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Emphasis Mine In Bible Verses
Introduction - Prophecy, Dual Prophecy, and Typology
Dual Prophecy
Typology
Scriptural Patterns Or Christian Imagination?
Broad Classification of Biblical Types
Ritual Types
Personal Types
Historical Types
(The final fulfillment of most historical types is yet to come)
Biblical Patterns That Were Not Types
Tisha B'Av and The Destruction of The Temple
Moses and Joshua
Also See Footnote I - The Various Ways Prophecy is Interpreted
And Footnote II - The Prophecies of Revelation - Past or Future?
Introduction - Prophecy, Dual Prophecy, and Typology
Prophecy is one subject that many people pursue with enthusiasm be it their horoscope in the local paper, or predictions made by one of the many who claim to be able to see the future. Christians on the other hand usually look to the Scriptures to tell them what the future holds.
Unfortunately the modern church is awash with false prophets Unfortunately those who listen to and heed them seem to be unaware of the simple but stringent criteria God has given us to distinguish the wheat from the chaff AND the dire consequences for failing to apply His method. False prophecy is am extremely important topic in itself. See Prophets Or Deluded Charlatans
However, there was more than one type of prophecy in Scripture. In fact there are three.
First the relatively simple verbal prediction that is fulfilled somewhere down the line. See Index to Prophecy.
Secondly, it is not unknown for one of the prophets to make what can be called a ‘dual prophecy’ which means that one prophecy foretold two separate events that could be as much as hundreds of years apart.
And finally, there is typology that can be slightly more complicated. A type is one or more event or person that foreshadowed, pointed to, and culminated in one final and very important event (or person) called the antitype.
Dual Prophecy
Examples include
Jesus and Isaiah 61:1-2
(1) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD anointed me to bring good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to captives And freedom to prisoners; (2) To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, (Isaiah 61:1-2 NASB)
When the Savior stood up to read in the synagogue on the Sabbath, He only read verse 1 and part of verse 2 but omitted the words underlined above. This because He this the first part of the prophecy was to be fulfilled during His first advent, The second at His Second Coming
Peter and The Prophecy Made By Joel
In addressing the crowd on Pentecost Peter quoted from Joel chapter 2, saying,
For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: '
'And it shall be in the last days, God says, "that I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: Yea even on my servants and on my hand maidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable day. (Acts 2:17-20)
Peter's words have led many to erroneously assume that Joel's prophecy was fulfilled on Pentecost. However, a close look at everything that took place on Pentecost makes it quite clear that everything spoken of by the prophet did not come to pass. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by some remarkable signs and wonders but no prophecies were made, no one dreamed dreams or saw visions. and the promised awesome displays of celestial phenomena were conspicuous by their absence. There was no blood, fire, or pillars of smoke, The sun did not turn to darkness nor the moon to blood.
The events of Pentecost were only a partial fulfillment of the prophecy made by Joel. The rest is yet to come. The It is not until the breaking of the Sixth Seal that the sun and moon are darkened.
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. (Revelation 6:12-13 NASB)
To be noted is that it is only at this point that the wrath of God is mentioned for the first time. In other words, as terrible as the phenomena of the Sixth Seal will be they are only the first indication that God is about to make His anger known on earth.
On Pentecost there was a great move of the Holy Spirit that corresponded with the spring rains, but Acts 2:16-21 predicts that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Last Days will be accompanied by signs and wonders, by prophecy and visions. In other words, the latter rain is yet to come.
See The End Of The Age Part II... The Seven Seals
See End Time Revival Or End Time Apostasy?
Solomon and Christ
The prophet Nathan told David
"When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (2 Samuel 7:12-13 NASB)
This prophecy was partially fulfilled when David's son Solomon inherited the throne and built the temple. However, the word “forever” can only be applied to Christ. As the angel Gabriel told Mary
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; (Luke 1:32 NASB)
In the spirit of Hebrew typology, David's prayer for a glorious and peaceful reign for His son Solomon looked forward into the distant future to the coming reign of the Christ.
May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, And his enemies lick the dust. Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. And let all kings bow down before him, All nations serve him. (Psalms 72:8-11 NASB)
Typology
Typology is the study of types - a word that usually means a person or thing that has the features or characteristics of a group or class. However Scriptural types are a little different. Although the significance was probably not apparent at the original occurrence types were ...
1) an actual historical thing or event that was a rough draft - a glimpse of one or more actual events yet to come or
2) A person who prefigured the Messiah in some way. In other words, a type was one or more event or person that foreshadowed, pointed to, and culminated in one final and very important event (or person) called the antitype.
Scriptural Patterns Or Vivid Christian Imagination?
when it comes to typology opinions are quite divided
A.) On the one hand, there are those who categorically deny that any such thing exists in the Bible and that types are simply the invention of over imaginative minds. One has to remind the naysayers that Scripture itself used typology in numerous places. For example, in Exodus 20:8, the creation week was said to be a pattern for the Sabbath.
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11 NASB)
In the New Testament Jesus Himself cited Jonah as a type...
But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:39-40 NASB)
As Jonah was miraculously rescued from the belly of the fish after three days, Jesus was resurrected from the dead after three days. Additionally in the second chapter of his book (Vs. 2) Jonah called the belly of the fish "Sheol" - the land of the dead.
Note: The Old Testament Sheol and the New Testament Hades are the same place. Details
B.) At the other end of the scale are those who see a type in every little detail in the Old Testament.
There is no question that a mere resemblance between two persons or events does not automatically make something a type. One has to very carefully distinguish between what is merely incidental and what God designed as a preview. This is not always easy. A Biblical event or person has to clearly serve as a pattern for another person or event in order to be called a type.
Additionally, there is always a graduation from type to antitype - from the lesser to the greater. For example, when in Romans 5:14 Paul said that Adam "is a type (tupos) of Him (Christ) that was to come", Adam was obviously the lesser type and Jesus Christ the greater antitype.
C.) Situated somewhere between those two extremes are those who believe that we cannot apply types without explicit Scriptural support. They hold that even the strongest resemblance between one person and another or one event and another cannot be called a type unless Scripture specifically says it is. Although Isaac and Josephs’ lives paralleled Christ's life in so many ways they do not consider those two ancients as a type of Christ because the Bible does not explicitly say he is.
An example of what they are looking for is seen in Paul's confirmation of Adam as "a type of Him (Christ) who was to come" (Romans 5:14).
The problem here is that types are another form of prophecy and if we were to follow this line of reasoning, we would be forced to throw out all Old Testament prophecy - except the prophecies that are specifically mentioned in the New Testament as being prophecy. This would be ludicrous. But it really does not matter. I just find it rather odd that some believe that Joseph's life just happened to parallel Christ's life. It simply makes more sense to view the events of his life as a precursor of another and infinitely more consequential life to come.
Broad Classification of Biblical Types
Although Biblical types tend to be fluid often fitting into more than one category they can be loosely classified under three headings - Ritual, Personal and Historical.
Ritual Types
Although there is little doubt that all the tangible aspects of the Temple and worship in the Old Testament existed for a reason, the two most significant examples of ritual types are ...
The Sacrifice For Sin
Romans 6:23 clearly states that the consequences of sin is death, while Hebrews 9:22 says
"..all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
In the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, the animal functioned as a substitute for the offender and bore the punishment of the person who had sinned. The Jewish feast of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was observed once a year. On this, the most solemn and important holy day on the Jewish calendar, the High Priest offered an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people bringing reconciliation between God and them.
"On this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord" (Leviticus 16:30).
However, since "it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4), the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were but a 'type' - a temporary measure put in place in anticipation of a future event - the death of the coming Messiah "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). If you have ever wondered why the animal sacrifices were inadequate. See Salvation
In chapters 9 and 10, Hebrews compares the inadequacy of the Old Testament sacrifices with the perfection and permanence of Christ's sacrifice in the New Testament. Because the Levitical system only prefigured Christ's one time sacrifice for sin, there was no longer any need of the Old Testament sanctuary and its rituals after He died.
"... through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:6-7, 11-14 NASB)
The Seven Feasts of Israel
The Seven Feasts of Israel are called the feasts of the Lord because God Himself instituted these feasts that took place at "appointed times". He also outlined (often in great detail) how these occasions were to be observed. Thus it is no wonder that these days were front and center in the Israeli calendar.
Although believers are not required to keep them (See Jesus and The Law) every Christian should be very familiar with the Feasts because their historic and prophetic significance is one of the most fascinating of all Biblical studies. Not only did they celebrate a historical event in Israel's past but at the time they were given, each one pointed to something immensely bigger that was yet to come. In fact, God's entire plan of salvation for mankind from start to finish is outlined by these feasts and thus concerns us all.
The first four feasts were fulfilled by Jesus Christ on the actual feast days according to the Hebrew calendar. He was sacrificed on Passover, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits. While we certainly do not know exactly how the other three feasts will be fulfilled, it is reasonable to surmise that they will be fulfilled in the same manner - on the actual feast day. (See The Seven Feasts of Israel)
Personal Types
Malachi, Elijah and John The Baptist
Paraphrasing Isaiah 40:3 Malachi wrote,
"Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1 NASB)
The prophesied messenger was none other than John the Baptist as shown in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, and Luke 7:27.
Elijah's First Appearance
However Malachi also wrote
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. (Malachi 4:5 NASB)
John the Baptist resembled Elijah in many ways. Both appeared on the scene very suddenly, dressed alike wearing garments made of camel hair and a leather belt (2 Kings 1:8 and Mark 1:6 NASB), and both sought to turn people back to God.
These signs were not lost on the priests and scribes from Jerusalem who were sent to ask John whether he was Elijah (John 1:20-21) . They were obviously expecting a real life Elijah and did not realize that Malachi 4:5 did not necessarily mean the literal, historical Elijah, but simply someone who would come in the spirit and power of the ancient prophet.
We know Malachi was referring to John the Baptist because when Zacharias, a righteous first century childless priest was told by an angel that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son who was to be called John and that...
"It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:17 NASB)
Jesus also verified that Malachi 3:1 was indeed speaking about John the Baptist,
"But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. "This is the one about whom it is written, 'behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.' (Matthew 11:9-10 NASB)
Elijah's Second Appearance
However, Malachi seemed to blend the first and second coming of our Lord. Verse 3:1 above definitely referred to the first coming of Christ however, Malachi also said Elijah the prophet “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD”. (Malachi 4:5 NASB)
Jesus' first coming did not bring the great and dreadful day of the Lord thus Malachi's words have to apply to Jesus' second coming. Besides which the Savior Himself seemed to confirm Elijah's two separate appearances. After the Transfiguration three of the disciples who were descending from the mountain with Him asked why the scribes stated that Elijah must first come. In His reply Jesus seemed to switch time frames in mid sentence - speaking of an Elijah that had already come (John the Baptist) and one that had yet to come.
"Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:11-13 NASB)
Many commentators believe that one of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11:3 might be "Elijah". As in the case of John the Baptist, this does not necessarily mean the literal, historical Elijah but simply someone who comes in the spirit and power of Elijah and performs a similar function.
More here - Elijah Would Return - Not Once But Twice
(Also See The Two Witnesses of Revelation
Christ
It is fascinating to examine how the lives and experiences of certain people in the Bible mirrored some aspect of Christ and His mission.
For example,
Aaron was a type of the Lord Jesus as High Priest.
Joseph's life paralleled that of Jesus in many ways- he was betrayed for money and falsely accused of a crime but eventually held a position that was second only to the Pharaoh.(Genesis 41:40-41 NASB). Similarly, Jesus was betrayed for money and falsely accused of a crime. He now sits at the right hand of the Father and will rule the coming kingdom.
Abraham was a type of God the father who was willing to sacrifice his son. In fact, when God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son He was not asking Abraham to do anything that He Himself would not do in the future.
Isaac... A Type of Christ and The Church. With the exception of Moses, Isaac was perhaps more a type of Christ than any other person in the Old Testament.
1. Both births were announced beforehand (Genesis 18:10. Luke 1:30-31), and both were miraculous — Isaac was born to a woman who was not only barren but well past the child bearing age (Genesis 17:15-18; 18:11-14) and Jesus was born to a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25).
2. Both were named before their birth (Genesis 17:19. Luke 1:31). The announcement of the births to Sarah and Mary raised questions in the minds of both women. Sarah laughed and said, "This thing cannot be. It is beyond belief." And Mary asked, "How can this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34).
3. Both Jesus and Isaac were obedient to their Fathers to the point of death. Isaac carried the wood for the sacrificial altar up the mount (Genesis 22:6) and Christ carried the wooden cross to Calvary (John 19:17). Additionally, God resurrected Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:4) and when He stopped Abraham from slaying his son, Abraham considered that Isaac had been raised from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Rebekah: The typology is carried over to the relationship between Isaac and his wife Rebekah who is clearly a type of the church - the ecclesia or "called out" virgin bride of Christ. Compare Genesis 24:16 with 2 Corinthians 11:2
Rebekah who was from a distant land, accepted Isaac to be her husband without ever laying eyes on him, just as the church has never laid eyes on Christ. Rebekah was given jewelry as a token sent by a man of wealth and position, just as the Holy Spirit is given as an earnest of our inheritance. (See Guarantee or Earnest)
Rebekah had to follow Abraham's servant who safely guided her steps to her new home and only after arriving there did she get to see Isaac who became her husband. Christians are faced with an almost identical situation - each of us has to allow the Holy Spirit to be their guide to our eternal home - after which we will get to see Jesus.
Moses:
Perhaps one of the most fascinating and compelling of the prophecies is when Moses specifically declared that God would raise up another Jewish prophet in the future whose life would closely resemble his own. In other words, he himself would be a 'type' of another prophet to come.
Moses rescued the people from slavery and led them to Canaan. In doing so, he played the role of savior, leader and mediator between God and the nation. In a much more exalted and universal capacity the Lord Jesus does exactly the same - He is savior, leader and mediator between God and us and is leading us out of bondage to the promised land.
Here are a few of the parallels between Jesus and Moses most of which were well beyond any human control.
Both Moses and Jesus authenticated their mission and teachings with signs and miracles. Both fasted for 40 days and faced spiritual crises on mountain tops. Both were mediators of blood covenants. Moses appointed 70 elders to help him deal with the people. Jesus appointed 70 disciples to go into the villages and towns. Moses promised that another Prophet would come; Jesus promised believers that His Father would send them the Holy Spirit. For many, many more see Moses' Great Messianic Prophecy
The next type is more difficult to categorize.
The Virgin Shall Conceive
The ancient prophet Isaiah was directed to tell Ahaz, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, that the Lord Himself would give the king a sign.
Behold, a virgin (Heb. ha·‘al·mah) will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
Sadly, not only have some versions of the Bible translated the original Hebrew, but they have taken it upon themselves to provide us with an interpretation as well. By capitalizing the words "Son" and "His" (the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel) they have implied that the child spoken of was the Messiah. (Personal assumptions, regardless of whether they are correct or not, should never be imposed upon Biblical text by those whose SOLE function was to translate the actual words.
In this case, the Hebrew word almah, does NOT mean virgin but 'damsel' or 'maiden'. There is no question that Isaiah use of the definite article (ha'almah) clearly shows that Isaiah had a specific person in mind - his wife.
This is a perfect example of a prophecy that was fulfilled at the time but also reached far into the future to speak of another birth. In both cases, salvation was the focus of the message "God with us".
See The Virgin Shall Conceive.
Historical Types
The Deliverance Of The Nation Of Israel From The Bondage Of Egypt, The Wilderness Journey, And The Conquest Of Canaan
Deliverance and Separation
Israel:
Moses rescued the nation from bondage in Egypt after God visited several plagues upon the Egyptians which finally persuaded the pharaoh to let them go. The nation was physically called out from Egyptian society with its many false gods, hundreds of temples and apparently cultic prostitution to boot. They were to separate themselves from a pagan nation.
Believers
Similarly, the New Testament church has been called out and set apart from the world that, like Egypt, is rife with false gods and unholy practices. As Peter wrote He has called His people "out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
Note: The Israelites had to pass through the waters of the Red Sea only after which they were officially out of Egypt. This symbolic baptism was a 'type' of the baptism that the Lord commanded and every believer should undergo. See Baptism
The Journey
Israel
For the nation of Israel the way to the Promised Land was through the wilderness. It was a time of trial and testing at times falling down miserably. Although they had seen miracle after miracle resulting in their freedom they did not trust the Lord enough to follow Moses to the land that Moses told them the Lord would give them. (Exodus 12:25). The Israelites frequently expressed a desire to return to Egypt whenever they faced hardships. As an example they grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying,
If only we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, where we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread! But you have brought us into this wilderness to starve this whole assembly to death."
Also See Numbers 11:4-6. 14:1-4, 20:3-5, and Exodus 17:3
Believers:
Their journey finds it parallel in our time on earth. As Moses told the Israelites
And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.(Deuteronomy 8:2 NASB)
Our journey on this earth is exactly the same. We are faced with trials, tribulation and temptation but have to keep our eye on the prize and rely on God's Spirit to help us through. We also HAVE TO keep ourselves separate from carnal modern society because as the author of Hebrews said 'without holiness no one will see God'
See What is Holiness?
The Biblical definition of holiness is the intertwined and inseparable concepts of separation and perfection.
The Destination
The land that God intended to give the Israelites in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, points to the new earth (Also called Heaven) that has been promised believers.
We too are being tested to see if we keep His commandments or not.
Babylon
The destruction of Babylon was prophesied more than once, this because king Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, ransacked the Temple, and took the Jews into captivity (2 Kings 24 and 25). Jeremiah made it very clear that the spirit of the kings of the Medes was aroused by the Lord as vengeance for what the Babylonians did to his temple
Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple. (Jeremiah 51:11 NASB) Also See Jeremiah 51:55-56
Daniel also prophesied that Babylon would fall to the Medes and the Persians.
See Daniel’s Amazing Prophecies - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
Prophecies were also made about the destruction of nations surrounding Israel (Isaiah 15–23). However, only Babylon is mentioned over and over again in the book of Revelation as two systems... a religious system is outlined in chapter 17, and a political/commercial system is described in chapter 18. Babylon began as a physical kingdom founded by Nimrod, Noah's great grandson but went on to become the 'mother' of much of what is wrong in our world today.
It symbolized an entire 'religious' system that is in complete opposition to God and an economic, commercial system only concerned with material prosperity - growing fat at the expense of many. But, it does not last long. We are not told whether both systems are brought down at the same time or consecutively but, what is certain is that both will come to a dramatic end.
But why Babylon?
See Two Babylons Part II - From Babel to Babylon
And Two Babylons Part IV - Revelation 18:1-24 - Religion and Commerce... Two Systems That Have Much In Common
Also See Footnote I - The prophecies of Revelation - past or future?
Joshua and The Seven Trumpets
Joshua 6 and Revelation 10, 11 both contain the same numerical pattern. In Joshua 6:8, seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns marched around Jericho blowing the trumpets once every day for six days - a procession that was accompanied by the ark of the covenant. On the seventh day they marched around the city as before except they did so seven times. On the seventh circuit when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city". When the people heard the sound of the trumpets they shouted with a great shout and the walls fell down flat.
"You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. "Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. "It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead." (Joshua 6:3-5 NASB)
This same numerical pattern is repeated in Revelation. Jesus opens the book of seven seals (5:1). The seventh seal heralds the seven Trumpets (8:1-2). The Seventh Trumpet introduces the Seven Bowls or the end of all things when the cities of the nations fall, and the islands and mountains 'disappear'. See The End of The Age.
"Out of Egypt I called My Son"
One particular statement made by Matthew has caused a fair amount of controversy. In chapter 2 verses 13-15 we are told that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him because Herod was going to search for the Child to kill Him he was to "get up" and take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt and to stay there until he was instructed. This Joseph did staying in Egypt until Herod died. Matthew then added,
And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son" (Matthew ).
When the disciple said that God called His Son out of Egypt he was quoting Hosea 11:1, the problem being that Hosea was referring to God's deliverance of the nation from bondage in Egypt that took place several centuries earlier without any apparent Messianic overtones. Many have accused Matthew of arbitrarily ascribing a meaning to the passage from Hosea that suited his purpose.
So how could Matthew take this verse, seemingly out of all context and claim that Jesus' flight from Egypt fulfilled what Hosea said? What is often forgotten that Matthew was aware of patterns that we do not usually see. In fact, this pattern of 'out of Egypt' originated many centuries earlier with Abraham.
When the Pharaoh was struck by Sarah's beauty and took her into his house, God judged Pharaoh by striking him and his house with great plagues. As a result Abraham was able to leave Egypt with his wife and all his possessions. (Genesis 12:14-13:2)
In Exodus, God brought down the ten plagues that enabled Abraham's descendants to leave Egypt.
Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt to escape Herod who was looking to slay Jesus. It was only after Herod died that Jesus and His family returned to Israel. Applying Hosea’s words to the family’s flight into Egypt is also supported by the fact that Israel was described to Pharaoh as God's "firstborn son" in Exodus 4:22 and "My son" in Hosea 11:1. And, of course, the disciples believed Jesus to be God's "beloved Son" (Matthew 3:17)
The final fulfillment of this pattern will be when we ourselves come out of this world (symbolized by Egypt). Just as Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt through the water of the Red Sea into the Promised Land. Believers are led by Jesus into the promised land - also called Heaven.
What and Where is Heaven?
Christians who believe they will spend an eternity in "heaven" seem to have little or no idea where this heaven is, what it will look like, or what they will do there. Either they have fleeting, half formed ideas about some ethereal place 'out there' or resort to pious phrases that amount to little more than spiritual gobbledy gook. If this is the best we can do then it is little wonder that non Christians are not in the slightest bit interested in our "heaven", and Christians themselves so rarely seem to look forward to the coming of the day of God. Luckily the Bible isn't at all silent on where "heaven" is and, even more importantly, what it will be like. In fact, the Bible's description of the coming kingdom is far, far, more practical than that of our theologians.
The Antichrist and The Abomination of Desolation
In Matthew 24:15-33 Jesus told His disciples that they would know the end is near when they saw the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel. In other words, it was something would occur in the future. The difficulty some face is that it had already occurred some 200 years before Jesus mentioned it..
a) Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid king who reigned from 175 BC until 164 BC is known for his brutal persecution of the Jews, which spurred the Maccabean revolt. Antiochus went as far as to invade Jerusalem and defile the Temple by placing an image of Zeus inside and offering a pig on the altar. The Jews eventually recaptured Jerusalem, and immediately set about cleansing the Temple. Chanukah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the Maccabees triumphed over the powerful Greek armies in 165 B.C and the subsequent miracle of a one day supply of oil lasting eight days. It was observed by Christ in the New Testament. See John 10:22-23.
However, what Jesus was doing was speaking about a past event in the future tense and prophesying it would happen again. In fact, since Jesus spoke there have been several abominations, all of which are part of an escalating pattern continuing into the present day...
Some sixty years after the fall of Jerusalem, the emperor Hadrian decided to build a new city on the ancient ground that had been almost totally razed was still was largely in ruins. Called Aelia Capitolina, it was crowned by a temple of Jupiter on the site of the ruined Temple. However, Emperor Constantine renamed Aelia Capitolina as Jerusalem in AD 324.
But, to cut a long story short Jerusalem was conquered by the Arab armies of Umar ibn al-Khattab in AD 638 and the city was renamed "Iliya" which reflected the Roman name Aelia Capitolina. The site of the Temple Mount was named Madinat bayt al-Maqdis – or 'City of the Temple'. Eventually in the late 7th century Abd al-Malik, the fifth Umayyad caliph commissioned the construction of a shrine on the Temple Mount - now known as the Dome of the Rock.
A band encircling the inner side of the octagonal arcade, is inscribed with various prayers and citations from the Qur'an. Between the north and west sides is found a verse from the Qur'an part of which reads (Emphasis Added)
"Bless your envoy and your servant Jesus son of Mary and peace upon him on the day of birth and on the day of death and on the day he is raised up again. It is a word of truth in which they doubt. It is not for God to take a son. Glory be to him when he decrees a thing he only says be, and it is." [01]
All of these preceding abominations lead up to the final one that is yet in the future and will in all likelihood come about under the Antichrist whose actions will mirror those of Antiochus Epiphanes.
See Antiochus IV Epiphanes - The 'Type'
Repeating Biblical Patterns That Were Not Types
Destruction of The Temple
Av is the fifth month of the Jewish year that occurs sometime in July or August. Tisha B'Av (the Ninth of Av) is a day of mourning that commemorates various tragedies that have befallen the Jews. It is believed that it was on this day that after the people balked at invading the land of Canaan after hearing frightening reports from the spies, God banished them to wander in the desert for 40 more years.
However, Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the fact that both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on this date.
The First Temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. which resulted in the Babylonian exile. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans on the same date in 70 A.D. This led to the Jews being scattered all over the world and stateless, they became the victims of numerous other crimes perpetuated against them.
It is also said that after the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans in 133 A.D. ended in defeat "The Jews of Betar were butchered on the 9th of Av and the Temple Mount was plowed one year later on the same date". [02]
Moses and Joshua
Moses crossing the Red Sea on his way out of Egypt bears marked similarities to how Joshua crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. Both the waters of the Jordan and the waters of the Sea of Reeds parted and stood up in a 'heap', i.e. piled up
"At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap (Heb. nęd); The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. (Exodus 15:8 NASB)
"It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap (Heb. nęd)." (Joshua 3:13 NASB)
As a by the way, it is very likely that the Lord used 'natural' forces (that He created) to part the waters in both instances.
During hurricane Irma, Tampa Bay residents experienced a bizarre and rather eerie phenomenon. "As Hurricane Irma approached Florida, Tampa Bay suddenly went dry. People hopped down onto the bay bottom, now a vast sandy expanse, and walked around, stunned. There are different terms for what happened: "a negative surge," "a blowout tide," a "water level set-down. [03]
According to software engineer Carl Drews,
a 'wind setdown,' in which strong winds -- a little over 60 miles per hour -- create a "push" on coastal water which, in one location, creates a storm surge. But in the location from which the wind pushes -- in this case, the east -- the water moves away. Such occurrences have been observed in the past in Lake Erie among other places -- and, note Drews and Han, also in the Nile Delta itself in the year 1882. [04] {PLACE IN TEXT}
Footnote I - The Various Ways Prophecy is Interpreted
Although I would venture to say that most Christians lean towards Futurism, there are three other ways that Biblical prophecy is interpreted. In summary,
Futurism holds that Revelation describes Last Day events and tells us that after the destruction of the Two Babylons, Christ will return with His church and will set up his kingdom. See The End of The Age.
Preterism The term preterism comes from the Latin praeter, meaning "past". It holds that some or all Biblical prophecies concerning the End Times were fulfilled in the first century after Christ's birth, specifically in AD 70 when Jerusalem was overrun by the Romans and the temple destroyed. In other words, nothing remains to be fulfilled apart from Christ's Second Coming and the literal resurrection of believers. (Note that extreme preterism goes as far as to say that even these were fulfilled in the past).
However, key events described in the book of Revelation simply did not occur in A.D. 70. For example, neither "a third of mankind" nor "every living creature in the sea" was killed as predicted in Revelation 9:18 and 16:3. In any case, since Revelation was written after A.D. 70 (as confirmed by some of the earliest church fathers) it could hardly have been prophecying events that has already taken place.
Historicism does not limit the fulfillment of prophecy to a particular time frame (the past or future) but instead believes that the fulfillment of biblical prophecy has taken place throughout history and continues to take place today. In other words, the Book of Revelation was a pre-written history of the Church covering over 2000 years, i.e. the period from the time John penned the book to the future Second Advent of Christ.
The seals, trumpets, and bowls may have already been fulfilled by different events in Church history or are possibly being fulfilled even today. William Tyndale expressly rejected the teaching that the Antichrist would rise in the future. He believed that the Antichrist was a deceptive spiritual force that would be with us until the end of the age under different religious disguises. Any religious organization that distorted Biblical doctrine displays the work of Antichrist.
While it is true that many antichrists do arise, this opinion ignores the fact that the Bible makes many references to the literal Antichrist who comes to power at the end of the age.. See The Antichrist
Also Antiochus IV and The Nature of Hebrew Prophecy on THIS Page
The fact that Daniel had so much to say about Antiochus IV Epiphanes has to mean that he was very significant in some way - and so he was. Antiochus IV was what is called a 'type' in Hebrew prophecy - a rough draft or glimpse of someone yet to come. The question is who and what did he prefigure?
Idealism says the events described in the book of Revelation do not prophesy any actual historical events, but symbolize the ongoing struggle between good and evil during the church age until Christ returns.
This view ignores the fact that, in Revelation, Jesus clearly told John that He will show him (John) what must take place next (4:1).
There is little question that Futurism is the most correct of all the views. {PLACE IN TEXT}
Footnote II - The Prophecies of Revelation - Past or Future?
Preterists believe that most or all of the prophecies were fulfilled in the first century when Jerusalem was destroyed along with the Temple. I am not sure how they can explain several statements in the book of Revelation that quite clearly indicate future fulfillment.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, (Revelation 1:1 NASB)
And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. (Revelation 22:6 NASB)
Although we do not know exactly what the Lord meant by “soon” it is impossible for all of Revelation to have come to pass in 70 AD bearing in mind that Revelation 3:10 tells us that future time of trial will come upon all the world. (Also See Revelation 13:7,8,12,14,16)
The Jewish war was a time of great trouble for Israel, but it did not particularly affect other nations. Although the situation was terrible it was nowhere near as bad as the events described in the Scriptures as the great tribulation - a world wide time of distress. The Bible repeatedly states that the great tribulation is a unique time of trouble such as has never been before and ill never be in the future. Consider the following verses...
"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. (Daniel 12:1 NASB)
"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:21-22 NASB)
Additionally Revelation 13 tells us about a political leader so powerful that no one can make war with him (v.4), the forced worship of this man by all those who dwell on the earth (v.8), etc. etc. (See The Name and Number of the Beast )
References
[01] The Arabic Islamic Inscriptions On The Dome Of The Rock In Jerusalem,
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/DoTR.html
[02] What Is Tisha B'Av? Chabad.org
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144575/jewish/What-Is-Tisha-BAv.htm
[03] Why Irma Drained The Water from Tampa Bay. Monday November 27th 2017.
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/pittman-why-irma-drained-the-water-from-tampa-bay/2338244
[04] Chris Mooney. No, really: There is a scientific explanation for the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus. December 8, 2014. https://tinyurl.com/5f8e4yra
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