Remarkable Stories of Fulfilled Prophecies

—2 Peter 3:1–14

Andrew Fountain – Dec 2, 2018

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Three Stories from the past and one for the future

Tyre
Nineveh
Babylon
The Future

2 Peter 3:1-14

The reasoning here is pretty straightforward:
- Jesus promised that he would come again (and judge the world)
- It is not going to be as soon as people are expecting
- In the meantime, people are going to mock God, saying in effect
  - There is not a God who supernaturally intervenes in Creation
  - Things have always been like this and always will be
- The answer is that God has kept his promises in the past
  - so he will keep them in the future
So I am going to tell three stories of God keeping his promises

1. Tyre

The first story is about the city of Tyre
- It is in the country of Lebanon, not a major city today
Long ago it was one of the great cities of the world
- Established more than 2½ thousand years before Christ
- The the people wore beautiful embroidered clothes
- The Bible tells us of their wealth and luxury
- But more than anything else, they had ships
  - They were the trading gateway between the East and the West
- Some of their wealth and pride is described in

Ezekiel 28

Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, This is what the sovereign LORD says:
‘Your heart is proud and you said, “I am a god;
I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas”—
yet you are a man and not a god,
though you think you are godlike…
By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself;
you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries.
By your great skill in trade you have increased your wealth,
and your heart is proud because of your wealth.

Ezekiel 28 v6–10

‘Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says:
Because you think you are godlike,
I am about to bring foreigners against you, the most terrifying of nations.
They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, and they will defile your splendor.
They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die violently in the heart of the seas.
Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you —though you are a man and not a god—
when you are in the power of those who wound you?
You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the sovereign LORD.’

Ezekiel 26:1-18

Notice the details (just read highlighted verses)
- A king called Nebuchadnezzar
- come from Babylon
- bring siege engines
- break walls
- destroy city
- smash towers
- throw the rubble into the sea!
- even the dirt scraped off to leave bare rock
- a place for the spreading of fishermen’s nets
- the surrounding cities would be terrified
- it would never be rebuilt
Seventeen years after this prophecy was given...
- The great King Nebuchadnezzar came and conquered Jerusalem
- and then laid siege on Tyre
- He wanted Tyre so badly because of his greed for the great treasure there
- He did exactly what the prophecy said—he used massive force and battering rams
- Eventually he smashed the walls down
- But when he finally broke in, he found the place empty
  - He had forgotten that these people were experts in ships
- There were a couple of islands just off the coast and the inhabitants had escaped and taken all their treasure
- He and his army were furious and they took out their anger on the stones of the city
  - They smashed down everything they could and killed any stragglers they could find
- Nebuchadnezzar when home without the treasures
  - and the new city prospered
But that about the rest of the prophecy?
- Rubble in the sea? Even the dirt scraped off?
  - Who was likely to do a clean-up operation on this ruined city and throw all the rubble and dirt into the sea?
  - It doesn’t make sense!
- A place for fishermen to spread nets?
  - Not possible—not even flat—heaps of ruins
- Surrounding nations terrified?
  - Didn’t happen. The opposite!
- Never be rebuilt?
  - although it hadn’t yet, it was still a prime location
- For generations God’s promise remained unkept
240 years later...
- Alexander the Great and his army were beginning their astonishing conquest of the world
- Nation after nation was falling before him
- The Island City (which they called Tyre after the old city) laughed at him from their island fortress
- But Alexander the Great was so determined that he decided to build a causeway 200ft wide from the mainland out to the island
  - Just under a km long

Three Stories from the past and one for the future

Tyre
Nineveh
Babylon
The Future

Nahum 3

Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed!
She is full of lies;
she is filled with plunder;

1:1 The oracle against Nineveh—the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:

1:8 But with an overwhelming flood
he will make a complete end of Nineveh;
he will drive his enemies into darkness.
1:10 Surely they will be totally consumed
like entangled thorn bushes,
like the drink of drunkards,
like very dry stubble.
2:6 The sluice gates are opened;
the royal palace is deluged and dissolves.
2:8 Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
but now her people are running away;
she cries out: “Stop! Stop!” – but no one turns back.
3:13 Your warriors will be like women in your midst;
the gates of your land will be wide open to your enemies;
fire will consume the bars of your gates.

Themes of
- a flood
- drunkenness
- fire
- the river overflowing
- the walls being opened up to the enemy
Sometimes people argue against the prophecy by saying it must have happened after the event.
- But here the time gap is very big:
Nothing happened for 100 years
- Then the Medes and Babylonians came to besiege the city
- But it was no use
- The city was so big they had cattle and fields inside the walls
  - enough food and water to survive indefinitely
- But God would keep his promise!
- Right at that very time, as the armies were ready, the river Tigris flooded like it had never done before
  - It ran alongside the wall and whole sections of wall subsided
  - The giant gates were open and the city defenceless
- At that time the king was having a drunken feast in his palace
  - They realized what was happening
  - Rather than allow themselves to be captured, they heaped up a great funeral fire in the palace
  - and all died in the blaze
- The city was never rebuilt and it was not until 1845 that archaeologists even discovered where it was!
- Show pictures

Three Stories from the past and one for the future

Tyre
Nineveh
Babylon
The Future

Three Stories from the past and one for the future

Tyre
Nineveh
Babylon
The end of the World

2 Peter 3:1-14

Three responses

If you are not prepared for Jesus’ return, you need to be, because it is sure!
- The offer is open and free
If you are not a Christian, be prepared!

Do you ever say “where is God?” “Why does he not answer my prayers?”
- This is a great encouragement to us