1 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,840 So we're thinking of interpreting revelation. 2 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,280 Let's start easy, I said to myself, let's take an easy topic. 3 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,240 But really, interpreting revelation is the elephant in the 4 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:24,720 room, because everyone has an opinion. 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,360 And I guarantee you that each of you have a different way of understanding 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:31,960 revelation than I do or than the person beside you. 7 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,800 Because it turns out, even though we think there may be broad 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,360 brushstrokes of interpretation, even within those 9 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,480 approaches to interpretation, there are differences. 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,480 And so interpreting revelation is not. 11 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,160 Or explaining the interpretation of revelation is not 12 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:50,680 as easy as perhaps we think. 13 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,010 And so we're going to be thinking about this this evening. 14 00:00:54,010 --> 00:00:57,890 And by way of introduction, we'll come to the question in a moment. 15 00:00:57,890 --> 00:01:01,650 But really, over the past, well, throughout all of the generations, 16 00:01:01,970 --> 00:01:06,290 you can track the different interpretation styles of revelation. 17 00:01:07,650 --> 00:01:12,930 The early church believed that quite literally Jesus was coming 18 00:01:13,010 --> 00:01:13,410 soon. 19 00:01:14,210 --> 00:01:18,050 And so as they read Revelation and as they read in chapter one and 20 00:01:18,050 --> 00:01:22,300 I am coming soon, and as they read in chapter 22, I am coming soon, 21 00:01:22,300 --> 00:01:26,820 they believe within their lifetime that Jesus was coming because 22 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:30,900 they understood that word soon, as I said last week, quickly 23 00:01:31,220 --> 00:01:36,260 to mean that it was going to be within a matter of months or years, 24 00:01:37,540 --> 00:01:41,380 as we know, 2,000 years on, that's not happened. 25 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:45,860 And the early church very quickly realized that as the first 26 00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:49,100 generation of Christians died and Christ had not returned. 27 00:01:49,100 --> 00:01:51,660 And that's why when you go, as I mentioned last week, to 1 Thessalonians 28 00:01:51,660 --> 00:01:55,740 4, Paul wants to address what happens to those who have already 29 00:01:55,820 --> 00:01:57,820 died when Christ comes? 30 00:01:58,620 --> 00:01:59,660 How is this going to happen? 31 00:01:59,660 --> 00:02:01,140 How can they rise from the dead? 32 00:02:01,140 --> 00:02:05,180 Because the early church only assumed that the resurrection, or 33 00:02:05,340 --> 00:02:08,220 at that stage, they didn't have that concept, but that this 34 00:02:08,220 --> 00:02:11,820 idea of rising to be with Jesus or going to be with Jesus was 35 00:02:11,820 --> 00:02:13,620 for the living and not for the dead. 36 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:16,940 And so that's when first Thessalonians 4, he explains something 37 00:02:16,940 --> 00:02:17,460 of that. 38 00:02:18,580 --> 00:02:21,500 Then as you go into the three hundreds of the church and into the 39 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:25,740 early the church fathers, before you get to Constantine and 40 00:02:25,740 --> 00:02:30,460 beyond him, you have an understanding of this last book of 41 00:02:30,460 --> 00:02:35,260 the Bible, explaining what's going to happen in the life of the 42 00:02:35,260 --> 00:02:39,540 church from the time of Christ's ascension to his coming 43 00:02:39,540 --> 00:02:40,100 back again. 44 00:02:40,610 --> 00:02:42,610 And as we'll see a little bit later this evening, by the time you 45 00:02:42,610 --> 00:02:45,930 get to the Reformation, that had changed into something that might 46 00:02:45,930 --> 00:02:47,850 surprise you before then. 47 00:02:47,850 --> 00:02:53,490 We come to really four divisions and approaches of how to 48 00:02:53,490 --> 00:02:55,250 interpret revelation. 49 00:02:55,970 --> 00:03:01,410 And so, as we saw in Study 1, Revelation is about understanding 50 00:03:01,650 --> 00:03:06,540 God's through or Christ's revelation to us through that places 51 00:03:06,780 --> 00:03:08,060 himself on the throne. 52 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:10,940 But it's in the throne room of God, where God is there. 53 00:03:11,260 --> 00:03:14,900 God is ruling and reigning and his son is there, the Lamb who was 54 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:15,140 slain. 55 00:03:15,140 --> 00:03:18,300 And that image changes as we go throughout the book. 56 00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:22,780 And so what I want you to begin with is that discussion question 57 00:03:22,940 --> 00:03:26,820 there in the first box and I'll try and scribble it up on the 58 00:03:26,820 --> 00:03:27,180 screen. 59 00:03:27,580 --> 00:03:29,540 Why have it chat around your tables? 60 00:03:29,540 --> 00:03:33,180 Why you think there are so many interpretations of Revelation? 61 00:03:34,290 --> 00:03:35,730 Why do we have so many? 62 00:03:36,290 --> 00:03:37,250 Maybe this evening. 63 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:38,530 Well, I did give it away last week. 64 00:03:38,530 --> 00:03:40,970 I said there was going to be four, but maybe that you thought, 65 00:03:40,970 --> 00:03:41,410 oh, four. 66 00:03:41,410 --> 00:03:42,450 I thought there was only three. 67 00:03:43,010 --> 00:03:48,570 And maybe that three was pre millennium, premillennial, amillennial 68 00:03:48,570 --> 00:03:49,649 and post millennial. 69 00:03:49,649 --> 00:03:50,970 Well, that's only one part. 70 00:03:50,970 --> 00:03:52,450 That's only about the millennium. 71 00:03:52,610 --> 00:03:54,130 The millennial reign of Christ. 72 00:03:54,850 --> 00:03:58,090 There's actually four different ways that don't mention 73 00:03:58,090 --> 00:04:01,980 millennium of how to interpret Revelation. 74 00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:07,740 Course as we'll see those ideas of millennium set into those 75 00:04:07,820 --> 00:04:10,420 different ones cross over. 76 00:04:10,420 --> 00:04:12,540 In fact, some other ones as well. 77 00:04:13,100 --> 00:04:14,300 So have a few moments. 78 00:04:14,300 --> 00:04:16,380 I'm going to write it up on the board so that those watching 79 00:04:16,380 --> 00:04:18,860 will have a chance to think about it as well. 80 00:04:18,860 --> 00:04:22,060 But the question is, why are there so many different interpretations 81 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:23,260 of revelation? 82 00:04:23,420 --> 00:04:24,940 My microphone's going to go off. 83 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:27,160 The whole microphone is going to go down. 84 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,640 So don't worry, no one's going to hear what you say. 85 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,880 They're just going to hear a nice babble of voices just to make 86 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:34,600 sure that they know their Internet's working. 87 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,600 But I'm going to write up and we'll put this on the screen so people 88 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,880 at home can see but five minutes or so to have a wee chat 89 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:42,520 about that and then we'll hear back from. 90 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,200 We are going to hear back from. 91 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:06,880 Then what? 92 00:05:31,370 --> 00:05:33,210 That's probably been about five minutes. 93 00:05:34,250 --> 00:05:37,010 What are some of the headlines there of why around your table? 94 00:05:37,010 --> 00:05:38,970 Do you think that there's. 95 00:05:39,210 --> 00:05:41,450 Why are there different interpretations of Revelation? 96 00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:43,380 What reasons are there. 97 00:05:50,340 --> 00:05:51,060 So that. 98 00:05:51,140 --> 00:05:54,420 So the premillennial amillennial and post millennial. 99 00:05:54,420 --> 00:05:57,940 Millennial is the interpretation. 100 00:05:57,940 --> 00:06:00,980 But why do people want those Is more the question. 101 00:06:02,180 --> 00:06:05,300 Why do they want to fit it into a certain column? 102 00:06:14,270 --> 00:06:14,750 Opinions. 103 00:06:15,150 --> 00:06:16,670 We all have an opinion. 104 00:06:17,230 --> 00:06:18,510 Boy, do I know it. 105 00:06:19,470 --> 00:06:21,150 Have a beard or don't have a beard. 106 00:06:21,710 --> 00:06:24,390 It's the biggest controversy of 2026 thus far. 107 00:06:24,390 --> 00:06:25,870 Never mind the English elections. 108 00:06:26,190 --> 00:06:27,790 Yes, we all have an opinion. 109 00:06:28,590 --> 00:06:33,630 So opinion. 110 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,240 We like to be right in our opinions. 111 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:39,560 That's human nature. 112 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:45,320 There's very few of Us are mellow 100% of the time. 113 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,560 We might be mellow 95% of the time, but there's going to be 5% 114 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,280 of things that we will be exceptionally opinionated on. 115 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,160 And that's okay, because that's how we're made. 116 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,990 And as the moderator of Presbytery, Kenny Hanna, as he was 117 00:07:00,990 --> 00:07:05,070 installed in March, said to prestree, we need to learn to disagree. 118 00:07:05,070 --> 00:07:08,150 Well, that we can disagree, but that doesn't mean we don't have 119 00:07:08,150 --> 00:07:12,950 to talk to each other, because we only disagree on 3, 4, 5% of things 120 00:07:13,190 --> 00:07:14,230 because of opinion. 121 00:07:14,230 --> 00:07:21,110 So opinion of how we see the world will shape how we interpret 122 00:07:21,670 --> 00:07:22,390 revelation. 123 00:07:23,510 --> 00:07:24,230 What else? 124 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:48,200 So, yes, the language of revelation, it's not helpful, is 125 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:48,480 it? 126 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:55,530 We know that seven heads, in fact, the number seven, full stop. 127 00:07:57,610 --> 00:07:59,290 So there's a lot of things there. 128 00:08:01,130 --> 00:08:02,810 Is it simply repeating itself? 129 00:08:02,970 --> 00:08:04,570 Is it something new? 130 00:08:05,210 --> 00:08:05,930 What is this? 131 00:08:05,930 --> 00:08:09,210 How do we interpret the language and the imagery? 132 00:08:09,290 --> 00:08:12,090 So language and I guess there by default. 133 00:08:13,290 --> 00:08:17,300 And how we understand that from our perspectives will then mean 134 00:08:17,300 --> 00:08:19,460 how we interpret revelation. 135 00:08:21,140 --> 00:08:26,940 And so if you're into the fantasy novels of Narnia or Lord 136 00:08:26,940 --> 00:08:30,260 of the Rings, then you have a different way of looking at these 137 00:08:30,260 --> 00:08:30,500 things. 138 00:08:30,500 --> 00:08:33,620 If you read those books and enjoy those books than someone who 139 00:08:33,700 --> 00:08:37,300 likes Anne of Green Gables, because the two are not alike. 140 00:08:37,780 --> 00:08:40,500 And so you have a different mind of how you approach it. 141 00:08:41,300 --> 00:08:42,220 I'm going to use that. 142 00:08:42,220 --> 00:08:43,060 I'm going to be bold. 143 00:08:43,889 --> 00:08:46,289 Might get in trouble for this one, but I'm going to put it up anyway. 144 00:08:50,769 --> 00:08:56,529 Politics, Very political to interpret revelation a particular 145 00:08:56,769 --> 00:09:00,049 way because it justifies your actions. 146 00:09:03,489 --> 00:09:04,449 So politics. 147 00:09:04,689 --> 00:09:06,529 Revelation has been used in politics. 148 00:09:06,529 --> 00:09:11,200 Who remembers George W. Bush coming out and talking about Gog 149 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,840 and Magog at the time of. 150 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:16,320 What was it? 151 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:18,040 His father, actually, maybe in the Iraq war. 152 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:19,640 I can't remember one of the Bushes. 153 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:21,280 Everyone was going, what's Gog? 154 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:21,960 And Magog? 155 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,880 Turned out he was using Revelation to back up whatever it 156 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,640 was, whether it was Iraq or whether it was 9, 11, going into 157 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,200 Afghanistan after Osama bin Laden. 158 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:35,640 So politics. 159 00:09:36,070 --> 00:09:40,310 People interpret revelation because it suits the political agenda. 160 00:09:41,110 --> 00:09:44,070 They want to bring a certain group of people with them. 161 00:09:44,950 --> 00:09:47,350 Any other reasons why there are so many? 162 00:09:48,550 --> 00:09:49,910 Just personal opinions. 163 00:09:49,910 --> 00:09:52,590 The language of revelation means that we're all looking at it 164 00:09:52,590 --> 00:09:53,110 differently. 165 00:09:53,110 --> 00:09:54,230 And then politics. 166 00:09:54,310 --> 00:09:55,110 Anything else? 167 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:03,960 Well, we'll go, yes. 168 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:05,680 Outside influences, in what way? 169 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:20,800 Yes, yes. 170 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:22,560 So I will come to. 171 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,800 Whenever we look at the four interpretation approaches, we'll 172 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:32,190 see that one in particular has used media to propagate its message 173 00:10:32,190 --> 00:10:35,990 and therefore has become the one that is more Widely understood 174 00:10:35,990 --> 00:10:39,190 because the most amount of money has been poured in to distribute 175 00:10:39,190 --> 00:10:39,510 it. 176 00:10:39,830 --> 00:10:42,550 And so, yes, outside influences, popular approach. 177 00:10:43,430 --> 00:10:46,590 And simply what nowadays, what comes up in your algorithm, as they 178 00:10:46,590 --> 00:10:46,950 call it. 179 00:10:46,950 --> 00:10:50,070 You know, you watch it once and then you're going to get 10 videos 180 00:10:50,070 --> 00:10:53,190 like it if you're on YouTube or things like that. 181 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:58,240 Yes, church tradition. 182 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,800 Church tradition and influence how they have interpreted it. 183 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,640 And each church, of course, will have its conviction, its denomination 184 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,920 will have its conviction on how it interprets Scripture and in 185 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,010 particular how it interprets Revelation. 186 00:11:20,330 --> 00:11:24,210 And you see, to interpret Revelation, we have to do a little 187 00:11:24,210 --> 00:11:27,370 bit of work on biblical interpretation. 188 00:11:28,330 --> 00:11:31,930 And so we have to understand what it means to interpret the Bible, 189 00:11:31,930 --> 00:11:35,210 because Revelation isn't the only hard book of the Bible. 190 00:11:36,170 --> 00:11:39,730 Daniel and as I said last week, Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, 191 00:11:39,730 --> 00:11:42,610 I mean, it's great for Valentine's Day verses on cards, 192 00:11:42,610 --> 00:11:46,090 but it's hard to understand because of the imagery that it uses. 193 00:11:46,650 --> 00:11:49,370 And so there are certain parts of scripture that are easy to understand 194 00:11:49,530 --> 00:11:53,010 because quite literally it says, it does what it says on the 195 00:11:53,010 --> 00:11:53,370 tin. 196 00:11:53,690 --> 00:11:57,170 But then there's others that we see the prophets perhaps in their 197 00:11:57,170 --> 00:11:57,770 imagery. 198 00:11:59,290 --> 00:12:01,890 And then of course, Revelation, even Jesus comes out 199 00:12:01,890 --> 00:12:04,930 with some lines and you're thinking, what on earth does that 200 00:12:04,930 --> 00:12:05,290 mean? 201 00:12:06,010 --> 00:12:08,930 I mean, we've looked at a few things in Revelation or in Exodus, 202 00:12:08,930 --> 00:12:11,290 and it's kind of like, what on earth does that mean? 203 00:12:11,610 --> 00:12:13,930 That's me on a Monday morning trying to think of what's going to 204 00:12:13,930 --> 00:12:15,750 happen by the time time Sunday rolls around. 205 00:12:16,390 --> 00:12:20,550 And so there's two portions of Scripture that help us with understanding 206 00:12:20,550 --> 00:12:21,910 biblical interpretation. 207 00:12:21,990 --> 00:12:26,070 And the first is that we must believe in truth. 208 00:12:27,430 --> 00:12:31,750 We must believe in the truth of scripture because. 209 00:12:31,830 --> 00:12:33,110 Oh, I'm in the wrong box. 210 00:12:33,430 --> 00:12:34,630 Actually, that's not. 211 00:12:35,030 --> 00:12:36,230 Don't have the right one up here. 212 00:12:36,230 --> 00:12:36,790 Sorry. 213 00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:38,630 Soon change that. 214 00:12:39,270 --> 00:12:41,610 I'm going to show you now the that fact fanciness of all of this. 215 00:12:41,850 --> 00:12:54,970 All you do is that this behind the curtain, Just like that. 216 00:12:55,450 --> 00:13:04,170 There it is supposed to go through, Get it down, let's see inside, 217 00:13:04,170 --> 00:13:04,890 because that's. 218 00:13:06,900 --> 00:13:10,020 So put that here and we'll write truth again. 219 00:13:10,500 --> 00:13:16,900 And this is what Paul writes to Timothy about the truth of scripture 220 00:13:16,900 --> 00:13:17,780 and its purpose. 221 00:13:17,780 --> 00:13:20,700 All scripture is breathed out by God. 222 00:13:20,700 --> 00:13:23,700 And whenever I read that, I think of a cold morning when you 223 00:13:23,700 --> 00:13:25,140 go out and you can see your breath. 224 00:13:25,780 --> 00:13:29,540 It's a physical outcoming of the very breath of life. 225 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:31,460 It's breathed out by God. 226 00:13:31,460 --> 00:13:35,870 And it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, 227 00:13:35,870 --> 00:13:37,510 and for training in righteousness. 228 00:13:38,230 --> 00:13:42,790 So that all of humanity may be complete and equipped for every good 229 00:13:42,790 --> 00:13:43,110 work. 230 00:13:43,990 --> 00:13:51,390 So all scripture, every genealogy, every hymn and song, every 231 00:13:51,390 --> 00:13:54,950 bit that we understand and every bit that we don't understand, 232 00:13:55,510 --> 00:13:57,390 we must know is truth. 233 00:13:57,390 --> 00:14:00,150 And that's where biblical interpretation be begins. 234 00:14:00,550 --> 00:14:02,390 It is truth. 235 00:14:04,070 --> 00:14:06,830 And so to view it like this, as we look at the truth, then we 236 00:14:06,830 --> 00:14:11,910 go to the end of where we read earlier in Revelation 22, if it is 237 00:14:11,910 --> 00:14:14,390 truth, then we have to handle it with care. 238 00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:19,230 And that's why we have this passage in Revelation 22 as a warning 239 00:14:19,230 --> 00:14:22,750 to us that even what we don't understand, although speaking here 240 00:14:22,750 --> 00:14:26,290 of Revelation, it does have an overarching understanding of all 241 00:14:26,290 --> 00:14:30,490 scripture, that because it is God's word, then we don't add to 242 00:14:30,490 --> 00:14:32,690 it and we don't take away from it. 243 00:14:32,770 --> 00:14:36,170 And so there is a warning right at the end of Revelation warning 244 00:14:36,170 --> 00:14:40,010 us of just that, that whoever hears these words of the prophecy, 245 00:14:40,010 --> 00:14:45,330 this book, this revelation of Jesus, if anyone adds to them, then 246 00:14:45,330 --> 00:14:48,290 God will add to them the plagues of destruction which we're 247 00:14:48,290 --> 00:14:52,730 about to look at on Sunday week as we come to that next chapter 248 00:14:52,730 --> 00:14:53,330 in Revelation. 249 00:14:53,330 --> 00:14:57,050 But if anyone takes away, then stuff will be taken away from them. 250 00:14:57,050 --> 00:15:01,250 And Revelation 22 tells us that God will take away that share 251 00:15:01,250 --> 00:15:02,170 of the tree of life. 252 00:15:02,490 --> 00:15:05,330 And we come to see the image of where that tree of life is as 253 00:15:05,330 --> 00:15:08,250 we go to those closing chapters of Revelation. 254 00:15:08,890 --> 00:15:12,490 Now, at times this verse has been used to argue for and against 255 00:15:12,570 --> 00:15:16,290 particular translations of the Bible, that a translation that's 256 00:15:16,290 --> 00:15:19,130 different from one before has added or taken away because the words 257 00:15:19,130 --> 00:15:19,420 don't matter. 258 00:15:19,490 --> 00:15:22,850 That to view it that way is not to take this verse for what it 259 00:15:22,850 --> 00:15:23,250 means. 260 00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:28,690 It is talking about the message of God that is given to us, 261 00:15:29,570 --> 00:15:34,010 that when he says something, regardless of what structure of English 262 00:15:34,010 --> 00:15:37,690 it is, if the meaning is there and the meaning is going back to 263 00:15:37,690 --> 00:15:42,530 what is the truth of the original languages, then we are to 264 00:15:42,530 --> 00:15:45,250 be warned not to add and not to take away. 265 00:15:45,850 --> 00:15:49,610 It's not about changing a thou to the or they or whatever. 266 00:15:50,250 --> 00:15:56,650 It's about what God communicates to us in his completed 267 00:15:56,970 --> 00:15:57,450 Word. 268 00:15:58,650 --> 00:16:03,530 And so Scripture, and particularly the New Testament is 269 00:16:03,530 --> 00:16:04,450 a problem for us. 270 00:16:04,450 --> 00:16:05,530 And I use this. 271 00:16:05,690 --> 00:16:12,150 The word 2000 here is helpful because it is 2000 years away or 272 00:16:12,150 --> 00:16:16,510 go, but it's also 2000 miles away. 273 00:16:17,950 --> 00:16:19,190 Now, why do I say it like that? 274 00:16:19,190 --> 00:16:21,630 We maybe understand the first one. 275 00:16:21,630 --> 00:16:24,390 We know we're 2,000 years on from when these people live, from 276 00:16:24,390 --> 00:16:26,910 when John received this revelation and when Jesus walked 277 00:16:26,910 --> 00:16:27,510 in this earth. 278 00:16:27,510 --> 00:16:34,710 So we know that as time passes, we lose those witnesses and 279 00:16:34,710 --> 00:16:36,550 those then who pass it on and pass it on. 280 00:16:36,550 --> 00:16:39,070 And I'm not suggesting there's any form of Chinese whispers, that's 281 00:16:39,070 --> 00:16:40,510 why we have a written word of God. 282 00:16:41,190 --> 00:16:43,950 But we know that it's harder for us to understand the time in 283 00:16:43,950 --> 00:16:44,430 which they live. 284 00:16:44,430 --> 00:16:46,390 But we're also 2,000 miles away. 285 00:16:47,430 --> 00:16:50,710 2,000 miles away means we don't know the culture. 286 00:16:51,270 --> 00:16:54,710 We don't know what it was like to live at the time of Jesus. 287 00:16:54,870 --> 00:16:57,830 We don't know what it was like to live on a prison island for John 288 00:16:57,830 --> 00:17:01,190 or to be those churches, those seven churches in Asia. 289 00:17:01,590 --> 00:17:02,710 We simply don't know. 290 00:17:02,710 --> 00:17:05,830 And we'll never know because that culture has never been ours. 291 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,280 So whenever we come to biblical interpretation, we must 292 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,240 remember, particularly with the New Testament, we are 2,000 years 293 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,280 ago from it and we're 2,000 miles away. 294 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:22,519 That means we have to work extra hard to understand what it's 295 00:17:22,519 --> 00:17:22,800 saying. 296 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,240 And so how we understand Scripture is we read it and try to 297 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,360 understand what it meant to the original hearers. 298 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,200 And so for them, the book of Revelation made perfect sense. 299 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,640 They must have been familiar with everything that was presented 300 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:38,120 to them. 301 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,720 And as I said last week, historically they would have been 302 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:47,480 used to those fantasy style images on collages or on reliefs 303 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,400 that were on walls, because that was how the cartoon, the newspaper 304 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,480 cartoon was created back then, but painted on a wall for all to 305 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,080 see, where the emperor wouldn't be painted in a portrait, 306 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:03,360 but rather as an image of a lion or a stallion to show power 307 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,120 and strength where words couldn't be written. 308 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:07,640 The image told the story. 309 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,680 And so that's how we must interpret Scripture. 310 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,400 And that leads us then to the second of the questions. 311 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,680 Because there are passages that are easy for us to understand. 312 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:19,720 Well, what are they? 313 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,800 But there's also passages that are hard for us. 314 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,080 So whenever Jesus says he's the bread of life, we know that he's 315 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:26,020 not a physical loaf of bread. 316 00:18:26,170 --> 00:18:26,410 Read. 317 00:18:27,210 --> 00:18:31,730 We know what he means, that we need him to survive in life and in 318 00:18:31,730 --> 00:18:32,330 eternity. 319 00:18:33,370 --> 00:18:36,370 But what other passages are there that are harder to understand? 320 00:18:36,370 --> 00:18:39,490 They might be from revelation, or they might be from somewhere else 321 00:18:39,490 --> 00:18:43,930 in scripture of images or accounts that are given to us that 322 00:18:44,010 --> 00:18:46,810 on first reading, you're going and scratching your head, what does 323 00:18:46,810 --> 00:18:47,370 this mean? 324 00:18:47,610 --> 00:18:50,970 So again, take five minutes, have a go at both of those. 325 00:18:52,090 --> 00:18:55,130 What passages are easy to understand even though their images 326 00:18:55,130 --> 00:18:57,690 are not the literal understanding? 327 00:18:58,490 --> 00:19:01,930 As I said, Jesus is the bread of life, but we know what it means. 328 00:19:01,930 --> 00:19:03,730 And what are those that are harder. 329 00:19:03,730 --> 00:19:07,610 So have a couple of minutes to talk about that and I'll write it 330 00:19:07,610 --> 00:19:08,890 up here as well. 331 00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:22,140 So I'm going to break in here and I'm not going to ask you for 332 00:19:22,140 --> 00:19:24,900 examples this time, but you know what I'm talking about. 333 00:19:25,540 --> 00:19:28,660 It's not just revelation that at times can be hard for us to understand. 334 00:19:29,380 --> 00:19:32,220 I can remember at university a very young Christian, she came from 335 00:19:32,220 --> 00:19:35,780 a Muslim background, asked me what was the point of Balaam's D. 336 00:19:38,980 --> 00:19:43,330 Why it's hard to understand because we don't think it's on. 337 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,840 We don't think it's fair about the slaughter of so many. 338 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:52,080 Of course that's always thrown up as a counter to Christianity and 339 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:52,920 we struggle to go. 340 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:55,720 We don't. 341 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,040 If we understood it, we'd be able to give an answer. 342 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,400 But we don't always understand these things on first reading. 343 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,240 And so if you're finding Revelation too hard, don't beat yourself 344 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:08,440 up because it turns out there's a lot of scripture on first 345 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,160 reading is hard to understand. 346 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,200 So biblical interpretation is not a one reading moment. 347 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,480 That's why I said, go back and listen again, read again. 348 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:21,640 Because biblical interpretation is about going over 349 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:26,520 it and over and over it so that you allow the Holy Spirit to 350 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:28,560 show you what it means that you can understand. 351 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,400 But then over the page, onto the second page, interpreting Revelation. 352 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,610 Well, for some it's, it's a hobby, some of it's a profession. 353 00:20:36,690 --> 00:20:40,610 And over the years there's been so much sense and there's been 354 00:20:40,610 --> 00:20:42,850 so much silliness as well. 355 00:20:43,410 --> 00:20:47,090 And so Revelation is particularly the harder one because 356 00:20:47,730 --> 00:20:50,130 it's full of imagery from beginning to end. 357 00:20:50,530 --> 00:20:54,450 Even the letters to the seven churches demonstrate imagery that 358 00:20:54,450 --> 00:20:57,090 on first reading isn't always easy to understand. 359 00:20:58,130 --> 00:21:00,490 And we've already said on Sunday evenings that the book of 360 00:21:00,490 --> 00:21:02,530 Revelation is linked to the book of Daniel. 361 00:21:02,530 --> 00:21:06,010 You'll have noticed how many passages are similar. 362 00:21:06,730 --> 00:21:10,090 And in Daniel we're told that that's sealed. 363 00:21:10,650 --> 00:21:12,370 What's given to Daniel is sealed. 364 00:21:12,370 --> 00:21:13,210 It means it's locked down. 365 00:21:13,210 --> 00:21:15,850 But what did we learn quite quickly in the Book of Revelation? 366 00:21:16,330 --> 00:21:19,770 Well, Revelation's not sealed, it's given to us. 367 00:21:19,770 --> 00:21:22,970 It's a message for the seven churches and the churches in all 368 00:21:22,970 --> 00:21:24,650 time to pay attention to. 369 00:21:25,770 --> 00:21:27,610 So this is not a secret to us. 370 00:21:28,740 --> 00:21:32,060 And there's no mistake as to why this series has been called Glorious 371 00:21:32,060 --> 00:21:32,420 Hope. 372 00:21:32,580 --> 00:21:35,300 Because the book of Revelation is to be a blessing. 373 00:21:35,940 --> 00:21:38,420 It is to be a hope filled book. 374 00:21:38,740 --> 00:21:44,020 And I wonder, did you notice what John receives at the end there 375 00:21:44,900 --> 00:21:46,260 in chapter 22. 376 00:21:48,260 --> 00:21:52,340 Look at what Jesus says in verse 16. 377 00:21:52,980 --> 00:21:56,780 He says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about 378 00:21:56,780 --> 00:22:00,420 these things for the churches. 379 00:22:01,460 --> 00:22:03,140 Revelation is given to the church. 380 00:22:03,620 --> 00:22:06,180 It's not supposed to be an evangelistic book. 381 00:22:06,580 --> 00:22:08,260 It's supposed to be for the church. 382 00:22:08,580 --> 00:22:11,900 It's supposed to be for us so that we will have glorious hope in 383 00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:12,660 Jesus Christ. 384 00:22:14,020 --> 00:22:20,540 Now, any pastoral preaching of Revelation will be that, but it will 385 00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:24,720 also give the warning that if you don't follow it, then you're 386 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:25,240 lost forever. 387 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,760 And of course, that's how we will pastorally preach it. 388 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,720 But the message is to encourage us not to frighten the 389 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,920 world, but it's for the church, so that the church will take 390 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:45,960 seriously what is to happen, so that we will be active and we 391 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,160 will do the work that the Lord has called us to. 392 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,810 So, so how do we understand it? 393 00:22:52,810 --> 00:22:56,890 What have been the approaches to interpreting Revelation? 394 00:22:56,890 --> 00:23:00,330 Well, I have given you a table, and you notice that it's blank 395 00:23:01,290 --> 00:23:04,050 because this is where, if you choose to, you're going to do a little 396 00:23:04,050 --> 00:23:05,850 bit of work in writing things down. 397 00:23:06,170 --> 00:23:10,170 And the first approach of interpreting Revelation is called 398 00:23:10,650 --> 00:23:11,690 the pre. 399 00:23:11,690 --> 00:23:14,610 Terrorist, or if you're American, the pre. 400 00:23:14,610 --> 00:23:14,680 Terr. 401 00:23:14,750 --> 00:23:15,310 Preterist. 402 00:23:15,550 --> 00:23:16,750 The preterist. 403 00:23:18,350 --> 00:23:24,190 Now, the preterist comes from the Latin word praetor, which means 404 00:23:24,510 --> 00:23:27,070 beyond or it means before. 405 00:23:28,030 --> 00:23:33,150 And so the preterist view of the book says it's already happened, 406 00:23:34,350 --> 00:23:36,910 that most of it has already happened. 407 00:23:37,790 --> 00:23:42,270 So what they're saying is it's complete, everything in Revelation. 408 00:23:42,270 --> 00:23:45,350 And the most radical of preterists or preterists will tell 409 00:23:45,350 --> 00:23:50,190 you that it is complete and that all came about at the destruction 410 00:23:50,190 --> 00:23:56,150 of the temple in 70 A.D. so that's the marker that they put complete 411 00:23:56,389 --> 00:24:08,880 at 70 A.D. 70 and the destruction of the Temple, That's 412 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:10,720 what they say happened. 413 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:16,320 And there are still some people today who will have this view. 414 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,320 And again, why do they have this view? 415 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,760 Because of the word soon. 416 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,680 Well, Jesus said he was coming soon. 417 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,200 And so in our interpretation, soon is in just a matter of moments. 418 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:35,480 And what was the first major incident to happen? 419 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,120 The destruction of the temple. 420 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,360 And so this was the completion of everything that was told in terms 421 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,440 of judgment and in terms of the reign of Christ. 422 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:53,240 And so as we discover with a lot of these, even within preterists 423 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,200 or preterists, there's subdivisions. 424 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:00,030 And so some will be hardline and say, it's closed, it's done, 425 00:25:00,030 --> 00:25:01,310 we're just living now. 426 00:25:01,950 --> 00:25:04,510 And others will say that. 427 00:25:08,510 --> 00:25:11,150 It's maybe not all there yet, there's still Some wee bits to happen. 428 00:25:11,150 --> 00:25:12,910 Now, if you're looking to where, where does the millennium 429 00:25:12,910 --> 00:25:13,950 and all fit into this? 430 00:25:14,110 --> 00:25:17,030 Well, actually, post millennialists would probably fit 431 00:25:17,030 --> 00:25:20,630 into that, because post millennialists believe that we are 432 00:25:20,630 --> 00:25:21,950 building heaven on Earth. 433 00:25:22,270 --> 00:25:26,450 So you can only build heaven on this present earth if everything 434 00:25:26,450 --> 00:25:27,170 has been done. 435 00:25:28,130 --> 00:25:31,810 And so if you're wanting to take the millennium interpretations 436 00:25:31,810 --> 00:25:36,210 and see where they fit, well, then within preterists or preterists, 437 00:25:36,370 --> 00:25:40,530 you will have that post millennium view. 438 00:25:41,730 --> 00:25:45,090 The second approach is the church historical approach. 439 00:25:48,370 --> 00:25:54,220 Now, this approach was very popular at the time of the Reformation. 440 00:25:55,260 --> 00:25:59,580 And what the church historical approach is, it's a timeline. 441 00:26:01,580 --> 00:26:07,660 And so what this timeline is saying is that we are somewhere in 442 00:26:07,660 --> 00:26:08,300 Revelation. 443 00:26:10,540 --> 00:26:15,260 So Revelation is a timeline, and as the Church today, we are somewhere 444 00:26:15,500 --> 00:26:16,620 on that timeline. 445 00:26:17,300 --> 00:26:22,340 Guess where every generation thinks we are at the end of it. 446 00:26:22,820 --> 00:26:27,380 And they've been saying that for 500 years that we're at the end. 447 00:26:27,380 --> 00:26:32,340 So we're in chapters 16 and 17, waiting for 20, 21 and 22. 448 00:26:32,980 --> 00:26:34,500 We know it's not the worst yet. 449 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:35,460 There's worse to come. 450 00:26:35,460 --> 00:26:40,820 That's chapter 19, but we're pretty far up the scale. 451 00:26:41,940 --> 00:26:48,650 And so every generation has disagreed as to where the generation 452 00:26:48,650 --> 00:26:49,410 before them were. 453 00:26:49,410 --> 00:26:51,370 So, you know, if the generation said we're chapter 16, 454 00:26:51,770 --> 00:26:54,250 well, then the generation after them pushed them back to chapter 455 00:26:54,250 --> 00:26:56,250 17 because they said they were in chapter 16. 456 00:26:56,890 --> 00:26:59,770 And so it's just a bizarre thing. 457 00:26:59,770 --> 00:27:01,930 I don't think there's anyone holds to this. 458 00:27:02,010 --> 00:27:05,130 I'm sorry, if you do and you're here tonight, don't think 459 00:27:05,130 --> 00:27:05,810 there's anyone. 460 00:27:05,810 --> 00:27:09,210 I've never met anyone who holds to this church historical approach, 461 00:27:09,890 --> 00:27:13,210 that the history of the Church from the Ascension of Christ, who 462 00:27:13,210 --> 00:27:17,770 is coming back, is on a timeline within Revelation, that 463 00:27:17,770 --> 00:27:20,370 it is unveiling as we speak. 464 00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:22,930 So that's the church historical. 465 00:27:23,170 --> 00:27:27,490 So every generation believes it is at the end of the timeline, 466 00:27:29,970 --> 00:27:33,970 and all they're waiting for is Jesus to come back, because everything 467 00:27:34,050 --> 00:27:38,160 that's bad has happened then. 468 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:44,880 The fourth one then is the futurist approach. 469 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:53,520 Futurist is that it's all to happen yet, so that it's still to 470 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:53,840 come. 471 00:27:54,640 --> 00:28:01,120 And this was really propagated in the 18th and 19th centuries under 472 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:02,960 what is known as dispensationalism. 473 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:11,440 And so futurist says all to come, and it fits in with dispensationalism. 474 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:21,040 Dispensationalism is this idea that there's seven key moments in 475 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:21,360 history. 476 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,240 So a bit like the church historical view, but there's seven 477 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,080 key moments in History that are all detached from each other. 478 00:28:29,210 --> 00:28:34,090 It's not one flow of history that God has worked in these moments 479 00:28:34,250 --> 00:28:35,050 differently. 480 00:28:36,650 --> 00:28:39,570 And so therefore there's another moment where he will work 481 00:28:39,570 --> 00:28:40,730 differently again. 482 00:28:41,610 --> 00:28:46,330 And Dispensationalism in the 18th, 19th century comes from a man 483 00:28:46,730 --> 00:28:51,770 who actually founded the Plymouth Brethren, Darby, and he 484 00:28:52,090 --> 00:28:53,130 propagated this. 485 00:28:53,690 --> 00:28:58,260 And then Schofield in his study Bible brought all of that in 486 00:28:58,340 --> 00:29:04,500 as well, as Charles Ry put it in his study Bible as well. 487 00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:10,300 And this, as I've said, is the pre millennialist. 488 00:29:10,300 --> 00:29:14,460 That believers will be taken out of this world in a word called 489 00:29:14,460 --> 00:29:18,260 the Rapture, by the way, doesn't appear in Revelation. 490 00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:24,280 And believers will be taken in the rapture and then everything will 491 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:25,720 happen after that. 492 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,160 So dispensationalism futurists believe two returns of Christ. 493 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,360 Christ will come secretly to take his people, and then Christ 494 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,600 will come again for the world to see. 495 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:44,120 Now this is also the one that most conservative Christians in America 496 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,120 in that period have believed. 497 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,850 And with the advent of Christian radio and Christian television, 498 00:29:50,850 --> 00:29:53,770 which there was less restrictions in America than there 499 00:29:53,770 --> 00:29:58,130 were here and still are here for Christian broadcasting, this 500 00:29:58,370 --> 00:30:04,010 method and this form of understanding has gone out far and 501 00:30:04,010 --> 00:30:04,370 wide. 502 00:30:04,930 --> 00:30:08,330 And this is the one that most money has been pumped into, particularly 503 00:30:08,330 --> 00:30:12,210 in the current age, in the printing of books and in the printing 504 00:30:12,210 --> 00:30:15,300 of materials to propagate the futurist. 505 00:30:15,620 --> 00:30:20,580 Do you know what the favorite word of futurists are or the futurist 506 00:30:20,580 --> 00:30:22,340 person is, or the futurist approach? 507 00:30:23,060 --> 00:30:24,100 Favorite word. 508 00:30:31,780 --> 00:30:32,580 Literal. 509 00:30:34,180 --> 00:30:39,140 Futurists will say we are the only ones who take this word literally. 510 00:30:42,350 --> 00:30:45,470 I don't say this from a pulpit on a Sunday night because it's not 511 00:30:45,470 --> 00:30:48,190 my place in pastoral preaching. 512 00:30:48,830 --> 00:30:51,830 But I did say to one or two, I would be telling you what I believe. 513 00:30:51,830 --> 00:30:58,110 If you haven't guessed by now, I am not a futurist, but I am literal 514 00:30:59,870 --> 00:31:02,950 because I think it's unfair that futurists. 515 00:31:02,950 --> 00:31:07,380 The futurist approach claims the title literal because it is one, 516 00:31:07,380 --> 00:31:11,580 a word of superiority that seems to want to put down all of 517 00:31:11,580 --> 00:31:15,500 the others because the last one then, and this is a bit of a 518 00:31:16,540 --> 00:31:24,500 clunky one, but it's the idealist spiritualist approach. 519 00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:25,780 And that might frighten you. 520 00:31:25,780 --> 00:31:31,420 Spiritualist, but it means that what it is, revelation is given 521 00:31:31,420 --> 00:31:32,380 to the church age. 522 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,720 And all the church age is within revelation. 523 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:42,680 And why do they say that? 524 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,480 Well, the main argument is why would God give a book of the Bible 525 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,640 for just one moment in the life of the church that may not have 526 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,640 any impact on another life of the church. 527 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:03,870 If God gave this to the early church, surely it is for every generation 528 00:32:04,190 --> 00:32:04,910 of the church. 529 00:32:04,910 --> 00:32:09,790 And so they will say that revelation is for every generation. 530 00:32:10,990 --> 00:32:16,830 That just as the story of Jonah and the big fish, just as the 531 00:32:16,830 --> 00:32:20,870 story of David killing Goliath, just as the story of the 532 00:32:20,870 --> 00:32:25,240 woman at the well has impact in every generation generation of 533 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,800 the church, so too does Revelation. 534 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:35,000 And even though a future or an idealist and a spiritualist approach 535 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,280 to this, which talks about the movement of the Spirit from the book 536 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:42,480 of Revelation amongst the church in its age and in its generation, 537 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:51,790 even though reading it as images, as a picture does not make 538 00:32:51,790 --> 00:32:56,510 it any less literal, because it is still the word of God in the 539 00:32:56,510 --> 00:33:00,470 fashion of biblical interpretation of God communicating 540 00:33:00,470 --> 00:33:04,070 to us just as he does in Daniel, just as he does in the Psalms, 541 00:33:04,550 --> 00:33:07,190 just as he does in the Song of Solomon. 542 00:33:07,670 --> 00:33:11,590 These books are no different in their approach, given to us by 543 00:33:11,590 --> 00:33:13,190 God of imagery. 544 00:33:13,510 --> 00:33:18,660 So although the word literal may be with futurists, the word imagery 545 00:33:19,220 --> 00:33:24,580 is not afraid to be used, or maybe as we would be challenged, 546 00:33:24,980 --> 00:33:27,460 symbolic of what it says. 547 00:33:28,100 --> 00:33:31,940 And so how you interpret revelation well, how you'll understand 548 00:33:32,020 --> 00:33:32,420 it. 549 00:33:33,140 --> 00:33:34,820 So as well as. 550 00:33:34,900 --> 00:33:35,980 And this is where things. 551 00:33:35,980 --> 00:33:38,300 And so, by the way, that's amillennialist, if you're wanting 552 00:33:38,300 --> 00:33:41,580 to know what that is, where all of these fit. 553 00:33:41,580 --> 00:33:43,840 Actually, whenever you look at church historical and futuristic, 554 00:33:44,070 --> 00:33:46,390 they're kind of on the same page because they're talking about 555 00:33:46,390 --> 00:33:50,550 a timeline and the Church fitting into that timeline. 556 00:33:52,710 --> 00:33:56,590 And so there's a bit of crossover with some of these things, 557 00:33:56,590 --> 00:34:00,190 because it could be argued that the traitorist and the idealist 558 00:34:00,190 --> 00:34:04,310 spiritualists both agree that certain things have been completed 559 00:34:04,470 --> 00:34:10,939 in terms of the blessing of the martyrs, in terms of a punishment 560 00:34:11,019 --> 00:34:14,779 to come on people who have already died and we're not in Christ. 561 00:34:14,779 --> 00:34:17,419 And so there's this coming across. 562 00:34:17,499 --> 00:34:23,979 So there's no real pure line because there's crossover somewhere 563 00:34:24,059 --> 00:34:25,339 in these four approaches. 564 00:34:26,539 --> 00:34:29,899 Someone once said there's I'm not an amillennialist, I'm not a 565 00:34:29,899 --> 00:34:33,019 premillennialist, I'm not a post millennialist, I'm a pan millennialist 566 00:34:33,259 --> 00:34:35,889 because I believe it'll all pan out in these end. 567 00:34:37,809 --> 00:34:41,089 I'm not so sure that's the best approach to take. 568 00:34:45,089 --> 00:34:46,449 But God is doing something. 569 00:34:46,689 --> 00:34:51,808 If there's threads that link all of these in some way or shape 570 00:34:51,808 --> 00:34:55,489 or form, it's clear then that God is at work. 571 00:34:56,369 --> 00:35:01,860 And just because I fit in more comfortably with one doesn't mean 572 00:35:01,860 --> 00:35:05,740 I'm going to fall out with someone who falls more comfortably 573 00:35:05,820 --> 00:35:06,620 in with another. 574 00:35:09,020 --> 00:35:15,420 Because you, like I, have been shaped and conditioned. 575 00:35:17,020 --> 00:35:21,380 Either a historical approach, as was said one of the other pages, 576 00:35:21,380 --> 00:35:25,740 your church tradition, or maybe by mentors or those who influenced 577 00:35:25,740 --> 00:35:26,460 you in the field. 578 00:35:27,570 --> 00:35:29,930 They put a book in your hand and all of a sudden you read it. 579 00:35:29,930 --> 00:35:34,050 And because you believed it came from a trusted source, you didn't 580 00:35:34,050 --> 00:35:37,130 question it, you just took what they said and believed what 581 00:35:37,130 --> 00:35:37,890 they believed. 582 00:35:40,050 --> 00:35:42,130 Revelation is not a book to be fallen out over. 583 00:35:43,010 --> 00:35:45,690 Because there's many people who will approach Revelation and 584 00:35:45,690 --> 00:35:47,850 say, well, what's the 666? 585 00:35:47,850 --> 00:35:48,690 Who's the beast? 586 00:35:48,930 --> 00:35:50,370 Who are the two witnesses? 587 00:35:50,690 --> 00:35:52,450 They'll ask those kind of questions. 588 00:35:53,860 --> 00:35:57,820 But yet, as we discovered last week, those are maybe the wrong questions 589 00:35:57,820 --> 00:36:00,100 to ask in an approach of revelation. 590 00:36:01,220 --> 00:36:03,940 Because the revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. 591 00:36:04,500 --> 00:36:06,420 And what does he say right at the end? 592 00:36:06,900 --> 00:36:09,140 I give this to the church. 593 00:36:10,500 --> 00:36:15,380 And so as we look at these different approaches to interpretation, 594 00:36:17,300 --> 00:36:21,890 if you believe one of these four, you're not going to be condemned 595 00:36:21,890 --> 00:36:22,490 to hell. 596 00:36:23,050 --> 00:36:26,730 This is not a salvation matter, this is an interpretation 597 00:36:26,730 --> 00:36:27,130 matter. 598 00:36:27,850 --> 00:36:31,610 Because each one will be convinced and convicted of the risen 599 00:36:31,610 --> 00:36:35,210 Lord Jesus Christ who is coming soon. 600 00:36:36,010 --> 00:36:40,370 So as much as a futurist will think about all to come, so an idealist 601 00:36:40,370 --> 00:36:43,370 and a spiritualist will also agree that there is yet to come. 602 00:36:44,010 --> 00:36:47,540 It's only that the pre terrorists that say no, it's not 603 00:36:47,540 --> 00:36:51,180 yet to come because it's all complete, but yet they will overlap 604 00:36:51,180 --> 00:36:52,420 on certain other things. 605 00:36:54,340 --> 00:36:58,460 And so we don't fall out over it because the interpretation of 606 00:36:58,460 --> 00:37:01,860 the Word of God and how the Spirit leads. 607 00:37:02,500 --> 00:37:07,460 I'm very happy to tell you that for about the first 25 or 30 608 00:37:07,460 --> 00:37:12,590 years of my life I was a futuristic because I went to meetings 609 00:37:12,590 --> 00:37:13,950 where that was propagated. 610 00:37:14,670 --> 00:37:18,070 People like Barry Smith who came across from New Zealand and 611 00:37:18,070 --> 00:37:20,790 who told us about the microchip in our wrists and the credit 612 00:37:20,790 --> 00:37:23,550 card and do you remember the plastic money he talked about? 613 00:37:23,630 --> 00:37:26,030 And all of a sudden the Northern bank released the plastic 614 00:37:26,030 --> 00:37:26,590 fibers. 615 00:37:26,830 --> 00:37:30,750 Oh, that was it, we were done for and we're still here. 616 00:37:31,870 --> 00:37:32,750 I grew up with that. 617 00:37:32,750 --> 00:37:36,190 I grew up with a wall chart of dispensation of the dispensations 618 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:37,840 on the wall. 619 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,000 I asked my mother for it the last time she was here, hoping it 620 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,200 was somewhere still up in her attic, but she said she threw it 621 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:42,480 out. 622 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,200 That wasn't anything to do with me or any theological conviction. 623 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,280 She just didn't have room in her new house from the old house, 624 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,600 which had far more walls But I grew up with that. 625 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:57,160 And in fact, if I'm truthful, it's probably only when I was in 626 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:05,210 Malawi between 2013 and 2018 that I was drawn to this because 627 00:38:05,210 --> 00:38:09,930 I sat down with men every Wednesday for a Bible study and all 628 00:38:09,930 --> 00:38:11,850 we did was read a chapter at a time. 629 00:38:12,410 --> 00:38:17,290 You had Southern Baptists, you had Korean Presbyterians, you had 630 00:38:18,089 --> 00:38:22,450 white Africans and whatever tradition they grew up in, Pentecostal 631 00:38:22,450 --> 00:38:23,130 or Presbyterian. 632 00:38:23,130 --> 00:38:27,010 And then you had me coming into it another guy from the Netherlands 633 00:38:27,010 --> 00:38:28,090 or sorry, from Switzerland. 634 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,480 And we chatted it out and we disagreed, but we kept coming back 635 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:36,600 because what was more important was discovering Jesus in 636 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:41,720 revelation rather than being entrenched in whichever approach 637 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,040 to interpreting we came to. 638 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:46,720 And so the last two questions. 639 00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,320 And it's gone 9 o', clock, but we'll take a few minutes for these. 640 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:54,610 But the last two questions are there not to divide, but in a spirit, 641 00:38:54,680 --> 00:39:00,440 spirit of respect, saying, well, which interpret style are you 642 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,880 firstly, more comfortable with and be most influenced by? 643 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,280 And by the way those two could be different as I've just. 644 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:13,200 I was most influenced by the futurist, but actually when I thought 645 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,680 about it and studied it, I fitted more into the idealist, into 646 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,200 the spiritualist because of how I understand scripture is to 647 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:21,000 be interpreted. 648 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:23,880 And then we'll come to that question that I promised you. 649 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,240 Well, what questions does this raise for you? 650 00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:29,120 And maybe we will see if there's any of those questions this 651 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:30,960 evening and we'll take notes. 652 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:34,240 So take a couple of minutes because we do want to pray and we 653 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:38,360 do want to finish in good time, but that's where we are. 654 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:39,760 Have a go at those questions. 655 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,560 Which of these styles are first of all, are you most comfortable 656 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:45,840 with? 657 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,470 And secondly, most influenced by. 658 00:39:48,950 --> 00:39:52,470 So be brave, don't be afraid. 659 00:39:53,110 --> 00:39:57,350 Because the only way that we can truly respect one another is 660 00:39:57,350 --> 00:39:58,710 by being open and honest. 661 00:39:59,270 --> 00:40:04,630 And let's be this group of the church that begins that so that it 662 00:40:04,630 --> 00:40:05,670 can ripple out as well. 663 00:40:06,310 --> 00:40:08,630 So have a go and we'll see how we go. 664 00:40:09,590 --> 00:40:14,320 I just, I want to get us time to pray and yeah, just to be done. 665 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,800 Don't worry, I'm not going to check at the door Mark which column 666 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:19,080 you're in. 667 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:19,760 Don't panic. 668 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,480 Maybe we should start doing that on communicable classes. 669 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,600 If you have disagreed at your table, that's okay. 670 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:30,880 Don't fall out over it. 671 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:31,720 It's not worth. 672 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:38,080 Is not worth it because the book of Revelation, whichever one 673 00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:44,730 you fit in, must be and is about Jesus and the glorious hope 674 00:40:44,730 --> 00:40:46,250 that we have as his People. 675 00:40:48,650 --> 00:40:53,490 Now, what we will do, I mean, I will say is that, you know, that 676 00:40:53,490 --> 00:40:56,130 that last thing, you know, what questions does this raise for 677 00:40:56,130 --> 00:40:56,330 you? 678 00:40:56,330 --> 00:40:58,810 Because I'm not about to say I'm going to answer them, might be 679 00:40:58,810 --> 00:41:02,570 able to, as I did last week, but, you know, what questions does 680 00:41:02,570 --> 00:41:03,290 it raise now? 681 00:41:05,380 --> 00:41:08,140 Maybe somebody said, well, can I stay in a church whenever the minister 682 00:41:08,140 --> 00:41:08,820 believes that. 683 00:41:12,740 --> 00:41:14,260 What questions does it raise? 684 00:41:20,740 --> 00:41:22,900 Why is it so difficult to understand? 685 00:41:23,300 --> 00:41:24,580 That's a very good question. 686 00:41:25,780 --> 00:41:29,660 But it's not just revelation, as we thought earlier tonight. 687 00:41:29,660 --> 00:41:32,590 There's other passages of scripture that are different. 688 00:41:33,550 --> 00:41:37,750 And again, it comes back that we are 2,000 years and 2,000 miles 689 00:41:37,750 --> 00:41:38,110 away. 690 00:41:38,590 --> 00:41:41,030 You go back into some of that stuff in the old testament, we're 691 00:41:41,030 --> 00:41:43,390 4,000 years and 2,000 miles away. 692 00:41:44,030 --> 00:41:45,070 It all happened. 693 00:41:46,110 --> 00:41:49,510 All we have to believe is what the prophet says, that his ways are 694 00:41:49,510 --> 00:41:50,590 higher than our ways. 695 00:41:54,030 --> 00:41:58,200 Clearly this was understood by the churches who were facing that 696 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:04,120 persecution by Domitian, the emperor after Hero's retribution. 697 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,440 And so clearly it meant something meaningful to them. 698 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:13,520 We will have to do our best to see how it's meaningful to us because 699 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:17,800 it's not a book to stop us, it's a blessing. 700 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:22,630 Sorry, doesn't give you an answer that we would like, but it's 701 00:42:22,780 --> 00:42:24,780 the best that we can do. 702 00:42:33,980 --> 00:42:34,380 Great. 703 00:42:35,420 --> 00:42:36,380 That's a job well done. 704 00:42:36,380 --> 00:42:38,540 Then if there's no other questions, Fantastic. 705 00:42:38,940 --> 00:42:40,620 Go home now and have my cup of tea. 706 00:42:41,980 --> 00:42:43,740 I'd say we're not here next week, but the week after. 707 00:42:43,740 --> 00:42:46,540 We're actually going to be thinking of the language of revelation, 708 00:42:47,580 --> 00:42:50,320 thinking of words, but because as we know, it is the revealed word 709 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:50,760 of God. 710 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:55,280 Word with a capital W. Word with a small W. So we'll be thinking 711 00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:59,120 about the language and the words of revelation, what they mean, 712 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,800 what are the significance, particularly the ones that are repeated 713 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:06,080 throughout the book and be looking at that. 714 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:08,160 So what I'm going to do is I'm going to pray. 715 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:12,800 Then give us a second or two, we're going to cut the live stream 716 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:14,880 and then we'll take some. 717 00:43:15,980 --> 00:43:17,740 So let me lead us in prayer at this point. 718 00:43:18,300 --> 00:43:21,860 Our Father God, we have, if we're honest, worked hard tonight 719 00:43:21,860 --> 00:43:25,620 to think through some of this stuff and how it all fits into the 720 00:43:25,620 --> 00:43:27,340 great interpretation of your word. 721 00:43:27,900 --> 00:43:32,100 For to simply take revelation on its own without thinking of it 722 00:43:32,100 --> 00:43:35,620 as part of the canon of scripture, do it a disservice and 723 00:43:35,620 --> 00:43:36,780 do us a disservice. 724 00:43:37,500 --> 00:43:41,820 So, Father, as we apply biblical interpretation to what's 725 00:43:41,820 --> 00:43:46,180 easy to understand or perhaps maybe a wee bit harder help us to 726 00:43:46,180 --> 00:43:49,980 know that it's the same model by which we approach revelation by 727 00:43:49,980 --> 00:43:51,980 looking to you as the God who will reveal. 728 00:43:52,380 --> 00:43:55,060 And whichever of these approaches of interpretation we fit 729 00:43:55,060 --> 00:43:57,900 into, Father, that's not what defines us. 730 00:43:58,460 --> 00:44:00,380 What defines us is Jesus Christ. 731 00:44:01,180 --> 00:44:06,020 And so as we read revelation from whichever perspective, may we 732 00:44:06,020 --> 00:44:10,660 know Christ more and more so that we may know his blessing and 733 00:44:10,660 --> 00:44:14,300 the great hope that he gives us for today, so that we may face 734 00:44:14,300 --> 00:44:19,220 to have an assurance home in heaven. 735 00:44:20,020 --> 00:44:23,460 So indeed take your word, Plant it deep within our hearts. 736 00:44:23,460 --> 00:44:25,460 We pray in Jesus name. 737 00:44:33,070 --> 00:44:33,310 It.