Is Bible prophecy designed as a parable?

[guysmith]

Matthew 13:13This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

With so many different interpretations of Bible Prophecy, is it possible that BP is designed as a parable, not meant for every believer to understand?

In Yehoshua,
Guy Smith

 

[Trumpeter]

Matthew 13:13This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

With so many different interpretations of Bible Prophecy, is it possible that BP is designed as a parable, not meant for every believer to understand?

In Yehoshua,
Guy Smith

Greetings Guy,

I believe you may be right.

Jhn 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.



“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them.” – Matthew 13:34

*Purpose for speaking to them in such a manner:
”Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
“Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”” – Matthew 13:13-15

*YahuShua did not speak parables in order that the masses would understand His message, repent, and be healed. On the contrary, He spoke as did Isaiah, to... “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes.” – Isaiah 6:10
God bless.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

Guy ... you always ask good questions and your latest I have pondered many times as well.

Every time I find prophecy difficult to understand ... I wonder why it is written in such a manner ... it would be much nicer if it was more straightforward.


In no particular order I have pondered the following

---- is it fully veiled to the world , and only partly veiled to believers , to give us at least a hint of what is to come ?

---- is it done that way to partly fool Satan as well ? Is God also keeping him in the dark about some things ?

---- I believe somewhere it says that .... "even angels long to look into such things" .... etc.

---- is it written in a manner that it only makes sense as the time draws near (I think we would all agree on that one)

---- is it written that way to keep us on our toes and alert ? ... if we all knew the end was going to be in 2143 we would probably relax and continue to get fat and lazy

---- are parables used because they are timeless and every generation reads them the same ?

I wish I knew the answers ..... on a side note we can observe that in the past .... even when God gave clear prophetic warnings .... they still caught most people off guard .

Even the OT prophecies about Jesus were vague and often amount to just a couple of words here and there ... and we must recognize the Messiah was not what most people expected and they were caught by surprise..

Even with Noah ..... it had never rained before yet Noah spent years building a huge boat on dry ground .... Imagine his thoughts at the time .... plus the ridicule from the neighbors.

It was only when God shut the door of the ark that everything began to make sense to everybody.

I often think that even the most knowledgeable Christians will be in for some dramatic surprises when the stuff hits the fan in the future.

Your initial question is whether some prophecies were written in order to keep some believers from understanding ... I am inclined to say yes.

 

[Dan57]

Many people believe the parable of the fig tree is also a prophecy (Mark 13:28, Matthew 24:32, Luke 21:29).
Time will tell

 

[Trumpeter]

Judgments from Heaven shall come. The sun, moon and stars shall not give their light. All foundations shall be shaken and brought low. All will come to pass as it is written, for The Lord’s Day comes as a thief, but His judgment and wrath come as a multitude of thunder, lightning, raging seas and crumbling rock.

I hear now the multitudes, asking, ‘What is the said interpretation of The Lord’s judgment? These things are much too terrifying to be true.’ I say to them, behold all creation. Is it not beyond comprehension? Can any man number the galaxies in the heavens or the stars therein? What of the love of The Son of man? His love is also beyond imagining. Take these two, as one prepared for mankind. Then cry to The Lord, ‘Oh Lord, you are indeed Almighty and Sovereign. To you, oh Lord, is the only true wisdom and understanding. Your ways are beyond knowing and your power beyond belief.’ Live by faith! Says The Lord. Come together and reason, and you shall find your knowledge has come to nothing. Know only that I AM, and in this will be your wisdom.

If all the mighty works of The Lord are broken down into mere parables and metaphors, then you are lost, forever consumed by talk and confusion, for this is the way of the evil one. Listen and hear, oh peoples of the earth, the Day of The Lord is upon you. The Lord, your God, shall move Heaven and earth to find you, and you shall see Him come... Indeed, every eye shall see and know. As in the day of Moses in Egypt, also shall it be in the Day to come. Know this, the judgment on Egypt is a mere drop of rain, only a single crack of thunder, compared with what The Lord has prepared for His sleeping children of this evil world. Awake, all you sleepers! Your time of slumber is at its end. Awake and come to your God, and embrace your Savior. Turn away, and embrace he who is against Me, to your own eternal destruction.

I AM...​

​

In Me find your life eternal.​

​

​

I am The First and The Last, Maker of all things...​

​

To whom all things are known and ordained,​

And written in everlasting stone.​

​

​

Amen.​

Excerpt from:

The Great Day of the Lord
http://trumpetcallofgodonline.com/index.php5?title=The_Great_Day_of_the_Lord

 

[Rocky Wiley]

Jews could read about the fact that their Messiah would come, but did not understand Jesus was that Messiah.

The Christian can read about Jesus and the fact that he would return in judgment in their generation, but can not believe that he did.

In both cases, study was and is required. Truth does not come by revelation, but by understanding of scripture.

 

[daq]

Greetings Guy,

I believe you may be right.

Jhn 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.



“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them.” – Matthew 13:34

*Purpose for speaking to them in such a manner:
”Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
“Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”” – Matthew 13:13-15

*YahuShua did not speak parables in order that the masses would understand His message, repent, and be healed. On the contrary, He spoke as did Isaiah, to... “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes.” – Isaiah 6:10
God bless.

Unbelievable! That is the opposite of what you stated here:

From God The Father: If all the mighty works of The Lord are broken down into mere parables and metaphors, then you are lost, forever consumed by talk and confusion, for this is the way of the evil one.

Excerpt from:

The Great Day of the Lord
http://trumpetcallofgodonline.com/index.php5?title=The_Great_Day_of_the_Lord

So you quote "God The Father" when you desire to help discredit someone in another thread but here in this thread, when speaking with someone who is much closer to your own mindset, you disagree with your own quote from the one whom you call "God The Father"? :lol:

Please allow me to amend my first statement above to the following:

TOTALLY BELIEVABLE!! As is the father, so is the son . . .

 

[Niki]

Okay...so Trumpeter...you never answered me clearly in the other thread regarding that prophecy...you have not said whether or not you believe that to be a prophecy
from God...now, I am realizing, in this thread, that you may be the prophet yourself as your site says:

True and actual conversations with God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ...given to a modern man for modern man's sake./..
from you site

So, are these prophecies yours are not? Is the one in the other thread yours or not?

I would like to know...don't evade the question...if they are yours, let's know...cause right now I am thinking they are yours...in the other thread, I didn't like the tone of
the prophecy....this is like a prophecy straight out of the OT....I am very leery of those who represent themselves in that manner....woe is you...God will punish sin
etc etc

Why do we have to be told what is already plainly written? Have you ever heard of Bickle and his ilk? You kind of sound like them.........

Jews could read about the fact that their Messiah would come, but did not understand Jesus was that Messiah.

The Christian can read about Jesus and the fact that he would return in judgment in their generation, but can not believe that he did.

In both cases, study was and is required. Truth does not come by revelation, but by understanding of scripture.

Are you saying Jesus already came to judge and Christians don't believe it?

I think this video is about your site Trumpeter:

VIDEO

Apparently, he thinks the prophecies smack of OT spirit as well. He refutes what you state with scripture from the NT..This is nice low key video,
concerned with truth and is not accusatory...but actually thoughtful and well laid out.

So I guess I have had my question answered...your site is all over the net with regards to people 'debunking' your prophecies and how they are out of
alignment and agreement with scripture.

With so many different interpretations of Bible Prophecy, is it possible that BP is designed as a parable, not meant for every believer to understand?

No. Jesus said on more than one occasion, that He was speaking plainly and the Holy Spirit is our Teacher...not an interpreter of strange things no one can understand.

The concept of sin and man's fall is not a parable, Jesus death on the cross is not a parable, Jesus will come back...not a parable etc etc.

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

This verse is not in reference to the Bible as a whole but specifically to this:

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:

Jesus was not speaking to everyone, that is clear from his words to the disciples...the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to you.

In verse 16 we read:

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

It becomes obvious Jesus is speaking of Himself as the Messiah from the reference to prophets and righteous people..

Even the OT prophecies about Jesus were vague and often amount to just a couple of words here and there ... and we must recognize the Messiah was not what most people expected and they were caught by surprise..

They were not vague at all. They were specific which is why the wise men knew the Messiah when they saw him. They were not vague!

 

[Trumpeter]

Unbelievable! That is the opposite of what you stated here:



So you quote "God The Father" when you desire to help discredit someone in another thread but here in this thread, when speaking with someone who is much closer to your own mindset, you disagree with your own quote from the one whom you call "God The Father"? :lol:

Please allow me to amend my first statement above to the following:

TOTALLY BELIEVABLE!! As is the father, so is the son . . .

Greetings daq,

What I said above was my opinion, what The Lord said below was not.

Since my opinion doesn't match what The Lord says I must retract it and ask you to forgive me for my mistake.

Rom 3:4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged."

Okay...so Trumpeter...you never answered me clearly in the other thread regarding that prophecy...you have not said whether or not you believe that to be a prophecy
from God...now, I am realizing, in this thread, that you may be the prophet yourself as your site says:

True and actual conversations with God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ...given to a modern man for modern man's sake./..
from you site

So, are these prophecies yours are not? Is the one in the other thread yours or not?

I would like to know...don't evade the question...if they are yours, let's know...cause right now I am thinking they are yours...in the other thread, I didn't like the tone of
the prophecy....this is like a prophecy straight out of the OT....I am very leery of those who represent themselves in that manner....woe is you...God will punish sin
etc etc

Why do we have to be told what is already plainly written? Have you ever heard of Bickle and his ilk? You kind of sound like them.........

Greetings Niki,

Yes, I do believe that to be a prophecy of God, that is why I posted it.

No, I am not a prophet. I have been called to share these Letters from God and His Christ with the world.

So all those, who receive God’s message I have delivered, to them it is a gift. And to all those, who will not receive His words, to them it has become a warning. I have, and will continue, to trumpet God’s message.

God bless.

 

[Retrobyter]

Shalom, Arnie Manitoba.

Guy ... you always ask good questions and your latest I have pondered many times as well.

Every time I find prophecy difficult to understand ... I wonder why it is written in such a manner ... it would be much nicer if it was more straightforward.


In no particular order I have pondered the following

---- is it fully veiled to the world , and only partly veiled to believers , to give us at least a hint of what is to come ?

---- is it done that way to partly fool Satan as well ? Is God also keeping him in the dark about some things ?

---- I believe somewhere it says that .... "even angels long to look into such things" .... etc.

---- is it written in a manner that it only makes sense as the time draws near (I think we would all agree on that one)

---- is it written that way to keep us on our toes and alert ? ... if we all knew the end was going to be in 2143 we would probably relax and continue to get fat and lazy

---- are parables used because they are timeless and every generation reads them the same ?

I wish I knew the answers ..... on a side note we can observe that in the past .... even when God gave clear prophetic warnings .... they still caught most people off guard .

Even the OT prophecies about Jesus were vague and often amount to just a couple of words here and there ... and we must recognize the Messiah was not what most people expected and they were caught by surprise..

Even with Noah ..... it had never rained before yet Noah spent years building a huge boat on dry ground .... Imagine his thoughts at the time .... plus the ridicule from the neighbors.

It was only when God shut the door of the ark that everything began to make sense to everybody.

I often think that even the most knowledgeable Christians will be in for some dramatic surprises when the stuff hits the fan in the future.

Your initial question is whether some prophecies were written in order to keep some believers from understanding ... I am inclined to say yes.

I don't know a Father who treats His children that way. I believe that He means for all of His children to understand what He had written for them in prophecy. HOWEVER, I also know that we "shoot ourselves in the foot" all too often with the rhetoric of our own theological biases and our own definitions for some "holy" words we hold to be so sacred that their definitions are "written in stone" and for which we cannot allow ourselves to consider alternative definitions.

Here's a case in point: You said, "is it done that way to partly fool Satan as well? Is God also keeping him in the dark about some things? ... I believe somewhere it says that .... 'even angels long to look into such things' .... etc." The verse to which you are referring is found in 1 Peter 1:12:


1 Peter 1:12
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
KJV

The problem, here, is that "angels" has to be interpreted as "supernatural creatures that live in Heaven and serve God." However, the truth is that "angels" is a TRANSLITERATED word from the Greek! It wasn't even TRANSLATED! The person who did the "translating" simply exchanged the Greek letters for their English counterparts: alpha --> a, beta --> b, gamma --> g, etc. So, they took the Greek word "aggelos" and changed it into "angel" (because "gg" in Greek makes the "ng" sound), dropping the "os" at the end, which just meant it was in the "omicron declension" or was a masculine noun.

The word "aggelos" simply means "messenger" and was used of human beings as well as supernatural messengers. It was even used of John the Baptist. (Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27)

The context, I believe, explains the verse above:


1 Peter 1:3-12
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
KJV

I'm convinced from this context that the "angels" or "messengers" in verse 12 are the "PROPHETS" of verse 10! What is a prophet if not a MESSENGER of God?!

Other such words are "church," "heaven," "heavenly," "Christ," "glory," "coming," "elect," and "saint," to name a few. By insisting on the definitions that have evolved (or devolved, imo) over the last two millennia, we have clouded their meanings and those of the contexts that contain them.

Just something to think about.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

retro..... I bet Satan did not totally realize what he was doing when he influenced men to crucify Jesus.

It was a complete disadvantage for him ..... and I am sure he realized it afterwards.

Is that why the coming of Jesus was so veiled in the OT prophecies ????

To throw Satan off guard ????

 

[daq]

Greetings daq,

What I said above was my opinion, what The Lord said below was not.

Since my opinion doesn't match what The Lord says I must retract it and ask you to forgive me for my mistake.

Fair enough Trumpeter and all is forgiven between you and I. However, the quote where "Timothy" believes he is channeling "God The Father", (and you quote him as the "factual" basis for your doctrine) is not between you and I.

In addition to this you were much closer to the Truth in your comments made above in Reply#2 in this thread, (which you have now mistakenly retracted) because you quoted herein what is actually written in the Scripture to make your statement, (Isaiah, Matthew, and John).

 

[guysmith]

arnie,

Did you get my PM?

Guy

 

[Trumpeter]

Fair enough Trumpeter and all is forgiven between you and I. However, the quote where "Timothy" believes he is channeling "God The Father", (and you quote him as the "factual" basis for your doctrine) is not between you and I.

In addition to this you were much closer to the Truth in your comments made above in Reply#2 in this thread, (which you have now mistakenly retracted) because you quoted herein what is actually written in the Scripture to make your statement, (Isaiah, Matthew, and John).

Greetings daq,

You are correct, the quote by God The Father is between Him and I, and I will be held responsible for what I teach.

Jam 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.


The only thing that I retracted was my opinion, NOT The Word of God.

The Word which is written is in complete agreement with what which was written.

God bless.

 

[Niki]

Greetings Niki,

Yes, I do believe that to be a prophecy of God, that is why I posted it.

No, I am not a prophet. I have been called to share these Letters from God and His Christ with the world.

So all those, who receive God’s message I have delivered, to them it is a gift. And to all those, who will not receive His words, to them it has become a warning. I have, and will continue, to trumpet God’s message.

Thanks for answering, but I don't think you are being quite truthful. Frankly, your prophecies are not a gift that I accept.
I have already accepted the gift of God through Christ Jesus and no man says anything outside of scripture I put credence in.

So many little ships tossing on the stormy sea, calling out to each other...and shining their own lights when just beyond the clouds is the greatest Light of all.

 

[Retrobyter]

Shalom, Arnie Manitoba.

retro..... I bet Satan did not totally realize what he was doing when he influenced men to crucify Jesus.

It was a complete disadvantage for him ..... and I am sure he realized it afterwards.

Is that why the coming of Jesus was so veiled in the OT prophecies ????

To throw Satan off guard ????

Hmmm... was he indeed "thrown off guard?" Then what was Herod doing killing all the children 2 years old and under in Beit-Lechem (House-of-Bread) of Y'hudah? Why did Yosef and Miryam have to escape with the toddler Yeshua` to Mizrayim (Egypt)? And yet, even in this, haSatan was thwarted and ended up FULFILLING prophecy instead! HaSatan would NOT have killed the Lord of Glory had he known what Yeshua`s true mission was in the first advent.


1 Corinthians 2:7-10
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
KJV

So, in some ways, you are correct; on the other hand, how could he have avoided fulfilling the Scriptures?! Is there ANYONE who can change the plan of God? Even if one should attempt to do something completely erratic, God has already PLANNED FOR IT! God works His Plan regardless the intentions of ANY person, natural or supernatural!

That's why we can trust the Scripture that says,...


Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
KJV

God not only KNOWS the end from the beginning; He DECLARED the end from the beginning!


Isaiah 46:9-11
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
KJV

So, yes, ... and no! HaSatan could not have done anything differently, even had he known!

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

arnie,

Did you get my PM?

Guy

Yes .... got the pm .... thanks

I have another comment about "veiled prophecy" .....

Today .... (and since Christ came) .... people have compiled all the verses in the old testament that spoke of Jesus and prophesied his coming .... if I recall there are about 350 of them ..... it has been years since I studied them ..... and I think we would all agree they prophesied Jesus.... AFTER THE FACT

But .... (at least for me) ..... If those 350 verses were given to me BEFORE Jesus came on the scene ..... there is no way I would be expecting him the way he came.

Hope that makes sense .... to me they were "vague" or "veiled"

That has always bothered me to some extent ..... because the arrival of Jesus was a profoundly important event.

Shalom, Arnie Manitoba.


Satan would NOT have killed the Lord of Glory had he known what Yeshua`s true mission was in the first advent.

That is what i was trying to say .... Satan wanted to kill Jesus .... whether as a baby or adult ..... he wanted Him dead and out of the picture.

But I bet that (at the time) Satan did not realize that killing Jesus was the sacrifice for sin for mankind

I am thinking Satan was really pissed after he realized it

With so many different interpretations of Bible Prophecy, is it possible that BP is designed as a parable, not meant for every believer to understand?

In Yehoshua,
Guy Smith

Highlighted in red below is something else for us to throw into the mix of .... "veiled & vague & mysterious prophecies "

......... the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past ...... but now revealed .... and made known through the prophetic writings .....

(excerpt is from Romans 16:25-26)

 

[Guestman]

The Bible was written to separate "the wheat from the chaff ", those who are really desirous of knowing "the truth" as opposed to those who are unwilling to "dig deep" for the nuggets of "truth" that are found in the Bible, with most being satisfied with the "status quo" that the churches present.


After performing "powerful works" in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum (his home territory), and these being unresponsive, Jesus then said in prayer to his Father: "I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes. Yes, O Father, because to do thus came to be the way approved by you."(Matt 11:25, 26)


Jesus was fully aware that his Father has written the Bible (at that time, the Hebrew Scriptures, commonly called the Old Testament) in a way as to exclude "wise and intellectual ones" from accurately understanding it (which included the reason for the powerful works in these 3 cities), but only to "babes", those who are humble enough to be taught by Jehovah (John 6:45; Isa 54:13), to allow the Bible speak for itself rather than forcing "a square peg in a round hole", as the churches have done.


Thus, at Matthew 13, Jesus used the Greek word syniemi some 6 times that means "to mentally put the pieces together."(Matt 13:13-15, 19, 23, 51) It is translated as "understand" in the King James Bible, but is more accurately is rendered as "getting the sense of it". The word "understand" is more readily rendered from the Greek word ginosko, meaning "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of."(Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg 117)


At Matthew 13:11, Jesus told his genuine disciples: "To you it is granted to understand (Greek gnonai ) the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those people it is not granted." And then he explains why, saying: "This is why I speak to them by the use of illustrations, because, looking, they look in vain, and hearing, they hear in vain, neither do they get the sense of it." ("get the sense of it", Greek syniemi)


By using illustrations that would be very difficult to grasp, Jesus intentionally put a separation between those who would be his genuine disciples and those who are pseudo-disciples or false disciples. The fake disciples would fail to exert themselves "diligently" in order to understand the meaning of the illustrations that Jesus gave.(Luke 13:24) It would be too much of a "brain teaser", so that they "look in vain" and "hear in vain".

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

This may be somewhat off topic ..... but here is a perfect example of a complete division of prophecy right in the middle of a sentence.

We know this .... because Jesus read only a portion of Isaiah 61 ..... stopped in mid sentence .... rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the synagog attendant and declared ..... “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”.

Jesus stops there ...... because the prophets foretold two messiahs ..... an afflicted suffering one .... and a great and powerful one.

Jesus read the part of Isaiah 61 that he was fulfilling at the time ..... and then stopped reading .... because the rest is about his future coming in power and glory

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Jesus quoted the above in Luke 4:18-21 , then stopped , because the rest happens in the future
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.



Isn't it fair to say that an old testament Jew reading Isaiah 61 would not have any way of knowing that part of the prophecy stops in mid sentence ... and the rest is fulfilled thousands of years later ?

 

[Trumpeter]

This may be somewhat off topic ..... but here is a perfect example of a complete division of prophecy right in the middle of a sentence.

We know this .... because Jesus read only a portion of Isaiah 61 ..... stopped in mid sentence .... rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the synagog attendant and declared ..... “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”.

Jesus stops there ...... because the prophets foretold two messiahs ..... an afflicted suffering one .... and a great and powerful one.

Jesus read the part of Isaiah 61 that he was fulfilling at the time ..... and then stopped reading .... because the rest is about his future coming in power and glory

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Jesus quoted the above in Luke 4:18-21 , then stopped , because the rest happens in the future
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.



Isn't it fair to say that an old testament Jew reading Isaiah 61 would not have any way of knowing that part of the prophecy stops in mid sentence ... and the rest is fulfilled thousands of years later ?

Amen Arnie,

That whole prophecy could have been fulfilled back then if only they would have recognized their Messiah, but God knowing the hardness of their hearts, knew that that wasn't going to happen yet.

God bless.