justified said:
First of all, why do you believe that prophecy can have two fulfillments?
Secondly, all throughout the First Testament, things are prophesied of the end, which happen, and then the end doesn't come (Daniel is one example; we also have the Joel prophecies and Isaiah 6-9; and in the NT there is the Apocalypse) -- what happens is that the end is pushed into "eschatology" and these precursors are recognized as the "seeming end" to the prophet. That's one way of looking at it.
Your last paragraph is sort of my answer for the first paragraph question.
On one level, we read into our history, (which does sort of repeat itself), and we come up with "end times" that seem portented in every generation.
This has to do with our theological criticism which finds argument to support end times because of the clever writings. I say clever writings without meaning blasphemy.
Each generation IS supposed to take these writings as if the are relevent to their life time, becaise is every sense, they are. The scriptures are for us, and have been for those long gone, and shall be, a current event and a relevent and meaningful document for our investigtion.
But, even more important, I read scripture as a psycho-sociological text in the genre of mystery writings. Mystery, because if the stlyeand the subject matter, psychology and sociology which is admittedly a mystery for us even today.
This is logical literary criticism for a set of books which undeniably insist they are authoritative concerning Human Behavior. But, I am not alone in seeing a view like I do, as you might agree, having read Teilhart, who sees we are going some place.
We have a direction, but one that is unconsciously heading to an Omega Point which takes us down the same path a distance, reverses, and sets out again, always "headed" to some focal point we ourselves do not conscious recognize as our "end in time" to come.
But, the matters we have been discussing are part of Daniel's bigger picture in Chapter 2.
IMO, we are being introduced to the idea I just suggested.
Locked in our Collective Unconscious, there is God, a phylogenetic presence reborn in each of us, Unconsciously at work. The Bible writers wrote what the immanent God within knows about us and where we are headed.
Dan. 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Dan. 2:29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
Dan. 2:30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Dan. 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest (future history), and behold a great image (of world empire). This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.