Hello Gino, John and Doves,

Can some yet future prophecies still possibly have any dual fulfillments?

 

 

In this letter I wanted to look at Gino's letter on 'dual fulfillment of some prophecies and use the "abomination of desolation" that Jesus told four of His Apostles about in Matthew 24 as a possible example of 'dual fulfillment'.  This topic has come up in previous letters so I wanted to relook at Matthew 24.  Specifically, I wanted to see exactly who was Jesus talking to and what was the context of His answers.  And does this prophecy have a dual fulfillment?  

 

And I looked at Jerusalem 'trodden down by the Gentiles' in 70 AD and Jerusalem 'trodden down by the Gentiles' in the Tribulation period.

 

For a 'dual fulfillment':  After rereading Matthew 24 and keeping it in context, was the prophecy of  'the abomination of desolation' of Matthew 24 only about the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD? Or is there a dual fulfillment coming in the Tribulation period?

 

Jesus Prophecy, Matthew 24 And the Destruction of Jerusalem:

 

For the context of Matthew 24:  Peter, James, John and Andrew had heard Jesus' response to one of the other disciples who commented on the amazing stones and buildings at the Temple, etc - this disciple was admiring them.  And Jesus told him, it doesn't matter how amazing all of this looks now for 'all of these stones shall be thrown down - not one left upon another.'   Jesus was prophesying on the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, (if the Temple was destroyed, so too would Jerusalem fall.)  This had happened before when Nebuchadnezzar's armies laid siege to Jerusalem and destroyed the First Temple.  This would be shocking news to any Jew.  Jesus called this destruction  an "abomination of desolation"  An abomination is a 'detestable thing in the eyes of God'.  Desolation is 'to lay waste, make barren'.

 

These four Apostles, Peter, James, John and Andrew, were so shocked/concerned by Jesus' comment that they privately asked Him 'when shall these things be and what will be the sign all these things shall be fulfilled?'  They knew that Jesus had just said the most shocking they could hear as Jews -  that the Temple and Jerusalem were going to be destroyed...(again).  This would have been deeply unnerving.  When they expressed their dismay about this, they did not know about what we call the Tribulation period.  Jesus was still with them - they did not comprehend what was going to happen to Jesus.  They were concerned about the terrible destruction to their Temple and Jerusalem that Jesus just prophesied over.  And they knew that meant that when Jerusalem was destroyed, the people would be scattered, slaughtered, taken into slavery yet again.  So, of course, this was very concerning to them. 

 

Some of the Jews living at this time would be around to witness this prophesied 'abomination of desolation'.  I imagine these disciples had a flash back to Solomon's Temple and how it was totally destroyed by that siege of King Nebuchadnezzar's Army and the Jewish people were scattered, killed or taken hostage to Babylon.  That was a terrible time in Jewish history.  All Jews were painfully aware of this history.  And now Jesus just revealed to these Jews that this was going to happen again...and probably not far in their future.

 

Jesus explained how this 'no stone upon another' shall come about:  "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:  Let him which ins on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:  Neither let him which is n the field return back to take his clothes.  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!  But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:  but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

  Matthew 24:15 - 22.

 

Jesus used Jewish idioms, and He used the idioms that the prophets of old used and His Jewish audience understood these idioms. This passage is full of Jewish idioms.  Most are lost on Gentile readers.  Refer to Luke 21 for a better understanding for a Gentile.

 

Jesus was telling them about the destruction of the Temple and the Holy city, Jerusalem, that was coming - this happened in 70 AD.  And Luke 21:20, clearly explains this:  "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."

 

Jesus Prophecy, Luke 19, And the Destruction of Jerusalem - Again:

 

That was not the only time that Jesus prophesied destruction over Jerusalem - He did again, when He rode the donkey into Jerusalem, the Triumphal Entry.  In Luke 19:41 - 44:  Jesus wept when He beheld Jerusalem.  "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, as least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side.  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall now leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of they visitation."  And some 40 years later, Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed.

 

So we can see that this prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD.  But, is there a future fulfillment of this prophecy?  Some believe that there is.  Gino might call this a 'parallelism'.  And the Jewish people are to flee..again.

 

Jerusalem Trodden Down By the Gentiles:

 

The parallel verses in Luke go on to talk about the Gentiles:  when Jerusalem is sacked  "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:  And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."  Luke 21:24  We know this time period on the prophetic timeline as "the time of the Gentiles, a time period that ends with the Second Coming. 

 

 And we know that in The Revelation "the holy city (Jerusalem) shall they (the Gentiles) tread under foot forty and two months." Rev. 11:1 - 2. And the next verse is about the two witnesses who prophesy for the same amount of time.  The AC has also been given a time line of forty two months.

 

Are we seeing in these prophecies a dual fulfillment of the 'abomination of desolation' - one in 70 AD and one during the Tribulation period that leads to Jerusalem being 'trodden down' by the Gentiles??  Or was there just one fulfillment?  And that happened in 70 AD.  (And because most Jewish idioms are not in my vocabulary - I look to Luke for his guidance.)

 

Just some thoughts on this for now....

 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

 

Maranatha!

 

Chance