The book, The World’s Worst Predictions lists some of history’s all-time prophetic goofs, such as:
King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution. Hindsight proved him wrong.
An official of the White Star Line, speaking of the firm’s newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable. It clearly was sinkable. Leonardo Dicaprio is famously remembered for his role in the movie adaptation of the sinking of the Titanic.
In 1939 The New York Times said the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn’t have time for it. Who would have thought that screen addiction would now be a thing. To the point some restaurants have put little “screen baskets” on their tables in hopes to get their patrons to be engaged in the moment with the person/people they are with. Obviously in 1939 The New York Times was wrong.
An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate. Any of you ever been on a plane? I have and I am still alive. No suffocation.
While these historical predictions are silly to us now, in the mirror of time, yet they were spoken with sincerity by those who spoke them.
Today we remember the first Sunday of Advent.
ad·vent
/ˈadˌvent/
noun
-
the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.
In Christianity we celebrate, participate or simply remember during advent the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. But if Advent is the arrival, then why don’t we just call Christmas “the arrival” of Jesus Christ? Why do we have four weeks of remembering. Because Advent is not just about the arrival, its also about the waiting. Waiting involves time. It involves both Chronos and Kairos time. Chronos, the Greek word we get our word chronology from speaks to seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and even years. Chronos time is quantitative, sixty seconds is a quantity of time. This is where we find the people of God, they are in a Chronos season of time, waiting, longing and looking forward to the Advent of their Messiah. There were approximately 1500 years between Abraham and Jesus according to Matthew chapter 1. 1500 years of waiting. Galatians chapter 4 tells us the “in the fullness of time, God sent forth His son.” God is operating on a very different set of time values. God is operating in Kairos time. Kairos time is qualitative, not quantitative. God is waiting for a moment where conditions are right for the revealing of His son. We understand Kairos time in things like sowing and reaping. One doesn’t simply count days until harvest time one waits for the crop to be ready. In childbirth, one doesn’t simply wait nine months, or forty weeks and then they give birth. There is a Kairos moment and that is when the moment of birth comes. So while God waited for the Kiaros moment to send forth His son His people waited in a long season of chronos time.
How does one survive a long chronos season awaiting a kairos moment. How does one keep up hope when it seems to take longer than you think it should? (And it seems to me that I always run out of chronos patience awaiting God to reveal a Kairos moment.) This first Advent Sunday is about this very thing, we remember the prophecies God shared with his people. Prophecies that served a two-fold purpose.
The first purpose of the over three hundred messianic prophecies is found in John chapter 5 verse 39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” God gave His people a very distinct and clear way to recognize His son Jesus had come. How would they know? How would they not be deceived or even miss Him when He came? The answer is found in Gods prophetic revelation to His people. Over 300 times through various different prophets God said “This is how you will know when my Messiah comes” At the end of this text there is a short 8 minute video that I encourage you to watch that details these prophecies and Jesus fulfillment of them. That’s right, Jesus fulfilled ALL of the over 300 prophecies about the Messiah from the Old Testament. How can you know that Jesus really is God’s Messiah sent for you? Because God’s word has given clear evidence. He sent His son for you, and for me, and for all (Acts 2:39).
The second purpose of the over three hundred messianic prophecies God gave is simply Hope. It is this that we celebrate most in the Advent season. We celebrate hope that gives us the staying power to wait for the promise. That’s how God’s people stayed waiting for the Kairos moment spoken of in Galatians 4 because God continually offered hope to His people.
This season of Advent we celebrate hope and believing. Those who were in the midst of waiting had faith in the promise because of hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. They lived in faith because God provided hope. I pray as you celebrate Advent and look forward to celebrating the promise revealed on Christmas that you will revisit hope in your own life and your own Chronos season of waiting. Whatever it is rest in hope Just as Christ came at the kairos moment God had prepared, there is hope for you of a kairos moment in your season too.
Watch this video in the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus our Messiah: