The Lost World of the Prophets by John H. Walton;

Author:John H. Walton;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biblical prophecy;apocalyptic literature;prophets;how to read old testament prophecy;ancient near eastern context;bible background;biblical studies;old testament studies;end times;eschatology
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
Published: 2023-11-09T09:43:33+00:00

EXCURSUS: MESSIANIC PROPHECY

Since Jesus, the Messiah, fulfilled numerous prophecies that were not evidently viewed as messianic in their Old Testament context, we have to be careful about how we define messianic prophecy. If we defined it based on message, we would look for an indication that the prophet was discussing a future, ideal, Davidic king. As seen in table 12.1, that would narrow the field to just a handful of passages. I propose instead that we should define it based on fulfillment rather than on message. That is to say, a prophecy may be considered more broadly messianic when it is one that, according to the New Testament, finds fulfillment in Jesus, regardless of whether the message of the prophet was messianic.

With this definition, verses that I have already discussed, such as Isaiah 7:14 and Hosea 11:1, may legitimately be classified as messianic prophecies even though in Isaiah and Hosea they would not have been recognized as such by either the prophet or his audience. At the same time, this definition would not include Genesis 3:15 since the message in Genesis does not identify a victor. Blows exchanged on both sides are potentially fatal, but not necessarily so. Furthermore, the New Testament never identifies Jesus as fulfilling it.a

If the defining feature of messianic prophecy is that it is recognized either as having a messianic message (by the prophet himself or later in the Old Testament) or as having been fulfilled by Jesus, the list of such prophecies is much more abbreviated than claims found in apologetics books. Table 12.1 delineates five categories to help sort through the various scenarios.

Table 12.1. Classification of messianic prophecy (based on when recognized)

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