The prophecies can be pieced together to make a coherent picture, even though the pieces are scattered in small bits throughout the Old and New Testaments.
Hal Lindsey, 'The Late Great Planet Earth' 1970 (Chapter 4)
Hal Lindsey, 'The Late Great Planet Earth' 1970 (Chapter 4)
Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names scattered here and there [in Scripture], they twist them, as we have already said, from a natural to a non-natural sense.
Irenaeus, Heresies, I.IX.4
Irenaeus, Heresies, I.IX.4
Truly has Justin remarked: That before the Lord’s appearance Satan never dared to blaspheme God, inasmuch as he did not yet know his own sentence, because it was contained in parables and allegories; Irenaeus, V.XXVI.2
But if he takes them and restores each of them to its proper position, he at once destroys the narrative in question. I.IX.4
1 Innocence (pre-Fall)
2 Conscience (Fall–Noah)
3 Government (Noah–Abraham)
4 Promise (Abraham–Moses)
5 Mosaic Law (Moses–Christ)
6 Grace (current age)
7 Millennial Kingdom (1,000-year earthly reign of Christ, yet to come)
Irenaeus also spoke of the dispensations of God.
1. The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus I.X.1
the dispensations of God, and
the advents, and
the birth from a virgin, and
the passion, and
the resurrection from the dead, and
the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and
His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” and to raise up anew
The Old Testament prophecies were not understood literally.
For every prophecy, before its fulfillment, is to men [full of] enigmas and ambiguities. But when the time has arrived, and the prediction has come to pass, then the prophecies have a clear and certain exposition. And for this reason, indeed, when at this present time the law is read to the Jews, it is like a fable; (2 Cor 3:15-16) for they do not possess the explanation of all things pertaining to the advent of the Son of God, which took place in human nature; but when it is read by the Christians, it is a treasure, hid indeed in a field, but brought to light by the cross of Christ, and explained, both enriching the understanding of men, and showing forth the wisdom of God and declaring His dispensations with regard to man, and forming the kingdom of Christ beforehand, and preaching by anticipation the inheritance of the holy Jerusalem (Heb 12:22), and proclaiming beforehand that the man who loves God shall arrive at such excellency as even to see God, and hear His word, and from the hearing of His discourse be glorified to such an extent, that others cannot behold the glory of his countenance, as was said by Daniel: “Those who do understand, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and many of the righteous as the stars for ever and ever.” (Dan 12:3) IV.XXVI.1
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