Old Testament Prophecies

Old Testament Prophecies

Expectations of The Coming Messiah

Biblical Passage

Literal Interpretation

Spiritually Fulfilled

Isaiah 40:4

Every valley shall be exalted,and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

There is no report or evidence that valleys were physically exalted or that every mountain was lowered.(There are thousands of mountains and valleys in the world, surely someone would have noticed this ?)

No reports of a crooked geographical place that were made straight or that any rough place was made plain.

People who were feeling low=in the valley, became uplifted = exalted by the messiah. The mountains and hills made low may mean that the noble and wise were made humbled. The crooked are the people who were engaging in immoral-illegal behaviors, and Christ made them take the straight path. Rough places plain means everyone=all classes/cultures are equal in the eyes of God.

Isaiah 40:5

And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

There is no report or evidence that all flesh (everyone on earth) saw Jesus Christ upon His first coming, at the same time.

Baha'u'llah literally translates to "The Glory of the Lord" in Arabic. The words of Jesus were taught openly for all flesh (those who chose to hear and understand it.)

The gospel is shared (revealed) person to person(flesh) = together.

Daniel 7:13

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man,...

There are no reports that Jesus floated into any city in the Holy Land on literal cloud.

When Jesus came and started his ministry, the people were very confused & bewildered. Their perception was clouded in regard to the heavenly message Jesus was teaching.

Matthew 24:30

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

When Christ returns (the Son of man) it will be from heaven. The tribes of the earth will mourn and then they will see Jesus coming in clouds with power and great glory.

(How can anyone measure these things objectively?)

The expectation of His second coming is the same as His first coming. There are no reports of Jesus floating on a cloud with His first coming, so why do so many people think it will literally happen the second time?

Rev 1:7

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him...

Jesus will return on/with clouds in the sky and every eye on earth will see him.

Blind people will not get to see Christ when He returns ?

Every eye(all flesh) did not literally see Christ upon his first coming, so why should we think every eye will see him upon his return. Could it mean that every spiritual--unclouded eye and everyone pure in heart will see Him?

Seeing and believing are two separate things !

Joel 2:10

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Isaiah 13:10

For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Mark 13:24

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 13:25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

Matthew 24:29

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

Joel, Isaiah, Mark, and Matthew warn us about the same earthly and astronomical events we should be looking for, but they are talking about different time lines.

How could anyone measure if the heavens were trembling or shaking?

If the sun, moon and stars all went dark in the biblical time of Joel and Isaiah, wouldn't someone have noticed and written about it?

If any literal star fell from heaven, the earth would be demolished and there would be no need of knowing or preparing for Christ's return.

It seems very clear to me that according to the Hebrew Bible, these New Testament passages have to be spiritually symbolic and cannot be taken literally.

"Hold Thou the hand of this seeker who hath set his face towards Thee, O my Lord, and draw him out of the depths of his vain imaginations, that the light of certainty may shine brightly above the horizon of his heart in the days whereon the sun of the knowledge of Thy creatures hath been darkened through the shining of the Day Star of Thy glory; the days whereon the moon of the world's wisdom hath been eclipsed through the appearance of Thy hidden knowledge, and the manifestation of Thy well-guarded secret, and the revelation of Thine enshrined mystery; the days whereon the stars of men's doings have fallen through the rising of the orb of Thy unity and the shedding of the radiance of Thy transcendent oneness."

Baha'u'llah

And now, with reference to His words: "And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." These words signify that in those days men will lament the loss of the Sun of the divine beauty, of the Moon of knowledge, and of the Stars of divine wisdom. Thereupon, they will behold the countenance of the promised One, the adored Beauty, descending from heaven and riding upon the clouds. By this is meant that the divine Beauty will be made manifest from the heaven of the will of God, and will appear in the form of the human temple. The term "heaven" denoteth loftiness and exaltation, inasmuch as it is the seat of the revelation of those Manifestations of Holiness, the Day-springs of ancient glory. These ancient Beings, though delivered from the womb of their mother, have in reality descended from the heaven of the will of God. Though they be dwelling on this earth, yet their true habitations are the retreats of glory in the realms above. Whilst walking amongst mortals, they soar in the heaven of the divine presence. Without feet they tread the path of the spirit, and without wings they rise unto the exalted heights of divine unity. With every fleeting breath they cover the immensity of space, and at every moment traverse the kingdoms of the visible and the invisible. Upon their thrones is written: "Nothing whatsoever keepeth Him from being occupied with any other thing;" and on their seats is inscribed: "Verily, His ways differ every day." They are sent forth through the transcendent power of the Ancient of Days, and are raised up by the exalted will of God, the most mighty King. This is what is meant by the words: "coming in the clouds of heaven."

(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 67)