Here are descriptions of PAST events. Not future, PAST :
Fall of Israel
Amos 8: 8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
Judgement on Egypt
Ez.32:7 And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Fall of Babylon brought on by the Medes(vs.17)
Is. 13: 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine.
So if they are literal, we are not here because the universe was destroyed a few centuries ago.
Why do we take these verses as symbolic in the OT, yet insist they are literal in the NT?
I repeat,Does eye represent sight or understanding?
Rom. 11: 7 What then? that which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened:8 according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day.
Joel 2
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved;
When could one call upon the name of the Lord and be saved? still future?
Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.16 And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.17 So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Fulfilled?
Eph.2
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.
vs.19 So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
Who is the heaven and earth?
Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
vs. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Heaven and earth represent the Old Covenant, Old Israel, andd her people.
Why will it be destroyed?
Isaiah 24
1 Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
5 The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Notice these verses dealing with the removal of the Old Covenant.
Is 51: 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment;
Ps.102: 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Heb 1: 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of thy hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou continuest: And they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
Matt. 9: 16 And no man putteth a piece of undressed cloth upon an old garment; for that which should fill it up taketh from the garment, and a worse rent is made.
17 Neither do men put new wine into old wine-skins: else the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins perish: but they put new wine into fresh wine-skins, and both are preserved.
That old garment is the Old Covenant.
Heb 8: 13 In that he saith, A new covenant he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away.
You quote Acts 2 as some future event. Yet Acts 2 is a fulfilled prophecy:
Acts 2: 16 but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams:
That which Joel spoke of was fulfilled in those "last days". When were the "last days"?
Hebrews 1
2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;
Jesus appeared in the last days. Last Days of what? Last Days of the Old Covenant.
LOOOOK..... at the world condition is increasing worser right now.
Read about the "Dark Ages" and then tell me how terrible things are now.
I choose to use the Old Testament to help me interpret the New Testament. The NT was written to Jews who read the OT daily in the synogogues. They would have been very familiar with this language and would have understood its meaning.
Matt. 24: 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished.35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
The Old Covenant would pass away, but the New would last forever.
