Literal Prophetic Fulfillment: The Pattern of Plain Prediction and Literal Fulfillment

Dispensationalists often argue for a literal hermeneutic for prophetic Scripture by referring to the literal fulfillment of Jesus' first coming. In light of the fact that some first coming passages are in the same context of second coming passages (cf. especially Zech. 9:9-10 for 1st coming prophecy coupled with 2nd coming rule) there is a strong argument for literal fulfillment.

Another argument is the literal fulfillment of God's judgment upon Israel along with the paradoxical Amillennial view of the blessing of OT promises fulfilled by the Church instead of Israel. MacArthur says of this, "All the curses promised to Israel for disobedience to God came true literally on Israel. And now all of the sudden we are supposed to split all those passages that give blessing and cursing, and say all the blessings that were promised to Israel aren't comin' to Israel, they're comin' to the Church instead? Where's the textual justification for such a split interpretation?"[1] These are great arguments to be sure. But there is more in the OT that builds a hermeneutical pattern for interpreting prophetic revelation literally that perhaps is foundational to the two proofs aforementioned.

This hermeneutical pattern is found long before the prophetical books were written. In other words, God laid down a foundation by which readers might interpret prophecy. This took place in the Torah and historical section of the OT.

In order to build a hermeneutical pattern, God gave some amazing prophecies that were literally fulfilled and were outside the realm of self-fulfillment. This list is not exhaustive but gives the basic idea. The first prophecy to be mentioned is found in Genesis 15:13. God prophesied that the descendants of Abraham would sojourn in a foreign land and be servants there. God even foretells the length of this sojourning & servitude – 400 years. This prophecy could not begin until Abraham had a seed (30 years later). Thus Exodus 12:41 conveys the literal fulfillment of this prophecy.

A great Messianic prophecy that finds literal fulfillment is found in Genesis 49:10. The fact that the scepter and ruler's staff was predicted to stay in Judah finds its literal fulfillment in Jesus as the Son of David, Son of Abraham, and of the tribe of Judah. This prophecy was not met without some early resistance. The fact that the first human king of Israel was a Benjamite would have cast doubt on a literal fulfillment, especially considering 1 Samuel 13:13. But God was literally faithful to His prophecy.

Coming to some great prophecies in the Historical section of the OT, there are two that stick out very convincingly for literal fulfillment. First is the man of God in 1 Kings 13. In verse 2, he predicts King Josiah 300 years before. The specific aspects of the prophecy were that a king from the lineage of David would be named Josiah, bodies would be burned, altars torn down, and ashes poured out. This was fulfilled very literally in 2 Kings 23:4-20 (esp. verse 16). Such prophetical precision made hundreds of years prior to the fact makes a great apologetic point. Also a literal fulfillment for OT Israel's kingdom would also make a great apologetic point. That Israel still exists as God predicted in the OT speaks strongly to the divine authorship of God's Word.

Another great prophecy in the historical narrative of Joshua and 1 Kings concerns the city of Jericho. Joshua 6:26 predicted the firstborn and youngest son of the man who rebuilt Jericho's foundation and gates would be killed. This literally comes to pass in 1 Kings 16:34 to a man name Hiel, under the reign of Ahab king of Israel, who lost his oldest and youngest sons just as predicted in Joshua. Such a loss is definitely not a coincidence but providence. God literally fulfilled that which was prophesied so many years earlier during the time of the Promised Land conquest.

Such prophecies build a strong case for literal fulfillment. In fact, it can be said quite strongly that allegorical fulfillment is not seen in these OT prophecies where fulfillment is also recorded. Why would it be expected in eschatological, apocalyptic prophecies? That is not the Biblical pattern. Therefore it is correct to say that literal fulfillment of prophecy arises not from a system of theology but from the Biblical pattern itself – i.e. a Biblical hermeneutic.[2]

Timothy L. Decker
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[1] This quote comes from a sermon from John MacArthur at the 2007 Shepherds Conference. The title was "Why All Self-Respecting Calvinists are Premillennialists."
[2] For more great examples of literal fulfillment, cf. O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants, 229-270 (especially the section of examination of Kings and prophetical fulfillment). Ironically, this Covenanter gave me this idea for the hermeneutical pattern. This is a great baby and bathwater book. A critique of some major theological points is to come in the future.

You might be an old-timey dispensationalist if…

1. John Nelson Darby was either your theological hero or mentor!

2. You cite a quote from Charles Ryrie's hallmark text on dispensational theology as Dispensationalism Today instead of the updated and revised (and shorter title) Dispensationalism.

3. You were in seminary when the editors were preparing the new Scofield study Bible, and you waited for it in hopeful expectation (though you were sad to give up your old Scofield).

4. You know how to properly pronounce Lewis Sperry Chafer's last name, and you never mix it up with Francis S. Schaeffer.

5. You still have Chafer's Systematic Theology in 8 separate volumes instead of the condensed version (8 volumes in 4 books).

6. Names like Berkhof, Boettner, and Ladd were as controversial for you as Blaising, Bock, and Saucy are today.

7. You were amazed by the artistic graphic design of Clarence Larkin's charts and believed it would help simplify complex prophetical timelines.

8. You refer to Ryrie, Walvoord, and Pentecost as the "pedagogical trinity."

9. You use terms like sine qua non and other academic-sounding Latin expressions.

10. You remember when Bib Sac volumes were still in its double digits.

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***If you can come up with one, add it to the comments!***