Vague vs. Specific Prophecy
The prophecies of the Hebrew Bible provide specific details about dates, locations and durations of future events:
* Noah is told that, in seven days, a flood will come which will last 40 days and 40 nights (Gen7:4)
* Abraham is told that his descendents will sojourn in a land that isn't theirs for 400 years (Gen15:13)
* 90-year-old Sarah is told that she will bear a son named Isaac (Gen17:19), in one year (v21)
* Joseph predicts 7 year famine in Egypt after 7 bountiful years (Gen41:30)
* Moses is told that the Israelites will be freed from Egypt and brought to the land of Canaan (Ex3:8, 20) after dwelling in the wilderness for 40 years (Num14:33), and that, of the original exodus, only Joshua and Caleb will make it to Canaan (Num14:30)
* Joshua is told that the walls of Jericho will fall in six days (Josh6:3-5)
* Elijah predicts imminent drought, which will last years but will end in his lifetime (1Kings17:1)
* Isaiah predicts that the Assyrian and Ephraimite siege of Judah will end before his unborn son reaches the age of moral discernment (Is7:14)
* Isaiah predicts that the ailing Hezekiah will not die but live an additional 15 years, and that his Assyrian troubles will soon end (2Kings20:6)
* Isaiah predicts Israel will be freed from captivity in Babylon by an individual named Cyrus (Is44:28, 45:1)
* Ezekiel predicts the capture and blinding of Zedekiah and his death in Babylon (Ezek12:13)
* Jeremiah predicts 70-year Babylonian exile (Jer25:11, 29:10) and punishment of Babylon after 70 years (v25:12)
* Zechariah predicts that, in spite of delays, the second temple construction will be completed by Zerubbabel (Zech4:9)
* Daniel predicts the Maccabean war will begin 434 years after the Babylonian exile (Dan9:26) and that the temple desolation will last 3 1/2 years (vv7:25, 12:7, 11) or precisely one thousand two-hundred and ninety days (v12:11)
In stark contrast to all those specifics, the New Testament is extremely vague about future events:
* "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." - 1Thess5:2
* "Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels." - Mk13:32, Mt24:36
* "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars." - Mt24:6
* "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places." - Mt24:7
New Testament prophecies with immediate fulfillment include the following:
* Jesus, on the night of his arrest, supposedly foretells being betrayed by Judas (Jn13:26) and denied by Peter (Mt26:34)
* Peter supposedly foretells the immediate death of Sapphira after her husband's sudden demise (Acts5:9)
These are problematic.
1) Did Jesus predict Judas' betrayal because he was a prophet? Or was it because he realized that he and Judas were in fundamental disagreement over the nature of their mission?
2) Did Jesus predict Peter's denial because he was a prophet? Or was it because he knew Peter to be a selfish coward?
3) Did Peter predict the death of Sapphira, or were she and her husband poisoned by Peter?
Others miss their mark due to their obscurity:
* Jesus promises that some among his disciples will "not taste death before they see that the kingdom has come with power" (Mk9:1)
This was fulfilled days later by Peter's vision of the transfiguration. But it's so vague that a legend arose in the early church suggesting that John was not dead, but merely sleeping in his tomb at Ephesus, waiting for a far-future kingdom.
* Jesus warns that lawless false prophets/apostles/christs will arise (Mt5:19, 7:13-23, 24:24-26)
This was fulfilled by Paul and Barnabas, but it's so vague that Christians see only unspecified far-future heretics, and would never dream that it could be a warning about the "greatest" apostle.
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