Advent, Pt. 1, Prophecy - Hope

Advent, Pt. 1, Prophecy - Hope

Dimensions of Hope: Prophecy
Advent, Pt. 1

By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© November 29, 2015
www.pastorkennedy.com

This is the first Sunday of Advent, which focuses on Prophecy. Prophecy is a declaration from God, through His servants, giving His eternal hope to those in the world. All of us need hope! Unfortunately, we all seem to focus primarily on the realm in which we live and many times put God on the sideline of our life!

Life is full of many dimensions! So, let’s first begin by looking at some of the dimensions that impact various people in the world.

Life’s Dimensions

There are many dimensions regarding income and lifestyles.

The diverse dimensions and spectrums of life are often astounding.

• People living in different parts of the world can have virtual opposites regarding circumstances surrounding the patterns of their life.

o Poverty and Plenty: A great many people living in third world countries are living in abject poverty. Some could be earning less than a dollar a day…or $300 a year, in comparison to other folks in their country or other countries making many, many thousands more.

o Electricity and Gardens: Some do not know what it would be like to have electricity on a regular basis. They use oil lamps for light and oxen for plowing to raise their food. Others across the world have shopped in grocery stores throughout their life, and have never even tilled a garden plot, much less owned a farm animal.

o Languages: Some people have never spoken an intelligent word in another language but their own, while others routinely converse in two or three languages and move comfortably in multiple cultures.

There are various dimensions in what we would equate with Attitude and Hope

• Personality:

o Some folks seem to be naturally positive, cheery and animated.
o Some folks live in a pensive, reflective and somewhat somber mood.
o Some folks are plagued with depression and fear.

There are diverse dimensions in what we would equate with Abilities and Success

Everyone wants to have a meaningful life. We all have a desire to adequately provide for our family and ourselves, but there are obvious discrepancies in wealth and ability.

• God has blessed some individuals with great wealth and prosperity, while others may not see themselves as being wealthy, and others live in abject poverty.

• God has blessed each person with diverse gifts and abilities.

King Solomon: Wisdom, Wealth and Meaninglessness
King Solomon experienced a plethora of God’s blessing because of the gift wisdom had on his life, but as Solomon saw the reality of life, he equated all the worldly abundance in his life as “nothing”…death would make sure of that.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
2 I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Although there are wide differences and dimensions in life, the final outcome for everyone is their personal accountability before the Throne and Presence of Almighty God.

There are “life dimensions with God” and there are “life dimensions”… seemingly, “without God”.

In our world people often leave out the dimension of God in their life. As we read this Psalm we will see that King David left no doubt as to the major role that God was given in His heart. May the Holy Spirit certify this truth, from God’s Word, to our own hearts.

Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
they will sing before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his truth.

Does King David leave any doubt as to his believe and hope in God, the Creator and Sustainer of all life?

All of us have observed various paths that people have taken in their life. Sometimes we may have even told certain ones that if they continue down the path they are headed, they will face sure and certain consequences that could destroy them.

This is what God has told us through the words of His prophets. There will be consequences for not considering and following what He has revealed to us. Prophecy from God reminds us of His priorities!

The Dimension of Prophecy: God’s Words to Us through His Prophets, through the ages, give a reality of Hope to those seeking God.

Let’s begin with Prophecies Concerning Israel through whom came God’s Messiah

Israel’s 400-year Prophecy of bondage and Her deliverance

Genesis 15:12–16
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Israel’s Deliverance, 400 Year after Her Enslavement:

Exodus 12:37–42
37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.

(Note: God foretold to Abram that his descendants would experience 400 years of slavery in Egypt until the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure, in Gen. 15:13-16. Exodus 12:41 speaks of 430 years “to the day” when the Israelites left Egypt. At the beginning, when Joseph brought his father and family into Egypt they were not considered slaves, but a protected people, under Joseph, and given a good land. The seeds of persecution began, Joseph and his generation died, and a King came to power in Egypt who did not know Joseph, condemning the nation to slavery. Ex. 1:5-14.)

Those 2 million or more men, women and children walked across the Red Sea on dry ground and were sustained, by God, for forty years in the wilderness. These acts of God have followed Israel, encouraged Israel and sustained Israel for thousands of years.

But, there would be yet another event that would be greater, a dimension of prophecy unparalleled throughout history: a totally disbursed nation reborn after two thousand years…beginning in 1948…in “our generation”, to be totally fulfilled under the reign of Jesus Christ – “The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6).

The Greater Yet Prophecy Regarding Israel

A greater Prophecy for Israel is Given, which Eclipses Israel being able to leave Egypt…with all its miracles!

Jeremiah 23:7–8
7 “So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 8 but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Ezekiel 37:21
21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.

Those who were living May 14, 1948, saw with their own eyes the first stage of the fulfillment of this prophecy, when Israel became a Nation again after 2,000 years. (See also Jeremiah 16:14-17; 31:10; Deut. 30:3-5; Isaiah 11:12; Ezekiel 34:11-16; 36-37, etc.).

When the Messiah, Jesus Christ comes to rule and reign, we will see this prophecy fulfilled in all its completeness.

Jeremiah 23:5–6 (preceding verses to the above Jeremiah 23 passage)
5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness.
The dimension of prophecy has been present throughout history – giving us continuing glimpses of God and His Plan for this world.

Today we are focusing on the Prophecies regarding God’s Plan for the World’s Messiah

The Prophecy of the Messiah, Jesus Christ

o His Virgin Birth

Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (See the fulfillment for this prophecy in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:26-38)

o His Birthplace

Micah 5:2
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (See Matthew 2:1-6 for this prophecies’ fulfillment.)

o His Miraculous Life and Ministry

Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…

(This prophecy is recounted by Jesus, as fulfilled, in Luke 4:16-21, and throughout His earthly ministry. This is confirmed through Jesus’ ministry and miracles throughout the first four books of the New Testament, such as Matt 9:30; 11:5; 12:22; 20:34; 21:14; Mark 7:30; John 5:9, etc.)

o His Suffering, Death and Resurrection

Isaiah 53:3–6
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 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.

(These prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection as seen in the final chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Matt 8:17; Mark 15:3–4, 27–28; Luke 23:1–25, 32–34; Mark 16:6; Acts 2:27; 13:35; 26:23; 1 Cor 15; etc.)

o His Coming to Rule and Reign – to be fulfilled in its completeness!

Isaiah 9:6–7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Other Prophecies of Christ’s future Reign: 2 Sam 7:12–13, 16, 25–26; 1 Chr 17:11–14, 23–27; 2 Chr 21:7.
Confirmed in the New Testament: Matt 19:28; 21:4; 25:31; Mark 12:37; Luke 1:32; John 7:42; Acts 2:30; 13:23; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8; Heb 1:5, 8; 8:1; 12:2; Rev 19:16; 20:6; Rev 22:1; with everlasting dominion Matt 24:30; 25:31; 26:64; Mark 14:61–62; Acts 1:9–11; Rev 1:7.

The Dimensions of Hope: Prophecy

Prophecy proclaimed as Words from God and fulfilled in this world declare several things:

God created us to have a genuine and purposeful relationship with Him.

God has communicated through Prophecy and through His Word, His intimate plan for our redemption and future.

God’s prophetic Word reminds us of His Power, and the Plan for His redeemed Ones to be with Him forever.

Prophecy from God reminds us of His priorities and that we should make His priorities key priorities of our life! In truly understanding this, we have Hope in this life and in the next!

The Prophetic Word

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word,
to which you will do well to pay attention
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
knowing this first of all,
that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man,
but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:19-21

For unto us a Child is born, to us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
Isaiah 9:6–7