I was blessed recently with two weeks exploring the land of Israel with a few good friends who live there and a few good friends from America. We traveled from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee (pictured) and parts north. We also made it all the way down to Eilat and the Gulf of Aqaba and over to Petra and Wadi Rum in Jordon.
A few weeks before traveling to the Holy Land, I was asked if I would like to teach one evening at a Messianic Fellowship in Jerusalem that my friends attended. I agreed. The requested topic was Jerusalem in prophecy in the last days with an aim of encouraging the brethren there.
Finding scripture about Israel and Jerusalem in end times prophecy is not difficult to do. However, finding encouragement in the context of the last days proves a bit more difficult. In addition, I was asked to keep the length of the teaching to fifty minutes or less, which I initially thought was nigh on impossible!
As I started praying, studying and preparing this study the Lord led me into some very interesting places, some of which I was able to cover in the study and some of which I had to skim over. Afterwards, over the next few weeks while we were traveling around the country, the Spirit starting tugging at my heart to look more closely into things that were only hinted at during the study.
What follows is an expanded version of the study I taught, entitled:
Israel: The Adoption, the Glory (Appearing) and the Preparation
This study will be broken up into four or five parts. This is part I.
I started the study with a word about Prophecy. There are certain principles about Biblical prophecy which are critical to understanding the relationship between a given prophecy and both other prophecies and historical events related to those prophecies. With that said, we will start in 2 Peter chapter one.
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:16-21)
Peter recounts his testimony (along with James and John) of witnessing the transfiguration of Jesus ( Matt. 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36) where he saw Jesus’ appearance change “and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” and Moses and Elijah appeared next to Jesus (and Peter somehow knew who they were). Not only this, but God spoke out of the cloud to the three of them in an audible and discernible voice. This must have been a profound and amazing experience for them that greatly increased their faith in Jesus.
But then Peter writes something amazing, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy.” As mind blowing as his experience was on the mount of transfiguration, it did not carry as much weight with Peter as the Word of God, that is, Old Testament prophecies about Jesus.
…a more sure word…
We are to place more confidence in the Word of God than in our own personal experiences with God, no matter how amazing they may be. He then goes on to instruct us that “…no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” He emphasizes this with “Knowing this first.” It is of primary importance that we realize this statement and apply it to our understanding of scripture as a whole and of prophecy in particular. So what does he mean by this?
We are told by Jesus that the Holy Spirit will teach us through the Word (John 14:26) and will guide us into all truth (John 16:13) and that the Word of God is Truth (John 17:17), but beyond that I believe Peter is directing us to interpret scripture with scripture. We should not only look at the context of a particular passage, but also the co-text. That is, other passages that speak of the same thing.
For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
This is a startling passage, as it indicates that God has revealed everything He intends to do through His prophets (holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost). However, we see the prophet Daniel instructed by the angel:
But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased…for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:4, 9b)
So although the Lord God reveals everything He plans to do through the prophets, the understanding of what has been written or spoken by them may not be understood until “the time of the end.” In 2 Peter 1:12 Peter tells his readers that they are “established in the present truth”. It would seem then that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth in Biblical prophecies when the right time comes, so His people can know and understand the times they are living in.
And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; (1 Chronicles 12:32a)
As with the children of Issachar, we are called to understand the times we live in that we might know what we should do now as followers of Jesus. So what times do we live in? According to Daniel 12 quoted above, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased”, most certainly describes our current day. Global transportation has never been faster or easier via airplanes and while knowledge doubled every 100 years in 1900, by the end of World War II that doubling had increased to every 25 years and it is now estimated to double every 12 months.
This combined with the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948 has led many Bible scholars to the conclusion that we are now living in the “time of the end” spoken of in Daniel 12.
I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. (Isaiah 42:8-9)
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10)
Here we see the Lord clearly stating through the prophet Isaiah that prophecy is one of the proofs He has given mankind to authenticate that He is in fact, God. To help you fathom just how powerful a proof this is, I recommend you read this brief blog called, What are the Odds?
I mentioned earlier the need to interpret scripture with scripture by finding co-texts for any passage you may be reading or trying to understand better. What many Christians do not understand is that most of the New Testament is a commentary on the old. It should be a regular habit for you to look up the Old Testament passages when you see them referenced in the New. (A reference Bible is great for this). To get a better understanding of this, let’s start with Jesus interpretation of a prophecy about Himself.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered to him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say to them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:16-21 Emphasis added)
I can imagine Jesus putting the emphasis on “me” as he read this, but what is really interesting is to look at the passage He quoted out of Isaiah.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1-2 Emphasis added)
Jesus stopped reading at “the acceptable year of the LORD” and did not include “the day of vengeance of our God”.
Why?
Because He only quoted the prophecy concerning His first coming. That comma indicates the two thousand years since then and more until He returns a second time in judgement. This is important to understand. Many prophecies may not always be concurrent or in chronological order even though they are in the very same sentence. Often prophetic scripture will give you an overview and then revisit the same event or events from a different perspective.
Let’s think about that comma between “LORD” and “and“. If you have ever driven or hiked into the mountains, you know that the foothills often have taller mountains behind them that look much closer than they really are until you get to the top of those foothills and see the valley between.
Prophecy for the prophet was often like this. He could see the mountain peaks of prophecy (if you will), but could not see the valleys in between. And although those peaks looked very close to one another from his vantage point, they often had hundreds or thousands of years in between. Sometimes these “valleys” of years are represented by only a comma.
Prophecy is pattern.
Western thought and interpretation of prophecy is often, prophecy given and then fulfilled. Next! The problem is the Bible is NOT western or Greek literature. It is Hebraic and should be understood in that light. The Bible’s prophecy are often prediction, partial fulfillment (which is a type or picture of the ultimate), partial fulfillment, ultimate fulfillment. Let’s take a look at a few examples.
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be you there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. (Matthew 2:13-15)
Matthew tells us this was a fulfillment of Hosea 11:1, but let’s read it.
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Here we see God giving Hosea an historical statement about bringing the nation of Israel out of Egypt back in the book of Exodus. That is the plain context. Yet, by the Spirit, Matthew tells us this referred to Jesus. But the pattern is much larger than this.
Abraham sojourned down to Egypt where God judged a wicked king (Pharaoh) and brought Abraham out of Egypt. Then Israel (Jacob) went to down to Egypt where the small tribe grew into a great nation over 400 years. Then God judged a wicked king (another Pharaoh) and brought the nation of Israel (“my son”) out of Egypt. Joseph, Mary and Jesus went down to Egypt. God judged a wicked king (Herod) and brought them back out of Egypt.
This brings us to the Church. Egypt is often used as a type of the World. When we are born again, we leave Egypt (so to speak) and start our journey to our home in heaven, to a city whose builder and maker is God (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 and Hebrews 11:13-16). Jesus came and judged a wicked king (judicially Satan was judged, his sentence shall be carried out when Jesus returns – see John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11), and called us out of “Egypt”.
The ultimate fulfillment will be when Jesus appears in the clouds, judges a wicked king (the Antichrist) and calls His Church out of Egypt (the world) at the Resurrection and Rapture.
(These prophetic patterns in Scripture were first made known to me through the teaching ministry of Jacob Prasch of Moriel Ministries. I encourage you to check out this excellent Bible teacher!)
Lets take a look at another example of prophetic pattern in scripture in the Olivet Discourse.
When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:15-21)
The context of this passage can be found in the first 14 versus of Matthew chapter 24, as Jesus responds to His disciple’s question:
And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world? (Matthew 24:3)
Here, Jesus speaks of the “abomination of desolation” as a future event, even though it had already been fulfilled in the past. I intend to write about this much more in the future, but for now let’s look at a few things “spoken of by Daniel the prophet.”
- Takes place in the middle of the 70th week (7 years) (Dan 9:27)
- “He” shall:
- “…put an end to sacrifice and offering.” (Dan 9:27)
- “…appear and profane the temple…” (Dan 11:31)
- “…take away the regular burnt offering.” (Dan 11:31, 12:11)
- “…set up the abomination that makes desolate.” (Dan 11:31, 12:11)
The 70th week of Daniel, as it is generally referred to, is understood by many Bible scholars to be the last 7 years prior to the return of Christ. It is sometimes referred to as the Tribulation with the last 3 1/2 years being the Great Tribulation. However, everything prophesied about this event was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes (the then emperor of the Seleucid [Greco/Syrian] empire) in 168 BC when he defiled the Second Temple and ransacked Jerusalem. This led to the Maccabee revolt and the retaking of Jerusalem by the Jewish people and the re-dedication of the Temple three years later. This is now celebrated at the Feast of Dedication, also known as Hanukkah (see John 10:22-23).
Similar desecration of the Temple took place in 63 BC by Pompey and then again in 70 AD by Titus. However, it is clear by versus 29 thru 31 of Matthew 24 that Jesus was referring to a final fulfillment that is yet to come. So again we see that prophecy is pattern, with multiple instances of partial fulfillment all providing an object lesson for us of the final fulfillment (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 for another description of this yet future event).
In Israel Part II: The Adoption and the Glory, I will continue with the expanded study of Israel: The Adoption, the Glory (Appearing) and the Preparation
Please let us know your thoughts!