Bible Prophecies Fulfilled In My Lifetime
Eschatology is the term used in the field of systematic theology for the study of last things or things that will occur in the future. Since no one knows the future, and if study of this subject is to be anything more that educated guess work, we need to find a source that has shown that it can be trusted to give us accurate information about the future.
Does such a source exist?
In a word – YES. It is the Bible, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of the Jewish and Christian faith systems. What we are looking for in these writings considered Divinely inspired by the Orthodox members of those traditions are examples of fulfilled prophecies. Rather than tear off into a long winded survey of things, let’s zero in on two verses of prophecy that have been fulfilled in my lifetime. They are found in Isaiah 19: 16-17.
“In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He waves over it. And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of theLORD of hosts which He has determined against it.” (NKJV)
This chapter in Isaiah written roughly seven centuries before Christ speaks of a day when the rulers and citizens of Egypt would be afraid of the Jewish nation. The one we today call Israel. It would be twenty six centuries before anything resembling this state of affairs would happen. In the day time of Isaiah, Egypt had never ever been afraid of Israel.
Even during the days of David and Solomon the armies and chariots of Egypt could cross the Israeli frontier without fear of annihilation. Egypt was so powerful that Solomon married pharaoh’s daughter and housed her in palatial splendor to secure a treaty with Egypt. Let the centuries roll by and Egyptians still never feared Israel as a fighting force to be reckoned with.
That all changed in 1948
when Israel was established as a nation and recognized by the United States followed quickly by the then Soviet Union. Five nations surrounding Israel declared war on her and the foe to the south was Egypt. Egypt held the Sinai peninsula and part of the Mediterranean coast and supposedly had a capable army, but as the campaign unfolded internal corruption, military incompetence, and even stolen provisions for the Egyptian army lead to a humiliating defeat at the hand of the ragtag forces of the tiny new nation.
Again in the 1960s and 70s:
- Israel handed Egypt defeat after defeat
- destroying its air force in just thirty minutes
- taking the entire Sinai peninsula with relative ease.
Egypt today fears Israel. Furthermore these two verses give us a time frame for the rest of the material in Isaiah 19. The time being spoken about is now. There are many other examples of clearly fulfilled prophecy in Isaiah, so, it means that those things spoken of that have not yet transpired will most certainly happen.
With a source like the Bible we can with certainty construct a literal history of the future. That’s important to each of us, because the Bible tells me that decisions I make today about what is revealed in its pages will determine what that future will look like for me.
Curious?
Good.
There’s more to come.
