Proof again that God predicted Jesus ------------------------------------ As always, it's nice to have 2 witnesses when giving testimony to an event. But what about an event happening over 2500 years? Who can survive over 2500 years to give testimony? And since people die, how can anyone absolutely believe a text written 2500 years ago? How can you be sure the writer wasn't just making things up? How can you be sure the writer didn't just give the text after an event by fitting the text to the event? Obviously God could give sufficient text and witnesses to prove his statements (and he did). He gave predictions of what he was planning for world history and then left some of those predictions indecipherable until after they occurred. This was done so people could not claim the writer and/or the history modified to fit the predictions. Else, who can give testimony over 2500 years? God said he'd have his 2 witnesses, and witnesses CONFIRM an account (in this case, an account given by God). But don't people die over 2500 years? Certainly people die. So how can 2 witnesses give testimony if they can't live 2500 years? How can dead people be questioned? It's simple, God's 2 witnesses don't have to be people. When God said in the bible that 2 witnesses would show up, he had already said what form they'd show up as in Zechariah 4. As you see in Zechariah 4, those 2 witnesses are * 2 OLIVE TREES * then 2 GOLDEN PIPES coming out of those olive trees. That's what Zechariah 4 says, and that's what God said would witness for him. Both can survive 2500 years of history since they are not people. Yep, take a look at Zechariah 4, God gave proof that can not be denied as his two witnesses survived over 2500 years since they were NOT people, yet those 2 witnesses can confirm what God said again and again as often as anyone wants to verify it. Now for the details... The following is a discussion of Zec 4 which as it turns out, is a highly specific prophecy of Jesus written 520 years BEFORE Jesus showed up, but covering 2500 years of time and overlapping with prophecies in Revelation and our recent history. Zec 4 seems quite vague at first since it doesn't mention anyone as doing anything other than a man named Zerubabble finishing a temple and then some simple discussion between Zechariah and the angel. They discussed a vision Zechariah was given and other than that, not much occurred. ======================= Or did something occur? ======================= Yes... a major prophecy. The Zec 4 prophecy instantly focuses after you realize what the long term history has been and who the main player in history is and why he was sent. Rather than read through the entire verse set which is describing a VISION, it may be much easier to understand if you simply view such a vision as a simple drawing that shows what Zechariah was shown by the angel and then afterwards to discuss what God set up and how it matches history.
All the stuff shown in the picture above is in the
Zechariah prophecy except for the names of the mountain
and Jesus who taught on the center ridge. But those
are quickly realized when you know some background.
* Jesus taught on the Mount of Olives, olive trees
on either side of him and a clear view of Jerusalem.
The Mount of Olives faces west towards Jerusalem
and consists of three main ridges aligned north to
south. Jesus taught on the CENTER ridge and the
Zec 4 prophecy as written in the original Hebrew
allows a reading where the olive trees would be
both NORTH and SOUTH of God, God inbetween them.
This matches the above drawing in that Jesus is the
ARM OF GOD (hence God himself) and both Jesus and
God were between olive trees in the same formation.
* Jesus later was seen by John in Revelation walking
amongst seven GOLDEN candle sticks in which Jesus
said those seven GOLDEN candle sticks were the seven
churches that eventually came into being after Jesus's
death. Notice that here in Zec 4, those candle sticks
are still on the top of God as a lampstand between
2 olive trees. Jesus in dying for our sins, brought
forth those seven GOLDEN candle sticks. Those seven
GOLDEN candle sticks SHINE as churches being the
light of the world after Jesus died. Jesus said he
himself would build those churches, which verifies
John in Revelation describing him walking amongst
them.
* "Not by MIGHT, nor by POWER, but by my SPIRIT". That's
instantly apparent when reading through the New
Testament in that Jesus again sent the Holy Spirit
and did not use MIGHT or POWER to save.
* Notice the 2 GOLDEN PIPES coming out of the olive
trees. Those 2 GOLDEN PIPES show up on the Shroud
of Turin when the intensity is reversed and the
color remains POSITIVE. The shroud ALSO occurred
after Jesus died and only recently have those 2
GOLDEN PIPES been visible. See the Shroud article
for more details concerning the 2 GOLDEN PIPES
or lampstands on either side of Jesus.
* Those 2 GOLDEN PIPES witness AFTER and come out of
the olive trees. They only show up after God is between
the olive trees. This happens directly with the Shroud
since Jesus first preached between the two ridges
of the Mount of Olives ("who art thou oh great mountain")
then later Jesus BURNED IN the shroud image and that
image then received the two GOLDEN PIPES as a result
of three major fires and finally some simple intensity
inversion. Hence, those 2 GOLDEN PIPES on the Shroud
occurred AFTER and directly as a result of Jesus
showing up first between the outer two ridges of the
Mount of Olives. This matches the 2 GOLDEN PIPES
coming out of the 2 OLIVE TREES on either side of God
as described in Zec 4 as 2 WITNESSES.
* John in Revelation also mentioned those 2 GOLDEN
PIPES or LAMPSTANDS, he said they would also WITNESS
for God (Jesus is the ARM OF GOD) and that they would
be on either side of him and clothed in SACK CLOTH
(the Shroud is made of LINEN and the 2 GOLDEN lampstands
show up on either side of Jesus when viewing the Shroud
with the intensity inverted, see the Shroud article).
John specifically said they are the two OLIVE TREES
and the two LAMPSTANDS which is a clear reference
to them being the 2 WITNESSES discussed in Zec 4.
God made it all, Jesus died for our sins.
Note: The above information was written by John P. Boatwright and is freely given. The information is simply my opinion based on how I perceive the content discussed. Anyone reading such should use their own judgement as to whether or not the information has any value to them. You may copy portions of the above opinions as long as a reference to this page is included and no text within said portion is altered. If copied to another medium other than the internet, include the entire text. The above content may change over time.
Best wishes.