Fast Track Chapter 4: The Predictions

The Kingdom was divided into North & South

Jeroboam, king of the north, offered Reheboam the opportunity to bring the tribes back under one reign. Reheboam's father, Solomon, had turned into a tyrant later in his reign. His empire crashed as he continued expanding government projects, over-extending the finances of the empire, and demanding heavy taxes from the people. Jeroboam asked Solomon's son, Reheboam, to "lighten the load, so the people would choose to serve their king." Reheboam called a cabinet meeting with his own youthful advisors and his father's "old guard" counselors. The old guard told Reheboam to increase liberty, lower the taxation, and stop the government spending. The young advisors told Reheboam to come back more harshly by increasing the control of his kingship. Reheboam returned to the people and said, "My little finger is bigger than my dad's thigh. He whipped you with whips – I'll whip you with scorpions." A rebellion broke out. The kingdom revolted and stayed divided for the next several hundred years because the king chose coercion over liberty.

One of the evil kings of the north was a man named Ahab. He married a wicked woman named Jezebel and led the people to worship Baal, a god of sensuality. God eventually judged the northern kingdom by allowing them to see if "Baal" could deliver them from the Assyrian army. Baal, a stone statue and fertility god, was not successful in stopping the Assyrian army. During Ahab's reign, Elijah constantly confronted and warned the king of coming consequences for his rebellion. Elijah confirmed a drought upon the land as God's warning that He wanted His people‟s devotion. Elijah eventually called for a contest between God and Baal. The 400 prophets of Baal met up on Mount Carmel to see which God was real. Elijah made an offering on a stone altar. The prophets of Baal did the same. Whichever god answered with fire was the one true God. The prophets of Baal danced, cut themselves, and prayed all day. Baal was silent. Elijah began mocking them, asking if Baal was “deaf or on vacation.” After their humiliation, Elijah covered his stone altar with water to make the claim clear. He asked God to send fire from the sky down upon this altar as a sign that He was real. Fire from heaven fell and consumed the sacrifice, the stone altar, and all the water. The people returned to God. Elijah was on a spiritual high until...

Elijah was threatened by Ahab's wife Jezebel and fell into a depression. Elijah pulled away from people and withdrew in fear. God met with Elijah and offered him food, rest, and a partner named Elisha. God appeared to Elijah in a still small voice prompting him to stop isolating himself. God helped rid Elijah of his depression and suicidal thoughts. After Elijah's ministry came to an end, Elisha had a great legacy of proclaiming God's love and providing proof of His power. Elisha made a jar of oil multiply to provide for a poor woman, healed a man from leprosy, and performed many other miracles

Jonah met a fish on his way to Assyria’s capital

The kingdom continued in rebellion and was eventually overthrown by the evil Assyrian Empire. (Assyria is the area known in modern times as Iran and Iraq.) Many of the people in the northern kingdom had members of their family killed and enslaved by the evil Assyrians. Those who remained in the homeland saw relatives and friends brutally tortured and carried off to Assyria's capital city, Nineveh. Despite the evil and wickedness of Assyria, God loved all His people and wanted them to "stop running and return to Him.” He came to the prophet Jonah and asked him to go to the capital city of the Assyrians and offer God's forgiveness and leadership. Jonah refused. The fearful prophet hated the Assyrians and didn't want God to forgive his enemies. Jonah didn't want the capital city of Nineveh to hear about God's love and mercy. So Jonah hopped on a ship and traveled to the westernmost part of the known world, away from Assyria. Jonah ran, but God ran after him. A storm struck the ocean and the shipmates threw Jonah overboard. God rescued Jonah, capturing him underwater in a great fish's belly. Jonah remained inside the beast for three days and three nights as God brought him back to shore. (How did Jonah survive in the fish? Some people think that the Bible teaches that Jonah died in the fish and was resurrected upon "arrival" to shore based on Jonah‟s prayer and mention of death in the account.)

Jesus would reference Jonah‟s time in the fish as a predictor of His death and resurrection after three days and nights in the grave.

Still angry with God, Jonah begrudgingly traveled to Nineveh. He still couldn't believe that God would offer forgiveness to these wicked people. Jonah delivered a "turn or burn" message while strolling through Nineveh, hoping the audience would not respond. Amazingly, the people did, and decided to stop running from God, seeking God's grace and forgiveness. Jonah was mad at God for forgiving them, and went up to a hillside to pout, hoping God would change His mind and destroy the city. God loved the disgruntled prophet anyway, even though he was being selfish, hateful, and childish.

God sent a plant to shade Jonah as he sulked. A worm then ate the plant, which exposed Jonah to the hot sun. Jonah was furious. He told God that he'd rather be dead than live in a world with forgiven Assyrians. He revealed his heart's motives for rebellion. Jonah was afraid God would be too kind to them. God then asked Jonah a question: "If you care so much about the plan tand the worm that is here for one day and gone the next, shouldn't I care about the thousands of men, women, and livestock in Nineveh?"

Jonah reminds us that we can run from God by being wicked like the Assyrians; and we could run from God by thinking we are "good enough" and better than others. Jonah shows us that God needs to run after people lost in their immorality and morality. God needs to rescue us from our wickedness and perceived righteousness. God's love rescues us from our good works and our bad works. God loves everyone and runs after us all.

The J-Kings got to the top of the coaster

While the northern kingdom had been judged by the Assyrians, the southern kingdom was a roller-coaster ride of good kings and bad kings. A good king would come to power and move people up toward God, and then several bad kings would drive the nation back down. This roller-coaster occurred over dozens of years. The southern kingdom was not captured by Assyria because enough good kings kept the people close to God, and He protected them from the Assyrians. Two kings, the "J's" on the top of our roller-coaster, are Josiah and Jehoshaphat. This godly duo led the people back to God in significant ways.

They began national education programs that taught Biblical principles, in the hope that parents would educate their children in God‟s truth. They declared national festivals to celebrate the Sabbath and prayed to God for forgiveness. Jehoshaphat declared a Jehosha-fast – the people would skip a meal to seek God. They‟d use that time to pray to God and confess their mistakes. Many of the prophets began to see the roller-coaster headed downward as the southern Kingdom began to worship Baal. The prophets warned the people not to run from God. They reminded them that God is gracious and will forgive them. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Hosea, Obadiah, Nahum, and Amos were prophets who kept proclaiming God's banner call to the northern and southern kingdoms: "Stop running and return to Me!" Micah told God‟s people to return to Him rather than continuing in their self-centered neglect for the poor around them. Amos told God‟s people to use God‟s truth as a plumb line for their lives.

The prophets of the northern kingdom, Obadiah, Hosea, and Jonah, were the primary voices warning that God would remove His protection if they kept running. They reminded God's people of His love, if they would only trust Him and return. A prophet named Hosea married a prostitute who was continually unfaithful to him. Hosea‟s pursuing love of an unfaithful spouse was a symbol of how God feels toward His unfaithful people. God's heart was broken over their unfaithfulness, but He waited for them faithfully. Hosea‟s passionate preaching and “call to return” originated in his own broken heart. With deep emotion, he pleaded with Israel to return to God just as he pleaded with his wife, Gomer, to return to him.

The southern kingdom decided to make a treaty with the evil Assyrian empire to protect them from the upcoming nation of Babylon. God told them to trust Him rather than making this alliance. When Babylon conquered Assyria, they absorbed the southern kingdom of Judah as well. God supernaturally used this kingdom-takeover to put His people back together again. The northern kingdom, which had already been taken over by the Assyrians, was now captive along with the southern kingdom when Babylon swallowed them all whole.

Isaiah even reminded the people that God was sending a Messiah, the Final Forgiver and Rescuer, who would help them return to God by suffering and dying a violent death. This Final Forgiver would be pierced for all mankind‟s wrongs: our running from God. After hundreds of years of warnings, God lets His people face the consequences of their rebellion. The nation of Babylon conquered the southern kingdom and Assyria at the same time. God united His people in both the northern and southern kingdom back together again in Babylonian Exile as slaves.

A Baby-lon statue appeared in Dan’s dream

The prophets told them it would last 70 years. Two prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel, reminded the people to take responsibility for their running and return to God in their hearts. Ezekiel reminded the people that God would restore them. Ezekiel was given a vision of a valley of dry bones. God asked Ezekiel if these dry bones could live again. He reassembled the bones in front of the prophet and breathed life into them. This vision was a prophecy that God would reassemble the people back totheirnationaftertheirtimeinBabylon.Itwasalsoafutureprophecy ofthereturnofthenationofIsraelafter years of dormancy. (Modern history shows the 1948 fulfillment of this prophecy, when Israel was reassembled as a nation.)

Daniel rose to influence in Babylon. He accurately predicted the next 600 years of world history, including the rise of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire. Daniel had a series of visions that laid out the timeline. One dream had a tall statue of "Baby-lon" – which is why our statue has a baby face. Each part of the statue was made of different metals: head, arms, body, legs, and feet. An angel told Daniel that Babylon was the first kingdom that would be defeated by the arms of the Medes and Persians. The Persians would be conquered by the Greeks. The Greeks would be destroyed by the Romans. During the time of the Romans, a rock – not made with human hands – came and destroyed the kingdoms of this world. This "rock" was the Messiah. He started a spiritual kingdom that dismantled the evil Roman Empire from the inside out. The course of history over the following centuries played out Daniel's predictions to the letter. Daniel was an advisor to kings throughout the Babylonian empire. He garnered the respect and admiration of several kings, but some of his favor with the kings resulted in colleagues attempting to have him killed for his prayer and Bible study habits.

Daniel wasn’t cowardly when facing lions

In fact, Daniel was thrown into the lions‟ den when he was “caught” seeking God during his private prayer time by an open window. God supernaturally sealed the mouths of the lions, and Daniel was rescued. God also supernaturally rescued three other Jewish captives who were forced to bow down before King Nebuchadnezzar‟s statue. Just as Daniel was thrown into the lions‟ den, his friends were thrown into a fiery furnace. God shut the lions‟ mouths, but actually entered the flames with Daniel‟s three friends. We find out later that "the angel of the Lord" who walked in the fire with Daniel's friend was Jesus Christ, who would come to Earth literally and physically to establish a new kingdom of love, peace, joy, and generosity for years to come.

Babylon saw the writing on the wall

After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, God appeared to the Babylonian king in the form of a human hand. He wrote out a message that said, “You have been weighed in the courts of heaven and found wanting. You will lose your kingdom tonight.” Daniel is called into the courtroom to interpret the message. Daniel boldly confirms the interpretation from God. God had waited for the Babylonians to seek Him. The time for waiting was over; the time of consequences had come. That night, the Persians conquered the Babylonians as Daniel had predicted.

(History records that the Medes and Persians had diverted the river flowing through Babylon over the previous months. This diversion caused the water level to decrease, which allowed the Medes and Persians to sneak troops through the city's water supply lines.) The Persians conquered the seemingly unconquerable Babylon – just as Daniel had predicted. The nation of Israel (both kingdoms) was now under the reign of Persia. Since Persia's goal was to conquer Babylon, they had no problems – per se – with Jacob's (Israel's) descendants.

Esther became queen for “such a time as this”

The Persians allowed the Israelites to return to God and to their land. The returns occurred in phases. Ezra the priest took a group first. Meanwhile, back in Persia, many of the Israelites stayed behind, choosing the comfort of Persia over the danger of the unknown. The king of Persia had a hot temper. In a moment of anger, he tossed out his wife and held a beauty contest in his kingdom for a replacement queen. A woman from Israel named Esther won the contest and the heart of the king. The king was unaware of her Jewish heritage. Esther‟s cousin, Mordecai, was a man of faith who loved God. One day a Persian official named Haaman came to town and demanded that everyone bow down to him; but Mordecai refused. Haaman was furious and plotted not only Mordecai‟s demise, but that of all the Israelites. Haaman built a gallows and had the king sign the order to kill all Mordecai‟s people. Mordecai sent for his cousin, the queen. She was scared, but realized she had become queen for “such a time as this.” She courageously risked her life by admitting to the King that she too was from Israel. She informed the king that Haaman had plotted to kill her family, and so the king killed Haaman instead. The people of God were rescued from genocide and thanked God for rescuing them. For a time, the people of God returned.

"Knee"-hemiah rebuilt the wall in record time

A second return from Persia to Jerusalem occurred a few years later. A leader named Nehemiah, a cup bearer to a later Persian king, felt called to rebuild the walls of the city back home. Nehemiah felt prompted to leave his post and help the people return to God. He put together a strategic plan, got funding, and rebuilt the walls in record time.

More people returned to the land of Israel to help rebuild the city and the temple. Haggai, the prophet, told the people that the temple they were building was a tangible reminder that God was sending a Messiah to forgive them for their history of running and rebellion. This Messiah would show them how to receive God‟s righteousness and have a friendship with God. The people expressed their love and thankfulness to God for his peace, forgiveness, and patience with them.

A checklist of prophecies point to the Messiah

The last voice of the Old Testament was Malachi, who told us that God‟s people were running again, but God promised to return their hearts to Him through the Messiah, the Final Forgiver and Rescuer.

The most significant predictions made by the prophets described the coming Messiah. Details were given about his life, genealogy, teaching, death, and kingdom. Micah predicted that the Messiah would one day be born in Bethlehem. Another prophet predicted his betrayal by a friend for 30 pieces of silver. Several prophets, including David, predicted that the Messiah would have His clothes divided before his death. Years before crucifixion was even invented, the prophets predicted that the Messiah would die on a tree. They predicted that He would be led like a lamb to the slaughter. Isaiah described the Messiah as a suffering servant who would die to pay for the rebellion of His people. He would make a way to restore and cleanse anyone who asked for forgiveness and leadership. The most shocking prediction was the prophecy that God would allow the Messiah to die, but raise Him back to life. These predictions were all made more than 400 years before Jesus stepped onto the scene of history.

Watch "The Predictions"

Watch Pastor Chad Hovind present the fourth part of the Fast Track series, "The Predictions."