I am not a prophet. I am an interpreter. My consuming passion is to sit at the feet of my King to learn words of wisdom and mystery, to plunge into deepest, living waters, to cool my fevered desire with the cold, refreshing knowledge which is Him.
My pursuit of prophesy began ten years ago with my fervent prayer to be of service to my Lord, regardless of cost or consequence. A resulting flashpoint of personal tragedy let me know that flesh cannot long endure the unremitting influence of a fire in it's midst, yet these circumstances have left me with a mystery, a puzzle to ponder, the prewritten ancient prophesies that I still have in my hand, along with the memories in my head.
These prophesies were biblical texts, which nevertheless (LOVE that word) proved to be very specific to my situation. (These texts are Psalm 109, Isa 51:12-15, and Habakkuk 2:3-4.) Every word of them came true in my own life. I now have the authority to announce that the Word of God is NOT dead, still speaks to US, TODAY, and is a living document, regardless of translation. If these can be applied, today, what could we be missing if we think that prophesy is over, or is a one use only application? The Spirit given us is the Spirit of Christ, and the testimony of Jesus (and therefore OURS) is the spirit of prophesy (Rev 19:10).
As of now, all creation groans under the weight of sin and corruption, waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. We also wait for the blessed hope, which is the redemption of our very bodies (Rom 8:19-25). And how do we know this? Because He has already told us what will happen! All of history has been laid out for us in advance, for the understanding of those with a willing and teachable heart! In meekness and humility we are instructed in the mysteries.
The creation narrative (the beginning) is also a prophetic preview, an overview of the whole history of man, from a God who dwells outside of time. Each day of the telling equals a thousand years (Hosea 6:1, Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8). Two points of confirmation, as to this fact, are the fulfillment of the sun being unveiled on the fourth day, even though it was preexistent (Mal 4:2 Jesus came in the "fullness of time" at year 4000 point) and the still pending Sabbath, which is God's rest (for us) from evil, under the reign of our King (every eye shall see Him).
The creation story has the personal presence of the Redeemer, in verse 1:1 of Genesis, as the untranslated Aleph Tav (and in the paleohebraic form of YHWH, "behold nail, behold hand"). These first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet have been transferred over from the very beginning of The Book, to the very END of The Book, as the Alpha and Omega, the Encompasser of history, in the book of Revelation (Rev 22:13). The living out of the first covenant, with physical Israel, has not ended, has merely been deferred in consummation until the "fullness of the gentiles" has come in. (In Romans 11:25, the fullness spoken of is not the number of people, but is God's timing. Luke 21:24)
In Revelation, the imagery of the scroll is a Jewish allegory, referring back to Jeremiah 32:6-15, where God instructs him to step out in faith, by the redemptive purchase, of actual land in Israel, sealing a scroll of the record of his ownership, which was the title deed. That title was to be for the return to the land, when Jeremiah or his progeny would come back from captivity in the world, to reclaim the land which was their perpetual inheritance. So, too, is the scroll in Revelations, where Christ utilizes a judicial setting to repossess what He has paid for, what is already His. ("The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of Christ and He has begun to reign." Rev 11:15) Only the saints of the Most High will possess the Kingdom! (Dan 7:18, 22) The church, however, is a "kingdom of Priests" and kingly administrators!
In the same way that Genesis chapter one is an overview of all the days of God's dealing with the Jews (Judah), so too is Revelation an overview of the entirety of the church's existence (Ephraim). Parts of Revelation are yet to be fulfilled! The first three chapters are letters to the seven churches, where Christ is in the midst of the seven lampstands, which are also the same churches. These letters are a prerecorded, spiritual history of the church, up to the time of the rapture! In verse 4:1, there is a complete transition, and the lampstands are now in front of the throne of God, along with the 24 elders, who are the priestly representatives of the nation of the redeemed. The ecclesia is not tied to a covenant of land or signs meant for a physical nation of the world, like the Israel of our times. The church's inheritance is spiritual promises, the authority to speak and love in HIS name.
The transition of God, back to a physical nation, is the return of God to fulfill His covenant promises to the bloodline of Judah, which yet await their turn for Messianic deliverance. He first gave the revelation, the signs, and salvation, to them. ("Salvation is of the Jews." John 4:22 "To the Jew first." Roms 1:16) It is the time where He will do the work that both judges the world ("Your covenant with death will be disannulled." Isa 28:18) and teaches the remnant to follow Him wherever He goes. (Rev 14:4) Revelation is the final "week" of years of the prophesy of Daniel 9:26-27 (just count up the days or months in the text). At the end of this seven years, Ephraim and Judah will be joined back into one "stick" (staff is a sign of authority of office) in God's hands! (Zech 11:14, Eze 37:17, Isa 19:25).
In the transition between the sixth and seventh "day", and in the separation between the two spiritual entities of which God's people are now comprised, it is natural that there would be much confusion about what will happen. It been a long time since the original prophesies were given! The enemy likes us to be misdirected, applauds us, when we let "dross" and misunderstanding cloud our apprehension of God! (But the fire of the Spirit can burn THAT away quickly!)
To help clear the fog, there are two comparative passages, that most would consider to be about the same exact, overall event (the Day of The Lord spoken of in Rev 4-22) in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. However, only Matthew's account, given in chapter 24, is a parallel of the book of Revelation.
The Olivet Discourse (Matt 24) was given on the Mount of Olives, when the disciples came to Jesus privately, and He gave information which would be specific to the Jewish people, to warn them of the time of Jacob's trouble, of what to expect ("Pray that your flight is not on the Sabbath " verse 20 "The least of these, my brethren" Matt 25:40). The gospel of Matthew is Jewish through and through, containing the legal lineage of Jesus, through Joseph.
In contrast, the 21st chapter of Luke happens at the temple, in front of a general assembly. He is, here, speaking to Jewish and Greek believers, warning them of the impending destruction coming on the city of Jerusalem, so that they could flee and save their lives from it's judgment. It was not Christians who were killed when it happened. They remembered what HE said and left when they saw the city encompassed by armies.
There are two more comparisons to make between the passages of Luke 21 and Matthew 24. The differences are the positioning, in time, of the groups of majors signs that He gives that precede the Day of The Lord, and in what questions were actually asked. This group of signs was the immediate answer after the specific questions each group asked, and includes general warfare, world famine, pestilences, and earthquakes in multiple places. In Matthew, the disciples asked about His Second Coming. In Luke the questioners wanted to know when the temple in front of them would be destroyed. After answering the questions first with the major, end time signs, notice that Jesus then says something very different between Matt. and Luke. In Matthew, He simple says "then" (verse 9) in linear progression, meaning there would be intense persecution for believers right afterwards. The signs get more and more intense, and the persecution, along with unmatched suffering, before the consummation of His Coming in glory, physically, to rescue His covenant people. In Luke, however, He says the opposite. He says "before all these things" (verse 12), would come persecution. He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem, and says that it will be under the dominion of the gentiles, until their time is fulfilled. .THERE IS NO ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION IN LUKE.
The differing narratives of the two passages, show us that the two are given to warn two different and disparate peoples, separated by two thousand years of history. In light of His faithfulness to His Word, how then shall we live? We should throw caution to the winds, discarded, and step out in faith, to be consumed by the fire of the Spirit! We must testify of prophesy! And to any who disagree, I say, we shall see what we shall see!
