Confusion Results From Misinterpretation

There is a great deal of controversy as to what the various prophecies mean in our day.  This areise because we have forgotten What Peter tells us in II Peter 1:19-21.  “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

We can be absolutely sure the prophecies are true, because an eternal, all knowing, and all powerful God directed the various prophets and writers what to write.  Unfortunately, human language is not always precise or clear.  In addition, over time people change the way they use language, so that what may have been totally clear when it was written often is less clear to future generations.  Sometimes meanings are changed or lost in the process of translating from one language to another.   As a result, it is crucial that we understand no prophecy can be interpreted except in comparison with other prophecies. 

Different ones have expressed concern as to a seeming conflict in Daniel 9:24-27 and Daniel 11:16-45.  If we are to understand them properly, we must understand that God gave both prophecies and that there is no conflict between them.  Both are completely true.  The conflict arises because one or both are being misinterpreted.  To fully understand them it will be necessary to compare both passages to other writers and prophets, including Isaiah, Jesus Christ, and the apostle John.   

In Daniel’s prophecies, God has given us a framework, a sequence of events that make it much easier to see where the different prophecies fit, even giving us actual time periods for some of them.  With the outline Daniel gives us, we can understand that in Matthew 24:4-14, Jesus was talking about the period between his death and revealing of the Antichrist, the period mentioned in Daniel 9 between the time Messiah would be cut off and the final week God devotes to the nation of Israel.  Daniel 11:6-14 gives additional detail about that period, as does Daniel 2:40-43.  By putting all these prophecies together, we get a much clearer picture of what God was describing and the times we live in today. 

Jesus’ prophecies in Matthew 24:15-29 gives considerably more detail about the prophecies in Daniel 7:24, Daniel 8:23-25, Daniel 9:26-27 and Daniel 11:20-45.  By putting these prophecies together, we get a picture of the tribulation period.  When we combine that with a study of Revelations, we get a quite detailed picture of the period. 

Comparing Matthew 24:29-31 with Daniel 2:44-49, and Daniel 7:26-27 gives us a vague picture of the destruction of the Antichrist and the start of Christ’s kingdom on earth.    As we add in various prophecies by other prophets and authors, a much clearer picture emerges, but even then there are details that are not clear.  As God told Daniel, some of them are shut up and will be revealed at the proper time. 

As we study various prophecies in the future, please remember they are all equally true, and must be fitted together with those we have already studied.   In the process, we may find that we have misinterpreted some of what we have studies, and need to adjust our interpretation accordingly.