11-9 Different Sequences of Prophetic Fulfillment

The sequence of possible, potentially possible events as outlined in Ezekiel 35-48 is perhaps not the same sequence as found in say Zechariah, a prophecy given some time after it had become evident that Judah and “the prince” were not fulfilling God’s intended pattern.  

Bible students have sought in vain to reconcile these and many other different sequences of prophetic fulfillment. We have mused about there being several invasions in the last days to get all the details fulfilled, and have conceived the repentance of Israel as being in various stages to fit in with the sequences outlined in the various prophets. But it seems impossible to geographically and chronologically synchronise all these things together in terms of one universal fulfilment. My suggestion is that the above prophecies were all potential scenarios of what could have happened at the time of the restoration. The ideal intention was in the Ezekiel record- that an unsuccessful invasion such as that described in Ez. 38 would have occurred, rooted in jealousy at the rebuilt temple and Babylon feeling like Pharaoh that they had let the Jews go too far; and this would have lead up to the establishment of the Kingdom. But God foresaw that this was not going to happen. Judah simply didn’t return with joy and righteousness as commanded / prophesied in Isaiah and Jer. 31:4 etc. And so another possibility opened up. The self-satisfied returnees would be invaded and Jerusalem captured, many of them would be killed, but a minority would endure through this invasion and be the basis for the Kingdom of God to be established. But so unresponsive were God’s people that even this didn’t happen. All these prophecies await some element of fulfilment in our last days. The essence of them will be fulfilled, but the local details, I suggest, were only relevant to their immediate context- e.g. that the wooden weapons will be burnt for seven years, and that they would invade with shields and swords. These wider principles explain much about Revelation. The judgments to come upon the earth / land of Israel are presented in four groups of seven. This is exactly the pattern of Lev. 26, where Israel are threatened with seven-fold judgments; and if they did not repent, then the seven-fold judgments would be repeated. Four times this is threatened; if they had repented after the first seven-fold judgments, there would have been no need for the others. It seems to me that the sequence of events in the last days is likewise impossible to predict in detail, because depending upon human freewill, the fulfilment of the various prophecies may be suspended or be realized in more symbolic ways, as we have already seen God working like this in the past. Thus Joel 3:2 says that God will “plead” with the nations He gathers to Jerusalem, plead with them for His people, plead with them to accept His Son, as outlined in Psalm 2. They may or may not respond, and how they do will doubtless influence the sequence and nature of prophetic fulfilment which then follows. 

Micah 5 opens up too when approached from this angle. It was a prophecy given in the days of Hezekiah, concerning how the Assyrians would invade the land, and be saved by the arising of a Messianic figure- “seven shepherds and eight principal men” (5:5- probably these are to be read as intensive plurals for the great shepherd, the great leader). Judah under his leadership would than “waste the land of Assyria with the sword”, and thereby “deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land”. Then “the remnant of Judah shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord”. But what happened? The Assyrians invaded, Hezekiah was raised up as a potential Messiah, the Assyrians were destroyed by Divine theophany, Judah were delivered from the Assyrians. But then what happened? Hezekiah invited the Babylonians [often used interchangeably for ‘Assyrians’] into his house, showed off everything, and provoked Yahweh’s anger. He did the very opposite to leading Judah against Assyria, to the end that they became a blessing for all nations. But it could have happened. But Hezekiah and the people didn’t let it go as far as it could go; and therefore the full fulfilment of the prophecy will be in our last days. Earlier in Micah, the daughter of Zion was to be in labour pangs (symbolic of their troubles in the 70 years captivity- Jer. 6:24), and then give birth to a new nation as a result of this (4:9,10), as well as her Messiah (5:2), who would lead Judah in destroying Babylon (4:13; 5:5-8). But Judah didn’t want to destroy Babylon. Most of them preferred to carry on living there. So, no Messiah. At that time. Another different sequence of prophetic fulfillment had to develop.

Radical Implications

If indeed Ez. 40-48 are conditional prophecies, this opens up the possibility that so too are many other prophecies- especially those which involve allusion to them. For example, Rev. 11:1 speaks of a command to measure the temple- and immediately our minds are sent back to the temple being measured in such detail in Ez. 40:10, 21,22 etc. Is this to be read as a sign that we are about to receive another conditional prophecy? Assuming that Revelation was given just prior to the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, we could read the ensuing prophecy in Rev. 11 as saying that although Jerusalem and the outer court would fall to the Romans, the zealots in the inner sanctuary would be preserved, and a command to repentance would be issued by two prophets (1). Now of course, this didn't happen; but perhaps it could've done, potentially? Consider the possibility- both here and in so many other passages.

(1) For more on this, see R.H. Charles, Revelation (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1920); Arthur S. Peake, The Revelation of John (London: Joseph Johnson, 1919), p. 291; I.T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse Of John (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979) pp. 584-8.