Category Archives: Time in Prophecy

Time in Jeremiah 31, Part II of III

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We have talked about Jer 31:15 as a time marker in Jeremiah’s prophecy in chapter 31. That would be about 4 BC.

In the next part of Jeremiah 31 God talks about Ephraim as a pseudonym for Israel and the Jews, and says,

“Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says Yahweh.” Jer 31:20 WEB

That is still very much in line with the general subject of Jeremiah 31 as was outlined in Part I. Jeremiah is talking about the Jews, and He also says,

“27 Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal. 28 It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, says Yahweh.”
Jer 31:27-28 WEB

Again Yahweh is clearly talking about physical Israel, Israel after the flesh, the Jews. Also this once again is clearly in line with Jer 31:1-2 and also verse 20.

Then God talks about the coming of the a New Covenant

Paul quotes Jer 31:31 of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, and the Jews, as was noted in Part I. Additionally the author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 in Heb 8:8-12 and again in Heb 10:16-17 of the new covenant as it applies to both Jews and gentiles. It should be noted that God says,

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:” Jer 31:33 WEB

Now when did this New Covenant happen? In approximately 30 AD Jesus twas setting up this New Covenant. He was instituting the Lord’s Supper which was to be in commemoration of the shedding of His blood.

“for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins” Mtt 26:28 WEB

Then there was the actual shedding of Jesus blood on the cross at Golgotha, a little later. Then there was Jesus resurrection. Just before Jesus went up to heaven in Acts 1, He told them it was not for them to know the times or seasons, but to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them., Acts 1:7-8. The Holy Spirit came in Acts 2 with the first gospel sermon by Peter. In all it is safe to date the New Covenant as coming in 30 AD. So here is another date marker in Jeremiah 31, and it does follow in time “Rachel weeping for her children” in Jer 31:15.

But then comes a problem …

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Time in Jeremiah 31, Part I of III

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We are trying to understand time in prophecy. Many passages of prophecy could be used, but here we are going to use Jeremiah chapter 31 as sort of a prophecy laboratory. Jeremiah says that one day ALL the families of Israel will belong to the Lord. It is at a certain “time.”

“At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.” Jer 31:1 WEB

Jeremiah is speaking during the period of time when Israel and Judah were going into captivity into foreign countries and he says,

“Thus says Yahweh, The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.” Jer 31:2 WEB

Now because of the usages of Jeremiah 31 in Scripture, it should be nailed down that this is talking about the Jews, not just about the new and broader Israel of the New Covenant. So Paul quotes Jer 31:31 of the Jews in the book of Romans.

27 This is my covenant to them,
When I will take away their sins.”
28 Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.
Rom 11:27-28 WEB.

So indeed we shall have to return to Jer 31:1 again, before this study is over. God says in Jer 31:3 that “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love …” WEB. God says in verse 7 that they should sing aloud with joy, and publish this good news. God says that He is indeed going to bring them back from the foreign counties, and goes into talking in several verses following about their singing for joy. There was a return in time of Ezra, around 536 BC. Is that what was talked about? We will have to see.

Then God talks about crying and weeping in Ramah

“Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Jer 31:15 WEB

At this point we have a certain time marker. The Apostle Matthew says that was when Herod the Great killed all of the infants in a certain place called Ramah near Gibeon, and not far from Jerusalem. When exactly did this happen? It was when Jesus was a baby. Our modern calendar is off a little bit in calculating the birth of Christ. We know from secular history that Herod the Great died in 4 BC. So the date of the slaughter of the infants is say, somewhere between 4 BC and say 6 BC. Without know the time exactly, we still have a pretty good time marker in Jeremiah 31 here.

Jeremiah goes to say that Rachel should stop crying. The children shall return.

“Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.” Jer 31:61

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Time in Prophecy

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One of the easiest things to misjudge in prophecy is the issue of time. There are no built-in time dimension in prophecy, so it is easy to make naïve assumptions about time.

Prophecy is like a movie or stage play, where there is no built-in time dimension. Sometimes we can gather the passage of time in the change of scenes, and by remarks which are made. We may even have flash-backs to previous scenes. If we are not paying attention to the story, we soon lose any sense of what going on in the story. And so it is also with Scripture.

A dramatic example is in Hebrews chapter one, a quote from Psalm 102.

“10 And,
“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
12 As a mantle you will roll them up,
And they will be changed;
But you are the same.
Your years will not fail.” Heb 1:10-12 WEB

It all spoken very close to each other. So these mere three verses cover from the creation of all things, to this universe being rolled up like an old coat and put away. How much time is it from verse 10 to verse 12? I do not know. But clearly the closeness of these verses does not indicate closeness in time.

Or to use another example: Most take Isaiah 2:1-2 as prophetic description of the beginning of the preaching of the good new of God’s salvation and God’s law.

“ It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be raised above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
Many peoples shall go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
And he will teach us of his ways,
And we will walk in his paths.
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.” Isa 2:2-3 WEB

Assuming that is a correct interpretation, this would be beginning in the early first century AD, with the preaching of Peter in Acts 2. So far, so good.

However look at the of the very next verse.

“ He will judge between the nations,
…
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war any more.” Isa 2:4 WEB

If you are thinking even a little bit, then you know that has not happened yet! There are still both physical and spiritual wars. Further you know this will not happen until after Rev 20:8.

So how much time is there between Isa 2:3 and the end of Isa 2:4? The real answer is: we don’t know. We know it will happen, but do not know when.

WEB is the World English Bible, is a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

A Storm is Near … or the Second Coming?

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Can you know when a storm is near?

Well yes, often we can know, but still people are at times caught by surprise by these things. You are busy. You may not be noticing the sky, or listening to the weather reports. Yes there may be clouds, but often there are clouds and they may mean little or nothing. Then out of no where, obscured by a driving rain, comes an F4 tornado that can wreck great havoc over a wide area.

A really bad storm can make a believer out of you. If a town is in tornado alley, and has been hit more than once, the presence of public shelters and home made root cellars/ tornado shelters are more widely seen. The people pay closer attention to signs of trouble.

The solution of the local television stations is their “weather app,” their weather software. That app knows the physical location of your phone, and notifies you if you are in the path of a storm.

Even so there are many misses in modern weather forecasting. Despite all of our technology, and satellites looking at the cloud patterns, and multiple radar technologies, they often get it completely wrong, don’t they? There may be days of stern warnings of terrible weather coming, all of which may end in absolutely nothing happening. Forecasts of fearsome weather catastrophes absolutely going to happen in twenty years in the future? Well, although they put a good face on it, they very often cannot get the weather forecast right for tomorrow!!

But then on the other hand, can we say with some confidence that we will get some rain two months from now? Well, yes we can. We may not know how much, or when or where? We can easily say with confidence that there will be some rain two months from now, be it little or much.

Now can we tell the day or the hour rain will fall two months from now? No! Although there will be some, somewhere.

Still if that rain is about to happen two months from now … will there be signs of it about to fall? For sure there will be. There will be clouds in the sky. The wind will be picking up. Sometimes you can even smell the coming rain in the air, or see the squalls approaching from a distance. We will have near warning that it may be about to happen.

So notice carefully:

The fact that we do not know the day or the hour does not preclude the presence of signs that it is near.

Jesus clearly says that we will not know the day or the hour of the Second Coming.

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” Mk 13:32-33 KJV

Now some from knowing this, have jumped to the dogmatic conclusion, that there cannot be any signs that these things are about to happen.

But that is clearly not so. Indeed, you may not know the day nor the hour, but may know that these things are near! Lk 21:28, Heb 10:25.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.