Meditations

Isaiah 42

⁹ Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.  -kjv

⁹ See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”  -niv

⁹ The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur.”          -hcsb

Question from moody radio listener on 13 Aug 2016:

How do we tell when reading through the major and minor prophets, many of whom are contemporaries of each other, that the prophecy has been fulfilled or the prophecy has yet to occur in the end times?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

I am looking at Isaiah. What Isaiah 42:9 seems to say is past events have indeed happened. Then he says: now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur. This is the point in Isaiah: it’s that God says I will give prophecies, short term prophecies will happen so that you will be confident of the long term prophecies that follow. That’s one thing to remember: that there are short term prophecies and there are long term prophecies. The short term ones are to help us understand that we have confidence in the long term ones. The second thing is to look for certain key phrases. Very often when something says “in that day”, the prophet is saying in the end of days. Not always but generally so. Sometimes the prophecy happen partially. Well, if it did not happen fully, then you can look forward to a future day that it will happen. So, what you want is complete and thorough fulfillment of prophecy before you say it’s fulfilled.