To some people, it sounded like I was criticizing the New Testament writers yesterday. That wasn’t what I intended. My point is that they used the Old Testament in special ways that aren’t the normal way I think we should treat the text. I think they could do that because they had a level of inspiration that we don’t have.
Another concept that comes into play is that of double fulfillment of prophecy, as numerous prophecies in the Bible are applied more than once. I hold that out as a possibility for many New Testament prophecies, like those about the fall of Jerusalem or the apocalyptic visions of Revelation. Could some of those things also apply to end times? Quite possibly. But I don’t feel that I have the guidance from God to allow me to determine which prophecies fall into that category, the category of double fulfillment.
What are your thoughts?
The idea surrounding multiple fulfillment seems to be that there’s an immediate context and a Messianic context. With that in mind, I think we should be careful not to limit any of our prophetic interpretation to one-and-only-one fulfillment.
When Jesus came, his way of fulfilling the Scriptures baffled everyone, but also gave them a new and more coherent context from which to interpret the Scriptures. I suspect that when He returns, we will be equally baffled and awed at how His return makes sense of so many things we currently find maddeningly complicated.