NO "Dual Fulfillment" of Prophecy

[ClubV12]

Multiple or Dual Fulfillment prophecies.

"When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience. They will be given such glimpses of the open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness which is to be the reward of the pure in heart." -Testimonies to Ministers, p. 114.

A character like unto those who suffered and overcame in the 2,600 year tribulation, when history repeats itself in our time.

Futurists, as generally accepted by christians believe in things like the rapture, Israel, 1,000 years of peace, etc.

Adventist Futurists are cut from a different cloth, so I call them:

1335 Futurists

Claim loyalty to the historicist interpretations, 2,300 year. Along with a deep desire to make these prophecies relevant to current events and future time.

Mulitple or dual fulfillment theory. Some remove the 1260, 1290 and 1335 from the 1335 segments and place them in the future. Some simply say there is a dual fulfillment.

Problem: No consistency.

Only certain chapters are reapplied. Some argue the 1260 year time period is "dual". First application was a day for a year. Second application is a day for a day. Some also suggest a dual fulfillment for the 70 week prophecy.

What they have in common:

All believe Ellen White supports dual fulfillment.

Adventists accept the idea of a partial fulfillment with a more complete fulfillment following.

Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Joel 2:28-32.

Malachi's prophecy of an Elijah message, Mal 4:5-6.

However, Dual and multiple fulfillment’s of Daniel and Revelation cause spiritual uncertainty. A change in interpretation or application methods inevitably leads to a change in conclusions. Thus, historic pillars are put at risk. The Adventist church now stands at a cross road.

Present day Adventist may continue to learn spiritual lessons from past history and prophetic fulfillment. In this manner the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation continue to give encouragement, confidence, and motivation to last-day Christians even though large portions of these books have met complete fulfillment in past ages.

Does Ellen White suggest future or dual fulfillment?

"The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment." - Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 14

The LAST portion of Daniel 11 is about to be completed, the FIRST portion HAS BEEN completed.

“The prophecy in the eleventh of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Much of the history that has taken place in fulfillment of this prophecy will be repeated.” Letter 103, 1904 MR 1077

History and prophecy are two different issues. Study the history because similar issues will rise again. Look for the PRINCIPLES involved to meet it. By understanding the challenges involved in those past events, we are prepared for future ones. History will be repeated, not the same specific prophecy that has already met its fulfillment.

The persecution of God’s people in the 1,260 year segment will be repeated in the future. The PERSECUTION, not the specific prophecy. Study the lives of those who suffered in the 1,260 segment. How did they overcome? How did they live? What were the issues they faced? Thus we learn how we might overcome.

Daniel 8

“The light that Daniel received from God was given especially for these last days. The visions he saw by the banks of the Ulai and the Hiddekel, the great rivers of Shinar, are now in process of fulfillment, and all the events foretold will soon come to pass.” Testimonies to Ministers page 112-113.

Daniel stood in his lot to bear his testimony, which was sealed until the time of the end, when the first angel's message should be proclaimed to our world. Testimonies to Ministers, page 115.

The prophetic visions of Daniel and John foretell a period of moral darkness and declension; but at the time of the end, the time in which we are now living the vision was to speak and not lie. Testimonies, vol.5 page 9-10.

Ellen White and the pioneers believed that the period of time which extended from 1798 to the close of human probation was to be designated as "the time of the end "the period spoken of by the angel Gabriel.” Daniel has been “unsealed” since 1798.

This prophecy continues today, “the time of the end”. The three angels message and the Investigative Judgment.

Matthew 24, Destruction of Jerusalem.

"The prophecies that received a partial fulfillment in the overthrow of Jerusalem have a more direct application to the last days." Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing 120-121.

“Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond the event to the final conflagration in that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth s history.”

The Desire of Ages. 628-631.

Matthew 24 is not a single prophecy with a dual fulfillment. Rather, it is a twofold prophecy dealing with two distinct events (one event viewed as a symbol of the other, due to certain similarities), each event to be fulfilled at its respective time.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CRITIQUE this view point, I really need help getting this right. BUT ONLY if you already accept the 2,300 year prophecy Adventist view point. Otherwise, your "critique" would be nothing more than an argument and thus off topic.

[Kevin H]

Depends on how you see the duel fulfillments. Desmond Ford had a view with a long term, but in a nutshell it is where he believed that the prophet had all the different fulfillments in mind when they wrote a prophecy, and he tried to make very ones (ok, maybe not everyone but a lot of people) different views become a fulfillment that the prophet saw. I do not agree with Ford's view.

What I do believe is that can be called "Exegesis and Analogy" where the prophet was viewing something with a fairly local possible fulfillment, and if the conditions were not met for a complete fulfillment, that history would cycle around to similar issues again where we have a chance to make better choices and apply the Biblical principles.

There was the child of promise to Adam and Eve. They hoped it would be Cain but were greatly dissapointed. It had a more local fulfillment in Issac, and reapplied to the house of Judah in David and Soloman. Then Isaiah took the theam to encourage the king to trust in God in saying that a child would be born and by the time the child was able to say "Mommy and Daddy" that the kings he worried about would no longer be an issue. Then Matthew applied it to the true promised Child. However, theoretically another prophet could use a child as a sign for something which would again be an application of the prophecy.

Daniel 2 was based on Deuteronomy 4 which said that the exile would be the last days and there were to be 4 kings (and there are 4 kings named in Daniel) and finally the Messiah. Daniel was expecing to live to see the Messiah. Then by Daniel 7 it starts to be reapplied to Kingdoms.

Yes, I believe in the traditional Seventh-day Adventist interpetation of the 2300 days and I love the doctrine of the Investigative Atonement. However the original context of Daniel 8 was that the Jews needed to do the evangelism they were meant to do in Babylon so that the Messiah could come, and indicating that the time for them to do this work was running out and the prophecy was given in the year that included 2300 literal days from the fall of Babylon. Daniel 9 reapplys it to connect with the 70 weeks of years prophecy. So here we find in Daniel two different interpetations, one that could have occured 2300 literal days from the year of the vision, and one where they don't start until the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Then if you look at the time line in Ezekiel 38 and 39 and put it all together you come out with 2310 days, subtract the 10 days from New Years to the Day of Atonement and you have another 2300 day prophecy, where they could have been the last 2300 days of the 70 weeks of years, if Jesus was accepted.

However Jesus was not accepted, and the prophecy does NOT read 2300 days, but 2300 evenings-mornings, or cyclic time. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy those cycles would have been literal days, 6 month periods with Yom Kippor and Passover, years leading to Sabbathical years, and in Leviticus (but not Deuteronomy Sabbathical years leading to the Jublee) Since Daniel was based on Deuteronomy and not Leviticus, we are limited to interpeting evenings-mornings to the cycle of days, half years or full years. As time went by it finally ended up being applied to the longest of these periods, the full years. However there were things that could have taken place the last 2300 literal days of Babylon and even more the last 2300 days of the 70 weeks of years, which has still to be fulfilled. Even thought we cannot put it into say a 2300 cycle time line, they still need to be fulfilled or fulfilled in a fuller way. We need to study out what could have happened had the Hebrews accepted Jesus when he came and how he could have finished the work then, and we will find similar events that will take place at the end of time.

So on the one hand I agree with you that there is not a duel fulfillment of prophecy, there was only one prophecy for a specific event, but from that prophecy, especially if there were aspects not fullfilled we can learn principles that we can apply when the same issues come around, While exegetically there is only one fulfillment, there may be multi applications through analogy as we face SIMILAR events and we are not to look for the exact details as these are SIMILAR events, not THE actually predicted event.