Patterns of Prophecy: The Supernatural History of Israel

Patterns of Prophecy The Supernatural History of Israel Session 1 Introduction Goal of Our Study Discover God’s providence throughout the history of Israel, which serves to fulfill prophecy, and thereby evidence the existence and power of Yahweh, the God of Israel! Purpose of Our Study Fredrick the Great ruled the kingdom of Prussia from 1740-1786. He is credited with multiple accomplishments including military victories, modernizing Prussia, and being a patron of the arts. However, he was a religious skeptic, who personally corresponded with Voltaire, and promoted the Enlightenment in his realm. An interesting, perhaps apocryphal, story exists where King Fredrick once turned to his court chaplain, and asked, “give me one reason why I should believe the Bible.” The chaplain responded with one word, “Israel.” Martin Luther is also supposed to have said something similar. Purpose of Our Study The history of Israel both inside and outside of the Bible, the birth of the modern state of Israel, and even current affairs in Israel serve as some of the most powerful testimony to the authenticity of the Bible. God wrote the history of Israel in black and white centuries, and in some cases millennia before the events occurred. By His own testimony, God did this to be a “witness” of Himself among the nations (Deut. 31:16-22). Our study will attempt to understand broad themes of Bible prophecy relating to Israel, and then trace these themes through history. Extent of Biblical Prophecy Barton Payne calculates that nearly 1/3 of the Bible is prophetic in nature, that is, 8,352 verses out of 31,124 total verses. Only 4 books in the Bible do not contain any predictive material. He notes that 1,817 total prophesies are contained in the scripture, detailing 737 separate events. Several hundred of these predictions have already been fulfilled. Extent of Biblical Prophecy Fulfilled prophecy is perhaps the greatest evidence attesting to the supernatural nature of the Bible. Many Biblical prophecies deal directly with the history of Israel as a people. In fact, the history and prophetic destiny of Israel makes up 5/6ths of the Bible! Read Isaiah 45:20-25. Prophecy serves as God’s signature. God’s Grand Purpose 1. God’s grand purpose in the beginning was to glorify Himself by creating all things, especially mankind in His own image (Gen. 1). 2. But mankind rebelled & refused to live beneath the rule of God (Gen. 3). 3. Although God promised a Deliverer (Gen. 3:15), mankind remained in rebellion. 4. God evidenced His power & justice first with the flood (Gen. 6-9), then with the Tower of Babel (Gen. 10-11), but mankind still rejected Him. God’s Grand Purpose 5. God then selected Abraham (Gen. 12) & promised to him many descendants, who would become a nation within a specific land, of God’s own choosing (Ezek. 20:6). 6. God chose to create a new nation for two reasons: first, to bring the promised Deliverer into the world (Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 9 & 11), & second, to use the history of that nation to declare Himself to the world (Gen. 12:3; Ex. 19:5-6). 7. Therefore God is going to put Himself on display to the world through the drama of history! The people of Israel are the props, the land of Israel is the stage, the rest of the world is the audience. God Declares Himself through Israel 1. By Conspicuous Blessing upon them, thereby making them known among the nations (Deut. 26:16-19; 28:1-14; 1 Kings 8:41-43) 1. Blessing Economically 2. Blessing Militarily 3. Blessing Globally 2. By Conspicuous Curses upon them, i.e. making them a “byword” among the nations (Deut. 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7; Jer. 24:9; Ezek. 5:15; 14:8; 22:4; Neh. 2:17; Dan. 9:16; Mic. 6:16) 1. Scattering 2. Allowing Severe Persecution 3. Yet Preserving & Regathering Results God does this to declare the existence & power of Himself to the World (Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44) Thereby Drawing the World to Himself (Ex. 6:7; Psalm 93-99; 117; Is. 2:2-4; 11:10; 25:6-7; 49:6; Ezek. 36:11; Rom. 15) All for His Glory (Deut. 32:26-27; Is. 48:9-11) Read Leviticus 26 Let us take the time to read the entire chapter of Leviticus 26. God gave us three conspicuous chapters in the Torah, which meticulously describe the history of Israel far in advance. These three chapters are Lev. 26; Deut. 28; & Deut. 32. I GREATLY encourage you to become very familiar with these chapters. As we read this chapter, you will be reading the history of Israel written in 1445 B.C., centuries, in some cases, millennia before these events happened. Big Prophetic Themes 1. Worldwide Dispersion of the Jews (Lev. 26:33-39; cp. Deut. 28:58-64) 2. Worldwide Persecution of the Jews (Lev. 26:33-39; cp. Deut. 28:65-67; Amos 9:1-6) 3. Worldwide Regathering of the Jews into the Land of Israel (Lev. 26:40-45; Deut. 30:1-10; 32: Isaiah 11:11-12; Jer. 16:14-15) Big Prophetic Themes 4. Supernatural Establishment & Preservation of the Jewish State (Lev. 26:40-46; Deut. 30:1-10; Jer. 30). 5. Reoccupation & Repopulation of Jerusalem (Zech. 8:4-8; 12:2-3; Luke 21:24), & yet the Return of the Jews in Unbelief (Ezek 37). 6. Promised Desolation of the Land of Israel while they are gone (Lev. 26:33; Deut. 29:22-27; Zech. 7:14; Luke 21:24), yet later the Reclaiming of the Land when the Jews return to it (Ezek. 36). Coincidence or Providence? All of these Prophetic Themes have been fulfilled, many of them in the last 100 years. Yet how does one detect providence? PROPHECY! Appeal to History Numerous passages in the Scripture invite us to survey history, and thereby substantiate the profound, providential working of Yahweh, the God of Israel (Deut. 4:32-40; 32:7; Psalm 78:3-4). Appeal to History That is what we plan to do! We are going to survey the history of Israel as a nation and people with those major themes in mind. As we witness these themes play out, I trust we will be challenged to trust all the more in the sufficiency of Scripture, and the power of God!