Issues in Bible Prophecy: Timing and Historical Context
Introduction
This is the first in a series of posts on
Bible prophecy. In particular, prophecies that are widely thought to refer to the last days (or the end times). In this first post, we’ll consider two
issues that are closely related to each other. These are timing and historical
context.
Timing
If we want to understand the prophecies of
the Bible correctly, we must pay close attention to the “time texts.” The
prophecies of the Bible often contain information indicating when the prophecy
in question will be fulfilled. They don’t always do this, of course. For
instance, the famous prophecy of Micah concerning the birth of Messiah:
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
There is no indication in the verse itself, or in the surrounding context as to when the prophecy was to be fulfilled. Similarly, with that striking prophecy of Isaiah 53, concerning the suffering servant who would bear the iniquity of us all. And there are many other prophecies that give us no discernable indication as to when they would be fulfilled. But there are many others that do give us an indication. Here are some examples:
For the head of Syria is Damascus,and head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.” Isaiah 16:14
For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.” (Isaiah 21:16)
the fruit harvest will not come.
(Isaiah 32:10)
This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 25:11)
These all give very specific time frames: within a year, in a little more than a year, in three years, 40 years, 65 years, 70 years. Other prophecies have time indicator statements, but not with a specified number of years. For instance:
In just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. (Hosea 1:4)For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. (Jeremiah 16:9)
The days are near... I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 12:23, 25)
If we were to disregard the time element in any of these prophecies, we would not be interpreting them properly. If we were to look for a fulfillment in our day of this prophecy of Ezekiel 12 (given in the 590s BC), then we would not be interpreting the passage correctly because it says that it would be fulfilled in the days of those who first heard Ezekiel deliver it.
It seems too obvious to mention that we should pay close attention to the time-indicators in prophecy. So why do I mention it? Because the time-indicators in many prophecies, especially those in the major prophecies of the New Testament —the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation—are often ignored.
The Olivet Discourse
The Olivet Discourse is found in Matthew 24
(with parallels in Mark 16 and Luke 21). Jesus had been with his disciples in
the temple. The disciples were impressed by its architectural splendor. They
came “to point out to him the buildings of the temple” (v. 2). In Mark, it says
they came to him and said, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what
wonderful buildings!” (Mk. 13:1) But Jesus said, “You see all these things, do
you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon
another that will not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). This piqued their curiosity,
and so they asked him, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end of the age?” (v. 3).
This is when he goes on to talk about wars and rumors of wars and kingdom rising against kingdom and famines and earthquakes in various places, false Christs arising, persecution, the abomination of desolation, the coming of the Son of Man, the sun going dark, the moon not giving its light—all these fearful things. And then he says in verse 34, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” This is a time-indicator, a time text. It’s the equivalent of those time texts mentioned above from the Old Testament, saying “in your days” these things will happen.
I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jer. 16:9)...in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezek. 12:25)
“In your days.” This is essentially what Jesus was telling the disciples when he said, “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” A generation in the Bible is 40 years (cf. Heb. 3:9-10). Everything Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 must have happened in that generation—in the 40 years from 30-70 AD.
Revelation
We find similar time texts in the book of Revelation:
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. (Rev. 1:1)
How can we reconcile this statement with an interpretive approach that says the events have still not taken place almost 2,000 years later? And there’s more. Consider what it says in verse 3.
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3)
What does “near” mean? Can it mean nearly 2,000 years or more? We get a clear idea of what it means when we compare Scripture with Scripture. Recall the passage from Ezekiel cited above:
The days are near... I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 12:23, 25)
In verse 23, he says, “the days are near.” He defines what he means by “near” in verse 25 when he says, “in your days.” A little later, in verse 27, he specifically denies that “near” means “many days from now” or “times far off.”
The natural way to understand the saying “the time is near” in Revelation 1:3, is to take it as referring to the generation of those who living when Revelation was first written. If “near” in Ezekiel means “in your days,” why wouldn’t it mean the same thing in Revelation?
There are several other passages in Revelation that show the same urgency, the same “nearness” of the events prophesied. Among the most prominent are these: 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20.
Historical Context
The second crucial element to grasp in interpreting
Bible prophecy is historical context. In this regard, we need to know that
there were two extraordinary events taking place almost simultaneously as the
generation that Jesus was talking about came to a close: Nero’s persecution and
the Jewish revolt that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Nero began his brutal persecution of Christians in late November of 64 AD and it continued until his suicide in early June of 68 (forty-two months; three-and-a- half years; a time, times, and half a time; 1260 days).
In future posts we’ll examine how all the events prophesied in Matthew 24 and (almost) all of the events prophesied in the book of Revelation have to do with events that unfolded in the first century. This interpretation of these passages has a long and venerable history. Unfortunately, it has been largely forgotten in the last 150 years. I am happy to say, however, that it’s making a significant a comeback.
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