CityPoint Prophecy Primer
By: Michael Gentosi
The following are notes from a study at our house. This is simply an introduction to prophecy. Before I get into those notes, you must understand that my goal is for you is to be as the Bereans and to search the Scriptures for yourself to know they are true (Acts 17:11). Do not take anything I say or anyone else for that matter as absolute truth. Everything must be tested against Scripture. This is how so many believers and churches have gotten off course: by not knowing their Bibles and testing against it.
“Be as the Bereans and to search the Scriptures for yourself to know they are true “
Prophecy is something that has been an interest of mine since I was a wee lad. My mom used to sing to me at bedtime. My favorite song was, “The King is Coming!” I further enjoyed in junior and high school the study of prophecy in Bible class at DMC (Des Moines Christian School). Unfortunately, I let the ways of the world get me so far off track for many years after high school. That being said, I am thankful for God’s long-suffering with me. II Peter 3:8-9 are written for me. Praise HIM!
All prophecy points to Jesus! That is the foundation of the theme. Prophecy found itself fulfilled in Jesus at His first coming, and it points to His second coming. I am fully convinced I will not die of old age due to what prophecy says about Jesus’ second coming comparative to what is going on in the world. That is the journey we are embarking on here. Do not scoff at this point. I implore you to read all of II Peter 3 in this regard.
All prophecy points to Jesus!
What is prophecy? Simply, it is a foretelling of what is to come, a prediction. Isaiah 46:8-13 is the best passage that sums this up. Specifically, verse 10 states, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure…’” You see, God knows all. He is omniscient. It has been likened to a parade. We are on the street watching the parade. We know of what part of the parade has past us by history. We see what is in front of us in our own life. We know what is coming around the corner because we have prophecy. But God, He is in the blimp above the parade and can see the end from the beginning.
Old Testament prophets had to be 100% right, 100% of the time in order to not be rejected, even killed. Even legitimate prophets were persecuted and killed because they were rejected because the truth was rejected. We can even read Jesus’ own words on this. We also have both short and long term prophecies in the Bible such as a prophet warning of an impending attack vs. prophecies of Jesus’ first and/or second coming.
There is a growing movement out there that says we need to disconnect ourselves from the Old Testament. I have even had people tell me this themselves: you read the Old Testament too much. Reject this heresy! The most quoted book by Jesus was Deuteronomy. In fact, the early Christians only had the law and prophets to search and find Jesus interwoven in the text.
The most quoted book by Jesus was Deuteronomy.
There are two things to consider that Jesus said with the Old Testament. Luke 24:44 says, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” Furthermore, Matthew 5:17-18 says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
You see, we still have more prophecy to be fulfilled. Jesus Himself says that heaven and earth will not pass away until all is fulfilled. When does heaven and earth pass away? Read Revelation 20 for this. A jot or tittle are the smallest of marks in the Hebrew language. They can make big differences in words and letters. If you were to quote Jesus from a pure English perspective, it would read, “I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, all “i’s” will be dotted and all “t’s” will be crossed…” More of this to follow.
It is rendered that 1/4 to 1/3 of our Bible is prophecy. There were some 109 specific (some render more) prophecies of Jesus’ first coming. There was a mathematician who figured that if only 8 were fulfilled by one man in a lifetime the odds would be 1 in 10 to the 17th power. If 48 were fulfilled, it would be like filling Texas 2 feet tall with silver dollars, marking one, then sending a blind man out to find the one, marked silver dollar. CRAZY! There are 500 or so Old Testament references to Jesus’ second coming. That is 1 in 25 verses. From a time period perspective, the Millennial Reign is the most discussed period of time.
The first prophecy in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:15, read it. Satan will be defeated by Jesus. In fact, Satan was defeated at the cross then validated by Jesus’ resurrection. But, Satan is still allowed to do his thing until after the Millennial Reign. Satan was able to get a small blow in bruising Jesus’ heal at the cross, but that was the plan. Jesus had to be Passover Lamb for all mankind! Satan will ultimately receive his death blow when he is cast into the lake of fire. I find it interesting in light of Revelation 13:1-4 that the anti-christ will receive a head wound. This is a precursor or pre-enactment type which brings us to the next point.
Genesis 3:21 has the pre-enactment or precursor to what Jesus did. Remember, when Adam and Eve sinned, they knew they were naked and wanted to cover their sin (nakedness) with leaves. When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden, He performed the first sacrifice to make tunics of skin to cover their sins. This is pretty profound, and I will leave it there!
The next few points are imperative to understand when studying prophecy: span of time, what was will be, and double meaning. I am going to warn you with the double meaning thing that this is something I have termed myself. I will explain more of this when we get to that point, but do not develop any type of theological foundation on something I have come up with myself. I just find this personally interesting.
Span of time: In our western world, we want things now. We don’t want them in a couple years or decades and most assuredly not in a couple thousand years. Unfortunately for us, that is prophecy. We will look at a couple passages here but know there are more.
Read Isaiah 61:1-2. Now, read Luke 4:16-21. First understand how things were read in the synagogues. There were prescribed readings on each Sabbath as they walked through the Law, Prophets, and Psalms. The day Jesus went into the synagogue, the passage in Isaiah 61:1-2 was the prescribed reading. Jesus was handed the scroll in that passage. Notice that he stopped reading before, …”and the day of vengeance of our God.” Why? The day of vengeance is yet future even now. Jesus Himself clued us into the span of time in prophecy. Isaiah 61:1-2 includes both Jesus’ first and second comings. A simple comma is now separating 2000 years.
Isaiah 61:1-2 includes both Jesus’ first and second comings. A simple comma is now separating 2000 years.
Daniel 9 is another example in the 70 Weeks’ Prophecy. Here, we have another conflict with our English. A week to us is always a period of 7 days. Not to the Jew, it is a span of time. The 70 Weeks’ Prophecy is understand as each week being 7 years. A year to the Hebrew is a 360-day year. This whole concept requires many hours of study in and of itself. Nonetheless, Daniel 9:24 we know isn’t fully fulfilled as we do not have an end of sins and everlasting righteousness, etc. Daniel 9:25-26 give us the timeline of when Jesus would present Himself as Messiah: the triumphal entry. Again, way more detail is needed for this. These two verses gave to the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The starting point is recorded in Nehemiah 2. Daniel 9:27 is yet future and speaks of the final 7 year period. Again, we have a great expanse of time between verses 26 and 27.
What was will be: This concept of prophecy is something has happened in the past with Israel, and there will be a likeness of this in the future. Consider Daniel 8:8-14 which references Antiochus Epiphanes a few centuries before Jesus. The Maccabees read this passage, understood, and knew when they could revolt and be successful. Move forward in Daniel 8 in verses 23-26, and we have what describes the anti-christ. Also from other passages, we understand that what Antiochus did will be a likeness of the anti-christ especially with ceasing the sacrifice in the Temple. We will discuss more of this going forward. Many believe this passage was already fully fulfilled in Antiochus, and there is no anti-christ to come. Many also believe all prophecy has been fulfilled. This is hogwash. Jesus Himself in His Olivet Discourse told His disciples to look toward what will happen in the future just as Daniel said. Those who believe all prophecy has been fulfilled will then say what Jesus was referring to occurred in 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed. The problem with this is not all of this occurred. We pretty much have to reject what Jesus said as well as a lot of the New Testament writings to make this work.
Another example is Matthew 21:9 that quotes Psalm 118:26 which is “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Here, we have a prophetic Psalm referring to the triumphal entry which was also prophesied to the exact day in Daniel 9. In Matthew 23:39, Jesus uses Psalm 118:26 to say that He will not come back until this is said again. Jesus is coming again!
Finally, double meaning: I want to again reiterate that this is just something I find interesting and do not formulate any theological basis off this. I pay attention to several people with some differing viewpoints of prophecy. What I find most interesting are some arguments with some passages which are both seemingly correct. Let me explain.
Daniel 12:4 says, “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” I have always heard the last portion of that verse references our current age where we are a very mobile society and technology is rapidly advancing. I know of others who view this more purely who state this refers to those who are living in the end times will be searching to and fro throughout Scripture searching for answers and knowledge of prophecy will increase. Well, both are true. There is no need to argue the points. The Lord can easily make a statement that has a double meaning.
Matthew 24:32-35 is another example. This is the fig tree reference. Some will say the fig tree references Israel being brought back in their borders which occurred in May 1948. The generation that saw Israel being brought back into their borders will not pass away until the end comes. Others will say it references to the final prophecies being fulfilled, so the generation that sees these end times prophecies being fulfilled will not pass away until all comes to pass. Well again, both can be true. Until the generation passes that saw Israel brought back into their ancestral borders passes away, this passage will have a double meaning. This is a feudal argument.
II Thessalonians 2:3 says, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…” I like how it starts off with “let no one deceive you.” This is how Jesus led off His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:4). We live in wildly deceptive times. We will discuss this more going forward. Nonetheless, the argument stems around “unless the falling away comes first.” Some will render this as Rapture speak that the Rapture has to happen first. This is a whole other topic we will eventually get into. Others will say it refers to great apostasy in the church. Well, we see this today like no other time in church history. Again, we will discuss this point going forward as well. So, both arguments are true: that Day (always a reference in Scripture both Old and New Testaments to the final period before the Millennial Reign) will not come until Jesus both gathers His true believers in the clouds to rescue them from God’s wrath AND the falling away from sound doctrine to wickedness.
“let no one deceive you.”
Hopefully, this is helpful. Remember, there is far more to the points above than what is listed here. We are just scratching the surface. My hope is that this will cause you dig into God’s Word and know they are true. Our blessed hope awaits us soon! All prophecy finds itself fulfilled in Jesus.
Tuesday, April 25th at 6:30, we will discuss Israel and the Church. These are two distinct groups that when mingled together create many problems for Biblical interpretation.
MARANATHA!
