carib-jim
02-16-2010, 07:02 PM
For me Prophetic Drama has been an important source of guidance in seeking to understand Jehovah's purposes. Indeed, by reflecting on what I would describe as the prophetic drama I've come to see what appears to be the broad outline of the actual fulfillment of Jehovah's purposes and a means to test my conclusions when seeking to understand the meaning of various scripture. Let me though first explain what I mean when I use the term Prophetic Drama. It may be exactly the same as when others use the term, but I'm a cautious person so I'll try to make myself clear. I'm convinced that the historical record of the Hebrew scriptures/Old testament is a pattern of, and is intended to act as a guide to understand developments involving the Israel of God i.e, The Spirit Anointed Christian Congregation and by extension the world. By matching events relating to the biblical nation of Israel to the corresponding event in bible prophecy one can then see how the prophecies would then apply. The challenge being in making the matches. Having a definite rule to guide one when looking for such patterns is really the key. I've come to appreciate that the rule is understanding that the biblical Nation of Israel prefigures the Israel of God.
As stated in my previous post "Jehovah's Visible Organization", on this site, I will not provide an exhaustive list of scriptures to support my reasoning, rather I'll provide a broad overview an encourage the interested person to conduct their own additional research. With that rule in hand lets start matching.
The bible is silent about the time period covered from the death of Joseph to the birth of Moses, saying nothing about the nation of Israel. This period matches the one covering the time the last apostle died to roughly the events of Matthew 24:4-13 which is also described at Matthew 13:24-30. The Harvest though is for a later time.
The period covered from the time Moses and Aaron began plaguing Egypt to the exodus matches the period prophesied at Matt 24:14-20.
The passage through the red sea matches the period prophesied at matt 24:21-28.
The passage through the wilderness en-route to the promised land matches the period prophesied at Matt 24:29-30.
The event recorded at Exodus 12:38 matches the period prophesied at Matt 24:15-20 ; Zec 8:23. This is the great crowd of Rev 7:9-14, but after the Great Tribulation.
The events at the border of the Promised land when Aaron and Moses died at different times, without entering the Promised Land matches the event prophesied at Matt 24:31. This is the Harvest of Matt 13:30,30-43.
Life in the promised land helps to understand how the early Christian church was organized. Jehovah provided no kings initially, the kingship resided in heaven with Jehovah. There was only the priesthood and according to Num 17:6; 21:25 persons were largely self-governing. This arrangement was not due to an oversight on Jehovah's part or a test. It foreshadowed the way the christian congregation and life in the earthly paradise will be organized. The priestly functions were moved to heaven. The kingship became Jesus' and the congregations are without a governing body. In ancient Israel there were the older men of each tribe and in times of need Jehovah raised judges and prophets to address particular circumstances. In the christian congregation there are the older men in each congregation- appointed by holy spirit.
That Jehovah would have worshipers, and Jesus disciples that are not spirit anointed, from the time of the early christian church to the appearance of the great crowd was foreshadowed by the existance of persons such as Melchizedek, Job and Balaam.
After entering the promised land there is no further mention to the mixed crowd that accompanied Israel out of Egypt. This foreshadows the change in status of the Great Crowd after the Great Tribulation (Rev 7:13-17).
That persons of the nations could take up true worship by becoming proselytes foreshadows Jehovah's choosing Gentiles for heavenly life. It was never Jehovah's purpose to chose only from the genealogical descendants of Abraham but rather to chose the complete number of those chosen for heavenly life from among those that were faithful within the Mosaic law arrangement. If at the time of Jesus' arrival the nation was found to be faithful, then the number would have been made of both the genealogical descendants of Abraham and proselytes from the nations. When Jesus said that he had sheep not of this fold, he was referring to those who would come to him via the law covenant. The sheep from among the Gentiles, being alienated from Jehovah by means of the law covenant meant the Jesus then had to find another means to bring these in, by means of the christian disciple making work.
More can be said but I'll leave it at that. The idea is to encourage all those that are truly interested to do the necessary research, to respond in a spirit of mildness and readjust my thinking if needed and/or stand on my shoulders and see farther and reach higher than I can.
As stated in my previous post "Jehovah's Visible Organization", on this site, I will not provide an exhaustive list of scriptures to support my reasoning, rather I'll provide a broad overview an encourage the interested person to conduct their own additional research. With that rule in hand lets start matching.
The bible is silent about the time period covered from the death of Joseph to the birth of Moses, saying nothing about the nation of Israel. This period matches the one covering the time the last apostle died to roughly the events of Matthew 24:4-13 which is also described at Matthew 13:24-30. The Harvest though is for a later time.
The period covered from the time Moses and Aaron began plaguing Egypt to the exodus matches the period prophesied at Matt 24:14-20.
The passage through the red sea matches the period prophesied at matt 24:21-28.
The passage through the wilderness en-route to the promised land matches the period prophesied at Matt 24:29-30.
The event recorded at Exodus 12:38 matches the period prophesied at Matt 24:15-20 ; Zec 8:23. This is the great crowd of Rev 7:9-14, but after the Great Tribulation.
The events at the border of the Promised land when Aaron and Moses died at different times, without entering the Promised Land matches the event prophesied at Matt 24:31. This is the Harvest of Matt 13:30,30-43.
Life in the promised land helps to understand how the early Christian church was organized. Jehovah provided no kings initially, the kingship resided in heaven with Jehovah. There was only the priesthood and according to Num 17:6; 21:25 persons were largely self-governing. This arrangement was not due to an oversight on Jehovah's part or a test. It foreshadowed the way the christian congregation and life in the earthly paradise will be organized. The priestly functions were moved to heaven. The kingship became Jesus' and the congregations are without a governing body. In ancient Israel there were the older men of each tribe and in times of need Jehovah raised judges and prophets to address particular circumstances. In the christian congregation there are the older men in each congregation- appointed by holy spirit.
That Jehovah would have worshipers, and Jesus disciples that are not spirit anointed, from the time of the early christian church to the appearance of the great crowd was foreshadowed by the existance of persons such as Melchizedek, Job and Balaam.
After entering the promised land there is no further mention to the mixed crowd that accompanied Israel out of Egypt. This foreshadows the change in status of the Great Crowd after the Great Tribulation (Rev 7:13-17).
That persons of the nations could take up true worship by becoming proselytes foreshadows Jehovah's choosing Gentiles for heavenly life. It was never Jehovah's purpose to chose only from the genealogical descendants of Abraham but rather to chose the complete number of those chosen for heavenly life from among those that were faithful within the Mosaic law arrangement. If at the time of Jesus' arrival the nation was found to be faithful, then the number would have been made of both the genealogical descendants of Abraham and proselytes from the nations. When Jesus said that he had sheep not of this fold, he was referring to those who would come to him via the law covenant. The sheep from among the Gentiles, being alienated from Jehovah by means of the law covenant meant the Jesus then had to find another means to bring these in, by means of the christian disciple making work.
More can be said but I'll leave it at that. The idea is to encourage all those that are truly interested to do the necessary research, to respond in a spirit of mildness and readjust my thinking if needed and/or stand on my shoulders and see farther and reach higher than I can.