Now that July 4th fireworks are over, I would like you to recall that one special display, the “double-burst” firework. It appeared as a single firework of medium size. It was pleasing but did not appear to be anything special. But some sharp-eyed observers might have caught the sight of one small rocket continuing on into the summer night from the top of the first burst. After another second or two of silence, a second and much larger firework exploded far above the location of the first; twice its size and twice its volume! The following oohs and aahs from the crowd confirmed that they had seen something very special!
I am recalling all this to make a point … prophecy is filled with “double-burst fulfillments”! GotQuestions.com defines this phenomenon this way:
“A double fulfillment or dual fulfillment of a Bible prophecy is the circumstance in which the prophecy has both a short-term and long-term fulfillment. A prophecy is made, and the first fulfillment comes to pass relatively soon thereafter. Later, there is a second fulfillment to the prophecy, and that second fulfillment is usually fuller and more literal. So, there is a “near” fulfillment and a “far” fulfillment. A prophecy having a dual fulfillment helps to unify Scripture and emphasizes God’s masterful control of events.” https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecy-double-dual-fulfillment.html
When speaking of “prophetic fore-telling,” Blomberg, Klein, and Hubbard state: “An OT prophecy may have two fulfillments, one near the prophet’s lifetime, and one long past it.” (Blomberg, Klein, & Hubbard, An Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 378). https://www.logos.com/grow/immanuel-in-isaiah-a-study-in-multiple-fulfillment/
Here are just a few examples of just such prophecies from the pages of scripture…
(Joel 2:28-29) Signs of the End
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit was indeed poured out upon men and women, sons and daughters gathered in the Upper Room to pray. Acts 2:14-18 tells us,
“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’”
We are still waiting for the second burst to occur, but most prophecy watchers agree that we will not have to wait for long! That is when the second part of the same prophecy (Acts 2:19-21) will be fulfilled at the end of the age:
“I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Isaiah 7:10-16 The Sign of the Child
King Ahaz of Judah was alarmed about two enemy nations (Israel and Syria) threatening to march against him. God sent the prophet Isaiah to assure him that he had nothing to fear.
“Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.’ But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The ‘almah’ will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
The Hebrew word “almah” can mean either “young woman” or “virgin” depending on the context. The prophecy was fulfilled just as the Lord said when, a few years later, Isaiah’s own wife bore him a child, and before the child was 3 years old, Israel and Syria had been conquered by Assyria and were no longer a threat to Judah, just as the Lord had foretold. We see this first fulfillment in Isaiah 8:3, 4…
“Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
Though Isaiah’s wife was not a virgin, she was a “young woman of the age to conceive.” In the first fulfillment of this prophecy, the mother of the child was a young woman. In the second fulfillment, Mary was a virgin. All would agree that the second fulfillment of the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy far exceeded the first!
2 Chronicles 17:11-14 – The King to Come
David wanted to build a house for God, but God disallowed it because David had been a man of war and blood. To console David, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to speak a prophecy over King David, and it is a classic “double-burst prophecy“…
“For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me. And I will secure his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you. I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’”
To this very day, rabbis will argue that the only king being spoken of here is David’s son, Solomon. They see only the “first burst,” not the second. Well did Isaiah 6:9-10a foretell the curse on my ancient Jewish people due to their refusal to serve the Lord…
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.”
But to those whose eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit, the second fulfillment of this same prophecy is far more glorious, for it is none other than Jesus, the Son of God!
“And I will secure his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.”
The three examples above are just a few of the many near and far fulfillments found in the words of the prophets. Understanding this principle of the “double-burst prophecies” will help students of the Bible to see Christ more clearly in the pages of God’s word. Next time you see fireworks, watch for the double-burst kind and let your soul “ooh and aah” as you remember the mysterious workings of our God!
The post The Double-Burst Prophecy :: By Asher Mandel appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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