In my last post, I talked about the importance of biblical prophecy in determining whether or not the Bible is truly inspired by God. I offered a list of criteria we could use to examine each prophecy, and that’s the criteria we’ll be considering as we move forward.
The importance of the Bible in our modern society can’t be diminished. It’s arguably the most significant book in Western culture, and many people believe that it is the inspired Word of God. But is it? Greek mythology was vitally important to the Greek and Roman Empires, but did that make it true? Examining the prophecies in the Bible can give us a good indication of whether or not it really is what it claims to be.
The first one I’d like to look at is found in Jeremiah 33. Verse 17 says, “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel’”. This has long been considered a prophecy of Christ. At the time this was given, it’s likely that Jews believed it referred to the literal, physical kingdom of Judah. After the Babylonian captivity, they probably believed this prophecy pointed toward a reestablishment of that physical kingdom. In fact, the Jews in Christ’s day seemed to believe that very thing, according to the gospels. Of course, Christians have pointed out that this has not happened in a physical sense. So are they right in claiming that this prophecy refers to Christ?
I think an interesting component of that question centers around the next verse: “and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” In my opinion, this is a real issue. Jeremiah is obviously referring to the Levitical priesthood under the Old Law. So how could verse 17 be referring to a spiritual kingdom? Since these are given together, it really only makes sense to see them as both referring to the physical priesthood and kingdom of Judah.
Of course, the bigger problem is that verse 18 didn’t come true. No Levitical priest has offered sacrifices for almost 2000 years. If we’re following the rule set forth in Deuteronomy 18:22, then apparently Jeremiah is not a true prophet.
How can we explain this issue? Verses 17 and 18 go together, so there’s no way to say verse 17 is talking about Christ and his spiritual kingdom when verse 18 is obviously talking about the Levitical priesthood. We could try to explain it by saying that Christ became our high priest, according to the book of Hebrews. But this doesn’t answer it either since Hebrews tells us he was high priest by the order of Melchizedek – not the order of Levi. Specifying Levites in this passage inarguably sets the context to the physical priesthood of the Old Testament. Honestly, I don’t see a way to really answer this problem. Jeremiah made a prophecy that did not come to pass. More than likely, he was just an individual who loved his country and wanted to see it go on forever. But that didn’t mean he was inspired by God. And when we see that his prophecy didn’t come true, it shows us that fact.
Is it possible for this one area to be wrong, but for the rest of the Bible to still be true? I don’t see how. Why would a perfect being allow his incredibly important message to be corrupted in a way that would cause it to look untrue? I think this one issue is enough to show that the Bible can’t be inspired, but when I was a believer one issue wouldn’t have been enough to convince me of that. But as it stands this is not the only issue. My next post will address that further.
Finding Truth 
Leaving aside whether or not this was fulfilled in the person of Jesus, there is still a gap of well over 500 years when there was no-one on the throne of David. This of itself should be an issue.
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I’ll write it more slowly this time. The “ONLY” time Jerusalem is safe is when Jesus himself returns and sets up his Kingdom. These verses are very clear on the time period spoken of. And I’m simply saying no man can assume to know everything Revelation alludes to. The things spoken of are so out of this world from man’s experience. Jesus did not deliver Jerusalem “YET”. This is future, when scripture plainly speaks of Christ’s return and the deliverance of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will never dwell in safety until she finally turns to her Messiah. These are more prophecies that are still in process and on track. I watch the world continue to turn against Israel all the time. You would think we would change course, just so as to not fulfill what is written, so we could prove the Bible wrong, but no, we can’t seem to help ourself. Will the Son of Man find faith in the earth when he returns? It seems the more highly educated we get, the less we hear God. We educate ourselves right out of faith, and then we ignore what verses 15-16 plainly say.
It is not unusual for scripture to speak of physical things in one verse and jump to spiritual in the next. You got to pay attention. Details are important. You’re a detail guy, so how do you not see this? Christ is the only one who really fulfills all of this anyway. Peter speaks of a 500 year gap and there has been more than that if you are only speaking earthly, but this prophecy is obviously, plainly, in bold letters and neon lights, not speaking of earthly.
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There are a couple of different issues at play, here.
First of all, most Christians point to this passage as a prophecy fulfilled with Jesus’ earthly ministry. I assume from your comments that you would agree with me when I say that’s not true.
Secondly, you’re looking at the deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem as the time marker for the other things to happen, but the prophecy is worded in the opposite way: God will bring forth a “righteous branch” for David, and when that happens, Judah and Jerusalem will be saved. If we look to Jesus’ time on this earth as the “righteous branch,” as most Christians want to, then we can see that this didn’t happen. That’s why many Christians call this a “spiritual” fulfillment, not a physical one. But the verse about Levitical priests proves them wrong there.
Thirdly, you’re assuming the writer must be right in his prediction, which is not an assumption I’m working under. This is what causes our fundamental disagreement — since the prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled, you add the word “yet” to the end and still view this as a future event. I don’t personally agree with you on that point, because other passages in the Bible make it plain that no more sacrifices are required after Jesus’ crucifixion, which would again make this section about Levitical priests nonsensical.
Regardless, neither of us seems to think that this prophecy has been fulfilled, and that’s the only real point I was trying to make here.
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We are all prone to read material with our presuppositions on. We know that the second coming of Jesus has been long delayed. Consequently we tend to read the Bible that way. However I would suggest that a reader with no knowledge of the events would likely interpret the teaching to imply that the second coming of Jesus was going to be very soon after his ascension.
What is interesting is that it is the later works in the New Testament that seem to be dealing with the pastoral of the delay in the return of Jesus.
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Peter is exactly right here, and I do believe it relates. I think that is actually a much clearer example of an unfulfilled prophecy, and the bible even says Jesus claimed it. Thom Stark in “The Human Faces of God” makes a very good case for the fact that the bible claims Jesus would return within one generation and he sticks with mainstream scholarship to show it.
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yeah, matthew 24…
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I can see you’re gonna see what you want to see. It’s been fun guys.
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Are you sure you’re not projecting a little bit there? Not trying to be snide.
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After all, I offered pretty substantive and scripture based reasons as to why I disagreed with you. I even pointed out that either way, we both agree that the prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled, so we could move on to other examples. I really don’t understand your reaction…
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@Nate
I really don’t understand your reaction…
That is because you are such a nice guy.
Takes one asshole to know another one. Right Paulie? lol
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Gotta say this cowboy encounter guy doesnt seem to be objective or reasonable at all. Not much you can do with that.
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Takes one asshole to know another one. Right Paulie? lol
absolutely, I recognized it right away.
truthfully the guys a jerk, I read his blog, he’s delusional.
he knows he lost the argument, so he ran.
too bad with prayer and fasting god would not restore his interent.
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We have made no progress whatsoever. No sense in spending anymore of either of our time. Your friends and mine are very different. We are drawn to different crowds. I know the stereo type you’re probably thinking, but again, not true. I did get a good taste of your group though. We look at the very same words on paper and see two completely different things. If we could ever get past that, it would likely require a lot of time, and not likely happen at all. Like most people, I like to invest time where I can see progress. We made none. Can’t even get past that first article of yours. No sense wasting either of our time. If you want to converse a little here on my articles, feel free. I happen to believe the Bible is what it claims to be. You do not. I have researched biblical claims for over 40 years. I gave you solid answers but you seem blind to those answers. But at least I “offered”, and I was true to my word. We tested the waters. You don’t want it. I got the message. But at least I tried. Obviously you know where to find me if you want to talk.
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Okey dokey. Wish you all the best. 🙂
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Call me whatever you will, but I can’t force myself to read everyone else’s comments. Your list of responders is too well established, I guess, but I find the reading of other’s comments too tedious. So possibly this has been answered, but here once again is the response to your comment about Jeremiah:
https://humblesmith.wordpress.com/2015/08/11/jeremiah-33-predict-a-continual-heir-of-david-over-israel-true-or-false/
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For thus says the LORD, “David shall never ” “Levitical priests shall never ”
In your explanation humblesmith, you clearly need to fault Jeremiah for misrepresenting what God actually said. You say, “When will this happen? Clearly, “in those days and at that time,” which was a future time”
If you are correct, Jeremiah should have stated, “In those days and at that time, David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.’ ”
This would have eliminated any confusion since God is not an “Author of Confusion” But that’s not the way it reads. It’s amazing how all biblical critics take everything out of context. I personally think the writers, redactors and translators of the Bible could have done a better job making it clearer for all to read and understand its meanings.
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As I mentioned in the comments for your post, Hebrews creates a problem for your notion that this may still be a future event, because Hebrews argues that there will never again be a need for Levitical priests and their sacrifices (specifically chapters 7-10).
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