David Baron frequently stated that “prophecy in its predictive aspect was just history written before it happened, even as history, when properly understood is the fulfilment of history.”[i] Indeed, the remarkable outworking of prophecy and history is evident in these verses as John the Baptist prepares the way for the Messiah and the rest is history foretold and prophecy fulfilled. The believer can see the sovereign unfolding of God’s plans and purposes for salvation from the arrival of the voice crying in the wilderness, pointing people to the promised Messiah.
Liberalism’s rejection of biblical history and fulfilled prophecy
But I want to tackle a problem head on, namely liberalism’s rejection of biblical history and fulfilled prophecy. Liberalism is built on false assumptions, conjecture and faulty presuppositions. Assumptions are made that the prophetic books were written much later than claimed. Why is that? Fulfilled prophecy is strikingly accurate and there is a refusal to consider the realm of the supernatural or the miraculous. This leaves the liberal with the inevitable necessity to attack the historicity of the Bible. By historicity, I mean the reliability of the Scriptures and the timeframe in which they were written.
Why is this relevant to saving faith in the Lord? Higher criticism or liberalism churns out the same ideas and plays the same records. In the last 150 years or so, liberalism has saturated the universities and theological departments and that has also trickled into our schools. Liberalism has cascaded into literature and it has been let loose on our television sets. What happens when you watch a religious program on TV? The experts are called in for their verdict and apparently the last word. Who are the experts? Those from prestigious universities, regurgitating the same conjectural hypothesis, with the same ideas, playing the same records.
I have a Jewish Study Bible in my library and this particular one is from the Reform tradition.[ii]It is churning out and even citing Julius Wellhausen, though it was published in 2004. It was published by the Oxford University Press. It argues that the Torah was written by four different authors and that Isaiah was authored by three dissimilar sources. Liberal Christendom and liberal Judaism use the same conjectured theories to attack the historicity of the Scriptures.
The accuracy of biblical history
But the Biblical Archaeological Society have listed 53 characters in the Tanakh[iii] (Old Testament) and 30 characters in the Brit Hadasha[iv] (New Testament) confirmed archaeologically. Of those 30 New Testament historically attested Bible characters, they are divided into five groups. These groups are.
1)Religious figures
2)Roman emperors
3)Herodian family
4)Roman legate and governors
5)Independent political figures
Note in Luke 3:1-2, nine characters are listed and no less than seven of those characters have been confirmed archaeologically. In Luke 3:1, Tiberias Caesar is abundantly attested in classical literature and artefacts in well-known museums. Pontius Pilate has left us coins bearing his inscription and is mentioned in Jewish and Roman ancient independent historical sources. The Herodian family were Idumeans, descendants of Esau and the Edomites who were bitterly opposed towards the Jewish people. Remember King Herod tried to prevent Messiahs birth by butchering the babies in Bethlehem reminiscent of Pharaoh’s callous acts against the Hebrew boys in Moses’ era. In Luke 3:1, three members of the Herodian family are mentioned. Two of those three are historically attested. They are Herod Antipas (Galilee) and Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, who are confirmed archaeologically.
In Luke 3:2, there are two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas plus John the Baptist and his father Zacharias, that are listed. Caiaphas is famous for unknowingly prophesying how Messiah would atone for sin. His practical solution was this: “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider it expedient that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish” (John 11:49-50). He thought that if Jesus died, this could spare the whole Jewish people from destruction at the hands of the Romans. Interestingly the burial cave for Caiaphas family has been discovered. Whether the skeletal remains are his, is not the essential point, but rather that he has been archaeologically attested.[v]
John the Baptist is the seventh biblical character confirmed archaeologically and he is attested by Flavius Josephus.[vi]History and prophecy are intertwined. In this passage, Luke quotes Isaiah in two places in verses 4 and 5 by quoting Isaiah 40:3-5 together with Isaiah 52:10. Bearing in mind that liberalism conjectures that the book of Isaiah was written by three dissimilar sources, let us consider the historicity of Isaiah.
Note that 10 out of the 16 prophetic books, the opening verses provide the author’s name, often their fathers name and the names of the ruling kings or officials which are crucial details enabling us to pinpoint those characters as specific individuals. Let us consider Isaiah 1:1 below.
“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
So, we have Isaiah’s name, his father’s name and the name of four kings. In the books of Isaiah, 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, Isaiah is referred to 13 times, as Isaiah the son of Amoz. In fact, many of these references refer to Isaiah as a prophet. Yet the liberals still argue that the book of Isaiah was written by three dissimilar sources! In addition, Isaiah is referred to 21 times in the New Testament and never ‘source 1’, ‘source 2’ and ‘source 3’. Also, from Isaiah 1:1, King Uzziah, Ahaz and Hezekiah are attested archaeologically. One can walk through Hezekiah’s tunnel and exit by the pool of Siloam today. Hezekiah has a seal bearing his inscription and again he is abundantly attested.
Isaiah recorded historical details correctly; but is that a demanding thing to achieve and is that important regarding the reliability of the Scriptures? Well see if you can name the 10 most common UK names 20 years ago or 50 years ago or 200 years ago? The National Office of Statistics note that there are regional differences for names and trends relating to naming people after popular figures in history. Now I think Sir William Ramsay knew that, since he was a world-famous liberal archaeologist. He took a particular interest in the books off Luke and Acts and took a team to Asia Minor (Turkey) to investigate. He discovered that Luke was accurate in naming 32 countries, 54 cities and 9 Islands correctly. Why are historical details so important? Ramsay was so overwhelmed that he came to trust in the Lord. The details are important!
Prophecy fulfilled points to Messiah
Without deep consideration and by making huge assumptions, some say that prophecies written down can be easily fulfilled. Yet prophecy concerning John the Baptist is fascinating since another layer of complexity required fulfilment. Leaders of religions or cults, or would be Messiah’s for the most part, usually promote themselves. Someone could claim to the Messiah though they would need to fulfil scores of detailed prophecies.
This passage brings to our attention that the Messiah had to be preceded by a messenger. John the Baptist is mentioned in each of the four gospels. Prophecy is vital and around a quarter of Scripture contains prophetic content. Consider the message of the messenger who points us to Messiah in whom is salvation. All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Even Jesus’ name in Hebrew, ‘Yeshua,’ points towards Messiah who brings salvation. Jesus saves people from their sin and a lost eternity. John the Baptist prepared the way, history was foretold and prophecy was fulfilled. John was the voice crying in the wilderness and who proclaimed the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the remission (forgiveness) of sins. We must preach a message of repentance, preaching for a conviction of sin, turning from sin and turning to God. Repentance involves a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of allegiance by trusting in the Lord instead of ourselves and a change of direction. Only the Lord and change a person from the inside and make them a new creation in Messiah.
David Baron was spot on. Biblical history can be likened to history written in advance, even as history when properly understood is the fulfilment of prophecy. John the Baptist prepared the way and Jesus fulfilled prophecies concerning His birth, life, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension. The everlasting gospel is for the Jew first and then the Gentile (Romans 1:16).
Prophecy and history have been fulfilled with the coming of Messiah. Today, prophecy and history are unfolding in Israel and the surrounding nations and Israel, despise her relative size, holds the world’s attention. The Scriptures assure the believer that Messiah is coming back, so it is time to seek the Lord today and to be ready for when He returns.
[i] Ronnie McCracken David Baron A Prince in Israel (Graham & Heslip Ltd, Belfast), p165
[ii] JPS Tanakh The Jewish Study Bible Editors Adele Berlin & Marc Zvi Brettler (Oxford University Press, 2004; New York)
[iii] Lawrence Mykytiuk 53 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically 3rd Sept , 2024 https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/50-people-in-the-bible-confirmed-archaeologically/
[iv] Lawrence Mykytiuk 30 People in the New Testament Confirmed 9th February, 2025 https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/new-testament-political-figures-the-evidence/
[v] https://messiahprophecyandhistory.co.uk/2020/04/12/the-famous-words-of-caiaphas-history-prophecy-and-providence-converge-as-atonement-is-made/
[vi] The New Complete Works of Flavius Josephus Translated by William Whiston Commentary by Paul Maier (Kregel Publications, 1999; Grand Rapids (Jewish Antiquities 18:5:2), p595
