Bible Commentary Online

"Before the birth of the decree, the day shall pass like the chaff; yet not before the hot anger of Jehovah comes on you, yet not before the day of Jehovah's anger comes on you. Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of Jehovah's anger" (Zeph. 2:2,3)

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Bible prophecies

Contents:

  1. Prophecies concerning fleshly Israel
  2. Prophecies concerning spiritual Israel
  3. Prophecies concerning the return of Christ

Prophecies concerning fleshly Israel

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus described in Lk. 16:19-31 illustrates the situation of Israel, which due to unbelief fell from the special grace of God for the time of the gathering of the Church, the spiritual offspring of Abraham. At the same time the position of Lazarus changed. The ones elected from the Gentiles were transferred to the "bosom of Abraham" - they received new birth in the Holy Spirit and became heirs of the promises given by God to Abraham.

God foretells through the prophet Daniel that the time of special favor for Israel, then in Babylonian captivity for their persistent unfaithfulness to the covenant with God, will be extended by 70 symbolic weeks, or 490 years. This period began in 455 BCE and ended in 36 CE. Within this time Israel was to repent and accept the Messiah. Since they failed to comply, God removed His special grace from this nation, which resulted in the extension of the Gospel calling to the Gentiles, as well as the desolation of Jerusalem and the surrender of the land of Israel into foreign hands.

In an answer to the question "how shall I know?" God gives Abraham a prophetic sign that is at the same time a time prophecy, fulfilling in the years 1840-2015 in specific events related e.g. to the birth of the Adventist Movement (1840), outbreak of the I World War (1914-1915), II World War (1939-1945), persecution of Israel (1940) and the end of the calling to the Bride class (2015).

Mt. 24:1-14 is part of a larger prophecy in which Jesus answers three questions from the apostles. The first question concerns the future of the temple. When our Lord, turning to her, announces that "there shall not be left here one stone on another," the apostles want to know when this will happen. The events described in Mt. 24:4-14 are a sign of events whose fulfillment would foretell the destruction of the temple and all of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

The description given by our Lord in Mt. 24:15-22 is in answer to the disciples' question about the sign of the impending destruction of the temple. This sign was to be the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. The prophecy was fulfilled when Roman troops stood in the holy place of Jerusalem and began to lay siege to it. The withdrawal of the Romans for several months allowed those who believed the Lord's words and recognized the fulfillment of the foretold events to flee from the city. The tribulation that followed the return of the Romans meets the criteria of a tribulation "such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be," so the entire passage in Mt. 24:15-22 deals with the events of the end of the Jewish Age in 66-70 CE.

Prophecies concerning spiritual Israel

The division of Israel into people, Levites, and priests under the Law Covenant illustrated the division of the Gospel Age believers into antitypical people, Levites and priests under the New Covenant - this is the basic premise of the lecture. Its purpose is to organize the basic Biblical concepts in relation to each of the mentioned classes in a manner illustrating as clearly as possible the inner logic of the Gospel calling, its aims, conditions and principles with regard to all believers in Christ.

Believers of the Gospel Age were represented in the fleshly Israel in three groups: the people, the levites and the priests. The priests enjoyed a special position in that e.g. theirs was the privilege of entering the Holy to feed on the shewbread in the light of the lampstand. This activity pointed to the priests of the New Covenant feeding on the Scripture directly in the light of the holy spirit received by conversion to Jesus Christ. From among this class of God's people some will be chosen to become co-kings with the Lord, who will sit with him on the thrones to judge the resurrected mankind. These highest positions will belong to few of the most faithful ones who have concluded their priestly office in full dedication to the Gospel.

144000 elect are the winners of the Gospel calling who receive positions of the antitypical priests in the heavenly Tabernacle and resurrection to the glory of the Divine nature. Together with co-kings with Jesus Christ (24 elders) they will be judges of mankind raised in the future Kingdom. Completion of the 144000 will come to its end before the Great Tribulation finishing the present system of things starts, no later than the middle of the year 2029.

The great multitude are believers born of the spirit, who developed their characters in the fundamentals of faith. However, they did not proceed with the knowledge of the Word or their service for the truth, and so they will not receive the reward proper for 24 elders or 144000. These two highest classes of God's people will find themselves in the heavenly glory before the Day of the Lord, whereas antitypical levites will experience it on earth - an experience which will purify them and fully prepare for the glory which awaits them in Christ's Kingdom.

In an answer to the question "how shall I know?" God gives Abraham a prophetic sign that is at the same time a time prophecy, fulfilling in the years 1840-2015 in specific events related e.g. to the birth of the Adventist Movement (1840), outbreak of the I World War (1914-1915), II World War (1939-1945), persecution of Israel (1940) and the end of the calling to the Bride class (2015).

The desolating abomination spoken of by the prophet Daniel in Dan. 11:31 is an event of a dual nature. In the type abomination (the pagan armies of Rome) brought havoc upon the temple of Jerusalem (Sanctuary), destroying it in 70 CE and thus subtracting the daily sacrifice (sacrifices offered in the temple). In the antitype, pagan teachings and practices stood in a holy place (the spiritual temple of believers in Christ), thus subtracting the daily sacrifice (introducing into the Church a number of errors concerning the meaning and essence of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ). The institutional church, which has thus departed from the truth, has resorted to civil authority and then used it to desolate God's temple, i.e. to persecute and physically eliminate those who dared to condemn its unscriptural teachings and unscriptural practices.

Prophecies concerning the return of Christ

In an answer to the question "how shall I know?" God gives Abraham a prophetic sign that is at the same time a time prophecy, fulfilling in the years 1840-2015 in specific events related e.g. to the birth of the Adventist Movement (1840), outbreak of the I World War (1914-1915), II World War (1939-1945), persecution of Israel (1940) and the end of the calling to the Bride class (2015).

In Rom. 11:25-32 the Apostle Paul explains that Israel's dropout from the grace of the calling to the Body of Christ (including the loss of hope for the highest reward within this calling, i.e. the position of co-kings with Jesus Christ) does not mean that God rejected this nation. On the contrary, Israel's infidelity was foreseen by God so that non-Jews could attain to the blessings connected with faith. The Apostle also informs that their dropout from grace was only for a time. When 'royal priesthood' is gathered, God's special grace will return to Israel and will turn it into a tool through which Divine blessings will reach all resurrected mankind in the future Kingdom.

Jesus Christ comes again to establish his kingdom in three stages, which we call parousia, apocalypse and epiphany, based on their Greek origin. The lecture presents the topic in two parts. Part I gives the definitions of parousia, apocalypse and epiphany, describing the most important features and events of the abovementioned periods. Part II recalls fragments of the Bible describing events related to the Lord's return and shows how they fit into the scenario outlined in Part I.

The temple to be cleansed/justified according to Daniel 8:14 are those who have been begotten by the Spirit of truth to the spiritual nature as partakers of the antitypical spiritual temple in its priests and Levites. However, the sealing of the priesthood is to end earlier - until the beginning of the second presence of Christ. Those of the called who do not obtain priesthood positions during that time will have the 2,300 evenings and mornings marked in the prophecy (6 years and 5 months) to undertake their consecration and be sealed as antitypical Levites. At the end of the prophetic period, the spiritual/heavenly temple in its priests and Levites will be completed.

Our Lord's prophecy in Mt. 24:23-31 discusses the events of the time of his invisible presence (parousia) and the apocalypse that will end the present world order (the Day of the Lord). According to the Lord's explanation, his physical manifestation is not to be expected at a particular place, for his presence will be invisible, and it will begin by a bright light (Gr. astrape) shining from east to west — an asteroid which will pass very close to the earth, and will be visible from it as a bright star (verses 23-27). Since the Lord's first coming was also foreshadowed by a brightly shining 'star', hence the term 'sign of the Son of Man' to describe this phenomenon (verse 30). During the flyby, the asteroid will be close enough to the earth so that the earth's magnetism will change its trajectory and point it toward our planet during the next flyby. This information will be given to the public, causing chaos and consternation among the nations (verse 30), and among God's people scattered among the various sects of Christendom (eagles) an attitude of diligent investigation of the truth and verification of confessional errors (carcass; verse 28). Contact with the earth of the asteroid and the rock material "traveling in its company" will cause a huge explosion and a mass of dust will rise into the air that will eclipse the sun and moon (verse 29). Until then, the trumpet of the pronouncement of God's judgment will gather the elect to the truth and allow them to receive their reward in spiritual glory (verse 31).