Historical and Messianic Prophecy – Evidence for Christianity

Some argue details of the Gospel accounts (casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, etc.) were shaped to match OT prophecies, not because they happened that way. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Some scholars argue that certain details in the Gospel accounts were intentionally shaped to mirror passages from the Hebrew Bible. Examples include soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothing (echoing Psalm 22), Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey (reflecting Zechariah 9), and vinegar being offered to him during the crucifixion (paralleling Psalm 69). From this […]

Please respond to a list of criticisms from a Jewish apologist in which he says Jesus cannot be the Jewish Messiah.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Editor’s note: This is a response to a fairly long Jewish criticism of Christianity which included 50 “reasons” to believe that Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah. It can be found at https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/624738 . Question: Please reply to criticisms # 2,3,9,10,11,14,26,30,40,44 in the following article: https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/624738 Response: 2. I have already responded to point 2 […]

How do I interpret prophecies which seem to jump between application to physical Israel and spiritual Israel, or when they vary between literal and figurative language?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question: Do you any advice on how I can know when to tell when a prophet jumps from talking about fleshly to spiritual Israel, or when they go from literal to symbolic or figurative language? Prophecies can be tricky for me, because it has been said they mix immediate historical events with foreshadowing of ultimate […]

Are there Old Testament writings which show that Jesus is God?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Dr. Oakes. I am a very big fan of your writings and your work and they have helped me greatly in understanding Jesus and understanding my faith . I have recently accepted Christ as my savior and was baptized only a few months ago. I’m still learning about Jesus and one question I have […]

How would you respond to people who claim that “No one treated Isaiah 53 as being messianic before the first century AD”?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: How would you respond to people who say “No one treated Isaiah 53 as talking about the Messiah before the 1st century AD”? Answer: I would respond by proving that this is quite simply a false statement. Anyone who says this is either ignorant of the facts or is purposefully lying. Let us hope […]

Would you use the Talmud to support the notion that Isaiah 53 is talking about a human rather than the nation of Israel?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Uncategorized .

Question: Would you use the Talmud to support the notion that Isaiah 53 is talking about a human being (not a nation)? Answer: This is a great question. So many Jewish commentators today deny that it is a reference to the Messiah, for the rather obvious reason that it IS about the Messiah, and this […]

According to the Qur’an, Jesus was merely a prophet, and his mission was to clarify God’s will to the Jews. What is the Christian response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: According to the Koran, Jesus was only a prophet, before whom other prophets had passed away (5:75) and his mission to the Jews was to clarify for them some of what they differed about (43:63). It is in direct contradiction with the Prophets and Epistles. What should be the Christian response? Answer: What you […]

Is Ezekiel 37:21 a reference to the modern state of Israel?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Is Ezekiel 37:21 a reference to the modern state of Israel? Answer: No, it is not. It is a reference, either to the restoration of the Southern Kingdom of Israel when Persia conquered Babylon, as recorded in Ezra and elsewhere, or it is a reference to the spiritual restoration of Israel in the church. […]

Why does the Bible not include the prophecies of Idris, Ishmael and others mentioned by Muhammad?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: My Muslim friend criticized the Bible and referred to his scripture 19:58 [editor’s note: The questioner is referring to Sura 19:58, which does NOT mention these prophets, except Abraham. This quote appears to be a false one. I am going to assume that he is listing other prophets mentioned somewhere in the Qur’an, or […]

The Bible calls Jesus the Light of the world, but Muhammad called himself the Lamp Spreading Light. Who is the Light?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Miracles, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: According to Christianity, Jesus is the light (Isa. 42:6) and he came to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness (Isa. 42:7). On the other hand, Muhammad is the Lamp Spreading Light (Sura 33:46) and who came to release Jews […]

Bart Ehrman claims that Matthew and Luke invented the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A .

Request: Thank you for responding to my earlier question regarding the blog post written by Bart Ehrman on Messianic Prophecy. Your answer was very helpful and I learned a lot from it. click here for article I was wondering if you could respond to one of his claims he makes later in the post. Ehrman lists […]

Please respond to a blog by Bart Ehrman in which he claims that Christians find prophecies by “working backwards” from Jesus to the Old Testament.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Request: Would you be willing to give a response to this blog post by Bart Ehrman? I hope that’s not too much to ask for since it’s rather short. https://ehrmanblog.org/jesus-and-the-messianic-prophecies/ The blog is about Old Testament prophecy and Jesus’ fulfillment of them. His main point is that the Gospel writers “worked backwards” and that their writings […]

Please respond to the claim that Isaiah 42:11, about a prophet to the people of Kedar is about Muhammad, not Jesus.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: In Isaiah 42:11 God is clearly saying that He will send the people of Kedar (i.e., the Arabs) a Prophet and they should “rejoice” and “raise their voices” in happiness. Also, “Let the desert and its towns raise their voices;” is clearly referring to Arabia, since Arabia is known to be made of mostly […]

In Zechariah 12:10, does the word translated as Me refer to the one killed/pierced, or not (as Jews say)?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Concerning the exegesis of Zechariah 12:10, I read that the word translated “pierced” or “killed” theoretically could go either way, but how about the structure of the sentence? Jews seem to see it as not referring back to “ME” in the sentence where as the Christian interpretation is it does. Answer: I am not an […]

Why did God not reveal the fact that his Son had to be sacrificed to the Jewish people through the prophets?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: If God’s Son had to be sacrificed, then why did the OT prophets not tell their generations in detail and leave it to the NT authors who interpreted passages like Isa. 52:13-53:12 to strengthen their case? If it was pre-planned, then why was God hesitant to reveal his son’s details to his beloved nation? […]

How is it that Jewish scholars ignore messianic prophecies such as Daniel 9:24-26?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: How was it that Jewish scholars can ignore the prophecies of Daniel chapter 9:24-26 about when the Messiah would come? This prophecy clearly points to Jesus. Answer: I do not think it is fair to say that Jewish scholars simply ignore Daniel 9:24-28. In fact, a number of Jewish authors have commented on this […]

Micah 5:2 and Zechariah 9:9 require a Messiah who rules as a king over a kingdom. The Christian interpretation is absurd!

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A .

Question: The Jewish expectations of the Messiah as described in Micah 5 were not met by Jesus since, although “being the Messiah”, he lacked the traits of a “ruler.” Christians now absurdly believe that Jesus’ kingdom was spiritual, yet this prophecy actually refers to the earthly kingdom. The same is true of Zechariah 9:9–10, which […]

Claim: The gospel writers weave OT passages out of context with invented stories to portray Jesus as the Messiah. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: The Gospel authors weave OT passages and themes into their various portraits of Christ, e.g., John’s Gospel fabricated a narrative that depicts Jesus being offered sour wine to fulfill the second half of Psalms 69:21, but that lacks anyone trying to poison Jesus to fulfill the first half of this passage. In reality, there […]

The gospel writers fabricated the stories about the darkening of the sky, the curtain being ripped, etc. Matthew fabricated the prophecy from Hosea 11:1, and the church corrupted Isaiah 53. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: The Gospels’ writers fabricated stories about Jesus which have no strong evidence, e.g., the sky grows dark for 3 hours at midday at the crucifixion, an earthquake rips the curtain in the Jewish temple & opens the tombs of the saints, from which dead people resurrect and then appear throughout Jerusalem. This is an […]

The Jews borrowed the idea of Messiah during the Persian period from the Zoroastrian idea of the Saoshyant. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: It has been claimed that Jews borrowed Zoroastrian elements regarding the “final savior” during their time in Persia. According to Zoroastrians, an individual, called the “Saoshyant,” will usher in the final era and lead the battle against evil spirit (cf. Zech. 14:3) and all people will remain of one accord in the religion of […]

Is 2 Samuel 7:16 a failed prophecy, since David’s kingdom is no more?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Is 2 Samuel 7:16 a failed prophecy? “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”” ‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬..I saw a critic claims that this is a failed prophecy, because “houses” and kingdoms do not last forever. Answer: This is in fact a […]

What is the meaning of the prophecy in Daniel 11:40-45? Is it about Antiochus Epiphanes?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A .

Question: I have a question about Daniel. I believe that the book of Daniel was create in 6BC, but this is the most problematic passage. Is Daniel 11:40-45 a fail prophecy ? Read this. Verse 40 is generally regarded by the majority of critical scholars to mark the transition from ex eventu prophecy to a […]

Isn’t the Hindu idea of humans being incarnated several times until they attain heaven a good idea? (and many more questions)

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Miracles, Other Religions, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Questions: I am from India, which is the birthplace of Hinduism. I have some questions, Please kindly answer them 1. Hinduism says the incarnation of a human being in various forms occurs until he/she attains (moksha) heaven, Is not it a good idea, that it enables everyone to get into heaven? 2. What does the […]

Psalm 22 is in first person, which proves that it is not about Jesus, as some Christians claim.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General Apologetics, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: David (Dowd – the Beloved) wrote Psalm 22 in first person because it is Dowd himself who would fulfill Passover Matsah and FirstFruits. He would have said “you” if he were speaking of someone else. YHWH calls Dowd His “Son, Messiah, Shepherd, Counselor, King, and Gibbor.” Isaiah 9 says that a child IS born– […]

Muhammad is the one “like Moses” from the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:14-16 and I have evidence!

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Other Religions, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: This comes from a Muslim believer who claimed that Muhammad fulfilled the prophecy that one like Moses would come to save God’s people. I responded by giving him several ways that Jesus fits the description quite well, but asked him to provide “evidence” for the parallels between Moses and Muhammad. I also explained […]

Deuteronomy 13:1-3 and 18:22 are flawed criteria for determining whether a prophet is indeed speaking for God. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This is a two-part question. The first question needed clarification, which was given, allowing me to give a more nuanced answer to the original] Question: According to Duet. 13:1-3, if a prophet appears among the Israelites and announces a sign and if that sign takes place, and then that prophet orders them to […]

The Messiah depicted by the Hebrew prophets was NOT verified in Jesus. Who is right, the prophets or Christian evangelists?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Comment: The Messiah depicted by the Hebrew prophets was NOT verified in Jesus. Their Messiah was a warlike conqueror, who should slay and subdue the Gentiles, and deliver Israel from the enemies. Who is right, the prophets or Christian apologists? Response: What can I say? I believe that you are simply mistaken in your stated […]

Where did those who kept the Dead Sea Scrolls get prophetic materials such as 2Q23, 6Q10 and 6Q12?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: From where did keepers of the Dead Sea Scrolls get prophecies other than 16 prophetic books? The Dead Sea Scrolls contain prophetic texts identified as 2Q23, 6Q10, 6Q12 and 6Q13. Please respond to this because my Muslim friend asked me this and I’m confused. Answer: This Muslim person is not your friend, at least […]

Is the idea of crucifixion and resurrection of a religious leader original to Judeo-Christianity?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: This is a list of several questions, with the answers interspersed between them] Is the idea of crucifixion and resurrection originally a Judeo-Christian view? The idea of a crucified saviour is unique to Christianity (not Judeo-Christianity), of course. In fact, execution by nailing to a cross was a fairly recent invention of the […]

The website rationalwiki quotes you on prophecy fulfillment and criticizes your arguments. What is your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I’ve been hesitant to ask this question because I suspect this would be slightly annoying to do on your part, but here it goes… I read one of your past Q & As addressing unfulfilled prophecies on rationalWiki: https://evidenceforchristianity.org/can-you-explain-all-the-unfulfilled-old-testament-prophecies-listed-at-rationalwiki/ You may or may not know this, but some authors on rationalwiki have actually posted your […]

What do you say to people who are skeptical about “dual prophecy,” for example Isaiah 53 which is about Israel, but Christians believe it is also about Jesus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: What would you say to someone who is skeptical about “dual prophecy” where the prophecy was already fulfilled in a sense but could also refer to Jesus? For example, some Jews would assert that Isaiah 53 is about Israel and not about Jesus. I suspect this is not the only prophecy where this objection […]

Christians misinterpret Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12 to justify the false belief that Jesus was crucified. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to a question in which the person said that Christians have stolen Jesus out of the Old Testament, and taken him completely out of context. I asked for specifics so that I could respond, and this is what came in. Question: Christians specifically misinterpreted Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12 […]

Isaiah 53 is not a prophecy about a future Messiah because it describes the suffering servant in the past tense. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: The NT authors thought that Isaiah was describing the crucifixion of Jesus for the sins of the world in Isaiah 53, but the fact is Isaiah is not predicting that someone will suffer in the future for other people’s sins at all. Many readers fail to consider the verb tenses in these passages. They […]

Doesn’t the statement about Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28 force the Daniel 9:25 clock to start at Ezra 1:2, so that the Messiah must come to Jerusalem around 50 BC?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A .

Question: Doesn’t Isaiah 44:28 force the Daniel 9:25 clock to begin at the same time as Erza 1:2? This would makeg the clock wrong as it ends in the mid-50s BC or around there? Answer: Good question. I can see why someone might wonder about this. In the Isaiah 44 passage we are told of […]

Are there any messianic prophecies in the Torah?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Is there any messianic prophecy in Torah? Answer: I assume you are referring to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. If so, then yes, definitely. I suppose some would argue that there is a greater proportion of messianic prophecies in the Psalms and the Prophets, but there are plenty of messianic prophecies […]

Muslims say that the Old Testament prophets only preached the oneness of God and did not predict God would have a son. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Miracles, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Muslims say that the prophets preached the oneness of God only. They never predicted God’s son to be born. Christians don’t worship God instead they worship Jesus. They pray to Jesus instead of God. What’s your response? Response: If this is what Muslims say then they are just plain wrong. They are mistaken. In […]

Why can’t Christians prove that the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Jonah are the exact words of those prophets?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Why can’t Jews/Christians prove that the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc. are the amalgamation of exact words of the prophets? Jonah is surely not written by Jonah as it is a historical narrative. Your response? Answer: It is the nature of ancient documents that no one can ever “prove” the provenance of any […]

How can we be sure that the current books of the Major & Minor Prophets are actual words of the Hebrew Prophets?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: How can we be sure that the current books of the Major & Minor Prophets are actual words of the Hebrew Prophets? Christians interpret predictions of Israel’s glorious future fulfilled in the Church, but it’s their interpretation because prophets apparently never meant that. Jews are still looking for fulfilment of the glorious future predictions. […]

Is it true that some of the names of Arab tribes in the Old Testament are anachronisms or simply false?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: In the thread below the author demonstrates that Israel’s idea of the Arabian tribes of the time was contradictory, and based on a 7th century BC understanding on how they worked. I’ll copy paste the comment here, but I implore you to read the entire thread. The question was “Where does the idea that […]

Prophets such as Isaiah added his own fantasies into God’s word, such as Isaiah 45:14 and 60:12, which clearly were never fulfilled.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Authors of prophetic books added their fantasies into God’s word for e.g. 1) Gentiles will come over to Israelites in chains and they will bow down before them (Isa. 45:14). David Guzik affirms this in his commentary. 2) A Gentile nation or kingdom that will not serve Israelites will perish and be utterly ruined (Isa. 60:12). […]

There is a prophecy about Judas and Jesus in the Ethiopic Bible. Did the Jews remove this from the Old Testament?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

There is a short prophecy appended to the book of Jeremiah in Ethiopic Bible which August Dillmann translates: A Prophecy of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah spake thus unto Pashur: But ye all your days fight against the truth, with your fathers and your sons that shall come after you. And they shall commit a sin more damnable […]

Christians deliberately corrupted Isaiah 9:6 to make it support their doctrine. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question: Christians deliberately corrupted the Jewish Scriptures to prove that Jesus is God, for e.g. they altered the translation of Isa. 9:6. They translate: “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” but the Jewish translation is: “The wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, “the prince of […]

Is it merely Christian bias that caused the Jews to reject Jesus and also for Christians to reject Muhammad?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Jesus came to the Jews to show them the right path, which was unacceptable for them. The New Testament tells us that he brought the concept of “God’s Son” or “Human-God” which was not prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures. That’s the reason the majority of the Jews rejected him. Similarly, when Muhammad came to […]

In Ezekiel 38:17 it says that Israel’s prophets prophesied about Gog many times before. Who were these Israelite prophets that Ezekiel spoke about?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Ezek. 38:17 mentions the Israelite prophets who prophesied about Gog, but no prophecy earlier than Ezekiel’s prophecy talks about Gog. Then who were those Israelite prophets and why did Ezekiel not name them? Answer: I do not know for sure what prophets Ezekiel is referring to. He does not tell us. However, it is […]

Peter said (Acts 10:43) that all the prophets testified about Jesus, but what about Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Obadiah who did not talk about Jesus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Why did Peter boast about Jesus that all the prophets testified about him (Acts 10:43) although they have a meagre record of 15-16 prophets and among them Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Obadiah not talk about Jesus? What is your response? Answer: My response is that all the true prophets of Jehovah did in fact prophesy about […]

Jeremiah 23:6 says that the Messiah will be called “The Lord Our Righteousness,” but Jesus was not called this. Therefore, he is not the Messiah. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Jer. 23:6 does not talk about Jesus because it says: “this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.” Jesus was never called by this name or title in his lifetime as New Testament depicted. What is your response? Answer: As they say, lack of evidence is not evidence of […]

Amos 9:15, Zechariah 8:23 and Haggai 2:23 are prophecies never fulfilled by the Jews. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A, Types .

Question: Amos predicted that God will plant Jews in their own land, never again to be uprooted (Am. 9:15), but they were banished by Titus in 70 CE. Zechariah predicted that ten people from all nations will take firm hold of one Jew and say, Let us go with you, because we have heard that […]

Hosea had an illicit affair, Ezekiel used filthy language and Isaiah made false prophecies. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Dr. Oakes, After deep study of the prophetic books, I come to the conclusion that, on one hand, the Bible portrays opponents of Jeremiah & Ezekiel as false prophets and blames them for lying, adultery and wickedness and, on the other hand, its accepted prophets did the same things for e.g. Hosea had an […]

Deuteronomy 18:15 is a prophecy of Muhammad, as is Isaiah 2:2-3 and Isaiah 42:4. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: I read that: Deut. 18:15 is about Muhammad because he was similar to Moses, i.e. he brought law to, and war against non-believers, etc. The same is true of Isa. 2:2-3, which is about Mecca, not Zion, because millions of pilgrims visit Mecca but nothing like that happens at Jerusalem. Isa. 42:4 is not […]

Jesus failed to fulfill Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 11:6-9 because he did not bring peace and he did not become a king. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Jesus failed to bring universal peace (Mic. 4:1-4; Isa. 11:6-9) because, after him, bloodshed occurred multiple times in Jerusalem. Former dominion was not restored nor was kingship established as predicted (Mic. 4:6-8). What’s your response? Answer: Jesus fulfilled Micah 4:1-4 word-for-word and in detail. He died to establish the Church, which is the Mountain […]