“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” 2Pet 1:20
The word “prophecy” in the verse above comes from the root prophetes which translates: “one who, moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman, solemnly declares to men what he has received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation”. Notice the last four words of the verse” “and to human salvation”. That worked for me. I had this old Bible that my dad gave to me. I went to a private Lutheran school for 5 years. We were taught to respect the Holy Bible as God’s Word. Many memory verses to learn each week. I noticed that there was this last chapter of the Bible that was neglected it seemed to me. I would read through the Book of Revelation myself because it seemed so fascinating, scary and wondrous all at the same time. Then in my teenage years Hal Lindsay came out with his best seller The Late Great Planet Earth. With Israel back on the scene and Wars and famines happening, I took notice. I believe the Lord used prophecy in this way to guide me into reading His Word and getting saved. We found a bible teaching church or should I say the Lord led us to a church that we could grow and develop in. New things like “Rapture”, “Millennium” “Judgment Seat” and “Born again”… all concepts clearly taught in the Bible but seeing them with new eyes for the first time. Now we had a pastor out of Dallas Theological Seminary. This was back in the day before man’s wisdom of psychology and “Meism” took hold there. The Scofield bible was a common sight. Besides learning the basics of what the bible teaches about salvation, judgment and missions, we were being taught a fairly rigid dispensational type of eschatology (end times) that favored a pre-trib view. Dr Walvoord actually visited our church once (former pres of Dallas Theo). About ten years ago the Lord led me to an online Christian learning center called Koinonia Institute. Chuck Missler is the head of this. What KI taught me was this: Read the Bible for yourself, prayerfully with the asking of the Holy Spirit to guide me into learning His Word. I had heard this before from Dave Hunt who said to be a Berean. When Paul went to Berea to preach the gospel, the people there looked into the scriptures themselves to check out if what Paul was telling them was accurate. Now I started applying this concept on my own and found that there were verses in the Bible that were nagging at me because they did not seem to line up with my preconceived learning that I had received way back in the 1980’s. Here is my point: Do not me too rigid in what you have learned previously from your denomination or your pastor or a book you have read. The Lord uses these things to guide you many times into the truth. There really is only one correct interpretation but God’s Word is so fascinating because there are deeper meanings underlying the surface many times. Jacob Prasch of Moriel Ministries has taught me that many of us have learned to read the Bible from a Hellenistic view. Hellenistic meaning from a Greek based concept. Being fairly straightforward and rigid. Read from a Jewish perspective, the Bible has “midrash” which is a really enlightening concept of approach to scripture. Prasch is careful in differentiating the term midrash from what developed later in the Talmud (the Rabbi’s excessive laws and interpretations of the Torah). An example he gives is found in Matthew where a verse out of Hosea that says God’s daughter came out of Egypt in Hosea means the people of Israel escaped Pharaoh, but in Matthew it is talking of Mary and Joseph coming out of their sojourn in Egypt and coming to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. God wants you to dig deep into His Word. He wants you to know what’s happening. Be open to His Holy Spirit teaching you. Don’t be too rigid in your preconceived ideas and learning. They are helpful as guideposts and stepping stones but ultimately we need to get our knowledge from God’s knowledge which is called Wisdom. No one has all the answers. No one knows exactly how all the pieces of bible prophecy fit together. If someone claims to know everything watch out! Many have made such claims in the past and have led many astray. As we progress through these end times the Lord will give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Are we listening? It truly is an amazing time to be a Christian!
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