Not Understood Until Fulfilled:-
...Commentary of the Second Coming of Christ (is sometimes presented) 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. (1:1)

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 (1:2)

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 (1:3)

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 (1:4)

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 (1:5)

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 (1:6)

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 (2:1)

As surprising as this aspect of prophecy may be, the surprises don't stop here (2:2)

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 (2:3)

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 (2:4)

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 (2:5)

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? (2:6)

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 (3:1)

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" , 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 (3:2)

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 (3:3)

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? (3:4)

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 (3:5)

What then is the real reason for the prophecies of the Old Testament, their true purpose? Why were they given to us? (3:6)

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 (3:7)

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 (4:1)

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 (4:2)

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? (4:3)

End of Quote

1st Coming - Understanding Prophecy
D. Yamartino