777
I have a serious question for prophet Elijah777,
If verses of the bible contain prophecies of future events, does that mean these verses are not also to be taken literally?
Hi Odin - thank you - for a change a sensible and relevant question with some depth and honour instead of being defaming..
Also, PLEASE note for the record that this post was Odin's having reached the number 777 - as stated before, there are NO coincidences.
It IS a difficult question.
First off, The Bible DOES contain Prophecies of future events, the word "if" is not even a factor for consideration.
Having personally experienced accurate dreams and visions and multiple so called "de ja vus" off the Richter Scale of probability, since 1974, all i can say is this:-
Prophet in Hebrew translates as Poet by some definitions.
The Original language of all the earth BEFORE The Tower of Babel WAS Hebrew.
This language passed on through Babel to the family group of Abram - later to be renamed Abraham.
Therefore the word "poet" has relevance.
Do we take Bible Prophecies LITERALLY...
First, what is LITERAL ?
For example, The Prophecies of The Lord JESUS Christ were both direct and literal AND some Deeper Ones were "hidden" within the body of the text in Psalms (for example)...
A very good LITERAL One is now cited for an example :-
Mark 13
1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!
2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
TRANSLATION : In AD 70, 33.5 years AFTER The Lord Ascended, there was a Jewish revolt against the Roman occupation of Jerusalem. It erupted with such severity that, during the course of suppressing it, the Roman soldiers DESTROYED the
very Temple referred to above in Mark 13 : 1
In fact, it was SO severe in Destruction that the Romans prised apart every stone and threw them down into the valley nearby.
All that remains to this day is "The Wailing Wall"
To get an idea of the size of the Temple that was destroyed take a look at the two pics of the Wailing Wall :-
1)
2)
So we can see the LITERAL fulfillment of One Prophecy from JESUS.
Now take a look how Daniel dealt with the EXACT SAME historical event, in the non-literal poetic context.
Written around 538 years before JESUS was "Born Again"...
Daniel 9:26
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
So, here, we have Prophetic Timing - and this takes revelation to translate as follows :
One Translation as follows : The Roman Catholics sought to confirm the date of the Birth of Christ around 525 AD...to do so, they examined Roman history records and finally confirmed the date, this was done by Dionysius Exiguus.
However, later examination discovered that Dionysius Exiguus was off by 4 years because of an error. Hence the real date of the Birth of Christ is 4 BC.
This error has never been corrected, hence the incorrect date - even to this very day, based on the chronology from the Birth of Christ (There may be another 10 years missing in the calendar also).
However, JESUS was 12 years old when His EXCEPTIONAL Wisdom was finally made public, and the age of 12 is a special time also - beginning of adult male maturity.
Luke 2
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
Why all this detail herein?
Back to Daniel : (this is NOT the only Translation and Observation, but IS relevant to the actual DATE of the destruction of the Temple)
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off"
Taking only the number 62 (threescore and two) and adding to the age of the first recorded statement of Christ at 12 years old (IN THE TEMPLE), we arrive at the number 74 - LESS the missing 4 years, we come to AD 70.
There is another, far deeper and much grander Translation of Daniel's "Time Frame".
It is universally agreed that The LORD God (The Holy Father of JESUS) STOPPED Speaking to the Jewish people in the days of Malachi - the last Old Testament Prophet, 400 BC.
A more precise date being 396 BC :- so, using the above Prophecy from Daniel, we take 62 weeks and turn that into years by multiplying by 7.
Then we get a more Relevant Daniel Date of 434 years. (Daniel's Visions ARE to the end of Time).
Add 434 years to the Time that God STOPPED Speaking to the Jewish people, and we arrive at the exact Year of The Crucifixion of Christ.
Hence a Second Depth to this Prophecy :-
"shall Messiah be cut off"
The people of the prince that shall come - WERE The Roman soldiers, and this prince was INDEED Titus
Read the history of this event here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Jerusalem
CONCLUSION :-
Biblical Prophecy can be both literal and DEEP - requiring Translation in the Light of Proven History.
(In fact there a multiple layers and depths to The Word of God : Here are SEVEN Levels : Personally Convicting, Historical, Revelationary, Educational, Prophetic, Commanding, Poetic - ALL under The Keyword of TRUTH..and this is The Holy Gospel - The Perfect Truth of God - Amen)
Who can do such Translation? - This is The Choice of God in those He Anoints with "Gifting"..there have been and still are MANY...
How can we determine who has such Gifting?
Deuteronomy 13
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
On a personal note, i can truly confess to
NOT being infallible; nevertheless, that which i KNOW i do indeed Know -
God is a Spirit in Seven.
Did i SEEK to have this gift? NO..it was "bestowed" for The Grand Purpose of The LORD of ALL.
The first written prophecy (for me) was in 1974 and came in the form of a piece of poetry. The main theme of the poem became an historical event of some magnitude about 6 weeks LATER...
Needless to say, at the tender age of 18 this was a MAJOR EVENT and indeed changed the entire course and direction of my own life...
So much so, it was DIRECTLY responsible for me being here now typing in this forum of "critique".
Why do i bother?
Out of Love and Revelation...Hoping that some reading herein "May See The Light" and renounce their sin and falsehood and GET SAVED...
As this
IS The Final Commandment of Christ Who is GOD for all of us down here...The Final Judge....
The Son INHERITED ALL POWER and AUTHORITY from The Father...
Hope you understand.
Also, for the Danish lady - Just because you are not a Christian, DOES NOT mean that the Admonitions of The Full Gospel DO NOT apply to YOU...
They APPLY TO EVERY PERSON ON EARTH..regardless of their personal belief systems and current doctrinal affiliations.
You can SAY "i don't believe a Word of any of this."
The Truth is this,
"Your DISBELIEF, makes not ONE IOTA of difference to the Reality of The Full Truth of The Gospel regarding the FUTURE OF YOUR SOUL !!"
God cannot LIE....nor do i...and
JESUS Revealed The FULL TRUTH for everyone.
The best advice i can give you is this :
"BELIEVE IN HIM and BELIEVE HIM and All will Change in your own life, after you Repent"....that's it....
NB : My use of capital letters, font sizes and colours are merely for EMPHASIS - i am NOT shouting..sorry if anyone thought that i was - this was a wrong perception.
Romans 8
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.