Page 181 - Foundations

Men may fail to comprehend the mind of God even when He speaks to them in the plainest of speech.
An example of this is observed in the following words.

Mark 9:31-32
For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands
of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." But they
did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

There was a veil that remained over the minds of Christ’s disciples. Many of the things that Christ
declared to them did not make sense until after they were fulfilled. This is one function of prophecy.
It is to let us know after an event occurs that God was the Author of it, and the matter was according
to His plan. This is made plain in the following verses.

John 2:19-22
Yahshua answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The
Jews therefore said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three
days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead,
His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which
Yahshua had spoken.

The Jewish people and their religious leaders had the plain testimony of the prophets who spoke often
of the promised Messiah. Nevertheless, when they read the Scriptures a veil was over their minds,
preventing them from comprehending the truth of what they were reading.

II Corinthians 3:14-16
But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil
remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies
over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

To suggest that the gospel was unknown, or undeclared, before the time of its fulfillment is an
absolutely untenable position to defend. From the third chapter of Genesis we see God beginning to
prophesy through words and signs that a Savior would one day come to redeem humanity and break
the bonds of Satan. We see this in God’s words stating that the Seed of the woman would crush the
serpent’s head. It is observed in the garment of animal skins that God provided as a covering for
mankind’s nakedness. This required an animal to be sacrificed, looking forward to the Lamb of God
who is Christ one day becoming a covering for all who believe. The Gospel is seen in the Passover
Lamb that was slain so that others might live. The betrayal of Christ is observed in Judah suggesting
to his brothers that they sell Joseph for 20 pieces of silver, serving as a type of Judas (a Greek form
of the name Judah) betraying Yahshua for 30 pieces of silver. The prophets declared that a virgin
would be with child. They foretold the suffering Servant, the One who would be pierced for our
transgressions. The very words of Christ on the cross were prophetically uttered by David in the
Psalms centuries before the fulfillment.

Psalms 22:1-7
For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.