This is a good place to discuss multiple application of prophecy. What this means is there is more than one fulfillment for many of the prophecies found in the bible. Usually there will be one main application with other secondary or partial applications. For example we could look at the one in Luke 4:16.

Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Here we read about Jesus visiting the synagogue He attended as a child. By now He was gaining fame as a bible scholar and an evangelist. Thus they invited Him to read from the scrolls and to comment on what He read.

Luke 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

This means that they did not specify where He should read from. Instead, He chose it Himself.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

This passage He selected in Isa 61, was being literally fulfilled by Christ as He was going around preaching the gospel to all who would listen. He was healing the broken hearted. He was preaching deliverance to those held captive by sin. He was healing the blind.

Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

This was what they longed to hear, and we too would like to hear that we are acceptable to the Lord.

Luke 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Now everyone expected Him to comment on what He had read. Thus all eyes were fashioned on Him.

Luke 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

This was something no one else ever said to them. These verses in Isa 61:1 & 2 were known as being Messianic prophecy.

Luke 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

Here we find the response of those who knew Jesus when He was growing up as Joseph's son. No doubt they did not recognize Him as the Messiah back then. However, more important than that was what He did not read from Isa 61:2.

Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Christ could not read this portion of Isa 61:2 because of His interpretation in Luke 4:21, and that was why He had to stop at a comma. He could not read "the day of vengeance of our God" because this part of the verse was not to be fulfilled then.

Thus we have identified a verse that Jesus knew has a multiple application. "The acceptable year of the Lord" has an application then while Jesus was alive. It also has an application in the near future when Jesus returns to earth again. However the "day of vengeance of our God" did not apply back then. Jesus did not com to punish their oppressors. That action had to wait until He comes back again in the near future.

Here is a representation of the problem that the Jews had who were alive during the 3 1/2 years of ministry of Christ. They had a wealth of prophecy in their bible, but it was the Old Testament only and it had some information that gave conflicting conclusions as to what to expect.

They had prophecy like that in Isa 53 of the "Suffering Servant". They also had prophecy like that in Isa 63 with the "Mighty One" having his garments dyed red from the blood of the enemies of Israel. It really did not take much effort for the Israelites to choose the one that they preferred.

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Who wants to suffer? Who wants a messiah who is a suffering servant and calls upon His people to be willing to suffer in the service of God as He does? Thus when asked, they rejected their promised messiah and then watched His death on the cross.

If He will not save us of His own free will, perhaps the Romans can cause Him to see the error of His way and to be the kind of deliverer we want Him to be. If not, we do not want Him as a sufferer so no real loss. He cannot be the correct one anyway.

There are a number of similar prophecies scattered around the Old Testament regarding the coming of the Messiah. Some present Him as a deliverer to put down their oppressors as was done by Moses. This is the one that the Jews always preferred to have happen. Deliver us from those who oppress us and give us vengeance on those who harm us.

There are other prophecies that suggest that they had deliverance, one from the burden of the Law of Moses and the consequences of sin that it identified. Using this as an example of the way God tries to communicate with His people, it is likely that the Second Advent of Christ has a similar confusing element connected with it.

The Jews of Christ's day were looking at two bodies of bible prophecy. One was the suffering servant and the other was the mighty man of God. It is like looking across a plain and seeing two mountains that are near to each other but do not appear to be touching each other. From a distance, you cannot recognize which one is closer to you and which is farthest away. You also can no recognize the distance between them or are they both equal distance from you?

Through the benefit of hind sight we may now recognize the 2000 year gap between prophecies regarding Christ's first coming and His second coming. Similar to that is the need to recognize the possibility of a 1000 year gap between prophecies about the events connected with the return of Christ and the events which will not occur until the end of the 1000 years identified in Rev 20.

One of the remarkable things about the battle of Armageddon at the start of the 1000 years is the fact that there will be some mortal survivors, and they will be the same mortals who will come to Jerusalem to worship from year to year during the 1000 year Kingdom of Christ. Then there will be a similar though not completely identical battle which will occur at the end of the 1000 years and will result in the end of life on earth as we know it.

1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

This is a prophecy with a multiple application. In the days we are living in just prior to Christ's return there is to be a great falling away from the faith. At the end of the 1000 years there is to be another falling away from the faith.

The latter application is really hard to understand. How can anyone who has actually experienced the wonders of Christ's rule, the total peace world-wide, no famines, no illnesses, long life, no crime and the love of God everywhere fall away? Yet we are told that some, actually a lot of people will fall away or depart the faith and rebel.

Psa 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing?

Christ will be ruling the earth with a rod of iron. This is why the peace will exist all over the earth, yet some will plot a vain thing. They are going to try to rebel against His iron rule. This will occur at the end of the 1000 year kingdom of Christ.

Last modified on Friday, September 2, 2005

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