A Better Basis for Belief - FULFILLMENTS IN OUR DAY

 Still more prophetic insight into the parade of human governments unfolds at Revelation 17:8, 10-14, NW: "The wild beast that you saw was, but is not, and yet is destined to ascend our out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction. . . .And there are seven kings: Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while. And the wild beast that was but is not, itis also itself an eighth king, but owes its existence to the seven, and it goes off into destruction. And the ten horns that you saw  mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. These have one purpose, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast.  These will battle with the Lamb, but, because  he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them."  At the time the apostle Joyn was used to write this, five world powers had come and gone,  the sixth , the Roman empire, then existed, and the seventh, the Anglo-American world power, was yet to come. It is here now, but so is an eighth, the international combine known as the United Nations, which owes its existence to ther nations and receives its authority from them.  It first existed as the League of Nations, then went into the abyss of inactivity and death, but now has ascended  out as the present United Nations. It and all the nations will go into destruction when they war with hte Lamb of God, Christ jesus, at Armageddon.  Then Christ's Kingdom will hold undisputed away over a new earth arrangement.

There are many  other equally remarkable prophecies that have  been fulfilled in vindication of the Bible as Jehovah's  inspired Word. Space limits us to a brief  consideration of only a few concerning the first presence of Jesus as Messiah  and his second presence as  enthronede King. More than five centuries in advance Daniel foretold the exact year of Messiah's appearance, and when that year came the Jews were   expecting some development concerning Messiah.  (Daniel 9:24-27; Luke 3:15)   Daniel's prophecy also foretold that Jesus would be put to death three and one-half years later.  Other Hebrew Scripture prophecies predicted that he would be born in Bethlehem, of a virgin  he hated, rejected, betrayed by by a follower  for thirty pieces of silver, convicted by false witnesses, impaled with sinners, lots being cast for garments, be resurrected, and many other points.  (Psla 16:10; 22:16, 18; 35:11; 41:9; 69:4; Isaiah 7:14; 53:3, 8, 12; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 11:12)  In fact, one Bible scholar computed that "there are three hundred and thirty-two  distinct prophecies in the Old Testament which have been literally fulfilled in Christ." A mathematician figured out that the chance of one man's  fulfillig all those things was one in eighty-four followed  by  ninet-seven zeros!  The possibility of its happening is so overwhelmingly remote that we must acknowledge Jehovah as the author of these prophecies.

As for the time of Christ's second presence, Daniel's prophecy is again the one that gives the chronology for it.  (Daniel 4:16)  It was figured out as pointing to A.D. 1914, and the Watchtower called  notice to its significance  of 1914 in the year 1879.  The Christian Greek Scriptures foretell many physical evidences that would be observable at the  time of Christ's second presence, so that persons of earth would know of his presence, Christ himself being a spirit creature and invisible to human eyes.  (John 14:19)  Predicted  were world war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, sectarian divisions, persecution of his followers, world-wide preaching of the good news of the established Kigndom, widespread dilinquency and general breakdown of morals, and many other develoments that we have seen since 1914.  The generation experiencing the beginning of these things will survive to see their end  at Armageddon.  (Matthew 24:1-34; 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13)   Therafter eternal life in endless blessings will begin for obedient persons in a new world. - 2 PETER 3:13. 

Next time: A Better Basis for Belief - FULFILLMENTS IN OUR DAY 

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