(2) To Vindicate the Old Testament Prophets

            In all Bible prophecy, there is the immediate literal fulfillment that proves the inspiration of the prophet.  Then there is the general reference, or universal principle that is involved because God does not change, because He is no respecter of person, and because His Word is eternal.  Then there is the eschatological reference which involves the ultimate end of the fulfillment.

            Many years before, God had spoken through Jeremiah, (chapter 25), to serve up the wine cup of wrath first to Jerusalem, then to all the nations of the earth.  Some of these nations are called by name, while others are grouped in large headings, or, as in verse 26: “All the kings of the north, far and near…and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth.”

            Note that the immediate fulfillment of judgment upon Jerusalem, as foretold by Jeremiah, was the destruction of the city followed by a seventy-year captivity.  This was literally fulfilled.[1]

            After the nations are called by name, (Jer. 25), it is said: “…the king of Sheshach shall drink the cup of wrath after them, (v. 26).”  Sheshach is a code name, or cipher, for symbolic Babylon; that is, any city that fills the same role as Babylon did in that day.[2]  For example, Babylon had “served themselves” of God’s people: They had slain them, made them captives and had otherwise persecuted them.  Babylon had worshipped and served idols and indulged in astrology and had infected Israel and Judah with this sin.  The term ‘Sheshach’ represents the pattern, symbol, or name, of all who do these sins, (the general reference or universal principle involved).  So in Jeremiah‘s prophecy the pattern was set by which the whole world would be judged.  That is, the universal principle was declared and demonstrated.  Verse 29 states:

For lo I begin to bring evil on the City which is called by my name, and should you be utterly unpunished?  Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.[3]

             The destruction of Jerusalem in Jeremiah‘s day was the beginning of the pattern of God’s wrath poured out upon a people who have had the full revelation knowledge of Him and have turned from Him.  By the time of Christ, Jerusalem had moved into this role of symbolic or “Mystery Babylon.”  She had served herself of God’s people, the Christians, (true Israel), and had worshipped idols of Mammon and of military power.  She had even rejected and crucified the Christ.[4]  So it became morally imperative that God’s vengeance for His saints and His wrath against sin be fulfilled.  The book of Revelation declares that “the time has come” and it “must shortly come to pass“.

 (3) To Vindicate Christ‘s Role as Prophet and Judge 

(a) Christ‘s Role as Prophet

            The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was the vindication of Christ‘s claim to the role of a true prophet and completed the proof of His identity as the Messiah.  When Christ was proven to be a true prophet, those who had rejected, and killed Him, were condemned and became guilty of innocent blood as well as blasphemy and deicide.  Those who had charged Him with being a false prophet because He had foretold the destruction of the city and the temple were now themselves proven guilty.  It was morally imperative that this event take place immediately because Christ had predicted that the generation who heard Him pronounce the prophecy would live to see its fulfillment and that generation was fast passing away by AD 70.

            Jesus had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and made the statement that “…this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.”  (See Matthew 24:34 and Luke 21:20-32. RSV).  This is construed by dispensationalists as having never yet been fulfilled, but awaits a yet future coming, appearing, or revelation.  Christ‘s promise of a contemporary fulfillment must rather be seen in the perspective of the tests commonly required of a prophet in that time to determine whether or not he was indeed a true prophet; tests advised by Scripture as well as good sense.

            The three proof tests required of a prophet were: First, He should cause signs and wonders to come to pass.  This is seen as evidence of the prophetic calling from Moses to the Apostles.  Jesus clearly qualified under this test.  But signs and wonders alone did not suffice for proof of the prophetic office, as stated in Deuteronomy 13:1-5.  Secondly, even though the prophet could do miracles, he also must turn the people from their evil ways according to Jeremiah 23:22, and not to strange gods.  Again, Jesus qualified eminently under this rule.

            The third test is illustrated in Deuteronomy 18:18-22 and Jeremiah 28:9: the true prophet would be proven when his words came to pass; whereas if he made predictions that did not happen, then he was known to be a false prophet.  That this attitude toward the office of a prophet was prevalent in the New Testament era is evidenced by the words of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin when he said:

Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown: but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them, lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God. (Acts 5:33-39.)

             These three tests had served the nation well for many years, but when false prophets proliferated at the time of the exile they began to say, (perhaps citing such works as the book of Daniel), that their prophecies were for a distant time, and that they were not to be judged by their own generation.  This situation created a crisis such as described in Zechariah 13:1-5 wherein parents were to slay their own child if he claimed to be a prophet, and Amos was ashamed to be called a prophet, asking only to be known as a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit.

            The prophet could not, however, forbear prophesying simply because the people rejected his message and continued in their sins or ridiculed him.  When the Lord told Amos to “Go, prophesy” he went, for “The lion hath roared, who will not fear?  The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?”

             Ezekiel also was directed by the Lord to speak “whether they hear or refuse to hear.”  Either way, the time would come when “they will know that there has been a prophet among them.”  It was not required that they turn the whole nation, nor even a majority, to righteousness.  It was only required that those who did heed their words would be turned from sin.

            The fourth and final proof test of a prophet was that their predictions should not only be proven true, but be proven true within the generation who heard the prophet speak the prediction.  The prophet was to give a signal prediction by which he would be proven.  Ezekiel 12:25:

But I the Lord will speak the word which I will speak and it will be performed.  It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, says the Lord God.

             It is in this context that we see the implications of Christ‘s words concerning the fulfillment of His prediction in “this generation.”  Jesus would have been judged a false prophet if His prediction of the fall of Jerusalem had not happened within the time frame of the life of the contemporary generation.  He offered this as the signal prediction by which His prophetic calling would be proven.  In this context, the very event of the destruction of Jerusalem was itself a revelation of Jesus Christ because it proved His prophetic anointing.