Chizuk Emunah Under the Microscope: Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is a fairly lengthy chapter, where Troki argues with a Christian scholar over whether the current state of exile experienced by the Jewish people was foretold by the prophets or not. The Christian argued that the prophecies in the Tanakh foretold the exile due to the Medes and the Persians, but not the extremely long exile that followed the destruction of the second temple. Troki's response is as follows:

1. There are prophecies that foretell this current state of exile.
2. There are many prophecies which were supposed to be fulfilled in the days of Messiah but yet are unfulfilled.

Troki calls up several passages stating that they cannot possibly apply to the Babylonian captivity.

Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
(Deuteronomy 30:3 ESV)

I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.
(Ezekiel 22:15 ESV)

Troki argues that the Babylonian captivity was not a scattering, but simply a transplant of many Jews to Babylon. They were not scattered, therefore, these passages do not apply.

Troki then gives a list of 20 unfulfilled prophecies believed to occur in the times of Messiah.

1. The ingathering of the Ten Tribes, and their union with Judah and Benjamin under the dominion of one king of the house of Judah

Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
  
(Ezekiel 37:21-28 ESV)

2. The rise of Gog and Magog, and their incursions into the territory of Israel (see Ezek. 38 and 39. See also Zech. 14:12)

3. The Mount of Olives shall be rent asunder (Zechariah 14)

4. The river of Egypt will be divided into seven rivers (Isaiah 11)

5. Milk will flow from the hills. Mountains will produce wine. Trees will produce fruit on a monthly basis (Ezekiel 47)

6. Ten men from every nation will grab the arm of a Jew saying "take me with you, I hear God is with you." (Zechariah 8:23)

7. All remnant nations will bow down and make pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Zechariah 14)

8. The Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh will be celebrated by Gentiles.

 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD."
(Isaiah 66:22-23 ESV)

9. The total extinction of idolatry. See Isaiah 2:18, "And the idols he will consume completely"; and 42:17, "They shall turn backward, and be filled with shame who trust in images, and say unto the molten statues. Ye are our gods!" See also Psalm 97:7.

10. Unity of religion (Isaiah 45:23"By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’").

11.The kingdom of Israel will be supreme (Isaiah 60).

12. The other nations will beat their swords into plowshares and war will be no more (Isaiah 2).

13. The wolf will dwell with the lamb and there will be peace among the animals (Isaiah 11).

14. Sin will be defeated and will no longer rule (Deuteronomy 30 and Ezekiel 36).

15. Ancient troubles and sorrows will cease forever (Isaiah 65).

16. The divine presence will be restored (Ezekiel 37).

17. The prophet Isaiah will appear before that day (Malachi).

18. The future temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 40 to 45).

19. The ancient divisions among tribes will be restored (Ezekiel 47:13).

20.  The resurrection of the dead will take place (Isaiah 26, Ezekiel 37, Daniel 12).

The charge that Judah was not scattered during the Babylonian exile is a poor one. Pick up any reputable volume on the history of ancient Israel, and it will paint quite a different picture than Troki is trying to paint. Paul Johnson in his History of the Jews writes:

"There was a great scattering of the nation. it was a diaspora as well as an exile, for many fled north, to Samaria, or to Edom and Moab. Some went to Egypt. Among them was Jeremiah himself."

So there was a scattering, and Jesus recognized this. He even said that he would have performed the ingathering if the people were ready. Instead, they have to wait until the Jewish people finally accept Jesus as their lord.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
(Luke 13:34-35 ESV)

Also remember that the term "end of days" or "last day" is used in the Tanakh to indicate times other than the end of actual history. The last chapters of Genesis are an example of this.

Remember as well that the followers of Jesus believe that he came and that he will return. Hence, the New Testament allows for a very long interval for the prophecies to be fulfilled. Given the fact that preaching the gospel to every people group takes a very long time, one should expect a long gap between the coming of Messiah and his return.

Troki also gives 20 prophecies and uses them in an argument against the messiahship of Jesus. All 20 criteria can be answered quite easily. It is not enough to show that there are unfulfilled prophecies in order to show that Jesus is not Messiah. The anti-missionary needs to show that Jesus will not fulfill those criteria. In order to do this, the anti-missionary needs to construct a positive case that either: these prophecies must be fulfilled within a certain timeframe after the coming of Messiah and that Jesus did not do this, or that Jesus will not be able to fulfill them upon his return.

 Troki argues that Isaiah 66:17 and Joel 3:19 refer to Muslims. This is quite a stretch, and can be dismissed pretty easily, as can his forced interpretations of "Edom" and "Kittim" being Rome.

Regarding the wolf lying down with the lamb, none other than Moses Maimonedes himself stated that such alterations of nature will not happen in the end days. Instead, these passages are to be interpreted metaphorically (Hilchot Melachim 12:1).

Jesus, being God, is the divine presence. When he returned to the temple, that simply was the divine presence entering the temple in fulfillment of the prophecy.