 Okay Okay, welcome back everyone for our second lecture on interpreting scripture We we have been talking about some guidance on Interpreting Bible prophecy just you know some some basic understanding We will study on Bible prophecy in future semesters Now, let's just go through some remaining Instructions here alright So we just I just wanted to go over these points here on Interpreting Bible prophecy so One is we follow the normal principles all that we've covered before That means you also understand the history the grammar and all of that When you're dealing with Bible prophecy second You take Bible prophecy the normal Chromatical sense, so you take it literally for what it says. This is what it's saying You consider the literary aspect of it That means if there is figurative or symbolic language then yeah, we have to interpret the Figurative or symbolic language now as we've been talking about Whenever things whenever it's possible to take something in a literal sense, okay, we take it literally When something is literal is impossible illogical then you say it's figurative and then you try to understand what it means and You know all prophecy eventually is pointing us towards Jesus and The unfolding of the purpose of God on the earth So we keep that in mind as we are interpreting and talking about Bible prophecy that okay It's all pointing to Jesus and ultimately the purpose of God is being Established on the earth So number five is recognize the principles of foreshortening that means The the foreshortening means it appears as we say here it appears that You know the the prophecy the way it is given appears that It's going to happen You know one after the other and It's with very little time in between but Actually There is Huge time gap between certain events mentioned in the prophecy So in the presentation of the prophecy there is foreshortening it appears to happen very quickly in the way the prophecies written or spoken to us But Literally, it's going to have a long time in between. So we say give it the classic example of Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 And I was a son is born under us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulder So it's like that's an example of prophetic foreshortening where he's giving it to us as it's going to happen ABC but actually There's a gap of 2,000 years from the child is born son is given to when the government is going to be on a shoulder so When the prophet is speaking the prophet himself does not know the time gap that is Actually between the events Right because they're just speaking what you're seeing or what the Holy Spirit is giving to them They don't understand it. So when they present it or when it is spoken or written it appears to all happen very quickly but that's called foreshortening but In actuality there is You know time gap in between Right. So be mindful of that second number six Look for God's built-in interpretations like maybe never size it, you know There will be the meaning given in the passage or in the scripture that comes on. So look for that then compare Parallel scriptures and when you study Bible prophecy, it's so fascinating because you know, you see things spoken in Daniel you speak see things poker in Jeremiah in Ezekiel and in In Joel and Zechariah, and then you compare that with you know, what is spoken elsewhere In revelation and so on and you have to put all of this together and you get a beautiful picture of You know how things are going to unfold but That understanding comes when you look at all these related Passages and you study them all together All right. So especially when you're studying Bible prophecy It's very important to put all the scripture side-by-side, you know, put them all together Then you get a beautiful picture. It's almost like a jigsaw puzzle, right? When you have when you have these pieces of the puzzle all scattered everywhere, it's like man, what is this? Well, you got to put them together So when you put all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together, then you get a beautiful pictures Oh, this looks this looks really nice But you got to put them together then you get the full picture So, you know, when you look at Bible prophecy, you can think imagine it as you know these pieces of jigsaw puzzle By itself, it looks very strange in a brand of what does this mean? But when you put it all together You get a beautiful picture of what is going to unfold Another important part in Bible prophecy, which you will Notice often in which we need to be mindful of years There are things that are spoken about Israel the nation of Israel Which is first fulfilled spiritually in the church and then it is literally fulfilled in Israel in the nation of Israel Okay, so there is a spiritual fulfillment and there is a literal fulfillment This is another important thing to keep in mind when it comes to Bible prophecy and there are You know many examples of this And I've just mentioned it to over here one is about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so In Joel chapter 2 the prophet Joel says Sorry in the last days I will pour out my spirit on all flesh And your sons and your daughters will prophesy your young men will see visions your old men will dream dreams so on Now Joel is speaking He's prophesying to the nation of Israel And the same God is saying in the last days he'll pour out his spirit on all flesh So on the day of Pentecost that is acts chapter 2 The church is birthed This has nothing to do with Israel in the sense other than the fact that the first set of believers are Jewish people The 120 are Jewish people But it's the birth of the church the New Testament church and when the church is born In acts chapter 2 the Apostle Peter stands up and says This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. So wait a minute Joel was prophesying to Israel And he was saying God will pour out his spirit on everyone God is gonna pour a spirit and Hear the church is born and Peter is saying what we are seeing happen here when the church is born is A fulfillment of that prophecy. I mean, it's wonderful, but then what about the nation of Israel Well, the nation of Israel will also experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit But it will come after the church age that means the church, you know We are now in the church age. God is stealing primarily with the church. He is Working for a working through the nation of Israel, but he's also right now is working in the church and then The church ages over like when when goddess, you know brings us all together The nation of Israel also experience outpouring of the Holy Spirit and we see this in Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 But it says, you know and God will pour out on Israel the spirit of grace and supplication So they're going to experience the nation of Israel is going to experience outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Same thing with Amos chapter 9 you know In Amos Amos chapter 9 Amos the prophet Amos says, you know God is saying In that day, I will rebuild the temple. I will rebuild the tabernacle of David and the you know the Gentiles will come seeking after it and the So we'll overtake the Reaper that means the harvest will be so great Before the Reaper can finish reaping all the harvest. It's sewing time the so was that sewing So this is in Amos 9 11 12 13 Now in Acts chapter 15 we are in the time of the church and James stands up and After the first council in Jerusalem James says well, the prophet Amos said That God will rebuild the tabernacle of David And that's what's happening right now and the Gentiles will come seeking after God. That's what's happening right now Well Amos was speaking about the tabernacle of David, which is Worship happening as it did in David's time But Amos James in Acts 15 is Using that with reference to the church and with reference to Gentiles coming to Christ So what are we saying? Amos spoke about a literal tabernacle of David which God will reestablish but James is using that in a reference of a spiritual fulfillment in the church and Gentiles coming to Christ So These are two examples where something was spoken There is a spiritual fulfillment in the life of the church And there will come a little fulfillment in Israel so Israel will have the tabernacle of David which is worship being restored 24-7 right that will happen but Before that the church is experiencing Spiritual fulfillment of it So we keep some of these things in mind and as you're looking at the New Testament The New Testament will point back to the Old Testament say hey, it's being fulfilled here But keep in mind that when it's in relation to the church It's a spiritual fulfillment. The literal fulfillment will take place concerning Israel in time to come another aspect of Bible prophecy is dual fulfillment, which is And the prophet is speaking There is an immediate fulfillment and there's a future fulfillment So exam Genesis 3 15 God God is speaking he says I will put enmity between you and the serpent between her seed between its seed and her seed In a Yulbrose's heel and he will crush your head So there's immediate fulfillment meaning from then on there was And now to say there was this animosity or hatred between man and snake immediate fulfillment But there's a future fulfillment, which is Jesus Christ the seed of the woman crushed the head of the serpent that is Satan so dual fulfillment so When you come into the Psalms You'll find many prophecies That have dual fulfillment that is that the deal with the situation which the psalmist is facing But then it is quoted is with reference to Christ you know, so You know they cast lots for my garment Not one of my bones was broken The heel of my dearest friend has been lifted up against me and so on you know the prophecies concerning Christ There's something immediate in the context of the psalm but there is a future fulfillment pointing to Jesus Christ and it's quoted and later on and the Lord Jesus himself quotes those psalms right so Keep in mind that is dual fulfillment in Bible prophecy as well last point and then I'll take questions So understand that there are Parts of prophecies that Are fulfilled or being fulfilled and there are prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled parts of it. So Example when Joel was Joel chapter 2 when he was talking about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit If you read the whole passage, he says You know in the last days, I'll put out my spirit the sons and your daughters will prophesy young men will see visions Your men will dream dream dreams and I will show signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath the sun will be Darkened at the moon will become blood red in that great and terrible day of the Lord And whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So that is the whole prophecy that Joel gave but then In acts to only part of the prophecy was fulfilled which is The I will put out this my spirit and all flesh your sons and daughters and will prophesy on all that But there's nothing up, you know, the moon didn't turn black The I mean the the sun didn't turn black and the moon didn't turn into blood red And there were no signs in heavens above and the earth beneath Which was given in Joel's prophecy so that part of Joel's prophecy Will happen later Then you read about it in Revelation chapter 6 and also in Revelation chapter 8 During the seven year tribulation the first half of the tribulation there is the Seven seals and there's also the seven Trumpets and during one of the seals this will happen The sun will be dark and the moon will be turned red then during one of the trumpets The sun will be dark and the moon been red and there'll be all kinds of Cosmic events that are happening signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath it will be fulfilled So what we what are we saying? In one part of the prophecy in a prophetic passage Some of it has already been fulfilled or it's being fulfilled and Some of it will be fulfilled in the future So we have to be able to identify that as well Okay, so these are different things we keep in mind when we are studying and dealing with Bible prophecy It's very wonderful to study Bible prophecy, but you know these are things we have to keep in mind Let me pause and see if there are any questions before we go to the next chapter I hope all of you are following me. You've understood these things so far Any questions all clear? I See I see your Comments, I also see a question from Nicholson Zechariah and the question is other request is to look at Zechariah chapter 5 versus 5 through 11 and Let's see if we can explain Zechariah chapter 5 Versus 5 through 11 was and so says Okay, Zechariah chapter 5 versus 5 through 11 Okay Zechariah chapter 5 Versus 5 through 11 Okay, I'm just reading through it and The year is led this lifted up and This is a woman sitting inside the basket This is wickedness Do the leg cover over its mouth? That's a basket between the earth and heaven So I said to the angel who talked to me what are they better? They can must be said to build a house for it in the land of Shinar When it is ready Basket will be set there on its place Okay, so So let me just give you my first impression Nicholson and What I will do is I will also, you know study it further and get back to you but my first impression Is is this Right. So what is happening? What is the context? This is a Zechariah Who's This is a book of Zechariah, so this is the time when The captives the captivity or the captives have come out of Babylon and they have returned to their own land and they're going through the process of Rebuilding the city the temple and the walls and Zero Babel is the governor and Zechariah is one of the Prophets who are prophesying Encouraging the the whole process of rebuilding and restoration that's happening After the people have come back from Babylon. Okay, so that's the context So in that context the Zechariah is having an angel who's speaking to him and He in a chapter 4 Zechariah the prophet brings a message to zero Babel who is the governor About you know finishing the work on the temple and and so on and after he gives that message Now we are coming to chapter 5 Where he is having additional visions and this Vision of this is verses 5 through 11. The angel is showing him a basket so basically very very just in in general is there's this basket and In the basket. He is seeing a Woman But it's not about the woman It's what this woman represents and that's explained for us there in verse 8 because he sees He asks the question, you know, what's going on here or who is this woman and then verse 8 says it is wickedness So basically the basket is a container Full of Wickedness so it's not about the woman but the woman is representing wickedness as explained here in verse 8 and There's a lead cover on its mouth meaning it's sealed and then he sees two birds Another two women coming Who are Who have the wings of a stork meaning they're going to fly they're going to carry this basket somewhere And he says, you know, where are you taking it? Where are you taking this basket? So What is inside the basket wickedness Two women coming so if the first woman inside the basket represents wickedness the women carrying it are likely Wickedness themselves actually representing wickedness But they're you know, they're flying they're carrying it somewhere. Where are you going? And then he says in verse 11 he says I'm going to carry it to build a house for it in the land of shinar and The basket will be set there on its base So when I look cross reference in my notes, I mean my Bible here the word shinar represents the land of Babylon Shinar or Babylon. So basically this in this vision, which are which angel is giving Zechariah So the people have come out of Babylon But what the angel is showing Zechariah is there's wickedness that is going to be established in Babylon Vickerness is going to be carried and thrown there are put there in Babylon. So basically Babylon Is going to become a place of wickedness. Why this basket? There's woman inside the basket represents wickedness the women carrying it Therefore would also represent about wickedness and they're going to take it over there and put it there They're gonna build a house. They're gonna build a habitation and dwelling For wickedness in Babylon. So Babylon is going to become a place of wickedness. So that is in essence Zechariah chapter 5 verses 5 through 11 It's okay Yeah, and which you know, we can see is it was fulfilled because Babylon has become a place of wickedness It's always Associated with wickedness today, of course Babylon is pretty much in ruins But it has become a place was a place of wicked lot of wickedness coming out of today modern-day Babylon would be Iraq as a nation So much of wickedness has come out of it literally and so on. Okay. All right Okay, good any other questions. All right, so we now go into another part aspect of Interpreting scripture, you know, so we've been looking at various aspects of interpreting scripture things that keep in mind and And as you and I learn to apply this as we're reading scripture text It'll help us, you know, be careful to be accurate in interpreting scripture Now one other aspect that we must talk about when we interpreting scripture is The use of the Old Testament in the New Testament and all of us As we read the New Testament You know, many times we will find references to the Old Testament Hey, so right from the Gospel of Matthew on There will be statements like as the Prophet said or as it is written You know, meaning something in the New Testament is referencing back to something in the Old Testament now We want to talk about that In some cases it is Pretty straightforward. It's just saying that what is happening here in the New Testament Is a fulfillment of what was spoken in the Old Testament. Some sometimes it's pretty straightforward But sometimes it's not as simple Because an example would be in some of Paul's writings He references the Old Testament and you know He references it in Bringing out teaching and bringing out doctrine. So he's not just telling us That was spoken it is fulfilled. It's not as simple as that He's saying that was spoken, but this is what it means For us as New Testament believers Or sometimes The Old Testament is referenced to highlight a Change in what God is doing Again, you find it in Paul's writings Especially in dealing with the law Since the law was like this, but Now in the spirit, it's like this So he's trying to emphasize a change That has taken place. We were under the law. We were married to the law Romans after seven, but now you're married to Christ. Oh Yeah, what does this mean? He's telling us about a change You're dead to the law. You're married to Christ Roman seven and giving example, you know, just examples. So like this, you know, so Paul Is pointing back to the Old Testament, but he's teaching something from the Old For us as New Testament believers and that is a little difficult meaning we have to try to understand What was the Old Testament saying and what is the teaching Paul is bringing out for us in the New Testament? So that requires a little bit of study and understanding and Then you would have something like in the book of Hebrews Which is full of references to the Old Testament You know, he right from Chapter two and chapter three. He's referring Moses. He is referring to What the priests would do in the Old Testament? He's referring to the Aaronic priesthood. He's referring to the Melchizedek priesthood He's referring to the things that were done in the tabernacle and then he's always comparing it with the New Testament like, okay, this is the New Testament so the book of Hebrews is full of that and for us to Understand the book of Hebrews We must understand Old Testament only then We can really understand the book of Hebrews, you know, so like this we have Much reference in the New Testament two things in the Old Testament and we just want to talk about some guidance here on How do we handle? Scripture like this where the New Testament is looking back into the Old some guidance on on how do we handle that kind of text? so I'll just share my screen share the PDF and we will talk about it. All right, so The Old Testament in the New Testament So there are number of references in the Old Testament. I'm just using OT and NT to refer to Old Testament New Testament There are number of references in the Of the Old Testament in the New Testament Some are pretty straightforward like we already said Now in most cases We know where they're exactly quoting from almost all cases there may be a few where They it's not quoted exactly the wordings are not quoted So we may not be sure and one example is in John 7 38 when Jesus said, you know, as it is written He was the stealer and come to me and drink We're not sure exactly that reference But most likely is a quoting from or referencing as a 55 one, but he's put it in his own words So some things will be a little difficult When when it is stated in in own words as opposed to the exact quotation But in most cases we can look back to the Old Testament. Okay, this is what they're quoting in the New Testament right now We want to understand why you know, how and why were these quotations used and How sorry how do we you know, how do we handle it? How do we interpret it? Right? So we will just talk about that for some time so Sometimes as we mentioned, it's a pretty straightforward thing the New Testament is saying Okay, what was prophesied in the Old Testament? It has been fulfilled finished pretty simple The prophet said this it has happened as he said finished That's easy to understand and other times It's used to point to a New Testament happening that Is in agreement with an Old Testament principle? Now, of course, we know that we don't live by the Old Testament We are living by the New Testament, but when I say we don't live by the Old Testament, I mean the The mosaic law and all of that we are not following that But there are Principles even in the Old Testament, which continue today Example, you know, God Old Testament says do not murder. Of course, we don't want to murder even in the New Testament Right that principle stays, you know, God, it's not like that's changed We don't murder in the New Testament too, right? Now There are places in the Old in the New Testament that point like this the point back to the Old and say, okay This is a grease this agrees with that So for example Previously we just saw you know when when James was talking about Gentiles coming to faith in Christ That is in Acts 15 verse 15 Gentiles coming to faith in Christ James actually points to Old Testament because remember at that time they only had the Old Testament They didn't have the New Testament scriptures which came on later So James is pointing to the Old Testament to explain Something that's happening right then which is Gentiles coming To faith in Christ So James quotes from Amos chapter 9 verses 11 and 12 which we referenced earlier But he says hey the prophet Amos said that when the tabernacle of David is rebuilt The children of Edom referring to the Gentiles will come seeking after God So he's using an Old Testament passage to explain What is happening here in the New Testament that is Gentiles are coming to seek after God More specifically Gentiles are coming to faith in Christ. So he's using that Old Testament passage To explain this New Testament happening So like that we will have many other examples Let me let me look at Romans 2 there is In Romans chapter 2 verse 23 Yeah He's again referring to dishonoring God And he's referring to what the prophet said in Romans in Romans so 23 24 is basically saying, you know Even God's own people the Jews have dishonored the name of God and because of that the name of God is blasphemed Among the Gentiles and he's quoting from the Old Testament to explain what's happening at that moment. So Many examples like this, you know, we we mentioned for example the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you know It's happening there in Acts chapter 2 but And Peter is quoting from Joel 2 to explain what is happening in the New Testament So To explain a New Testament incident or to explain a point that is given in the Old Testament. So in this case Joel spoke about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit Joel 2 Acts 2 Peter is quoting that in his sermon and he's basically Explaining things that are happening and what he is saying based on Joel chapter 2 because they didn't have New Testament at that time He's quoted from the Old To explain what is happening or what he's preaching there in the New Testament Sometimes it is used to support a point that is being made in the New Testament. So Example, you know, when when we're talking about marriage A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife Okay, so that's quoted for us in the New Testament and the reference of course is back to Genesis chapter 2 where it's mentioned for the first time, right that A man shall leave his father and mother be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh so that's quoted in the New Testament in Mark 10 and Also in Ephesians 5 Talking about one flesh, but he is Referencing Old Testament scripture now that truth has not changed Example, right Genesis to 24 a man and a woman being made one flesh in marriage Has not changed so the New Testament Whether Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 19 Mark 10 or the Apostle Paul mentions it in Ephesians 5 About man and woman being together as one flesh. They are Pointing to an Old Testament scripture to support what they are saying here in the New Testament But that truth has not changed. It's still true. It's still valid so that's it's used that way and Truth New Testament truth is Backed up or is illustrated from the Old Testament Romans and and you'll find many examples like this Romans chapter 10 We're 16. Let me Paul talks about you know, how beautiful are the feet of those who? preach good news who are taking the good news of the gospel and He's quoting from the Old Testament and then he talks about The fact that not everybody is going to believe in the gospel is quoting from the Old Testament but He's giving us New Testament truth New Testament truth is the gospel has to be preached to everybody and not everybody's going to believe the gospel but the gospel has to be preached to everybody and In explaining that New Testament truth in Romans 10 Paul is quoting from Old Testament as a 53 and other places so New Testament truth very interestingly is Being drawn out of Old Testament Scripture Right, so one example is the gospel the news of Christ to be proclaimed to the Gentiles interestingly that's already spoken off in the Old Testament and New Testament text Is quoting that Old Testament scripture and telling us we must go and Bring the news to others and there will be people who do not believe But our responsibility is take the gospel to everybody right, so keep in mind that The New Testament is not a contradiction to the Old Testament The New Testament fulfills the old and amplifies What is given to us in the old for example? When the New Testament is telling us, you know God wants to save the nations It's not a contradiction of the old or the old is only focusing on Jews and suddenly New Testament is saying Take it to it the whole world. No because even in the old especially when you You know from the time God called a Abraham God was speaking about all families of the earth. There's already talking about all families of the earth Now the Old Testament does a lot of has a lot of focus on Israel But in and through all of it. It is still all families of the earth God's is going to reach all families of the earth. So then and the New Testament is being written It is only amplifying that which is already there in the Old Testament Saying God wants all people to know him and he wants the gospel to go out to The whole world and so that's why New Testament truth can be built upon what is already there in the Old Testament and one example is some About the gospel going out to all the nations and so on Right. So like this again, there will be many many passages that we can understand so Another way the Old Testament is used in the New Testament is when you're applying Old Testament to I guess I'm kind of repeating these things here. You're applying the Old Testament to a New Testament incident or truth and a classic example would be Deep asshole lamb, I'm just giving an example that's easy to understand The boss or lamb we all know Exodus the 12th chapter, but then you come into the New Testament in 1st Corinthians 5 And it says Jesus Christ is our Passover lamp So The New Testament is referencing back to the Old Testament But the truth is still in the New Testament. What is the truth? Christ is our Passover lamp But it's applying something from the Old Testament to New Testament incident or truth Christ was crucified, but he is our Passover lamp sometimes Now all tests are all testament concepts are summarized for us in the New Testament We could look at examples of you know 1st Corinthians 10, but it talks about You know the people journeying through the wilderness how they Sinned they murmured they went into idolatry. They vented a sexual immorality and so on and then Paul uses that in 1st Corinthians 10 and he writes to New Testament believers and says, okay, you know Don't do those things Right. So he's drawing from that Old Testament to teach people in the New Testament Yeah, so You know that is I'm just kind of kind of just quickly finish this Old Testament terminology Is again the used in the New Testament? This is yeah Rumanstein and verse 18 And he's talking about Their sound has gone up to all the earth their words to the ends of the world He's talking about the gospel going out to the ends of the earth drawing a parallel between Old Testament incident With with New Testament Romans 11. He's dealing with about God working with Israel actually he's talking about How Israel Has been blinded So they're not able to recognize Christ and he is quoting that from Isaiah 29 Right. He's saying okay, the prophet prophesied, you know that they will Their eyes will be blinded to be like in slumber I will not recognize Christ and he's quoting from Isaiah 29 in Romans 11 to explain why Israel has not recognized Jesus Christ. So he's he's using that explaining what's happening So Then there's several examples here where we see Old Testament being referenced In the New Testament lots of things and being used in many many different ways I've just tried to Summarize our different scenarios in different situations So the key for us is How do we interpret this and how do we handle the Old Testament text? That is being quoted in the New Testament, that's that's what we will do and I think we will pick this up next week And just look at some examples and give us give us some guidelines here on How to handle Old Testament text in New Testament? Okay? Yeah, I've tried to give a list of examples and there are many different Examples Old Testament in the New Testament Let's pause for now over here. We will pick this up next week and Try to explain How do we handle how do we interpret? These kinds of references some guidance to it and how to work with it Okay. All right I want you have one more minute to go Let's pray we will close and we'll dismiss I will pick this tab same chapter up next week I will spend some more time on it and Yeah, we will also get into some questions any questions that you may have Old Testament in the New Testament and we will spend some more time. Okay Let's close in prayer. Just want somebody to pray and then we can dismiss please So we want to thank you for the time of learning We pray your God that we would be able to continue to apply the things that we have learned in Reading the scriptures and understanding what you have meant through each of the scriptures Lord. We thank you for pastor Thank you for enabling him to explain These principles to us Lord Jesus. We thank you for the class Now we pray as we continue to learn you would open our eyes and help us to know more of you Lord in Jesus name we pray All right, thank you everyone Thank you for your patient listening and we'll continue this next week. Okay. I'm a good rest of the day God bless you. Bye now Thank you, buster. Thank you. Thank you, bro. I'm Thank you. Thank you. God bless. Bye now God bless you. Bye now. Bye God bless. Bye now