Revelation
1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter
Revelation
4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
This very significant part of the prophetic word gives a very broad scope and overview of the past, present, and future
John's spirit is taken into the future and to heaven to be shown "the things whicl be hereafter [the future]
These things are contained in the visions of the OT prophets and in Revelation's unfolding
John knew much about the OT visions of the prophets and related
He also had the exprience of the things that existed in his day and the establishment of the NT church which is the same today [Revelation 1:20; 2; 3]
And he is given a view of the things which must be "hereafter" with regard to Revelation's future unfolding of both the immortal church in heaven, the coming tribulation, and beyond ..... these things begin in chapter 4 and end in chapters 21 and 22
The narrative switches back and forth from heaven to the earth, contains a few historical reach backs for overview, and has a repeating style prophetic prose with regard to selected subject matter giving more details about each as the narratives moves forward
The frame work of the things past, the things that are, and things that are future can be used for rightly dividing the Lord's Word across the spectrum of human existence upon the earth and a parallel view of the immortal world called heaven
The visions of the OT prophets can be fit into this framework by righly dividing the content accordingly .... the prophets write much like
Revelation's unfolding by repetition, and further revelation
They project both near term events and those farther away, sometimes in the same passage or chapter
By dividing the projected events correctly according to past and future fulfillments, one can fit them into the framework of the things fulfilled in the past, and those still pending fulfillment
The Bible is largely and culturally a "Middle Eastern" collection of information centered around the Lord's nation of Israel ... in fact the controversy between the Lord and Satan is imbedded in the same between Issac and Jacob ... and Ishmael and Esau
This is still the setting today and will be the focus of the events of the end of this present age .... the things "here after"
There is a particular inset in scripture that identifies the Lord's dispensation of grace that was instituted in the first century and recorded in the NT .... His period for calling out an assembly from the nations that is described asd the "church"
This time frame is still ongoing today and Israel for the most part has been set aside because of the nations intransigence toward and rejection of the Lord
The NT collection, although small, contains instruction for His salvation and the believer's behavior and walk with regard for the Christian witness .... the things that "are" and still are today
However, there is a change coming that will involve the Lord's coming judgment of all of the nations including Israel .... and at the same time the turning of a portion of a returned remnant of Israel toward the nation's Messiah and King
These are the things that must take place "hereafter" and John is taken into the future to be shown the events of the 70th week decreed for Israel and the Lord's judgment of an unbelieving world
Once the Lord has determined His closing of the infilling believers of principally the Gentile nations, He will then turn His focus upon Israel for the time of Jacob's trouble and His judgment of the nations of the Gentiles
1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter
Revelation
4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
This very significant part of the prophetic word gives a very broad scope and overview of the past, present, and future
John's spirit is taken into the future and to heaven to be shown "the things whicl be hereafter [the future]
These things are contained in the visions of the OT prophets and in Revelation's unfolding
John knew much about the OT visions of the prophets and related
He also had the exprience of the things that existed in his day and the establishment of the NT church which is the same today [Revelation 1:20; 2; 3]
And he is given a view of the things which must be "hereafter" with regard to Revelation's future unfolding of both the immortal church in heaven, the coming tribulation, and beyond ..... these things begin in chapter 4 and end in chapters 21 and 22
The narrative switches back and forth from heaven to the earth, contains a few historical reach backs for overview, and has a repeating style prophetic prose with regard to selected subject matter giving more details about each as the narratives moves forward
The frame work of the things past, the things that are, and things that are future can be used for rightly dividing the Lord's Word across the spectrum of human existence upon the earth and a parallel view of the immortal world called heaven
The visions of the OT prophets can be fit into this framework by righly dividing the content accordingly .... the prophets write much like
Revelation's unfolding by repetition, and further revelation
They project both near term events and those farther away, sometimes in the same passage or chapter
By dividing the projected events correctly according to past and future fulfillments, one can fit them into the framework of the things fulfilled in the past, and those still pending fulfillment
The Bible is largely and culturally a "Middle Eastern" collection of information centered around the Lord's nation of Israel ... in fact the controversy between the Lord and Satan is imbedded in the same between Issac and Jacob ... and Ishmael and Esau
This is still the setting today and will be the focus of the events of the end of this present age .... the things "here after"
There is a particular inset in scripture that identifies the Lord's dispensation of grace that was instituted in the first century and recorded in the NT .... His period for calling out an assembly from the nations that is described asd the "church"
This time frame is still ongoing today and Israel for the most part has been set aside because of the nations intransigence toward and rejection of the Lord
The NT collection, although small, contains instruction for His salvation and the believer's behavior and walk with regard for the Christian witness .... the things that "are" and still are today
However, there is a change coming that will involve the Lord's coming judgment of all of the nations including Israel .... and at the same time the turning of a portion of a returned remnant of Israel toward the nation's Messiah and King
These are the things that must take place "hereafter" and John is taken into the future to be shown the events of the 70th week decreed for Israel and the Lord's judgment of an unbelieving world
Once the Lord has determined His closing of the infilling believers of principally the Gentile nations, He will then turn His focus upon Israel for the time of Jacob's trouble and His judgment of the nations of the Gentiles
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