Interpreting Prophecy
Lesson 2Jesus the Messiah is Prophesied
Last week in class we reviewed the different approaches to interpretation and discovered that taking a “literal” approach to interpretation means looking at the text from a literal point of view. Considering the type of writing we are interpreting (poetry, history, parables, etc), considering the immediate and remote context which surrounds the writing, and considering the grammatical structure of the writing. In technical terms, then, this is referred to as the Historical, Grammatical, Contextual approach. Therefore, we cannot simply take a verse word for word out of context and apply an interpretation or application. To do this with our own current language for example, “keeping your eye peeled”, “your nose to the grindstone”, and “your ear to the ground”, would produce quite an image if we simply applied the words as read.
And so, as we approach our daunting task of looking at prophecy, we realize immediately that much of what we will be studying will involve the use of symbols, physical descriptions and icons, to speak of complex processes, world powers, the spirit world, mankind, nations, cultures and so on. However, we will discover that with the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and using the Bible as our primary means of interpreting these symbols (let the scriptures interpret the scriptures), we will find a consistent, constant, thread running through end time prophecy. This consistency forms a complete picture culminating with the book of Revelation. So let’s begin our first looks at end time scripture with this week’s studies.
This week we’ll look at prophecy and what it tells us about our Savior Jesus the Christ, the Messiah. This will be an especially key part of our study as prophecies about Christ run through the entire Bible culminating with the book of Revelation as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” I believe you will be surprised by the amount of information God has made available to us about our Savior and His return – just by reading His Holy Word. Imagine how much more we’ll learn in the weeks ahead when we begin to study the symbols and numbers used in the prophecy.
Now, here are this week’s questions.
- Read Romans 14:11. What would you say is the ultimate end purpose of history based on this verse?
- Christ will be our Savior, Lord and King and will bring victory over many things, including Satan and sin. At the end of the Millennial reign what will be the last thing that Christ our King defeats? (1 Corinthians 15:24-26)
- The Millennial reign of Christ is mentioned in Revelation 20:1-6. In addition to this prophecy we can find it also referred to in many other passages. After reading Revelation 20:1-6 read the following – Psalm 72, and Isaiah 35. Now that you have a clearer picture of His reign make a list of things you’ve seen or learned about the world, the promised land, and Christ’s reign during this thousand years that you can share in class. This list will prove helpful when we study Revelation.
- Read Isaiah Chapters 61 and 62. During Christ’s ministry on earth he read Isaiah 61:1-2 in a synagogue and proclaimed that he was fulfilling that scripture. The remainder of that chapter and chapter 62 are yet to be fulfilled. What does this reading tell us about the following when this prophecy is fulfilled during the millennial reign?
- The Jews:
- The Promised Land:
- The city of Jerusalem:
- Christ (62:11 and Revelation 22:12):
- Read the following passages - Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50-51, Acts 1:9-11, and Rev 19:11-21. List the things we can determine about Christ and his Second Coming from these passages.
Have a great week everyone!
Yours in Christ,
Wes