To Be Announced
Isaiah 9:1-7
There are times when people wait anxiously for news because the news can have great consequences for many people.
Waiting for the results of a Presidential election for instance. Depending on who wins will determine the fate of the nation.
Lately my wife and I have been enjoying a T.V. show about Queen Elizabeth II called “The Crown”.
In this show we see historical events lived out as fate and providence twist and turn in determining her future. Freewill also enters into the picture but much of the future remains unknown as events change their color as quickly as a chameleon.
At one moment things could go this way or that way or involve any number of individuals.
Changing one seemingly insignificant event in this chain of events will have impacted the future considerably.
American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz gave a name for this, he called it “the butterfly effect”. “The butterfly effect is the concept that small causes can have large effects. Initially, it was used with weather prediction but later the term became a metaphor used in and out of science.[1]”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
“Philip Merilees of the American Association for the Advancement of Science , explains it this way… “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas? “ Source: same
A movie in 2004 had this same title “the butterfly effect”.
This Butterfly Effect is just part of a more complex mathematical theory that is commonly known as the Chaos Theory.
It goes like this…
“Chaos: When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future.
Does that sound like double talk to you? It sure does to me.
Basically a mathematical outcome is determined by a present set of rules that give exact future outcomes. A small change in that mathematical equation anywhere will result in different outcomes but those outcomes can be determined by studying the changes in the equation or the resulting chaos along the way.
I know I do not understand this clearly I usually got a C- or worse in math but I get the idea that the metaphor was presenting. A tiny butterfly flapping its wings can have an effect that is felt in a faraway place.
What science is saying is that they can predict that effect before it happens. They can tell us when something is “To be announced”.
They use this theory to give us the weather report so you can see they make the theory complicated enough to give them wiggle room for when they say it will be sunny and instead it rains.
Once this theory was presented as science people of faith became interested as well.
Theologian physicists began to take on this theory and weigh it against our concepts of predestination, providence and chance found in the bible. One such physicist William Pollard asked … “Does God throw dice?" For Pollard biblical and scientific descriptions of the same events were complementary, and "chance" was encompassed within the divine providence.” END Quote
Source: Theological Reflections on Chaos Theory John Jefferson Davis, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary 130 Essex Street S. Hamilton, MA 01982 From Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 49 (June 1997): 75¬84.
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1997/PSCF6-97Davis.html
It is important to note that this theologian physicist held that the laws of nature play a role in all of this as the outcome must be consistent with God’s will.
In other words science thinks it can tell us the future with accuracy but it cannot determine the will of God even though they use the laws of nature to come to their conclusions. Still that’s a pretty bold assertion.
This chaos theory has been applied to nearly every field of science in order to predict a future that we cannot see from here.
In fact super computers run chaos theory equations all the time resulting in new discoveries that we just don’t understand yet. The computers are in fact smarter than we are at this time. That is a worrisome thought.
What is befuddling to the scientific community is the accuracy and regularity that biblical prophecy has come true.
Hank Hanegraaff of the Christian Research Journal said this about bible prophecy…
“Perhaps the most significant question posed to believers in our "Post-Christian" culture revolves around the inspiration of Scripture. Is the Bible in fact divinely inspired or merely human in origin?
The prophetic evidences for the Bible's trustworthiness are so overwhelming that anyone with a truly open mind will be compelled to consider the Bible's central message: redemption in Jesus Christ.
For example, it was not only prophesied that Christ would be a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), but that He would be from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10) and the house of David (Ps. 110:1); that He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12f.), and also that His hands and feet would be pierced (Ps. 22:16). It is noteworthy that this last prediction was made long before crucifixion was invented as a form of capital punishment by the Persians and a thousand years before it was made common by the Romans.
It was also prophesied that Christ would be crucified with transgressors (Isa. 53:9, 12); that none of His bones would be broken (Ex.12:46; Ps. 34:20); and that He would cry out from the cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Ps. 22:1). Moreover, Christ's resurrection (Ps. 16:8-11), His ascension (Ps. 68:18), and hundreds of other details were predicted in minute detail. These prophecies do not deal with vague generalities (as is so often the case with modern-day "prophets" and psychics); they are specific and verifiable. Each was literally fulfilled _down to the smallest detail_ in the person of Jesus Christ.
In addition to Messianic prophecies, the Bible contains nearly 2,000 prophecies concerning almost every nation within a thousand miles of Jerusalem.” END Quote
Source: the Christian Research Journal, fall 1989, Volume 12, Number 2, page 7) by Hank Hanegraaff. Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute, P.O. Box 500-TC, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693. http://www.2christ.org/prophecy/CRJ0030A.TXT
This morning I quoted from Isaiah as he shared an event that was “to be announced” about the future Messiah some 650 years before Jesus was born. It is a powerful announcement containing an eternal promise and holding out hope to all who hear it.
But Saints there was another “To be announced” event that preceded Isaiah’s
God the Father made it in the Garden of Eden. An announcement that rattled the corridors of Heaven and shook Satan to the core with fear and dread.
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The ultimate seed of the woman would be Jesus Himself. Therefore, we have in Genesis 3:15, the first promise of a Redeemer. It is the beginning of a long line of prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. The Promised One would be from the woman's seed an indication of the eventual virgin birth of Christ.
Source: Don Stewart – Blue Letter Bible Commentary https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_756.cfm
These things “To Be Announced” are throughout the Bible. In them we can have absolute hope and faith as God’s plan comes to fruition. Next week we begin to celebrate Advent the physical arrival of Jesus Christ to our world. Jesus came to save sinners and redeem a people to Himself.
What Jesus accomplished affects everyone on earth and in heaven and it is to be announced until He comes again. Celebrate Jesus Advent Saints but ready yourselves for His second advent. – Amen.
