God Declared Long Ago I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, . . . From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known.—Isaiah 48:5–6 By definition, a prophecy is a declaration about something that will one day happen. Prophetic statements abound in the Old Testament, even in books like Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Psalms, as well as the books of prophecy, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, and Zephaniah. In fact, biblical scholars have identified more than 1,200 prophecies in the Old Testament alone. That’s 1,200 times in the Old Testament that God revealed more details about His plan, His timing, and the coming of His Son. That’s also 1,200 times that God’s plan was woven into the very fiber of the Old Testament. The huge number of prophecies also point us to God’s consistency. God is eternal, consistent, and unchanging. His plan has never wavered. And He has used opportunity after opportunity to make sure the world knew of His plan. Read Isaiah 48:3–6. The people of Israel had heard God’s promises for centuries, and yet they were unfaithful to Him. Through Isaiah, God proclaimed that they had earned His
14
