Is the "Mountain Peaks of Prophecy" Interpretation correct?

Is the "Mountain Peaks of Prophecy" Interpretation correct?

If we read into Matthew 24:1-51, we come across many things that Jesus spoke to the disciples about such as "foretelling the destruction of the Temple", "signs of the End of the Age", "the abomination of desolation", "the coming of the Son of Man", and "nobody knowing the day or the hour of the coming of the Son of Man".

Many of these words or prophecies spoken by Jesus were in their future, but about 200 years ago, many theologians have came to the theory that the future events spoken by Jesus were not only in their future but in our future by using the principle of "mountain peaks of prophecy" interpretation.

Q: So what is this "mountain peaks of prophecy" interpretation?

A: This theory was made popular by Clarence Larkin (1850-1924) who also promoted the dispensationalism theory. 

In a gist, it means that a person is standing on the left and looking towards the right. The scene is a timeline, which represents the progress of time. And this person, a prophet, can only tell you what he saw in the peaks because the valleys are hidden away. They cannot tell you what lies in between the peaks. And because the mountains are so far away (in the future), he cannot tell you which mountain is nearer and which is farther. So when the prophet speaks, he describes prophecies that are in the immediate future and some of them are hundreds or even thousands of years in the future.

This method of interpretation is very subjective and you can force verses to come into a particular set of presumed timeline that had been pre-conceived. This method will fail if you read the scriptures within its Context. For example, the disciples asked Jesus a question in Mat 24:3, and if you use this method of interpretation, then the whole timeline will go haywire, and you will be bombarded with several prophets with very diverse and different types of interpretations.

Jesus was never haphazard in answering his disciples. He never jumped from place to place in His answers and provide more confusion to His message.

This "mountain peaks of prophecy" was originally started by a German Lutheran theologian called John Albert Bengel (1687-1752).

See a write up on Johann Albrecht Bengel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Albrecht_Bengel

It may be interesting to note that Bengel calculated the date of 18th June 1836 to be the exact date for the second coming of Jesus Christ, which of course is incorrect and in grave error.

Bengel wrote in his book "Bengel's New Testament Commentary" and introduced the "mountain range/peak of prophecy" theory in his commentary on Matthew 24:29, on biblical interpretation. This is what he said:

[  The English has "immediately". You will say it is a great leap from the destruction of Jerusalem to the end of the world which is sub-joined to it "immediately". I reply a prophecy resembles a landscape painting wich represents distinctly the houses, paths and bridges in the foreground but brings together into a narrow space most widely severed valleys and mountains in the distance.

Such a view, should they who studied prophecy have of the future to which the prophecy refers. And the eyes of the disciples, who in their question had connected the end of the Temple with that of the world, are left somewhat in the dark, (for it was not yet time to know). Hence, they afterwards with entire harmony imitated the Lord's language and declared that the end was at hand.  ]

Bengel said that the disciples believed that the fall of the Temple and the end of the world were the same event and they were left somewhat in the dark since it wasn't the time for them to know. And thus from that time onward, they imitated the Lord's language and say the end is at hand.

This interpretation is contextually wrong. It means Jesus spoke out ahead of the disciples and then did not even tell them that He was speaking out ahead of them, and it ignores the word "immediately" in Mat 24:29.

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

Let us look at this word "immediately". The Greek word for "immediately" is the word "eutheos" meaning "at once", "soon", "as soon as", "forthwith", "immediately", "shortly", "straightway".

It has never meant to be a far off amount of time in the future or someday.

To compare see how the word "immediately" or "eutheos" is used in many other verses.

Mat 3:16  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately (eutheos) he went up from the water.

Mat 8:3  And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately (eutheos) his leprosy was cleansed. 

Mat 20:34  And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately (eutheos) they recovered their sight. 

Mar 1:31  And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately (eutheos) the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 

Mar 2:12  And immediately (eutheos) he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all.

and many more verses. In these verses, does it mean that it took many years for their healing, when Jesus said immediately? No, it was straightaway.

See Milton Terry's Biblical Hermeneutics (1898) on what he wrote about Matthew 24:29.

[  But we can find no word or sentence which appears designed to impress anyone with the idea that the destruction in question and the Parousia would be far separate as to time. The one, it is said, will immediately follow the other, and all will take place before that generation shall pass away.

On what valid hermeneutical principles, then, can it be fairly claimed that this discourse of Jesus comprehends all futurity? Why should we look for the revelations of far distant ages and millenniums of human history in a prophecy expressly limited to the generation in which it was uttered?

We are driven, then, by every sound principle of hermeneutics, to conclude that Matthew  24:29-31, must be included within the time-limits of the discourse of which it forms an essential part, and cannot be legitimately applied to events far separate from the final catastrophe of the Jewish state.  ]

Question: What is the purpose of this "mountain peak of prophecy" interpretation theory?

Answer: There is no purpose and we do not need it unless we have a pre-conceived idea of the "end times", and we try to fit in the words of Jesus into the different "peaks" of the interpretation. In that case, you will have to ignore the Context of the whole chapter and put in their own interpretation in the timeline that fits their theory of prophecy interpretation. This is called making the scriptures work within their own theory.

Let us look at another extra-biblical author called Ezra P Gould who wrote "Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Mark's Gospel" in 1896, who commented on Mark 13, which is a parallel passage to Matthew 24:29.

[  We come now to the coming of the Son of Man with its accompanying portents. It is placed after the destruction of Jerusalem but in the same general period in those days after the affliction. The portents, the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars belong to that event and not to the destruction of Jerusalem. This separation of the two events which might seem to belong together, means that the fall of Jerusalem was a preparation for the Advent, which cannot take place without it. It is the end of the old order which might precede the beginning of the new. This does not discount the possibility of anything happening in our future.  ]

See a write up on E P Gould:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Palmer_Gould

Double Fulfillment of Prophecy?

Double Fulfillment of Prophecy?

Some preachers say that they can accept Mat 24 as the  1st fulfillment of Jesus prophecy in year AD67-AD70, but they believe that another fulfillment of the same prophecy will come in another future generation.

Many of us who taught bible prophecy used to (but not now) have an illustration of how a prophet sees a revelation or vision. We thought that a prophet sees a vision like a person look at a mountain range. The person who looks at a mountain range can see the mountains but cannot determine which mountain is nearer and which is further. Also he cannot measure the distances of the mountains to each other or to oneself. So we used to think that a prophet can prophesy things in the future but do not know the timing or the sequence of events of which one is coming in order.







However, after looking back, we have to ask ourselves a question whether the prophecies of Jesus is it like this? No, it is not especially the prophecies found in Matthew 24 given by Jesus. These prophecies have a specific date, a specific timing and specific description of events going to take place. Such prophecies must be taken seriously and cannot be disregarded. They must be interpreted within the Context of what Jesus was addressing especially in the disciples' questions in verse 3.

The prophecies of Jesus were  not left to chance or individual liking of interpretation. Jesus gave specific timelines and not vague assumptions.

For example, what is the timing of the "great tribulation"? Jesus answered in Mat 24:21, that the timing would be when all the signs have taken place in their generation.

See: https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-great-tribulation.html


Another example in Rev 1:1, where Jesus told John about the events that are "shortly" coming to pass. This word "shortly" also means "quickly" or "swiftly".

In Rev 1:3, Jesus told John that the "time is at hand" or "time is near". These are specific timings of events that are almost going to take place.


Another example in Luke 23:28-30, when Jesus was on the way to the Cross, He told the women that the coming destruction on them will be so great, that they will cry to the mountains to fall and cover them.

This was retold by Jesus in John in Rev 6:15-17, the same scenario. The wrath of God coming on them will be so great that they will cry to the mountains to fall and cover them. And this is going to take place very very soon.


To say that the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple happened in AD70 and again in the future because of double fulfillment of prophecy is being not a good scholar or wrong hermeunetics. Wrong interpretation will result in wrong teaching leading to formation of cults and manipulative groups. That's why with every earthly physical catastrophe within the last few centuries have resulted with many men and women who claimed to be the Messiahs coming to save a dying world from the "great tribulation".

See the many lists of them here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_be_Jesus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_messiah_claimants
https://www.christianpost.com/news/5-false-messiahs-and-why-their-claims-to-be-christ-contradict-the-bible.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/08/new-messiahs-jesus-christ-second-coming-photos/

Many of these cults believe in the Dispensation theory, that states that Jesus will rapture the Christians before the future "great tribulation" that is going to come upon the world. They are sometimes called pre-tribulation preachers. Now with the pandemic Covid-19 virus that is infecting millions around the world, many egoistically fueled preachers are having a great time telling their followers that Jesus has shown THEM that this is the End of the world, and they will be raptured soon.

This dispensationalism has done a lot of damage to the church. It has caused many believers to be stagnant and just wait for the kingdom of God that is to come.


When Jesus told the disciples to expect the "days of vengeance" of God that is coming upon them in their lifetime in Luke 21:21-23, He was not telling them about the "wrath" that is going to come many many centuries later. The future has nothing to do with them.

After the resurrection of Jesus, Paul reminded the Thessalonian church that the "wrath of God" will be coming soon and they will be delivered from it.

1Th 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 



All the prophecies  regarding the fall of Jerusalem and Israel, regarding the judgement of God on Israel had already been fulfilled.

Luk 18:31  Then He drew the Twelve to Him and said, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written in the Prophets which refers to the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 

Jesus said, "It will be FULFILLED'. There is no double fulfillment.


J.E. Leonard wrote in his book "Come Out of  Her, My People" in 1991, page 70:

[  God had to utterly destroy the Temple, the genealogical records that qualify the descendants of Aaron to serve as priests and the city of Jerusalem. He had to scatter the  people  and make it impossible for them to continue their futile and fruitless sacrifices in order to demonstrate his repudiation of Judaism as a religious system. Jesus said that no man comes to the Father, except through Him. God verified Jesus statement when He forcibly put an end to Israel's attempt to relate to the Father apart from the Son.  ]

There is no double fulfillment to the end of Judaism or the Mosaic Age.All these happened within that generation only. We are already more than 20 generations behind the "great tribulation" that Jesus talked about.




From the friend's study on double fulfillment of prophecy:

[  Does a prophecy have just one fulfillment, or can it have two or three? Does each Bible verse have multiple meanings? In the 17th century, John Owen well said: "If the Scripture has more than one meaning, it has no meaning at all."

After His resurrection, Jesus encouraged the disciples thus: "These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44).

Jesus was not the "initial," "partial," "typical" fulfillment. He was the FULFILLMENT!

What often happens is that people cannot deny the fulfillment of a prophecy, but their prejudices leave them dissatisfied. Therefore, they resort to "dual" fulfillment.

This is done today with such prophecies as the destruction of Jerusalem, the coming of Elijah, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the destruction of Babylon.

Where will the "double fulfillment" theory stop? Could it be that John the Baptist was only a "partial" fulfillment of Isaiah 40, inasmuch as he did not literally lower any mountains? (See Luke 3:4-6.)

Isaiah 53, as read by the Ethiopian eunuch, prophesied that the Suffering Servant would be "like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so he opened not his mouth" (Acts 8:32-35).

Did Philip tell the eunuch, "Well, since Jesus did open his mouth a couple of times during his trial, He is only a 'partial' fulfillment--the 'primary' and 'complete' fulfillment is off in the future"? Of course not!

It is time to take God at His word, whether it harmonizes with our prejudices or not. If prophecy is really prophecy, then when it is fulfilled, it is FULFILLED.  ]



Adam Maarschalk, a bible scholar in his research noted:

[  An article written in 2004 by Michael Fenemore goes into even more detail on why the idea of dual fulfillment does not work when it comes to Jesus’ famous words in Matthew 24:

Some prophecy teachers, while acknowledging a fulfillment of Matthew 24 in the first century, predict a future second fulfillment, but this time, with worldwide implications… We might wonder whether those who promote the double-fulfillment theory ever took the time to test it by reading over the text even once. How could this be fulfilled twice?

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come (Mat 24:14, NASB).

Will the “great commission” be fulfilled twice? Does “the end” come twice? If it does, then, the first one wasn’t the end.

Will there be two “great” tribulations? “For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again” (Matt. 24:21, NLT). Since this anguish would “never be so great again,” how could it occur twice? Some might protest that such language is hyperbolic; it was not intended to be taken literally. Perhaps that is true. But then, the same people should be able to understand that the rest of Matthew 24 is replete with the same Old Testament-style hyperbole. They should not require a second fulfillment just because some events did not occur exactly as Jesus described them.

Jesus never said Matthew 24 would be fulfilled twice, and there’s no rule anywhere in the Bible saying prophecy should be interpreted this way. The double-fulfillment concept is simply an untenable fabrication created in desperation, probably deemed necessary because its adherents expect literal fulfillments of the highly figurative, cosmic predictions in Matthew 24 and other places, which of course, have never occurred (and never will).   ]

Is the nation of Israel same as the Israel in the Bible?

WORTH READING

In the year May 14, 1948, the nation of ISRAEL got independence from the British rule in Palestine.
The current nations of Israel was formed. Since then the nation of Israel elects prime ministers (presidents) in their new political country.

Ask yourself, where was the "nation of Israel" before the year 1948.? 

Over 1000 years the nation was non-existent. How come the nation of Israel did not exist?

Because the Biblical Israel was fulfilled in Christ, ending their prophecies and making the nation of Israel scattered and desolated by the Romans in AD70.

According to the words of Christ in Luke 21:20-22;

And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that ALL THINGS which are written may be fulfilled.

This fulfillment ended the nation of Israel and their "covenant with the Lord". This is what the book of Revelation talks about. The destruction and end of all their world. After that time God began to rule over All nations and all men.

The nation of Isreal of 1948, has nothing in common with those in the Bible. The Twelve Tribes of Israel do not exist today. Neither is their temple. Jesus also did not appear or die in the 1900's.

The current Israel are predominantly Muslims (Religion: 74.8% Jewish, 17.6% Muslim, 2.0% Christian, 1.6% Druze, 4.0% other).

The current Jews are not the true Jews. They are Jews from Turkey.

*****

After Jerusalem was completely destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans when the son of man came,
Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitoiina in 135 AD.

After the destruction, the Romans rebuilt a portion of the city and erected a temple to a Roman god called Jupiter on Mount Moriah and forbid access to any Jew who remain to enter into Jerusalem.

The Emperor Hadrian name it "Aelia Capitoiina" and the Moslems retained this name until the time of the Crusades.

El Khuds was next name given by the Mohammedans, and it is known by this name at the present time by them since they still LIVE there.

The name Jerusalem regained its name when Israel became a State and Country in May 14, 1948 despite the fact that the Muslims control the Temple Mount now.

*****

What the nation of Israel has now is purely a religious tourist sites. And they are the remains of what happened after the desolation in AD70. Nothing spiritual about it.

There is nothing left to be fulfilled in the scriptures today or even in the future. The words of Christ came true, because he is the Truth.

What ever teaching you are hearing about puting prophecies in the future would come to nothing. It all built on falsehood and the media (BBC, Al-jazeera, CNN etc) to which many pastors use for their prediction. All would come to nothing.

Jesus also said, after the destruction or desolation of Israel, that horror would never happen again.

Matthew 24:21;
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and NEVER to be equaled again. (Relate it to Daniel 12:1-2).

Our failure to understand Apocalyptic languages of the epistles and Revelation has lead to all this fanciful predictions which keep failing and yet people never learn from it.

The Holy Spirit would never teach anyone anything that CONTRADICT The nature and words of Jesus. Because whatever the Holy Spirit teaches is from Jesus.

John 16:13-15:
Yet when the Spirit of Truth comes, he’ll guide you into all truth. He won’t speak on his own accord, but he’ll speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, ‘He will take what is mine and declare it to you.’

Adapted From Jonathan Forgor