Shalom, friends, mishpachah (family)!
I hope all of you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving, a "Yom Todah," a "Day of Thanks."
Continuing on with the prophecy by Yeshua` delivered on Har haZeitiym (the Mount of Olives), I want to go back just a little and touch on a very important point to this prophecy:
But when ye therefore shall see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has drawn near - The Abomination of the Desolation – the [one which] was spoken about by Dani'el the prophet - standing in [the] holy place where it must not be (let the reader understand), then let those in Y'hudah (Judah) flee into the mountains. However, [let] the [one] upon the roof-top not come down into the house nor go inside to take anything out of his house. And [don’t] let the [one] in the field back into the [city]; he is not to return to take his clothes, and let those in [the] middle of it depart out and don’t let those in the countrysides enter into it. For these are the days of vengeance; all things which are written may be fulfilled. But <ooaahee!> to the [one] who is pregnant and to those [who] breast-feed in those days! But pray so that your flight may not be in [the] rainy season (“winter”) nor on Shabbat (the Sabbath); for then those days shall be the huge pressure - no - nor has been its like since [the] beginning of Creation of [the] habitable world which God created until the present - no - nor ever shall be, and if [the] Master had not shortened those days, there would not have been any flesh rescued. But on account of the chosen [ones] whom He chose, He has shortened the days [and] those days shall be shortened.
I have been taught all my life that Yeshua` was talking about the "Great Tribulation" (the huge pressure) in these verses as though it was a future, seven-year period. I don't think so anymore. Allow me to explain:
First, verses 20 and 21 of Matthew 24 are to be seen together as a CONDITIONAL STATEMENT. This is to be found in this much of the above:
But pray so that your flight may not be in [the] rainy season (“winter”) nor on Shabbat (the Sabbath); for then those days shall be the huge pressure - no - nor has been its like since [the] beginning of Creation of [the] habitable world which God created until the present - no - nor ever shall be,...
Now, it may not seem very clear in the English, but in the Greek, the second part following the semicolon is DEPENDENT UPON the first part. Therefore, Yeshua` was instructing His students to pray that their escape not have to be in the rainy season (when it was harder to run on the slippery, silty mud) or on the Shabbat (when they were not supposed to travel any farther from Yerushalayim than to where they were sitting on Har haZeitiym). If they did not pray, the result would be verse 21:
"for then those days shall be huge pressure."
When analyzing a passage of Scripture, it is important to realize that not everything in the Bible is a universal, all-encompassing thought. Some things are TIME-dependent, and one must check the event or period against the history of that event or period.
Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) was surrounded by the Roman army during the first century, culminating in the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Furthermore, the English word here is "ye," referring to His listeners in the plural. The same is true for the Greek word "humoon," the plural, genitive form of the second-person pronoun, "su." The point is that Yeshua` was talking directly to His students who were standing/sitting on the Mount of Olives, listening to Him speak this prophecy. Therefore, they were DIRECTLY being instructed to pray to avoid such a huge pressure, and apparently they obeyed. History records that their escape did NOT fall under either condition. Therefore, the POSSIBLE "huge pressure" was avoided! THAT'S IT!
Once a prophecy is fulfilled and complete, that prophecy is finished. There is no "second fulfillment" by something else in the future! If there are any more than one fulfillment of a prophecy, then the prophecy is too nebulous and not of God, for God uses the fulfillment of prophecy as the test to determine a false prophet. Only if a prophet's prophecies come true 100% of the time is that prophet from God. If ANY of his prophecies does not come true, then that prophet is a false prophet or a lying prophet, and in ancient Isra'el, they were to be stoned to death.
Douglas Connelly, in his book Bible Prophecy for Blockheads (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2002), said on page 33, "Techno-Speak: Double Reference: The term double reference is used to describe a Scripture passage in which part of the passage is fulfilled at one time while another part is fulfilled at a later time. Zechariah 9:9-10 is a clear example. Verse 9 was fulfilled during Jesus' earthly ministry; verse 10 will be fulfilled at Jesus' second coming."
He is talking about the Law of Double Reference which is NOT a "doubling" of the fulfillment of a prophecy but the "SPLITTING" of the fulfillment of a prophecy. That's okay and is found often in Scripture. Yeshua` Himself used that law when reading Isaiah 61:1-2a as recorded in Luke 4:18-19:
Luke 4:17-21
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias (Yesha`yahu or Isaiah). And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.KJV
The passage He read went on...
Isa 61:1-3
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.KJV
The highlighted portion above was not included in Yeshua`s reading. In effect, He was saying that the portion He read was fulfilled, but the rest wouldn't be fulfilled until later. So, clearly, Yeshua` gives us the pattern: a passage may be fulfilled in part while more will be fulfilled in the future, but at NO time is a prophecy fulfilled more than once!
SO, the bottom line in all of this is to say that the Olivet Discourse doesn't speak about a future "Great Tribulation." Yeshua` was speaking about a PAST, POSSIBLE "huge pressure" that was fortunately (or rather, Providentially) avoided.
In the Messiah's love,
Retrobyter
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