In the Jewish Scriptures before the birth of the Lord Jesus (our Old
Testament), there were many prophecies about the coming Messiah (i.e., Jesus,
the Christ). Some of those prophecies described the Messiah as coming to rid
the earth of those who do not serve God. These prophecies described a kingly
Messiah who was coming to conquer and reign. Other prophecies of the Messiah
described His death in payment for our sins. These prophecies described a
servant Messiah who would suffer at the hands of men.
Before the birth of the Lord Jesus, the Jewish people studied the
messianic prophecies to understand what God would do. Many of these people
often did not understand that the prophecies were talking about two separate
comings of the Messiah. His first coming would be in a servant role to redeem man to God by suffering death on a cross
(Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12). The second would be in a kingly role as a conqueror
of all evil and the deliverer of God’s people (Jeremiah 23:5-6; Daniel
7:13-14). Unfortunately, many people only looked for the kingly Messiah who
would deliver the Jewish people from the tyranny of Roman rule (Acts 1:6).
Since the servant prophecies did not seem to fit this view of the Messiah,
those prophecies were often ignored or misapplied.
As a result, when the Lord Jesus came, the people thought that He was
the kingly Messiah who would set up God’s kingdom in Jerusalem. A few days
before Passover, these people spread palm branches and clothes in the road to
welcome their coming king (John 12:12-13). When the Lord Jesus failed to
fulfill their understanding of the
prophecies, these same people turned against Him, demanding His death (John
19:14-15).
The Jewish people made a common mistake when it comes to biblical
prophecy. They thought that the primary purpose of prophecy was to describe what would happen in the future. They
also added too many assumptions based upon their limited understanding of the
prophecies. Even though the prophecies were fulfilled (to that point) exactly
as given, many of the Jewish people did not recognize it because they were not
fulfilled the way they expected. We
must be careful to not make a similar mistake when studying end-time
prophecies.
Throughout the Bible, God has provided many end-time prophecies for us.
These prophecies serve two major purposes. First, when they come to pass, they
assure us that God has everything under control (John 13:19; 14:29: 16:4). He
is not surprised by the events taking place.
The second major purpose of these prophecies is to show us where we are in God’s plan. In this
sense, prophecies are similar to city limit signs. When you reach the city
limit sign for your destination, then you know where you are. Bible prophecies
are not always intended to function as mileage signs. That is, they do not
often tell us how far we have to go before we arrive. Instead, Bible prophecies
often show us when we arrive at
certain points in history.
For example, the Abomination of Desolation is a type of sign post that
tells Christians when we are entering the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15,21).
Some will probably not know ahead of time when the Great Tribulation will
start. However, when we see the Abomination of Desolation, we will know that
the Great Tribulation has started. Therefore, the Gospel writer tells us that
it is important to understand the prophecy about the Abomination of Desolation
(Matthew 24:15). Besides serving to show us when we reach a certain point in
history, this prophecy about the Abomination of Desolation also serves to
assure us that God is not caught off guard by the works of the enemy.
