Sabbath: Some Principles of Prophecy
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 29th of March 2025
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study: Jeremiah 9:23-24; Psalms 139:1-6; Daniel 12:4; Revelation 22:10; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12.
Memory Text:
“ ‘But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:24, NKJV).
As with most everything else in Scripture, Christians disagree about prophecy, which often convinces others that Bible prophecy is a waste of time. After all, if Christians fight over every prophetic jot and tittle, how valid could it be? Unfortunately, many believers also begin to think that some books of the Bible, such as Revelation, are simply incomprehensible. Instead of reading them, they avoid them, sometimes with the encouragement of a well-meaning pastor who thinks that studying prophecy causes more problems than it solves.
It was not always so. For the first eighteen centuries of Christian history, most Christians were very comfortable with biblical prophecy, and there was a surprising level of agreement on what the key messages of the prophecies were. This is how God intended for it to be: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10, NKJV).
This week, we will explore some principles that yield a consistent and reliable understanding of prophecy.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 5.
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When I first heard about algebra I was both curious and a little fearful. Arithmetic with letters and symbols did not make sense to me. Why would anyone want to multiply x by y? But I learned, slowly at first until the whole new world of algebraic representation and symbols became a powerful new tool for understanding relationships and showing trends. The symbols made sense but not only that they provided insights far beyond what I had even imagined with numbers.
The Bible uses symbols in much the same way as mathematicians. They provide understanding and show relationships that are useful in our understanding of salvation. There are caveats of course. Some become so fixed on the symbolism, they forget their purpose. That was never their intention. If we allow symbols to obscure the love of Jesus they have become idols.
And that is the last you will hear from me for quite a while. Carmel and I are taking a trip to New Zealand and visiting some of the wild places on the South Island with my sister and her husband who live there. Enjoy your study and discussion while I am away.
Enjoy your trip and stay safe!
We will miss your wisdom while you're gone and look forward to your return to SS net.org
Safe travels and we look forward to seeing the pictures of the birds you capture on your journey.
Enjoy, We will miss your insights and memorable responses. I look forward to the beautiful nature pictures you will take. Safe travel
Safe travels. We enjoy and are enriched by your commentaries and practical applications and enjoy sharing them especially with new believers. God speed..
I’m going to miss you my brother. You’re writing inspire me. Have a great trip and enjoy.
Please pray for me.
You are covered with the blood of Jesus. Enjoy and remain in His words and be blessed. We will miss you with your contribution.
We will miss your insightful comments. Enjoy the trip
Hope you have a wonderful trip Maurice. You have been a blessing to us.
I will miss your contribution. ENJOY YOUR TRIP
In the Bible there are many prophecies, both small and great, short and lengthy. When one has carefully studied all these, there in one key message with one ultimate purpose, the grand plan of God to redeem mankind through Jesus Christ. All prophecies in one way or another profoundly reveal God as sovereign, a God of love who so loved the world that He sent His begotten Son Jesus Christ to redeem mankind. The very grand and sweetest message in the biblical prophecies is to prepare hearts for eternity. No matter how one views these prophecies, these are messages of hope and victory over sin and evil.
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life” – Revelation 22:12-14
On point....eternity is the bigger picture
I love this memory text, Jer. 9:24 … All prophecy - and excitement over understanding- must be about a closer walk with Jesus and understanding Him and His role in the plan of salvation. All divinely inspired “revelation” is a revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1). 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 echoes the same message ….all signs and true wisdom from God point to Christ crucified. If sussing out details of prophecy (or anything) moves our eyes off Jesus, we’re in a danger ⚠️ zone.
The lesson author notes that " For the first eighteen centuries of Christian history, most Christians were very comfortable with biblical prophecy, and there was a surprising level of agreement on what the key messages of the prophecies were."
Why do you suppose that was so?
Could it be that people were more biblically literate - that they had a better grasp of the grand plan of salvation? Could it be that to many Christians, including Adventists no longer have a good understanding of the Bible as a whole?
If my guesses are nearly right, what do you see as the remedy?
I think people were more Biblically literate in the past and I agree that many people today are not. I am quite concerned about how little a lot of members know about the Bible. Knowledge isn't everything, but it sure can protect us from some bad paths.
That being said, I'm a little puzzled by the author's comments because if Christians were very comfortable with Biblical prophecy until about 200 years ago, why would someone like William Miller be necessary? Wouldn't everyone already understand everything? Clearly they did not.
There are several aspects to the question of biblical literacy re the prophetic books up to about 200 years ago.
Firstly, we (Seventh-day Adventist) inherited our approach to interpreting Bible prophecy from our Protestant forerunners. We use the same "historicist" approach (fulfilled prophecies of the past provide keys to interpret prophecies of the future) that the Reformers used. Many Bible apps include commentaries by Matthew Henry (1662-1714) and his commentary on prophecy is not far different from ours. (For instance, I consider his commentary on Revelation to be better than some Adventist interpretations I've run across.)
Secondly, Daniel is told that the words of his prophecy would be "sealed" until "the time of the end." (Daniel 12:9) That implies that the Spirit would not provide full understanding of the prophecies until the "time of the end" which we now recognize to have begun in 1844, thanks to William Miller.
William Miller came to his conclusions using the same methods earlier Protestant scholars used. The crucial difference was that it was the time for the book to be "unsealed." In studying, he discovered the "day for a year" principle which is cemented by much more than the two texts we usually use.
As it turns out, Miller did not recognize that the interpretation of "the sanctuary" being cleansed meant that this earth would be destroyed by fire was wrong. I believe that God, in His wisdom, allowed William to continue in that error for precisely the same reason that He allowed the people to believe that Christ was riding the donkey into Jerusalem in order to take over the throne of David - rather than being crucified. The triumphal entry fulfilled prophecy and really was Christ's journey to fulfill the prophecy of the Branch that would grow out of the root of Jesse. (Isaiah 11: 1,10 and Romans 15:12) Only the throne looked very different from what people expected. In the same way, Christ did actually come to the Most Holy Place of the temple of God, except that the temple is not this planet but in heaven.
In contrast to William Miller's time, there is much confusion regarding prophetic interpretation in today's Christian world.
We just started re-reading the chapter on William Miller in The Great Controversy, entitled, "An American Reformer.". I believe it's very helpful to understand how to interpret prophecy correctly, as we are led through William Miller's thought processes. (It's the "Further Study" selection for Friday.)
That makes sense. I guess it is more the use of the tools that people understood rather than the meaning of the prophecy itself. Obviously there would be many elements of prophecy that would mean nothing to people long ago. For example, the earth beast might be identified very differently before the US existed. I still suspect the average layperson might not have known as much as the thelogians of that time.
Also remember that the book of Daniel was "sealed" in earlier times. So even God's people would likely not understand anything applying to the future. However, just like us, their faith would be strengthened by seeing how prophecy was fulfilled and was fulfilling. They would recognize that they were in His hands.
As for the "beasts" - I believe many of the symbols go back to ancient times. They were used just like cartoonists use images of animals to represent nations and political parties. It's interesting to see how such symbols are used nowadays. 😉
In this era, we are engulfed with individuals and groups of people who boldly explain the symbols of prophesy according to their own understanding and benefits. 1 Peter 1:20, when prophesy is wrongly explained to a person who had no knowledge about it before, the deception digs deeper in their hearts, possibly until the end of their lifetime. As it was named, 'Revelations', it reveals itself to the reader by the help of the Holy Spirit and please don't forgetting the purpose of prophesy. It is not about being a master at explaining the symbols, but getting prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Thank you.
"...same mind." Regarding opinions about prophecies, we must base them on the Word and other inspired literature confirming the Word. Anything else should be speculation. There is no problem in having opinions about what's unclear yet, but building a whole new system on it is madness.