 All right. Welcome back, everyone, to our second lecture on VC 106 on interpreting scripture. We've just finished our lesson on interpreting parables. I will take any questions. Are there any questions? Any questions, Ren? How should we study parables? I haven't done this myself. I'm just thinking about this because you asked the question. I think one way to go about it would be to, especially the parables of Jesus, to look at the parables. And then you can categorize them. So these are parables of the kingdom. These are parables that are teaching us how to relate to God. These are parables that are teaching us how to relate to other people. Example, three categories, right? And then you can say, well, now I haven't done this myself. I'm just saying it because you asked me the question. So what I have done is I have studied the parables, but studied them as each individual parable, mainly the parables of the kingdom because there was a time when it's okay. And you find it in that book, The Kingdom of God. There's one chapter on parables of the kingdom where the goal was to understand about the kingdom of God through the parables. Because when he gave us those kingdom parables, he always started by saying, so is the kingdom of God. Or the kingdom of God is like, and then he will give a story. So you're saying, if you want to understand about God's kingdom, it's like this. So we call them kingdom parables or parables that teach us something very specifically about the kingdom. So what you can do is, if you want to study the parables of Jesus, of course, you look at all the parables and you categorize them. These are kingdom parables. These are parables that teach us about our relationship with God. And these are parables or stories that teach us about our relationship with each other. So you can categorize them like that. Or you can put a fourth category that talk about Christian life. This is how we're supposed to live life. Example, forgiveness, things like that. So that way you categorize them and you study each one of them and you draw lessons from those parables. This is what Jesus taught us, how to live life, how to relate to God, etc. Another question? Correct. So when we're studying parables, we don't do the word by word kind of thing. But as we saw in this lesson, we try to understand the context. We try to understand, okay, what was the story? Whom was he speaking to? What prompted the story? And then what is the main thing or things we should take out of the story? So there we don't have to do too much of studying the Greek and word by word. It's because it's a story. You have to just understand the story. Sean, I think the parables are relevant for all age groups. So like we said, these were stories from their time, right? It's from Jesus time, the Bible times. But they are stories that I think all of us relate to. But I think in some cases, because you've heard some of these stories so many times, we don't pay too much attention. I've heard the story before. So I think that's a little problem with some of the parables which have become very familiar. So the moment you start saying something, people are like, oh, I've heard this so many times. But it does make sense to all age groups. Everyone connects with the story at different levels. And like that, we can also use stories from other worlds, use illustrations from our time in order to communicate spiritual truth. That's the main objective. So we can do that as well. All right, good. Let's go to our next lesson today, which is a small chapter on something we have been emphasizing. But I thought we will put it down in a separate chapter by itself. So we have been kind of talking about this, which is to avoid allegorizing. So we've said this many times in the last two chapters, but just to keep it by itself. Now, what does it mean when we are allegorizing? Allegorizing means we are putting things into the text and we're drawing things out of the text that was not originally intended by the Holy Spirit or the person whom he was speaking or writing through. So there is no natural correspondence. There's a forced or hidden meaning. That means the person was like, I myself am putting the meaning there and I'm saying, oh, it is there. It's hidden somewhere, somewhere between the lines. So I am putting the meaning in and it's not really there. Instead of taking the literal meaning, this is what it actually meant. The allegory is coming up, conjuring hidden ideas for and behind the text. It is not consistent with the scripture text itself. It is in my imagination and it is not supported by the rest of scripture. So when you find somebody doing something like this with that scripture text, then you say, hey, they're allegorizing and that's not a good thing to do. That's actually very dangerous because then everybody can make up something and say something. They'll read the same passage and say something on their own and they can say anything they want and that's not being consistent with how to handle scripture. I'm sure you would have heard many wrong examples. I'm just some few of these things and I'm sure that you've heard many examples. Suppose we take the story of the Good Samaritan and in that story that Jesus gave, suppose we say the Good Samaritan is a type of the church and we should bring all these people who are, the devil has wounded them, he's left them on the road. We have to pour oil and wine. Oil represents Holy Spirit. Wine represents what? Blood of Jesus or something and we have to bring them into the church or something like that. Then that is making something up. That is not what Jesus actually meant. He was answering a question, who is my neighbor? What he was talking about is us giving help, loving people regardless of their background. So one was a Samaritan, one was a Jew. The man was lying, there was a Jew, the Samaritan could have avoided him because culturally they're not supposed to talk to each other. But the Jews who were of the same group as the man who was suffering, they all, the priest and the Levite ignored him. But the Samaritan helped him. That is your neighbor, the man who comes to you in a time of need or you being available to somebody else in their time of need, that's being a good neighbor. So that's the message. He's answering a question. The question was not, what is the church? The question is not, what must I give to people in need? That doesn't matter. The question is, who is my neighbor? So you stay within that. Don't assign meanings to different things. Oh, the robbers who came, that's the devil, like we're saying. So when we start doing that, then we are allegorizing. We are assigning meaning which was never intended by the Lord. Like that you'll find so many other examples. You can take an example from the Old Testament. Abraham, in Abraham he calls, so he wants to find a wife for Isaac, his son. So he calls his servant, Eliezer. Eliezer, you go to my father's house, where I came from. You find a bride for Isaac. And sometimes you'll hear sermons like this. Abraham has got the father. Isaac has got the son. Jesus Christ, Eliezer is the Holy Spirit. And from the world, the church is being brought to be the bride of, bride for Isaac. So they'll say, oh, nice sermon, very nice, very nice, beautiful revelation. Now, is that what God intended in this? No, no, no. This was an actual incident that happened. Abraham said, Eliezer, go find a bride for Isaac. It was an actual story. But when we start assigning meaning like this, then we are allegorizing. Now, there's no need to do that. You just say, you know, God is redeeming people from all over the world for Washington, the blood of Jesus. And they'll be prepared as a bride for Jesus Christ. You know, the church has been prepared. Just say it like that. Don't use this, you know, some story from the Old Testament, which has no connection to. Now, if the New Testament said Abraham is the father, Isaac is Jesus, Eliezer is the Holy Spirit. And as Eliezer went into the world, went into the, from the place where Abraham was called to get the bride. And if the New Testament said something about it, okay, then we have a right to use it in that manner. But the New Testament never says that. So we have to be careful. So when you hear a message like this, and it's okay, I mean, I understand what he is saying. I understand some of the truth that is there. But to use an Old Testament story like this is not correct way to handle scripture. Right. And I'm just so many things. Oh, Moses praying with his hands is a type of Christ being crucified on the cross. That is never mentioned in the Bible. You're just making it up, you know, or yeah, so many things. Samson, he is killing the lion. So it is Christ is meeting Paul on the road to the man that has no connections. Sometimes people preach someone like this. I'm just kidding. I'm sure you've heard all kinds of things. So when we do something like this, we are actually allegorizing and we are doing something that God never intended. The scriptures never intended and we should avoid. You can read many, many such examples. Okay. Now the last paragraph on this page, there is a difference between teaching and preaching of scripture and giving a prophetic word. So in giving a prophetic word, sometimes I might say, hey, or, you know, God might use somebody to say, hey, just like God called Abraham out of his father's house, God is telling you to come out of your father's house. They're using a, they're using a certain incident from the Bible to communicate a message to somebody in a personal way. That is okay. That is a prophetic message. It's not a teaching and I'm not teaching and preaching from the scripture. I'm just telling them, giving them a word, but I'm, but we are using God is using an example in the scripture. It's like an illustration to that person to understand the prophetic words. That's okay. That's not a preaching and a teaching from the Bible. It's a personal prophecy or giving to somebody and you're using something in the Bible as an example, as an illustration. That's okay. And that will often happen when the Holy Spirit is inspiring in you a message for somebody. He will highlight some thing in scripture and say, hey, like this, God is working in your life or God is saying this to you. That's a prophetic message. That's not preaching and teaching of the scripture. You understand the difference. You got it, right? So understand the difference. And so don't say, oh, he's misusing scripture. No, God is just using that to communicate a message, a prophetic word, a personal prophecy to somebody. Any questions on this? Let me just check on the online class. Any questions online students? Everybody is here? Yes, friend. So you take a proverb, make up a story based on the problems. Okay, meaning like you're relating that proverb to some incident in our world today. Is that what you're saying? Okay, so you create an illustration based on that problem. Okay. In order to explain that problem. Yeah, that's fine. So let me try to answer what you're saying. You're saying, what you're saying is, okay, there's a, there's a problem. You take a scripture, then you are, you're making up an illustration to help people understand that. Text, that is fine. That is, you're just trying to explain. So example, many times you may hear me say, okay, let me give you an example. Right. And then I might, you know, either share a story or share something I've heard or seen or something. So what am I doing? I'm just using that story to help explain the scripture. That is okay. Like we can, you know, we're giving an example illustration or how it has been applied in everyday life. We are not assigning a meaning to the text. We're trying to explain the meaning of the text using a story or illustration. That's okay. As long as we are not misinterpreting it, don't say some different story and then assign it to the text. I hope I answered your question. Sean. Yes. Okay. Maybe I should have, you know, I was thinking about it. Maybe I should have just said, I've used it as an illustration. Right. So, so basically, um, and it's in the, it's one, it's in our books, one of a, uh, in our kingdom builders book. Um, I used, so at that moment by inspiration. So Sean is referring to that story about which I refer to as a merry miracle. I used how God used Mary to give birth to baby Jesus and what happened to bring out, to explain how God uses us today to release his work on the earth. And so they were like eight points. Example, um, God chose an ordinary person, but Mary. So I drew a parallel and I said, so, and all this came in that moment, like it's like an inspiration. So I received the message by inspiration and it was an, uh, it was using this biblical account as an illustration. So, um, God inspired, um, God chose Mary. Who was Mary, unknown person, a virgin. So God uses ordinary people today to release his work. Second, uh, the baby, the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Parallel, when God wants to release his work, he, the Holy Spirit births it in us. Third, but still it went through the normal natural process. Mary was pregnant for nine months. So we also have to engage with normal natural process. It means we have to work hard. We have to do our natural part in order to give birth to the purpose of God. Fourth, it caused embarrassment to Mary. So sometimes, and people didn't understand necessarily similarly when God wants to release a work through us, people may not understand. So, so what I was, what happened in that moment of inspiration, literally, I think seven points came in a flash. So I preached a seven point message. I added the eight point later, the last point. I added it later, but that sermon, seven points came in an instant, um, using this as an illustration. It's, uh, so now I'm using as illustration, but it's, it's, it's like, okay, be careful when you do this. You know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, so first of all, I wouldn't say it's the correct interpretation of scripture. Right. Actually, I was not necessarily using chapter inverse. I was just using the whole story of Mary giving birth. So using as illustration, um, didn't get the message across yet got the message across, but is it a great example of how to interpret scripture? I wouldn't say it's a great example. Right. It's giving a different perspective and it's okay to use that as an illustration. But if I had said something like Mary represents the church and the baby in Mary's womb represents your ministry and then that would be allegorizing. Right. I didn't do that. I didn't go to that far. I just use as illustration at that moment. That was okay. And that's fine. So it's like what I was saying, you know, sometimes God gives a prophetic word or an inspiration word here to be very careful that okay, if you're using as illustration as an example is fine. But if I start allegorizing it, meaning assigning things, meaning to various things. Oh, you know, Mary, like example, Mary represents the church, baby represents this, the star and the sky represents this, then I am doing something wrong. Let's go to the next chapter. Let's see if we can cover this. So a very challenging part for us is to interpret prophetic scripture Bible prophecy. Right. So we'll give some guidance on how to interpret Bible prophecy. And of course, in second year, we will go, we have a full course on the end times. And then in the third year, we go through the book of Daniel verse by verse and the book of Revelation verse by verse, where we will be applying all of these principles. But I want to just give us some guidelines on interpreting Bible prophecy. That means you and I understand that there are texts in the Bible that are prophetic in nature. That means they are speaking of future events. Right. And how do we understand? How do we interpret prophetic scripture? Right. It's, it's a, it's a challenge. But here are some guidelines and some examples that we will look at number one. First is understand that in prophetic scripture, there is varying timelines that could be spoken of in a single sentence. And the timeline may not be explicitly mentioned. And so the timeline is therefore understood from other places in scripture. Example, there are several examples. I just put maybe one or two for each in Isaiah chapter nine verse six. The prophet Isaiah speaking, he says unto us a child is born unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God everlasting for the prince of peace of the increase of his government and peace. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the seed of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So Isaiah nine six and seven, Isaiah nine, it almost, there are basically two sentences. Look at just one sentence, Isaiah nine six. There is no mention of time. He didn't say first a child will be born, a son will be given. And after a few thousand years, the government will come upon his shoulder. He didn't say that. What do you say unto us? A child is born unto us a son is given and once three letter word and the government will be on his. But that and is talking about a few thousand years. Because when was the child born? When was the son given two thousand years ago? When is the government going to be put on his shoulder? When is he going to sit upon the throne of David and rule in the millennium? So between the child being born and the child sitting on the throne of David. Having the government put on his shoulder is some thousand years, more than two thousand years. Already now two thousand twenty three years have gone approximately, but he's giving in one sentence. Isaiah nine six, just one sentence prophetic words about Jesus Christ. So how do we understand the timing? When are these things going to be fulfilled? How are we going to understand? You have to look at other parts of scripture to understand correctly timing. So for example, you have to go to Revelation 19 and then you. So when you turn to Revelation 19 and you see Jesus coming and verse 15 when Jesus is coming in Revelation 19 verse 15. It says out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations and he himself will rule them with the rod of. When is he going to rule over the nations? It's coming Revelation 19 15. That's when it's coming after the tribulation is over. And at the end of the tribulation is coming to rule over them. And then you see chapter 20 verse six. Sorry, let's see verse verse. Verse four. And then he says, you know, when Jesus has come Satan is bound for a thousand years. Revelation 20 verse four. I saw thrones and dominions. And they sat on them. Judgment was committed them. And then it tells us in the verse four, they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So now he's reigning. He's ruling. Revelation 24 chapter 20 verse four. So when is this Jesus going to rule the nations with a rod of wine? When is he going to sit and rule? Well, that's coming. So between Isaiah nine six and like, you know, the child is born, the government on the shoulder. Long time. So if you don't understand the prophetic timeline, we can get mixed up. So when we're studying prophetic scriptures, we have to look at the timing. Sometimes timing is explicitly given. I don't know if I mentioned an example. Timing this point number three will come to that. Sometimes timing is explicitly given. You know, the Bible will say a time times and half a time. The book of Daniel time times, half a time. What does that mean? Who can say this time times, half a time. What does it mean? Time times, half a time. One, two, half. What is it? Three and a half. So it's given like that time times, half a time, meaning three and a half years. When you say, how would he know? Then in the same book of Daniel, he will say 1,260 days. 1,260 days is same as three and a half years. You make the connection. Then he'll say 42 months. 42 months is same as three and a half years. So when he said time times, half a time, he's actually meaning three and a half years. Because later he says 42 months. Later he says 1,260 days. So you draw the connection. And we'll discuss that later in point number three. But what we're saying is sometimes timing is given. Sometimes timing is not given. So in interpreting Bible prophecy, you'd understand. Also, sometimes timing, when the prophetic word is given, timing is given in reverse. Timeline is given in reverse. What comes later may be stated first. And what comes earlier may be stated second. We shouldn't get confused. Example, Isaiah 65. If you look at Isaiah 65, the timeline is actually reversed in that prophetic word. And once again, the only way we can determine correct timeline is by looking at the rest of scripture. So here's an example. Isaiah 65, where timeline is reversed. And if you read it in sequence and think that, oh, this is the actual timeline, then you might get confused. So Isaiah 65, notice verse 17. God is saying, for behold, are you with me? Isaiah 65, 17 onwards. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. Behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and a people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and join my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. Verse 20. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die 100 years old, but the sinner being 100 years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree, so shall the days of my people and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bring forth children for trouble. For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, but they are still speaking. I will hear. The wolf and the lion shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy and all my holy mountains says the Lord. Now when you read this passage, you get very confused. Why? Because in verse 17, he's talking about new heavens and the new earth. Then you suddenly are reading about people dying 100 years old. You're reading about building houses, planting vineyards. You're reading about lion and ox lying together and them working and children being born. Then you say, how can this be? Because in new heaven, new earth, there is no indication. New heavens, new earth, revelation 22, 21 and 22. There is no indication of animals. There is no indication of people being born. Jesus said in heaven, we will be like angels with glorified bodies. So that means nobody is being born, nobody is dying. Revelation 21, 22, he says there will be no more deaths. So Revelation 21, 22 says in the new heavens, new earth, there is no deaths. But here he's talking about building houses, planting vineyards, children being born, old men dying. So then you have to understand, okay, I have to separate this into two parts. Revelation 17, 18 and 19 is talking about new heavens and the new earth and the new city of Jerusalem, which is in parallel to Revelation chapters 21 and 22. Then Revelation 22, 25 is talking about the millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ. During which time we will have work to do? During which time people will be born and all of that. And you can see a parallel to that in Isaiah chapter 2, in Micah chapter 4, other parallel scriptures. Oh, so now you understand the passage. What is happening later is spoken of first, creating new heavens and the new earth. And what is happening earlier, which is the millennium is spoken of in the second part of the passage. So if you break up the passage and you understand the timeline, then it's okay, everything is fine. So he's mentioning about new heavens and new earth in verses 17 to 19. And he's talking about the millennium, which comes before the new heavens and new earth. That is in Revelation 20, the millennium is given there. That comes earlier and that's what he's talking about in verses 20 to 25. Did you understand? Yes, no, maybe thinking about it. You understood. So he's talking about the millennium first, millennium and new heavens, new earth. Just that it's given in different order in this prophetic words. So just examples where understanding timeline is important for us to interpret Bible prophecy. Yes, Prince. Sorry, can we know the timing of prophecy through? Okay. So what you're saying, your question is, can we know timing, even though it's not explicitly given in scripture, but based on fulfillment of certain things like signs? Yeah, and that is possible. So example about the coming of Christ. The Bible doesn't say after so many months, years, Jesus will come back. It doesn't say that. Jesus said, in fact, nobody knows, but he gave us the signs to look for. So Matthew 24 and other scriptures, we can look at and we can say, hey, definitely the coming of the Lord is getting closer and closer because these are the signs we're seeing happen. So we can know we're very close. So, but we cannot exactly predict. We won't know the exact. We can't say, Jesus is coming on May 31st, 2025, better hurry up and get ready. We can't say that. Matthew 12 verse 11, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence in the violent. Take it by, okay. So you're saying, okay, Jesus said it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Yes, he did say that, but he also said, of that day and hour, know with no man except the Father. So in other words, he's saying you can know everything else except this. Right. That means all the other things about the kingdom you can understand. But this thing about when exactly Jesus Christ is going to come, nobody knows except the Father. And the unfolding of the fulfillment of prophecy, we read Revelation, Revelation chapter five. It's so beautiful. You see the throne room. Everybody's asking everyone. The saints are there in the throne room. The raptured, the body of Christ there. They're all worshiping God. Then they say who the scroll needs to be open. That means the unfolding of all the prophetic scriptures need to start taking place. It's almost like, let's ring the bell for these things to start happening and the unfolding of the scroll. So who is worthy to open the scroll? Nobody's there. And then comes the Lamb of God. So that moment in time, which is in the future, nobody knows. But it's at that moment in Revelation five, when the Father decides it's time for the scroll to be opened. That means the fulfilling of all the prophecies, all that God has predetermined. At that time, nobody knows. Only the Father. And at that time, only Jesus Christ is going to be able to open the scroll. And then that kicks off all those events that are going to happen, Revelation six onwards. All right. So what Sean is saying is it's probably a good thing we don't know when the Lord is coming. I mean, I guess different people will think about it differently. Some people say, well, if I know, at least I'll plan for it, I'll prepare for it. Different people see it differently. Yeah. It's fine. Okay. You have a question? Yeah. Omniscient. Yes. That's the Father. Yes. Okay. That's a good question. The question is, Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. They co-equal with the Father. And so if Jesus is omniscient and the Holy Spirit is omniscient, why is it Jesus said nobody knows except the Father? Very clever question. I don't know the answer other than the fact that Jesus said that's the way it is. Right. Or could he have been speaking? I mean, this triggers a thought because Jesus said this when he was here on earth, when he was walking on the earth. That means he was not yet in his glorified state as God. So when he was walking on the earth, he was walking in humanity. So when he was walking on the earth, he was not omniscient. He was not omnipotent and he was not omnipresent. He was contained in this human body. He was in one place at one time. He didn't know everything because though he was God, he had emptied himself of all of his omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence and restricted himself to humanity to what could be contained in a human body. And it was during that time that Jesus said, no one knows except the Father in heaven. So I'm thinking that he was speaking from that position of, in my humanity, I don't know it. But when he was glorified and when he was ascended and he was seated at the Father's right hand, he once again was given the glory that he had with the Father before the world wars, which is the omniscience, the omnipresence, the omnipotence. So today we are worshiping the omnipotent, the omniscient omnipresent Christ. And in that state, I would say he knows all things. Otherwise he can't be omnipotent, omniscient. So the answer to your question, I'm thinking, and I cannot substantiate the scripture, but just looking at what happened, we could say that in his humanity, he was speaking that. But in his glorified state, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, their God, the Godhead would know everything. Good. Very clever question. Any questions? All right. Next part of prophetic, I think we'll stop here because there's a few more minutes. So we'll talk more next week on how to interpret Bible prophecy, prophetic imagery, and looking at timing that is given to us sometimes figuratively, as I was mentioning earlier, and some guidelines on how to interpret prophetic scripture. This is quite interesting. We'll continue this next week. Okay. So let's pray in close. Yeah, sure. I'm sorry. At which point will we, you can start whenever you want. Okay. I think you have potions every day, every morning where you're given. So that's the practical. I think everybody's taking turns to practice. So that's the morning devotion is your practical time for all the students to practice preparing and teaching scripture. That's going, that's happening throughout the semester, throughout all three years. So that's what we kept as a practical time. And of course, then when you're going out on your own or some teaching children's church, and then depending on, you know, what we see in the life in the students, we give them those opportunities like in the past, that is before the pandemic, our Bible college students used to go and teach in schools, colleges, of course, children's church on Sundays. Then those who could would teach in our college outreaches in our missions. So just depending on the level, you know, we used to give them those opportunities. But here every morning you're doing devotion. So that's part of your practice. No, we won't do it here. We won't do it in class. Because I think by the time we finish the content, we'll be pretty much end of the semester. Like we have just got a few more weeks. Yeah, so I think we'll just finish in time. Then it'll be time for exam. So we won't have time for practice. I did it maybe in the early years. In the early years, we had a separate course on biblical homiletics and hermeneutics. Homiletics was on how to preach. So that was a separate course. In that course, I used to have every student prepare a message, preach and give them feedback. But then we discontinued that because we merged it into this and we said, okay, the practical things anyway, they're doing throughout the week. So we didn't want to keep a separate course just for that. But if you teach them how to interpret scripture, then they can use it in their things. That's what we kind of changed. Even in the early days, some of our early batches, we did that. We had a separate course on preaching. Okay, let's close in prayer. And Father, we thank you for what we could learn. And I pray that you continue to philosophize with your wisdom, the understanding, so that all of us can handle your words correctly and also bring it forth with clarity to bless lives. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. We can go for your break. I'll see you next week. Thank you, everyone.