Subject: ___-trib satisfactory? |
Bible Note: I would indeed agree with you concerning the fact that there IS a chronology to something like the seven trumpets, (and probably other prophetic passages as well). It's just that -- and perhaps you will agree with this -- I think the overall point of all such passages is not the chronology per se, or to give us an order of events to occur; but rather, the overall point is that of God's judgment applied to the reprobate and His grace applied to the elect in increasing measure until the glorious appearance of the Lord Jesus. Especially in Revelation, the point is that the "re-creation" mirrors the creation of Gen. 1. Seven days (Gen 1) ends with seven scrolls, seven trumpets and seven bowls. In Gen. 1, the 7th day is the day of rest; and in Revelation, the seventh item is that which unfolds into the next higher event, (that being the next grouping of seven). The last event, the culmination of all previous "types" of the Sabbath is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. In sum, in this sense there are definitely "chronologies" or "chronological orders" to things in prophecy. But their purpose is not to give us a roadmap across the ages of history; their purpose is to give us a sense of increasing wonder at the holy and climactic and ultimate revelation of the appearance of Christ. This revelation is not merely repeated in different ways for emphasis, but it is repeated in different ways which grow in intensity with each repetition. Christ's appearance is to be to us like the swelling of the greatest of sunrises. (Son-rises). Regards, waldo garcia www.choosecalvinism.org |