Good Afternoon Girls -
This will be quick, I have been cleaning and sanitizing all day! I feel confident now that my house is clean and hopefully free from germs we are on the upswing. The babies will be up soon from their nap so I wanted to try and get this out before they wake up! So much easier that way....
Daily Prayer:
LORD - Thank you so much for last night! Thank you so much for giving JOHN this amazing book to share with us. We scare easy but are so intrigued with your words. We are having a great time studying and love that we have such an awesome teacher in Beth. We pray that you continue to fulfill her ministry here on earth and use her as a vessal to teach us your word. She has already shared and taught us so much! Lord today as we study we look for a new and fresh revelation of you! Please share your thoughts with us today, we have opened our ears to listen. AMEN
Session Six- Question 1
Our sixth session based on Revelation 7 was a welcome reprieve from the profound seriousness of the seals and trumpets of judgement surrounding it. We will spend our present week's assignments on further exploration of that glorious chapter.
Turn back to Revelation 7 and also have your session 6 listening guide ready to review. In the first portion of session 6, we drew the greatest contrasts so far between interpretations that are literal and those that are symbolic. Those contrasts will heighten even more in Session Seven. This is a great time to ask you how you feel about considering even the possibility that some of these numbers or elements are considered by many God-fearing scholars to most likely be symbolic. Remember, many others believe they are literal so don't lose heart if that's the direction you lean. Our interpretations or opinions don't change the Scriptures or God's intents but they can certainly change us.
Explain your feeling on literal interpretations versus symbolic.
Revelation 7
144,000 Sealed
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”
What I think:
In my opinion, in studying the book of Revelation I am looking for mostly symbolic interpretations of the word. I believe Beth explained the layout of the message perfectly in Session one. God have Jesus the message. Jesus gave the angel the message. The angel delivered the message to John in a fashion that he could understand (Rev 1). Therefore, I think most of the book in written in symbloic and figurative language. I do think the numbers are very literal, but in a figurative sense...hmmmm.... intersting huh?!? What do you think? Leave a comment....
Remember - This is also a great time to remind you that many of those scholars who lean toward more symbolic interpretations than literal wholeheartedly believe that those symbols represent vivid and stunning realities. They would argue vehemently against the assumption that symbols make their archetype less real.
We missed alot of you last night - please click here to watch DVD via computer if you are interested:
http://www.lproof.org/Store/collection.asp?collectionID=20&offset=10
Can't wait to see you all next week!
Love!
M
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