March 13, 2023: 2 Peter 1:20-21 - Bible Prophecy is Not of the Will of Man but of God

“…knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” - 2 Peter 1:20-21

How many times have we seen in our modern, high-tech world today when so-called prophets prophesied that certain events would happen only to see that they in fact did not happen? When it comes to prophecy, you have to look at the track record of fulfilled prophecy, how many times the predictions actually came true. The same is true with Bible prophecy. It has been said that at least 27% of the Bible is prophecy, the telling of events before they happen, hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before they happen.

Sometimes it takes a long time for the prophetic events to be fulfilled. One example is the prophecy in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, that prophecies there would be enmity or hatred between the serpent, the devil, and Eve, the woman.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman [Eve], and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head; and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Satan took on the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and deceived Eve into eating the fruit of the one tree that God forbade her and Adam from eating. Because of it, God said there would be hatred against Satan and the woman, and since all people descend from Adam and Eve, this extends to all of humanity. Satan and his fallen angels hate humans and have been warring against them since the fall in Genesis.

The second part of this prophecy in Genesis 3:15 is that there would be hatred between Satan’s seed and Eve’s Seed. Women do not have seed, only men do. The Seed prophesied here is Jesus, whose name means “Savior.” Jesus wasn’t conceived by the seed of a human man and the egg of a woman. Rather, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit through a young virgin named Mary, who was related to Eve.

After Jesus was baptized by John and before Jesus began His ministry and chose His apostles, Satan tempted Him three times. When did Satan do this? It was after Jesus had been led to the wilderness and after He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was hungry and likely weak after not eating for 40 days. After each of the three temptations by Satan, three times Jesus quoted Scripture to him. Why did Satan do that? He wanted to try and kill Jesus before He could tell people the reason why He came to earth: to offer salvation from sins by believing in Him, God’s only begotten Son. Satan wanted to stop Jesus even before He even started, but he did not succeed. How many times has Satan tempted us when we are weak?

Genesis 3:15 prophesies that Satan will bruise Jesus’ heel but Jesus will bruise his head. Satan did bruise Jesus’ heel when Jesus was crucified and nails bore Him to the cross, including one or more nails through His feet. An article from forbes.com dated December 8, 2015 writes about crucifixion and includes photographs of an ancient foot bone of a man that had been crucified and shows a nail through the heel of the foot. It also shows a reconstruction of the placement of the nail through the heel of the foot. (See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/12/08/this-bone-provides-the-only-skeletal-evidence-for-crucifixion-in-the-ancient-world/?sh=3e168c75476d)

Per the article (emphasis in bold added):

“When nails were involved, they were long and square (about 15cm long and 1cm thick) and were driven into the victim's wrists or forearms to fix him to the crossbar.  Once the crossbar was in place, the feet may be nailed to either side of the upright or crossed.  In the first case, nails would have been driven through the heel bones, and in the second case, one nail would have been hammered through the metatarsals in the middle of the foot.  To hasten death, the victim sometimes had his legs broken (crurifragium); the resulting compound fracture of the shin bones may have resulted in hemorrhage and fat embolisms, not to mention significant pain, causing earlier death.”

The method of crucifixion was not even invented until approximately 300-400 BC and yet the book of Genesis prophecies of something that would in fact happen to Jesus Christ long before it happened in approximately 33 AD. While the Bible does not explicitly state who wrote the book of Genesis, it is widely believed that it was written by Moses, and that it was written during the time when he led the Israelites out of Egypt between 1440-1400 BC. One article discusses this and gives reasoning as to why it is believed that Moses did write it (see: https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_678.cfm). Thus, we have the prophecy written approximately 1440-1400 BC and being fulfilled in approximately 33 AD.

In the Bible, there are many descriptions of Jesus being compared to a Lamb. John the Baptist even proclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Isaiah the prophet prophesied of the Savior in Isaiah 53:6-7 being led as a lamb to the slaughter. This was fulfilled when Jesus was tried and found guilty during the mock Jewish and Roman trials, prior to being crucified:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53:6-7)

The night before the Exodus, when Moses would lead God’s people, the Israelites, out of their 400-year period of bondage in Egypt, God instituted the Passover with His people. The Passover involves slaughtering an unblemished 1-year old male lamb, taking a bunch of hyssop, dipping it in the blood, and then striking the doorposts and the lintels of the houses with the blood. The blood would be a sign that when God sent the tenth and final plague of the death of all the firstborn of all people and animals in Egypt, when He saw the blood on the doorposts and lintels, then God would pass over the door and prevent all of the Israelites’ firstborns from being killed. The Pharaoh of Egypt finally relented after this plague after his own firstborn was killed.

As part of the Passover, God also commanded the Israelites to roast the slaughtered lamb in the fire in its entirety and then eat it: “Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - its head with its legs and its entrails.” (Exodus 12:9) God also commanded: “In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside of the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.” There is a psalm that reads: “He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken.” This is a prophecy of Jesus, the Passover Lamb, that was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified.

To understand just how brutal and horrific crucifixion was, I have copied a link below to a Pubmed article that discusses the inventors and "perfecters” of it and which also describes the process of crucifixion. I highly encourage that you read this to understand all that Jesus suffered in order that we might be saved. (See: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14750495/).

In the referenced article, it states:

“Death was probably commonly precipitated by cardiac arrest, caused by vasovagal reflexes, initiated inter alia by severe anoxaemia, severe pain, body blows and breaking of the large bones. The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim.”

However, in the gospel of John after Jesus said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30), it reads:

“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies [i.e., Jesus’ body and the two other men who were crucified at the same time Jesus was] should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

“And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.’” (John 19:34-37)

The Scripture above from John fulfills a prophecy from the book of Psalms, written by King David, and two prophecies from the book of Zechariah, a prophet:

“For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all my bones. They look and stare at Me.” (Psalm 22:16)

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

“And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms [hands]?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’” (Zechariah 13:6)

A prophecy in Psalm 22:17 was fulfilled and was also written about in John’s gospel account:

“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each solider a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

‘They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’ (Psalm 22:17)

Therefore the soldiers did these things.” (John 19:23-24)

I have provided just several of the many prophecies that have already been fulfilled, and there are many, many more yet to be fulfilled. I would venture to say that the majority of the Bible is prophecy, and that prophecy was given to us so that we would read God’s word for ourselves, study it, and be able to recognize that when we see the signs of things that were prophesied that have not yet been fulfilled, we would be ready for the fulfillment of those things to come. The first coming of Jesus was foretold long before He came. His word gave the world signs to look for, events that would happen, and yet, His own people, the Israelites, did not recognize Him as their Messiah. And, neither did the rest of the world who were there when He walked the earth, seeing Him perform miracles.

So here we are today, having not only the Old Testament Scriptures written but also the New Testament, both of which prophesy of His second coming, and the New Testament prophesying of the rapture of the church prior to His second coming. Both the Old and New Testaments prophesy of a soon-coming and to-be revealed antichrist who will rule the world during a 7-year tribulation period that will precede Jesus’ second coming. But how many people alive today are aware of these coming events? How many people, including many Christians, have no idea what is coming? How many have been lulled to sleep with sweet lullabies of Satan, as he uses false pastors in false churches whispering sweet lies to the congregation, all the while making them feel good about themselves as they continue in sin that is promoted and accepted by their “church”? This in and of itself even fulfills Bible prophecy. In the book of Daniel in the prophecy of the end times in chapter 12, it states:

“Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10)

The book of Jude speaks about this occurring in the last time:

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 16-18)

Jesus even said that prophecy was fulfilled when He explained why He spoke to the people in parables:

“He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given, For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’

“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:11-17)

I believe Jesus’ words absolutely apply to all of us in our world today. Most people don’t believe He is the risen Savior, the One sent by God to offer salvation from sins and be given everlasting life through belief in Him. Most have succumbed to the lies of Satan, most are asleep at the wheel, and sadly, I believe this includes the majority of people in the church. There is only one way to God the Father and that is through Jesus Christ; yes, He alone is the narrow way that leads to everlasting life.

God’s word is full of prophecy, and God’s word is validated as the truth by fulfillment of such prophecies. For we who believe in this, we also know that unfulfilled prophecies will be fulfilled, in His perfect timing. For those who don’t believe, they are like the ones who were alive at the time Jesus lived and yet seeing Him with their own eyes, they did not believe and hearing Him with their own ears, they did not believe. Unbelievers in the world today have God’s word and for whatever reason, they either reject it after having read it or they refuse to read it. His word is a love letter to all the world that tells us things before they happen so that when they do happen, we won’t be filled with fear but will know that He is in control of all things and that He has a plan for all who believe in Him and His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior.

My prayer for anyone reading this is that if you are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, by believing in Him as your Savior, that you would turn to Him quickly, that today would be the day of your salvation, for we are not guaranteed another day of life. Don’t be lulled to sleep by the lies of Satan, only to wake up in hell, forever. Turn to Jesus, the One prophesied of from the very beginning, the One who will bruise Satan’s head and cast him and all who follow him into the everlasting lake of fire and brimstone. ✝️