MY 3 BIGGEST PASTORAL PARADIGM-SHIFTS, PART 3

CHANGING PARADIGMS 

(Apologies for the length of this article, and the big words used.)

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
First Corinthians 10:11

As I reflect on my recent pastoral anniversary I've had cause to reflect on three of my most significant pastoral paradigm shifts. I think I was about 17 years of age when I approached my then pastor, Joseph Bowes, to talk about the growing sense of God's call on my life to pastor. I had assumed that all young men about that age felt a similar call. Pastor Bowes informed me that this was not the case. It was around this time in the 1980s that I first met Pastor Trevor Chandler who had become an annual visitor to our Geelong church (as he came down from Queensland to Victoria for INTERMIN). But this time (the 1980s) was a bizarre time for Bible Prophecy pundits. It was Trevor Chandler who first sowed the seeds into my soul to investigate rather than blindly accept Dispensational Futurism (which was the predominant view in most Evangelical and Pentecostal churches at the time). And I did.

My investigation has been shaped by a commitment to the four classic principles of hermeneutics and my interactions with a family member involved in a cult. It was these two factors which led me to write two books about Bible Prophecy (the first one published in 2004 and now has sold over 20,000 copies) and hundreds of articles published on my website which have so far received over 1.13 million views. My conclusions about eschatology is the third of my pastoral paradigm-shifts and has greatly enhanced my pastoring. Here's how.

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 
Hebrews 1:2

I undertook a College course in Eschatology (from the Greek word, eschaton meaning 'last things') in 1991. Even though the course was delivered by a 'Futurist' College, the course coordinator exposed his students to various views about Bible prophecy. Futurism (refer to the graphic below for a description of these terms) did not fair well under rigorous scrutiny in this course. We were required to read Options In Eschatology by Prof. Millard J. Erickson, and The Revelation of Jesus Christby Dr. John F. Walvoord. The first book dismantled 'Pre-Millennial Futurism' and showed why it lacked Biblical credibility. The second book was about Pre-Millennial Futurism, including a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. The course coordinator showed the irreparable problems with Dispensational Pre-Millennial Futurism, but the College required that Dr. Walvoord's book be read and understood as the position we were required to accept. 

After completing this formal study in Eschatology, I had a clearer view of what I didn't believe than what I did. My doctoral research was largely in Church History. This exposed me to the progress of Christian thought down through the centuries. It became increasingly obvious that what most Christians held to today regarding Bible prophecy, the ancient Christians had never heard of!

And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,  and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
Revelation 20:2-3

Dispensationalism is a way of looking at the Bible. It divides the Bible in a series of dispensations of time and attributes a different means of salvation within each dispensation. Under the Dispensation of Law, a person was saved by keeping the Law. Under the Dispensation of Grace, a person is saved by faith in the finished work of Christ. The idea of Dispensationalism at first sounds reasonable. But as I became increasingly familiar with Church History and the art and science of Hermeneutics (how we interpret the Bible), I found Dispensationalism (which most Pentecostals hold to) untennable. On both counts, I found that Dispensationalism appealed to Church History by reinterpretting it. For example, Jerome (347-420) used a Latin word that sounds like 'rapture' in English, and this was used to justify the Rapture doctrine. Biblically Ezekiel refers to a people which in Hebrew sounds like 'Rosh' which Dispensationalists claim refers to modern day 'Russia'.

When I began to dig a little deeper I found that even the verses used to support the idea of a 'rapture' were generally about either the Roman bombardment of Jerusalem where random people would be killed (and the Jewish Historian, Josephus, describes) or the final resurrection. But the most disturbing aspect of Dispensationalism was its dependence on its new ways of interpretting the Bible. For its interpretation to work, it had to invent some new 'laws' of interpretation including, The Law of Double Reference also called, The Rule of Dual Fulfilment. One proof-text is offered in support of this: Isaiah 7:14 "Behold the virgin shall conceive". It is claimed that this was first fulfilled with Isaiah the Prophet's wife, then again with the Virgin Mary. But there are some serious problems with this idea. Firstly, there is no hint in Scripture that Isaiah's wife was the intended fulfilment of this prophecy (and I strongly doubt that she was a virgin!) and there is a plain statement in Matthew 1:21 that Mary of Nazareth was the (not "a") fulfilment of the Isaiah prophecy. But this novel rule/law of Bible interpretation is the foundational principle for the belief that God has merely suspended His Old Covenant with Israel and temporarily instigated a New Covenant with the Church. Dispensationalism claims that God has two existing covenants with two groups of people- (i) Israel, and (ii) The Church. 

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:28-29

While I was grappling with all this, my father inlaw died suddenly. I was asked to take the funeral. I had had many conversations with my Hungarian father-inlaw about spiritual things and had met with deep resistance. After the funeral, my mother-inlaw, who I deeply appreciate, expressed her hope that my father-inlaw would be given a second chance to turn to Christ in the Millennial Kingdom on Earth. She had long been persuaded by the teachings of Charles Taze Russell (the founder of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). This led to me trying to have a genial written conversation with her about this aspect of Eschatology. Every time I tried to discuss the applicable Scriptures with her, I met with a novel way of interpreting the Scriptures which seemed to take the plain meaning of the text and twist it into an entirely different meaning. This led me to appeal to the classic principles of Bible interpretation.

It was at this point in the ongoing discussions with the my mother-inlaw as we were discussing the finer aspects of Matthew 24, that I realised I was doing the very thing that I was accusing my mother-inlaw of doing: I was reading into the text of Scripture rather than listening to what the text was intending to give out. 

Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.Matthew 24:34

It was Matthew 24:34 which drove this error home to me. I had been taught to read this verse as if it was saying "that" generation, rather than what it actually says - "this" generation. The ramifications of this straight-forward reading are immense and were not lost on the most vocal atheist of the twentieth century, Bertrand Russell, when he was debating C.S. Lewis about Christianity. It was this verse which he used to describe Jesus as either a mere mortal who was deluded, or as a manipulative con-artist who was deceptive. This led C.S. Lewis to essentially concede the debate and later comment about this verse-

I find this the most embarrassing verse in the Bible.
C.S. Lewis

I spent a lot of time researching this verse and trying to reconcile how Jesus could be God in the flesh yet so wrong in His prophecy recorded in this verse. Coincidentally I also began my series on the Book of Revelation (around 2002). I was determined to only take out of these Scriptures what God had intended to be taken out. I would use the first four principles of hermeneutics and try keep my preconceived ideas out of the text. And while I was working through this huge problem with Matthew 24:34 I was discovering a whole set of new problems with the Book of Revelation if we merely apply the principles of sound hermeneutics to it. 

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
Revelation 1:3

Exactly the same "problem" occurs in reading the Book of Revelation as occurs in Matthew 24. I had been taught that when Revelation used language like, "soon", "near", "at hand", "now", "this hour", it actually didn't mean it. In fact, what it actually meant was exactly the opposite to these words mean! The only reason plausible for doing this was that a plain reading of the text didn't fit the Dispensational (Futurist) paradigm! I was resolute to research Biblical eschatology exegetically (taking out of the text only what was originally put into it) rather than eisegetically(reading things into the text). Here's what I discovered, and why it became my biggest pradigm-shift. 

MATTHEW 24

Matthew 24 was a conversation between Jesus and His disciples on the Mount of Olives. Hence, it is referred to as The Olivet Discourse. The discples point out the Temple to Jesus and how impressive it was. But Jesus dismisses this and declares that it will be dismantled stone by stone. In utter dismay, the disciples ask three questions: (i) When will this happen? (ii) What will be the sign of Your 'coming' (Greek word, parousia)? (iii) When will this age (Greek word, aionos) end? Understanding these three questions is essential to understanding this chapter. Jesus proceeds to answer to each question. Consider that. He answered, in detail, each of the three questions. If I was preaching this point right now, I would labour it! And the reason I would do so is because there are some who suggest that after Jesus has answered their questions He then declared that He didn't really know the answers because He was speaking out of His humanity, not His divinity! I find this opinion of Christ in Matthew 24 nearly blasphemous. (I explain why in this YouTube video.) I would also point out what the disciples asked, not what we think the disciples asked.

¶ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"Matthew 24:3

1.When will these things be? Jesus gives detailed descriptions of what was about to happen and then plainly stated the answer to this question: this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place (Matt. 24:34). A Biblical 'generation' is 40 years. If we consider that Jesus spoke these words in 30AD, He has just plainly stated all these things would be fulfilled by 70AD.

2. What will be the sign of Your coming? Note that the disciples did not ask- When will You return? The Greek word ὑποστρέφω (hupostrepho) is the word they would have used if they had asked When will You return? But instead, they asked When will You 'parousia'? This word means, reveal, appear, come, but specifically in this context it means, to come in judgment. The disciples had good reason to ask When will You come to judge?because the destruction of the Temple was the pinnacle of God's judgment on Israel in the Old Testament. This is the climax of the Book of Jeremiah.

3. What will be the sign of the end of the age?Despite the King James Version translating this word as "world", the disciples did not ask Jesus When will the end of the world be? Jesus has just said that the Temple would be destroyed and the immediate question from the disciples was, When will this (Temple) age end? 

A part of Christ's answer was that the sun would be darkened, the moon will not give forth its light, and the stars would fall from the sky (Matt. 24:29). Using the hermeneutical principles of Scripture interpretting Scripture we note that in Genesis 37:9 Joseph dreamed a dream about the sun, moon and stars bowing down to him and this was immediately interpretted as the Israel and his family. Later the prophet Isaiah in describing Israel's rebellion would say that the sun, moon, and stars no longer shine their light (Isaiah 13:10), and Ezekiel would describe rebellious Israel as having their light "blotted out" so God says - 

"I will cover the heavens
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light."Ezekiel 32:7

And Joel says-

The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
Joel 3:15

What many may not realise is that when Jesus says, Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the Heavens (Matt. 24:30), that He was referring to Daniel 7:13, where it foretells of the Son of Man coming "up" on the clouds of Heaven (not "down"). The expression "the Lord is coming", often associated with His glory depicted as "clouds" was used throughout the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah 19:1-

¶ An oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

Thus, Jesus was not talking about His return to resurrect and judge the world (described in Matthew 25), but was describing His judgment on Jerusalem and the abolishing of the Old Covenant (the Temple, the Priesthood, and the sacrifices), which were indeed done away with in 70AD when the Romans destroyed Temple stone by stone just as Jesus had said. If you're interesting in learning more about this, I wrote a book about it! It's available either as an eBook, or as a paperback.

READING THE BIBLE LITERALLY

One of the most obvious problems with Dispensational Futurism is that its predictions based on its interpretations have consistently been wrong. This undermines the credibility of the Bible in the minds of some. As a pastor, I want those whom God has charged me to shepherd to have good reasons to have confidence in the Bible so that when life's storms and difficulties come, they will find the comfort and peace of God in the words of Scripture. To achieve this I need to help my congregation to understand how to read the Bible. The goal is to read the Bible literally. But there are two types of literal reading. The first is  wooden literal where no allowance is made for metaphors, synedoches, idioms, allegories, parables, poetry, apocalyptic symbolism, perspectives, hyperboles, or narratives. The other type of literal is intended literal. This is where allowance is made for these types of literature and the goal is to discover what the author intended - not what the words the author used could mean.

A few years after my Understanding The Book of Revelation had been released, one interested reader in it (The Most Embarrassing Book In The Bible) flew from Brisbane to Launceston to discuss it with me. For him, its contents were not merely theoretical. As I explained in The Most Embarrassing Book In The Bible what the future holds for the believer according to the Book of Revelation, especially in the life to come, he shared with just why this was so important to him. He was dying! He had drawn great comfort from discovering that everything in the first 19 chapters of Revelation had been fulfilled whichgave him confidence that the remaining chapters would similarly be fulfilled. But, as this book had been out for a few years, he wanted to personally check if I still stood by its contents. I did and I do. This illustrates the immediate pastoral application of sound eschatology grounded in equally sound hermeneutics. This view is known as Preterism (as distinct from Full-Preterism which regards all prophecy as being fulfilled).

But this paradigm-shift came at a price. I was no longer able to hold ordination with the denomination I was serving in due to their emphatic Futurist Eschatological stance. However, it has been more than compensated for with untold dividends as many people have come to see why we have good reasons to believe what the God of the Bible has said in His Word. As I reflect on each of my three biggest pastoral paradigm-shifts, they have each arisen from a deep desire to faithfully serve God and His people by being faithful to His Word. 

¶ I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Second Timothy 4:1-4

Ps. Andrew

Revelation Daily Devotional - Day 26

Day 26

Revelation 19:1-9

[Rev. 19:1] ¶ After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, [Rev. 19:2] because his judgments are true and just. For he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and has avenged the blood of his servants poured out by her own hands!”[Rev. 19:3] ¶ Then a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. [Rev. 19:4] The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!”   

[Rev. 19:5] ¶ Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God all you his servants, and all you who fear Him, both the small and the great!” [Rev. 19:6] ¶ Then I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the All-powerful, reigns! [Rev. 19:7] Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. [Rev. 19:8] She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen” (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).[Rev. 19:9] ¶ Then the angel said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

“Hallelujah!”

What is the primary purpose of the Church? Some claim it is evangelism. Certainly this is important, but it is not primary. Consider how much time the New Testament takes to call the Church to evangelise. Compared with everything else it says, evangelism (as important as it it undoubtedly is) is not considered the primary purpose of the Church.

In fact, it can easily be shown that evangelism is actually the result not the cause of the Church fulfilling it’s primary mission. 

The Church’s primary purpose is gloriously revealed in this passage and it is a timely reminder for us today who live a world too busy and too demanding to return to: worship God. 

Worship is not limited to, or merely the act of, singing a song in church. Worship is the expression of sincere surrender to God and acknowledgment of His supremacy in all things. Evangelism is a subset of worship because it calls people to surrender to God and thus turn from worshipping idols to worshipping the True.

One day we will stand in the presence of God and feel utter worship around us as we join the throng who roar and thunder their sheer devotion to Lamb seated on the throne. But today we can join with all heaven and be part of the privilege of worshiping God right where we are.

Andrew Corbett

www.andrewcorbett.net

Revelation Daily Devotional - Day 20

Day 20

Revelation 13:1-14

[Rev. 13:1] ¶ Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name. [Rev. 13:2] Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. [Rev. 13:3] One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement; [Rev. 13:4] they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” [Rev. 13:5] The beast was given a mouth speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty-two months. [Rev. 13:6] So the beast opened his mouth to blaspheme against God—to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, that is, those who dwell in heaven. [Rev. 13:7] The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, [Rev. 13:8] and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. [Rev. 13:9] If anyone has an ear, he had better listen! [Rev. 13:10] If anyone is meant for captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed by the sword, then by the sword he must be killed. ¶ This requires steadfast endurance and faith from the saints. [Rev. 13:11] ¶ Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. [Rev. 13:12] He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. [Rev. 13:13] He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people [Rev. 13:14] and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived.

This is perhaps the most contentious chapter in this Revelation. More speculation has been generated over the identity of this mysterious character known as “the beast” than any other mysterious figure in human history. With so much attention, it strikes me as odd that several obvious things are overlooked. Firstly, there are two beasts identified in this chapter. A ‘beast’ was an Old Testament expression for a godless ruler. The prophet Daniel establishes this. ‘From across the sea’ signifies that this particular godless ruler will not be from the (Promised) ‘Land’ (Israel). One of these two beasts is from across the sea. But the other beast is from the Land (Greek word, “ge”). Secondly, John states that with “wisdom” his readers could identify who the first beast is using the common practice of gematria (where letters have numerical value). It’s difficult to see how anyone in the first century, even with infinite wisdom, could know of any identity in the 21st Century! 

This makes me wonder about how people can overlook relatively obvious things, such as these two points I have just made. But perhaps this is how some people generally read the Bible - straining at minutiae details while missing the large and obvious. To read the Book of Revelation as if it were a prognosticator’s tea-cup filled with mysterious tea-leaves predictions about our future is perhaps to miss the grandest point that this Book is making: Jesus Christ is Lord. Beasts may rant and oppose, but Christ will be vindicated!

Those who oppose Christ, do so at their peril. Fighting against God has a certain inevitability about it. Fighting against His children has a certain and sure consequence to it! The original readers benefited from this truth. Modern readers can as well.

Andrew Corbett

www.andrewcorbett.net

Revelation Daily Devotional - Day 15

Day 15

Revelation 9:20 -21

[Rev. 9:20] The rest of humanity, who had not been killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk about. [Rev. 9:21] Furthermore, they did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells, of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing. 

What does it take for some people to see their need to repent? Repentance from sinful activities does us good. While sin may garb itself in pleasantness and pleasure, it’s sweet taste eventually becomes poisoned gravel in our stomachs. Repentance is not to be reduced to a one-off moment coinciding with our conversion to Christ. Rather it should be seen as the constant steering wheel adjustment that the soul makes to counter the drift of sin’s damage to our spiritual wheel alignment. 

John is describing events that were designed to lead people to repent from sin. The image of plagues reminds us of what God did in Egypt to deliver Israel. These plagues were a demonstration of God’s supremacy over each of Egypt’s false gods. Some Egyptians did repent and joined the wandering nation of Hebrews that Passover night on their journey to the Promised Land (Exodus 12:38). But most Egyptians did not.

It seems incomprehensible to some that God would not give in to the demands of the majority when it comes to determining what are acceptable laws for mankind. I spoke with a man recently about his sin. His response was “It can’t be wrong what I’m doing because ninety plus percent of the population are doing it as well!” The people in sin that would not repent are here identified by John as worshiping demons. Their idolatry had led them to commit murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and theft. The response from God was dramatic. 

When Paul wrote to the Romans he described God using yet another strategy for bringing some people to repentance: His kindness (Romans 2:4). 

How would you prefer for God to facilitate for your repentance? I think I would prefer His kindness. I also think that these people described by John probably had experienced God’s kindness designed to lead them to repentance, but because they had refused to repent God used this other means. My prayer is that my heart will always respond to the kindness of God when He gently summons me to repent, without the need for God to orchestrate anything more drastic.

Andrew Corbett

www.andrewcorbett.net

Revelation Daily Devotional - Day 14

Day 14

Revelation 8:1-5

[Rev. 8:1] ¶ Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. [Rev. 8:2] Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. [Rev. 8:3] Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. [Rev. 8:4] The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. [Rev. 8:5] Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

In the midst of the upheaval enveloping the believers of the first century where John reveals that these dire circumstances are actually comprising the judgment of Christ on His opponents, there is something glorious being revealed simultaneously in heaven. As the geo-political climate takes a turn against Christians on earth, their prayers ascend to heaven and fill heaven with an enchanting aroma that bears resemblance to holy incense used in Temple worship.

Little do we realise how effective our prayers are. Billy Graham is reported to have said that heaven is filled with answers to prayer that no-one asked for. While the saints, those who were faithfully following Christ, prayed for God to intervene and bring them relief, God was preparing to answer. Like many answers to prayer, things would seem to get worse before they would get better - but what John sees is that it is the apparent increase in the cause for prayer that God was actually using to bring about His purposes. How often we experience disappointment and setback and reckon it to be God ignoring us when in fact it is God answering us. C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Suffering is a divine test of trust. Chuck Swindoll has said, “Trust in God delights in His ‘No’ to our requests.” 

These first century Christians were enduring tremendous hardship. This Revelation was a promised blessing to them. Surely this vision of their impassioned pleas filling heaven with the smoke of holy incense could have only encouraged them to pray more fervently. Would we pray more if we received a similar revelation of the effect of our prayers?

Andrew Corbett

www.andrewcorbett.net

Revelation Daily Devotional - Day 13

Day 13

Revelation 7:9-17

[Rev. 7:9] ¶ After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.  [Rev. 7:10] They were shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  [Rev. 7:11] ¶ And all the angels stood there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground before the throne and worshiped God,  [Rev. 7:12] saying, “Amen! Praise and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”  [Rev. 7:13] ¶ Then one of the elders asked me, “These dressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?” [Rev. 7:14] So I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! [Rev. 7:15] For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them.  [Rev. 7:16] They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,  [Rev. 7:17] because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Far from the feared demise of the Church, a grand vision of Christ’s triumph bursts onto the visionary stage. Not only would the Church survive, it would succeed! In the end, no-one will be able to number those who have joined it. Birthed (as what some have dismissed as) a sect of Judaism, the truth now gloriously unfurls that it is not a deviation from the spiritual lineage of  God’s  people - it is the continuation of it! 

Even today it may look like the Church will soon falter and wither, but John sees that it shall instead be comprised of people from every nation, tribe and language! It is no mere institution these spiritual refugees have joined - it is to Christ! He had become their food to quell their hunger. He had become their drink to quench their thirst. He had become their shelter to cover, protect, and secure them. And ultimately He would wipe away every tear from their eyes! But more than this is depicted here in a little expression too easily missed. They will be enjoying the full sanctuary of Christ while holding "palm branches". It was ancient Israel's greatest victory against all natural odds that saw the walls of Jericho (the "city of palm trees") come crashing down as the Hebrews marched around them waving "palm branches". Forever after this, palm branches became the symbol of divinely-aided victory to God's people. The were boldly embossed on the Temple walls to remind Israel that with God's help victory was theirs. John reports that in the end, faithful followers of Christ will be holding palm branches!

Today, we should continue to serve Christ (especially in Missions activities) with both passion and a Biblically informed confidence. William Carey was someone who did just this. His counsel to us is- “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God!”

Andrew Corbett
www.andrewcorbett.net

REVELATION CAN ONLY BE A REVELATION IF IT'S A REVELATION

Revelation Can Not Be A Revelation If Doesn't Clearly Reveal Something!
Written by Dr Andrew Corbett, President of ICI Theological College Australia, and author of the popular commentary on the Book of Revelation- The Most Embarrassing Book In The Bible, August 15th 2011

I was dining with a theologian recently who had lectured on the Book of Revelation for years. He had even been to Patmos to conduct a teaching tour of the Apocalypse. But like some theologians, he felt that Revelation was a complete enigma. He was adamant that there was not any particular method to understand everything in the Book of Revelation. His claim is believed by many. He cited Deuteronomy 29:29 to justify his belief that it was impossible to understand the Book of Revelation, claiming that The Apocalypse was a divine secret. But there is one immediate and gargantuen problem with this idea: for Revelation to be a revelation it has to be a revelation. If it can not be understood, then it can never be a revelation!

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Revelation 1:1

There is a certain hang-over from Post-Modernism that makes the idea of the Book of Revelation being divinely vague very appealing. Post-Modernism relishes in the idea that nothing can be known for certain. It despises the notion of being 'right' and extols the notion of uncertainty. In presenting a case for how the Book of Revelation can be understood, Post-Modernist Theologians will protest that this is just one of the many ways that it can be interpretted. This dismissal fits their larger idea about how the Bible can be interpretted in a singular fashion. It promotes the concept that a Biblical text can be validly interpretted a number of diverse ways simultaneously. To hold a contrary view to this Post-Modern approach is to be accused with the worst name-calling a Post-Modernist can employ to belittle their objectors: narrow-minded and dogmatic. (Which ironically seems like a rather narrow-minded and dogmatic objection.)

The Deuteronomy 29:29 is hardly a Biblical justification for the Post-Modernist to substantiate their claim that the Book of Revelation cannot be interpretted accurately and singularly.

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29

If Deuteronomy 29:29 can be appealed to by anyone in regards to the Book of Revelation, it is surely the one who claims that God has revealed something to His people - which He intends to be understood - since it says that the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Just because there has been a diverse range of alleged interpretations of the Book of Revelation does not mean that they are each equally valid or that one of them in particular may be the singularly and exclusively correct.

There are generally considered to be 4 Schools of Interpretation when it comes to the Book of Revelation. (There are actually many more, and even many many more when we consider variants of each major School of Interpretation.) But the Post-Modernist who finds words like: "wrong", "incorrect" and "false", too harsh to employ when assessing any idea, is averse to describing any School of Interpretation with these terms. But this Hermeneutical-Relativism is both unnecessary and illogical. Each interpretative idea should have its claims assessed and evaluated. Where should this assessment begin?

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Revelation 1:1

There are general principles for interpreting Scripture that should equally apply to the Book of Revelation. These principles are based on the following foundation-

1. God intends to convey something to His people which can be understood (otherwise it is notconveying anything).

2. What God intended to communicate is discovered by interpretation of the text based on familiarity with the penman, audience, circumstances, vocabulary, literary style, and occassion. This is called Exegesis and is the first step in Hermeneutics.

3. While there can only be one correct interpretation of a text, there can be several reasonableapplications of a text.

4. Where Scripture states an interpretation of its own text, we need not disagree with it and look for additional interpretations. This especially applies to Biblical prophecy where a prophecy is given and recorded as being fulfilled. For example, Isaiah's prophecy that a virgin would conceive a child is stated by Matthew to have been fulfilled when Mary gave birth to Jesus. It seems unecessary to think that this prophecy might have multiple fulfilments - even into the future.

In addition to this, there are general principles of Bible Interpretation that include...[read the full article]

The Revelation Delusion

Much damage to the credibility of the Bible has nearly been done by those who twist the contents of the Book of Revelation to force it to sound like it refers to the events of our present day. Time and time again, so called Bible-Prophecy teachers have been left with egg on their faces as their ridiculous speculations have proved to be completely wrong. Our Administrator forwarded onto me a copy of an email we were sent claiming that our understanding of the Book of Revelation was wrong and that we would be humiliated by the Lord when the Rapture took place on October 17th 2009!!!

You'll notice that I am writing this brief article after this 'day of humiliation'. But still the sillyness continues to be rolled out by many TBN preachers who (even inadvertently) misrepresent the Book of Revelation by claiming that it is written to us about our day. (I have compiled a small list of such of failed interpretations.) In the unlikely event that you are a now cynical believer reading this article, or even in the more unlikely event that you are a complete skeptic about Christianity and the Bible reading this article, I hope to take just a few minutes of your time to offer an alternate understanding of the Book of Revelation that will actually present a credible case for Christianity and the Bible. [Read the full article]