Prophecy that isn't Predictive: Two Examples

There is more to prophecy than predictions that came true. In fact, most prophecy is not "predictive" in nature. Here are two examples.

After the death of Herod it was safe for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to end their sojourn in Egypt and return to Israel. Matthew 2:15 states: 

And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I have called my son." 

This cites a prophecy from Hosea 11:1. But the Hosea passage, in its original context, was clearly not a prediction about Jesus coming out of Egypt. The Hosea passage reads: 

When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I have called my son. 

The "son" in Hosea is the collective nation of Israel. So words referring to Israel being called out of Egypt are now applied to Jesus being called out of Egypt. It is the midrashic principle at work in which "stories about heroes and events of the past are heightened and retold about later heroes and events." So here is a case in which events in the life of Jesus are shown to parallel events in the sacred history of Israel. 

Likewise, Matthew 1:22-23 speaks of another prophetic fulfillment.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel--which means "God with us."

Matthew applies these words to Mary, mother of Jesus. But the original context of Isaiah 7 clearly refers to a child born during the lifetime of King Ahaz, 700 years before Christ. The child serves as a sign to King Ahaz that before this child is old enough to know right from wrong, the two kingdoms to the north will be laid waste. So Ahaz needn't fear these enemies. He needn't make an alliance with Assyria for protection. Assyria cannot be trusted. But Ahaz should trust God. 

The Hebrew word almah in the original text of Isaiah 7:14 does not mean "virgin." It meant "young woman" as it is accurately translated in the New Revised Standard Version. In the days of Ahaz a young woman would bear a child who would be a sign to Ahaz. The child's name will be Immanuel as a reminder to Ahaz that God is with Israel.

When Isaiah was translated into Greek, some 200 years before Matthew, The word almah was translated parthenos, a word that could mean virgin or young maiden. Matthew, who likely had the Greek translation of Isaiah in front of him as he composed his Gospel, chose to render the term parthenos as "virgin" and apply the prophecy to Mary. 

So was Matthew dishonest in applying this passage to the mother of Jesus? The Western Gentile mind might assume that Matthew took Isaiah 7:14 out of context to make it fit what he wanted it to mean. But rather, he was showing how the life of Jesus recapitulates Israels's sacred history at practically every turn. 

So prophecy is most often "fulfilled" in New Testament literature not in terms of predictions that came true, but in terms of events in Israel's sacred history that parallel events in the life of Jesus. As John Shelby Spong asserts, the only way the Jewish Christians could make sense of the God presence they encountered in Jesus was to search their sacred Scriptures for texts that seemed to foreshadow this experience. 

This follow up to my previous post hopefully prepares us to further consider the midrashic principle at work in New Testament literature. We'll look at this and more implications of Spong's work in a near future post. 

(Photo courtesy Flickr)          

Comments

[preacherman]

Wade,
I always find your post extremly interesting.
I learn so much from reading.
I love your view and the vast information you provide.
I love all of the prophets.
My favorite major prophet is definately Isaiah.
Minor would be Habakkuk.
Keep up brother the great work you do with your blog.
It is great to see you blogging regularly again.
You do an extrodinary job.

[Wade Tannehill]

Preacherman,

Thanks for the kind words. I have probably preached from Isaiah more than any other prophet. Second would be Jeremiah.

[Lisa]

this is fascinating to me, Wade!

[Wade Tannehill]

Lisa,

Great! So I know I'm not talking to myself. I had been aware of some of these concepts for years, but recent re-exposure reminded me that others would have their study enriched by considering this. I have more to share as we go. Thanks for reading.

[Frank]

Wade, another fine post about the book that matters most. (I've got to stop listening to sappy songs).

Anyway, I was wondering if your title could also be "Prophecies that weren't predictive, but now are."? As you have shown, in their original contexts, the two passages don't appear to point forward to a much later time. However, Matthew assumes that they did and cites them in those very interesting ways.

Someone might even say that, given Matthew's interpretation of such OT passages their predictive elements were always there, but were not recognized until after the ascension of the glorified Christ and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. This seems to be exactly what Peter refers to when he says "the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing . . ." (1 Peter 1:10-11).

[Wade Tannehill]

Frank,

Thank you. Very well said. Makes sense to me. If I ever write a book I think I'll want you editing the manuscript.

[preacherman]

Do you think all the phophecies have come to pass? or Will you mention that in later posts?
It is just a stupid question I have had in my mind? I mean we have books like the Bible Code and other " " phrophecy books that try to fortell the future or of things to come.
Let me know.
Great discussion and topic.