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Prophecies about Christ |
The Jews still await the coming of the Messiah, and
pray to God day and night to hasten His advent. When
Jesus came they denounced and slew Him, saying: “This
is not the One for Whom we wait. Behold, when the Messiah
shall come, signs and wonders shall testify that He is
in truth the Christ. The Messiah will arise out of an unknown
city. He shall sit upon the throne of David, and
behold, He shall come with a sword of steel, and with a
scepter of iron shall He rule. He shall fulfill the Law of the
Prophets. He shall conquer the East and the West, and
shall glorify His chosen people the Jews. He shall bring
with Him a reign of Peace during which even the animals
shall cease to be at enmity with man. For behold, the wolf
and the lamb shall drink from the same spring … and all
God’s creatures shall be at rest. …” Thus the Jews thought and spoke, for they did not understand the Scriptures nor the glorious truths that were contained in them. The letter they knew by heart, but of the life-giving Spirit they understood not a word. Hearken, and I will show you the meaning thereof: Although Christ came from Nazareth, which was a known place, He came also from heaven. His body was born of Mary, but His Spirit came from heaven. The sword He carried was the sword of His tongue, with which He divided the good from the evil, the true from the false, the faithful from the unfaithful, and the light from the darkness. His Word was indeed a sharp sword! The throne 214 upon which He sat is the Eternal Throne from which Christ reigns forever, a heavenly throne, not an earthly one, for the things of earth pass away but heavenly things pass not away. He reinterpreted and completed the Laws of Moses and fulfilled the Law of the Prophets. His Word conquered the East and the West. His kingdom is everlasting. He exalted those Jews who recognized Him. They were men and women of humble birth, but contact with Him made them great and gave them everlasting dignity. The animals who were to live with one another signified the different sects and races, who, once having been at war, were now to dwell in love and charity, drinking together the Water of Life from Christ the Eternal Spring. |
Most Christians accept these interpretations of Messianic
prophecies as applied to Christ; but with regard to similar
prophecies about the latter-day Messiah, many of them take
up the same attitude as the Jews, expecting a miraculous display
on the material plane which will fulfill the very letter of
the prophecies.
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