Why Current Events Are NOT A Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecies
by Aaron Logan
You’ll find many people today pointing to current events in the news and claiming they are fulfillments of things written in Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, etc. However, Jesus made it essentially impossible to take Old Testament prophecies and throw them out into the future, beyond the 1st century. Note His words in Luke 21...
1) First He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (”not one stone left upon another” Lk 21:6).
2) Then He gave them signs which would lead up to this day (v8-19).
3) Then He said the following:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; 22 because THESE are days of vengeance, so that ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN will be FULFILLED. (Luke 21:20-22) (bold, caps added)
What were the “all things which were written”? What scriptures were written at the time Jesus made this statement?
The Old Testament scriptures. The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. (The Psalms, or Writings, actually included Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, etc.)
When was Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and the city and the Temple destroyed? In the Jewish-Roman War of AD66-70 (the ultimate destruction occurring in AD70). That very generation. In fact, we are told by historians that the believers heeded this warning of Jesus (to THEIR generation), and after the Roman army led by Cestius Gallus surrounded Jerusalem, and then packed up and left, the Christians fled the city and went to Pella and various other locations (safe, away from Jerusalem). They remembered Jesus’ warning, and thus they survived the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, which occurred at the hand of the Roman general, Titus.
This is consistent with the time-statement Jesus made further down in the chapter. After continuing to talk about the signs (using apocalyptic language) He then makes the following declaration:
Truly I say to you, THIS generation will not pass away until all things take place. Lk 21:32 (caps added)
So not only was Jesus Himself the fulfillment of the promises to Israel (see Acts 13:32-33 and Gal 3:16), but here we have absolute clarity in Luke 21 that everything which had been written in the Old Testament scriptures would be fulfilled in that generation, by the time Jerusalem faced its destruction. (This also aligns with what we see in Daniel 12....the “time of the end” would be when they finished shattering the power of the holy people . Dan 12:1-7)
And guess what?? It DID happen in that 1st century generation, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy.
This means we cannot take any Old Testament prophecies and throw them out in the future, or even bring them into our present day. They were fulfilled when Jesus said they would be fulfilled.
