Category Archives: Revelation Commentary

Lesson 7 Of Series – To Vindicate Christ As A True Prophet

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Jesus had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem saying:

“…this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.” (See Matt. 24:34 and Luke 21:20-32, (RSV). This is construed by dispensationalists as having never yet been fulfilled, but awaits a yet future coming, appearing, or revelation. Rather, Christ’s promise of a contemporary fulfillment must be seen in the perspective of the tests commonly required of a prophet in that time to determine whether or not he was indeed a true prophet; tests advised by Scripture as well as good sense. (See Lesson 2 “Tests Of A Prophet.) Jesus fulfilled these requirements.

It was morally imperative in 68 AD that this event take place soon because Christ had predicted that the generation who heard Him pronounce the prophecy would live to see its fulfillment and that generation was fast passing away by this time.

The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was the vindication of Christ’s claim to the role of a true prophet and completed the proof of His identity as the Messiah.

When Christ was proven to be a true prophet, those who had rejected, and killed Him, were condemned and became guilty of innocent blood as well as blasphemy and deicide. Those who had charged Him with being a false prophet because He had foretold the destruction of the city and the temple were now themselves proven guilty.

CHRIST REVEALED AS A TRUE PROPHET

Jesus knew that the end of the appointed times prophesied by Daniel was near, (Matt. 24, etc.). Although neither the day nor hour was known, the prophet Daniel had predicted the year. If Daniel’s predictions of an “end” had not come to pass in the appointed time as specified, he would have been considered a false prophet and his words would not have found a place in the Biblical canon, and we would never have heard of him. Jesus declared that “the [appointed] time is fulfilled,” (Mark 1:15). He was speaking of an ‘appointed time’ that the people to whom He spoke were well aware, the time appointed by the prophet Daniel.

Likewise, if Jesus’ predictions of the “end” of Jerusalem and the nation had not come to pass in the specified time, that is, “this generation,” He would have been called a false prophet, His words would never have been considered sacred, and we would never have heard of Him. But both Daniel and Jesus were proven to be true prophets by the fulfillment at the ‘appointed time’ of their words, – not some imaginary or esoteric calculation of ‘time outs’ but by the exact science of time-telling known to the faithful priests of Israel, based upon the movements of the heavenly bodies, (Genesis 1:14).

Daniel’s Weeks of Years and Times Calculated

Many eminent scholars have attempted to calculate these times and coordinate them with recorded historical events. From their work there is every reason to believe that the predictions were accurate, although the historical records they have to work with are fragmentary and open to interpretation. However, it is enough to know that the New Testament saints believed both Daniel and Jesus and recorded their prophesies as the inspired Word of God. They had access to first-hand information and experienced, in their own lives, the fulfillment. (My calculation of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks according to Biblical and Historical records is in my book, Revelation In Context, at pp. 21-24.)

Furthermore, the New Testament has been proven and can yet be proven true by anyone who will believe, for Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is alive forevermore and is presently making intercession for us. If He had been a false prophet, God would not have so honored Him.

Did Christ Come In The Clouds As He Had Promised, Matthew 24:30?

The question, then, is whether or not Christ’s prophecy was actually fulfilled concerning His appearance in a cloud “with power and great glory.” The view popular with dispensationalists and pre-millennialists is that the events of Matthew 24:30 “did not take place after the fall of Jerusalem.” (See next lesson for the full account of His appearing in the clouds.)

Next Lesson: Signs In The Heavens

Lesson 6 Of Series – Daniel’s Prophecy of The End Fulfilled

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The ‘end’ which Daniel foresaw was the end of “your people and your holy city,” (9:24).

At the time of the ‘end’ which Daniel saw, (11:40), there would be the “time of trouble” or the “great tribulation,” (12:1). Jesus related this “great tribulation” to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, (Matt. 24, see especially verse 21), “since the beginning of the age” [world, i.e., the ‘age’ of Israel’s national existence]; “nor ever shall be,” [i.e., since the nation was ceasing to exist it would never again endure such a time]. Although this is apparent in Jesus’ words, we may also refer to the writings of Josephus regarding the Wars of the Jews:

“That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world,” (Wars 5.10.5).

The Book Sealed Until “The Time of the End”

Daniel shut up the words and sealed the book, “until the time of the end,” (12:4, 9).
That “time of the end” as seen by Daniel was fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews dispersed in AD 70. Thus we find that in the Book of Revelation, chapter five, there is a scroll, (or book), “sealed with seven seals,” the ‘weeks’ or ‘sevens’ of Daniel. I submit that this is that same book which Daniel sealed “until the time of the end.” The “end of the age” had come upon the earthly city of Jerusalem and the earthly sanctuary. This destruction is described under the symbol of the Great Whore, Babylon the Great, after which the true Holy City, New Jerusalem appears coming down from God out of heaven.

The End Was Expected In The New Testament

The people of the New Testament believed Daniel’s chronology and therefore knew it was time for the Christ. The best evidence we have for the fact that Daniel’s ‘times’ were indeed fulfilled is the fact that the people in the New Testament believed they were. For example, Simeon and Anna knew it was time for the Christ to be born. Andrew was expecting the Christ (John 1:41). John the Baptist had to deny that he was the Christ for the people were expecting the Christ, John 1:20, 3:28. The woman of Samaria expected the Christ, John 4:25, 29, 42; the rulers expected the Christ, Luke 22:67, John 10:24.

Many other references in the New Testament show that the ‘end’ was expected in their lifetime. For example: “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer,” (1 Pet. 4:7).

“For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17).

“15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” (1 Thess. 4).

Zechariah 12:10 Was Also Fulfilled

Another popular teaching is that: “They shall look upon Him whom they pierced,” (Zech. 12:10), has never been fulfilled but is yet future. However, this phrase is also interpreted as having been fulfilled when the soldiers pierced the side of Christ, John 19:37. It does not, therefore, require another future, literal fulfillment.

Next Lesson: To Vindicate Christ

Lesson 5 of Series – Old Testament Prophets Proven

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Jeremiah Proven

Jeremiah had proven to be a true prophet in his own lifetime when he predicted the fall of Judah and the destruction of the temple and the Babylonian exile. He was also given a prophecy that the nation would be restored after an appointed time of 70 years, not an indefinite time which could not be determined. It was therefore a provable prediction, one that could not be avoided by saying that it was for some indefinable future time, even though most or all of his generation may have passed away.

Daniel Proven

Daniel had proven to be a true prophet in his own generation when his interpretation of the dreams of the kings of Babylon came to pass, (Dan. 2 through 5). He, too, was given another prophecy that was not for his generation, but was to be sealed for an appointed time, (Dan. 7 through 12). Again, this was for an appointed time, not an indefinite future event. It was provable, although not in his generation.

By the time of Christ the appointed time of Daniel’s sealed book of prophecy was nearing its completion. A view consistent with Scripture is that the sealed book of Revelation 5 and the opening of the seals in Revelation 6 through 18 portray the fulfillment of the “time of the end” which Daniel foresaw, that is, the end of the fleshly nation of Israel, and their holy city, Jerusalem. Daniel’s prophecy was to be “sealed until the time of the end,” (Dan. 12:9). That “end” was to be at an “appointed time,” and the Book of Revelation begins by saying that the “appointed time is near,” (Revelation 1:3).

It was the “end of the age,” for the fleshly nation, not the end of the whole planet. This ‘end’ established the pattern for the end of any nation that has had the knowledge of God and refused it. This is consistent with 1 Corinthians. 10:1-11, that is, that the experiences of the fleshly nation serve as an example to the Church, even to the end.

Next Lesson: Daniel’s Prophecy of the End Was Fulfilled.

Lesson 4 of Series – Tests Of A Prophet

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Proof Tests Of A Prophet

At the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation, it was morally necessary that He meet the requirements of the Biblical tests of a prophet.

The four proof tests required of a prophet were:

  • First, He should cause signs and wonders to come to pass. This is seen as evidence of the prophetic calling from Moses to the Apostles. Jesus clearly qualified under this test. But signs and wonders alone did not suffice for proof of the prophetic office, as stated in Deuteronomy 13:1-5.
  • Secondly, even though the prophet could do miracles, he also must turn the people from their evil ways according to Jeremiah 23:22, and not to strange gods. Again, Jesus qualified eminently under this rule.
  • The third test is illustrated in Deuteronomy 18:18-22 and Jeremiah 28:9: the true prophet would be proven when his words came to pass; whereas if he made predictions that did not happen, then he was known to be a false prophet. That this attitude toward the office of a prophet was prevalent in the New Testament era is evidenced by the words of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin when he said:

“Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown: but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them, lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God,” (Acts 5:33-39).

These three tests had served the nation well for many years, but when false prophets proliferated at the time of the Babylonian exile they began to say, (perhaps citing such works as the Book of Daniel), that their prophecies were for a distant time, and that they were not to be judged by their own generation. This situation created a crisis such as described in Zechariah 13:1-5 wherein parents were to slay their own child if he claimed to be a prophet, and Amos was ashamed to be called a prophet, asking only to be known as a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit.

The prophet could not, however, forbear prophesying simply because the people rejected his message and continued in their sins or ridiculed him. When the Lord told Amos to “Go, prophesy” he went, for “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8).

Ezekiel also was directed by the Lord to speak “whether they hear or refuse to hear,” (2:5). Either way, the time would come when “they will know that there has been a prophet among them.” It was not required that they turn the whole nation, nor even a majority, to righteousness. It was only required that those who did heed their words would be turned from sin.

The Fourth Test Of A Prophet

  • The fourth and final proof test of a prophet was that their predictions should not only be proven true, but be proven true within the generation who heard the prophet speak the prediction. The prophet was to give a signal prediction by which he would be proven in his generation, Ezekiel 12:25:

“But I the Lord will speak the word which 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, says the Lord God,” (RSV).

Christ Proven To Be A True Prophet

It is in this context that we see the implications of Christ’s words concerning the fulfillment of His prediction in “this generation.” Jesus would have been judged a false prophet if His prediction of the fall of Jerusalem had not happened within the time frame of the life of the contemporary generation. He offered this as the signal prediction by which His prophetic calling would be proven. In this context, the very event of the destruction of Jerusalem was itself a revelation of Jesus Christ because it proved His prophetic anointing.

Next Lesson: Old Testament Prophets Proven

 

Lesson 3 Of Series – To Fulfill the Old Testament Prophecies

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In all Bible prophecy, there is:

  •  An immediate literal fulfillment that proves the inspiration of the prophet;
  • Then there is the general reference, or universal principle that is involved because God does not change, because He is no respecter of person, and because His Word is eternal;
  • Then there is the eschatological reference which involves the ultimate fulfillment.

Many years before this, God had spoken through Jeremiah, (chapter 25), to serve up the wine cup of wrath first to Jerusalem, then to all the nations of the earth. Some of these nations are called by name, while others are grouped in large headings, or, as in verse 26: “All the kings of the north, far and near…and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth.”

Note that the immediate fulfillment of judgment upon Jerusalem, as foretold by Jeremiah, was the destruction of the city followed by a captivity of seventy years. This was literally fulfilled in about 588 BC.

The General Reference or Universal Principle

After the nations are called by name, (Jeremiah 25), it is said: “…the king of Sheshach shall drink the cup of wrath after them,” (v. 26). Sheshach is a code name, or cipher, for symbolic Babylon; that is, any city that fills the same role as Babylon did in that day. For example, in Jeremiah’s time, Babylon had “served themselves” of God’s people: They had slain them, made them captives and had otherwise persecuted them. Babylon had worshiped and served idols and indulged in astrology and had infected Israel and Judah with this sin. The term Sheshach represents the pattern, symbol, or name, of all who do these sins, (the general reference or universal principle involved). So in Jeremiah’s prophecy the pattern was set by which the whole world would be judged. That is, the universal principle was declared and demonstrated. Verse 29 states:

“For lo I begin to bring evil on the City which is called by my name, and should you be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.”

The Ultimate Fulfillment

The destruction of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day was the beginning of the pattern of God’s wrath poured out upon a people who have had the full revelation knowledge of Him and have turned from Him. By the time of Christ, it was Jerusalem that had moved into this role of symbolic or Mystery Babylon. She had served herself of God’s people, the Christians, (true Israel), and had worshiped idols of Mammon and of military power. She had even rejected and crucified the Christ, the Son of God. So it became morally imperative that God’s vengeance for His saints and His wrath against sin be fulfilled. The Book of Revelation declares that the time has come and it “must shortly come to pass.”

Next: Lesson 4: Tests Of A Prophet