He Spoke And It Was Done

by Kenneth J Price

"Remember the former things of old,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things that are not yet done,

Saying, 'My counsel shall stand,

And I will do all my pleasure.'"

Isaiah 46:9,10

As we consider prophecies relating to the fact that "He spoke, and it was done ..." we can consider the fact that Bible prophecy is certified by God's record. This not only applies to Israel and to Gentile nations, but also concerns other fulfilled prophecies -- all have one thing in common: from the human standpoint each one would have appeared improbable, if not impossible, of fulfilment.

Tyre

Would Tyre, proud and unchallenged master of the sea, indeed fall, and fall, so terribly, that it would become a rubbish pile on which fishers would spread their nets? But so it happened! "Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.' Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you ... and they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for spreading of nets in the midst of the sea ... it shall become plunder for the nations ... then they shall know that I am the LORD" ( Ezekiel 26:2-6).

Tyre felt the blows of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (26:7-12), and two centuries later it was Alexander the Great who completed the destruction and desolation, exactly as foretold by the prophet.

Edom

What a terrible enemy the descendants of Esau were to Israel. Opportunities were given to Edom to assist Israel through the wilderness, but this was never forthcoming, and Edom became an implacable enemy. However, God was not blind concerning this treatment of His people, and He moved upon the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy against them, against both Edom and Mount Seir, and although apparently secure in her impregnable mountain fortress, Edom went down under the irresistible force of the word of prophecy.

"Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and say to it, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out my hand against you, and make you most desolate; I shall lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Because you have an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity ... therefore I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you"'" (35:2-6).

Let us refer, too, to the prophesy of Obadiah, all twenty-one verses, some of the prophecy yet future. "He spoke and it was done" , and will be done.

Cyrus

The prophet Isaiah gives us the prophecy concerning Cyrus and the restoration of Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah. "Thus says the LORD ... who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held ... that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known me'" (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4).

It was two centuries later as recorded in Ezra 1:1-4 that Cyrus king of Persia commanded the Lord's house to be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the captives to return, as Jeremiah had foretold: "For thus says the LORD: 'After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word towards you, and cause you to return to this place'" (29:10).

Jericho

God by His own hand destroyed the city of Jericho which was never to be rebuilt.

However, if anyone dared to rise up and build this city: "Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay the foundation with his first-born, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates" (Joshua 6:26).

What a prophetic utterance! And there was a man who dared to do such a thing. Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. "In his days (King Ahab's) Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his first-born, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which he had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun" (1 Kings 16:34), and this was five hundred years after the original warning. Here was a man who either did not believe the prophetic word of the great God of Israel or else he had no love for his sons to bring on them their untimely deaths.

Noah

The universal flood of Noah's day was predicted by God: "And behold, I myself am bringing the flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; and everything that is on the earth shall die" (Genesis 6:17). The whole human race, except for eight souls, laughed in the face of God when He predicted such a catastrophe: "How could such a thing happen? We have never seen rain. Nothing like this has ever happened before." But the sure word of prophecy had been uttered by Almighty God, and the flood came and became part of the tragic history of the world.

"He Spoke and it was Done"

Whether Divine prophecy concerns a very small matter or concerns world empires, or even the very world itself; whether it was uttered days, months, years, centuries, or even millennia prior to fulfilment; whether it is fulfilled suddenly or progressively, through human instruments or even by direct Divine intervention, it makes no difference to the perfection of God's prophetic record. Biblical prophecy is certified very clearly by God's record in His Holy Word.

"The law of the LORD is perfect,

converting the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure,

Making wise the simple;

The statutes of the LORD are right,

Rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure,

Enlightening the eyes;

The fear of the LORD is clean,

Enduring for ever;

The judgements of the LORD are true

And righteous altogether"

Psalm 19:7-9

To those who are born again by the Spirit of God and who are God's remembrancers, because of a relationship with Him it is a priority in life to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, to pray for the salvation of His people. Because of adverse happenings in Israel, and especially in Jerusalem against that city and its people, many are becoming discouraged and frustrated, and the devil will do his utmost to make this so and to hinder the coming day when Israel will be the full blessing to the nations as prophesied. He has spoken, and it surely will be done.

• < Prev
• Next >