September 8
Daniel 6:1-28, 9:1-27; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-11; 1 Chronicles 3:17-19
God's desire for each of us is to be in His Word and to grow in our relationship with Him. He did not call scholars, but those from all walks of life to seek Him earnestly. Many avoid the bible for lack of desire. But there are also many who avoid it believing the lie, that it can't be interpreted, or that only experts can truly make sense out of it. So here are a few basic principles of interpretation, also called Biblical hermeneutics. Cooper's common sense Golden Rule of Biblical interpretation states: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense, lest it result in nonsense." The first of three basic rules in interpreting Scripture is the Bible should be interpreted literally. Unless the passage is obviously a figure of speech or intended to be symbolic, we should avoid spiritualizing literal portions of Scripture or spending all of our time reading between the lines to seek out interpretations of our own mind. Second, passages must be interpreted historically, grammatically, and contextually. We need to stop taking verses in isolation and piecing them together to arrive at conclusions of our own making. Look at the verses preceding and after a verse, read the chapter, understand what was going on when it was written, etc. Lastly, the best source to interpret Scripture is through other Scripture.
Many have avoided the book of Revelation, or changed many of its fundamental aspects by applying different methods of interpretation from what is listed above. Read Daniel 9:24-27, “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city,To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” This portion of Scripture looks forward to the first and second coming of Messiah, Jesus, the purpose of His first coming and also describes the future Antichrist. First, notice in the beginning of the first verse (9:24) these events surround the Jewish people and Jerusalem. The weeks represent weeks of years, so 70 weeks is 490 years.
If one looks at the beginning, until the middle of 9:26, the first coming of Jesus is described. These 69 weeks of years equal 173,880 days. The building of Jerusalem is described in the book of Nehemiah, and if one counts forward with that as a starting point, the number falls exactly to the day that Jesus presented Himself as King on the Palm Sunday road. Next, notice that Jesus is cut off, but not for Himself, as He dies as a sacrifice to redeem mankind. Next, we find ourselves where we are now, in a large parenthesis. We are in the time of the Gentiles, where a spiritual blindness has largely plagued the Jewish people as most still deny their Messiah. But when the rapture occurs and the church is removed, all the focus once again returns to the Jewish people. The book of Revelation is indeed a very Jewish book. It is the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). Sticking to the principles of biblical interpretation above, when we get to Revelation 7, the 144k are literal Jewish men from literal Jewish tribes. We don't have to worry about who is from Gad or Asher, God knows who and where they are. To spiritualize the book of Revelation or make it about the church or Jehovah's Witnesses, etc., denies the literal interpretation of Scripture. The Bible is amazing and God has gifted it to all of us that we may all come to know Him, love Him, trust Him, and look to Him.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: