# Back Toward the Future (Walter Kaiser)



## RamistThomist (Feb 28, 2020)

Kaiser, Walter C. Back Toward the Future: Hints for Interpreting Biblical Prophecy. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishing, reprint 2003.

Regardless of your eschatological viewpoint, Walter Kaiser, mighty in the Scriptures, gives guidelines for hermeneutics and how to approach prophetic texts. Only one chapter deals with so-called “millennial issues.”

_Make Prophetic Interpretation Center on the Living God_

Prediction isn’t an add-on to divine revelation-- “it is one of the methods of revelation” (Kaiser 18: Rev. 19:10). Characteristics of biblical prophecy:

1) Plainly foretells things to come. No ambiguities.
2) Entails designed and intended predictions.
3) Written or spoken prior to the event.
4) It is not isolated but correlated to larger biblical revelation.

1 Peter 1:10-12 doesn’t mean Old Testament prophecy was vague or needed NT for the “real meaning.” It just means the OT writers didn’t know the time of Christ’s coming (Kaiser 23). A prophet didn’t “speak better than he knew,” but rather, on issues where he confessed ignorance (Dan. 8:27; 12:8; Zech. 4:13), he merely confesses ignorance of the time or “wants to understand what is said before he writes it down” (24).

Because biblical prophecy involves the Lord of space and time, its fulfillment isn’t intended to be ambiguous, as we see in Greek oracles.

_Don’t Believe Every Prophet_

Kaiser gives some criteria for discerning false prophets. They are known for their immoral lifestyles. They are crowd-pleasers. They do not distinguish their own thoughts from biblical revelation. Finally, they plagiarize (Kaiser 31).

Yet some prophecies do not appear to be fulfilled. Kaiser mentions several kinds of prophecy: unconditional fulfillment; conditional fulfillment, and sequential fulfillment (35). We shouldn’t be surprised by conditional prophecy: prophecy is intended for holy living. God’s character doesn’t change; his actions might.

_Word Packages_

When the Bible uses “earth” in distinction from heaven, it is usually universal. When it uses earth in distinction from the Gentile world, it probably means Israel (48). 

_Go Back to the Past in Order to Get to the Future_

Thesis: Biblical prophecy uses the language of previous revelatory events: creation, flood, Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.

_Biblical Theology of Prophecy_

Kaiser’s method for studying prophecy is standard Evangelical hermeneutics. He wisely recommends finding longer passages and units rather than just proof-texting verses. 

Kaiser recommends we focus primarily on the promise plan of God. While it is true that Christ is the center of the Old Testament, Christ emerges from the Old Testament promises. It is like a tree that is branching out. This is a much better approach than seeing Jesus as a rock on the road to Palestine. It avoids allegorical goofiness.

He suggests we read “All Israel will be saved” as sequential in thought. It might be temporal. It seems to be temporal, but even if it isn’t, nothing is lost by seeing it as sequential to the promises (114). It follows from the promises made in the OT about including the Gentiles in salvation. It isn’t negating Israel. The phrase “life from the dead” brings to mind Ezek. 37. 

_The Pentecost Problem_

Simply because Peter cited a few verses from Joel 2, does that mean all future referents in Joel are exhausted on the day of Pentecost? Of course not.

Kaiser mightily refutes the “double-meaning” theory of prophecy, which is akin to allegorism. Note, he isn’t addressing the fact that some prophecies have a partial or delayed fulfillment. That is perfectly legitimate. Nay, he refutes the Philonic allegorism.

(1) This sets aside the common laws of language and makes communication meaningless.
(2) If there were a double/allegorical meaning, how could it be identified (129)?
(3) What boundaries, if any, are to be placed on double-meanings (130)?
(4) Advocates of double meaning admit it shouldn’t be used to establish doctrine, but why this reluctance all of a sudden?
(5) While it is sometimes claimed that the NT writers give a “spiritual” interpretation to OT passages, they wouldn’t have expected prophecy-fulfillment to make any sense if the rules of language were conveniently thrown out the window.


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## Von (Feb 29, 2020)

Thank you for your review! This sounds like a fascinating book. I loved Kaiser's Biblical Hermeneutics which he co-wrote with Silva. He touches on a few of these points in his chapter on prophecy. I've always struggled with his concept of "plain prophecy" when God said to Moses that he speaks to prophets in riddles (Numbers 12:8).


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## RamistThomist (Feb 29, 2020)

Von said:


> Thank you for your review! This sounds like a fascinating book. I loved Kaiser's Biblical Hermeneutics which he co-wrote with Silva. He touches on a few of these points in his chapter on prophecy. I've always struggled with his concept of "plain prophecy" when God said to Moses that he speaks to prophets in riddles (Numbers 12:8).



I think his point is that God doesn't say one thing and mean another.

Reactions: Informative 1


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