As we study, in the following chapters actual prophecies and their fulfillment, we will see that God is not even bound by this "rule"; indeed, of course, He is not subject to any "rule" whatsoever, and fulfills prophecies according to His wisdom. Using the life of Christ as an example of the fulfillment of prophecy, we will see that even things that seem to be clearly ruled out in a prophecy, may indeed be present in the fulfillment. And if this weren't enough to confound anyone who would place their confidence in their own understanding of the scriptures, this may be: things that are clearly stated as elements of the fulfillment of a prophecy, may be absent in the actual fulfillment. Moreover, the Word of God gives no explanation as to why this is the case. It is as if God is telling us that, through the events that have come to pass in the life of Christ, we are to understand the meaning of the prophecies referring to Him. For this is exactly what has happened. Now that we have knowledge of Christ and His life through the word of God in the New Testament, we can go back to the Old Testament, and understand His words. Without the New Testament, we cannot understand them (9:1)

Now if, as shown in the example of "The Traveler", common words are subject to widely differing interpretation, how could we possibly assume to have grasped the correct interpretation of the holy words we have been given that describe the Advent of the Lord? (9:2)

The tongue of the prophets described things that others could not perceive. Like a man seeing a coming thunderstorm that his blind friend cannot see, so the prophet sees and tells of things to come (9:3)

We, who read their words, or the words of Christ, are not prophets. Yet, generally, we assume we understand the precise meaning of their words. And though to make this assumption is a perfectly natural thing to do, now that we have the life of Christ described in the New Testament before us as the supreme example of how all assumptions were blown to smithereens at His Coming, can we persist in this practice? (9:4)

The prophecies of the Bible are like seeds, and their fulfillment is like the plants into which these seeds grow. By looking at the seed, there is no way to tell what shape or color or form lies within it. It is only after the seed develops into a plant that we know the "meaning" of the seed (9:5)

In the same way, by studying the words of a prophecy, there is no way to tell what it signifies, or what future events will fulfill it. It is only after the prophecy has been fulfilled that we can understand what the words of the prophecy mean (9:6)

IMPLICATIONS for the SEEKER-
So what does all this mean to us? Is this just a new way of looking at prophecies and their interpretation? I believe it means much more than this. For if we consider thoughtfully, we can see that there is implied in the story of the life of Christ something far more important than anything that I have stated so far, in fact, something of infinite significance to the seeker of Christ. It is this: Although God did not reveal to us plainly how we should know who the Messiah was, and although His Coming ran counter to everyone's expectations, we were expected to accept and follow Him anyway (9:7)

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