Studies in the Prophecies
IN the voices of the prophets we may hear the voice of God speaking to us; for God hath spoken “in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners.” From Moses, of whom it is said that “there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face,” to Malachi, the last of the old-time prophets, and so on to John the revelator, “who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw,” we have many mouthpieces, but each one gave utterance to the words of the Lord. Here is found an all-sufficient reason for giving earnest heed to the prophecies. God has spoken through the prophets. When God speaks, we ought to give attention to the things which are spoken. God has spoken through human instrumentalities in order that we may hear his words and live. When God spoke directly to the people at Sinai, “they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Since that time God has spoken to men through human agencies, but it is no less the voice of God than at Sinai. Happy are those who thus regard the words of the prophets. It is true that there have been false prophets who have prophesied false things, but the Lord himself has warned us against such impostors, and has himself established a test by which we may distinguish the true from the false. “If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known4and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams.” The Lord’s prophet leads men and women to faithful service of the true God, but the whole purpose of Satan’s emissaries is to lead away from God. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The value of prophecy, and the fact that it is God who speaks through the prophets, are both made clear in the following inspired words: “We have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” We find also many expressions connected with the fulfilment of particular prophecies which indicate plainly that it was not man but God by his Holy Spirit who had foretold that which had come to pass. Here are some examples of this: “It was needful that the scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spake before by the mouth of David concerning Judas.” “The things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.” “He spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old.” “Whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old.” “Behold,” said the Lord to Jeremiah, “I have put my words in thy mouth.” The prophets themselves recognized that the words which they spoke were not their own, and they themselves sought to profit by what was revealed through them. Thus we read: “Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.” What stronger evidence could be brought forward to show that the Lord himself was speaking through a prophet, than the fact that the prophet himself earnestly studied to know the meaning of the message which was given through him? Through humanity the Lord speaks to humanity, and the prophet himself listens for the voice of God speaking through his own mouth. This is the mark of a true prophet. It was the appeal to prophecy which established the claim of Jesus of Nazareth to be the true Messiah. This is a marked feature of the gospel by Matthew. Over and over again it is stated, with a little variation of the form of words, “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.” And it is indeed true that “we have the life of Christ in Moses and the prophets. The picture of the Messiah in its grand outlines was quite above the conception of Israel, and even of the prophets, at any time. Even after the fulfilment it was new to the people, different from their ideas, high above their thoughts and expectations. And as for the circumstantial fulfilment of the wonderful detail, who can explain it on natural principles?” The only explanation is found in the fact that the Lord foretold the experiences of his own Son. He who knows the end from the beginning foretold through human lips, often in the most particular way, the incarnation, the life of self-sacrifice, the cruel death, the resurrection, the ascension, and the exaltation at his own right hand. Those who desire to study this more fully will do well to read the following texts suggested by Dr. Adolph Saphir: Gen. 3:15; 9:26, 27; 12:3; 17:20, 21; 49:8-10; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; 11:1-10; 2 Samuel 7; Micah 5:2; Daniel 9; Hosea 11:1; Isaiah 40 and Malachi 3; Isaiah 42; 35; 61; 53; Zech. 11:13; 12:10; 13:7; Ps. 41:9; Ex. 12:46; Ps. 22; 16; 68:18; 110:1; 118:22, 23. The period covered by the last generation is the subject of many prophecies, and stands in special relation to several lines of prophecy which deal with the past as well as the present. In fact, in these closing years of the great controversy the whole field of prophecy invites most thoughtful study. The conclusions which are thus reached will serve to establish a well-grounded faith in the particular predictions which are yet to be fulfilled in this generation; for it will be found that this closing work of the gospel is all mapped out in the prophecies. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets.” It is fitting, then, that we should give special attention to the study of the prophecies.