PROPHECIES OF MOSES
c. 1200 BCE. Joshua crosses the Jordan river. "I will raise up for them a prophet like [Moses] from among their brethren..." [Deut.18:15]
PROPHECIES OF DAVID
c. 1020 BCE. Absalom occupies the palace of David. "They divide my garments...." "Even my
friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted his heel against me." [Psalm 22:18, 41:9]
PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH & JEREMIAH
735 BCE. Two kings threaten the kingdom of Judah, where King Ahaz is given signs from the prophet Isaiah.
735 BCE. Isaiah and his wife ("the Prophetess" - Isaiah 8:3) bear a son. Before the child is of the age to discern right from wrong, the kings Pekah and Rezin will be dead, ending their siege of Judah. "The Lord himself will give [Ahaz] a sign. Behold, the young woman
shall conceive and bear
a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God-Is-With-Us]. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good" [Isaiah 7:14].
722 BCE. Hezekiah orders the destruction of idols, including the bronze serpent from the exodus [2Kings 18:4]. "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots" [Isaiah 11:1]. "In that day every one shall cast away his idols" [Isaiah 31:7].
681 BCE. An angel decimates the Assyrian army in answer to Hezekiah's prayer [Isaiah 10:16, 2Kings 19:35]. "[He
shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked" [Isaiah 11:4].
681 BCE. Sennacherib is assassinated. "the Assyrian shall fall by a sword" [Isaiah 31:8].
c. 680 BCE. Manasseh worships idols. "All we like sheep have gone astray" [Isaiah 53:6].
605 BCE. Jews are taken captive to Babylon. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth" [Isaiah 53:7]. "By oppression, he was taken away" [Isaiah 53:8].
c. 588 BCE. Jeremiah is imprisoned in a Jerusalem cistern. "He was cut off out of the land of the living" [Isaiah 53:8].
586 BCE. Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem. "It was the will of the
Lord to bruise him" [Isaiah 53:10].
539 BCE. Cyrus The Great conquers Babylon. "T
he Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted...to proclaim liberty to the captives" [Isaiah 61:1]. "I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong" [Isaiah 53:12].
538 BCE. Death of Belshazzar. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!" [Isaiah 14:12]
536 BCE. Temple construction begins. "Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high"[Isaiah 52:13].
516 BCE. Temple complete; burnt offerings resume. "U
pon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed" [Isaiah 53:5]. "W
hen he makes himself an offering for sin...he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied" [Isaiah 53:10-11].
516 BCE. The crown of David is placed on High Priest Joshua, establishing the temple as the symbolic throne of the eternal Davidic kingdom [Zech.6:11]. "Thus says the
Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel" [Jeremiah 33:17].
PROPHECIES OF MALACHI
458 BCE. Ezra expels the foreign wives of priests. "Behold,
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers" [Malachi 4:5-6].
444 BCE. Nehemiah completes the building of the city walls.
444 BCE. Nehemiah banishes sabbath-breaking merchants from Jerusalem.
444 BCE. Nehemiah evicts Tobiah and cleanses the temple. "He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old" [Malachi 3:3-4].
444 BCE. Ezra reads the law to the people.
PROPHECIES OF DANIEL & ZECHARIAH
330 BCE. Alexander (the goat) conquers Persia (the Ram) [Dan.8, 1Macc.1].
323 BCE. The goat's horn breaks into 4 sections. Alexander dies, dividing his kingdom between his four generals: Antigonus, Cassander, Ptolemy and Seleucus. The latter will eventually sprout Antiochus IV, the "little horn" emerging from the quadrisected horn of the goat [Dan.8, 1Macc.1].
222 BCE. Antiochus III battles Ptolemy IV in the fourth of the six Syrian Wars (274-168 BCE), depicted in Daniel as a 10-horned beast. The 10 horns represent 5 kings of Syria & 5 kings of Egypt. Judea is caught in the middle of this century-long tug of war [Dan.7, 1Macc.1:9].
178 BCE. Heliodorus ("an exactor of tribute") attempts to loot the Jerusalem temple. He is repelled by angels [Dan.11:20, 2Macc3].
175 BCE. "There came up among [the ten horns] another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots" [Daniel 7:8]; "The other horn...came up...before which three of them fell" [Daniel 7:20]; "He shall put down three kings" [Daniel 7:24]. Antiochus IV reigns when three kings are deposed: Seleucus IV (killed), Demetrius I (exiled in Rome) and Antiochus, son of Seleucus IV (killed).
175 BCE. "An anointed one shall be cut off" [Daniel 9:26]. High Priest Onias III is removed from office (175 BCE) and executed (171 BCE) [2Macc.4].
175 BCE. Jason takes over as High Priest, having bribed Antiochus.
171 BCE. Menalaus buys the high priesthood from Antiochus with a larger bribe. Jason goes into exile.
169 BCE. Antiochus IV is warned that his planned invasion of Egypt will be treated as an attack against Rome. A line in the sand is drawn. Antiochus backs down [Josephus, Antiquities XII 5:3]. "He shall return and come into the south; but it shall not be this time as it was before. For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw" [Dan.11:29-30].
168 BCE. Armies appear in the sky over Jerusalem. "W
ith the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man" [Daniel 7:13, 2Macc.5:2].
167 BCE. Antiochus plunders Jerusalem [2Macc.5:24-26]. "This horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them" [Dan.7:21].
167 BCE. Antiochus and Menalaus worship Zeus in the temple. "[The king of the north]
shall turn back [from Egypt]...and give heed to those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate" [Daniel 11:30-31, 2Macc.5].
167 BCE. The burnt offerings to Yahweh cease. Pigs are sacrificed to Zeus in the temple for 3 years and six months. "They shall be given into his hand
for a time, two times, and half a time" [Dan.7:25].
167 BCE. Eleazar, a 90-year-old scribe, refuses to eat pork and is tortured to death [2Macc.6].
167 BCE. A mother and her sons refuse to eat pork. They are tortured to death [2Macc.7].
167 BCE. Mattathias violently defies orders to sacrifice to an idol, inspiring his sons to lead the Maccabean revolt [1Macc.2]. "[The king of the north] shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant; but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action" [Daniel 11:32].
164 BCE. Judas Maccabeus faces the armies of Nicanor [2Macc.8].
164 BCE. Angels join the Maccabean soldiers in battle.
164 BCE. Judas is victorious against the Seleucids [2Macc.8].
163 BCE. Antiochus meets resistance as he attempts to loot a Persian temple dedicated to Artemis [2Macc.9]. "[The king of the north] shall give no heed to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women; he shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all" [Dan.11:37].
163 BCE. Fleeing Persia, Antiochus falls from his chariot. His gangrenous flesh rots as he lives his final days in agony [2Macc.9:9]. "This shall be the plague with which the
Lord will smite all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot while they are still on their feet, their eyes shall rot in their sockets, and their tongues shall rot in their mouths" [Zech.14:12].
163 BCE. Judas Maccabeus cleanses the Jerusalem temple [Zech.13:2, 14, 2Macc.10].
"I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more" [Zech.13:14].
163 BCE. Judas re-dedicates the temple to Yahweh [2Macc.10].
162 BCE. On the battlefield, Judas prays for Hellenic Jewish soldiers who died with pagan images on them, depicted here receiving forgiveness in Purgatory as a result of those prayers [2Macc.12].
161 BCE. Judas dreams of Jeremiah and Onias [2Macc.15].
161 BCE Judas displays the remains of the vanquished Nicanor [2Macc.15].
161 BCE. Judas is killed in battle [1Macc.9].
NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECIES
c. 35 CE. Saul of Tarsus condemns Stephen to death. Jesus warned his disciples: "An evil tree cannot bear good fruit" [Matthew 7:18].
c. 35 CE. Saul has a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. Jesus warned his disciples: "If any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it" [Matt.24:23-24].
64 CE. Emperor Nero burns Christians alive.
69 CE. Vespasian heals a blind man in Alexandria. Note: Art depicts a similar first century healing; we were unable to locate an artist's rendering of Vespasian's miracle.
"By the signs which [the beast which rose out of the earth] is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth" [Rev.13:14].
70 CE. Germanic warrior with "hair like a woman" [Rev.9:8].
70 CE. Roman standard-bearer with "teeth like a lion" [Rev.9:8].
70 CE. Roman siege weapon known as the
scorpio. "5 months of torment" refers to the siege of Jerusalem which lasted 5 months (March through August) [Rev.9:10].
70 CE. General Titus destroys Jerusalem.
70 CE. The Flavian dynasty.
Fig. 1: The beast of Revelation 13:11, representing Vespasian (the beast) and his sons (the two horns).
Fig. 2: Emperor Vespasian and his sons - Titus and Domitian - celebrate their victory over Judea.
79 CE. Mount Vesuvius darkens the sky and poisons the sea. Four pagan cities are swallowed by the earth [Rev.6:16].
c. 81 CE. Emperors, living and dead, are worshiped as gods [Rev.13:12].
Fig. 1: Beast representing the caesars from Augustus to Titus.
Fig. 2: Temple of Augustus in Mylasa, near Ephesus.
Fig. 3: Coin celebrating divus Vespasianus: the divine Vespasian).
Fig. 4: The apotheosis of Titus, from the Arch of Titus in Rome.
96 CE. Domitian is assassinated [Rev.20:3].
Note: the rest of John's visions are inspired by apocalyptic passages from the Old Testament, reflecting the popular expectation that these events - the little horn, the son of man, the dead rising, the stars falling, etc. - must now transpire. To the first century Christians, and many first century Jews, their rapid fulfillment is an absolute certainty.
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