Old Testament prophecy for the messianic solution to the salvation of humanity and restoration of Eden was deliberately cryptic.1 So it is with prophecy yet awaiting fulfillment. The biblical text is riddled with ambiguities that undermine the certainty of modern eschatological systems. The New Testament writers who speak about prophetic fulfillments didn’t always interpret Old Testament literally. Much is communicated through metaphor framed by an ancient Near Eastern worldview. Consequently, our modern expectations about how a given prophecy will “work” are inherently insecure.
