Prophetic Perspective

In 332 BC when Alexander the Great conquered Tyre, his next target was Jerusalem because it was en route to Egypt, his ultimate destination. According to author Flavius Josephus, Jaddua the high priest of Jerusalem at that time, had a dream about meeting with Alexander.

In the dream, the priest was clothed in purple and gold and surrounded by many others robed in white. Apparently, Alexander the Great had a parallel dream in Dios of Macedonia sometime prior. Jaddua heeded the vision by clothing himself in the colored robes along with his people to meet Alexander. When the two met outside Jerusalem, Alexander remembered his dream and gave reverence to Jaddua’s god. He and his armies then proceeded toward Egypt without harming Jerusalem.

This might seem fantastic, but it can be tied to some of the prophecy in Zechariah 9, which Meadowcroft Pastor Dan Kiehl revealed today in his sermon. According to Scripture, Zechariah prophesied about the falls of Tyre and Sidon for their extravagant “ramparts” and storing up of fine treasures. Providentially, yet unknowingly to the Great Alexander, God fulfilled these prophesies through Alexander and his men.

In addition, God also carried out his promise to not harm Jerusalem, which too was in the path of destruction for Alexander and his armies. Zechariah 8 reads:

But I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch. (NIV)

In this prophecy of Zechariah, our prophet foresaw the falls of these great cities. He also saw the coming of Christ our Lord. He saw him coming humbly into Jerusalem mounted on a donkey and he foresaw his peace taking reign on the earth. What he did not see, however, was the time span between his coming and his reigning peace. He did not see the 2000 plus years before peace on earth would prevail in its entirety. There is a reason for this, and it was revealed to me today by Pastor Dan in what is known as prophetic perspective.

When driving towards a great mountain range, we see a backdrop of peaks and ridges. From a distance, there is no space between them. They simply look like one against the other. But when we near the mountain range we begin to see the distance between each peak and ridge. Eventually we come to realize that there could be dozens if not hundreds of miles from one mountain to the next. In prophetic visionary terms this is known as prophetic perspective.

This is such a great concept and it brings much clarity to the content in the Bible’s prophecies. When a vision is revealed to a prophet, he may see the imagery from afar, thus not permitting him to see the valleys between the peaks and ridges. This is important to consider not just for gaining perspective on your Bible studies but also in your own life because vision is part of each of us.

We might see who we are in the time to come and what sort of impact we can have on those around us, but we might not see the intervals, or valleys between the peaks and highlights. If we strive for the higher peaks without considering the lower ones in front, then we will ultimately lead ourselves off course in the wrong trajectory.

Keep this in mind as you set out to scale your mountains and chart your paths. The imagery in your vision may be solid as a rock, but the depth of perception within the vision might be limited by the distance between you and your final destination.

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