Instances of actual fulfilment of prophecy are found, according to Davidson, in Samuel’s prediction of some things that would happen to Saul, which the history declares did happen (_1 Sam. 1_ and _10_). Jeremiah predicted the death of Hananiah within the year, which took place (_Jer. 28_). Micaiah predicted the defeat and death of Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead (_1 Kings 22_). Isaiah predicted the failure of the northern coalition to subdue Jerusalem (_Is. 7_); the overthrow in two or three years of Damascus and Northern Israel before the Assyrians (_Is. 8 and 17_); the failure of Sennacherib to capture Jerusalem, and the melting away of his army (_Is. 37:34-37_). “And in general, apart from details, the main predictions of the prophets regarding Israel and the nations were verified in history, for example, _Amos 1_ and _2_. The chief predictions of the prophets relate to the imminent downfall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; to what lies beyond this, namely, the restoration of the kingdom of God; and to the state of the people in their condition of final felicity.” For predictions of the exile and the return of Israel, see especially _Amos 9:9—_“For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.... _14—_And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them.” Even if we accept the theory of composite authorship of the book of Isaiah, we still have a foretelling of the sending back of the Jews from Babylon, and a designation of Cyrus as God’s agent, in _Is. 44:28—_“that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid”; see George Adam Smith, in Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, 2:493. Frederick the Great said to his chaplain: “Give me in one word a proof of the divine origin of the Bible”; and the chaplain well replied: “The Jews, your Majesty.” In the case of the Jews we have even now the unique phenomena of a people without a land, and a land without a people,—yet both these were predicted centuries before the event. 5. _Messianic Prophecy in general._ (_a_) Direct predictions of events—as in Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s birth, suffering and subsequent glory. (_b_) General prophecy of the Kingdom in the Old Testament, and of its gradual triumph. (_c_) Historical types in a nation and in individuals—as Jonah and David. (_d_) Prefigurations of the future in rites and ordinances—as in sacrifice, circumcision, and the passover.