Thought I would share something that happened the other night at the meeting. The topic of Jehovah's restorative powers was being discussed. In it were verses from Isa 35:1-7. One person commented that 'since the deaf didn't literally start hearing again or the blind literally start seeing again or the lame literally start walking again, this prophecy must have a future fulfillment, a fulfillment in the New System.' I didn't know what the context of those verses were since they were only a reference in the material, so I opened my Bible and read them. As I was reading, I heard, "the Law and the Prophets". That's it. I immediately understood that the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled in Christ. I didn't need to turn to the verse in Matthew to figure that out. But, what got me was that this person commented about the fulfillment of these things being future. I started to look at the cross-references. Now, note, I'm using the new revised NWT, and they took out a lot of cross-references. However, there was one at Isa 35:6 where it talked about the lame leaping like a dear that cross-referenced to Matt 11:5. Going back to verse 4, it says:
"In reply Jesus said to them: “Go and report to John what you are hearing and seeing: The blind are now seeing and the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised up and the poor are being told the good news."
Of course, I've read this verse before, but never, ever connected it to Isaiah's prophecies. This really drove home what I heard, "the Law and the Prophets". Yes, even this prophecy that JWs attribute to a future time, was fulfilled in Christ.
After the meeting, I talked to the person who made the comment. He is a really nice guy, but an old-school JW. Can be hard-hearted at times about certain things. I talked to him about what I found based on his comment. He was astounded as he, too, never attributed those words of Christ as fulfilling what Isaiah wrote.
I am now looking at these so-called restoration prophecies in a very different way.
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