"Thy law is the truth." Psa. cxix. 142.
"Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful." Psa. cxix. 138.
"Lead me in thy truth and teach me." Psa. xxv. 5.
"The word of our God shall stand forever." Isaiah xl. 8.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." Mark xiii. 31.
The destructive critics have assaulted the most precious prophetic scriptures. It has been already stated that the final aim of skepticism is against the person of Christ. If the unbelieving world can be rid of both the prophecies concerning Christ, and the history of his life, his sacrificial death and resurrection, they will be rid of that stumbling stone which they have been pleased to call the "much-abused supernaturalism." Hence, the strenuous effort is made to destroy predictive prophecy concerning the person of the Son of God. The fact that there are more than thirty-five prophecies, containing one hundred and thirty distinct counts, concerning the birth, the life, the teaching, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord, greatly disturbs the critics.
The prophecy of Isaiah ix. 6 has been troublesome. The prophet foretold, in distinct and unimpeachable language, the coming of the Messiah: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
A critic who claims to be loyal to the word of God says concerning this passage: "The prophet always paints upon the canvas the events of the near future. I can not believe that Isaiah ix. 6 refers to a far-off event, because it would not give comfort to his people at that time." As this prophecy was given more than seven hundred years before the coming of the Messiah, our critic concludes that it could be of no practical benefit to Israel, hence, must have referred to some person who must soon appear.
To affirm that this promise of the Messiah long before his coming "would not give comfort to his people" is mere assumption. The time of his coming was not announced, and the people were to live in expectation of the event, which expectation was to be their stay and comfort. This assumption would vitiate the promise of his coming made to our first parents. Gen. iii. 15, the promises made to Moses; Deut xviii. 15, the predictions made in Psa. xxii. 1, 8, 16, 18, in which his cry on the cross, the taunt of his enemies, the piercing of his hands and feet, and the parting of his raiment among the soldiers, were all predicted.
The prediction that "Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, he that is to be the Ruler of Israel; whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting" (Micah v. 2) was made seven hundred years before the coming of Christ, and, according to critical assumption, could not refer to our Savior, "because it would not give comfort to his people."