Bible History Vs. Endtime Metaphors

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veteran

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Note the type of comparison God gives with two separate timeline events in the below prophecy.

Jer 16:14-15
14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, That brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The LORD liveth, That brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
(KJV)

The first time our Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to the promised land was under Moses through the Red Sea. In final, God declares He's going to gather the children of Israel from all the places on earth He scattered them to, and bring them back to the lands He promised their fathers. With that kind of comparison, what represents Egypt where the children of Israel are led out of in final? Per OT history of the children of Israel in Egypt, they were in bondage to Egypt when God led them out. For the last days, the lands where they are scattered to will once again be like a bondage to them in Egypt. Thus Egypt can also be an endtime metaphor, which our Lord actually did use in Rev.11:8 when referring to Jerusalem in a fallen worship state. Our Lord Jesus also called Jerusalem as Sodom in that same Rev.11:8 verse to symbolize the time of Lot and his family being led out of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Our gathering to Christ Jesus will be literally to where Jerusalem is on earth (Zech.14). So how do those Rev.11:8 references to Jerusalem spiritually as Egypt and Sodom relate to the days just prior to Christ's coming? It's given to show Jerusalem in a false worship state for the last days just prior to Christ's return. It's to show the 'type' of bondage God's people in ALL lands on earth will go into for the last days.

What about God's Passover He gave to the children of Israel in the night of His plagues upon Egypt? They were to sacrifice the passover lamb at a certain time, and then stay in their chambers and spread its blood upon the door posts to keep the angel of death away, while the Egyptians sufferred the full horror of God's plagues. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Apostle Paul said Christ Jesus now is our Passover sacrificed for us. So God's Passover for His people did not end, our Lord Jesus became our Passover Lamb in place of the Old Testament passover. Do you see the application of that OT event now as a spiritual metaphor for our protection by Christ Jesus during the coming tribulation? We should see that relation. Christ Jesus now is our Passover covering for going through the tribulation events. It's His Blood that now covers us against the plague events of Revelation that will be upon the wicked.

Are you seeing how important it is to know about Old Testament history?

What about historical Babylon? In Revelation 17 through 19, our Lord used Babylon to point to the system of false worship setup on earth for the last days. The house of Judah went into literal bondage captivity to historical Babylon. That was in the days of the prophet Daniel. Babylon was a world kingdom that had literally engulfed the then known civilized nations of the world. And its head city was literally the city of Babylon, which the word means 'confusion' (from babel). The king of Babylon setup a golden idol image of himself requiring all to bow in false worship to at the sound of various musical instruments. At the end of Revelation 13 we're given that same idea for the last days, with the "another beast", an entity with two horns like a lamb, but speaks as the dragon (Satan). He is to setup an image to the beast requiring all on earth to bow in false worship to, just like what the king of Babylon did in OT history. In Revelation 14 & 18, our Lord even gave the same quote of, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen" from Isaiah 21 when historical Babylon fell. Our Lord Jesus is pointing us back to the events of the historical Babylon with His Revelation for the last days. We're to use the historical Babylon events as a type of blueprint for what's coming for the last days. In this way, our Lord Jesus actually much, much, more detail and information about endtime events. All we have to do is go back to study the OT history He pointed to and understand how He applied that as spiritual metaphor for endtime events.

What about the idea of the woman fleeing into the wilderness where she is fed for 1260 days per Revelation 12? How does that relate to OT history, and as a spiritual metaphor for last day events? When God led the children of Israel out of bondage from Egypt, He brought them into the wilderness on the way to His land of promise. Because some of the children of Israel fell into idol worship even during that time of His protection upon them, God caused that generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years until they died out. Even that OT event is a pointer to how some of God's people will still fall away to temptation in the last days, regardless of His protection over them in the wilderness for 1260 days. We know that's true even because of our Lord Jesus showing that He will close the door on five foolish virgins who didn't bring a spare vessel of Oil with them in prep for the wedding, and their symbolic lamps burned out of Oil (Matt.25).

There's also an event of Elijah fleeing into the wilderness out of fear of Jezebel who had killed God's prophets, and sought to kill Elijah also (1 Kings 19). The angel of The LORD fed Elijah there for forty days and forty nights. Then God told Elijah to return to give His Words of Judgment upon Ahab and Jezebel. Then two times, fifty men were sent to arrest Elijah, and God through Elijah rained fire down upon them. A third group of fifty sent finally got the message and humbled themselves before Elijah. In Revelation 11 with God's "two witnesses", many of the same OT events of Elijah's ministry are paralled for the last days, showing the making of a 'stand' for God against the endtime king of Babylon during the tribulation.

Also the OT event of God sealing His servants with His mark in Ezekiel 9 is used for endtime events of God sealing His elect in prep to go through the coming tribulation. In Ezekiel 9, that word for mark is the Hebrew letter 'tau' which is in the shape of a cross. The reasons for God's sealing of His in Ezekiel 9 is shown by the abominations of false worship Israel had fallen to in the previous Ezekiel 8 chapter, which also involved an image of jealousy in the holy place of the temple (the same type of event our Lord Jesus warned of for the last days per Matt.24 and Mark 13 about the "abomination of desolation" idol being setup in the temple at Jerusalem.)

In Rev.12, the waters as a flood coming out of the serpent's mouth towards the woman (Israel), with the earth swallowing it up, is another link to God's sealing of His servants for the tribulation period. It's a comparison to the ark and flood of Noah's days, when God 'sealed' Noah and his family inside the ark, and that ark floated above the flood waters for a period of 150 days at the peak time of the flood. In Rev.9 the time of stinging upon those NOT sealed with God's sealing is for "five months", the same time equal to the 150 days of Noah's ark upon the flood waters at their peak (per Hebrew solar calendar reckoning). As an endtime spiritual metaphor, Jesus Christ is now our Ark of protection through those symbolic waters of a flood that comes out of the serpent's mouth. With that once again our Lord Jesus was using an OT event of history in giving us a spiritual metaphor for the deception events to play out during the coming tribulation upon God's people. Our Lord Jesus even compared the end of days with the days of Noe (Noah) in Matt.24 and Luke 17 to show us how He taught this way on a deeper level.

In Isaiah 44 & 45, God called king Cyrus His anointed, as He ordained Cyrus to destroy the historical kingdom of Babylon and release the house of Judah from the 70 years Babylon captivity. Cyrus is given as a symbolic blueprint for what our Lord Jesus will do at His return in freeing God's people from their endtime captivity of to the spiritual Babylon of the last days.

Once we begin to understand how our Lord used OT events as spiritual metaphors for endtime prophecy, then we begin to see how He put anchors of interpretation in His Word. We also begin to see how those who stray in treating His metaphors in the literal sense completely miss His main Message the metaphor is pointing to.
 

tomwebster

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Dec 11, 2006
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Note the type of comparison God gives with two separate timeline events in the below prophecy.

Jer 16:14-15
14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, That brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The LORD liveth, That brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither He had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
(KJV)

The first time our Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to the promised land was under Moses through the Red Sea. In final, God declares He's going to gather the children of Israel from all the places on earth He scattered them to, and bring them back to the lands He promised their fathers. With that kind of comparison, what represents Egypt where the children of Israel are led out of in final? Per OT history of the children of Israel in Egypt, they were in bondage to Egypt when God led them out. For the last days, the lands where they are scattered to will once again be like a bondage to them in Egypt. Thus Egypt can also be an endtime metaphor, which our Lord actually did use in Rev.11:8 when referring to Jerusalem in a fallen worship state. Our Lord Jesus also called Jerusalem as Sodom in that same Rev.11:8 verse to symbolize the time of Lot and his family being led out of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Our gathering to Christ Jesus will be literally to where Jerusalem is on earth (Zech.14). So how do those Rev.11:8 references to Jerusalem spiritually as Egypt and Sodom relate to the days just prior to Christ's coming? It's given to show Jerusalem in a false worship state for the last days just prior to Christ's return. It's to show the 'type' of bondage God's people in ALL lands on earth will go into for the last days.

What about God's Passover He gave to the children of Israel in the night of His plagues upon Egypt? They were to sacrifice the passover lamb at a certain time, and then stay in their chambers and spread its blood upon the door posts to keep the angel of death away, while the Egyptians sufferred the full horror of God's plagues. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Apostle Paul said Christ Jesus now is our Passover sacrificed for us. So God's Passover for His people did not end, our Lord Jesus became our Passover Lamb in place of the Old Testament passover. Do you see the application of that OT event now as a spiritual metaphor for our protection by Christ Jesus during the coming tribulation? We should see that relation. Christ Jesus now is our Passover covering for going through the tribulation events. It's His Blood that now covers us against the plague events of Revelation that will be upon the wicked.

Are you seeing how important it is to know about Old Testament history?

What about historical Babylon? In Revelation 17 through 19, our Lord used Babylon to point to the system of false worship setup on earth for the last days. The house of Judah went into literal bondage captivity to historical Babylon. That was in the days of the prophet Daniel. Babylon was a world kingdom that had literally engulfed the then known civilized nations of the world. And its head city was literally the city of Babylon, which the word means 'confusion' (from babel). The king of Babylon setup a golden idol image of himself requiring all to bow in false worship to at the sound of various musical instruments. At the end of Revelation 13 we're given that same idea for the last days, with the "another beast", an entity with two horns like a lamb, but speaks as the dragon (Satan). He is to setup an image to the beast requiring all on earth to bow in false worship to, just like what the king of Babylon did in OT history. In Revelation 14 & 18, our Lord even gave the same quote of, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen" from Isaiah 21 when historical Babylon fell. Our Lord Jesus is pointing us back to the events of the historical Babylon with His Revelation for the last days. We're to use the historical Babylon events as a type of blueprint for what's coming for the last days. In this way, our Lord Jesus actually much, much, more detail and information about endtime events. All we have to do is go back to study the OT history He pointed to and understand how He applied that as spiritual metaphor for endtime events.

What about the idea of the woman fleeing into the wilderness where she is fed for 1260 days per Revelation 12? How does that relate to OT history, and as a spiritual metaphor for last day events? When God led the children of Israel out of bondage from Egypt, He brought them into the wilderness on the way to His land of promise. Because some of the children of Israel fell into idol worship even during that time of His protection upon them, God caused that generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years until they died out. Even that OT event is a pointer to how some of God's people will still fall away to temptation in the last days, regardless of His protection over them in the wilderness for 1260 days. We know that's true even because of our Lord Jesus showing that He will close the door on five foolish virgins who didn't bring a spare vessel of Oil with them in prep for the wedding, and their symbolic lamps burned out of Oil (Matt.25).

There's also an event of Elijah fleeing into the wilderness out of fear of Jezebel who had killed God's prophets, and sought to kill Elijah also (1 Kings 19). The angel of The LORD fed Elijah there for forty days and forty nights. Then God told Elijah to return to give His Words of Judgment upon Ahab and Jezebel. Then two times, fifty men were sent to arrest Elijah, and God through Elijah rained fire down upon them. A third group of fifty sent finally got the message and humbled themselves before Elijah. In Revelation 11 with God's "two witnesses", many of the same OT events of Elijah's ministry are paralled for the last days, showing the making of a 'stand' for God against the endtime king of Babylon during the tribulation.

Also the OT event of God sealing His servants with His mark in Ezekiel 9 is used for endtime events of God sealing His elect in prep to go through the coming tribulation. In Ezekiel 9, that word for mark is the Hebrew letter 'tau' which is in the shape of a cross. The reasons for God's sealing of His in Ezekiel 9 is shown by the abominations of false worship Israel had fallen to in the previous Ezekiel 8 chapter, which also involved an image of jealousy in the holy place of the temple (the same type of event our Lord Jesus warned of for the last days per Matt.24 and Mark 13 about the "abomination of desolation" idol being setup in the temple at Jerusalem.)

In Rev.12, the waters as a flood coming out of the serpent's mouth towards the woman (Israel), with the earth swallowing it up, is another link to God's sealing of His servants for the tribulation period. It's a comparison to the ark and flood of Noah's days, when God 'sealed' Noah and his family inside the ark, and that ark floated above the flood waters for a period of 150 days at the peak time of the flood. In Rev.9 the time of stinging upon those NOT sealed with God's sealing is for "five months", the same time equal to the 150 days of Noah's ark upon the flood waters at their peak (per Hebrew solar calendar reckoning). As an endtime spiritual metaphor, Jesus Christ is now our Ark of protection through those symbolic waters of a flood that comes out of the serpent's mouth. With that once again our Lord Jesus was using an OT event of history in giving us a spiritual metaphor for the deception events to play out during the coming tribulation upon God's people. Our Lord Jesus even compared the end of days with the days of Noe (Noah) in Matt.24 and Luke 17 to show us how He taught this way on a deeper level.

In Isaiah 44 & 45, God called king Cyrus His anointed, as He ordained Cyrus to destroy the historical kingdom of Babylon and release the house of Judah from the 70 years Babylon captivity. Cyrus is given as a symbolic blueprint for what our Lord Jesus will do at His return in freeing God's people from their endtime captivity of to the spiritual Babylon of the last days.

Once we begin to understand how our Lord used OT events as spiritual metaphors for endtime prophecy, then we begin to see how He put anchors of interpretation in His Word. We also begin to see how those who stray in treating His metaphors in the literal sense completely miss His main Message the metaphor is pointing to.


A number of students refer to the “flood coming out of the serpent's mouth” as lies but the text might indicate something different. If you look at the words “flood” in Rev 12: 15 you will discover that the etymology of the second word “flood” goes to “property taxes” not “lies.” And if Noah gets out of the ark after 150 days, he will still drown. The flood lasted for 1 solar year plus ten days.
 

veteran

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Aug 6, 2010
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Southeast USA
A number of students refer to the “flood coming out of the serpent's mouth” as lies but the text might indicate something different. If you look at the words “flood” in Rev 12: 15 you will discover that the etymology of the second word “flood” goes to “property taxes” not “lies.” And if Noah gets out of the ark after 150 days, he will still drown. The flood lasted for 1 solar year plus ten days.


Gen 7:24
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
(KJV)

That "hundred and fifty days" was the amount of time of the flood from its height until the waters began receeding off the earth. It indeed was much longer after that when those aboard the ark could exit it.



God often used a flood as a metaphor in the Old Testament prophecies. We're to understand it as a metaphor for a deeper message; and for the last days it's especially concerning false worship, which is how it's used in Rev.12.

Isa 28:2-3
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
(KJV)


Jer 46:7-10
7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
(KJV)


Jer 47:2-3
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
(KJV)


Dan 9:26
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
(KJV)


Amos 8:8-9
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
(KJV)


Rev 12:15-16
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
(KJV)