The Prophetic Parenthesis

Eschatology 101 - the Prophetic Parenthesis

As we consider Biblical Prophecy from an objective point of view, 
it is clearly the case that concerning eschatology (the study of last things),
that a literal reading of the Bible concludes to Premillennialism. 
In order to avoid this obvious conclusion it is necessary to willfully alter the plain meaning of common 
language, to set aside proper hermeneutics and 
to ignore the clear teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now that I have your attention; let’s think this through together.
Jesus said concerning the Kingdom of God that it was future; and that when it came it would be literal, it would be unmistakably recognizable and that He Himself would be visibly, physically, bodily, that is to say, literally present.

Lk.4: 14-18 – When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.
And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
For I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;
For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

Jesus was clearly saying that the Kingdom of God was to be understood as literal and future, and that He will be there in person. Only an agenda driven and willfully obstinate individual would deny this obvious truth.
Jesus’ use of the title “The Son of Man” as His favorite when referring to Himself and His mission is another unmistakable indication that Jesus was a Futurist and a Premillennialist.

Dan.7:13-14 – “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.”
“And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

Obviously, when properly taken literally, this must be still future.

Jesus embraced and employed the principle of the Prophetic Parenthesis in His teaching concerning the fulfillment of prophetic passages concerning Himself and His mission.

Lk.4:14-21 – And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written:
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus was very intentional in His actions and in His ceasing to read the prophecy in mid verse. He was making the statement that only this first section of the Scripture was being fulfilled at that time and in doing so He was clearly leaving the rest of Isaiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled at a future time; at His second coming when He will reign in His Kingdom and complete the rest of the prophecy.

Is.61:1-9 – The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
2. To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD

(Parenthesis; Jesus broke off reading here)

And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3. To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
4. Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
5. And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
6. But you will be called the priests of the LORD;
You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And in their riches you will boast.
7. Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their
portion.
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
Everlasting joy will be theirs.

Jesus taught the principle of the Prophetic Parenthesis in His parables as well, such as in the parable of The Talents found in Mt.25:14-30 (see verse 19 – “After a long time”);
And, again, in the one following; the parable of The Pounds.

Lk.19:11-27 – While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.
“And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’
“But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’
“When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.
“The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’
“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’
“The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’
“And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
“Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;
for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’
“He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
‘Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’
“Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’
“And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’
“I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
“But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

Clearly a duration of time passes between appearances of the King.

When the Disciples questioned Jesus concerning the establishment of the Kingdom, Jesus did not rebuke them for assuming that there would be a literal Kingdom.
He told them that it would take place in God’s time and in the proper season;
That in the mean time they were to be about the business of making disciples, and teaching them all that He had commanded; and they should share all that they had personally witnessed concerning Him with those that they were teaching (Mt.28:19-20; Acts 1:6-8).
The attending angels told the disciples the Jesus would one day return literally, Just as they had seen Him go (Acts 1:11).
Jesus had told them that He would be with them, in Spirit (Mt.28:20; Acts 1:8) even unto the end of the Age; the culmination of the current Dispensation.

Jesus, in a statement recorded for us in Mt.24:15 declared that Daniel, the author of the Old Testament book that bears his name, was a prophet; and that his prophecies concerning the end of days were to be understood and to be expected to come to pass in the future.
I mention this because Daniel is not listed among the prophets in the configuration of the Hebrew Scriptures (The Tanakh).

But, Daniel was indeed a prophet and the significance of his contributions to the overall understanding of the entirety of Biblical prophecy cannot be overstated.
With a clear grasp of the importance of understanding and accepting the principle of the Prophetic Parenthesis in mind; let us take a brief look at some examples of this feature as it is found in Daniels very important writings.

Dan.2:40 - gap – 41- 45 – We know from history that there is a gap in time between the reign of the old Roman Empire and the establishment of the future 10 region confederation of the revived Roman Empire that has yet to come; it will be the last of the gentile kingdoms on earth just prior to the establishment of God’s eternal Kingdom. Obviously, still future.

Dan7:7 – We encounter the same scenario here at the end of verse 7; a gap in time between the description of the historical old Roman Empire and the future rising of the 10 region confederacy that will come up in its place; immediately followed by the events that will take place at the end of days leading up to the establishment of God’s eternal Kingdom on earth (Verses 8 – 14).

Dan.9:24-26 – gap – 27 – This section of Scripture, when properly understood in light of the Christ sanctioned principle of the Prophetic Parenthesis, is one of the most important prophetic passages in the Bible.
Here we discover a detailed outline of future history, complete with historical keys as to starting and stopping points for the prophetic time clock; these are called out for us and can be identified and calculated precisely; and indeed they have been (see Sir Robert Anderson’s fine work “The Coming Prince” for example, among others).
The events of verses 24 – 26 are well documented as having taken place exactly as described by the Prophet.
While some may quibble about the exact dates of the starting and stopping points, it is clear that the culmination of it all took place at "the cutting off of Messiah"; the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; and that that undeniable historical event was shortly followed by the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of God as predicted.
What follows in verse 27 must take place in the 70th week because 7 weeks plus 62 weeks are already completed; as stated within the text, these future events are for the duration of the one week of years remaining; or more simply stated, a period of 7 years (based upon a correct understanding of the previous 69).

Notice that the very event that Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:15 is found within our passage. 
Jesus placed this event in the future from the time that He was speaking, was He confused? 
Paul placed it in the future in II Thes.2:3-5; it will be an unmistakable event.

Anyone who would deny that there is a parenthesis in time between the events of the 69 weeks and the rest of the prophecy as recorded in verse 27 will be forced to abandon the literal method of interpreting the text and must come up with some kind of allegorical or so called spiritual meaning for remaining 70th week, and that is exactly what has been done by men like Augustine and Calvin.
 This is the untenable Amillennial position.
To deny the validity, the proper application and the significance of the principle of the Prophetic Parenthesis, is to remain forever ignorant of the truth concerning the future and the pending fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.