The Bible tells you how to study and interpret Bible Prophecy
[Ecclesiastes 1:9] The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
[Hosea 12:9] And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.[10] I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
[Col 2:16] Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: [Jewish Festivals] [Col 2:17] Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
[1Cor 10:11] Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, uponwhom the ends of the world are come.
[Rom 15:4] For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
[Mat 5:17] Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
[Luke 4:19] To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
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[Isa 28:9] "Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast?
[Isa 28:10] For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little."
[Jer 33:3] Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
[Dan 10:12] Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
[2Tim 3:15] And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. [16] All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
[Acts 17:11] These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
[2Pet 1:20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
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There are multiple fulfillments to a single prophesy
Jesus reads from Isaiah, and only quotes part of it, because not all of the verse was fulfilled at Jesus' first coming, 1967 years ago.
Luke 4:16 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.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to thecaptives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 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.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; [2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Jesus left off the last part of Isa 61:2, "the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;" on purpose. Because the day of vengeance will occur at the great tribulation. Now, if there can be an unstated time gap of nearly 2000 years in one single verse,
nobody can say it is "unBiblical" for there to be an unstated time gap of 7 years considering the rapture and second coming that may exist in any Bible verse.
In other words, there are multiple fulfillments of scripture, not all at the same time.
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Multiple Fulfillments:
Jesus, in the gospel accounts, expresses a key idea about 20 times*;
[John 2:19] ... Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
This ONE VERSE has at least 3 fulfillments that I can see.
1. Jesus spoke of his body, which was destroyed and raised from the dead.
2. Jesus spoke of the literal temple, which was destroyed in 70AD, (Mat 24:2) and will be raised up in the near future.
3. Jesus spoke of the body of believers, which have been persecuted and killed, and will be raised up soon, on the 'third day' according to Hosea 6:2 "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. "
*Mat 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 26:61, 27:40,64
Mark 9:31 Mark 10:34 Mark 14:58 Mark 15:29,
Luke 9:22, 13:32, 18:33, 24:7, 24:21, 24:46
John 2:19,20 Acts 10:40 1Cor 15:4
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Peter, in Acts 2, quotes Joel 2, as being fulfilled because of the outpouring of Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Yet we are still waiting for the "Day of the Lord". Thus, we have a third approximate 2000 year time gap between fulfillments in scripture--that leaves out mentioning any "time gap". The first, was a partial fulfillment, the second fulfillment occurs much later in time. Or, perhaps there will be several more fulfillments.
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In Psalm 2, there is a mix of verses describing both the rejected messiah, and the ruling messiah. Verses 2,3,7,12 describe the first advent, and the verses do not describe a chronological account.
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In Ezekiel 28, there is a mix of prophecy regarding the judgment of both Tyrus and Satan; some verses apply to Tyrus, some only to Satan, and some may be both.., and it goes back and forth.
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In Ezekiel 38,39, it is the gog/magog war, that sounds like Armageddon. Yet, we are also told of a Gog & Magog type war in Rev 20, which appears to be after the millennium. This makes for a total of three "end of the world" type conflicts of nations against Israel, all still in the future.
Revelation 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
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In Luke 21:6,20,21, In the Olivet discourse, when you compare the accounts between the different gospels, the prophesies about the abomination of desolation are mixed with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, where the armies camped about Jerusalem, and did not leave one stone unturned because when the temple was destroyed and burned, the gold that lined the walls in the temple filled the cracks and every stone was torn apart to get the gold. Yet, we are still waiting to see the abomination of desolation, and the Jews in flight away from the antichrist in the future, when Satan sits in the temple and says he is God. 2 thess 2.
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We need to be aware that a prophetic picure may be describing two events at once, mixed together into one section of words. And we need to be aware that one prophecy can be fulfilled multiple times.
I believe following verses picture both the rapture, and the second coming of Christ with all his saints gathered out of heaven.
Matthew 24: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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Here is an example of an Old Testament life experience, that was really a prophesy. Remember: [1Cor 10:11] Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
[Mat 12:39] But he [Jesus] answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [Mat 12:40] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [Mat 12:41] The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jonah was an example, or type of Jesus. Jonah's experience was a prophesy regarding Jesus' death. However, the Lord Jesus is not Jonah, not exactly... After all, did the Lord Jesus Christ run away from his duty before being killed? No. Was the Lord's death a punishment for the Lord, as Jonah being in the belly was a punishment for Jonah? No. Did the Lord begin his ministry after he came out of the grave, as Jonah began his ministry after he came out of the belly? No. Did Jonah's prophesy of doom for Nineveh come to pass? No. But all of Jesus' prophesies will come to pass. Did Jonah actually die when he was in the belly of the fish? No.
But there it is. A valid Bible prophesy! and parallel/similitude/comparison/example... Not ALL of it has to fit. It just has to be a type, or an example.
We must let scripture show us the definition of the types, but it does not all have to be exactly, specifically, 100% fitting and correct to each and every degree imaginable. That's what makes a comparison a comparison... Things are "like" but not exact. ALL analogies break down and are not perfect with close scrutiny.
We are compared to sheep. Does that mean that Christians are stupid? No.
We are compared to being the bride. Does that mean we Christians are supposed to be effeminite? No.
We are supposed to be wise as serpents. Does that mean we can be Satanic and snake-like? No.
We are supposed to watch and be ready. Yet told "no man knows" Does that mean we don't have to watch since it's impossible to "know"? No.
We are told our Lord will come as a thief in the night. Does that mean that the Bible commandment to not steal no longer applies? No.
In each of the cases above, the point I'm making is that the analogy or picture, or comparison, or metaphor is true. And it remains true and is not invalidated by little quirks we might be able to find with our own skeptical type reasoning.
You can look at things so closely, you end up invalidating the spirit of the law by looking too closely at the letter of the law.
Who are we to say that the typology must be clear and consistent and perfect in order to be valid? Where is that a Bible principle? In fact, just the opposite is a Bible principle, that types (and especially parables) will be difficult to see, if not impossible, for most people.
Prov 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.
Matt 13:
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
When a theme is repeated multiple times, we should investigate the meaning and significace behind it. An interesting example:
Noah: It rained for 40 days & nights.
Moses & Israelites: Scouted out the promised land for 40 days, and after the mostly evil report of disbelief, ended up being punished a day for a year and wandered the wilderness for 40 years before finally entering the promised land.
Jesus: Wandered the wilderness for 40 days before beginning his ministry. Since Jesus died on Passover, a spring festival, and his ministry lasted about three and a half years, then Jesus must have began preaching sometime in the Fall.
Thus, 40, as a number, might stand for testing/judgement, and/or isolation/separateness from God.
[Col 2:16] Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: [Jewish Festivals] [Col 2:17] Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
In the Jewish Festivals, there is also a period of 40 days, in the Fall Festivals. There are ten days including and between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. Prior to this time, there is the 30 day period of repentance, for a total of 40 days. If you don't repent prior to Trumpets, you must do so in the final ten days counting down to the Day of Atonement.
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