Discover the profound mystery of dual fulfillment in Bible prophecy. Explore its layered meanings and relevance in Scripture. Examine key prophecies, including Samuel’s Son of David, Isaiah’s Virgin Birth, Joel’s Day of the Lord, and Jesus’s prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction. Learn how these prophecies reveal God’s plan and clarify Luke 21:20-24.

https://youtu.be/gQvnG8huMz8

Table of contentsThere’s a Dual Fulfillment with Samuel’s Prophecy of the Son of DavidSolomon and Jesus Built the Houses of GodGod Is a Father to Solomon and JesusThere’s a Dual Fulfillment with Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Virgin BirthThere’s a Dual Fulfillment with Joel’s Prophecy of the Day of the LordThere’s a Dual Fulfillment with Jesus’s Prophecy of Jerusalem’s DestructionHow Does Jesus's Prophecy Look Beyond 70 A.D.?God Declares the End from the Beginning

Economist Dan Ariely wrote a book called Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. Here’s one example from his book. When people are offered a Hershey’s Kiss for one cent or a much higher-quality truffle for 15 cents, 73% choose the pricier truffle. But when the price of the Hershey’s Kiss is changed from one cent to free, 69% of people, almost the same percentage, now choose the Hershey’s Kiss.

Why? All because of the attraction to the word “free.” I was a business major in college, and I took marketing. This is the logic behind a common marketing tactic: two-for-one deals. Convince people that they get something extra for free, and they’re much more interested.

Some prophecies in Scripture are like two-for-one deals. They have dual fulfillment: a partial fulfillment in the near future and a complete fulfillment in the far future. I titled the sermon “Mystery of Dual Fulfillment” because it is a mystery that there’s two fulfillments.

There’s a Dual Fulfillment with Samuel’s Prophecy of the Son of David

Let me ask a simple question: Who is the Son of David? You could say Solomon or Jesus. Consider whether the verses describe Solomon or Jesus. God tells David:

2 Samuel 7:12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He (the Son of David) shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

One reason we know this looks past Solomon to Jesus is the use of the word “forever,” which occurs three times in the verses. Solomon didn’t live—or reign—“forever.”

Here’s another question: which Son of David built a house for God? Solomon or David? Yes! Solomon built the earthly, physical temple, and Jesus built the true and greater heavenly, spiritual temple known as the church.

Solomon and Jesus Built the Houses of God

Zechariah was a prophet to the Jews when they were rebuilding the temple after they returned from exile…

Zechariah 6:12 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch (referring to Jesus): for he shall branch out from his place (referring to him branching out from heaven to earth), and he shall build the temple of the lord.

The Branch, or Jesus, would build the temple. This doesn’t refer to the earthly temple because Zerubbabel would complete it. This refers to the spiritual temple, or house, Christ built. Think of Jesus’s words to Peter:

Matthew 16:18b I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The beauty of this is that we are part of the house Christ built. Listen to how Paul describes us:

Ephesians 2:19 You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD. 22 In him you also are being built together into A DWELLING PLACE FOR GOD by the Spirit.

We are God’s house!

God Is a Father to Solomon and Jesus

2 Samuel 7:14a I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

Is God saying He will be a Father to Solomon or Jesus? Yes! It looks like God is saying He would be a Father to Solomon, and that’s true, but this verse is quoted in Hebrews 1:5 and applied to Jesus:

Hebrews 1:5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I WILL BE TO HIM A FATHER, AND HE SHALL BE TO ME A SON”?

God was a father to Solomon, but He’s a Father to Jesus in a true and greater way.

2 Samuel 7:14b When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,

We understand how this applies to Solomon who sinned and was disciplined, but how does it apply to Jesus who never committed iniquity? The verse sounds like a combination of parts of Isaiah 53. Listen to parts of it:

(NKJV) Isaiah 53:5 He was BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES…by HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED. 6…the Lord has laid on Him THE INIQUITY OF US ALL.

This is the same language as 2 Samuel 7:14. It would be better to understand the verse as: “Jesus suffered for iniquity and was disciplined with the rod and stripes due to men.” Adam Clarke wrote, “The words commits iniquity can be better translated as suffer for iniquity." J. Vernon McGee wrote something similar: “But if he committed iniquity, that is, when iniquity is laid upon him—when your sin and my sin were put upon him—it is with his stripes that we are healed. He died on the cross for you and me.”

When Jesus was on the cross, He was imputed with the sin of all believers throughout history:

2 Corinthians 5:21 He became sin.

1 Peter 2:24 He bore our sins in His body on the cross.

When Jesus received our sin, it became His sin. We say Jesus died for our sins, and that’s true, but we could equally say He died for His sins because our sins became His.

As Matthew 12:42 says, “Jesus is greater than Solomon,” and the complete fulfillment of all that was promised to David was found in Him.

There’s a Dual Fulfillment with Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Virgin Birth

Ahaz, King of Judah, was afraid of the kings of Israel and Aram. God sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to give him a sign that these two kings would be defeated. Look at Isaiah 7:14 to see the sign.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (which means God With Us).

Notice the word “behold” in the middle of the verse. This is always used to draw attention to something significant that God doesn’t want us to miss: in this case, the sign of Immanuel.

In Isaiah’s day, there was a virgin who was unmarried and had not had a relationship with a man. Although she is unnamed in the account, I suspect Ahaz knew her. Maybe she was in the royal court. She would get married, cease being a virgin, have a child, and name that child Immanuel. To be clear, there is nothing miraculous about this child’s birth other than God's prophecy. When Ahaz saw this child named Immanuel, he would think of Isiah’s words and be convinced God would deliver Judah. That’s how the child would serve as a sign.

This is the near partial fulfillment. I say partial for two reasons: First, the young girl didn’t remain a virgin, and second, the child wasn’t literally “God With Us.” But 700 years later, there would be a complete fulfillment: a young woman named Mary would have a Child as a virgin, and the Child would literally be Immanuel, or God With Us. Listen to Isaiah 7:14 quoted in the New Testament:

Matthew 1:21 [Mary] will bear a son, and you SHALL CALL HIS NAME JESUS, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Isaiah]: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL” (which means, God with us).

So, which is it: He’s called Jesus or Immanuel? He’s Jesus in name and Immanuel in fulfillment.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE.

This is another famous prophecy associated with Jesus’s birth. Jesus didn’t get all these names. Instead, they’re titles He fulfilled. He would be each of these things.

Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And (referring to Jesus) THIS IS THE NAME BY WHICH HE WILL BE CALLED: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Jesus was never called the Lord is our Righteousness, but He became our righteousness:

1 Corinthians 1:30 You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us…righteousness2 Corinthians 5:21 [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus can be called Immanuel because He was God with us, literally and physically. He is the future complete fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

There’s a Dual Fulfillment with Joel’s Prophecy of the Day of the Lord

Fifty days after Easter Sunday, Jesus’s resurrection, and ten days after His ascension, the apostles and other believers gathered together in Jerusalem because Jesus told them to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit arrived with a sound like a rushing, mighty wind filling the house. Tongues of fire appeared and rested above each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different known languages or tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

This happened during the spring feast of Pentecost, so Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims from various regions, each speaking different languages. They were amazed to hear the apostles speaking in their native tongues, leading them to proclaim the wonders of God.