Fortified by “the Prophetic Word” – Bro.

Gerrit Losch

My comments to you today are based on 2 Peter 1:19. There it states: “We have the
prophetic word made more sure.” Yes, we are fortified by the prophetic word.
Actually, there is no one on earth today that is not affected by prophecy, even if he is not
aware of it.
What is a prophecy? The Hebrew term for prophecy is not limited to predicting or foretelling
something in the future.
It also includes divine commands or inspired instruction.
The Samaritan woman at the well recognized Jesus as a prophet because he revealed, not
future things, but things about her past that he could not have known except by divine
power.
The source of all true prophecy is Jehovah God.
At 2 Peter 1:21 it is said of prophecy that “men spoke from God as they were moved by holy
spirit.” In addition to transmitting prophecy by holy spirit, Jehovah occasionally
communicated such messages by means of angels.
One outstanding prophet was Daniel.
In about 536 before our Common Era, Daniel recorded a vision involving world powers
having interaction with God’s servants.
Turn with me to Daniel 8:21, 22. Daniel’s vision was of animals representing governments.
Note this remarkable prophecy at Daniel 8:21, 22: “The hairy male goat stands for the king of
Greece; “and the great horn that was between its eyes “stands for the first king.
“As for the horn that was broken, “so that four stood up instead of it, “there are four
kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his power.” Interestingly, the Bible
specifically named Greece.
The ruler under which Greece became a world power in relation to God’s people, like a great
horn, was the Macedonian Alexander the Great.
Alexander’s rulership was short-lived.
He died young in the year 323 before our Common Era —two hundred thirteen years after
Daniel wrote his book.
Jehovah’s angel had told Daniel that there would be four kingdoms from his nation that will
stand up in place of the Grecian empire.
And chapter 11, verse 4, specifically states that the four regions would not go to his
descendants.
Do the historical facts support these prophecies? Yes.
Alexander’s two sons, from different women, Heracles and Alexander IV, both were killed
before they reached adulthood.
Isn’t it astounding how precisely the prophecy came true that the rulership would not be
passed on to Alexander’s posterity? But the prophecy also foretold that Alexander’s empire
would be divided up into four kingdoms.

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 Fortified by “the Prophetic Word” – Bro. Gerrit Losch

Did that happen? Yes! One source listed 72 different military leaders under Alexander the
Great, but the prophecy said only four would eventually rule in his place.
After Alexander’s death, there were constant fierce battles between these military leaders.
But finally, just four dynasties resulted —just as the Bible prophesied.
One was that of General Cassander, son of Antipater, in Macedonia and Greece.
The second was that of General Lysimachus in Asia Minor and European Thrace.
Third was the one of General Seleucus Nicator, the conqueror who secured Babylon, Media,
Syria, Persia, and the provinces eastward into the Indus River.
And finally, the fourth was that of General Ptolemy Soter, son of Lagus, who secured Egypt,
Libya, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria.
These four proclaimed themselves king around 305 before our Common Era, 18 years after
the death of Alexander.
The prophecy was so detailed, its fulfillment is fascinating proof of divine inspiration.
Does this not strengthen your faith and trust in the Bible? Here’s another point: What is the
first prophecy in the Bible? The first prophecy ever was the one uttered by Jehovah at
Genesis 3:15. It foretold that the offspring of his figurative wife, the heavenly part of his
organization, would crush Satan and his offspring, bringing liberation to mankind.
To identify this offspring, primarily Christ Jesus, Jehovah arranged for many prophecies
pointing to him.
Revelation 19:10 says: “The witness concerning Jesus is what inspires prophecy,” or literally
‘is the spirit of prophecy.’ What does that mean? That all inspired Messianic messages from
God, proclaimed by his servants, pointed to his Son.
At Luke 24:44 Jesus himself said that all the prophecies concerning the Messiah must be
fulfilled.
Let’s consider some outstanding prophecies about Jesus and their fulfillment.
One was that he would be born of the tribe of Judah, from the family of David, the son of
Jesse.
More than 700 years before Jesus was born, Micah foretold in chapter 5 that he would be
born in Bethlehem.
The prophecy speaks of “Bethlehem Ephrathah.” Why is the designation “Ephrathah”
important? Because there existed another Bethlehem in the territory of Zebulun.
It has been identified with Beit Lahm about 7 miles, or 11 kilometers, west-northwest of
Nazareth.
Again, the prophecy was extremely specific.
And amazingly, Isaiah prophesied he would be born of a virgin.
What human would ever think of such a thing? Daniel chapter 9 foretold that the Messiah
would arrive 483 years after the command to rebuild Jerusalem.
This proved to be true in the year 29 of our Common Era when Jesus was baptized.

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 Fortified by “the Prophetic Word” – Bro. Gerrit Losch

Zechariah chapter 11 foretold that the Messiah would be betrayed for “30 pieces of silver.”
Chapter 12 says that his body would be pierced.
It was foretold that the Messiah would die a sacrificial death for our sins and be buried in the
tomb of a rich man.
Furthermore, prophecy proclaimed that he would be in the grave for parts of three days and
then be resurrected.
What about the argument that Jesus deliberately arranged matters so that the events in his
life would fit all these prophecies? What do you think? Could Jesus have arranged to be
born of the tribe of Judah, in the town of David’s birth, Bethlehem? His mother, Mary, lived in
Nazareth.
Could he tell her, while in the womb, ‘Please take me to Bethlehem because the scriptures
say I must be born there?’ Obviously, the very start of his life on earth was beyond his
control.
Furthermore, could Jesus have arranged for the priests to pay Judas the 30 pieces of silver
to betray him? Could he have arranged that his enemies spit in his face? That the Roman
authorities sentence him to be nailed to a stake? That the soldiers cast lots for his
garments? Or that, while piercing his side with a spear, they not follow the custom of
breaking any of his bones? Could the prophecies, just mentioned, have been fulfilled by
mere chance? One Bible scholar likened this process to the assembling of a statue made of
individual pieces of marble.
Imagine that many men who had never communicated with one another each brought a
piece of marble into a room.
If those pieces fit together to form a perfect statue, you would logically conclude that there
must have been someone behind the scenes who had drawn the specifications and sent an
assignment to each man.
Fitting together like the pieces of a statue, every Messianic prophecy would provide a vital
piece of information about the Messiah.
What, then, would be the likelihood of all the prophecies about the Messiah being fulfilled by
coincidence in one person? In an interview, researcher Louis Lapides said: “Someone did
the math and figured out that the probability “of just eight prophecies being fulfilled [by
Jesus] is one chance in one hundred million billion.” To arrive at the figure mentioned by this
scholar, by addition rather than by multiplication, you would have to write down one million
and then copy that figure a billion times.
Putting those odds in perspective, the scholar stated: ‘If you took one hundred million billion
silver dollars, ‘they would cover the state of Texas in the United States to a depth of 2 feet,
or .6 meters.’ Texas has a land area of 266,807 square miles, or 690,000 square kilometers.
Imagine that huge area covered in silver dollars up to a depth of two feet.
Now what ‘if you put a mark ‘on just one of those silver dollars ‘and then had a blindfolded
person wander the whole state ‘and bend down to pick up just one coin? ‘What would be the
chance that he choose the only coin that had been marked?’ The scholar then stated that
those are “the same odds “that anybody in history could have fulfilled just eight of the
[Messianic] prophecies.” Yet, Jesus fulfilled not just eight but many more Bible prophecies.

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 Fortified by “the Prophetic Word” – Bro. Gerrit Losch

This is overwhelming proof of divine inspiration.

Second Corinthians 1:20 says: ‘No matter how many the promises of God are, they have
become “yes” by means of Jesus.’ What does this mean for us? It means that Jesus was
actually the promised Messiah who was sent by God.
As such, he taught the truth.
If we believe him and follow him, then we too have the truth.
There’s no doubt about the divine origin of Bible prophecies.
But Bible prophecies deal not only with past events, some prophecies are having remarkable
fulfillment right now before our eyes! This gives us strong assurance that the few outstanding
prophecies about the end of this wicked system of things and the Paradise on earth to come
will also be fulfilled in the near future without any possibility of failure.
As true Christians, we are engaged in a prophetic work.
This is, not in the sense that we initiate new prophecies, but in the sense that we proclaim
prophecies already written down in the Bible.
At Pentecost 33 of our Common Era when holy spirit was poured out on 120 disciples, both
men and women, Peter quoted the prophet Joel saying: “‘In the last days,’ God says, “‘I will
pour out some of my spirit on every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will
prophesy.’ ” What did the 120 disciples do at Pentecost? There is no indication that they
foretold new events, but Acts 2:11 says: “We hear them speaking . . . about the magnificent
things of God.” This was called prophesying.
Today, too, whether brothers or sisters or children, we share in a prophetic work, speaking
about “the magnificent things of God.” We speak about what he has done, what he is doing
now, and what he will do in the near future.
What a privilege! Having seen many prophecies fulfilled, we have the prophetic word made
more sure.
And we are telling people about the prophetic word in order to fortify their faith too.
Yes, we do it to help them to get to the road to everlasting life and to develop an intimate
relationship with our great God, Jehovah.

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