Trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together without a
picture to look at can be one of the most difficult tasks to undertake. First to
begin with you will not know where to start. But you can try
something; you can guess, speculate, and conjecture about
which piece to go here and which to go there and hope that you will eventually
figure it all out!
So it is with the way some people treat Bible prophecy. They
would read a text in Revelation, and then go to the book of Daniel (because
they are told to do so) and read another text without any way of determining
whether or not both texts are related in any way. And so they are left to
speculate as to how one passage of scripture relate to the other. This
situation often occurs because some Bible students are trying to unravel the
prophecies of Daniel and Revelation without an overall picture or a contextual
framework to guide them. Then there is also the chance of them treating two
passages of scripture in isolation when they are really parallel Bible texts.
One way to solve this is to discern the parallels between
scripture passages by looking at the overall prophetic picture found in Daniel chapters
2, 7, 8, and 11. Those parallel prophecies in the book of Daniel provides a biblical
context that you can use to guide you into how to discern parallels between
seemingly unrelated scripture passages in Bible prophecy. If this overall picture is utilized properly,
you will find that it offers a world of tools for your understanding of
end-time Bible prophecy.
What it actually does is to give you:
a) A repetition
of predicted events to transpire over a particular period
b) A set of
parallel themes within a particular context
c) A set of
solutions to prophetic symbols
d) Complimentary
details that add dimension to the prophecy and enhance your understanding of the
overall picture
e) Complementary
details in one prophecy that help to clarify difficulties in its parallel
counterpart
f) Information
that helps you to coordinate parallel prophecies outside of Daniel
The good thing about being guided by the parallel prophecies
is that it keeps you within a certain contextual boundary that you know you should
not overstep. If you are studying a certain Bible passage and you know that you
are working within a certain contextual parameter that is set within the
framework of the parallel prophecies, you will know that your interpretation of
that passage must take a direction that fits the context.
This obvious principle is clearly violated in the doctrine of
a 7-year Antichrist reign. This conclusion is arrived at because of a misinterpretation
of the 70-week prophecy of Daniel 9. The major conclusion is that the final
week (or seven years) of this 70-week will be the period of the tribulation when
the Antichrist is to reign.
From what we are told in the scriptures, the context of this
prophecy is about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah. The
Messiah is to arrive at the beginning of the 69th week. The Bible
then went on to say that this Messiah is to be cut off (or slain) in the midst
of the final week and cause sacrifices and oblation to cease. These predictions
were fulfilled to the letter in the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the activities of the Antichrist,
as predicted by Daniel and John, is clearly outside of this context.
When you are confronted with a particular Bible passage that
you are trying figure out, if you can see a clear similarity of context between
that passage and other Bible passages that are clear enough and easier to
understand, at least half your problem is solved. However, we must be careful
in our selection of scripture passages because if these Bible texts do not fit
the context of the prophecy we are studying it will inevitably cause us to
arrive at conclusions that are unsound.
We must learn to use the Bible as if it is really a lamp unto
our feet and a light unto our path (Ps.19:105). That is, we must believe that
whatever difficulty we encounter in understanding a passage of scripture can be
overcome if we simply allow the Bible to interpret itself. Just about every
difficulty we encounter in our prophecy studies can be solved if we apply the
right attitude and adapt the right principle in understanding the Bible. This
kind of approach is needed more than ever as we grapple with the difficult
Bible passages that relate to the prophecies of the end-time.
Further information on the subject of the 7-year Antichrist reign is found in this article resource
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