Some prophecy or what?

The gospel of Mark starts off like this: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ''See , I am sending my Messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way: the voixce of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straights.''

I am not an expert on the bible nor am I a preacher or teacher. But I have read some of the passages in the bible, and I know that they do not correspond to what some people are saying.

Even biblical experts are in confusion with one another about some of the passages in the bible.

I am not going to beat around the bush, I am going to state what I have found.

In the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah and those prophets who prophecied, they were mainly talking about Jacob who is Israel, the servant of God.

In Isaiah chapter 40 we read : Comfort ye, Comfort ye My people, saith the your God. Bid Jerusalem take heart, and proclaim unto her, that her time of service is accomplished, that her guilt is paid off; that she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins. Hark! one calleth: Clear ye in the wilderness the way of the LORD, make plain in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the rugged shall me made level, and the rough places plain; 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.

Jeremiah wrote that the captivity will not end until seventy years are up. Even Daniel knew about that prophecy.

Cyrus has given permission for the captivtives to return and build Jerusalem.
Messengers are sent to tell those who are in the Jerusalem of the good news. Not all was taken into captivity, a remnant had been left behind.

In the writings of Isaiah he told the people that a babe will rule over them. He wrote, a chils is born, a child is given to us.

If Isaiah was writing about the future then, he would have said, it shall come to pass. He even went on to mention Assyria. This is clear that he was talking about his time, and the problems Israel had with the nations around it.

God is about to come and bare his arm and destroy the nations, all flesh will see it eye to eye.

Israel will become a light again to the nations. It will rise up out of the dust. For at the moment it was left desolate, the cities ruined and destroyed. And all they will gather at the mountain of the LORD's house.

Isaiah has made it plain that a child is born, and before the child shall know the good from the bad, the two countries that Israel was afraid of , shall be broken.

In some passages in Jeremiah, he was saying that Jacob is broken, he is wounded, he is left helpless.

In Isaiah chapter 53, there is talk about the suffering servant, and when we get almost at the end, we read that, a share of the spoil will be given to him, and he will be joined with the great.

We need to understand why Isaiah used the word ''spoil.''
This is a word used for when one nation comes and attack the other and take spoil. Like when Moses sent soldiers to defeat Midian, and they brought back spoil.

The whole chapter 53 sounds like the destruction of Jacob, the servant of God. Beaten up so badly that it was not a land any more to hold inhabitants. It was damaged so as not to recognize its face. The land once carried the sins of the people, it was the land of their welfare. Now it is destroyed, lying in the dust, but it shall rise again, and many kings will come to its light, when it is shining again.

Isaiah was supposed to write plainly, just like God commanded, but some prophets prefer telling stories to the people.

Some passages from the Psalms

Let Israel rejoice in their maker. Let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes Delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the Heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Prsiase him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

The LORD doth build up Jerusalem, He gathereth together the disperse of Israel; who healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear HIm, in those that wait for His mercy.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God. Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; who keepeth truth forever.

The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind; the LORD raiseth up them that are bowed down; the LORD loveth the righteous; The LOrd preserveth the strangers; He upholderth the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked He maketh crooked.

The LORD will reign forever, thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Hallelujah.

Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

The glorious splendour of Thy majesty, and Thy wondrous works, will I rehearse.

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him; He also will hear their cry, and will save them.

LORD, what is man, that THou takest knowledge of him? or the son of man, that Thou makest account of him?

Man is like unto a breath; his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

I will give thanks unto Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth. Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in Thy book they were all written--even the days that were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Those younger days

I remember that when I was young, our group of boys used to look for trees that were planted in a cluster. So that when we went up into the first, we can just skip to the others because the branches were so close to each other.

It is strange when I think back now, I used to examine a tree to see if it had branches where you could relax without falling down. I used to climb a lot of tall coconut trees, and go right up into the centre of it, and then with my feet I push the coconuts down.

It is only now I am thinking back, because of a programme I saw about monkeys doing the same things that we did. How strange!

I remember too, that one time I went to a bakery to help, I was only about 15 years old, and the owner was a very nice man. The only trouble was , he liked his drink. We had to work at night to get the bread ready for 6 in the morning when the workers were going to their jobs. We would get the dough ready, let it set, then we would all get around the long table, with thin bread sheets at the side of every one of us. Then we would start cutting, weighing, and twisting the dough on our fingers into penny bread. Then we would go to sleep while we left the boss to look after the lighting of the oven, sewwping it when it was hot enough, and placing the bread in. Then he would wake us up when the bread was baked.

One night, I happened to open my eyes, and looked up at the racks and saw that the bread on the sheets were all running over. I jumped up and went outside only to find the boss at the side of the door stoned drunk. The oven had not been lit, and anyway, there was nothing that I could have done at that time because the bread on the sheets had no shape. I started shking him on the shoulders so that he would wake up, but it was a hopeless case. Then we were confronted with all the people who came for bread, and found that there was none. We had one of those stone oven outside where you had to place wood inside to burn for a while. When it was hot enough, you tested this with your hand. You had to make sure that it was hot enough to take at least three bakings. I learned a great lesson from that night onwards. And whenever I was working at nights, I made sure that I would not fall into sleep just like the boss in the bakery did.

Understanding and reasoning and tolerating through life.

I have learned from since when I was young, the way life trickles along its straight and sometimes narrow paths. I was like an onlooker, seeing what those older than I was, how they behaved . I understood quite a lot of things without anyone telling me about them. I reasoned about many things. I tolerated people whom I did not really like, but seeing that they were human beings like myself, I made no real fuss. I realized that there were duties to be performed whether I like them or not. I went about and did them. I also realized that there was a country to be defended. I went and did my duty without any fear.
We have to sit down a while and truly understand that there are powers mightier than we are. We have to reason within ourselves, and not to rush forward foolishly. We have to really teach our children, not what we want them to know--but what they should really know. More toleration is good. We should not make a bad situation worse than it is.