Good day,<\/p>\n
When a prophet was making a prophecy (e.g.\u00a0Isaiah 55:1, the invitation) did it have a solution or an answer for the listeners (Israel) at that time, or did they have to look at it only as something in the future?<\/p>\n\t
That would depend on what the prophecy was about. Some prophecies had immediate application, such as Ezekiel’s prophecy against the sins of Israel in Ezekiel 20. Other prophecies had a future application, such as Isaiah’s prophecy regarding Cyrus freeing Israel from captivity (Isaiah 44:28-45:4). Some were so remote or so obscure that the prophet at the time did not fully understand the message he was delivering. “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven –things into which angels long to look<\/em>” (I Peter 1:10-12).<\/p>\n Some prophecies had an immediate application that also served as a future prophecy. For example, in talking about Israel’s rebellious nature being like a teenager, God refers to Israel’s youth, when He called them out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1ff); yet, this same statement is quoted as a prophecy regarding the Son of God (Matthew 2:15). Another case is where David talked about how people turned against him, “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me<\/em>” (Psalms 41:9). Jesus refers to this passage and applies it to Judas. “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me’<\/em>” (John 13:18). But notice that Jesus did not quote the entire statement. He left out “in whom I trusted” because Jesus knew Judas’ nature and never trusted him.<\/p>\n In movies, a hidden reference to something else, such as another movie, that is in plain sight but not noticed is called an “Easter egg.” Easter eggs are used to prove who created the movie and to prevent copying. Modern movies did not come up with the concept. God has used hidden references to the future, especially references to the Messiah, that are clearly there when pointed out, but without knowing the fulfillment you would miss that it even was a prophecy about the Messiah. God used these to prevent people from creating a forced fulfillment of a prophecy — you can’t make something happen that you were not aware was supposed to happen. They also serve as proof that the prophecies and their fulfillment came from God.<\/p>\n Or a more literary way to look at this is that the Bible is filled with subtle foreshadowing of future events that gives coherence to the overall story of the Bible, such as the similarities between the offering of Isaac to the death of Christ. Some prophecies also contain foreshadows.<\/p>\n Therefore, all prophecies cannot be lumped into one category or another. Some were designed to have multiple uses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Good day, When a prophet was making a prophecy (e.g.\u00a0Isaiah 55:1, the invitation) did it have a solution or an answer for the listeners (Israel) at that time, or did they have to look at it only as something in the future? Answer: That would depend on what the prophecy was about. Some prophecies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[503,169],"class_list":["post-2214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-foreshadow","tag-prophecy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/understanding-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":0},"title":"Understanding Prophecy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry Prophecy is an important part of the message of God as understood in the Scriptures. Unfortunately, the nature of prophecy is often quite misunderstood. Many think that prophecy always involves things that will happen in the future. When the word \"prophecy\" is mentioned, many start thinking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7333,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-ezekiel-37-speak-of-the-restoration-of-israel-before-jesus-return\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":1},"title":"Doesn’t Ezekiel 37 speak of the restoration of Israel before Jesus’ return?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your criticism of the article \"Eight Compelling Reasons why Christ is Coming Very Soon\" with somewhat amused interest since from the outset it was obvious where you were going. I understand why. However, you challenged the article on a point that I want to take up a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/skeptic-reexamining-isaiah-and-other-biblical-texts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":2},"title":"Skeptic: Reexamining Isaiah and Other Biblical Texts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Quote: \"Likewise, Isaiah is not a solitary author crafting messianic predictions. It is a composite work, consisting of First Isaiah (8th century BCE), Deutero-Isaiah (6th century BCE), and Trito-Isaiah (5th century BCE), each shaped by the political landscape of Assyrian and Babylonian influence. The \"Suffering Servant\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58349,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/no-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":3},"title":"No Prophecy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carl A. Allen Often, when I am reading at random, I come across a thought that is worthy of passing on. Some of these thoughts are for thinking, not just passing over. I believe this quote to be of that value. \"There are no prophecies for Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25105,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-bible-predict-a-future-war-in-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":4},"title":"Does the Bible predict a future war in Korea?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a friend online who sent me this message; \"I HOPE you know the SERIOUSNESS of this approaching Korean war! The Bible mentions it! So it MUST be a MAJOR MAJOR WAR (to be mentioned in the Bible!) My guess, (for it to be SO MAJOR that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7794,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-matthew-fabricate-a-prophecy-to-support-his-claim-that-jesus-was-the-messiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":5},"title":"Did Matthew fabricate a prophecy to support his claim that Jesus was the Messiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have another question.\u00a0 It may seem like I am attacking Christianity with this one, but I'm not.\u00a0 I'm just very interested in studying the Bible and every now and then I come across an objection I need help answering.\u00a0 So here is the objection I found on another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}