A Closed Book?

Gò0dNews Ministry Spotlight

A Closed Book?

by Brent Goodge

Do you ever get confused by all the theories about what apocalyptic prophecy is trying to tell us? If you walk into a Christian bookstore with 500 available titles on the subject, it’s hard to imagine any two authors would understand the material the same way. The old adage seems like it could be modified to apply here: “Three Christians, five opinions.”

Did Jesus intend it to be this way? It’s true that, at the time Daniel was written, the book was pronounced by the angel as being sealed up “until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4). But Jesus told His listeners to understand the Book of Daniel (Matthew 24:15). Some have erroneously claimed that Revelation was also sealed, but the words of Revelation itself declare the opposite (Revelation 22:10). In fact, the very name of the book, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” coupled with the blessings promised to those who read, hear, and keep the words of the book, make such an assumption impossible (Revelation 1:1-3).

Even so, with all the vastly divergent opinions about the meaning of Revelation, how can anyone possibly know whose opinions might be anywhere close to accurate? Remember that Revelation is part of the Bible, which Jesus declared to be truth (John 17:17). And Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 16:13).

Many Christians today would be surprised to learn that the Reformers had generally consistent views on the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. The divergence of denominational understandings began largely through the efforts of the Counter-Reformation. The Reformers came to similar conclusions because they used what today might be considered a novel idea of interpreting Bible prophecy: they allowed the Bible to interpret itself.

Instead of trying to look around and guess what each symbol represented, the Reformers simply looked through the Bible to see how those symbols were used or explained in other passages. That doesn’t sound like an idea that should be revolutionary. It sounds pretty basic, actually.

For example, when Revelation 12:3-4 says that the dragon’s tail threw one-third of the stars of heaven to earth, the Reformers didn’t dig through the history books to find a massive meteor shower. They found in Revelation 12:9

that the dragon was Satan and in Revelation 1:20 that stars represent angels. Using the Bible as its own interpreter, they discovered that Satan’s fall from heaven included the fall of about one-third of the host of heaven’s angels along with him.

I’d like to challenge you to study the apocalyptic prophecies for yourself, allowing the Bible to interpret itself. It’s not always easy. But Jesus promised you will be blessed. You don’t have to go it alone. The Ethiopian eunuch needed help understanding how to study the Bible (Acts 8:30-31). Thunder in the Holy Land is a free Bible study program to help you understand how to find the prophetic answers in the Bible for yourself. Please prayerfully consider starting your journey today at DaltonThunder.com.

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