Chapters five and six are "working" chapters, of sorts, as they ask you to consider intently a number of prophecies. Since for some of you who would rather move past the proofs on to the implications for the Second Coming, spending too much time regarding the proofs might seem to be a digression, you are given the option in the introduction of these two chapters, to read only the beginning of the chapter to get a feel for its content, and then move on, returning later to the material, if you wish. Hopefully, in this way, proceeding at your own pace, you'll find answers to the extent you have questions (16:2)

WHICH Verses Constitute Prophecies?-
Several years ago, I purchased a reference Bible and found the following note in the first few pages: (16:3)

A star immediately following a verse in the Old Testament indicates that in the concurrent opinion of many scholars and theologians, the verse embodies a prophetic reference to Christ (16:4)

In this particular Bible, almost two hundred verses were thus identified by these stars. Other Bibles, and other references cite more than this. There are arguably many hundreds, some say thousands, of verses in the Old Testament which refer in some way or another to Christ. After all, the Old Testament contains more than twenty three thousand verses, and it would seem rather strange, given the station of Christ, that only a few hundred verses would refer to Him. When we consider the role that God's Son has played and will play in the redemption of mankind, we could assert that the Old Testament in its entirety was written as a prelude to and prediction of the Coming of Christ (16:5)

We could, therefore, make a study of the Old Testament as a whole to demonstrate the purpose of prophecy. However, of these thousands of verses, certain ones stand out as having been especially inspired to announce, describe, and praise the Christ. Since these prophecies include what must be considered the most outstanding references to the Coming Christ, we will choose these as our basis of investigation. Although our compilation of prophetic references will not be exhaustive, it will demonstrate certain principles stated above (16:6)

Certainly, people may disagree on some of the verses chosen to receive stars - on the one hand considering some verses as not referring to Christ, and on the other, questioning why certain other verses were not included. My purpose, however, is not to justify why these verses are considered prophetic references to Christ. The fact that many scholars and theologians, and, I believe, Christians in general, through their research of both the Old and New Testaments feel that they are prophetic references, is sufficient for me. My purpose is rather to demonstrate that within the generally accepted body of prophecy and the record of its fulfillment, there are implied principles that until now have been overlooked (16:7)

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