The Testimony of Jesus by George W. Reaser

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 13, 1912

The Testimony of Jesus

By George W. Reaser

VI—Marked Examples of Fulfilled Prophecy

HE following incidents will serve to illustrate the efficiency of fulfilled prophecy in disproving skepticism and in substantiating the truthfulness of the Bible.

Dr. Hamlin's Experience with a Turkish Colonel

When Dr. Cyrus Hamlin visited Constantinople, soon after the Crimean War, a colonel in the Turkish army called to see him, and during their conversation said, "What proof can you give that the Bible is what you claim it to be, the Word of God?"

Dr. Hamlin evaded the question, and drew the officer into conversation, during which he learned that he had traveled a great deal, especially in the East, in the region of the Euphrates.

"Were you ever in Babylon?" asked the doctor.

"Yes; and that reminds me of a curious experience I had there," replied the visitor. He then related the following account of his visit to the ancient capital of the world:

"I was very fond of sport, and having heard that the ruins of Babylon abounded in game, I determined to go there for a week's shooting. Knowing that it was not considered safe for a man to be there except in the company of several others, and money being no object to me, I engaged a sheik with his followers to accompany me, for a large sum.

"We reached Babylon, and pitched our tents. A little before sundown I took my gun and strolled out to have a look around. The holes and caverns among the mounds that cover the ruins are infested with game, which, however, is rarely seen except at night. I caught sight of one or two animals in the distance, and then turned my steps toward our encampment, intending to begin my sport as soon as the sun had set.

"It was my surprise to find the men striking the tents. I went to the sheik and protested most strongly. I had engaged him for a week, and was paying him most handsomely, and here he was starting off when our contract had scarcely begun. Nothing I could say, however, would induce him to remain.

"It isn't safe,' he said. 'No mortal flesh dare stay here after sunset. In the dark, ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and all sorts of things come out of the holes and caverns, and whoever is found here is taken off by them, and becomes one of themselves.'"

"Finding I could not persuade him, I said, 'Well, as it is, I'm paying you more than I ought; but if you'll stay, I'll double it.'"

" 'No,' he said; 'I couldn't stay for all the money in the world. No mortal flesh has ever seen the sun go down on Babylon and lived to tell the tale. But I want to do what is right by you. We'll go off to a place about an hour distant, and come back at daybreak.'"

"And go they did, and my sport had to be given up."

"As soon as he had finished," said Dr. Hamlin, "I took my Bible and read from the 13th chapter of Isaiah:

" 'And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.'"

" 'That's it exactly,' said the Turk, when I had finished; 'but that's history you have been reading.'"

" 'No, it's prophecy. Come, you're an educated man, you know that the Old Testament was translated into Greek about three hundred years before Christ.' He acknowledged that it was.

" 'And the Hebrew was given at least 200 years before that?'"

" 'Yes.'"

" 'Well, wasn't this written when Babylon was in its glory? and isn't it prophecy?'"

" 'I'm not prepared to give you an answer now,' he replied; 'I must have time to think it over.'"

" 'Very well, do so, and come back when you're ready, and give me your answer.'"

"From that day to this I have never seen him," continued the doctor, "but what an unexpected testimony to the truth of the Bible in regard to the fulfilment of prophecy did that Turkish officer give!"—Record of Christian Work.

What caused the silence of this pronounced skeptic who a few moments before had boldly challenged the faith of Dr. Hamlin in God and in His Word? Answer, "The testimony of Jesus," which "is the spirit of prophecy." "The testimony of Jesus" is ever the most effectual weapon to hurl against skepticism and to cause it either to blush with shame or to scamper away into the shadows.

A Remarkable Prophecy Concerning Cyrus

A most remarkable prediction was made concerning Cyrus, king of Persia, more than 100 years prior to his birth, and 174 years before the prediction made was fulfilled. The prophecy had to do with the release of God's people from captivity, and their return to the land of Palestine to rebuild Jerusalem and the central temple therein.

The Lord had declared through Jeremiah that He would cause Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to carry His people into captivity, because of their iniquity, and that Jerusalem would lie desolate seventy years (Jer. 25: 8-12). This period of seventy years began in 606 B.C. (Dan. 1: 2, margin), and would therefore terminate in B.C. 536.

The prophecy above mentioned reads as follows: "Thus saith the Lord . . . of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." Isa. 44: 24-28.

Two years before the time came for the fulfilment of the prophecy, or in 538 B.C., Babylon, where God's people were held in captivity, had been overthrown by Medo-Persia. The prophecy must be immediately fulfilled, or God's prophetic word would fail. Marvelous as it may seem, immediately Cyrus had come to the throne, a supernatural desire seized him, and he issued the decree that Jerusalem should at once be rebuilt by the people of God. This decree could not be delayed till the second year of his reign, because the God of heaven had spoken, His honor was at stake, the effectiveness of prophecy as a witness to God's existence must not go by default, and so it is written: "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people! his God

be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in Jerusalem." Ezra 1: 1-3.

Alexander's Effort to Rebuild Babylon

Some of the mightiest military leaders in the history of the world, spurred on by their ambition for power and glory, have bent their herculean energies and set their indomitable will-power, doubtless unconsciously, to thwart some of the prophecies of God's Word, but in their futile efforts have themselves been brought to shame, ignominy, and utter ruin.

One of the marked instances of this was in the experience of Alexander the Great. Having conquered the world at the early age of thirty-three, he determined in his heart to restore the once golden city, Babylon, then in ruins, to some degree of its ancient splendor. God's prophet had spoken some 200 years before, declaring the utter destruction of the city, and that it should "never be inhabited" (Isa. 13: 19-22). In a few short months after Alexander had begun the restoration of Babylon, he suddenly died from yielding to his appetite for strong drink, the would-be restoration of the city ceased, and Babylon is still "heaps of ruins," without a single inhabitant. God's Word stood, and it will "stand fast forever and ever."

If Alexander could have rebuilt Babylon, "the testimony of Jesus" would have been broken. But his signal failure to rebuild Babylon, after conquering the world in a manner little short of miraculous, proves that "the testimony of Jesus" can not be broken. It will stand fast tho earth and hell combine to break it.

In conquering the world, Alexander was coöperating with "the testimony of Jesus;" in trying to resurrect Babylon from its "heaps of ruins," he was fighting against it. While fighting in harmony with what Jesus had spoken by the spirit of prophecy (Daniel 8), he could easily conquer the world; but in fighting against it, he could not build a single city.

And thus it will ever be. He who fights against God's prophetic word, must fight a losing strife. He who battles in harmony with it, will always win.

Napoleon Bonaparte Defeated by Prophecy

Napoleon Bonaparte, than whom probably no greater or more ambitious military genius was ever born to our race, set his heart to conquer all Europe, and to bind its divided kingdoms into one, with himself as absolute monarch, which would have placed in his own hands, eager for power, the balance of power in all the earth.

God's prophet had made a simple statement, to the effect that these kingdoms could not be thus united by human power or tact, but that "in the days of these kings [or kingdoms] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." Dan. 2: 43, 44. Napoleon went down in ignominious defeat at Waterloo, was taken captive, and transported on a British man-of-war far from the scenes of his overweening and unholy ambition, to the isle of St. Helena, where he spent the remainder of his days, a miserable, dejected exile, bitterly lamenting his own folly.

If Napoleon, by his mighty genius, could have welded all Europe together in one nation, he would thus have broken "the testimony of Jesus;" but the sounding of the retreat from Moscow, the corpses of thousands of loyal soldiers left lying upon the frozen ground during the retreat, the defeat at Waterloo, the exile and pining away on the far-off lonely isle,—all of these calamities which befell the one who unconsciously tried to break God's prophetic word, furnish tragic proof that "the testimony of Jesus" can not be broken.

O friends, one line of God's prophetic word far excels in strength the combined force of all the mighty generals and armies of earth, arrayed in unholy war to break that word!

Absolute Certainty of Prophecy

Nearly a quarter of a century after he had safely led Israel into the promised land, Joshua assured the people in these words, that Jehovah had faithfully performed everything He had promised: "And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." Joshua 23: 14. And in declaring the certainty of the fulfilment of His prophetic word, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away." Luke 21: 33.

The Position of Prophets

True prophets are greater, in the estimation of Heaven, than kings. They were commissioned of God in the olden times to select kings, to anoint them for their office, to reprove them when in error, and when kings were finally found to be derelict to their trust, God's prophets were sent to them betimes to convey the message that they were "weighed in the balance and found wanting," and they were deposed from their kingly majesty. The only two men in the history of the world who have been translated were not kings, but prophets. A truthful appeal to prophecy is based on certainty. Nearly all else is uncertainty. Prophecy, rightly understood, is the surest thing in the world.

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THERE are ways in which even silent people can belong to God and be a blessing in the world. A star doesn't talk, but its calm, steady beam shines down continually out of the sky, and is a benediction to many. Be like a star in your peaceful shining, and many will thank God for your life.—J. R. Miller.