The Prophetic To-Do List

notes on the end, and the end not being yet

/ I’m thinking about the end, and your questions about the end

“Is the war in Israel a fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy?”

I’ve heard this question a bunch of times this week. The simple answer is: NO. There is only one promise that the Lord hasn’t kept, only one unchecked box on the prophetic timeline:

[ ] The Last Day

I’m working on a post/video/essay/something about this, but I thought you would enjoy seeing the outline take shape.

Thesis 1: There are no unfulfilled Bible prophecies except for the Lord’s return in glory on the last day.

1. The imminent return of Christ requires all promises to be fulfilled. (If we are waiting for a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, for example, then Jesus could not return today.)

   1. Matthew 25:1-13

   2. Mark 13:32-33

   3. Luke 12:40

   4. Philippians 3:20, 4:5

   5. Titus 2:13

   6. 1 Thessalonians 5:6

   7. James 5:8

   8. 1 Peter 1:5

   9. Revelation 1:3, 22:10, 20

2. All the promises of God are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 1:20). We have the example of the New Testament which points us to the fulfillment of the Old Testament Promises in Christ.

   1. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.” (Luke 18:31)

   2. See, for examples, Matthew 1:23, 2:5, 15, 18, 23, 3:3, 4:15, 8:17, 12:17ff, 13:14-15, 35, 15:8-9, 21:5, 16, 42, 22:44, 26:31, 56, 27:25, 46.

   3. Romans 3:4,10ff, 4:7-8, 28, 22, 8:36, 9:15, 17, 25ff, 33, 10:13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 11:3-4, 8, 9-10, 11:26-27, 34-35, 12:20, 14:11, 15:9, 10, 11, 12, 21

   4. Hebrews 1:5, 6, 7, 8-9, 10ff 13. 2:6ff, 12, 13, 3:7ff, 15, 4:3, 7, 5:5, 6, 7:17, 21, 8:5, 8ff, 9:20, 10:5ff, 16-17, 30, 37-38, 12:5-6, 13:5, 6

3. Prophecies often presented as unfilled have, in fact, been fulfilled according to the Scripture.

   1. Israel would possess the land from the Sea to the River. Genesis 15:18, see Joshua 21:43-45, as well as Joshua 10:40; 11:15,23, 2 Samuel 8:3.

   2. Jesus will sit on the throne of David. 2 Samuel 7:12ff, see Acts 2:30-31.

   3. The Gospel will be preached in all the world. Matthew 24:14, see Romans 10:18, Colossians 1:6, 23

   4. more?

4. There are two major prophecies that are fulfilled after the close of the New Testament Scriptures:

   1. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, prophecies by Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25, fulfilled on 10 August 70 AD.

   2. The withdrawing of the restrainer and revelation of the man of lawlessness. Prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, fulfilled in the fall of Rome (~476 AD), and the rise of the papacy.

5. The teachers with a lot of unfinished end-times prophecies often look for a physical kingdom, an earthly rule, rather than understanding the Bible’s own explanation of its prophecies.

6. We are wary of any teacher who un-checks what Jesus has checked, our who teaches that the Lord has not kept all His promises.

Thesis 2: Every generation of the church rightly understands themselves to be living in the last days.

1. The Bible speaks of the time of the church as the “Last Days”:

   1. Acts 2:17

   2. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

   3. Hebrew 1:1-2

   4. James 5:3

   5. 2 Peter 3:3

2. We feel uniquely the intensification of trouble and persecution in our own time.

   1. Like a body that notices the things that are wrong, the Christian notices the things that are wrong in the world.

   2. We see the breakdown of the family, the confusion over man and woman, the violence and disorder of our day; we notice these things getting worse, and so we are reminded by the Lord that His return is imminent.

   3. On the other hand, many of the signs we see are not signs of the end, but rather that the “end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6). This includes the rise of many false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

3. Every generation noticed the same.

   1. In the Reformation, as an example, the upheaval of the time was understood to be indications of the soon return of Christ.

4. The expectation of the soon return of Christ is right, and good. It serves as a warning to repentance, as well as a comfort in the midst of suffering. But we also remember that “no one knows the day or the hour” of the Lord’s return (Matthew 24:36), and the church is both ready for the Lord to return, but we are also ready to wait (see Matthew 25:1-13).

Thoughts? I’d love your comments and questions.

Christ is risen!
PrBW