These posts examine the fulfillment of prophecy, generally the New Testament fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets. This page arranges them by canonical order:
Psalm 16:10 Fulfillment: The Resurrection of the Christ
“For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” Psalm 16:10, ESV The significance of this verse is easy to overlook by modern Christians, because we tend to look forward to going to Heaven when we die. In the Bible, the main thing to look forward to is…
Swords into Plowshares into Swords into Plowshares
A subconscious reason for starting this blog was to confront exactly the kind of scholarly hubris I just read. In an article on True and False Prophecy in the Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, James Brenneman spends a considerable amount of ink trying to convince the reader that either Isaiah or Joel was wrong…
Isaiah 7-12 Fulfillment: The Divine Son of David
Is Isaiah 7:14 really about Jesus? What does that have to do with Syria, Ephraim, and Assyria? This is easy to see if you understand the flow of thought in Isaiah 7-12. Chapter 7 begins with a problem: Syria and Ephraim (Ephraim here is the northern kingdom of Israel) have joined forces, and they plan…
Why Isaiah Wrote “Deutero-Isaiah”
I promised a post on the fulfillment of Isaiah 49-55. That was silly of me; instead, expect about 10 posts on it this year. But before I write about that, I’d like to throw some bologne into a blender to prevent Isaiah from getting chopped into pieces. The phrase “deutero-Isaiah” is just the beginning of…
Isaiah 49:1-7 Fulfillment: The Servant’s Mission
Listen to me O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.Isaiah 49:1, ESV This monologue by the Servant of the Lord begins with no indication that the speaker has changed, except that someone other than the LORD…
Isaiah 49:8 Fulfillment: Three Ways Jesus Has Begun to Fulfill the Land Promises
Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages.” Isaiah 49:8 ESV The Lord continues to speak to the servant…
Jeremiah 3:14-18 Fulfillment: The Kingdom of God
Jeremiah 3:14-18 And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and understanding. And when you multiply and are fruitful in the land in those days, declares…
Jeremiah 30:1-11 Fulfillment: The Last Kingdom
Jeremiah is writing a message of hope for the people who will inherit the promised land after the exile (Jeremiah 30:2-3). By the end of this post, I hope you’ll see that you are part of that people, in the restored kingdom of David. “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that…
Jeremiah 30:12-24 Fulfillment: The Lord’s Loving Vengeance
This post builds on Jeremiah 30:1-11 and the Last Kingdom. In that post, we saw that the restored kingdom of David will be the only nation that lasts forever. The rest of Jeremiah 30 explains that Israel’s healing and the judgment of its enemies go hand in hand. Israel and Judah are in a hopeless situation.…
Jeremiah 31:1-3 Fulfillment: The Final Wilderness Journey
“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” Thus says the Lord, “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness– Israel, when it went to find its rest.” The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I…
Jeremiah 31:4-6 Fulfillment: The Final Return
There are a few ways to understand Jer 31:4-6, but here are four reasons from the context to think it is describing the kingdom of Christ as the final return from exile: “At that time” in Jer 31:1 refers to the time of Christ’s kingdom (c.f. Jeremiah 30:1-11 and the Last Kingdom and Jeremiah 30:12-24 and…
Joel 2:18-27 Fulfillment: Undoing the Curse
The prophets speak on behalf of the Lord to His people. They confront the people about how they have broken the covenant, warn of the curses that God will send on them (and on all nations), and promise blessings for Israel in the latter days. These promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus’ kingdom. Right…
Justin Martyr on Malachi 1:11
Not having read anything by Justin before, I learned tonight that I’ve been missing out. I was getting ready to write something about Malachi, and happened to know that Justin cites this verse in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew. As it turns out, he cites it at least three times, and I thought this…
2 Peter 3 Fulfilled on WordPress
I normally write about how the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament, but something amazing happened today. Most Christians are familiar with Peter’s words from 2 Peter 3:4-11, but today I found out that people actually, and unironically, make the argument that Peter said they would make against the return of Christ. Here…
Hapax Blogomena 