Holy Spirit-led understanding

In response to a post at my blog, Jonathan asked a good question that I’d like to pose of readers here.

In part, I wrote the following on my blog:

“While I have maintained a habit of reading my Bible daily, I confess that I have gained so much valuable insight through other teachers via blogs and books that I lean perhaps too heavily on the latter. This was somewhat illustrated to me in a simple conversation between Jesus and Peter, taken from John 21, verses 20-24.

“Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them – the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, ‘Lord, who among us will betray you?’ Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?’”

“Jesus replied, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me.’ So the rumor spread among the community of believers that that disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t what Jesus said at all. He only said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?’”

“When I read this, it struck me that this rumor spreading among the community taken directly from the words of Jesus – “if I want him to remain alive until I return” – is not unlike some interpretations today. I read the banter back and forth taken from this or that interpretation and weigh carefully what is said, but still... I wonder.

How much of my own interpretation is coming not from my own diligent study of God’s breathed Word but from the words of men? Do I lean too much on the opinions of others rather than doing the hard work of putting my nose to the grindstone and doing some serious word studies? The truth is, I enjoy having others do the hard work for me, and while there can be blessing and wisdom gained from their efforts, I am depriving myself of vital nourishment and understanding necessary for life.

“I won’t stop reading other books, of course, because I believe God has given wisdom to others regarding proper interpretation, and it was, in fact, from men that I gleaned the importance of receiving instruction directly from God’s own Word. But this illustration of how easily interpretation can be swayed, even when the words seem to be plainly understood, well, the impression rests upon me to seek not only first but primarily understanding from God’s Word through Holy Spirit revelation.

“That latter is a tricky one, since I know several men who all claim to be led by the Spirit, yet they wouldn’t agree on interpretation. Some are dispensational. Some are Reformed. Others adhere to covenant theology. Some among all these are premillenial; others are post- or amillenial. And even if you find those of the same ilk, they’ll invariably disagree on something – paedobaptism or adult only? It’s very hard to understand what is proper interpretation when minds greater than my own may be all Spirit-led individuals who don’t agree.

“Nonetheless, I must read further what Scripture itself says on this matter and look to God’s Spirit to lead where I must go. I must trust God first in the matter of my own understanding and be careful to discern where I may be wont to read into text rather than draw from it. There is much counsel in Scripture regarding waiting on the Lord and patience, so I must put these into practice continually as I dwell on His Word.”

To which, Jonathan posed the questions: “Now the question is, why does God allow such divergent views in the body? Could God have a reason for it?”

I also wonder - How do we know who is (and what interpretation is) and who isn't Spirit-led, when all profess Christ? I don't know the answer. How can we possibly know (unless what they say blatently contradicts Scripture)?

And you, dear reader, what are your thoughts on this?

More thinking out loud…

Still following the bread crumbs on this trail, I think I’ve come across some larger morsels from the same loaf . Could it be our daily bread?

When last I read Daniel 9:27, perplexed about whatever happens with the remaining 3 ½ years of the final (or 70th) ‘seven,’ if indeed the “he” in verse 27A is Jesus, I was intrigued by Riddlebarger’s suggestion that “we find the answer in Revelation 12:14, where John reinterpreted this three-and-one-half years in Daniel as ‘a time, a times, and half a time.’"

I noted in my last post that in Hebrew and Arabic the denotation of ‘two’ items is rendered distinct from all other plurals (three or more). This means that by the word alone you can determine a noun’s quantity by whether or not it is rendered in its singular form, its double (or two) form, or plural (three or more) form. Of course, this got me thinking that if ‘a time’ is singular and if ‘a times’ would happen to be the double form (not three or more), and then ‘half a time,’ well, that would indeed equal three-and-a-half.

So I looked a bit further into the “time, times, and half a time” of Revelation 12:14.

Let’s examine its context. The 12th chapter of Revelation notes that the woman (who gives birth to the child sought after by the dragon, widely held to be Christ sought after by Satan) flies “from the serpent into the wilderness to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.”

The footnote in RC Sproul’s English Standard Version for this particular verse points to Revelation 11: 2 – “but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.”

To which, Sproul writes: “11:2 – forty-two months. A time of distress and intense conflict between God’s people and their opponents [13:5].”

Revelation 13:5 - And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.”

Sproul notes: “It is also described as 1,260 days [v. 3, 12:6] or ‘a time, and times, and half a time” [i.e., three and a half years, 12:14]”

Well, how about that?

Three-and-a-half years = 42 months = 1,260 days (with years having been rendered as 360 days in days past). There are 354.37 days in a lunar year [of 12 moons/months], and 365.24 days in a solar year; together they average 360 days.

He goes on: “It is half of seven years, which from a symbolic point of view suggests a complete period of suffering, cut short by half. The main background is found in Dan. 7:25, which in turn is related to other passages [Dan. 9:27; 12:7, 11:12]. But like other numbers in Revelation, this one may be symbolic in character, relating to the three and a half days in vv. 9, 11. It would then designate a persecution of limited length.”

To what three-and-a-half days is Sproul referring?

Revelation 11:9 – “For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb …”

Revelation 11:11 – “But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them.”

Let’s jump back to Daniel for a moment. Check out 7:25: “He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.”

This is uncanny – the fact that there are “3 ½ years” remaining from Daniel’s final ‘seven’ (if indeed the “he” in Daniel 7:25 refers to Christ) and the multiple references given to persecution of the saints of the Most High as “a time, times, and half a time,” both in Daniel 7:25 when the beast wears out the saints for this period of time and Revelation 12:14 when the woman who birthed the child is nourished for the same period of time. Fascinating.

A few other thoughts may help place this in a greater context.

“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” – Revelation 11:1,2

To which, Sproul notes:

“The description is reminiscent of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Assuming that Revelation was written before AD 70, some interpreters see chs. 6-11 or even larger portions of Revelation as prophecy concerning the fall of Jerusalem. But these verses may just as easily be a figure of the preservation of God’s people in the midst of attacks. The temple represents the presence of God on earth, especially through His people … The altar and those who worship there represent the worshipers of God, who are sealed and protected [ch. 7]. The destruction of the outer court represents the attack of outsiders on God’s people.”

With respect to the “two witnesses” of Revelation 11, Sproul indicates that they are possibly two literal individual human beings – either two Christian prophets who were martyred shortly before the fall of Jerusalem or two prophets who will appear shortly before the Second Coming. “But their identification with two lampstands [v. 4] suggests they might be symbolic figures standing for the witness of the lampstand churches of 1:20. If this is the case, they would symbolize churches rather than specific individuals. Two lampstands, rather than seven, are mentioned to imitate the pattern of Zech. 4 and of Moses and Elijah [cf. Deut 17:6; Matt. 17:3,4; Luke 10:10].”

And, if this interests you, do a quick google of ‘a time, times, and half a time.’ Several sites detail how it equals 3 ½ years.

Now, of course, 3 ½ years (or days), along with the references to 42 months and 1,260 days could be considered as great a leap to stretch it out into the entire kingdom or church age as inserting a several-thousand-year gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week. I daresay, however, that there seems to be a connection between the ‘time, times, and half a time’ (which I see as “3 ½ years,” albeit not necessarily literal 360- or 365-day periods) and the 3 ½-day, 42-month, and 1,260-day periods.

I just ordered Kenneth Gentry’s “Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation,” as well as his “Perilous Times” (about the book of Daniel), so I hope to learn more information about these things after I receive those books.

Still following the bread crumb trail on this…