ARE THE PROPHECIES PRACTICAL?
By Joseph Clarke
WHEN we consider that quite a large portion of the Bible is composed of prophecies, it is a question of some consequence, Are the prophecies practical? If they are of a practical nature, then it certainly is a matter of vital importance to understand them.104When the disciples were on their way to Emmaus, discouraged and sad at the disappointment they had experienced in the loss of their beloved Lord, they were joined unexpectedly in their journey by one whom they did not recognize at once as their risen Saviour, but to whom they listened with wonder and delight, until the night drew on, and they arrived at their home. Then with simple and unaffected regard they pressed the stranger to tarry with them. In this memorable interview, we note the pointed expression with which he introduced his instructive conversation: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Here our Lord upbraids his disciples in no flattering terms, with their obtuseness and unbelief, in applying the prophecies. Here was a practical application of prophecy to be made, in order to receive the risen Saviour as the world's redeemer. Had the ancient people of God studied the prophecies of Isaiah with prayerful attention, they would not have failed to see that he who was looked upon by the authorities of that nation with disfavor and hatred, was the one whom the prophet described as a root out of dry ground, having no form or comeliness. In their eyes he was indeed despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. When the disciples and the more candid of the people and priests, after the crucifixion, came to search the Scriptures, they were surprised to find that they had wholly overlooked the prophetic account of the Messiah. He was to appear in his first coming to earth as an offering for sin; and now he had been led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. How terror-stricken were those who had cried out against the Lord, when they found that they had indeed themselves assisted in the crime of crucifying the only one in whom they trusted for salvation; and this fatal mistake was made in consequence of neglecting to study the prophecies of Isaiah. When our Lord appeared to them after his resurrection, he cited them in each case to the Old Testament prophecies, to prove that he was the antitypical Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It might be profitable for us to search the Scriptures on this point, to see if all the prophecies have not at some time had a practical application. Those of Noah, by which he and his family were saved from a watery grave, and the world from complete desolation; those of that interpreter of dreams, by which the greater part of the world were saved from the terrors of seven years of famine; and the prophecies of Israel's captivity and return,—all of these were eminently of a practical nature, and those who heeded them were favored of God, while those who neglected them, perished. The overthrow of Babylon and Nineveh, and of Edom and Moab, were all well-known beforehand by the people of God, and such as believed and obeyed, fled from those cities before they were destroyed. The followers of the Lord were warned to flee from the fated city of Jerusalem before its fall, when it should be compassed about with armies. See Matt. 24. We might swell this list of fulfilled prophecies—all of which were practical—to almost any length, but these instances will suffice to prove that prophecies are not given, except for a purpose; and that we should seek to understand them, that we may know our duty in the age in which we live. Christ compares prophecy in Matt. 24:32, to a tree which puts forth its buds and blossoms. This beautiful symbol is truly applicable; for as the fig-tree puts forth its buds before it bears fruit, so the predicted signs foreshadow the event. When Jerusalem fell into the hand of its enemies, the tree of prophecy bore its ripe fruit for that people. So now we see that signs have betokened the near approach of the final overthrow of all earthly kingdoms, in which all who are not looking for this event, will meet a fearful doom. Does not the fig-tree bud and blossom, the tree which never yet cast its fruit before its time, the tree which never failed to bear fruit in its appointed time? The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, and that speedily.