Prophet Isaiah lived in B.C. 740-710 in the Kingdom of Judah. Israel in the northern territory was faced with the threat of Assyrians back in those years. In B.C. 721, Assyrian King invaded Israel State in the northern territory and the first serious expectation of Messiah began. However, some abnormalities in Isaiah Chapter of Old test. get attention. Although Kingdom of Babel had no threats against the State of Israel in the era of Prophet Isaiah, it talks about Babel as from chapter 13. it says Babel will demolished in chapter 21 and declares Persian King Koreş as Messiah in chapter 45. Since the demolition of Babel dates back to B.C. 538 and details of this event are mentioned in Isaiah , the specialists though the reason could be addition of these parts in B.C. 4th century with edition of Old Test. or existence of a second Yeşaya.44 Also, there are some prophecies written in Isaiah which did not come true:

“19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

19:24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing in the earth.

19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, Israel!” (Isaiah)

By contrast, in reality, Assyrians ended the State of Israel, and exiled the ten tribes of Israelites living in Israel let alone existence of three states and these ten tribes were assimilated among the other nations.

Let’s now consider another very famous prophecy of Isaiah

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Isaiah-11)

This prophecy  is referred to Jesus as the expected Messiah.  But if we read carefully the last 11th, 12th and the 13th  sentences , it is very  obvious that the prophecy is made against the difficult situation of Israel and Judea. This has never come true because diaspora Israel and Judea have been erased from history and never to come back again. Jews make commentaries regarding the verses that the prophecy is made against foundation of today`s Israel. Israel is founded but there is no news about the Messiah and the lost 10 tribes of Israel.

 

Now let`s read now an even more famous prophecy in Isaiah from Old Testament.;

 

1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. (Isaiah-7)

There is, as a matter of fact little to say because everything is so obvious. King of northern Judea;  Pekah and king of Aram;  Resin coming together decide to attack south Judean country.  Prophet Isaiah makes a propechy and prophecy  becomes real. Yes it has become real indeed  but as if it has never happened it os referred to Jesus as the prophecy of the expected Messiah.

We mean that this prophecy has nothing to do with Jesus` time or his personality.  Just because Jesus means `Lord Saves` and Immanuel means `God is with us`. The names cannot even be correlated with each other.

But this one is the most important Old Testament prophecy about Jesus. If these are the prophecies about Jesus then let us give some prophecies by the way.

13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.

14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.

15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.

16 For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:

17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it. (Isaiah-21)

How do you find it? Doesn`t it mention Hz. Muhammed’s Hijrah (Migration from Mecca to Medinah) and the following Badir war?  Tema is modern Madina today and Kedar is Mecca in Rabbinic literature. Badir war took place 1,5 years after  Hijrah. As a matter of fact there were local struggles before Badir too. Even though it is more acceptable than prophecies regarding to Jesus. Just we want to point that in the very beginning of the verses `Vision upo Arabia` is given.  So we aren’t mentioning a past event from very early times.

 

 

 

 

JEREMİAH, the author of Jeremiah Book of Old Test. lived in Jerusalem in B.C. 6th century (630-580) and was a Jewish prophet who saw Babylonian invasion. In his book, he advises the Jews not to resist against the Babylonians and accept the ruling of Babylonians. He even announced this advice by walking around the streets of Jerusalem with a yoke on his neck. The other prophets who disagreed with Jeremiah called the people for resistance against Babylonians:

 

“27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to him. I, the Lord, affirm that I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it with war, starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it.

27:9 So do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination, by dreams, by consulting the dead, or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, ‘You do not need to be subject to the king of Babylon.’

27:14 Do not listen to the prophets who are telling you that you do not need to serve40 the king of Babylon. For they are prophesying lies to you.” (Jeremiah)

According to Jeremiah, this was supposedly an order of God. God was going to punish those who disobeyed this with scarcity, illness. Thus, he had been jailed for being accused of discouraging the resistance of people. Consequently, Jerusalem was invaded by Babel. Following is another prophecy of Jeremiah:

“42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it!

42:12 I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and allow you to return to your land.” (Jeremiah)

Jeremiah says that captivity will last for 70 years and Babel shall be demolished by Kingdom of Med. The duration of captivity, as written in the book, lasted for 70 years , yet, somehow Babel was ended by Persians, not Meds. The second prophecy did not come true. Persians who overthrew Kingdom of Med in B.C. 550 demolished the Babel. So, it is hard to derive a reasonable conclusion:

51:28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. Prepare the kings of the Medes. Prepare their governors and all their leaders. Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her.

51:29 The earth will tremble and writhe in agony. For the Lord will carry out his plan. He plans to make the land of Babylonia a wasteland where no one lives.

51:43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins. She has become a dry and barren desert. No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them.

51:44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon. I will make him spit out what he has swallowed. The nations will not come streaming to him any longer. Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.” (Jeremiah)

There was a prophecy as to Israel, the northern kingdom, would be brought together and re-established in chapter 31, yet such prophecy did not come true as well.

Ezekiel Book following Jeremiah is full of prophecies that did not come true. Ezekiel is a Jewish Prophet who lived during the captivity in Babel. Chapter 26 contains a prophecy as to that the city of Sur in the north will be invaded by Nebukadnessar, the King of Babel, and be burnt down to the ground. Babylonian King besieged the city, yet could not gat control of the city:

“26:7 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people.

26:8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you.

26:9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons.” (Ezekiel)

 

Then, Hezekiel gave Egypt to Babylonian King. This prophecy did not come true as well:

“29:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages.

29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre, because they did it for me, declares the sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel)

Nebukadnessar attacked Egypt twice in B.C. 588 and 568, yet returned with no gains.45 Then, chapters 38 and 39 state that Gog, the King of Magog, will attack Israel and will be suffer from a horrible defeat. This prophecy did not come true too. Also, no country called Magog has been found on the face of earth. So, by asserting that such war did not take place, the commentaries are trying to incorporate such war in the prophecies of Armageddon. I wonder if those who were mistaken about the events that took place nearby back then could make correct predictions several centuries later. Of course, in the era of Ezekiel, it seems odd to be supportive and write prophecies that will never come true for a king who was cruel enough to demolish Jerusalem and Temple and send the Jews to exile.

Prophet Zechariah lived in the same era as Ezekiel when captivity in Babel ended. Book of Zechariah is a book which is stating that Jews in exile will return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Messiah and will be freed from captivity, yet does not have clear prophecies. Part 4:14 of the book mentions about two Messiahs. These, too, are prophecies that did not come true.

 

Micah the prophet  lived during Assyrian invasion. Micah also has a prophecy regarding the Messiah.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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