Post-exile period, dates

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Table of Some Post-Exilic Events

Cyrus issued his edict allowing the Jews to return home.	538 BC	Ezra 1
About 50,000 Jews returned under Zerubbabel and Joshua’s leadership.	536 BC	Ezra 2; Neh 7
The altar was rebuilt and sacrifices resumed.	536 BC
Work on the temple began but then halted.	536 BC	Ezra 3:1-4
The Jews became occupied with rebuilding their own homes.	536-522 BC	Hag 1–2
Cyrus died, and his son, Cambyses II, succeeded him and ruled Persia.	530 BC; 530-522 BC
Smerdis ruled Persia.	522-521 BC
Darius I, the Great (Hystaspes), rescued Persia from civil war and ruled Persia.	521-486 BC
Darius confirmed Cyrus’ decree and encouraged the Jews to continue rebuilding the temple.	520 BC	Ezra 6:1-14
Haggai preached his first three messages.	520 BC, 6th and 7th months	Hag 1:1, 15; 2:1
Zechariah preached his first message.	520 BC, 8th month	Zec 1:1
Haggai preached his fourth and fifth messages.	520 BC, 9th month	Hag 2:10, 20
Zechariah received his eight night visions.	520 BC, 11th month	Zec 1:7
Joshua, the high priest, was crowned.	520 BC, 11th month	Zec 6:9-15
The delegation from Bethel arrived, and Zechariah preached again.	518 BC, 9th month	Zec 7:1
The Jews completed the temple and dedicated it.	515 BC, 12th month	Ezra 6:15
Xerxes I (Ahasuerus) reigned over Persia.	486-464 BC	Est 2:16
Artaxerxes I reigned over Persia.	464-424 BC
About 5,000 Jews returned to Palestine under Ezra’s leadership.	458 BC	Ezra 7:7
Artaxerxes I authorized Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls.	445 BC	Neh 2:1
Nehemiah led the third return to Palestine.	444 BC	Neh 2:9
Malachi ministered.	c. 432-431 BC

Poverty, peculiar blessings of

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One need only read the Blessings of Jesus in Luke 6 to gain a sense of Jesus’ favoritism toward the poor and the disadvantaged:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.”

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”

“Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.”

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”

“Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.”

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.”

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you” (vv 20-26).

But why does Jesus single out the poor and the hungry for special attention over any other group?

One writer has pointed out that, in gospel terms, the disadvantaged have the following “advantages”:

The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.
The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people, but also their interdependence upon one another.
The poor rest their security not on things but on people.
The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance and no exaggerated need of privacy.
The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.
The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.
The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged dependence.
The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.
When the poor have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.
The poor can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.

So, through no choice of their own (they may desperately wish otherwise), poor people find themselves in a position more amenable to the grace of God. They are needy, dependent, and dissatisfied with life; for that reason they may be more likely than others to welcome God’s free gift of love.

Go back over the list of 10 points above, substituting the word “rich” for “poor”, and changing each sentence accordingly, eg: “The rich do not know they are in urgent need of redemption.” Do these statements generally hold true? Remember: in Luke 6 above, Jesus does not stop after discussing the poor — he goes on to talk about the rich also!

Now, one more exercise; and be warned — this is something far more threatening:

Go over the list one more time, substituting the word “I”, making multiple choice statements, eg: “I know/do not know that I am in urgent need of redemption.” “I know/do not know my dependence upon God… ”

Evaluate yourself. Honestly, in your case, which option is most true?

Do I know that I am in urgent need of redemption?
Do I easily acknowledge my needs?
Do I readily depend on God and on other people?
Where does my security rest?
Am I more likely to compete or cooperate?
Can I distinguish between necessities and luxuries?

In short, in Biblical terms, am I “poor” or “rich”?

The poor are not necessarily more virtuous than anyone else — human nature being what it is. But the poor are far less likely to pretend to be virtuous. They know they are sick, they know they need a physician, and they know they can’t heal themselves or hide behind formalities!

If we are comfortably situated, the words of Jesus above may sound a little like patronizing slogans, afterthoughts tossed to the unfortunates of the world: ‘Well, since you aren’t rich, and your health is bad, and your face is wet with tears, I’ll toss you a few nice phrases to make you feel better.’

But the words of Jesus are really profound insights into the mystery of human existence. The poor, the hungry, the mourners, and the oppressed really are blessed — not because of their miserable states, of course (Jesus worked long and hard to remedy those miseries) — but because of an innate advantage they hold over those more comfortable and self-sufficient.

People who are rich, successful, and beautiful may go through life relying on their natural gifts. But there is a chance, just a chance, that people who lack such natural advantages may cry out to God in their time of need.

And there is a chance, even a slimmer one, that the “rich” can learn from the “poor” that — really! — their fine robes are only moth-eaten rags, their bank accounts are shadows in the night, their health is the passing breeze, and their beauty is the flower of the field, that fades in the merest moment.

We have the poor to teach us the value of dependence. Unless we learn to depend on God we will never experience His grace in His eternal kingdom when Christ returns.

Prayer

Prayer is the means by which we can communicate with, and have communion with, God. Prayer is the means by which we can find a covering for our sins. It is indispensable, therefore, to the believer.

Sporadic prayer is not sufficient for the urgent and recurring needs of today. The tendency to evil is with us always, and if we are not to succumb repeatedly to its power, God must always be with us too. Prayer and evil cannot live together; if one is present, the other must die. Obviously then it is not enough to call God into a situation where our own ingenuity has failed us, or where we feel particular need of comfort; we must so order our life that we are constantly in touch with God throughout our waking hours.

Our first waking thought shall be of our Heavenly Father, our first impulse shall be to worship Him, and our first action will be to bow before Him in prayer. We shall be moved to acknowledge His majesty, His wisdom and His goodness. We shall confess our need of Him and ask for His promised protection, guidance, and help through an approaching day. We shall remember before Him His promise never to leave or forsake us, and the assurance of His Son to be with us always.

To begin our day with God in this manner is to begin victoriously. We have the confidence, even before we meet the problems of the day, that “everything that will happen will fit into a pattern for good.” We shall begin to know the power and tranquility of the promise: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee… yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” When we ask God to take this early initiative each day, the power of evil will be given little encouragement.

But worship does not end with morning prayers; few of us would be so bold as to say that our early communion with God will sustain us in our struggles with the demands, the temptations and the problems of even the twelve hours that follow it. And yet most of us must confess that all too often our brief moments with God in the morning are followed by hours of forgetfulness. However busy we may be, we shall have opportunities of recollection; sudden temptation will bring a silent cry for help; consciousness of the need or sorrow of a friend will evoke our unspoken intercession. And to the discerning eye there will be so many sights which will be a source of thanksgiving. So amid the worry of the day’s business with all its confusing noise, we shall be able to turn aside and find inner quietness and strength in the presence of God.

And when the day is over we can bow before Him once more in the confidence that He is waiting to meet with us, more ready to hear than we are to speak. We shall rejoice in the certainty that He is offering us His blessing and fellowship in spite of our failures. We shall have sins to confess and forgiveness to seek in the name of His Son. There will be much to thank our Father for, so many to pray for, and a glorious hope to acknowledge gratefully. And thus refreshed we can lie down, knowing the peace of sins forgiven and the joy of a life surrendered to the grace of God.

OUTLINE POINTS:

* THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER:

1. At all times: Eph 6:18. 2. Because of the adversary. 3. “You don’t have because you don’t ask”: Jam 4:2. 4. Apostles re prayer: Act 6:4; Rom 1:9; Eph 1:15,16; Col 1:9; 1Th 3:10; 2Ti 1:3. 5. Importance to Jesus: Mar 1:35; Luk 6:12; Joh 17. 6. Christ’s intercession: Heb 7:25. 7. To obtain mercy and grace: Heb 4:16; Luk 18:1. 8. To obtain fullness of joy: Joh 16:24. 9. Freedom from anxiety: Phi 4:6,7. 10. To remove pressure of this life: Luk 21:34,36.

* WHAT PRAYER DOES:

1. Promotes spiritual growth: Psa 139:3,4; Psa 51:12; Jam 1:5. 2. Brings power to bear. 3. Avails to convert others. 4. Brings ecclesial blessings.

* PRAYER TO GOD:

Talk to God, with ceasing, intensely: Luk 22:44; Heb 5:7; Rom 15:30. United prayer: Mat 18:19; Act 12:5.

* OBEDIENCE, TRUTH NEEDED: 1Jo 3:22; Psa 145:18.

* IN CHRIST’S NAME: 1Jo 5:14,15.

* IN FAITH: Mar 11:24; Rom 10:17.

Always pray: Luk 11:5-8; 18:1-8. Abide in Christ: Joh 15:7.

* THANKSGIVING: Phi 4:6; Luk 17:16.

* FOR SPECIAL EFFORTS: Act 1:14; 2:42.

* HINDRANCES TO PRAYER:

1. Asking amiss: Jam 4:3. 2. Your sins: Isa 59:2. 3. Ignoring others: Pro 21:13. 4. Stopping ears: Luk 6:38. 5. Lack of forgiveness: Luk 6:38. 6. Wrong relations: 1Pe 3:7. 7. Doubting: Jam 5:7.

* WHEN TO PRAY:

1. All night: Luk 6:12; Mar 1:35. 2. Before crisis: Luk 6:12,13; 9:18; 3:21; Mar 1:35; Luk 22:39. 3. After achievements: Mat 14:23; Joh 6:15. 4. When busy: Luk 5:15,16. 5. Before temptation: Mat 26:36. 6. At all times: 1Th 5:17; Eph 6:18.

* PRAYER FOR OTHERS: Jam 5:16; 2Th 3:1; Eph 6:17,18; 1Ti 2:1; Gen 18:23-32; Job 42:10.

Prayer for children

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We pray for children who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And we pray for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser, whose monsters are real.

We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church and scream into the phone, whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must be.

For those we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance.

For those we smother… and for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.

Ina J. Hughes

Prayer for unity (Joh 17)

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Christ’s great intercessory prayer, recorded in John 17, is the most intimate outpouring of the Son’s heart to the Father that is recorded in all of the Bible. The apostles heard the words as they followed their Master, but the thoughts were too deep for them at that stage. In a way, perhaps, we today are just as unprepared for the crystal clarity, the uncompromising perfection implicit in his words:

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

Elaborating on the request first uttered in Joh 17:11 (“that they may be one”), Christ repeats this wonderful prayer four more times (vv 21 — twice, 22, and 23). It must be to the great embarrassment of strict separationists that this particular aspect is so emphasized in this place. But never mind how difficult, how humanly impossible it appears, this unity is an achievable goal, with Christ’s help.

” ‘That they all may be ONE.’ Here the word ‘one’ is not masculine, but neuter, and probably presupposes ‘one Spirit’ (1Co 12:13) or ‘one Body’, for both of these are neuter nouns. No matter. ‘That they all may be one… that the world may believe that thou hast sent me’ (v. 21). Instead they are not all one, not by any means as much as they might be. And if the world quizzically comments: ‘How these brethren in Christ love one another!’ it is certainly not helped to believe in the Christ they all honour” (HAW, “Block Disfellowship”, Tes 43:343).

“The only way that believers can show that they dimly perceive the immensity of what Jesus sought from his Father, is to make this harmony of love and consideration so real in their individual and ecclesial lives that people of the world recognize it as the practical manifestation of the life and teaching of Jesus — even though they themselves may not always respond to it. Particularly in this way is the Master glorified in his household.

“The conscious and deliberate effort of every member of an ecclesia is needed to preserve this divine unity: it has to be a community effort. The joy of it is that Jesus is part of this cooperation. He knows that difficulties will arise in ecclesias; he knows that it is only by ‘getting together’ that ecclesias can solve difficulties; that is why he promised, in case of dispute, to be ‘in the midst of them’ (Mat 18:20). Why do we so frequently forget, or ignore this?” (JM, “The Living Ecclesia”, Xd 108:54).

Preaching mission

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“Our community has all too often separated doctrine from practice. We have not seen that doctrine is intended to bring forth living and love towards others. The doctrines of the one faith are not merely empty theological statements devised as a test of our understanding and obedience. They are what they are so as to inspire in each one of us a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

“We Christadelphians have analyzed some aspects of doctrine, especially relating to the atonement, to an extent that is inappropriate; and we have virtually — and sometimes actually — divided over these matters. And yet the pseudo-intellectual minutiae over which there has been such strife contain no power to enable the believer to live the new life. It is the basic Gospel itself which has the power to bring forth the new man after the image of Christ.

“It is crucial to true ‘theology’ that it not be separated from the call of doctrine to be the vital force for the transformation of human life. After 150 years of ‘holding the Truth’ and not really preaching it very much nor living it very deeply, western Christadelphia has developed a complex intellectual system that is very much in need of a focus for application and practice. That focus should be in the preaching of the Gospel to the poorer world, and within the more desperate parts of Western society. In such areas there is plenty of opportunity for practicing what we believe: especially in developing an adequate doctrinal underpinning. People do not know their Bibles, do not know doctrine, and yet they so want to be taught.

“Things are coming together, slowly, as western Christadelphia starts to see its need to reach out, and is encouraged by the successes the Lord has granted. We are starting to realize that the true theological cannot avoid the challenge of knowing personally life in its most traumatic forms. It has been truly observed: ‘theology cannot but have a mission.’ Unless ‘theology’ is put to the service of our mission, to save men and women and glorify the Lord, then there can only be an ever-increasing gap between the ‘theologians’ and the grass-roots ecclesia, especially in the mission field. The two halves must come together, or else the new converts will wander, and the ‘theologians’, shocked at the lack of perception in the converts, will likewise go their own way, into ever-increasing abstraction and theory.

“It is worth observing the very simple fact that the New Testament is essentially a missionary document — all the expressions and articulations of doctrine and theology found there are in the context of the preaching of the Gospel and the immediate problems of men and women who respond to it. That is why we are not given a cold statement of faith or catechism in the New Testament, but rather the history of the mission of Christ at its very beginning.” (DH)

Preaching the gospel

In various places, and with varying degrees of success, Christadelphians undertake elaborate, advertised, public gospel proclamation. Often it seems that the degree of success — humanly speaking — leaves us disappointed. But, oddly enough, the one method of gospel proclamation which outdoes all others in efficiency, which costs exactly nothing, and which can be done by absolutely everyone, suffers serious neglect. Personal witness for the faith, which built up the struggling Christadelphian body at a remarkable rate in the last quarter of the last century, is now often passed over for the “flashier” methods.

Yet this is how the gospel was first proclaimed:

“One of the two which… followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah” (Joh 1:39-41).

And then a few verses further on: “Philip findeth Nathaniel, and saith unto him, We have found…” (v 45).

He hadn’t really. Jesus had found him instead. But the two processes are not to be separated. The disciple’s job is to go and “find” his fellow. But in his “looking” it is really God who does the “finding”!

Paul, the master preacher, had none of the modern devices of publicity that we lean on so heavily. His familiar simple recipe was: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17).

To be sure, we say, a man cannot receive the gospel without a Bible. Right enough! But that is not what Paul is saying there. His phrase means: “Hearing comes by the spoken word about God”, as the next verse plainly confirms. “How shall they hear without a preacher?” (v 14) They can hear without an advertisement or other clever modern eye-catcher. But not without a preacher. Sooner or later, someone has to do the talking, and the sooner the better.

Nor is there any picking and choosing as to who shall hear our good news. Who are we to discriminate and decide before for God who is and who is not fit for His blessing?

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good” (Ecc 11:6).

And because “thou knowest not”, thou shalt not make contemptuous pre-judgment as to which mode of preaching is the best. Agreed, some methods seem relatively less efficient than others, to the extent of appearing more wasteful of time or energy or resources. But none is to be despised, for at one time or another the grace of God has made use of them all.

So why don’t we bring our personal witness for the faith into daily life more than we do? Reason number one is: “Behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child” (Jer 1:6). There is a paralyzing feeling of incompetence. “I am not quick-witted enough to cope with the arguments people may fire at me, not sufficiently well-acquainted with the Bible to be able to go to the very passage that is needed, etc, etc.”

Such a poor attitude should be set right once and for all. With the more conscientious, it springs out of a pathetic line of reasoning of this kind: “The Truth must never be let down. I am not competent to start talking on the subject. Therefore I’d better not say anything.”

With many this way of thinking is quite probably an excuse, more than a reason.

There is a very simple way of coping with one’s inadequacy in discussion, and that is to admit it: “I can’t answer your argument right now, but I’m sure it can be answered. Next time I see you, I shall have an answer for you.” None except Christadelphians think it shameful not to be able to come up with a full explanation of every problem passage. Others are highly unlikely to think the worse of us for admitting ignorance on one point or another. Besides, that “next time I see you” leaves the door wide open for a point-blank return to the topic some time later! So that is a positive gain.

On the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, Philip did not wait for his new acquaintance to ask him: “Do you happen to know what Isaiah 53 is all about?” Instead, he was ready with his own question: “Can you make sense of what you are reading?” This is a fairly obvious example of what we are talking about. But every day a number of opportunities may come along, to speak the right word at the right time. We must learn to be alert to such openings. “Be instant, in season, out of season,” exhorts Paul. Be ready, on the alert, even in the most unlikely circumstances, for you never know!

Jesus sat by the well at Sychar, weary, hungry and thirsty. But when his disciples returned with the food they had bought, they found him alert and vigorous and not interested in food at all. While they were away he had a better meal than they could provide — the spiritual strengthening of an open, inquiring mind with which to hold communion.

He sent out his disciples in pairs, and they set off, one may be sure, nervous and ill at ease at the unaccustomed responsibility he had laid on them. But the men who returned were hardly to be recognized as the same persons. They bubbled over with excitement and pleasure. What was it that had made the difference?

Pride in Proverbs

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Pro 3:34 He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. Pro 6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, Pro 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Pro 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Pro 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Pro 15:25 The LORD tears down the proud man’s house but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact. Pro 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. Pro 16:18,19 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. Pro 17:6,7 Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool — how much worse lying lips to a ruler! Pro 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor. Pro 21:4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin! Pro 21:24 The proud and arrogant man — “Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride. Pro 29:23 A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor. Pro 30:13 those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful.

Promises of God, the

The true hope of salvation in Jesus Christ, the hope of the gospel, is founded upon promises made by God in the Bible. These are described by the Apostle Peter as “great and precious promises”, by which we may share “the divine nature”, that is, eternal life (2Pe 1:4).

A promise is an undertaking from one person to another, guaranteeing to do or give something in the future. The promises of God are concerned with the future, both of mankind and of the world He has created. Unlike men’s promises, which can be and often are broken, God’s promises cannot fail. But to become effective for any individual, they must be believed; in Biblical terms, faith is the belief of God’s promises, centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The phrase ‘to give one’s word’ has the same sense as ‘to promise’. In the Scriptures, God gives His word concerning the future, with all the force of a promise. All of the prophecies in the Bible concerning the future are therefore, in a sense, promises. But those principal promises that constitute the gospel are linked to covenants, or binding agreements.

It is remarkable that the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, should be prepared to enter into covenants with mortal men and women, and to affirm them by solemn oaths, but this is what the Bible records.

The beginning of the promises

The expression of God’s gracious intention to save sinful men and women begins in Scripture immediately after the Fall of Adam and Eve, in this pronouncement: “I will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). Although enigmatic, these words foretell a conflict between good and evil that would be resolved by the victory of a Saviour provided by God, the promised seed (or descendant) of Eve. In the course of time, man’s wickedness drove God to bring the judgement of the Flood upon the earth. But in the aftermath, He made a second great promise to faithful Noah: “I will not again curse the ground any more… While the earth remaineth… summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen 8:21,22). This promise of the permanence of the earth was confirmed by a covenant, made by God with all flesh, and symbolized in the rainbow (Gen 9:11-13).

God’s promises to Abraham

The next great development in the unfolding of God’s promises for the future was made to Abraham (originally Abram). He was called by God, about 2000 BC, to leave his home in Mesopotamia to journey to Canaan, which was to become known as the Promised Land.

The promises God made to him were amazingly wide in scope:

“I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great… and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:2,3);

“Lift up now thine eyes, and look… for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever” (Gen 13:14,15);

“Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Gen 15:5).

Abraham’s belief in the last of these promises from God was “counted… to him for righteousness”, in other words, his sins were forgiven because of his faith (v 6; cf Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; Jam 2:23).

These promises once again focused on the promised seed, descended from Abraham, eventually revealed as the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16). The multiplication of that seed “as the stars of heaven” refers to the multitude of people of all ages who would gain salvation through Jesus, by believing the same promises (Dan 12:3; Heb 11:12,13). God endorsed His promises to Abraham by covenants, first a covenant for the land of Israel (Gen 15:18) and then one with his seed, that He would be their God. This was marked in Abraham’s natural descendants, the nation of Israel, by the rite of circumcision (Gen 17:1-14). Finally God sealed all of His promises and covenants with a solemn oath: “By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD… that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven… and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:16-18). These promises, subsequently reiterated to Isaac and Jacob (Israel), are the very foundation of the gospel of salvation (Gal 3:8,9). They require that Abraham and all the faithful must rise from the dead, as Jesus did, in order to enjoy them (Acts 24:14,15; 26:6-8).

God’s promises to David

Nearly 1,000 years after Abraham, when his descendants, the nation of Israel, had become a kingdom in the land of promise, God made further momentous promises to David the king: “I will set up thy seed after thee… and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son” (2Sa 7:12-14). These promises too were affirmed by God by covenant and oath (Psa 89:3,4), and were reiterated by the angel Gabriel at the annunciation of Jesus’ birth (Luk 1:32,33).

God’s promises to Jesus

All of these promises are centered in Jesus, the Son of God (Acts 13:32,33; Rom 15:8,9; 2Co 1:19,20), and so the New Testament begins with the words: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mat 1:1). But there are other promises in the Old Testament directed personally to him. For example, Jesus is personally promised rulership of God’s Kingdom: “Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psa 2:8). Exalted to God’s throne in heaven, Jesus is affirmed by an oath to be a priest or mediator for all believers: “Sit thou at My right hand… The LORD hath sworn… Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psa 110:1,4; 1Ti 2:5; Heb 5:5-10).

God’s promises to us

While God’s promises cannot fail to be fulfilled, for us as individuals they are conditional upon our faith, our covenant with Jesus the Saviour through baptism, and a patient seeking for godliness: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ… And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:27-29). By believing and acting upon God’s promises, we can obtain eternal life and share in the marvellous blessings of God’s Kingdom which is to come on this earth.

Prophecy: more than one fulfillment

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About one-third of the Bible is prophecy. Much of it has more than one fulfillment. Are there any principles which help us in seeing how a prophecy might be fulfilled more than once? Here are three ways in which Bible prophecies can be fulfilled more than once:

A typical fulfillment first: Some Bible prophecies have their complete fulfillment in the long term, but in the short term there is a partial fulfillment in events which are types of the complete fulfillment. Example: The promises to David are quoted with reference to Solomon; cp 1Ch 17:12,13 with 1Ch 22:9,10. This is because Solomon’s reign was a type of Christ’s Kingdom; cp 1Ki 4:25 with prophecies of the Kingdom in Jer 23:6 and Micah 4:4. However, their complete fulfillment comes with Christ; see Luke 1:32,33 and Acts 13:33. Other examples. Mic 4; 5 was initially fulfilled by Hezekiah in relation to the Assyrian invasion, but will be more completely fulfilled by Christ setting up the Kingdom. Some features of Psa 72 were fulfilled by Solomon’s kingdom, but the psalm will be completely fulfilled in the future reign of Christ.
A typical fulfillment later: Some Bible prophecies are fulfilled completely initially but this fulfillment is typical of something greater to come. Example: Isa 17 was fulfilled in the Assyrian invasion in Hezekiah’s time, culminating in the destruction of the Assyrian host (v 14). Yet this fulfillment is also typical of the host which invades the land at the time of Christ’s return, and is destroyed. Other examples: Jer 50; 51 are prophetic of the overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon, but the extensive use of the language of these chapters in Rev 17; 18 shows that this overthrow was typical of the overthrow of another Babylon at Christ’s return. Psa 41 (not strictly prophecy) is about David’s experiences in the revolt of Absalom, but his betrayal by Ahithophel is typical of Judas’s betrayal of Christ (v 9, quoted in John 13:18).
Prophecies fulfilled on a number of occasions: Some Bible prophecies are fulfilled on several occasions because of situations which keep occurring. Example: Deu 28:49 prophesies of “a nation… from far” which God would send against Israel if they forsook Him. Note how the terms of this verse were fulfilled by Assyria (Isa 5:26; 33:19; Hos 8:1) and Babylon (Jer 4:13; 5:15) as well as Rome (Mat 24:28). Other examples: Cannibalism, prophesied in Lev 26:29, is recorded in both 2Ki 6:26-31 and Lam 4:10, and according to Josephus occurred in AD 70. The opposition to Christ by rulers foretold in Psa 2:1-3 occurred at his birth (Mat 2) and his crucifixion (Acts 4:25-28), and will occur at his Second Coming (Rev 17:12-14) and at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:7-10).

Examples of Bible prophecy with more than one fulfillment:

Isa 2:10-22: (a) earthquake in Uzziah’s day (Amo 1:1,2; Zec 14:5); (b) Last Days (2Th 1:9,19; Rev 6:16,19).

Isa 7:14: (a) birth of Hezekiah, son of Ahaz; (b) Mat 1:23.

Isa 34: (a) Edom and other nations hostile to Israel in Isaiah’s day; (b) Final judgment on the wicked (Rev 14:10,11).

Jer 50; 51: (a) Destruction of Babylon, the great enemy of Jeremiah’s day; (b) Destruction of “Babylon” in the Last Days (Rev 18; cp mg refs).

Hos 10:8 (and context): (a) Judgment on faithless Israel in Hosea’s time; (b) Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (Luk 23:30).

Mic 3:12: (a) Threatened fulfillment about 700 BC (Jer 26:18); (b) literal fulfillment in first century AD.

Psa 2: (a) David beset by enemies early in his reign (2Sa 8); (b) Hostility to Christ, the Son of David (Act 4:25-27; Rev 19:15).