1st Coming - Understand Prophecy - Yamartino
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Chapter 12 of  60

The prophetic references, moreover, appear to be as contradictory as they are confusing. Thus, Christ is portrayed as both the "desire of all nations" (Hag 2:7), whom the people shall praise "for ever and ever" (psa 45:6), and before whom "all kings shall fall down" (psa 72:11), while at the same time He is "a reproach of men", and "despised of the people" (psa 22:6). He is both "leader and commander" (Isa 55:4), "ruler in Israel" (Mic 5:2), and "The mighty God" (Isa 9:6), while being "smitten", "afflicted" (Isa 53:4), and "spat upon" (Isa 50:6). He is "fairer than the children of men" (psa 45:2), yet possesses neither "beauty" nor "comeliness" (Isa 53:2); He is the "Holy One of Israel" (Isa 41:14), and a "worm" (psa 22:6). (12:5) see

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 Savior, 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 (12:6)

Having the Benefit of Living After Christ (12:7)

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" (12:8)

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 (12:9)

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? (12:10)

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? (12:11)

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 (12:12)

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 (12:13)

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