¥ And the stormy clamor of Christ's enemies, Pilate, the Roman Gover-
nor, condemned Jesus lo the cross. A multitude of events wn Christ's life
and the exact manner of His death were foretold in Holy Scripture cen-
turies before His birth, as Mr. Parmele shows in the accompanying article.
ile OT only are there abundant
3®¥ prophecies relating to the first
advent of Christ, but the predic-
tions are so clear that any one
familiar with the beliefs of Christendom
can readily note their application.
After His resurrection, Jesus joined two
of His apostles in their walk to Emmaus,
and the record says that “beginning at
Moses and all the prophets, He expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. And
again to all of the apostles He said, “These
are the words which I spake unto you, .
that all things must be fulfilled, which were
written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning
Me.” Verse 44. Peter preaching in the
temple, said, ‘““All the prophets from
Samuel and those that follow after, as
many as have spoken, have likewise fore-
told of these days.” Acts 3:24. Let us,
then, study some of these predictions,
“beginning at Moses.”
“Moses truly said unto the fathers, A
prophet shall the Lord your God raise up
NOVEMBER, 1942
unto vou of your
brethren, like un-
to me.” Acts 3:
22. The murtyr
stephen, 1m his
speech before he
was stoned, ap-
plied this predie-
tion to Christ.
(Acts 70370) And
Paul, mm Rome,
called the Jews to
his lodging, and
“testified the
kingdom of God,
persiaded hem
concerning Jesus,
out of the
Liaw of Moses, and
ott of the proph-
efx, from morn-
me ll evening.”
Acts 28:0 28.
Since Paul's
presentation re-
quired  lrom
morning till even-
ing,” it 12 evident
that we can pre-
sent but a very
few of the many
prophetic utter-
ances, but will
give only a sufh-
cient number to
cover His life's
history. Of the
beginning of His early life, Isaiah 7:
14-16 says that He should be born of a
virgin, and Micah 5:2 gives the place of
His birth. The first two chapters of
Matthew record the fulfillment of these
prophecies. The fifty-third chapter of
Isaiah is devoted entirely to an advance
history of His life, His ignominious death,
His final triumph, and His satisfaction at
seeing the results of His sacrifice. It would
seem that he must be willfully blind who
could read this chapter without recognizing
its counterpart in the life history of Christ.
The date of His baptism, the length of
His ministry, and the time of His cruci-
fixion are all told in Daniel 9:24-27:
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy
people. . . . Know therefore and under-
stand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
shall be seven weeks, and threescore and
two weeks. . . . And after threescore and
two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off.
. . . And He shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week: and in the midst
io 41
both
LHRIST IN
PROPHECY
By H. W. Parmele
of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and
the oblation to cease.”
In the Douay (Catholic) translation of
the Bible the word © Christ” ix used instead
of Messiah, and instead of “cut off” the
word “slain” is used. A footnote 1n this
translation says: “Seventy weeks, viz., of
vears, (or seventy times seven, that is 490
years). oo. From lhe going forth of the
.. I'rom which time, according to
the best chronology, there were just 69
weeks of years, that 1s, 433 to the bapii=m
of Christ, when He first began to preach
and execute the office of Messias, Tn
the half of the aveel:, or, in the middle of the
week, ete. Because Christ preached three
vears and a half: and then by His sacritice
upon the cross abolished all the sacrifices of
the law.” That is the correct interpretation
of this prophecy,
ord,
Jesus recognized that the ninth chapter
of Daniel applied in His time, and could be
understood; for in Matthew 24:15 He
quoted a part of 1t, and added: “Whoso
readeth, let him understand.” He under-
stood 1t, and so waited for His baptism
until the termination of the 69 weeks (483
years). Then, when He began His ministry,
He said, “The time 1s fulfilled.” Mark 1:15.
Upon one occasion He said to Ilis
brethren, “My time 1s not vet come: but
your time is alway ready.” John 7:6.
(See also verse 8.) There was no prophecy
foretelling the events of their lives, but He
had a definite schedule. Soon the people
“sought to take Him: but no man laid
hands on Him, because His hour was not
vet come.” Verse 30; also S:20. Twice
they endeavored to kill Him, “but He pass-
ing through the midst of them went Iis
way.” Luke 4:30. (See also John 8:59.)
But “in the midst of the week,”’—three
and one-half years after His baptism,—IHe
submitted to arrest and crucifixion, for He
“knew that His hour was come that He
should depart out of this world.” John
13:1.
‘““All this was done that the scriptures of
the prophets might be fulfilled.” Matthew
26: 56. These prophets lived in different
periods of the world’s history. They wrote
from widely separated localities, yet their
writings all agree. Why should they be
doubted? Why should anyone hesitate to
accept, with all his heart, the One who
came here and gave His life for our salva-
tion? May our faith grow stronger, and our
love more sincere, as we think of these
things.
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