Jesus’ Failed Prophecy About His Return

[Nihilist Virus]

one of the things that trips me up the most is that Jesus did fulfill a lot of old testament Prophecies. other than that, I wouldn't have as much of a hard time leaving my beliefs completely behind

Jesus fulfilled nothing because there was nothing to fulfill. A summary of Deuteronomy 18 is as follows:

The people are terrified of Jehovah and think they might die if they see him or hear his voice. Moses had been acting as a mediator between Jehovah and the people, and they liked that system. So they decided to establish the rules for prophets.

If a prophet makes a prophecy and it comes true, then that person is verified to speak for Jehovah. They can then... well... speak for Jehovah. Like saying that Jehovah is mad because X, Y, Z. That's as far as prophecy goes. To cement this point, false prophets were supposed to be executed. How would they know someone is a false prophet unless his prophecy failed to come true in his lifetime? A prophecy MUST come true in the prophet's lifetime or else anyone could prophesy anything and never be punished. Further, what's the point of a far-future prophecy? A parlor trick? A prophecy that is fulfilled immediately allows the Jews to know that a man speaks for Jehovah. There's an actual purpose.

If Daniel, for example, was talking about the far future, why would the Jews preserve and copy his books (during an era when books costed more than cars do today) for centuries only to then not believe in the man who supposedly fulfilled them? That's comically stupid. Daniel was considered a prophet because (according to the story) his prophecies came true. That's why his books were preserved.

The notion of far-future prophecies was born from the idea of "living" vs "dead" scriptures. If an old scripture could not be reinterpreted for modern times, it was dead. To force the old scriptures to remain alive, the gospel writers, most notoriously Matthew, took verses out of context.

Matthew took Hosea 11:1 out of context. Quite clearly. As far as the virgin birth, it doesn't matter even if the word there really was "virgin" and not "young maiden." The context of Isaiah 7 is this:

The king of Judah fears he will be attacked. Isaiah says that this will not happen and that the king can ask heaven for a sign. The king declined, but Isaiah gave one anyway: that a "virgin" would give birth and that before the child would be old enough to know right from wrong, the king's enemies would be destroyed.

How that is to be interpreted as something that should be expected in 500 years is beyond me.

Btw the prophecy, in genuine biblical fashion, was fulfilled in the very next chapter.

Chapter 7

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Chapter 8

1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.

2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.



So... Isaiah predicts that a "virgin" or "young maiden" would give birth. Then he gets two witnesses to watch him have sex with a prophetess. And notice the language describing the kid in verse 4 is clearly referring to the original prophecy in verse 16 of the previous chapter.

Why the kid's name changes from Immanuel to the mouthful I don't know. But Christians have no answer as to why Immanuel changes to Jesus either. And Immanuel being "God with us" fits my narrative perfectly. Jehovah was with them because their enemies would be destroyed (incidentally, this prophecy failed and Judah was attacked by these very enemies because the next king refused to pay tribute; Judah would later on be destroyed by Babylon). I think that "God as one of us" would have better fit the Christian narrative.


If there are any other prophecies you think were fulfilled, let me know and I'll take a look.