62 The Fundamentals it will hardly be contended that the Psalms, or whatever parts of the Old Testament are not included, have a less stable char acter. The latter question, of momentous import, we shall consider presently. FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY The inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures is clearly implied in the many declarations of our Lord respecting the fulfilment of prophecies contained in them. It is God’s prerogative to know, and to make known, the future. Human presage cannot go beyond what is foreshadowed in events which have transpired, or is wrapped up in causes which we plainly see in operation. If, therefore, the Old Testament reveals, hundreds of years in advance, what is coming to pass, omniscience must have directed the pen of the writer; i. e., these Scriptures, or at least their predictive parts, must be inspired. The passage already quoted from the Sermon on the Mount may be noticed as regards its bearing on prophecy: “I am not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil.” While plerdsai, as referring to the law, has the special meaning above pointed ou t; as referring to the prophets, it has its more common import. We have here, then, a general statement as to the Old Testament contain ing prophecies which were fulfilled by Christ and in Him. Here are examples. The rejection of Messiah by the Jewish authorities, as well as the ultimate triumph of His cause, is announced in the 118th Psalm, in words which Christ applies to Himself: “The stone which the builders rejected is be come the head of the corner.” The desertion of Jesus by His disciples when He was apprehended fulfils the prediction of Zechariah: “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall all be scattered” (Matt. 26:31). Should angelic intervention rescue Jesus from death, “how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” All that related to His
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