Chapter 146: Eagle's Pastors Conference Notes (Book 3 Auxiliary: Chapter)

[email protected]%F

To: 2Lifw)r3, Ig4(3dl_d2

Dear Z and A,

I know you two have a lot on your plate. But I hope you find time to study this. I offered L to send him some of my sermon notes so that he can peruse it as it seems that giving him this information would be extremely beneficial for the future. But he rejected it.

He said that he would rather listen to me speak about it personally. Apparently, he wants to believe in it and given his intellectual bias, he may turn deaf ears to the lessons in my notes. He wanted to not only know of what I know but have a chance in believing and he hopes that listening to me would do far more benefit than just reading some letters. I understand his intentions. The best way to learn about something is to believe in it. So he suggested having a personal meeting. I'm wanted to conduct a Bible study but with the way things are now, I guess it will have to wait.

Z, I hope our previous discussions from so long ago, (it feels like it's been another lifetime, right?) have somehow created a foundation of belief. Perhaps what had happened to you is one of the miracles that the Almighty allowed. I firmly believe this. So I am hoping this letter would allow you to better understand what actions to take and that you could pass this information along to anyone who you think could help in this. You have been taking the right steps and I guess it would be attributed to our talks from long ago.

Anyway, here is the draft of a conference message I've prepared to give on one of our upcoming Bible Conferences. Perhaps this may give you some insight on what to do with your life and how you can be of benefit to the lives of others.

Also, that kid from Psalms 1 might also benefit from reading this. I have a feeling that he wouldn't want to attend a Bible study hosted by me because of our 'conflicting' methods.

Best regards,

Calvin Luther Eagle Senior Pastor at Grace From God Ministries

1 Attached File

A Study on Typology (I will be discussing more of this during the Bible Study and explain the key aspects in detail. Treat this study as a primer for the things to be discussed soon.)

Prophecy has always been something that people found intriguing and mystifying.

The Bible contains the most prophecies that have been accurately fulfilled in human history.

For example, the prophecy on Tyre in Ezekiel 26…

In that Prophecy, several prophetic elements that seem extremely unlikely to be fulfilled if we apply the science of probability. For the sake of time, I will only go over several key aspects of the Prophecies and will not deal with any other prophecies made against Tyre on other verses in the Bible.

I have selected five of the 'most intriguing' prophecies that were fulfilled right down to the dot and remind you, that the chapter consists of more elements that have been fulfilled.

As a background, Tyre as a city is composed of two parts. One city in the mainland, called 'Ushu' or Old Tyre, and another city built on a small island about half a mile away from the shore of Old Tyre. This city on the small island is commonly known as Tyre.

In Ezekiel 26, Tyre was supposed to be:

1. Attacked by Nebuchadnezzar (v. 7)

2. Attacked by "many nations" (v.3)

3. The stone and timbers of this city would be thrown in the sea (v.12)

4. Will be scrapped like a bare rock (v.4)

5. The Ocean depths will rise over it (v.19)

A popular opinion regarding prophecies is that any prophecy may eventually be fulfilled as time pass by as the things that have been written may be fulfilled by chance. If Chapter 26 of Ezekiel talks about any city, with any conqueror, that is indeed true but this chapter exclusively talks about the city of Tyre.

This prophecy is not talking of any city. No, it's not the city of New Birth Forth or the City of World's Helm. It's taking about the city of Tyre.

And this city is to be attacked by Nebuchadnezzar. Not by Hitler, not by the Fire Nation, not by Team Rocket, but by Nebuchadnezzar. A specific person living in a specific time. And this city would also be attacked by many nations, its stone and timbers would be thrown in the sea and the city will be scrapped like a bare rock and that the Ocean will somehow rise over the city itself. It's interesting how specific it is.

Now, historically, the first aspect was easily fulfilled.

About a decade after the prophecy was believed to be written, Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city and we have evidence to support this historic fact. But Nebuchadnezzar was only able to conquer Old Tyre as the other city on the small island was naturally protected by the sea and Tyre had an impressive fleet of ships.

So none of the other prophecies were fulfilled. Numbers two to five on our prophecy list were not fulfilled during this attack.

Should we now mock the Bible for its inaccuracy?

Be aware, that the remaining clauses of this prophecy are almost impossible to fulfill.

Why would the city be attacked and someone would be so bored as to take the stones and timbers from the wrecked city and throw it on the ocean? Why would they do that to the point of scrapping the ruins of the city to a point that what remains will look like a bare rock? And how will the ocean rise over it?

The fulfillment of the other aspects of the prophecy occurred nearly 200 years later.

The Prophecy was written sometime on 587-586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar attacked it on 573BC, but the fulfillment of prophecy points numbers 2-5 would be on 332BC when a man who conquered nations led an army consisting of armies coming from different nations and attacked the very city of Tyre.

We know this man to be "Alexander the Great."

We know Alexander the Great would force another nation to submit and aid him in his conquest so many nations could easily be fulfilled at this point.

He led his armies and attacked Tyre, conquering Old Tyre once more. But this wasn't enough.

Tyre was arrogant and mocked Alexander for failing once more as the settlers have retreated to their city-island protected by their vast fleet of ships. Seeing as how Tyre remained safe like a turtle and having the sea as a natural barrier with a fleet of ships that even Alexander the Great could not easily destroy, Alexander and his armies came up with an ingenious plan.

A great task of building a man-made bridge from the coast of Old Tyre to New Tyre started. Alexander ordered his men to take the ruins of Old Tyre, throw it to the sea to build a bridge to which they can use to attack the city of Tyre.

In this, Prophecy points numbers 2-4 have been fulfilled. The prophecies which seem almost impossible actually happened.

Many nations came, attacked Tyre, took the ruins of the city and threw it to the ocean to make a small bridge, scrapping Old Tyre like a rock.

But what about number 5?

Well, because of the man-made bridge which supported and allowed Alexander to send his armies to attack Tyre, the topography of the island changed making the bridge leading to Tyre into a peninsula which exists to this day. Because of this change which led to a massive geographic change on the area, the location of the Old Tyre was eventually buried by sand and water ultimately, burying the location of Old Tyre underwater forever.

God sent Nebuchadnezzar and later fulfilled it some 200 years later in the person of Alexander the Great. But the last bit of prophecy would be fulfilled about a thousand years later as the coastline of Tyre changed because of the man-made bridge of Alexander.

Now you calculate the odds of this prophecy being fulfilled? What other nation, since 587 BC, was named Tyre, attacked by a Nebuchadnezzar and later by many nations, and apparently, the entire city structure is thrown to the sea, scraped like bare rock, and later sinks to the ocean? What are the odds of that happening? And remember, I haven't listed ALL the prophecies that Tyre is supposed to fulfill!

Now this may come as an intriguing historical study, but the reason I'm discussing Tyre is to formally challenge whether or not this Prophecy would have only ONE fulfillment or will it be fulfilled again? What if, the verses in the Bible may be foreshadowing something that will happen in the future.

Now, let me clarify, I honestly believe that in Ezekiel 26, most of the prophecies written there have already been fulfilled. What I'm saying, is that we open our exegesis to the possibility that it could be fulfilled again!

How would something that had literally happened be fulfilled again? To argue, I would like to point you to the study of Eschatology, or the interpretation of the End of Times. We call it the Apocalypse, the Last Days and so on. Many camps and theological schools all have different opinions and interpretations as to their fulfillment. And throughout the course of history, there have been several interpretations which the people of that time were sure of because it made sense.

During the time of Apostolic era, if you read the Book of Revelation, you would say, the anti-Christ is Rome.

Hundreds of years later, Martin Luther made the same conclusion during the Reformation period. Their study of the Word led to this conclusion.

Back in World War 2, everyone believed that the Anti-Christ was Hitler. The Jews who suffered so much would certainly think so as well.

During World War 3, everyone then blamed Graden Pouterfisx to be the Anti-Christ as it led to the further destruction of Israel.

Right now, because of the Australian Avarice, many even say that Australia is the Anti-Christ.

And for the Australian natives of today, they would say, Harker or that gamer-turned-terrorist Lowengren is the Anti-Christ. (Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised.)

Others believe, that it's the World Governing Powers, and still some point to that miraculous E-Sport Gamer, Seeker Carlean to be the Anti-Christ as he must have sold his soul to the devil to be that good in Piercing! (Z, as you noticed, I like to add current events like this as a sermon illustrations to draw attention to the younger audience. It really makes most gamers listen to my sermon if I mention famous e-sport players.)

And quite honestly, except those saying its Seeker, the rest had a valid reason to claim that this was the Anti-Christ as they displayed a shocking level of depravity, wickedness, and immorality.

Are we to assume that they were all wrong? Perhaps… Or maybe perhaps from Hitler, all the way to the Australian Avarice, they have been "Types" or signs that will simply point us to a Final Anti-Christ. Perhaps, God, in order to constantly remind us that His Word is True and indeed miraculous, has destined history, as written in the Bible to have several fulfillments, many of which are partial fulfillments or foreshadowing to a final fulfillment?

And it is in this vein, that we find ourselves in the study of Typology.

Typology is the study of signs, symbols and the interpretation of Types.

Let me take a positive example to further cement my case…

You've heard me say several times that I say Samuel in the book of 1 Samuel of a "typology" or a sign that points to Jesus. In many ways, an appropriate approach would be to read 1 Samuel with the assumption that Samuel foreshadows Jesus.

If we go to the prophecy in 1 Samuel 2, God got angry at the current High Priest, Eli, and prophesied to Eli that Eli's lineage would-be priest who wouldn't reach old age and that their line would stop serving in the altar. After that, God gave this prophecy in 1 Samuel 2:35,

"I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always."

Now the immediate assumption as to the fulfillment of this prophecy, if we follow that story, is that we would assume it to be fulfilled through the priest to Samuel. Samuel took over when Eli died, he ministered faithfully and replaced the line of Priest that served in Israel.

According to the Bible, we do not have any records of Samuel ever committing sin, and even on his death, he challenged Israel of this, to which Israel responded that they have noted no sin in Samuel's lifetime. If you think David had a magnificent title, "a man after God's own heart," consider Samuel's title. A man who will do according to God's own heart and mind.

But on the other hand, many would challenge that this verse does not refer to Samuel but to Jesus because of the clause that this priest will "minister before God's anointed ones, always." Which basically implies this priestly line will forever serve God. And only Jesus could fulfill this role.

My interpretation and I hope this congregation's interpretation and conviction, would be that this verse was fulfilled in two ways.

Samuel was the initial fulfillment and is a typology to the final fulfillment, which is Jesus.

The Bible has been doing this several times and using a certain Old Testament verse and make it a sign that eventually points to Jesus. In other words, these verses have more than one fulfillment.

A partial fulfillment of the sign in the form of Samuel, a righteous Priest who was impeccable in actions and wisdom, and later the Great High Priest that we have in Jesus.

1 Samuel also introduces David, a typology of Jesus in the areas of being a King.

But of course, this alone could not be supporting evidence for my theory in the study of Typologies. So let's take a look at another interesting and puzzling verse which shows a unique example of a typology.

We go to Hosea 11:1 and find an interesting phrase here that was used by the Gospel writer Matthew.

"Out of Egypt, I called my Son."

This is a strange verse to use because mainly, according to the context of Hosea 11:1, the son here refers to the nation Israel. Why did Matthew later use this verse to mean Jesus? We all stand with the idea that the Holy Scripture is inerrant. So why would Matthew, in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, use this verse in its wrong context?

My answer is Typology.

Let us first analyze what's going on in Matthew.

Joseph and Mary had escaped from Bethlehem because of Herod. They lived in Egypt and waited for Herod to die. Upon Herod's death, Joseph returns to Israel and so, Matthew summarizes it in verse 15 of chapter 2, And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 and immediately assumes that this is speaking of Jesus when in actuality, the context rules that we so hardly adhere to, dictates that Hosea 11 is talking about the nation Israel!

Typology easily resolves this issue. If we are to assume that Israel has always been a typology of Jesus, a temporary sign and can have more than one fulfillment in the great passage of time, we can then easily accept this verse.

By accepting that Israel in Hosea 11, represents Jesus, we can actually see that in many ways Israel did foreshadow Jesus.

Jesus, like Israel, stays in Egypt and leaves to return to the Promised Land. Jesus, Like Israel, is sent to the wilderness to spend a passage of time connected with the number of 40. Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert.

The Gospel records that Jesus was sent to the wilderness to be tempted and tried, wasn't this the case for Israel?

And isn't it interesting, that in the famous encounter between Jesus and the Devil in that same wilderness where Israel was tested, Jesus answered the Devil quoting verses from the book of Deuteronomy?

Deuteronomy discusses most of the consequences that Israel suffered because they failed. In this Typology, Jesus acts as the perfect version of Israel. He goes out of Egypt, is tempted by the devil in the wilderness exposing Him to hunger, thirst, and the danger of being killed by wild animals.

In Israel's hunger, they complained to God, and the reluctant response of God was to send Manna from heaven, Satan uses this same strategy and tells Jesus to make stone bread, but Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy saying that man shall not live by bread alone.

Jesus fasted in that 40 days in the desert. The Israelites feasted with unlimited manna and even by sending birds which the Israelites can easily capture and eat. I can go on and on, but if you analyze the remaining challenges that Satan poised to Jesus, we find that the Israelites actually failed on all of these temptations. In fact, I would go as far to say that the temptations Jesus faced and the temptations Israel faced were roughly the same!

But it doesn't stop here, if you've read through the Bible, you will know that the moment Israel finally enters the Promised Land, you'll be reading through the Book of Joshua. And in Hebrew, the name for Joshua is Yeshua, the very same name to which we translate the Name, Jesus!

So Joshua becomes a typology, a foreshadowing that the book of Joshua will also repeat in history. We've already seen hints of that! That scene in Joshua 10 where kings in their retreat hid in caves to flee from Israel. Is this not the same vivid imagery explained in the book of Revelation which will be the scene when Jesus returns?

At this point, I argue, that perhaps in the dogmatic ways of our interpretation of Scripture, we have long set aside the possibility that if the Bible is promised to be the Word of God, Inerrant, relevant and true, then would it not be true for all ages? Is it possible to see this foreshadowing's again and again?

I will not be surprised, ladies and gentlemen, that in the near future, the very events we read in the book of Revelation will become a typology! A sign that we may soon see, in anticipation of the Second Coming!

We have long interpreted the book of Revelation and its various events to have passed! How many writers and Bible teachers have risen up to explain how World War Three fulfilled many of the verses in Revelation.

I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm saying they could be right. But in this sense, that what they explained are but typologies and these signs that may repeat itself unto final fulfillment.

So read the Book of Revelation! Read the book of Joshua! Read the Book of Daniel! Of Zacharias, of the many verses and the many books in the Bible which speaks or alludes to the coming end!

We could all come witness to various typologies of events that will have its ultimate fulfillment when Christ return. As for me, I may sound insane, but with the recent events that have been happening, I am certain now, we will bear witness to many foreshadowing's itself! Make no mistake!

Perhaps, in the coming days, chaos will be revealed. And perhaps, in the coming days, someone will rise up perhaps as another foreshadowing of Jesus who will appear in Power and Might! Perhaps, in the days to come, you will all see the Way!

Let's close in prayer…

(A and Z, I do hope this gives us a roadmap of future actions you have to take. Revisit the stories in the Old Testament. I have a feeling that one of our friends may be anticipating the revisiting and fulfillment of the prophecies in Egypt. It might take some time until the Bible study after all. So the specific plans that I have in mind to make the world believe in God  cannot be explained. For now, read and follow the Word. Oh, and if C and G are free, have them visit me here in the Americas.)