As 2023 comes to a close, I’m in the final portions of my Bible reading for the year. This week I’m finishing the Old Testament, absorbing prophetic books like Zechariah and Malachi, and next week will be the apocalyptic book of Revelation. This style of writing has interesting elements to it that must be kept in mind to help with understanding. For example, the word pictures and parallelism of Hebrew poetry frequently pop up in Old Testament prophetic books. The prophets call Israel to repentance for their sinful practices, pronouncing judgment from the Lord upon those who rebel, and predicting a coming “day of the Lord” when the Judge of the world will set wrongs right. In the midst of the judgment, there are glimpses of hope for those who trust in the Lord and in the Lord’s Anointed. The book of Revelation, similar to prophetic literature, pronounces judgment and offers some hope, but is apocalyptic in revealing God’s plan for how His judgment will be unveiled.
In both cases, the truths contained in these portions of Scripture can be terrifying, yet for those whose hope is in the Lord, we trust in God’s deliverance and His Deliverer. For example, in Zechariah 9:9, there is a prophecy of the king who is coming:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This was fulfilled when Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem seated on a donkey shortly before the final events of his life. A few verses later in Zechariah 9 we read in verses 14-17:
Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,
and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.
16 On that day the Lord their God will save them,
as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
they shall shine on his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
Grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.
Clearly there is hope of salvation for God’s people. While there is an element of this for Israel, there is a greater fulfillment coming for all God’s people that is yet to come. Theologians speak about “inaugurated eschatology” which is a fancy way of saying that some prophesies (and promises) have an immediate partial fulfillment and a more distant ultimate fulfillment. For example, in one sense judgment came upon the Jews in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nero, but in a greater sense, judgment is coming upon all people at the end of the world (c.f. Rev. 6-18) when God’s wrath is fully unleashed.
When I was recently preaching about this in Africa, I thought of an illustration for how to grasp this concept. When I travel to Africa, I tell my family, “I’m with you. Tuko pamoja. (We are together.)” While in Africa, I remember them, pray for them, text and call them. We are together, in some ways, partially. But a time comes in every trip when I return home and I am fully with them, in person, face to face (at least the ones that live here in Olympia.) Initial partial fulfillment, later ultimate fulfillment. The same thing is often true of God’s prophecies and promises. God saves His people through Jesus Christ by establishing the Kingdom of God as Christ preaches and heals and saves. But a greater fulfillment is coming when God will completely save His people and all evil will be removed (Rev. 21-22). May we long for that day, in faith and eager expectation awaiting God’s final fulfillment of His promises.