Prophecy Guidelines

There are eighteen chronological periods of Bible prophecy fulfillment.
Period 1. Creation - 1843 B.C. : the Primeval - Patriarchal era
Period 2. 1843 - 1446 B.C. : the Egyptian period
Period 3. 1446 - 1406 B.C. : the Wilderness period
Period 4. 1406 - 1382 B.C. : the conquest of Canaan period
Period 5. 1382 - 1043 B.C. : Era of Judges
Period 6. 1043 - 930 B.C. : the United Kingdom of Israel
Period 7. 930 - 586 B.C. : the Divided Kingdom era
Period 8. 586 - 538 B.C. : the Babylonian Exile period
Period 9. 538 - 332 B.C. : the Persian era
Period 10. 332 - 168 B.C. : the Greek era
Period 11. 168 - 63 B.C. : the Maccabbean period
Period 12. 63 - 5 B.C. : the Roman period
Period 13. 5 B.C. - 30 A.D. : The Life of Christ period
Period 14. A.D. 30 - the 2nd advent of Christ (rapture) : the Church age
Period 15. Christ’s Second Coming: the Day of the Lord (wrath) through to Armageddon
Period 16. The Millennium
Period 17. The Final Judgment: the post-millennial release of Satan - the departure of the godless into the lake of fire.
Period 18. The New Jerusalem and the new heavens and earth.
The following is a summary of the basic principles via 22 characteristics for the interpretation of prophecy. The verses listed are from Isaiah, unless otherwise noted, and are offered as examples.
The NATURE of Biblical prediction is:
1. Historical - Prophecy arises out of real situations. 32:9
2. Transcendent - God’s guiding inspiration surpasses human capacities 24:22
3. Moral - Prediction relates closely to contemporaneous preaching 32:6-15
4. Evangelistic - Prophecy motivates men toward commitment to God 31:6-7
5. Predictive - Foretelling occupies a major place in it Cps. 24-35
6. Messianic - Prophecy attains its goal in Jesus 35:4
The FORM is:
7. Literal - Most prophecy is straightforward in its declaration 30:22
8. Poetic - Exalted feeling may produce Oriental hyperbole 32:14
9. Figurative - Context may use some language as intentionally nonliteral 30:26
10. Symbolical - A prediction may be acted as well as spoken 20:2
11. Typical - An event may symbolize to its contemporaries a truth later achieved by Christ 36:7
The FULFILLMENT is:
12. Necessary - Prophecy is inspired and therefore, when non-contingent must be fulfilled 30:19
13. Contingent - Fulfillment may be modified, provided it is near at hand and subject to conditions affected by its contemporaries 38:1
14. Analogous - Other scriptures are determinative for interpretation 25:8 & 1 Cor.15:54
15. Preferably Near - The closest adequate fulfillment is the best Cps. 28-34
16. Simple - Most prophecies do not have near/far applications 31:9 - 32:1
17. Progressive - One context may advance through a series of predictions 29:14-18
18. Similar - Prophecies may show resemblance w/o being equivalent 32:15 = Acts 2:4
19. Telescoped - Prophecy advances directly from a near to a far horizon 31:9 - 32:1
20. Cyclic - Major blocks within a book may have parallel climaxes Cps. 24-27 & 34-35
21. Eventual - If a prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, it shall be 32:5
22. Occasionally Ambiguous - Prophecies vary in clarity 32:5
*excerpts taken from: The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy by J. Barton Payne