05/01/08: Psalm 78
Messianic Prophecy: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old" (Psalm 78:2).
Fulfillment: "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world"" (Matthew 13:34,35).
Psalm 78:4-72 is an excellent summary (although non-chronological) of what happened to Israel, from their captivity in Egypt to the time of King David, their shepherd. Another, even briefer, summary is in Nehemiah 9:16-28. The basic theme in both is this:
• Israel would turn away from God;
• the people would be punished, often severely;
• they would cry out to God for mercy and turn back to Him;
• God, in great compassion, would turn back to them and again would bless them; and then
• the same cycle would repeat, time after time.
At the end of the age, the ultimate occurrence of this will transpire, when God will allow and/or cause all but a few descendants (a "remnant") of Jacob to be eliminated, probably utilizing primarily fundamentalist Islamic nations to perform most of the destruction. Many of the people of the world will rejoice while this is happening (mostly after the midpoint of the 70th Week). But then utter destruction will come upon the rest of the world as well, during the cataclysmic beginning of the Day of the Lord period: the "day of vengeance" (for example, as described in Ezekiel 25:1-17).
Finally, the few Israeli descendants who will survive--called a "remnant" (Isaiah 10:20-22; Zechariah 8:12b)--will be returned to Jerusalem and will be greatly blessed, from that time forward. Jesus (the Lord) will have returned to Jerusalem (Zion) and will reign there at His millennial Temple and Holy Mountain (8:2-15).
Fulfillment: "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world"" (Matthew 13:34,35).
Psalm 78:4-72 is an excellent summary (although non-chronological) of what happened to Israel, from their captivity in Egypt to the time of King David, their shepherd. Another, even briefer, summary is in Nehemiah 9:16-28. The basic theme in both is this:
• Israel would turn away from God;
• the people would be punished, often severely;
• they would cry out to God for mercy and turn back to Him;
• God, in great compassion, would turn back to them and again would bless them; and then
• the same cycle would repeat, time after time.
At the end of the age, the ultimate occurrence of this will transpire, when God will allow and/or cause all but a few descendants (a "remnant") of Jacob to be eliminated, probably utilizing primarily fundamentalist Islamic nations to perform most of the destruction. Many of the people of the world will rejoice while this is happening (mostly after the midpoint of the 70th Week). But then utter destruction will come upon the rest of the world as well, during the cataclysmic beginning of the Day of the Lord period: the "day of vengeance" (for example, as described in Ezekiel 25:1-17).
Finally, the few Israeli descendants who will survive--called a "remnant" (Isaiah 10:20-22; Zechariah 8:12b)--will be returned to Jerusalem and will be greatly blessed, from that time forward. Jesus (the Lord) will have returned to Jerusalem (Zion) and will reign there at His millennial Temple and Holy Mountain (8:2-15).
