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Prophecies #2

             When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’” (I Chronicles 17:11-14)

            But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

 

          Yesterday, we considered the prophecies stating that the Messiah had to be a son of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob (Israel,) and of those who came out of Egypt. In today’s passages we learn that the Messiah also had to be a son of David while at the same time, have origins from ancient time and rule over Israel forever. To suggest that this only means that his heritage goes way back and that someone from his household would always sit on the throne doesn’t fit with the specificity with which God speaks of David and his descendants being on the throne. He told David that if David’s descendants were obedient, they would keep the throne. In these verses, there is no behavioral standard for the one about whom God spoke.

          Now, to be clear, saying that one of the descendants of Adam, Abraham, Jacob, and David still leaves a lot of room – between the number of children born in a family the length of time – we’re talking about millions of people. At the same time, some estimate that more than 50 billion people have lived on this planet, and a billion is a thousand times a million, eliminating more than 95% (or even 99%) of all the people who have ever lived. And, since Scripture keeps saying “son,” that reduces it by about another half.

          There’s one more point made in today’s passages. The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Remember that these prophecies were written hundreds of years before the described events. Some will protest that outside of the New Testament claims (which they insist might have been fabricated to match the prophecies), nothing confirms that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. There is also no direct evidence that He didn’t, nor even claims that any of the others they suggest as parallels fulfilled them.

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