Just Thought I'd Say...

I'm going to suggest something about Bible Prophecy which to some might seem needless to say, but which I think might be helpful to others:

Prophecies which said Israel, meant Israel;
 
Prophecies which said the land of Israel, had meant the land of Israel;

Prophecies which said Jews would be regathered to the land, had meant they would be regathered to their land;

Prophecies which said a temple would be rebuilt, had meant a temple would be rebuilt;

Prophecies which said Levitical sacrifices would be reinstated, had meant Levitical sacrifices would be reinstated;

It's just that, by the time of the Apostles, they saw those prophecies as already-fulfilled. 

And in that historical setting...

...prophecies which were about Messiah's first coming, were then fulfilled - in JESUS;

And prophecies which were about the remnant of believing Jews, were fulfilled - in the remnant of believing Jews;

Then prophecies which were about Gentiles believing, were fulfilled - by Gentiles believing. 

All the while they were still looking forward to the fulfilment of prophecies which are about Messiah's second coming. 

In the Apostles' system of interpretation, there was no replacement of one object for another, of one identity for another. 

And there was no change in the historical order in which the events were to occur (such as postponing prophecies which had been about Israel and which had already been fulfilled, to our future). 

Do I need to name all of the modern systems of interpretation which differ from this? 

The differences are important, because some modern views have the effect of:

1. Not seeing the extent of the faithfulness of God in having fulfilled His promises to Israel; 

2. Or unintentionally removing the objective, physical, geographical, historical basis for our faith;

3. Or in effect implying that Jesus of Nazareth was really too early in history to be Messiah

4. And implying the necessity of returning to Judaism in future.

While the Apostles' view:

Demonstrates the faithfulness of God to Israel; 

Presents an objective, eyewitness record, in its claim for JESUS as Messiah; 

And makes the Church the natural development and continuation of the story of Israel (without having taken anything away from natural Israel at all)...

...AKA: 'the Gospel'.