Imagine a timed prophecy, very literal, that only has seven years to go. This is the great prophecy of Daniel chapter nine, verses 24 through 27. It goes from the rebuilding of Israel's temple until the end of the great tribulation. There is a gap in it, called the times of the Gentiles, by our Lord, in Luke 21:24.
I read a little book on this great prophecy many years ago. It made no sense to me at the time, though later I found it was a very good book. I needed to work, and eventually I understood it.
What if a man was building a boat and he was 69/70ths through? And what if someone asked him, "What are you building?" Wouldn't the builder wonder why it was not obvious? He was building a boat and was almost finished. Simple as that.
Well, this prophecy predicted the exact day when Jesus would ride in Jerusalem on the donkey. Wise Jews knew this and were waiting to cheer him on. It had been penned hundreds of years before the event, but they were great time keepers, using the Moon. Seems so plain, yet whole churches struggle to "spiritualize" this prophecy. Better yet, by their reckoning, they ignore these few verses totally.
An old interpreter asked this question: "Since 69 of the time periods have been fulfilled, by what principle of interpretation do you try to make the remaining portion non-literal?" But whole churches ignore it. I was in one of them.
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