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Creative Bible Study
FOUR: PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVE
The prophets described future events as if they were continuous and in immediate order. For example, Isaiah prophesied:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. (Isaiah 61:1-3)
When Jesus read from this portion of Isaiah in Luke 4:17-20 He stopped with the phrase "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then He closed the book and said that these Scriptures were fulfilled in Him that day. By this He meant that He was fulfilling this prophecy. He was the one with God's Spirit upon Him to preach good tidings, bind up the broken hearted, proclaim liberty, and open the prisons.
But it is significant that Jesus stopped reading with the phrase "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." He did not read the portion regarding "the day of vengeance of our God" because the day of vengeance had not yet come. Already a gap of almost 2,000 years has elapsed since Jesus read this passage. The day of God's vengeance still has not yet come.
Prophetic perspective records events as if they were immediate. Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit Isaiah saw the whole plan of God. He saw Jesus coming to preach, bind up, proclaim liberty, open the prison, proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and bring the vengeance of God.
Isaiah saw the events as you would look at distant ranges of mountains. The valleys in between the mountains are not visible until you climb to the top of the nearest range. Prophetic perspective reveals the whole plan of God from a distance. Sometimes events seem to appear as though they happen immediately in sequence. But as the prophecies are fulfilled there are often valleys of time between them as illustrated by this passage from Isaiah. Jesus has not yet fulfilled the Scriptures about the day of vengeance.