, His divine love, like the sun, penetrated the darkness of His time, and caused some, though only a few during His lifetime, to awaken. We need simply to recall that some followed Christ even before He had told them who He was, to realize that their hearts had responded to the divine love that radiated from His Person.

But for some, the light is not enough. They remain asleep despite the light. Some people's nature is to sleep on until something disturbs them. Therefore, in His mercy, God "disturbs" the spiritual sleep of those without faith, in order to awaken them. At Christ's Coming, the people were disturbed by the events that came to pass. The Jewish people, who witnessed with horror the birth of the Christian Faith, experienced distress that was conducive to their spiritual awakening, and some were, indeed, awakened to faith in Christ. For most of them, however, even this failed to rouse them from their slumber. The Faith of their Saviour moved primarily from them to other peoples. But God does not want them to sleep forever. In His mercy, He continues to watch over His beloved and chosen people. He has not forgotten them and has continued to give them heaven-sent trials that they may awaken. Although their history has been one filled with sadness, they are assured that ultimately they will come to a glorious and joyous age.

At the time Christ came, the followers of the Hebrew Scriptures had fallen into a deep sleep. They imagined that they were following God's Faith, but it was mere illusion. In actuality, they had drifted so far from the true teachings of their Faith that when the Christ came, He did not proclaim their victory, as they had fondly expected. Instead, He denounced them.

The Chosen People were denounced. Of course, they were not denounced in their inmost nature, or forever, but for their behavior and wayward attitude toward Christ. From the Old Testament, however, it is clear that they were not always worthy of reproach. In the early days of their Faith, the Jews did follow the spirit of their sacred teachings, and for this they received manifold blessings from God. But by the time their Messiah had come, all was changed. Although seekers after the Christ, they themselves persecuted Him.

The persecution of Christ by the Jewish people, and its effect on His Church, can also be understood by our analogy. The Jewish people, being out of touch with reality, imagined that persecution could crush the Faith of Jesus of Nazareth. But just as a mere dream has no power over reality, mere persecution has no power over the Faith of God. A conscious person is aware of this. The Christians were aware of this. This explains why the smallness of their numbers in the face of a hostile world did not dampen their vision or cause them to turn away from the task their Lord had given them. They knew that His Faith would grow and fulfill its mission despite whatever opposition the world could produce.

Further with this analogy, we see that just as a person who is awake realizes that sleep is not a permanent condition, he also realizes that neither is being awake. In the same way, one who has attained unto faith, and is spiritually awake, realizes that it is possible for he, himself, to lose his faith. The realization that it is possible to fall asleep, spiritually, humbles the believer. No one knows, with absolute certainty, what his own end will be. There are those who have been faithful for a time, yet, when some great test or temptation came, they turned away. And there have been those who have been heedless all their lives, but who have in the end attained to the light of Faith. Yes, we may know with certainty that Jesus is the Christ, but we cannot guarantee that we ourselves will remain faithful to Him. Although we pray to remain faithful, the gift of faith is not a permanent condition. It depends upon God’s Will and our daily striving to live in conformity with God's teachings.

Although it is possible to lose one's faith, we know, however, that at Christ's coming, and in the following years, the vast majority of believers remained faithful to the end of their earthly lives and, thereby, gained life everlasting. Just as, generally, when the physical sun is up, people are awake, so too the light of Christ, like a great spiritual sun, sustained the belief of his followers who remained spiritually awake. For the most part, they did not fall back asleep.

As stated above, if one is asleep physically, he may, in a dream, believe himself to be awake. This, to me, is the most fascinating and primary relevance of this analogy: Both the one who is awake, and the one who is asleep, can think that they are awake. God does not make one's condition clear to the individual when he is asleep. It is only made clear to the one who is awake. In the same way, at the time of Christ, both the Christian and the Jew may have thought that they were faithful to God, but only the Christians knew with certainty that they had attained unto Faith. God did not make it clear to the Jew that he had not attained unto faith, though the Jew himself, of course, thought that he had.

The Seeker and the Believer

To wake up the peoples of the world Christ sent forth his followers. It was they who were to be the means of bringing faith and everlasting life to the masses. Their task was enormous, but their faith unconquerable. Their future was perilous, but they had been prepared for whatever obstacles they might face. And, of course, many obstacles there were, for this company of blessed souls, who possessed nothing but the unalterable conviction that the Christ had come, had to meet face to face with a world which doubted, rejected, and even fiercely opposed this truth.

Some believed, and some didn't; and the two had to meet. Their meeting, in fact, was a requirement of God's plan. For it was only through these meetings that the light residing in the believers would be shed abroad to all nations.

Although the Christians went forth to eventually teach peoples of all nations, I would like to focus on the meeting of the Christian person and the Jewish person at around the time of Christ. It was to the Jewish people that He had appeared, and it was their prophecies that he had fulfilled. Although He had come to save the whole world, He held a special place in their scriptures. God had foretold His coming, and they were expecting Him.

A Meeting

Imagine living in the early days of the Christian Era and being a witness to the birth of Christ's glorious Faith. At a meeting of a Christian and a Jew, their worlds would come together. In a myriad different circumstances, they would meet face to face. Let us consider for a moment, who it really was that was meeting, and what were the underlying realities of the circumstances at the time of Christ.

Let us imagine a Christian and a Jewish person meeting with one another as if they were in present time, right before us. What are their realities?

The primary reality of the Christian is that he believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Of course, in his desire to please His Lord, he will exert every effort to conform to the glorious teachings Christ Himself exemplified during His life. However, as all fall short of the glory of God, the believer will have difficulty living up to the lofty standard implied in being a Christian. He may or may not be any more learned than the Jew, may or may not possess a fuller understanding of the details of the Jewish scripture, may or may not even possess those "Christian" qualities - such as charity, compassion, humility - to a greater extent than his Jewish friend, but he has been blessed by God with a wondrous gift - Faith. By his faith - invisible, intangible, utterly mysterious - he can overcome every deficiency in his life. He has been chosen of God, he knows His plan, understands the part he has to play in it, and is assured of everlasting life. He regards His faith as a treasure that he would not exchange for all the riches on earth. The relationship of the Christian to Christ, namely that of belief in Him, being the most important quality he possesses, is the reason that at times I refer to him simply as "believer".

The primary reality of the Jewish person, on the other hand, is that he does not yet believe that the Christ has come. Whatever the circumstances in his life, whatever his talents, accomplishments, even his knowledge of scripture - yet he is deprived of Faith. In a sense, he is powerless, and nothing he possesses - be it wealth or knowledge, or determination - can compensate for his lack of faith. Until accepting Christ, he does not know God's purpose for his day, and cannot therefore lend his assistance to it. The Faith of God has been renewed, and is beginning to blossom, but he is unaware, because he has not yet found the Christ, although he, himself may possess many “Christian” qualities. The relationship of the Jewish person to Christ, namely that he is seeking, but has not yet found Him, being the most important aspect of his life, is the reason that at times I refer to him simply as "seeker". I use the word "seeker" rather than "unbeliever" for two reasons: First of all, the Jews at the time of Christ certainly did have beliefs, and were sincerely following what they felt was the will of God. Secondly, whether seeking to find the Christ consciously or not, they should have been, because He had been promised them in their sacred scripture.

In a meeting between a Christian person and a Jewish person, the Christian person will, of course, out of love, want to share his faith with the Jewish person. And the Jewish person, also, may want to share his faith with the Christian person, thinking that the Christian person has been led astray. Each may sincerely want to help the other to attain to true faith and may pray on the other’s behalf for God to open their eyes to His truth.

However, we know that to this meeting, the Christian person will come with knowledge of reality - belief in Christ and the record of His life and teachings: the New Testament. Through all their discussions, faith and the New Testament will inform the believer's words with divine authority. The Jewish person, however, will be unaware of this reality. Of course, he will realize that the believer is using the words and stories of Jesus of Nazareth, but the Jewish person will not regard them as the Word of God. He will see them, in fact as not only a departure from the Word of God, written by mere men, but actually a trespass against the divine authority of the sacred scriptures.

The believer and the seeker, although looking at the same reality, will see different things. Whatever the seeker sees will be "tinted" by his view of the world, whereas the believer will see plainly. The Jewish person will, of course, object to many, possibly all, aspects of the doctrine and thinking of the Christian, and is of course free to do so - one cannot be forced to believe, and the Christian person will allow this. These objections, as viewed from the world of the seeker, are not only perfectly valid, but represent evidence of his sacred obligation to defend his Faith. However, in the view of the believer, these objections have been overruled by higher Authority - the Will of God.

The believer will approach this meeting with full understanding of the objections that the seeker will raise. In most cases these objections do not even need to be pointed out by a seeker; the believer, from his knowledge of the quite unexpected manner of Christ's Coming, is fully aware of how time-honored assumptions and long-held visions of the Coming have been shattered, causing indignation and opposition, and how these assumptions and visions are not easily let go of.

Although Christ's Coming seems to have occurred in a manner that was certainly not predicted, the attitude of the believer is simply "God has divine authority. We, who are only his children, cannot question or oppose it. We must accept it. And once accepting it, and having had it explained through the life of Christ, it makes perfect sense." The attitude of the seeker, on the other hand, may be "We who are chosen of God, will not so easily be deceived. We must stand firm in our faith and await the true Messiah."

The Christian person understands that these two views seem irreconcilable. At the same time he desires to share his faith. How can he do this? How can he awaken the seeker?

It was earlier pointed out that for a few souls, the light which Christ, who referred to Himself as the "Light of the World"[45], radiated, was enough to awaken them from slumber and to bestow upon them the gift of faith. That light, the source of everything good and holy, was the eternal joy and the very life of those who perceived it. Who among us would not desire to have humbly knelt - even for a moment - in His wondrous presence and to have bathed in that eternal light?

A world without light is darkness, and in darkness, we sleep. Christ desired that the world should not be without His light; therefore, He commanded His followers to let their “light” “shine before men”[46] so that, after His ascension, His light would remain in the world to attract the hearts of the seekers, and to guide the believers.

A Christian person who is trying to share his faith with a Jewish person, would, no doubt, do all in his power to manifest that light as exhorted by His Lord. Through living a true Christian life, he would not only be assured of the rewards promised him by Christ, but would also hope to awaken others to the light of faith. Through his love of God, and love of his fellow man, the Christian person would hope to touch the heart of the Jewish person with Christ's message.

The love that the Christians manifested and the other wonderful qualities of their lives were no doubt a major source of attraction and confirmation for those souls who were eventually led to believe that Jesus was the Christ. However, although this light awakened some, most as we have seen, despite the light, remained asleep. Indeed, there were many who stood in the very presence of Christ Himself, and still rejected him. We know also, that despite the kindness and charity of the Christians, they were disregarded and cruelly persecuted for hundreds of years. For some people, something more is required to awaken them.

It is a universal quality of the human being that when life is comfortable, when all our needs are met, and when we seem in control of our environment, we more easily forget God. The Bible demonstrates this truth with many stories. The moment, however, that crisis, danger, or tragedy strikes, our hearts instinctively and immediately turn to that Higher Power, that Great Spirit who we know, deep in our souls to be the One Who is truly in control not only of our very lives, but of the universe itself.

In turning to God, it is as if a channel of His love is opened up, and we immediately receive His blessings: "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."[47] For some, to be awakened to the world of faith, they require some trouble in order to turn them to God - some pain or suffering - which will enable them to awaken spiritually. Surely, many there were who turned to God, and were then awakened to the world of faith through such pain or suffering.

Of course, God alone possesses the wisdom to know what pain or suffering an individual requires in order that they may turn to Him. He alone has the authority to bestow hardship or sorrow. Although this is a way by which many attain unto faith, it is not a way by which the believer in Christ can lead others to Him. The Christian is not at liberty to cause the least pain or suffering to his fellow man, even if such pain and suffering is inflicted upon him. The Christian's part is rather to show mercy to his fellow man, not to be the cause of grief.

So does this mean that the believer is left to teach by compassion and love only? Must he show only by the way in which he lives his life that the Christ has come? No. There is another means for those who sleep to be awakened. Christ Himself and his disciples after Him employed this means. I am speaking here of reason. From the New Testament, we see that reason held great importance in the plan of God. Christ Himself used the Scriptures to bestow faith. Along with the love he bore for all people, and the many wonders He performed through His divine power, He also explained - by means of His own words as well as by the words of the Hebrew scriptures - the validity of His claim to be the Promised Messiah. Using proofs from the scriptures, He appealed to people's ability to think and understand.

The Role of Reason

Yes, Christ reasoned. In fact, His reasoning was a major part of His ministry. Through reasoning, He exposed the malice and deceit of the religious leaders of His time, and laid bare both their lack of common sense and the motives for their questioning Him. Through reasoning He refuted the charge that He was the prince of devils, and established that He was Lord of the Sabbath. Through His many parables, He brought the realm of analogy and logic to bear on religious teachings. He even explained through parable who He, Himself, "that soweth the good seed"[48], was. With both friend and foe, Christ reasoned.

It appears from the New Testament that Christ was constantly called upon to answer and to explain. And His purpose, of course, in responding was never to simply display His divine knowledge or to win an argument. His purpose was none other than to bestow the gift of everlasting life: belief in Him. A glimpse of one such moment in His life here on earth can be seen from the following passage from the book of Mark:

Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.

And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.

And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.

In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.

And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?

For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

Mark 12:18-34

Here we see a scribe attracted to Christ by the power of His reasoning. We are not told, however, whether this man eventually became a follower of Christ or not. We do know that Christ regarded him as "not far from the kingdom of God", which is a hopeful sign. We would hope for this man, of course, as we would for all people, that he did indeed attain unto everlasting life, but faith must depend upon the person's own choice, and that of none other.

Christ's reasoning attracted many souls, but not all who heard it believed in Him. Although reason may attract, it, alone, cannot bestow the gift of Faith. Faith is essentially a spiritual bond one has with his Lord. If someone were to insist upon his own interpretation of scripture, there is little that can be done to change his mind. Christ Himself could not convince those who did not want to believe. The freedom of choice to believe or not is always there.

In this connection, it is important to note also that neither can suffering and hardships by themselves bestow faith. Not everyone who suffers awakens to belief in Christ. The power of reason, therefore, or life's troubles, while they may increase one's receptiveness to the message of Christ, will yield nothing by themselves. The primary ingredient necessary for one's conversion to Christianity, whatever the previous experience of the seeker might be, is that he must be touched by the love of Christ. Christ's love alone can bestow life everlasting.

But to draw people toward Christ, that they may begin to open their hearts to His love, reason certainly played an important role both at His time, and in the ages that followed. God has given to all people a measure of intellect. And His purpose in bestowing this gift upon us is so that we may use it to discover the truth in all things. Such a wondrous gift, which the Almighty has given to women and men alone, of all creatures, Christ did not neglect, but rather used it to attract people to Him.

As we view the spread of Christ's faith, we see that reason played a further role: it confirmed and strengthened the faith of those who were touched by His love. For His was to be a Faith of conscious knowledge, not blind imitation. The fact that He was indeed the Christ foretold in the Hebrew scriptures made perfect sense, and it could be proved and explained. In fact, to insure that the proofs of His mission would be firmly established in the minds of His disciples, Christ Himself "expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. "[49]

Of course, people cannot be forced to believe; they were, as they are today, free to reject or accept any and all proofs or explanations. But this fact did not cause the power of reason to be neglected in God's plan. After His ascension, Jesus' disciples continually and forcefully reasoned with both seekers and believers that He was indeed the Christ.

Many souls were thus led to Christ and eventually responded to His Divinity through seeking to understand the meaning of scripture. The meaning, of course, had to be explained to these souls by the Christians - those who already believed in Him and had a proper understanding of the Holy Word. Many, who gained the gift of Faith through the scriptures, must have had initial misgivings about this "new faith". It seems that no one following a religion that they felt was the only true religion would take lightly someone essentially telling them: "Your Messiah has come. To understand how He has fulfilled all of the promises that you have been given, you need to believe the words of this new Book from God, for these words explain everything."

The Bible shows us that rejection is easy; so easy, in fact, that, if the Son of God Himself were to come down to earth and perform a miracle right before your eyes, you would be entirely free to reject Him. It is very easy: if you simply don't want to believe, you don't. And in the days following the ascension of Christ, when He was no longer visible to the eyes of men, how much easier still it was to reject Him!

In their labor of love, the early Christians had their work cut out for them in attempting to demonstrate through the scripture that Jesus was the Christ. Reason can attract and compel the mind to a certain extent, but only if the listener is reasonable.

People at the time of Christ thought that certain particular scriptures referred to the coming Christ, and if their approach was to focus completely on their own interpretation of those scriptures, then any explanations given them by a Christian based on the New Testament might well have had no effect. For example, someone clinging to the vision that the Christ would be an earthly ruler, would have no interest in an explanation of why the Christ should suffer. Thus, in a dialogue between a Jewish person and a Christian person, if the Jewish person were to simply focus on his own knowledge, in the end he would be no closer to accepting Christ then when he started. Indifference to Christ's message, brought about by a self-centered approach to the scriptures, would seem to be quite a natural initial response. The chosen people know who they are, and feel secure regarding the meaning of their holy words. The last thing they would expect or welcome would be someone outside of their Faith claiming to have a new and divine explanation.

Indifference, however, would not seem to be the greatest obstacle facing the sincere believer in his desire to share his faith through a rational dialogue. A still greater obstacle would be from those whose intent was to find fault with the life and teachings of Christ. If it's easy to reject, it is just as easy to find fault.

The mind set of faultfinding is a curious thing. It is employed by those who have no real argument, who cannot reasonably defend their point of view, and therefore revert to belittling in order to maintain some sense of verbal victory. It is, in a sense, a perversion of the gift of reason.

Its utter falsity, however, is evident in the fact that it can be applied to virtually anything. The object of the faultfinding need have nothing wrong with it. If someone's intent is to find fault, not even the Holy One of Israel can escape being wrongfully blamed. The religious leaders of Christ's time took advantage of every instance they could to find fault with Him and His followers. And there were many, no doubt, with whom the early Christians met in the ensuing years, who reverted to this device.

An approach of this nature to the New Testament would lead one to focus on those things whose outer meaning could be construed to have negative connotations. Even this, the repository of God's Holy Word, the record of His Son's First Coming, the source of guidance for the nations, even this could be picked apart and criticized:

“Jesus was hanged on a tree, and the Hebrew scriptures specifically state that such a one is accursed.”

“He has said that we should hate our father and our mother and our children, but love him.”

“He told his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood.”

“He claimed to be the son of God, but didn't even have a roof over his head.”

“His followers admit that they are fools and prisoners for his sake.”

“He broke and changed religious laws.”

“He said that he came from heaven, yet we know his mother is Mary.”

According to the New Testament, all of the above statements are true. If someone had construed them as evidence that the Christians are imprisoned brainwashed fools who hate their families, who follow a poor beggar who claimed to be God, and who participate in some gruesome ritualistic ceremony in which they eat the flesh and drink the blood of this accursed man whose image they proudly display - if someone wanted to believe this, they were free to. God would not stop them.

All they would have done, however, is to shut themselves out from that eternal heritage which Christ had promised to His followers. No matter what objections anyone would raise regarding Christ and His teachings, they would simply be wrong. The Christians knew the truth, and the truth had set them free. They were free to accept in the proper light, whatever their Lord had revealed through His words or actions.

Their freedom from the misconceptions and prejudices that blinded others allowed them, patiently and with perseverance, to open the hearts and minds of a world in darkness. But conversion of the masses was not entirely up to them. Reason can only go so far, and the seeker also had to play his part.

Fortunately, in the end the truth triumphs. No matter what obstacles the minds of men construct, God's blessings prevail. Those who came to faith through examining the evidence presented to them, either through the New Testament, or through discussions with Christians, must have at some time realized that their previous understanding of the scriptures was not correct, that it represented something less than the fullest meaning of the words contained therein. How they made this leap of faith, what happened in their hearts and minds, and how they eventually surrendered to their Lord, is to me the greatest mystery and blessing of all.

That these people did not let their religious leaders, their own misconceptions, or their pride get in their way is a credit to their humility and faith. Their journey to everlasting life was not an easy one, but in the end they overcame.

They overcame. They changed themselves, and then they changed the world.

The Christian and the Bahá'í

Chapter 9

At Christ's Second Coming, some believed, and some didn't.

The story should be familiar by now: the manner in which mankind's understanding and expectations of God's ways have been thwarted and confounded repeatedly by Providence is perhaps the most constant motif of history and religious experience. This story, repeated in the Bible in various forms, with its greatest and most tragic episode being the rejection of Christ, reveals the truth that unfortunately, throughout the ages, human beings have learned not from pondering on the mistakes of their past, but rather have repeated them. It also reveals the profound truth that in our relationship to God, we human beings, in whatever age we live, are fundamentally the same: God is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, and we are but His servants.

Although, collectively, we have often responded to God's summons in a pitiful manner, we are not bound, as individuals, to learn only through failure. God has endowed all women and men with hearts and minds through which to discern and follow His Will. And now, readers, in this chapter, I appeal both to your hearts and minds, and address you straightforwardly regarding the Second Coming.

If we have arrived at this point in what seems to be a round about way, if the preceding chapters seem too lengthy, I apologize. I ask you to reflect though, on the subject at hand. Remember the Time of which we are speaking: "the time of harvest"[50], and the Person about whom we are speaking: the most compelling and peerless Person who ever trod the Earth: Christ Returned.

The Bible demonstrates that everything, absolutely everything, depends on our approach. Haste is not appropriate when seeking the Lord of History. The majesty of our subject, the Second Coming, requires a more ceremonious approach if we are to render it the proper respect. It is partly for this reason that this chapter has been arrived at by way of a journey through ancient prophecy, as seen through the eyes of our ancestors.

And now we have arrived at our time, the present, and I ask your further indulgence. If you approach the opinions here expressed with impatience, pride or intolerance, if you refuse to suspend judgment until an open heart, a searching reason, and fair investigation are the basis of your eventual decision, your will have acted in haste.

If what follows, you find - after fair deliberation - to be a hoax, in investigating it you will have wasted but a little time, and perhaps learned how to save others from such a cruel deception. If, however, you presume, ahead of time, to know the secrets of God's inscrutable wisdom, and therefore fail to investigate, is it not possible that you will have made the same mistake as those gone before us? After all, are we not all subject to error?

I ask you then, readers, to give the time, the care, the attention, the patience, the respect that this subject deserves, for no other subject can compare with this. If the theme be false, you will have lost but a few moments. If it is true, however, but you do not investigate, you may have lost what none of us would wish for anyone to lose: reunion with the Prince of Peace.

Introduction

In this chapter I will introduce and briefly discuss the claim that the Promised One of all Ages did indeed return during the nineteenth century, and that the building of His Kingdom here on earth is well underway. I will put forward, for your consideration, that at the Coming of their Lord, the Christians have become His seekers, while believers in Him are at this very moment carrying His long awaited message of love and hope to all the peoples of the earth.

On this theme, I will spend but one chapter, in which I will both introduce and conclude my argument. As in other chapters, I will not be exhaustive in my presentation; I cannot be. The subject is simply too great to be contained here. Rather I present an introduction to the bold claim referred to above.

This chapter is presented in three parts. The first is a discussion of the possibility and implications that it will be left to the Second Coming to reveal the meaning of the prophecies referring to Christ's return. This part deals essentially with the attitudes and claims of human beings themselves in their attempt to understand God's Word. The second part introduces the claim that His Return has indeed been fulfilled. The third part then gives examples of the kinds of evidence that support this claim.

A survey, even a cursory one, of the prophecies demonstrating this claim is beyond the scope of this book; the prophecies and their explanations are simply too numerous. Study of the Holy Scriptures by individuals of all religious backgrounds continues to yield a wealth of information and a succession of excellent books on this subject and I commend them to the readers attention[51]. My purpose here is not to bring forward historical evidence in support of this great claim; this has been done elsewhere. My purpose is rather to focus on the possibility that those same obstacles which kept the Jewish people from believing in Christ, could in this day, prevent the seeking soul from recognizing Him at His Return.

The preceding chapters were written to demonstrate what I have attempted to explain in conversation with Christian friends for many years. Long held assumptions, however, are not questioned upon simply hearing an opinion that states otherwise. Substantial evidence must be brought forward and objectively explored. This is what I have attempted to do in this book. If I have at times stated the obvious, seemed redundant, or delved too much into detail (for all of which I ask your forbearance), it was only in my desire to present systematically what I have always felt was clear evidence that the meaning of the Word of God is entirely up to Him, not us.

The purpose in attempting to demonstrate this has always been to allow the individual to consider the great claim that will sooner or later, and as a result of the efforts of His followers, reach the ears of all peoples, and about which each individual on earth will have to make, for his or her self, a choice: whether to recognize and believe or not to recognize and believe the Promised One announced in the sacred scriptures of all peoples.

The manner of Christ's First Coming was altogether surprising. The claim that He could have already returned is equally so. I ask you, the reader, to investigate this claim and its implications for the peace and wellbeing of the human race.

PART ONE

Impossible!

It is understandable that a Christian may find it impossible to accept the statement that the Christ could have returned without his or her knowledge. Isn't His Coming, after all, for the sake of Christians? Won't there be great signs at His Coming which all will witness? How then, could He have come and yet the Christians be unaware of it? Won't they immediately recognize Him at His Return? Won't, in fact, the whole world know of His Coming? Understandably, these questions, among many others, instantly come to the minds of Christ's followers when presented with the possibility that His Return could have already been fulfilled.

Indeed, based upon much of the current interpretation of Christ’s own promises regarding His Return, and the promises of the Old Testament, it seems impossible to Christians that Christ should have already returned. It appears clear to them from the statements of the Old and New Testaments, that at the time of Christ’s Second Coming, it simply will not be possible for Christ to appear in the world in a way that they are not expecting. They feel they have been given too much guidance in the scriptures for such a thing to happen. Though they may not know all the details of Christ’s Second Coming, they are certain they know more than was known at His First Coming. He has already appeared in the world once, they now know Who He is, and they are consciously expecting His Return. They display complete assurance regarding the Second Coming and a widespread consensus: "They will not miss Christ a second time."

Thus, for example, the Bible assures Christians that certain signs will accompany Christ’s Return. They know, for example, that He will come "in the clouds"[52], that "every eye shall see Him"[53], and that He will reign as "King of kings"[54]. They are sure of this because Christ Himself has spoken these promises. These, and the many other references to Christ at His Return, present Christians with that long awaited image of Christ’s glorious and triumphant theophany when He will destroy evil and establish an everlasting justice on earth - a justice in which He, Himself, under the authority of God, the Father, will be the sole and visible Ruler.

Yes, Christians know all this to be true-- beyond the shadow of a doubt. All who believe in the Bible, they feel assured, must accept this because this is what the Word of God has revealed. How then, could anyone refer, as was done above, to the Second Coming as if it had already happened? If the "King of kings" had come, then surely He would be, at this very moment, the prime focus of history. But the world seems to be proceeding as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Haven’t the holy words of the Bible obviously been thrown out and rejected in order to advance the spurious claim that Christ has returned?

No, the holy words of the Bible have not been thrown out and rejected. We need to remember that, precisely because the words of the Bible are holy and transcendent , no human being in studying them can ever claim to have fully, finally, and adequately comprehended them. It is not within the power or province of human beings to render ultimate and perfect judgments about the relative importance or unimportance of the words of Divine Revelation. Humility is always required regarding any of our interpretations of sacred scripture. The belief that Christ has indeed returned involves discarding not the words of the Bible, but the interpretations of the words of the Bible that various human beings have proposed in the past and the present. The fact that large numbers of Christians - but clearly not all Christians - have believed such interpretations is a serious and weighty consideration that cannot be lightly dismissed, but neither is it in itself a sufficient and adequate guarantee and final proof of the correctness of such interpretations.

The Claim of Interpretation

At this juncture, it might be helpful to point out an aspect of the Christian understanding of the rejection of Christ at His First Coming which has a significant influence on the assumption that prophecies are given to inform people what to expect and know about Him so that they can recognize Him at His Return.

We know that there were many different factors that led people to believe or disbelieve in Him. We know, for example, that some attained to the light of faith through Christ's healing powers, and some rejected Him because of fear of His influence. But here I would like to focus on our understanding of the role of prophecy.

A perspective held by many Christians of the First Coming seems to be that the Jewish people were stubborn, spiritually blind, unduly attached to false interpretations, or for any number of other reasons, unable, or unwilling in any case, to understand the prophecies referring to Him. This inability or unwillingness to understand the prophecies in some measure accounts for their denial of Christ.

If we consider carefully, however, we see that there is a problem with this perspective, namely, that the prophecies could not be, and indeed were not understood, by anyone before fulfillment and recognition. If misinterpretation of prophecy were a cause of the rejection of Christ, then no one would have accepted Him because it appears that everyone misunderstood the prophecies before the time (1) that Christ actually fulfilled them, and (2) His followers recognized Him as the Messiah.

When Christians hold to the perspective that the inability or unwillingness of Jewish people to understand the prophecies accounts in considerable measure for their denial of Christ, they are asserting the possibility, and even more strongly, the probability that prophecies could indeed have been understood before fulfillment. This, in turn, provides the added benefit, of course, that people in this day, can then be presumed to understand prophecies about the Second Coming of Christ. Thus, Christians can feel assured that their prevailing and contemporary interpretations of the Second Coming of Christ are correct. To admit that at the First Coming the prophecies could not be understood before fulfillment and recognition would lead, almost inevitably, to the unsettling realization that current interpretations of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming could also be subject to error.

In actuality, the glory of the Christians and the failure of the Jewish people resided not in their ability or inability to decipher the prophecies, but rather in their response to His Person. It was He, not the scriptures, that was the focus.

Yes, those who rejected Christ may have been stubborn, spiritually blind, and unduly attached to false interpretations, but their ultimate failure was that they did not open their hearts and minds to Him. If they had accepted Him, their previous erroneous understanding of the prophecies would have become irrelevant, being simply replaced by the correct interpretation, whatever God had willed it to be. At His Coming, everyone's previous understanding was erroneous, but Christ forgave this. No one was bound, by their past, to failure.

How could it be otherwise? The prophecies are open for all to see. Their puzzling nature is manifestly obvious. It was Jesus' Being, His Teachings, His Love, His power that shed the light of salvation, not the words of the prophets.

Unsettling Alternative

If it is unsettling to consider the possibility that the purpose of prophecy is not to show us plainly how the Christ is to return, and that we can therefore not be sure that our interpretation of it is correct; it is equally unsettling to consider the alternative.

You are wondering, of course, what I mean by the above statement. Consider:

Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that the Christian view is correct, that God does intend Christians to use prophecy to enable them to recognize Christ at His Return. This view holds that the prophecies are stated in such a way that they fit together in an understandable and sometimes obvious manner, that the events that they foretell are therefore known with a degree of certainty, and that the sequence of these events can be discerned. It assumes that one can figure out what words of the prophecies are to be fulfilled literally, and what words fulfilled figuratively.

This view of the purpose of prophecy implies that God, wanting to provide His chosen children with a vision of Christ's return so that they will recognize and accept Him, has given clear descriptions of what is to come.

If, for the sake of argument we assume that this view is correct, we soon find that a problem emerges which raises a number of questions, and these questions prove difficult to answer. The problem is this: Christians themselves do not agree on the meaning of prophecy!

What? How can that be? After all that guidance, and all those clear descriptions, they still don't agree? How can they not agree? Didn't God make His description of the Second Coming clear enough? No, surely we cannot blame God. Then is it that people are not smart enough? Do only some people understand? But, couldn't God have made all the Christians understand? Wasn't that the whole point in the first place?

Well, whatever the answers to the above questions, the clear reality is that God's descriptions of His Return are certainly not clear. Some denominations believe that He will indeed return in the flesh. Some believe His spirit only will return. And there are those that say that His return has already been fulfilled, while most believe that it is yet to come. Some even point to other Christian denominations as fulfilling prophecies regarding Christ's enemies. The confusion is so prevalent that it is nothing less than common knowledge that Christians do not agree on the details and sequences of events that will take place at Christ’s Return.

There is, however, one point which Christians tend to agree on: they all say that the scriptures point to their particular interpretation.

This being the current situation, we are then led to a new set of questions: Which of the Christian denominations is the one with the correct interpretation? And how do we know that they have the correct interpretation? Do we ask them if their interpretation is correct?

I'm being halfway facetious here, but only halfway. In all seriousness, I put forward this question: Why do not the words of the Bible hold but one meaning for Christ's followers?

I'm sure that Christians can explain why there are currently divers and mutually conflicting interpretations regarding the Second Coming. I'm sure also, however, that the answers provided by those holding to these interpretations will themselves be mutually conflicting. If we were then to consider these different explanations, we would simply have ended up on another level of the same argument.

What does this all mean? If this is the current state of affairs in man's attempt to understand prophecy, what assurance can anyone have in their interpretation? Can we just ignore this situation? Or can we look it squarely in the eye, ponder on it, and realize that these prophecies cannot be understood until Christ returns and fulfills them according to God's plan. If Christians have figured out from prophecy what amounts to completely different interpretations, haven’t they in reality, figured out nothing at all?

An analogy comes to mind that I would like to share to illustrate my understanding of the situation. I was one time teaching high school chemistry and was preparing an experiment for the class which involved measuring temperature. I opened up a box of about twenty thermometers for this purpose. For this experiment, the students needed to know very accurately the temperature and, therefore, I desired to know the accuracy of the thermometers.

I could have tested the thermometers by comparing their readings with a standard, for example, by placing them all in boiling or freezing water and seeing if they read the known temperatures of these processes. My test of these thermometers, however, was infinitely simpler: I just looked at them. I lined them all up to see whether they all read exactly the same temperature: they didn't.

Now I knew that their environment was at one temperature, that they, therefore, all had the same input, but they all indicated slightly different temperatures. Anyone would know from this that they were not reliable. Right away it was clear that the process by which they were manufactured, or the materials used in them, or whatever other factors went into making these particular thermometers, were not consistent. They had all "interpreted" the temperature differently.

If I had only had one of these thermometers, and I had used it to record temperature measurements, I may have assumed that it was accurate. After all, it looked professionally made, and it seemed to behave as a thermometer should. I may have found no reason to doubt its reliability. But knowing that the others whose appearance and performance were similar gave different results changed everything.

Now, if all of the Christian denominations are using the Word of God as their basis, then why do we get different "readings" from them, different interpretations? Can we continue to trust the process by which we arrive at these interpretations when the results are so visibly inconsistent? What does it take for us to realize that the complete meaning of prophecies is simply not available to us before fulfillment?

The word of God is creative; it has the ability to create good in the world through those who follow it. It can influence in the perfect way a multitude of different individuals in different situations if they but open their hearts to its message and obey its commandments: These are not ordinary words. It follows, therefore, that their significance cannot be fully grasped by mere mortals; nor can their meaning be exhausted. The deeper we go in our study of them, the more significant the meaning we find. But the fact remains that what the word of God means to one person may be different than what it means to another.

Now, I am not implying that since it means different things to different people, we can never agree on its meaning. I'm simply stating that its meaning is great and we, as individuals, each receive only a share of its greatness.

In speaking with Christian friends, although my understanding of the Second Coming is different than theirs, I do not feel the urge to inform them that their interpretations are wrong. And it is not simply due to common courtesy, which bids us respect the rights of others to express their views, that I do not show disapproval. In all that I have heard from those who are trying to understand what God has decreed for the Return of His Beloved Son, I have genuinely found truth. Each person has understood, to some extent, His Return.

I believe, however, that the fullest understanding of His Return, can come only after recognition of Him at His Return. And if you reflect at all about the fact that among Christ's followers there are currently many different versions of how Christ will return, only one resolution seems possible to the dilemma presented to us by this disturbing and contradictory set of circumstances: namely, it can only be after the Return has been fulfilled, and Christ has been recognized, that there will be only one interpretation of the prophecies. Hence, Christians, themselves, must agree that fulfillment and recognition are necessary for the Christian world to have a unified vision of Christ's Return.

A Change of Policy?

The Bible gives, as I have attempted to demonstrate, clear evidence that at Christ's First Coming fulfillment and recognition were required in order to understand prophecy. Notwithstanding that this was the case at His First Coming, however, many Christians are certain that God clearly intends prophecies to lead them to Christ at His Second Coming. They will, in fact they are certain, accept Christ, and they will do so in a self-evident, overwhelming manner. This certainty is strikingly similar to that of the Jewish people at the First Coming.

God, it is true, is free to act in whatever way He wills. The fact that at His First Coming the prophecies could not be understood does not demand that this will be the case for the Second Coming. God is not bound to follow precedent. Whatever is His will, ours is to obey and accept it. If He intends that at His Return, people will have already understood how He should come, so be it.

But the fact that there is no evidence in the Bible or in the world today that the purpose of prophecy has changed cannot be taken lightly. While God can and does change His Ways of dealing with human beings, it is still the case that God is, more frequently, constant and regular in the Pattern of His dealings with mankind. Human beings, moreover, have shown a consistency of another sort - the notorious tendency, almost endlessly so, of repeating the same particularly grievous error: the error of assuming to know everything about scripture and the ways in which God will interact with humanity.

The assumption of many Christians that God made the prophecies of the New Testament about the Second Coming of Christ clear, and that they understand the meaning of these prophecies with a certitude that will enable them to recognize and accept Christ when He returns is all too similar to the assumption of the Jewish people that God made the prophecies of the Old Testament clear and that they would understand the meaning of those prophecies with such certitude that they would be able to recognize and accept Christ, the Messiah, at His First Coming. In the First Coming of Christ, the intention and wisdom of God's Will surpassed and confounded the wisdom and understanding of men; why is not the same Pattern likely to repeat itself in the Second Coming of Christ?

Surely, the approach to scripture is most fruitful and correct when it is informed more by open inquiry and humble seeking than by dogmatic self-assurance and an inflexible refusal to even consider other viewpoints. The Jewish people were singularly dogmatic and inflexible in their refusal to consider the claims of Christ that He fulfilled their prophecies; they preferred their own confident and certain interpretations of the Old Testament prophecies. It is one thing to examine, patiently and conscientiously, all the evidence in a disputed case before reaching a decision, and quite another matter to cling to a preconceived interpretation, and then refuse to hear, or otherwise dismiss, in cursory fashion, all contrary evidence.

The Jewish people at the time of Christ's First Coming and many Christians today appear similar in their attitude and approach to prophecy: (1) in their assumption that God has given insight and guidance to themselves only to the exclusion of the rest of humanity; (2) in their unquestioning assurance that God's Will can be completely known by human beings; and (3) in their refusal or fear to engage in open investigation and dialogue with others regarding prophecy and the fulfillment of God's Promised Manifestation to Humanity.

Why should we expect the policy of God to change, and the Pattern of God's dealing with humanity to be any different today than in the time of Christ? Why should we imagine the prophecies and the interpreters of prophecies today to be any less confused, perplexed, and subject to erroneous understanding in this time of Christ's Second Coming that at the time of His First Coming? If all Christians did agree on the meaning of prophecy, then certainly things would be different. But they do not agree. Might not this suggest that the purpose of these prophecies really hasn't changed?

The Pattern is quite clear at least in one respect: the ways of God and the prophecies of God will continue to surpass and confound the wisdom and understanding of men. Only the humble and pure in heart find any Right Understanding in the Path leading to the Presence of the Promised One.

Prophecies and Everlasting Life

At His First Coming, the prophecies did not play the role of leading people to Christ, but rather the same role that they play in this day: that of confirming the faith of those who believe in Him. Prophecies did not lead souls to the Christ because of their very nature: they can appear misleading; their tone can be either literal or symbolic or both with no clue to the seeker as to which instance is operative; they can seemingly state that certain things will surely come to pass when they do not actually come to pass; and they can seem to rule out things which, nevertheless, actually do come to pass. They are expressed in only a few words with little detail, but the mind of man takes the opportunity, often erroneously, to add details. Of course, in all cases, they speak the truth, the absolute truth. Before fulfillment, however, what that truth is, is simply not revealed. A knowledge of the prophecies do not, and can not lead, to the Christ.

Of course, if the prophecies appear misleading, it is the seeker who is actually misleading himself. If they appear to rule out, or "rule in" certain things, it is nothing but the seeker's assumptions regarding those holy words that has done the "ruling". If the details of the seeker's vision are wrong, the seeker has simply chosen the wrong details. And if, even to this day, the whole manner in which the true meaning of prophecy is revealed seems backwards, then certainly we have simply illuminated a characteristic of the human mind in attempting to understand the Mind of God: it is our thinking that is backwards, not His.

The Bible begins: "In the beginning God . . . " God is first, and all things come afterward. The Bible does not state "In the beginning man . . . " Whenever we place ourselves first, place our trust in our own understanding first, or place our own desires first, etc., we have placed ourselves in opposition to the divine order of things. We are not first. We should not wonder therefore, that the meaning of prophecies has been revealed in a way that is diametrically opposed to that which we would like it to be: namely that we can understand it ourselves without divine assistance.

A pure heart and humble mind were far more important to gaining salvation at the time of Christ than any knowledge of the scriptures. In fact, the greatest barrier to receiving everlasting life, it seems, had absolutely nothing to do with any lack of knowledge of scriptures. Tragically, and rather ironically, it was actually an attitude of pride in one's knowledge of such scriptures, the same attitude that the religious leaders of His time manifested, and which the people followed, that led to the utter loss of the Jewish people in failing to recognize Christ at His First Coming.

Consider, who was it at the time of Christ that attained unto everlasting life? For the most part they were the poor, the lowly, the sinners who would turn humbly to Him. Knowledge of the scriptures was not a factor. Weakness, ignorance, and lack of capacity did not hinder souls from attaining unto Him. For the child is weak, ignorant, and without capacity, and Christ clearly states that we must become like the child in order to enter the Kingdom. This is not to infer that we are to become ignorant or weak. Christ was referring to the condition of the child's heart and mind. The child's heart is pure, and their mind is free from any pride, for the child knows in its very being that it is weak and utterly dependent on others for its very life. We too must know, that in the presence of God, no matter who we are, no matter what our knowledge, our attainments or our capabilities, we too are as children, weak and ignorant. Like the child, we must know this.

Even possession by a devil, the scriptures tell us, was not a barrier to Christ's divine love. He simply cast them out.

No, nothing came between the seeker and his Desire at Christ's First Coming, nothing caused the people to turn away and reject Him, nothing confounded those who had heard His message, except lack of humility and purity of heart - spiritual qualities which the Father has always, and will always desire, for His children.

The same qualities required of humankind at the First Coming will be required at the Second Coming.

PART TWO

The Claim that the Promised One Has Come

Christ has come the second time as He did the first time, largely unrecognized and unaccepted by those who should have been most prepared to receive and love Him, but accepted and recognized, as at His First Coming, by the poor and humble in spirit, and the pure in heart. He has come again, just as proclaimed in the New Testament, and He is once again inviting the world to receive Him.

In the year 1844, in the land of Iran, a religion was born which has grown to be the second-most widespread Faith in the world[55]. The Founder's name is Bahá'u'lláh, an Arabic title that means "The Glory of God". His claim is that in Him is fulfilled not only the prophecies referring to the Second Coming, but also that He is none other than the One promised to all of the religions of the world. His followers, themselves from all religious backgrounds, regard Him as the long awaited Messiah, and the deliverer of the teachings by which the world will finally attain to the great peace which humankind has for thousands of years longed to see. His followers are actively working in every land towards its establishment.

Of course, a greater claim than this can hardly be imagined. As in the case of Jesus' claim to be the Christ, it certainly must involve either the salvation of the world, or a great deception. For such a claim to be true, it must certainly be supported by divine testimony. It must withstand the scrutiny of every test. It must answer every question. It must fulfill every promise. In short, it must have the most conclusive proofs demonstrating its validity. And it does.

Proof, like beauty, however is in the eyes of the beholder. At Christ's First Coming, certainly there were conclusive proofs demonstrating the validity of His claim. God had not fallen short in providing everything people would have needed in order to recognize Him. To an open and unbiased mind, the proofs were overwhelming that He was indeed the Christ. In considering God's justice and mercy, it does not seem possible that He would have withheld from the people testimony that could have led to their salvation. The fact that those who persecuted Christ were punished for their actions speaks to the fact that they must have been given sufficient evidence that He was indeed their Savior, and that therefore they should have recognized Him.

If anyone can provide testimony of the truth, surely God can. It is axiomatic that His proof must be the greatest proof of all. However, as the New Testament clearly demonstrates, it is equally axiomatic that not even His proof can persuade a mind bent on unbelieving: At Christ's First Coming, some believed, and some didn't. And even after two thousand years, some believe in Him, and some do not. I think it's safe to say that if someone does not want to believe, a choice they are free to make, they will simply never believe.

So, although the claim of Bahá'u'lláh can be proved, proof in itself and of itself- even the proof of God - is not conclusive to the listener who does not believe

Why is this? Why does not proof cause belief? The purpose of proof is not to force the mind to believe. Christ did not force people to believe in Him. His generation wanted Him to perform miracles on demand, but He would not. If we are forced, where then is our freedom of choice? And if we don't believe by choice, what merit is there in such belief, and why would we be rewarded for it? The purpose of proof is to attract, so that the seeker may begin to open his or her mind and heart to God's message. But faith is not simply based on proofs. It is essentially a spiritual connection one has with his Lord. The mind plays a part, but more importantly, the heart.

Bahá'ís are happy to demonstrate the truth of Bahá'u'lláh's claim, but only engage in such a dialogue if the listener is truly interested. Bahá'u'lláh exhorts His followers: The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing[56] . . . To argue or to push one's beliefs on others is fruitless, and only leads to bad feelings between people. None of us want to be the cause of this. However, if someone is interested in discussing Bahá'u'lláh's claim, even if the reason is to try to demonstrate to the Bahá'í that the claim is false, then the Bahá'í is free to present what he or she considers proofs of Bahá'u'lláh's mission.

Just as Christ provided divine explanation through His life and teachings of the true meaning of the prophecies referring to Him, Bahá'u'lláh has done the same for the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. It is through Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings that the proofs of His mission and the fulfillment of prophecy are evident. Thus, the proofs of Bahá'u'lláh's mission require knowledge of the story of His life and His teachings.

The Christian may object to using the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, whom he regards as having no authority, in a discussion of the Second Coming, raising the issue that the Bible alone is the repository of God's Word. This is perfectly understandable. The Jews are free to raise the same objection regarding the use of the life of Christ and the New Testament in a discussion of the Coming of the Messiah. None of us want to be unfaithful to what we consider Holy Scripture.

In the case of the Jewish person and the Christian person, the Christian would, therefore, be left to prove that Jesus is the Christ using only the Hebrew scriptures - quite a challenging task. I have asked Christian friends whether they can do this - prove that Jesus is the Christ using only the Old Testament. The initial reaction is that it can be done. Upon close examination, however, it really cannot.

Scriptures Don't Explain Themselves

Consider the prophetic references to Christ found in the Old Testament. Try yourself, if you like, to see if you can find a single one among them which you could use to demonstrate the truth that Jesus is the Christ without making any reference to the New Testament. I, myself, certainly cannot, and I haven't found anyone who can. Although there are hundreds of such references, they require illumination from the New Testament to reveal their proper meaning.

Remember, if we are to do without the New Testament completely, then we are not allowed to use proofs such as this: "The Hebrew Scriptures state that the Messiah was to be born of a virgin, and Jesus was indeed born of a virgin. This, therefore, is evidence of His fulfilling prophecy." To this, the Jew could respond, "What proof do you have that Jesus was born of a virgin?" Knowledge of the virgin birth is contained in the New Testament only, which the Jews do not regard as truth. If the ground rules of the discussion were to be followed, the story of Christ's birth is inadmissible evidence.

Another problem, touched on earlier, that the Christian would face, would be that there is essentially no way, based on the words of the Old Testament alone, to understand what should be taken literally and what symbolically. For example, how could a Christian explain to a Jew that in the prophecy of Micah, "Bethlehem" has a literal meaning but "ruler"[57] a symbolic one? If we consider the prophetic references to Christ, we see that they are certainly not self-explanatory.

A Christian who would require the proof of Bahá'u'lláh's mission to be based solely upon the Bible is essentially asking the Bahá'í to perform what the Christian cannot: namely, to have the scriptures explain themselves. If the Old Testament could explain itself, then the Jews would have known how the Christ was to come. And if the New Testament could explain itself, then the Christians should agree on His Second Coming. Neither is the case, however.

If the true test of whether or not Jesus is the Christ is based on whether or not He has fulfilled the outward meaning of the scriptures, then certainly everyone must reject Him, because He did not fulfill the prophecies in this way.

And if the true test of whether or not Bahá'u'lláh's claim to be the Promised One of all ages is based on whether or not He has fulfilled the outward meaning of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming, then certainly, too, His claim must be false, for neither has He fulfilled prophecies in this way.

At His First Coming, the Christians were not deceived by the outward meaning of the prophecies. They obviously did not base their faith in their Lord on the literal meaning of the prophecies. At His Second Coming, are they to change the basis of their faith in Him?

The heart of the matter is this: what is our faith based upon? How do we know that Jesus is indeed the Christ?

Faith explains Scripture, but all Faith itself is a mystery

It is easily demonstrated that there is no simple answer to this question. Faith is in many ways a mystery, and mysteries, by definition, do not lend themselves to being fully understood. Upon questioning, we see that one's faith simply cannot be fully explained. If you ask people why they believe, you will get many different answers.

For example, people might say that they believe that Jesus is the Christ because He was raised from the dead after His crucifixion. The question then becomes "How is it that you believe that He was raised from the dead?" The response may be "It is stated in the Bible, the Word of God." The question then becomes, "How is it that you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?" The response may be "It is evident because of the many truths it contains." The question then becomes, "So, is it that you first believe in the Bible, and then you believe in Jesus because He is written about?" . . . and the questioning can continue forever.

Or, one might say, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ because I can feel His love in my heart, and because I can see how He has blessed my life." The question then becomes, "So, if a person of a non-Christian faith, feels the love of their founder, and sees how he has blessed their life, does this, therefore mean that he is also from God?"

When it comes right down to it, we believe for one overwhelming experience or reason, or for a number of experiences and reasons, some of greater and some of lesser value. Each one of us must have had some sort of divine confirmation, some special blessing from God to enable us to believe. And this confirmation is a personal thing that only we ourselves can fully understand. We can tell others our reasons for belief, but the reality of it cannot be conveyed.

Of course, many aspects of our faith make sense, and can indeed be explained. But in the end, regardless of our personal experiences, we believe in Him because He is our Savior, and our hearts have responded to His divine call. Words cannot contain fully the reality of our faith in Him, neither can they express our love for Him. Such faith and love belong not in the realm of full explanation. Faith remains a mystery, though a partially intelligible, but not irrational mystery.

God is love, and His creatures respond to that love. Is it not possible, therefore, that at His Second Coming, the peoples of the world may simply respond to that divine love that He will again manifest, regardless of the manner of His Coming? Is this not, in fact, a far more fitting response on the part of God's children, than seeking to test His truth with our own limited knowledge, even as the people did at His First Coming? Is it ours to judge Him Who is, Himself, our Judge?

No, certainly not. We know that we cannot judge the Christ. At the same time, however, we cannot just disregard the prophecies that we know refer to His Second Coming. We want to understand what they mean. We want to know that they will all be fulfilled. Although we are not to use the prophecies against the Christ as was done at His First Coming, nevertheless, God has given us minds through which we are to understand things, and surely we want to understand the true meaning of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming.

Understanding Prophecy

The understanding of these prophecies can be approached in different ways. A common approach is to assume that they can be understood through our own efforts. Another approach is to assume that their meaning is too great to be understood without divine assistance. If we assume that they can be understood by our own efforts, then we have made the same assumption that those who rejected Him made at His First Coming. In this day is not this assumption the cause of the widely differing interpretations regarding the Second Coming that Christians currently profess?

If we assume that the true meaning of prophecy must be revealed then where would that revelation come from if not from the Christ Returned?

Just as the Christians claim, and rightly so, that they have been given, through their belief in Christ, the true understanding of the Old Testament prophecies referring to Him, Bahá'ís claim that through belief in Bahá'u'lláh, they have been given the true understanding of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. Bahá'ís see that the same spirit which enlightened the Christians at the time of Christ has returned to enlighten any and all who accept Him at His Return.

This is the basis of the Bahá'í interpretation of prophecies referring to the Second Coming. In the Bahá'í view, Christ has returned, and he has given through His life and teachings the proper interpretation of prophecy. As in the case of the Christians interpreting prophecies referring to the First Coming, Bahá'ís see that their interpretation is based not on man's efforts, but on the divine explanation given by God's chosen messenger, the Messiah - the Christ of the First and Second Coming.

An important aspect of Bahá'í interpretation is that the prophecies of the Second Coming contain great spiritual and symbolic significance, which, until His Return, could not have been discovered by His followers. As in the case of His First Coming, He, Himself, had to reveal their meaning. Bahá'u'lláh states that Christ, in referring to His Return, intended none other than the coming of Bahá'u'lláh; He, Bahá'u'lláh, would fulfill all those things that Christ promised. With the coming of Bahá'u'lláh, Christ's divine love, His holiness, and power returned into the world. With His coming, Christ's sacred authority to judge the peoples of the earth returned. And with Bahá'u'lláh's coming, the exalted spirit of faith returned into the world, a spirit of Faith that thousands have manifested by sacrificing their very lives for His sake.

Bahá'ís understand the return of Christ as a return of those qualities which make Him divine and through which everlasting life and salvation is bestowed upon the world. These same qualities have appeared in Bahá'u'lláh, through whose love of God, innate knowledge, unearthly power, and lifetime of sacrifice for God, they are made manifest.

Although we have assumed, understandably, that Jesus Himself would come down from the sky upon the clouds, it seems, that just as the return of Elijah was fulfilled by a different individual with a different name though with the same qualities (namely, John the Baptist), so also the Return of Christ in our time has been fulfilled by a different individual with a different name though with the same qualities, namely by the individual whom history and prophecy alike proclaim as Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God.

To illustrate this point, I quote below an explanation given by the son of 'Bahá'u'lláh when asked regarding the meaning of "return". The explanation is rather long, but absolutely essential for understanding the Bahá'í view of the Second Coming of Christ. I ask you therefore, to read it carefully.

We will begin to elucidate it from the Gospel, for there it is plainly said that when John, the son of Zacharias, appeared and gave to men the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God, they asked him, "Who art thou? Art thou the promised Messiah?" He replied, "I am not the Messiah." Then they asked him, "Art thou Elijah?" He said, "I am not." These words prove and show that John, the son of Zacharias, was not the promised Elias. But on the day of the transfiguration on Mount Tabor Christ said plainly that John, the son of Zacharias, was the promised Elias.

In chapter 9, verses 11-13, of the Gospel of Mark, it is said: "And they asked Him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And He answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that He must suffer many things, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him."

In chapter 17, verse 13, of Matthew, it is said: "Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist."

They asked John the Baptist, "Are you Elias?" He answered, "No, I am not," although it is said in the Gospel that John was the promised Elias, and Christ also said so clearly. Then if John was Elias, why did he say, "I am not"? And if he was not Elias, why did Christ say that he was?

The explanation is this: not the personality, but the reality of the perfections, is meant--that is to say, the same perfections that were in Elias existed in John the Baptist and were exactly realized in him. Therefore, John the Baptist was the promised Elias. In this case not the essence[58], but the qualities, are regarded. For example, there was a flower last year, and this year there is also a flower; I say the flower of last year has returned. Now, I do not mean that same flower in its exact individuality has come back; but as this flower has the same qualities as that of last year--as it has the same perfume, delicacy, color and form--I say the flower of last year has returned, and this flower is the former flower. When spring comes, we say last year's spring has come back because all that was found in last year's spring exists in this spring. That is why Christ said, "You will see all that happened in the days of the former Prophets."

We will give another illustration. The seed of last year is sown, branches and leaves grow forth, blossoms and fruits appear, and all has again returned to seed. When this second seed is planted, a tree will grow from it, and once more those branches, leaves, blossoms and fruits will return, and that tree will appear in perfection. As the beginning was a seed and the end is a seed, we say that the seed has returned. When we look at the substance of the tree, it is another substance, but when we look at the blossoms, leaves and fruits, the same fragrance, delicacy and taste are produced. Therefore, the perfection of the tree has returned a second time.

In the same way, if we regard the return of the individual, it is another individual; but if we regard the qualities and perfections, the same have returned. Therefore, when Christ said, "This is Elias," He meant: this person is a manifestation of the bounty, the perfections, the character, the qualities and the virtues of Elias. John the Baptist said, "I am not Elias." Christ considered the qualities, the perfections, the character and the virtues of both, and John regarded his substance and individuality. It is like this lamp: it was here last night, and tonight it is also lighted, and tomorrow night it will also shine. We say that the lamp of this night is the same light as that of last night, and that it has returned. It refers to the light, and not to the oil, the wick or the holder.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions p. 134

So the light and essence of Christ has returned in Bahá'u'lláh, but not the individuality of Christ.

And with His Return there has returned something else as well: that same spirit of faith and love and hope, which was breathed into the followers of Christ at His First Coming, and which had to meet face to face with an unbelieving word, has now been breathed into the followers of Bahá'u'lláh who recognize Him as the Christ Returned. These followers also must meet every day face to face with a world caught off guard, a world created for the Return of the Christ, expecting Him, but not knowing Him. It is a world whose assumptions have made it difficult for many to believe that Christ could have returned in a way so contrary to the expectations of human imagination.

Divine Prophecy, however, does not need to conform to human imagination; rather, it is human beings who should reflect that human imagination needs to conform itself to divine reality - that divine reality to which prophecy alludes and refers, but of which all prophecy is, after all, only a semblance and shadow.

The assumptions of human imagination, we should know by now, can never provide completely reliable criteria for the proper understanding of divine revelation and prophecy, nor can one find adequate guidance in even the most favored and esteemed opinions and conceptions of human wisdom, reflection, and scholarship. All human understanding and tradition fail to give us the keys to Divine Prophecy and Revelation. And if we require striking confirmation of this truth, we can hardly do better than examine contemporary assumptions about the Return of Christ, and reflect about the striking similarity of such assumptions to the assumptions about Christ at His First Coming.

These assumptions, among others, are that His Return will be accompanied by outward signs of His earthly sovereignty, that He will triumph, not suffer, and that, of course, His coming is primarily for His chosen people who shall be exalted above all others - the same assumptions that were made at His First Coming.

The Suffering of the Chosen Ones of God

How could He have come a second time and once more suffered and been rejected by man? Wasn't all this supposed to be different at His return? Didn't Christ Himself give clear prophecies regarding His triumph?

He did, indeed. The fact is, however, that even at His First Coming, the prophecies seemed to point clearly to an earthly and visibly established sovereignty of the Ruler in Israel during His lifetime here on earth.

The problem is, of course, our interpretation. At His Second Coming, yes, we must believe that He will come “in the clouds"[59], but the question is, exactly what does this mean? Yes "every eye shall see Him"[60], but does this have a literal meaning, or a symbolic one? And yes He will reign as "King of kings"[61], but are we to assume, as those living at the time of His First Coming assumed, that He will rule as an earthly king?

Bahá'u'lláh has explained that the word of God has many meanings. In fact, it can never be exhausted. Human beings tend to reduce the meanings to one, to something that is immediately and easily understandable - in many cases taking a purely literal meaning of those words. The First Coming has shown us, however, that the literal meaning can be very misleading.

In His writings, Bahá'u'lláh has expounded the meaning of some of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. Regarding the meaning of "clouds", He writes:

It is evident that the changes brought about in every Dispensation constitute the dark clouds that intervene between the eye of man's understanding and the Divine Luminary which shineth forth from the day spring of the Divine Essence. Consider how men for generations have been blindly imitating their fathers, and have been trained according to such ways and manners as have been laid down by the dictates of their Faith. Were these men, therefore, to discover suddenly that a Man, Who hath been living in their midst, Who, with respect to every human limitation hath been their equal, had risen to abolish every established principle imposed by their Faith--principles by which for centuries they have been disciplined, and every opposer and denier of which they have come to regard as infidel, profligate and wicked,--they would of a certainty be veiled and hindered from acknowledging His truth. Such things are as "clouds" that veil the eyes of those whose inner being hath not tasted the Salsabíl[62] of detachment, nor drunk from the Kawthar[63] of the knowledge of God. Such men, when acquainted with those circumstances, become so veiled that, without the least question, they pronounce the Manifestation of God as infidel, and sentence Him to death.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 27

It behoveth us, therefore, to make the utmost endeavor, that, by God's invisible assistance, these dark veils, these clouds of Heaven-sent trials, may not hinder us from beholding the beauty of His shining Countenance, and that we may recognize Him only by His own Self.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 27

In His writings, Bahá'u'lláh also refers to yet other meanings of the word "clouds". In referring to the causes of the rejection of the Promised One, Bahá'u'lláh speaks of the "clouds of tyranny"[64], "clouds of oppression, which obscure the day star of justice"[65], the "intervening clouds"[66], “the thick clouds of waywardness”[67], and “the clouds of idle fancy which the foolish ones have conceived”[68]. Furthermore, in referring to the power of God and His blessings, Bahá'u'lláh speaks of the “clouds of heaven”[69], “clouds of revelation”[70], "clouds of His bountiful favor"[71], "clouds of His limitless grace"[72], "clouds of Divine glory"[73], and “the clouds” through which God’s “never-failing providence rain down their gifts upon the realities of all created things.”[74]

Bahá'ís believe, that He has indeed come again, and that He has once again suffered for the salvation of the world. The sacrifice of Christ, far from being an indication of His weakness or humiliation, is, according to the Bible, the sign of His glory and the cause of the outpouring of God's mercy upon His creatures. That which His followers chose as the sign of His Faith, symbolizing at once His sacrifice and glory, was the cross. It was through His very blood, willingly offered in the path of God that the world was redeemed. The greatness of the gift of His sacrifice is magnified by the fact that despite His being All-Powerful, He Himself never arose to inflict pain on His persecutors who eventually crucified Him. His mission was to sacrifice. And through this sacrifice, all blessings come.

Bahá'u'lláh writes of Christ's suffering and the outpouring of this mercy:

Reflect how Jesus, the Spirit of God, was, notwithstanding His extreme meekness and perfect tender-heartedness, treated by His enemies. So fierce was the opposition which He, the Essence of Being and Lord of the visible and invisible, had to face, that He had nowhere to lay His head.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 57

Know thou that when the son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, His God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it was Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 85

It was through Christ's suffering that His followers received the blessings of everlasting life. Bahá'u'lláh also suffered at the hands of the people and government, and was called upon to sacrifice everything in the path of God. Once again, the Holy One of God, come to bestow spiritual life and happiness both in this world and in the next, was feared, rejected, and persecuted by the religious leaders. Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned and exiled for forty years under the cruelest conditions. His crime: He claimed that God had fulfilled those ancient promises given to all the peoples of the world.

Bahá'u'lláh writes:

The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement, mankind hath strayed from its path and shut out itself from its glory.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 5

I sorrow not for the burden of My imprisonment. Neither do I grieve over My abasement, or the tribulation I suffer at the hands of Mine enemies. By my life! They are My glory, a glory wherewith God hath adorned His own Self. Would that ye know it!

The shame I was made to bear hath uncovered the glory with which the whole of creation had been invested, and through cruelties I have endured, the Day Star of Justice hath manifested itself and shed its splendor upon men.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 100

Say: Tribulation is a horizon unto My Revelation. The day star of grace shineth above it, and sheddeth a light which neither the clouds of men's idle fancy nor the vain imaginations of the aggressor can obscure.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 42

Moving Forward

Does this suffering and outward humiliation experienced once again by the Holy One of God, imply that in the Bahá'í view history simply repeats itself; that at His Second Coming there has been no more furtherance of God's plan than at His First Coming; that He has returned with no more power or authority than at His first; or that we will not see that peace and justice promised us in God's word at the Second Coming? No. Everything moves forward according to God’s will.

To observe and interpret events with the outer eye of observation and external appearance only is one way to see and understand the world and history; to perceive and interpret events, on the other hand, with the inner eye of insight and discernment is another way, and yields a deeper and more accurate understanding of the world and history as they are.

Thus, for example, to the outer eye only, a tree, experiencing the winter before its first fruit-bearing season, might seem to have returned to the state of its previous winter - with its leaves fallen, its limbs barren and dormant, and everything about it outwardly dead and lifeless. One, who did not know its potential, seeing with the outer eye only, might think "How futile was its previous growth and flourishing. Now all of its powers and capacity are reduced to nothing, and the promise of life which it held is unfulfilled" However, one acquainted with its true nature would know differently, and realize that the tree, in fact, now possessed a capacity that it not only never possessed previously, but also a capacity and creativity that constituted its true and ultimate inner purpose. Though locked within it and invisible to the outer observer, the tree would possess the power and capacity to bear fruit.

Now, Bahá'u'lláh reveals and Bahá’ís believe that the Second Coming of Christ means simply the Coming of Bahá'u'lláh Himself and His Revelation. It is not a truth that could have been anticipated beforehand, but one that could only have been revealed by God’s appointed and promised Revealer of Truth. To the outer eye of observation and external appearance, however, this interpretation, at first encounter, seems neither credible nor conceivable. To the outer eye, it may appear that the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh is too insignificant to possibly be identified with or interpreted as identical to the Second Coming of Christ which so many have come to expect will end, or instantly transform forever all life and human history on this planet.

But when has the outer eye ever been an accurate judge of either nature, history, or prophecy? Although the seemingly dead and barren tree in winter possesses the capacity to yield its first fruit, the outer eye sees nothing but a now lifeless tree. Does the outer eye have any understanding or perception of what that tree will be when it is fully alive, green and blossoming, flourishing, generating shade and protection, and for the first time sustenance for all who seek it? What does the outer eye see but a lifeless form? Does it have any power to perceive the fruit, growing already in silence, in depth and obscurity where all mighty realities are born and nurtured until the hour and time of their outward and public manifestation in the light of suddenly realized awareness and the consciousness of officially acknowledged History? Who, using the outer eye only, can look at the seed and see the mighty tree? Who, using the outer eye only, could have believed that twelve simple men, for the most part uneducated, espousing the Cause of a crucified Jewish carpenter, could possibly have effected in any way whatsoever the world, much less transformed it, completely and irrevocably? As a matter of actual fact, no prominent, public, or official histories - representing as they do the outer eye of social recognition and consciousness - ever acknowledged the existence of Christians or the Cause of Christ until centuries had passed.

So also then, to the outer eye, it may appear that the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh is rather insignificant, that the promises it holds of victory and justice for humanity are pure fantasy, that the world is in charge, and not Him. So it appears to the casual observer and the contemporary historian. But in retrospect, how often has contemporary wisdom, especially with respect to the Faith of God, been totally misleading?

The Bahá’í Faith, though no longer in seed form, is nevertheless still a young tree that has only begun to generate and yield the infinite riches concealed in its abundant scriptures - scriptures revealed in the open historical light of modern history and filled with innumerable clear and effective prescriptions for dealing with the urgent and overwhelming problems of contemporary life on the planet. The Ancient Faith of God, the Tree of Faith, renewed through the Second Coming of Christ in the Person and Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, possesses a potential incomparably greater than anything it possessed at the First Coming. For the purpose and mission of the First Coming of Christ was to proclaim and prepare the world for the coming of the Kingdom of God, but the purpose and mission of the Second Coming establish that Kingdom as the mature consummation of human life on this planet. Bahá'u'lláh came not to prophesy, but to fulfill. The promises of both the Old Testament and those of Christ Himself are, one by one, being fulfilled through His Coming.

Outwardly a prisoner and an exile, yet He addressed the kings and rulers of His time as servants, and for their disregard of His message, withdrew from them their powers and kingdoms. Since Bahá'u'lláh's Coming, almost every monarchy in the world has fallen:

Ye are but vassals, O kings of the earth! He Who is the King of kings hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory, and is summoning you unto Himself, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Take heed lest pride deter you from recognizing the Source of Revelation; lest the things of this world shut you out as by a veil from Him Who is the Creator of heaven. Arise, and serve Him Who is the Desire of all nations, Who hath created you through a word from Him, and ordained you to be, for all time, the emblems of His sovereignty.

By the righteousness of God! It is not Our wish to lay hands on your kingdoms. Our mission is to seize and possess the hearts of men. Upon them the eyes of Bahá are fastened. To this testifieth the Kingdom of Names, could ye but comprehend it. Whoso followeth his Lord, will renounce the world and all that is therein; how much greater, then, must be the detachment of Him Who holdeth so august a station! Forsake your palaces, and haste ye to gain admittance into His Kingdom. This, indeed, will profit you both in this world and in the next. To this testifieth the Lord of the realm on high, did ye but know it.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 211

At the Second Coming, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh - despite the assaults which the world has continually launched against it, despite any attempt from within or without to break it apart - the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh has emerged, unlike the Faith of Christ at His First Coming, with its countless divisions and conflicts, single and united. This is one of the blessings of this age, and is a direct result of Bahá'u'lláh's mission to unite the world. The Bahá'í Faith now represents, and is increasingly recognized as, the most diverse unified body of people on the planet.

The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 215

At the Second Coming of Christ in the Person of Bahá'u'lláh, His Faith will encompass the entire planet and will bestow upon all peoples the gift of everlasting life and spiritual joy. The Promised Divine Order, with its "government" destined to rest upon His "shoulder", will end the age of war, ushering in a permanent peace that will gather together all nations and peoples into the brotherhood intended by God from the beginning of time for humanity.

Of the Second Coming of Christ in the Person of Bahá'u'lláh Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 9:6-7

Bahá'u'lláh writes of His appearance:

He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendor is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation--a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: `Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.' Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 16

No, history has not repeated itself. At the Second Coming, everything is greater - incomparably greater. The duration of Bahá'u'lláh’s mission and of His suffering, the response of His followers who by the thousands during His lifetime gave their lives for His love, the magnitude of His revelation contained in some one hundred volumes, the manner and potency of His proclamation to the kings and rulers of the world, the opposition which He has stated His Faith will provoke from among all peoples and governments on earth, and the blessings, which it will eventually bestow, as promised in the holy books of all the great world religions, upon those same peoples and governments - all these testify to the transcendence of the Son returned in the Glory of the Father.

The Bahá'í Faith and The Christian Faith

But, of course, this is the Bahá'í understanding and interpretation of the Return of Christ. Christians, most Christians, of course, are still waiting for Christ’s Return. Bahá'ís would say that they need wait no longer, that His Faith has been renewed, and that He is inviting all peoples to embrace it.

From the Bahá'í point of view, the relationship of the Bahá'í Faith to the Christian Faith, is similar in many ways to the relationship of the Christian Faith to the Jewish Faith. The Christians regard the Hebrew scriptures as the word of God, and revere all of the Jewish prophets, yet they are not Jews. They have accepted Christ as their Savior, and He has founded a new religion. Furthermore, His teachings take precedence over the Hebrew scriptures. In many cases His teachings have raised the standard of faith to which the believer is called. To the Jewish people, the Christians may appear to be unfaithful to the Holy scripture. Christians, however, see that those scriptures are fulfilled through Christ.

The Bahá'ís, likewise of course, believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of the world, yet Bahá'ís are not Christians. They have accepted Bahá'u'lláh as the Promised One of all ages, Christ Returned in the glory of the Father, and He has founded a new religion. Today, in the Second Coming - this time for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth – Bahá'u'lláh’s teachings, revealed over a period of forty years, are to Bahá’ís the repository of those priceless gems of holiness that will transform the world into an earthly paradise. But to Christians, Bahá’ís may appear unfaithful to the Holy Scriptures, despite the fact that Bahá’ís believe those scriptures have been fulfilled, and could only have been fulfilled, through the Second Coming of Christ.

Thus, everything depends on whether a person views and interprets the Second Coming of Christ with the outer eye or the inner eye, and, of course, Bahá’ís and Christians will disagree with one another over who is employing the outer eye and who the inner eye in their respective interpretations of the Second Coming , even as Christian persons and Jewish persons disagree over the First Coming of Christ. The patterns involved are strikingly similar in both instances (the First and Second Comings), and curiously enough as well, so also are the resistances and roadblocks that human beings employ to deny, diminish, and avoid the meaning and import of Divine Revelation - both for themselves as individuals and for their societies and civilizations. Human beings, after all, have been notoriously late in acknowledging and appreciating the immense bounties conferred upon them by a succession of Divine Revealers in the past; why then should we expect matters to be any different in our place and time in history.

So, just as the Jewish people were free to raise objections to the claim that Jesus was the Christ, so Christians today are free to raise similar objections to Bahá'u'lláh's claim. Some of these include: He isn't called Christ; He didn't come from the sky; all eyes did not see Him when He came; Christ is to triumph, yet Bahá'u'lláh suffered exile and imprisonment during most of His lifetime. And of course, the objections can go on and on.

What the story of the New Testament shows us, I believe, and what I have tried to demonstrate in this book, is that the basis of all such objections is simply not Biblical. Nowhere in the Bible does it show that first comes understanding of the prophecies, then belief in Him. On the contrary, there is abundant evidence that the reverse is true.

The ways of God are not the ways of man. Though no one could have predicted it, to the Bahá'ís, there are once again two worlds: the world that believes in Him, and the world that is seeking after Him.

Those Who Hear and See, and Those Who Refuse to Hear and See

In the previous chapter, I have attempted to illustrate certain principles through which we can understand the relationship of those who sought after the Christ, and those who believed in Him. These principles, as seen through the analogy of sleep and wakefulness, offer us an explanation of many aspects of the phenomenon of the growth of the religion of God.

Bahá'u'lláh teaches that these principles are applicable in this day:

The peoples of the world are fast asleep. Were they to wake from their slumber, they would hasten with eagerness unto God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. They would cast away everything they possess, be it all the treasures of the earth, that their Lord may remember them to the extent of addressing to them but one word.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 137

Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner. Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine bounty proffereth unto you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso hath been re-born in this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead, shall never live.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 213

In the Bahá'í view, the seekers in this day, are all those who are awaiting the Coming of the Messiah. Bahá'ís, however, believe that He has come, and therefore see themselves as believers. Bahá'ís therefore, understand that the qualities of those who believed in Him at the First Coming, the Christians, are now applicable to the Bahá'ís.

The fact that the Bahá'ís see themselves as spiritually awakened and the rest of the world as spiritually asleep does not engender in them a sense of superiority, neither does it lead to complacency through a feeling that they have been "saved" and have therefore fulfilled their purpose in life. On the contrary, as in the case of the early Christians, although words cannot express the gratitude to God which fills their hearts, their conscious knowledge of the gift they have been given produces a profound sense of urgency and responsibility to their fellow man. For it is they, themselves, who must awaken the masses of humanity to the light of God's Message; they themselves, who must "teach all nations"[75]. Throughout the history of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'ís have sacrificed their lives and their lifetimes to bring the Message of Bahá'u'lláh to humanity.

Bahá'ís believe that Christ has returned, that He has come in a way which no one could have predicted, and that His coming is not only for Christians, but for the salvation of all the peoples of the world. The more we ponder the First Coming of Christ and the response of human beings to it, the more we can understand the Second Coming of Christ and the response of human beings to it.

As in the case of His First Coming, His followers are able to recognize Him at the Second Coming, but the rest of the world for the most part still fails to recognize and accept the One Promised in their own scriptures.

Not surprisingly, the more we ponder the First Coming of Christ, the more we realize why humanity has failed to realize the real meaning of the Second Coming, why it has yet to properly acknowledge and appreciate the stupendous Revelation which has been promised it down through the ages and which has now been conferred upon it, but which it so strangely and willfully refuses to accept.

It would not be the first time, and it probably will not be the last time, that humanity has complained to God and demanded an answer to the problems and perplexities of life, the suffering and the sorrow of the world, and then obstinately refused to listen when God granted the answer.

PART THREE

The Manifestation Revealed and the Proof Given

As a conclusion to this introduction to the claim that Christ has returned, I present certain kinds of evidence which Bahá'ís see as confirming their belief in Bahá'u'lláh. Of course, as stated previously, proof is subjective: proof to one person, may not be proof to another. In fact, "evidence" can "prove" two different things to two different people. Therefore, in presenting this evidence, I make no assertion that it cannot be looked at in a different manner than that of the Bahá'ís. It is presented here merely to show a Bahá'í viewpoint.

Bahá'ís see different types of proof or evidence as proclaiming the new Day of God, the Day of Christ's Return. These proofs include, in their order of importance, (1) His saintly life, (2) His sacred teachings, (3) the community of His followers, and (4) fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. These will be examined very briefly here for those who are unacquainted with Bahá'u'lláh's claim.

1. His Life

"I know not how to explain it, were all the sorrows of the world to be crowded into my heart they would, I feel, all vanish, when in the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. It is as if I had entered Paradise itself.”

God Passes By, p. 135

With such words, Zaynu'l-Abidín Khan, a prince, and a visitor to Bahá'u'lláh, then a prisoner in Baghdad, described his meeting with Him. These words witness to the noble spirit, which during His entire life, was felt by those with whom He came in contact. Indeed, it was this same spirit which prompted, to the chagrin of His persecutors, multitudes to follow Him to wherever He was banished, no matter how distant or desolate the destination. In the Person of Bahá'u'lláh, we learn from eyewitness accounts of His life, there were conspicuous signs of a divine power and love that no human being could ever exhibit.

Bahá'u'lláh has said that the greatest proof of the truth of His mission was His own self. Speaking of God as the "Unseen" and Himself as "His Manifestation", He writes:

Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His Essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived. From His retreat of glory His voice is ever proclaiming: "Verily, I am God; there is none other God besides Me, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. I have manifested Myself unto men, and have sent down Him Who is the Day Spring of the signs of Revelation. Through Him I have caused all creation to testify that there is none other God except Him, the Incomparable, the All-Informed, the All-Wise." He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof His own Person.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 49

Many of those who attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh needed no other proof of His being the Promised One of God. One who can see needs no proof of the sun's radiance, no explanation of how or why it shines, in order to appreciate its light. And those with spiritual insight could see with their own inner eyes, the inner light radiated by Bahá'u'lláh.

But not everyone has spiritual insight. The Bible tells us that although the divine majesty of Jesus of Nazareth was as evident as the sun at noon to those who believed in Him, this same majesty was hidden from those who did not. A bewildering phenomenon, it is, nevertheless, a fundamental reality of Christ's appearance. It is also a sobering reality; for if we consider thoughtfully, we must admit that if we, ourselves, were to have stood in His presence, although He radiated the light of God Himself, there would be no guarantee that we would have seen anything more in His Person than the son of a carpenter. If we had lived in His time, we may have recognized Him, but then again, we may not have.

Bahá'ís believe that this same phenomenon has appeared at His Second Coming. In Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'ís see that same majesty which shone in Christ, a majesty which none but the Promised One of God, returned to gather in the harvest, can manifest; a majesty which struck fear into the hearts of the kings and rulers who in their impotent rage lifted their hands to crush His Faith; a majesty which inspired in His believers a "devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain."[76]

To the sleeping world, He may have been no more than a prisoner and an exile, but to those who believed in Him, He was their Lord.

The rare qualities which Bahá'u'lláh possessed are made evident in the story of His life. And about His life, there is wealth of material written. Having appeared in the nineteenth century, Bahá'u'lláh was exposed to the full glare of history. Unlike the First Coming, in which only certain essential highlights of Christ's life have been recorded, at His Second Coming, virtually all of the moving episodes and countless details of His eventful life are available to those who wish to know Him.

There emerge, in the chronicles of His life, certain overriding themes which reveal His hallowed nature. As a child and youth, He was much beloved and admired for His compassion and innate knowledge. The early years of His adulthood were characterized by philanthropic pursuits which demonstrated the abundance of His heart, and which earned Him the title "Father of the Poor". However, upon receiving the revelation from God to commence His holy mission, new themes emerged: among them, His sacrifice and suffering, and His unwavering fortitude in the Cause of God.

Through all the affliction and hardship which governments and clergy relentlessly inflicted upon Him, in all the situations which presented to Him the real danger of His losing His life, Bahá'u'lláh never retreated, never sought to hide Himself, never halted. His fearless proclamation of the Message that He had come to deliver was constant.

What could have been the motive for His actions?

If the Message He proclaimed was not the truth, then why would he willingly have submitted to decades of sorrow because of it? If He had not arisen for the love of God, then why would He have not returned to the life of wealth and ease that He was, through His high birth, accustomed to? And if He were not assisted by the power of God, how could He have sustained the loss of everything a normal human being aspires to in this life, while at the same time never sinking into despair, and even boldly proclaiming to the rulers of the earth the rise and victory of His Faith?

No, only one thing can explain His life in an understandable manner; His sole motivation was to obey the summons of God:

O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me.

Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in The Promised Day is Come, p. 40

Of His suffering He writes:

Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God . . .

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 129

Though beset with countless afflictions, We summon the people unto God, the Lord of names. Say, strive ye to attain that which ye have been promised in the Books of God, and walk not in the way of the ignorant. My body hath endured imprisonment that ye may be released from the bondage of self. Set your faces then towards His countenance and follow not the footsteps of every hostile oppressor. Verily, He hath consented to be sorely abased that ye may attain unto glory, and yet, ye are disporting yourselves in the vale of heedlessness. He, in truth, liveth in the most desolate of abodes for your sakes, whilst ye dwell in your palaces.

Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 11

One could say about Bahá'u'lláh, as was said of Christ, that His prime motive for proclaiming Himself to be from God, was for personal gain. However, there is no evidence to support this. His life's story shows that He sacrificed everything in the path of God, and gained nothing of ease or temporal power or wealth, or anything else a self-seeking person would want.

The deeper we investigate, and the more we study His life, the more evident this becomes.

2. His Teachings

In addition to the majesty of His Person and the record of His saintly life, another evidence of the truth of Bahá'u'lláh's mission is His teachings. Bahá'u'lláh's words constitute, after His Person, the second greatest proof of His mission.

The teachings delivered by the Christ Returned not only occupy a very high station, but they fulfill a vital purpose. Before presenting some of His teachings here, let us examine for a moment what that station and function are. To do this, I ask you once again to consider the First Coming.

Consider the performance of "miracles". Many people maintain, either explicitly or implicitly, that the miracles which Christ performed occupy a preeminent position in Christian theology, and constitute the greatest proof of Christ's divinity. Christians generally agree that, at the least, they constitute a great proof. He changed water into wine, caused the lame to walk, and was raised from the dead. No doubt, countless other times, some of these recorded in the New Testament, He performed what only the Son of God could perform.

Despite this, however, people can deny, if they wish, that Christ performed miracles. They have, in fact, been doing it for centuries. After all, since the time that Jesus left this world, people have not had the opportunity to see for themselves His divine power, and they can therefore question the validity of the stories recorded in the Gospels about Him. The fact that some believe in a miracle is not proof in itself that it really took place. In various cultures and religions, there are miraculous stories told about many people in history. Should these be accepted as true simply because they are believed by some people, or because they are written about in a book?

Nevertheless, eyewitnesses to a miraculous phenomenon have a quality of belief in it that is elevated above others who learn about it through the spoken word. In this respect, eyewitnesses to the events in Christ's life had a distinct advantage over others in their faith. They had been transformed by His presence, and had been raised to such heights of certitude that few of their fellow believers of later generations could ever hope to rival or surpass.

But, remember, the number of such eyewitnesses were relatively few. Only a handful had been given the bounty of seeing with their own eyes Christ’s mighty works. His miracles, therefore, cannot be proof for everyone of His divine station, because for the most part, people could not then, and cannot now, see these miracles.

However, Christ has left us with something that can be seen with our own eyes, something that is available to everyone for examination and scrutiny, something that can be tried and tested, something that is as real and concrete today as it was during His own lifetime: His Word.

No one who is fair minded can deny that the teachings of Christ, embody the highest, the noblest, the most perfect qualities which God intends for His children. He, the divine Physician, recognized the symptoms of spiritual sickness that had gripped the world, and prescribed the perfect remedy. Christ's teachings are a heavenly cure for any and all who will receive them.

In the Bahá'í view, Christ has thus given to the world of humanity an undeniable proof of His divinity. Who but the Son of God could reveal teachings of such beauty, such wisdom, such transforming power as those which He brought?

I cannot attempt, here, an exposition of the great meaning of His teachings. This is far beyond the scope of this book. It is rather for the peoples of the world, through their practice of them, to demonstrate the intended purpose with which God has invested them.

However, out of love for His teachings, and in a desire to focus our attention, I excerpt here from His sacred words:

And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Luke 14:7-14

What a treasure are these words of Christ! To what heights of humility and compassion has the Lord called us in this simple, eternal parable! What a glorious world we would behold were the peoples thereof to take to heart these blessed exhortations!

And all this, from words.

The Words of the Manifestations of God

But no, Christ's Words are not like other words. They are the very life of the world. When societies or individuals forget them, the hurt is real and deep and inescapable. Indeed, every problem comes from a turning away from such Words, and every remedy from taking hold of them.

As further evidence of the majestic heights to which Christ called us, consider this: In the Old Testament we are bidden: "Thou shalt not kill."[77] These four words possess a significance which is beyond our conception. We, who have been given a legacy of war and slaughter for centuries, by a world that has forgotten these words, cannot conceive the joy of the world in a state when these words will have been followed. Oh, what a world that would be!

Nevertheless, although these words have the power to bestow untold blessings upon us, blessings which the peoples of the world yearn for, Christ has further lifted the standard of these words to ever loftier heights.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 5:21-22

In Christ's teachings are found all that is good; all that is holy. To whatever heights we may rise in our attempt to exemplify His holy words, we must all fall infinitely short of Him who embodied them so perfectly:

The reality of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the perfections of Christ all came from heaven. Consequently, by saying He was the bread which came from heaven He meant that the perfections which He showed forth were divine perfections, that the blessings within Him were heavenly gifts and bestowals, that His light was the light of Reality. He said, "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." That is to say, whosoever assimilates these divine perfections which are within me will never die; whosoever has a share and partakes of these heavenly bounties I embody will find eternal life; he who takes unto himself these divine lights shall find everlasting life. How manifest the meaning is! How evident! For the soul which acquires divine perfections and seeks heavenly illumination from the teachings of Christ will undoubtedly live eternally.

'Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 450

Anyone who claims to be from God, will no doubt meet the question "What can you do to prove it?" The usual proof sought by people is to request something supernatural - the performance of some physical miracle. This was asked of Christ, who, as we know, did not grant such a request. He did, however, produce an undeniable miracle of a different, and infinitely more meaningful sort.

In the Bahá'í view miracles are indeed proofs from God of a Promised One, and though miracles may be appropriate and required on certain occasions by the Promised Ones of God to heal and confirm people in their faith, nevertheless, we need to remember that whatever miracles the Promised One wishes to perform are up to Him, not us. Moreover, Bahá'ís believe that the greatest miracle that such a One can perform, is the spiritual awakening of the human heart. Such a transformation from spiritual death to spiritual life is truly supernatural, for no mortal can ever achieve this on his or her own. Bahá'ís believe that just such a transformation comes through the word of God.

Bahá'ís believe that, in this day, the Word of God was revealed through Bahá'u'lláh. Indeed, they believe that like Christ, He was through the aid of God, all knowing and all powerful. Now that Bahá'u'lláh has left this world, we no longer have the benefit of attaining His Presence. We cannot see for ourselves His Person, or witness His works. Although we do have a record of His life, which reveals His many wonderful qualities, and in many cases, His divine powers, this cannot be conclusive proof of His divinity. Although I could here recite incidents in His life demonstrating His ability to produce what no human being could produce, anyone could simply say that they were stories made up by people to justify their belief.

Just as at His First Coming, the people wanted to witness Christ perform miracles before they would believe in Him, so too did the people of Bahá'u'lláh's time request the same of Him. We get a glimpse of this from the following story which was recorded by Bahá'u'lláh's son. At the time that this took place, Bahá'u'lláh had been under house arrest and in exile in the city of Baghdad.

It often happened that in Baghdad certain Muhammadan ulamá[78], Jewish rabbis and Christians met together with some European scholars, in a blessed reunion: each one had some question to propose, and although they were possessed of varying degrees of culture, they each heard a sufficient and convincing reply, and retired satisfied. Even the Persian ulamá who were at Karbilá and Najaf chose a wise man whom they sent on a mission to Him; his name was Mullá Hasan Amú. He came into the Holy Presence, and proposed a number of questions on behalf of the ulamá, to which Bahá'u'lláh replied. Then Hasan Amú said, "The ulamá recognize without hesitation and confess the knowledge and virtue of Bahá'u'lláh, and they are unanimously convinced that in all learning he has no peer or equal; and it is also evident that he has never studied or acquired this learning; but still the ulamá say, `We are not contented with this; we do not acknowledge the reality of his mission by virtue of his wisdom and righteousness. Therefore, we ask him to show us a miracle in order to satisfy and tranquilize our hearts.'"

Bahá'u'lláh replied, "Although you have no right to ask this, for God should test His creatures, and they should not test God, still I allow and accept this request. But the Cause of God is not a theatrical display that is presented every hour, of which some new diversion may be asked for every day. If it were thus, the Cause of God would become mere child's play.

"The ulamás must, therefore, assemble, and, with one accord, choose one miracle, and write that, after the performance of this miracle they will no longer entertain doubts about Me, and that all will acknowledge and confess the truth of My Cause. Let them seal this paper, and bring it to Me. This must be the accepted criterion: if the miracle is performed, no doubt will remain for them; and if not, We shall be convicted of imposture." The learned man, Hasan Amú, rose and replied, "There is no more to be said"; he then kissed the knee of the Blessed One although he was not a believer, and went. He gathered the ulamá and gave them the sacred message. They consulted together and said, "This man is an enchanter; perhaps he will perform an enchantment, and then we shall have nothing more to say." Acting on this belief, they did not dare to push the matter further.

This man, Hasan Amú, mentioned this fact at many meetings. After leaving Karbilá he went to Kirmánsháh and Tihrán and spread a detailed account of it everywhere, laying emphasis on the fear and the withdrawal of the ulamá.

Briefly, all His adversaries in the Orient acknowledged His greatness, grandeur, knowledge and virtue; and though they were His enemies, they always spoke of Him as "the renowned Bahá'u'lláh."

Once again, we see that the people wanted miracles. As in the time of Christ, in the peoples eyes, it was the performance of miracles that constituted irrefutable proof. Bahá'ís, however, do not place great emphasis on outward miracles. As illustrated in the above story, Bahá'u'lláh, like Christ, was loath to produce signs and wonders for the entertainment of doubters. Although miracles can constitute a compelling proof for those who witness them, for others they are subject to question, and we read from the above story, and in the New Testament, that even those who witness them, if their purpose is to oppose Him, will not believe.

Like Christ, Bahá'u'lláh has given to the world, for all to see, His message, and it is now available for study, for scrutiny, for test. To Bahá'ís it represents an undeniable proof of His mission.

One final analogy is in order, to put in perspective what I share here of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Imagine that someone holds out a small spoon for you to see, and in that spoon is a drop of water. The person offering it to you, for your study, informs you, "This drop is from the Pacific Ocean." Consider, in studying that drop, what could you learn of the ocean from which it came? Could you perceive from it anything of the depths of that great ocean? Could you understand from it its vast extent, or the influence it has on the life of this planet? Could you tell anything of that ocean's beauty or power?

No, certainly not. And neither, unfortunately, will you be able from my brief presentation here, to receive more than a drop of the ocean of Bahá'u'lláh's words. What I present here, you can read in but a few minutes, yet Bahá'u'lláh's teachings were revealed over a period of forty years. Merely reading them alone, would take years; understanding them, lifetimes. No Bahá'í in the world claims to have fully grasped the immensity of the knowledge of Bahá'u'lláh. In fact, it is one of the foremost truths of the Bahá'í Faith, that the Word of God is and will always remain far beyond the ken of the human mind.

This is not to say, however, that we cannot benefit from the blessings of His words; certainly we can. The plant cannot understand the sun, but derives life continually from it. In the same way, although we cannot fathom completely the word of God, we, nevertheless, according to our striving to understand it and to live in accordance with it, derive spiritual life from its life giving power. Bahá'u'lláh affirms that to derive the benefits of His word is not only possible, but also a duty:

O My servants! My holy, My divinely ordained Revelation may be likened unto an ocean in whose depths are concealed innumerable pearls of great price, of surpassing luster. It is the duty of every seeker to bestir himself and strive to attain the shores of this ocean, so that he may, in proportion to the eagerness of his search and the efforts he hath exerted, partake of such benefits as have been preordained in God's irrevocable and hidden Tablets.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 326

I can do no more here than to affirm that this ocean does indeed exist, and is available to anyone who wishes to experience and examine it for themselves

Bahá'u'lláh's writings cover a vast range of subjects concerning both spiritual and temporal facets of life. A mere list of but some of the themes of His writings suffice to impress upon the open mind the comprehensive scope of His knowledge.

From the transcendence of God to the establishment of peace on earth; from the nature of the soul and life after death to the true meaning of human history and its glorious future; from the necessity and power of prayer to the foundation of divine institutions for the safeguarding of society; from guiding principles for the harmony of religion with science to the proper role of government and the universal education and training of children for civilization to progress - the range of subjects covered in the Bahá'í writings is immense and unprecedented, and the subjects themselves are explained with a comprehensive depth and breadth never seen before in human history. Never has so much light been shed upon so many subjects, and never has clearer guidance from God been given regarding them. Guidelines, directions, and fruitful suggestions about human health and nutrition, medicine, agriculture, industrial relations, education, business, the environment, and many other subjects are all set forth and clarified with direct relevance to the spiritual, social and economic welfare of humanity in our time. Bahá'u'lláh has revealed what constitutes the greatest outpouring of divine revelation the world has ever witnessed. And how could it be otherwise; He has returned in the plentitude of His power.

Unlike the First Coming of Christ, in which only a limited number of His blessed words were recorded, and these words years after they were spoken, Bahá'u'lláh wrote with His own hand many of His works. Others He dictated, while in prison, to the followers who had accompanied Him. And for all His writings, He Himself, verified their accuracy. Revealed in both Persian and Arabic, due to the sheer extent of His writings, much of them have yet to be translated into other languages. Portions, however, of His writings are now available in some eight hundred languages, with additional translations becoming available every year.

Some directed to the heart of man, others intended to guide institutions and governments, these teachings bear on the present and future needs of the entire human family, and are intended to lead humanity to its promised and long awaited age of peace. Bahá'u'lláh has stated that His purpose is to effect a spiritual transformation in both the individual and society. Without such a transformation, He would not have fulfilled His mission. For the Kingdom of God to be established here on earth, both the individual and society as a whole must take on the qualities of heaven, and abandon the qualities of the world.

The Transformation of the Individual

Regarding the transformation of the individual, I quote here a few selections from His writings. They by no means are intended to provide the substance of His message on this subject, but rather to convey something of its spirit. The first of the series of selections below is a prayer:

Suffer me, O my God, to draw nigh unto Thee, and to abide within the precincts of Thy court, for remoteness from Thee hath well-nigh consumed me. Cause me to rest under the shadow of the wings of Thy grace, for the flame of my separation from Thee hath melted my heart within me. Draw me nearer unto the river that is life indeed, for my soul burneth with thirst in its ceaseless search after Thee. My sighs, O my God, proclaim the bitterness of mine anguish, and the tears I shed attest my love for Thee.

I beseech Thee, by the praise wherewith Thou praisest Thyself and the glory wherewith Thou glorifiest Thine own Essence, to grant that we may be numbered among them that have recognized Thee and acknowledged Thy sovereignty in Thy days. Help us then to quaff, O my God, from the fingers of mercy the living waters of Thy loving-kindness, that we may utterly forget all else except Thee, and be occupied only with Thy Self.

Powerful art Thou to do what Thou willest. No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Prayers and Meditations, p. 30

O SON OF SPIRIT!

My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.

Arabic Hidden Words, No. 1

O SON OF SPIRIT!

The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behoveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.

Arabic Hidden Words, No. 2

O SON OF MAN!

Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this

Come Now, And

Let Us Reason Together

Saith The Lord

Understanding Prophecy and the

Return of Christ