biblical Rehersals

[bvdave]

so I have a question and am curious on the opinions of people here, whom are much more learned then I (rehersal may not be the best word to descrive what im thinking of here but the word im looking for eludes me)

The more I study the more I find God likes to rehearse all the major events before they happen, for many reasons im assuminig such as to give us an idea of whats coming, clues and signs to watch for etc, for example Enoch raptured before the flood is a rehersal for the rapture before the tribulation, Abraham was given a goat with thorns on its heard to sacrafice in place of his son (Jesus in place of all of us) the 7 day creation and 7000 year plan for the earth (6000 years followed by the millenial reign) and the list goes on.

what Im wondering, is Simeon (the man who was promised he would not pass away until he sees the messiah) a rehersal for the promise of the generation not passing away until the lords return? and if so, does that mean that the bulk of the generation will still be around at that time to see it? or that the generation will be at its very end (most have passed away and those that are left are in very old age just hanging on to see the fulfillment) it struck me out of absolutly no where (about simeons promise to see Jesus before his death) and got me thinking, I had forgot about the story of Simeon for years so I had to look it up to make sure I was remembering it correctly (luke 2:25-26) and it got me thinking, because he was at the end of his life just holding out for his promise as he basically said, ok I can die now ive seen my promise fulfilled and no longer need to hold on (at least what I got from it)

Also, is there a general consensus of what started the generation Jesus spoke of? I know he mentione dthe fig tree as a sign and is most likely the easiest to see sign, but he also spoke of great wars, could the generation be the generation that was alive to see the beginning of the first and second world wars, and the rebirth of Israel was also seen by that same generation as one of the many signs? (in which case very few people from that long ago are still alive and it would mean we have very very little time left) or did it start at the birth of israel specifically (in which case theres potential for several decades to be left in their lifetimes, assuming we count people born at that time in history)

I know we cant set a date but God does want us to be aware of a general timeframe im assuming or else he wouldnt have given us these signs and prophecies to watch out for.

comments?

[1angel4u]

bvdave;1749404: rehersal may not be the best word to descrive what im thinking of here but the word im looking for eludes me

bvdave,

I agree, Biblical Rehearsals is not the term you are looking for, as God has never rehearsed.

He knows all from the end to the beginning!! And has told it to us in His Word.

I think you're looking at dual-prophecy and parallel-prophecy. Let's see if I can explain it

Many Bible passages are prophecies that occured back in the B.C. era, but will occur again in our future, for instance Isa. 17

Damascus was demolished back in B.C. times, but was not taken out overnight (within a 24 hr. period) like we're told will happen in Isa. 17 .

Parallel prophecy to this is Psa. 83 which is a prayer asking God to deal with those who are against His nation Israel.

Isa. 17 is the answer to that prayer.........coming up, shortly.....

[bvdave]

yes rehersal isnt the word im looking for, i heard someone use it in a teaching i listened to but didnt like the word but it stuck with me, maybe a foreshadow is better, because everything god does he tells us first and often shows us whats coming with a forshadow (maybe thats the word I was looking for) paralell prophecy may also work, but I dont think many of these are prophecies that just happen to be the same and paralell each other (unless im misunderstanding you which is very likely), I think the first "sets" are meant to show us whats coming, often it happens in a small way first and then the Big event (maybe thats why whomever I heard speaking used the term rehersal) for example enoch was definantly not as big an event as the rapture will be, Abraham sacraficing his son is not a big an event as Jesus crucifiction, etc etc



I at least thought it was interesting because its nothing ive ever heard anyone compare to this generation. do you think the reason he had a small blurb written about Simeon was specifically to forshadow what was coming in our generation? he was promised to see the messiah before he passed away, and we are promised to see the second coming of the same messiah before our generation has passed away.

[drjoshua]

Rehearsal? More like sneak peak!

[WanttoKnow]

I've heard the term foreshadowing used.

As in the story of Abraham and Isaac. Check out Genesis Chapter 22. Abraham takes Isaac up to the mountain for a sacrifice. A father is sacrificing his son. God stops him, substitues a ram, the Abraham goes back down the mountain. Where is Isaac? We don't see him again until Chapter 24 when he runs out to meet his bride.

The Bible is truly amazing!

[eclipse]

Wow great catch, Simeon certainly is a 'rehearsal' as you called it for this generation. How cool. I marvel when someone points out how a seemingly random mention of something or someone is actually an important clue to understand the entire council of G-d. Oh, and I've heard people refer to this 'rehearsal' as a 'type' when it applies to a person. Semantics, perhaps, all I can say is thanks again for adding to my knowledge, good catch. G-d is great.

Maranatha,

[bvdave]

Rehearsal? More like sneak peak!

THATS what I was looking for

[TaliaKirana]

Interesting thought.

[EarsToHear]

As in the story of Abraham and Isaac. Check out Genesis Chapter 22. Abraham takes Isaac up to the mountain for a sacrifice. A father is sacrificing his son. God stops him, substitues a ram, the Abraham goes back down the mountain. Where is Isaac? We don't see him again until Chapter 24 when he runs out to meet his bride.

WanttoKnow,

bvdave, I'd picked up on that possible foreshadowing between Simeon and the last generation before the Rapture also. I can't help but think there are more who've seen it.

[Reason&Hope]

This is what I get from studying the passage in Luke2:25-38.

Simeon means "God hears". Simeon certainly heard God, being 1) 'told' he would not see death before he saw the Messiah, and 2) led to the Temple that very day that Jesus was being brought in.

There is no indication in the passage of how old Simeon is, just that he was devout. Anna is specifically labeled as 84 years old.

In considering Simeon as a foreshadowing or a type, the most important aspects I see are that he was in Jerusalem and that he was looking forward to the Messiah. He was probably not a young man because his prayer starts with, "Now You can let Your servant depart in peace", so he'd be closer to middle age than not. But that doesn't mean he was old.

[Not Perfect, But Forgiven]

Good thread.

The concept is called prophetic types. Enoch is a type for the rapture, as is Noah's ark and and even the story of Lot's wife. She transformed into a pillar of salt as she looked back on the judgement of sodom and gomorrah. This tells us not to set our mind on earthly things as we anticipate the Lord. enoch was raptured quite similarly to how we will be, and Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.

What this tells the church is that god has a history of removing his people in this manner. according to scripture, we will be removed at the same time the "restrainer" is removed from the earth, thus revealing the actual identity of the anti-christ. We will not know the date and time, but like Noah, we have been given ample warning, centuries, to be prepared when jesus comes to keep us out of the tribulation which will swallow the entire planet in judgement. We can look around today and see the effects of sin on mankind. Our entire world is messed up, lustful, greedy, and full of geographic and environmental anomolies and devastations.

By studying bibilical and prophetic types, you can actually start to figure out how god likes to do things on an individual and mass scale. you will never get a very clear picture, because he allows certain things to happen sometimes for specific growth for an individual, but you can get a very good idea of how his wisdom works after the event has occured. he is EXTREMELY wise and he does everything in order and for an exact reason, even if we can't understand it in our finite limited wisdom.

Types allow us to understand partly how god sees things and how he will operate in the future.

[MrMannn]

(rehersal may not be the best word to descrive what im thinking of here but the word im looking for eludes me)

Enoch raptured before the flood is a rehersal for the rapture before the tribulation,

Abraham was given a goat with thorns on its heard to sacrafice in place of his son (Jesus in place of all of us) the 7 day creation and 7000 year plan for the earth (6000 years followed by the millenial reign) and the list goes on.

Simeon (the man who was promised he would not pass away until he sees the messiah) a rehersal for the promise of the generation not passing away until the lords return?

comments?

I agree that "rehearsal" isn't the best choice of words.
God being perfect, does not need to rehearse.

What we are seeing here are visual aides to prophecy. God is illustrating His Word with pictures. The Bible is full of gems like these for those who study and delve deeply into it. God may have even had you in mind when He inspired the words about Simeon...

[4Godisjust]

Very good thread...I love threads like this...always learn a lot, and they are interesting...Too think that we are so close is excited to say the lease....

[cheymat]

That is very thought provoking! Ive heard of the references to Enoch, Noah, and Lot but never have i made the connection about Simeon! I have to go back and read about that again.

[ForeverBlessed]

Thank you, bvdave, for your post. I love it when someone finds a neat little nugget to chew on! Fascinating and quite possible.

[so-blessed]

I know this is slightly off thread, but is that a literal 24 hour period in Isaiah 17? Is that the total length of the whole war, or just how long it takes to destroy Damascus?

[In Christ]

bvdave: Great Post! I do see the parallels... God is amazing!