I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells" (Rev. 2:13).
I was checking out at our CVS Pharmacy when the young lady behind the counter noticed that my total came to $6.66. I assured her that the number was insignificant since it applied to someone who lived nearly 2000 years ago and that her Bible most likely had a page numbered 666. She laughed.
When I got home, I found an article I had written on the subject ("Calculating the Number of the Beast") in which I explain that the number 666 in Revelation 13:18 may be a reference to King Solomon (1 Kings 10:14). You can read the article here.
I was going to print it out and take it to her the next time I saw her. As I was reading through it, I noticed that someone named Daniel Scott had written a couple of objections. As is often the case, the disagreement came down to how certain passages are misinterpreted and used as the basis of a critique. Once the starting point is going in the wrong direction, the destination is seriously in doubt. It’s a form of “Wrong-Way Corrigan” exegesis. Before any further analysis can be made, the flawed exegetical starting point must be examined and corrected in order to get to the proper destination – sound exegesis.
There are numerous examples of flawed starting points when it comes to the topic of eschatology. “This generation” becomes “this race” or “the generation that sees these signs.” In the first case, the Greek word for “race” (genos) is not used in Matthew 24:34. Jesus uses the Greek word genea. Even so, “race” is often cited as a possible translation by dispensationalists. This translation effort was popularized with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible:
Gr. genea, the primary definition of which is, ‘race, kind, family, stock, breed.’ (So all lexicons.) ((Not so all lexicons: “[Genea] the whole multitude of men living at the same time: Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 1:48 (πᾶσαι αἱ γενεαί).” (Joseph Henry Thayer_, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament_ [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979], 112.) “[O]f all the people of a given period: Mt 24:34, Mk 13:30, Lk 21:22, Phl 2:15." (G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 2nd ed. [Edinburgh: T.&T. Clarke, 1923], 89.) Arndt and Gingrich state that genea means “literally, those descended from a common ancestor,” but “basically, the sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at a given time, generation, contemporaries.” (W.F. Arndt and F.W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957], 153). Robinson’s Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament (London: William Tegg and Co., 1852) defines “ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη [this generation], etc. the present generation, Matt. xi. 16. xii. 39, 41, 42, 45. xvi. 4. xvii. 17. xxiii. 36. xxiv. 34. Mark viii . . . xiii. 30 . . . Luke xi. 29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51. xvii. 25. xxi. 32. Acts ii. 40. Phil. ii. 15” (151).)) That the word is used in this sense because none of ’these things,’ i.e. the world-wide preaching of the kingdom, the great tribulation, the return of the Lord in visible glory, and the regathering of the elect, occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, A.D. 70. The promise is, therefore, that the generation — nation, or family of Israel — will be preserved unto ’these things’; a promise wonderfully fulfilled to this day. ((For a refutation of Scofield’s claim that the various sign passages in Matthew 24 have not been fulfilled, see Gary DeMar, Is Jesus Coming Soon? and Last Days Madness.))
Scofield’s claim that the use of genea in Matthew 24:34 refers to the Jewish race has been soundly refuted.
Even so, there are remnants of the “race” translation of genea. ((See Gary DeMar, “Norman Geisler: ‘This Generation’ or ‘This Race’ Will Not Pass Away?”)) For example, the New American Stadard Bible (NASB) translation of “generation” (genea) includes a marginal note that reads “Or race.” Genea always means “generation” (Matt. 1:17), and “this generation” always refers to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking and never “race” (Matt. 1:17; 11:16; 12:39, 41, 42, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; 24:34; Mark 8:12, 38; 9:19; 13:30; Luke 1:48, 50; 7:31; 9:41; 11:29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51; 18:8; 17:25; 21:32).
In the second case, the near demonstrative “this” must be removed and words added to Matthew 24:34 in order to make “this generation” mean any generation except the generation to whom Jesus was speaking. Matthew 24:33 states without equivocation that “this generation” – the generation that was alive when Jesus addressed a particular audience from the Mount of Olives – was the generation that Jesus had in view: “so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door” (also Mark 13:29; James 5:9; Rev. 3:20). Jesus is not referencing a future audience. He was referring to the “you” of those who first heard Him. If an interpreter refuses to acknowledge the primary audience, he’ll never interpret any piece of literature correctly, and that most certainly includes the Bible.
John Bray comments:
We have to understand the Bible by seeing the meaning of the words as understood by those to whom they were written, and the way they were written. Sometimes translations into English do not give that same meaning. Sometimes translations even give meanings that fit more in with the understanding of the translators rather than the acdtual and literal meaning.
Another way to obfuscate the obvious is to add gaps to fiddle with the timeline of a given prophecy. The most popular one is found in Daniel 9:24-27. Seventy weeks of years (490 years) becomes 69 weeks of years (483 years) plus a gap in time of nearly 2000 years then the final 7 years that commences with the “rapture” of the church. There isn’t a single verse that describes such a future prophetic scenario.
It’s this popular methodology that Daniel Scott assumes and uses in his critique of the points I made in my article “Calculating the Number of the Beast.” His approach is typical of much of today’s prophetic speculative hermeneutic.
Mr. Scott’s three numbered objections (bold face) begin with this:
- It ignores Daniel’s 70 “weeks” prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27, particularly the last “week,” or shabua which is a period of 7, usually weeks or years. So the prophecy covers 490 years, the first 483 was the time from the time of the decree (by Cyrus) to rebuild Jerusalem to the time of the Messiah. Some say the last shabua, or 7-year period, was fulfilled with the destruction of the Temple. Problem is, the Temple wasn’t destroyed until 40 years later. You can’t say that met the standard for the 70th week without changing the hermeneutic about the meaning of a shabua/week. That means it hasn’t been fulfilled yet."
The book of Revelation never mentions “seven years,” therefore it’s a stretch to relate the 70th week (seven years) of Daniel’s 70-week (490 years) prophecy – a prophecy supposedly about a yet future seven-year tribulation period that begins with the “rapture” of the church in Revelation 4:1 – to the events outlined in the book of Revelation. There is no evidence in Scripture that the 70th week in Daniel’s “70 weeks of years” is separated from the other 69 weeks by an interminably long time period that supposedly stopped the prophecy clock at the end of Daniel’s 69th week (the 483rd year of the prophecy). The “70 weeks of years” is based on the 70 years of captivity (Dan. 9:2; 2 Chr. 36:21; Ezra 1:1; Jer. 25:11, 12; 29:10; Zech. 7:5). There was no gap in the 70 years of captivity that served as a basis for Daniel’s inquiry, and there is no indication of a gap in the 70 weeks of years (490 years). There is no place in Scripture where a set number of days, weeks, or years is given that includes a gap in time and/or a postponement.
“Desolations are determined” (Dan. 9:26) in the 70th week, not carried out. Jesus says as much in Matthew 23:38: “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!” The actual desolation would take place before that generation passed away (Matt. 24:34). The judgment had been given by Jesus in the 70th week. Daniel does not say “after sixty-nine (7+62) weeks, but not in the seventieth.” Since we’re told that “70 weeks is [the verb is singular] decreed” – and the number 70 follows the number 69 – after the 69th week naturally means in the 70th week. Milton Terry (1840-1914), author of Biblical Hermeneutics and Biblical Apocalyptics, notes that while “weeks” is a plural noun, it is connected “with a verb in the singular (is decreed). The seventy heptades are conceived as a unit, a round number, and are most naturally understood as so many sevens of years.” ((Milton S. Terry, Biblical Apocalyptics: A Study of the Most Notable Revelations of God and of Christ [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1898], 201.))
Old Testament scholar E. W. Hengstenberg (1802-1869) describes the period of seventy weeks of years “as one that will continue uninterruptedly from its commencement to its close, or completion, both with regard to the entire period of seventy [weeks of years], and also as to the several parts (7, 62, and 1) into which the seventy are divided. What can be more evident than this? Exactly seventy weeks in all are to elapse; and how can anyone imagine that there is an interval between the sixty-nine and the one, when these together make up the seventy?” ((E.W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament and a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, 4 vols., 3:143.))
Scott then makes his second argument:
- Revelation clearly states that it is prophecy; a telling of future events. Verse 2:13 talks about the martyrdom of Antipas, who died in 92 AD. So it was written after, most think around 95 AD. Nero died in 68 AD.
Of course, Revelation is a prophecy about future events. Who argues otherwise? There’s a great deal of internal evidence that shows that Revelation was revealed to John prior to the destruction of the temple that took place in AD 70. There are the time texts (Rev. 1:1, 3, 22:10; 3:10) and the fact that the temple seems to be still standing with a distinction between Israel and the nations (11:1-2) that was very evident in the first century prior to the temple’s destruction. By AD 95, Israel was scattered and the temple was in ruins (Matt. 24:1-3).
Kenneth L. Gentry’s book Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation presents an exegetical and historical defense of a pre-AD 70 date for Revelation. Also, see Francis X. Gumerlock’s Revelation and the First Century__: Preterist Interpretations of the Apocalypse in Early Christianity.
There is no reliable historical information on how Antipas was martyred (Rev. 2:13), who Mr. Scott claims died during the reign of Domitian around AD 92. He bases his argument on some fanciful history about an Antipas ((“Antipas” is a shortened form of Antipater, which means “in the place of his father” or “like the father.” An Antipater is his father’s successor, his representative who carries on his legacy. For example, Herod Antipas was the youngest son of Herod the Great [4 BC-39 AD]. There are many Antipaters in world history.)) of Pergamum who is claimed to have been martyred when he was placed in a heated brazen bull-shaped altar in the temple of Artemis.
I’ve checked quite a few sources and in almost every case commentators do not accept the story as fact.
Simeon Metaphrastes, a tenth-century Christian who collected stories of martyrs, wrote that Antipas was executed by being sealed inside a hollow statue of a bull – made of brass – which had been heated until it was red hot and that Antipas called out prayers and thanksgiving from inside the bull. According to Metaphrastes, Antipas was martyred during Domitian’s reign (r. AD 81-96).
*****
On the other hand, some historians – such as Philip Schaff ((William Milligan, “Revelation,” A Popular Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Phillip Schaff, 4 vols. [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1883], 4:385.)) – and Bible commentators – such as Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown ((“Simon Metaphrastes has a palpably legendary story, unknown to the early Fathers, that Antipas, in Domitian’s reign, was shut up in a red-hot brazen bull, and ended his life in thanksgivings and prayers.”)) – doubt Metaphrastes’ identification of Antipas. They note that Metaphrastes seems to accept fantastical and dubious accounts uncritically. Furthermore, no written record of Antipas exists from the time between Revelation and Metaphrastes; therefore, no one can check the sources of his account. For these reasons, those who argue for an earlier date of Revelation (during Nero’s reign, AD 54-68) do not accept Metaphrastes’ account as reliable evidence against their position. ((Andrew Lindsey,Who is ‘Antipas’ in Revelation 2:13? )October 8, 2013).))
Tertullian (c. 155-c. 240 AD) mentions Antipas in his Scorpiace: Antidote for the Scorpion’s Sting (Chap. 12) but curiously does not mention how he died. Henry B. Swete offers the following in his commentary on the history of the martyrdom of Antipas:
There is little to be gleaned about this primitive martyr from post-canonical writings. Tertullian’s allusion to him (scorp. 12) . . . shows no independent knowledge. ((Henry B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John: The Greek Text with Introduction Notes and Indices, 3rd ed. [London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1911], 35.))
I asked Francis X. Gumerlock, author of numerous Latin translations of ancient commentaries, if he had any source material related to the martyrdom of Antipas. Here are his conclusions based on the commentaries he surveyed:
So in all of the Revelation commentaries that are extant from [AD] 200-700, not one of them states that Antipas was martyred during the reign of Domitian. That would have to be inferred if the author of the commentary held to a Domitianic date, but even if the author did hold to the date of Revelation during Domitian’s reign, who knows what he thought about the date of Antipas’ martyrdom, which could have been some years earlier. But in the comments on Rev 2:13 in the Apocalypse commentaries from 200-700 there are no explicit references to Antipas being martyred during the reign of Domitian . . . . From the eighth through fourteenth centuries, I have not found in the Revelation commentaries any explicit reference that Antipas was martyred in the times of Domitian.
The only early commentary he could find that claimed that Antipas was martyred “by being roasted in a bronze bull in the tenth year of Domitian” was written by Cornelius a Lapide, Jesuit of Flanders (1627). This doesn’t mean, of course, that there are no commentaries. In fact, John Wesley (1703-1791) includes the following in his commentary on Revelation 2:13, “Antipas — Martyred under Domitian,” ((The following is Wesley’s comment on Matthew 24:34: “This generation of men now living shall not pass till all these things be done — The expression implies, that great part of that generation would be passed away, but not the whole. Just so it was. For the city and temple were destroyed thirty-nine or forty years after.)) but he does not cite a source.
Moses Stuart offers a summary of the scant historical source for the claim that the Antipas in Revelation 2:13 was martyred during the reign of Domitian:
Of the Antipas here named we know nothing further; excepting of Andreas (Commentary ((“Antipas, whose name had become known, as the bravest martyr in Pergamum, whose martyrdom I have read, the Evangelist now mentioned to point to both their patience and the cruelty of those who had been led astray.” Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse [Fathers of the Church Patristic Series], trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou [Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011], 67-68.)) written near the close of the fifth century) mentions that he had read a martyrology of him. . . . In the Acta Sanctorum (II, pp. 3, 4) is a martyrology of Antipas from a Greek MS.; but it is full of fable and fiction, which a later age had added to the original story.” ((Moses Stuart, A Commentary on the Apocalypse, 2 vols. [Andover, MD: Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell, 1845], 2:73.))
In addition to discounting the fabled martyrdom of Antipas during the reign of Domitian, Stuart has a great deal to say about the dating of Revelation.
It seems indisputably clear that the book of Revelation must be dated in the reign of Nero Caesar, and consequently before his death in June, A.D. 68. He is the sixth king; the short-lived rule of the seventh king (Galba) “has not yet come” [17:10]. ((Stuart, A Commentary on the Apocalypse, 2:324.))
*****
The manner of the declaration here seems to decide, beyond all reasonable appeal, against a later period than about A.D. 67 or 68, for the composition of the Apocalypse. ((Stuart, A Commentary on the Apocalypse, 2:326.))
R.C.H. Lenski also questions the veracity of the martyrdom story by noting that it is based on “a legend that appeared in the tenth century.” ((R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John’s Revelation [Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943], 105.))
The most recent defense of the Domitian composition date for Revelation was written by Mark L. Hitchcock, a popular prophecy writer. “A Defense of the Domitianic Defense of the Date of the Book of Revelation” (2005) was written “In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy” at Dallas Theological Seminary. While Hitchcock refers to Antipas on page 197 of his dissertation, he does not use his martyrdom as a defense for the late date. If there was an impeachable historical source for the claim that Antipas was martyred during the reign of Domitian, Hitchcock would have used it.
Curiously, however, he does use the martyrdom of Antipas in defense of the Domitian date in his co-authored book Breaking the Apocalypse Code: Setting the Record State About the End Times. Breaking the Apocalypse Code is a popularly written book designed as a critique of Hank Hanegraaff’s book The Apocalypse Code. Unlike Antipas’ absence as a defense for the late date for Revelation in “A Defense of the Domitianic Defense,” Hitchcock and his co-author Thomas Ice do use unsubstantiated history as a source for the late debate in Breaking the Apocalypse Code. Here’s what they write in the body text under the heading “The Martyrdom of Antipas”:
Revelation 2:13 mentions the martyrdom of a man named Antipas in the city of Pergamun. According to church history, Antipas was martyred during the reign of Domitian in either AD 83 or 92. Since the martyrdom of Antipas is in the past when Revelation was written, Revelation could not have been written before the reign of Domitian in AD 81. ((Mark Hitchcock and Thomas Ice, Breaking the Apocalypse Code: Setting the Record State About the End Times. Breaking the Apocalypse Code [Costa Mesa, CA: The Word for Today, 2007], 207-208.))
And what do the authors reference as a source for their claim that Antipas’ martyrdom took place during the reign of Domitian “according to church history”? You’ll have to look at the end note which states, “The tradition of Antipas’ martyrdom in AD 92 by being roasted alive in [a] bronze bull comes from a Byzantine hagiographer named Simeon Metaphastes [sic] (AD 900-984).” ((Hitchcock and Thomas Ice, Breaking the Apocalypse Code, 240, note 381.)) Note the word “tradition.” They cite a work that is nearly a thousand years removed from the time when Antipas was martyred.
If Hitchcock had used the Antipas martyrdom “tradition” in defense of the late date of Revelation in his dissertation, I suspect that his examining committee would have pointed out that his historical source for his claim was exceedingly weak. Most people reading a popularly written work would not question the historical source, maybe not even look at the end note.
The thing of it is, there is no written documentation prior to the 10th-century writings of Symeon Metaphrastes that can substantiate that the “tradition” of Antipas’ martyrdom is true. It is more legend than fact, a “legend . . . half fraudulent, half imaginative.” ((William Henry Simcox, The Revelation of S. John the Divine with Notes and Introduction [Cambridge Greek Testament for School and Colleges], vol. 27 [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1893], 58.))
Richard Baxter’s Paraphrase of the New Testament, first published in 1685, states the following about the Antipas legend:
We have no other certain History of Antipas, and his Case but only his uncertain Stories of Metaphrastes, and the Menology. No doubt there are many Martyrs, whose histories have not come down to us: But Christ has Honoured Antipas by this Sacred Record [in Rev. 2:13]: The time of his suffering is unknown. ((Richard Baxter, A Paraphrase on the New Testament with Notes, Doctrinal and Practical, by Plainess and brevity Fitted to the use of Religious Families, in their Daily Reading of the Scriptures: and of the Younger and Poorer Sort of Scholars and Ministers, who want Fuller Helps: With an Advertisement of Difficulties in the Revelations, 2nd ed. [London: T. Parkhurst, [1685] 1695]. Also in 1685, Matthew Poole commented: “It is much [that] no ecclesiastical history makes mention of this martyr Antipas, which argues him to have been a person but of obscure note in the world; but Christ seeth and taketh notice of those little ones who belong to him, though the world overlooks them.” Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 3 vols. [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, [1685], 1975], 3:954. There’s also this from a commentary published in 1658: “What this Antipas was, there is no more mentioned in Scripture concerning him: It is recorded in Story that he was a Minister in Pergamos, and it is not improbable, seeing these are most ordinarily the object of persecutors’ malice and violence…. It may be, he was stoned in some tumult as a seditious person, or one not worthy to live, because of some of the reproaches or other put upon him.” James Durham, A Commentarie on the Book of the Revelation [Glasgow, Scotland: Printed by Robert Sanders, [1658] 1680], 131].))
In conclusion, long before the rise of dispensationalism and the dating issue became an issue, there were questions about the authenticity of the Antipas legend that found its way into books like The Lives of the Saints. ((S. Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints [London: John Hodges, 1873], 136.))
In all that I’ve read, there is no reliable historical source to substantiate the claim that the Antipas of Revelation 2:13 was martyred during the reign of Domitian, therefore, the most likely fictional account should not be used to support the late-date position.
Finally, Mr. Scott provides this third argument:
- The Bible interprets itself. The points about Solomon’s idolatry is a poignant one and does indeed point to the character of the future Antichrist and of the Beast. However, we tend to think of the Bible in terms of linear western thinking, that there is a prophecy and a fulfillment and straight line in between. Jewish thought, however, is not linear, and Jewish prophecy is about a pattern, or what we might term a “convergence of events”. We see glimpses of future events in the Bible and in history, and Nero was a glimpse of that picture, but not the picture itself. All those little glimpses in the Bible and in history will all come together to form the final pattern. We have seen the beginnings of this in recent months; the pattern seems to begin to come into focus.
Indeed, the Bible does interpret itself. If the book of Revelation was written prior to the destruction of the temple that took place in AD 70 and the events “must soon take place” (1:1) because “for the time is near” (1:3), the passing of nearly 2000 years does not fit with what the Bible states regarding time. John is directed not to “seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Rev 22:10). Compare this command with what Daniel was told: “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the time of the end; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase” (Dan. 12:4). What end? What knowledge?
The New Testament is the fulfillment of the command that was given to Daniel. What Daniel was told to conceal and seal, the book of Revelation revealed. The “end of the age” (Matt. 24:3; see 24:34), “in these last days” (Heb. 1:2), “now once at the consummation of the ages” (9:26), “in these last times” (1 Pet. 1:20), “the end of all things” (4:7) were “near.” James wrote, “for the coming of the Lord is near” for that generation. “Near” is defined as “standing right at the door” (James 5:7-9; see Matt. 24:33). The words “near” and “shortly” are never used for passages of time that extend nearly two millennia.
Since “the Bible interprets itself” (on this we agree), how does the Bible define an antichrist and when does he or they appear? The Bible tells us.
First, there were “many antichrists” in John’s day (1 John 2:18). Second, John’s definition of an antichrist is very specific: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7). Third, John writes that these “many antichrists” had manifested themselves in his day. That’s why he writes “even now many antichrists have appeared.” “Now” is an important time word. Fourth, because of their “now” appearance “from this we know that it is the last hour.” These time references line up with the nearness of the “end of the age” that was to be accomplished when “this generation,” the generation to whom Jesus was speaking, “passed away” (Matt. 24:34).
These antichrists were most likely (a) Jews who denied that Jesus was the incarnate son of God (John 8:31-59), (b) opposed the gospel (Acts 20:3, 19; 21:20-40; 23:12-35), and (c) Jews who had been a part of the Christian fellowship but who then abandoned the faith because it was not Jewish enough (Acts 15:1, 24; Gal. 2:4; 2:12; 6:12; cf. Phil. 3:2): “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). Antichrists are religious figures, not political.
In this sense, “Judaizers” refers to Jewish Christians who sought to induce Gentiles to observe Jewish religious customs: to “judaize.” It appears that these individuals agreed with much of the apostolic kerygma but sought to regulate the admission of Gentiles into the covenant people of God through circumcision and the keeping of the ceremonial law. Insisting that “Unless you are circumcised … you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1), these “believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees” (Acts 15:5 ) posed a serious threat to the gospel of grace and the universality of the Christian mission." ((R. David Rightmire, “Judaizers,” Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology.))
As to the beast; there are two beasts. A sea beast (Rev. 13:1), most likely Rome, and a land beast that “had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon” (13:11). If the events in Revelation were to take place “soon” (1:1) because the time was “near” (1:3; 22:10), and the temple was still standing (11:1-2), and the sixth king was alive at the time of the writing (17:10), then there is no need to project such a prophecy into a time that is nearly two millennia distant from the time of writing.
Does it mean that because these events in Revelation (and the Olivet Discourse) have been fulfilled that they have no relevance for us today? Not in the least. Are the many prophecies that predicted the coming of the promised Messiah and their fulfillment irrelevant for us today? May it never be. Prophecies of the city where the Messiah would be born (Micah 5:1-2 and Matt. 2:5-6; Luke 2:4) and the manner of His death (Psalm 22:16, 18; 34:20 and Matt. 27:35; John 19:24, 36) and so many other fulfilled prophecies too numerous to list here ((Floyd E. Hamilton, The Basis of Christian Faith: A Modern Defense of the Christian Religion, rev. ed. [New York: Harper & Row, 1964], 160 and Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks: Scientific Proof of the Accuracy of Prophecy and the Bible, 3rd rev. ed. [Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1969], 109.)) have great meaning and application for us today even though they are fulfilled prophecies never to be duplicated or serve as a so-called “dual fulfillment.”
Notes: