NO VIEW can explain all things. I knew Hal Lindsay in the 60’s and he was sure he had it all figured out then. But history didn’t play his way then. The person who insists that he/she has it all together - I run from.....

The Pharisees believed they had the prophecies all worked out. They thought that the Messiah was not going to come from Nazareth and used this as an argument that our Lord Jesus could not be the Messiah. Early the "wise men" believed the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem but apparently didn't understand the meaning of how the Messiah would be called "out of Egypt".

I think it's dangerous to believe that we totally understand prophetic scripture. As for Revelation, Daniel, etc., I simply say "Hmmmm...very interesting." and set it back on the shelve.

The Pharisees believed they had the prophecies all worked out.

So do our PREtrib folks!

And the MIDtrib ones; too!

And lastly; the POSTtrib ones are REALLY the right ones.

BAH!

The Blind Men and the Elephant

by John Godfrey Saxe

American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) based the following poem on a fable which was told in India many years ago...

It was six men of Indostan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!׆

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

I think it's dangerous to believe that we totally understand prophetic scripture. As for Revelation, Daniel, etc., I simply say "Hmmmm...very interesting." and set it back on the shelve.

Absolutely.

Seems like prophecy is only really understood in hindsight, once it's been fulfilled.

So my approach to a lot of stuff is*wait and see*.

What I really have problems with is the Pentecostal stuff where everybody and their brother are making *prophesies* and usually they are wrong, and then they go and make all kinds of excuses about why the prophecy didn't happen. Usually it's blame shifting by adding contingencies later *Well, It really depended on if you were obeying God.* or some such nonsense.