(3) Illustrations. Ancient Babylon was "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." Her strength and grandeur, her splendor and luxury have furnished a theme for many writers both sacred and profane, but her complete desolation was foretold in the most def inite terms, the prophet giving even the name of the leader of the invading host (Is. xiv:t-5).
Amos predicted with great precision the fate of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, and also that of his family; he also described the coming and severity of the Assyrian captivity.
Isaiah declares that before a certain unborn child shall come to years of discretion, great dis tress shall come upon the kingdom of Judah, while its enemies, Ephra1m and Damascus, shall be de stroyed (Is. vii:16).
Jeremiah foretells the death of Hananiah with in the year, and he also predicts that the Baby lonian exile, although inevitable, shall be of lim ited duration, extending over a period of only sev enty years (Jer. xxviii :15.17, also xxv :12 and xxix :to). Ezekiel in Babylon predicted the siege of Jerusalem and described many specific events in connection therewith (Ezek. xxi:18; xxii :3-15).
ldumea and Moab as well as Nineveh and Babylc:: live in both prophecy and history. But the most important of Old Testament predictions are those which relate to the Messiah.
(4) Messianic Predictions. He is described even in Genesis as "the seed of the woman" who should bruise the serpent's head (Gen. iii:t5). The time of his coming was foretold as being be fore the destruction of the second temple (Mal. iii:1). We are told that he should be born of a virgin (Is. vii :14).
He was to be the son of Isaac and not of Ish mael (Gen. xvii:t9).
A messenger was to be sent before him preach ing in the wilderness (Is. x1:3).
He was to be born in Bethlehem (Mic. v:2). He was to be rejected by the Jews (Is. liii :1-2). He was to be the Corner Stone in Zion (Is. xxviii • t6). (See also Acts iv:II.) It was foretold that he should ride into Je rusalem on the foal of an ass (Zech. ix:9). The prophet said that he would be sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. xi :t2).
It was also said that he would be wounded in his hands (Zech. xiii:6).
He was to be "despised and rejected of men," "wounded for our transgressions," "oppressed and afflicted," "taken away by oppression and judg ment," R. V., "numbered with transgressors," "buried in a rich man's tomb," to bear "the sin of many," and make "intercession for transgres sors." (See Is. liii.) He was to receive "vinegar and gall" (Ps. lxix His enemies were to part his garments and cast lots for his vesture (Ps. xxii :i8).
The personal character of the Messiah was also foretold by the prophets. For example : "Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." "He had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his lips" (Is. liii :9).
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the lambs with his arms and carry them in his bosom" (Is. xl:ii).
These are only a few out of the many definite descriptions of the Messiah and these pertain to the historic Christ.
In reference to the broader field of Messianic prophecy, Prof. W. R. Betteridge says : "The most noble, the most characteristic part of Old Testament prophecy is in its essence, predictive prophecy. I mean the so-called Messianic proph ecy, which I use in the broader sense of the term, as including all prophecies, concerning the completion of the kingdom of God and the re demption and glorification of his people, whether this looked for consummation is represented as being brought about by the royal deliverer from David's house, or is regarded as being the direct work of Jehovah himself.
The retention of the term "Messianic" may be further justified by the fact that whether ex pressly mentioned or not, it is nevertheless true that the person of Messiah is the central figure of the glorious kingdom of the future. Messianic prophecy forms a part of all torms of Biblical lit erature. History and poetry alike contain al lusions to the coming glory, but these are in the main, only foreshadowings. Messianic prophecy in its highest beauty and splendor is chiefly con fined to the prophetical books.
But this glowing picture of future redemption has its darker counterpart which stands even more distinctly in the foreground of the prophet's picture of the coming age. "All of the prophets without exception are heralds of doom . . . . In other words the orbit of predictive prophecy is not a circle but an ellipse, with judgment and res toration as its focal points . . . . An Amos, a Hosea, an Isaiah proclaim with certainty the approaching punishment not from his conviction that sin must be punished, but from divine rev elation. Similarly each one of them bases his faith in the ultimate restoration of at least a frag ment of the people, not on his conception of the indissoluble bond between Jehovah and his peo ple, but upon the promise which Jehovah has given him." (See W. R. Betteridge, Bib. Sac., Jan. 1897.) A proper conception of the fulfillment of proph ecy cannot be obtained by a study of the prophets alone. Many of their statements can be under stood only in the light of New Testament teach ing. The apostles and other New Testament writ ers recognized the fulfillment of prophecy in the life and mission, in the suffering and death, in the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. His hand holds the key of many mysteries, the great lines of prophecy center in him, and the dark places of the earth must be illumined by the Sun of Righteousness. (For table showing chronology of the prophets and periods of prophecy, see APPENDIX, p. 44.)