A paradigm shift occurs when truth clears up past misconceptions and answers many mysteries! It happened when Galileo discovered the earth revolved around the sun rather than the sun revolving around us.
Together, in this wonderful group, we have experienced paradigm shifts: as we just did during Lent, with the help of the Puritans and Reformers, realizing that God runs toward us when we are sinning, rather than backing away, the way a Father runs toward a child with a loathsome disease.
I truly believe many of us may be in for another paradigm shift with this study.
I’m so excited to tell you how God led me, and why I hope He will lead you as well into this study of Revelation. The purpose of this week is to endeavor to persuade you to plunge in with your whole heart — and then, next week, we will plunge!
Do you need this study?Find out with this test:
-
Revelation doesn’t comfort and calm me, it confuses and scares me.
-
Revelation is so hard to understand that I’ve avoided it. It’s enough for me to know God wins in the end.
-
I read The Late Great Planet Earth or The Left Behind series.
-
I have studied Revelation and the view was that it was primarily about the end times. We studied the rapture and how current events fit in.
If you answered “yes” to even one of the above, you need this study. Frankly, I think every believer, even those who answered “no” to all of the above needs this study. For me, it’s been a paradigm changer, much like what I went through when I started applying the Reformers principle to let “Scripture interpret Scripture” to that mysterious “Song of Songs.” That changed my mind and life! I clearly saw that The Song of Songs was not primarily about marriage with a wink to Jesus and His Bride, but primarily about Jesus and His Bride, with a wink to marriage. Many of you traveled with me on that journey, and your hearts melted to discover that Jesus was actually talking to us, applying the gospel to His own, both as individuals and corporate believers when He said:
I truly believe many of us are in for another paradigm-changing study. I am one who avoided Revelation for most of my life and was taken in by what I now believe was primarily an erroneous view of it. Long ago, I was intrigued by Hal Lindsey’s bestseller:
I encouraged our older sons to read it. At that time we had just one daughter, Sally, and she decided to read it too since her big brothers were reading it. She became very anxious and couldn’t sleep at night. Would her family be there when she woke up — or would we have been raptured?
Hal Lindsey had the view that Revelation was meant primarily to teach us about the end times, which were coming “soon” and felt that newspaper headlines and events at that time in the Middle East were evidence that he was on the right track hermeneutically.
As an older Christian, I became more skeptical of this “futuristic” interpretation which was confirmed by courses I took through Covenant Seminary. They said the “Left Behind” series, which also took the “futuristic” interpretation, left the truth behind. Yet, still, Revelation wasn’t a book I was drawn to, sensing it was so hard, Who could really know what it meant? When a friend joked that he was a pan-millennialist (meaning it will all pan out in the end) I thought, Sounds good to me. I don’t need to study this scary and challenging book.
How wrong I was!
We should not interpret Scripture by what is current and popular, but by Scripture. God clearly tells us in the opening of Revelation that its purpose is to bless, so if it is not blessing us, but scaring us, we are not getting it.
The enormous AHA for me was to find out that when John said these events would happen “soon.” He wasn’t talking about the end times, but the time that began at the ascension of Christ and will continue until He returns. God gave John this book, not for the few believers that would be alive just before Christ returned, but for all the believers down through the centuries to apply to their present lives. There is a small part that speaks of the end, but most of the book is for now. You will see how Scripture makes this clear. As our guide through this book (Dr. David Campbell) says:
Revelation is not a handbook for end-time events.
For the last year, God has been drawing me into Revelation in various ways — enough so that I dared to do a 5-week overview of Revelation with you right after Christmas this year. We have a new couple in our church who told us how they’d been greatly impacted by an Acts 29 church with the Gospel Coalition while they were living in Vancouver, Canada. (West Side Community Church) They started attending when they were in the middle of a series on Revelation. Kathy, the wife, told me, “We were so moved the first time that we just sat there when everyone else was leaving. I hadn’t realized I was dead, but I knew I was coming alive.” Please watch this 4 minute clip from different theologians of the Reformed perspective (beginning with the late J. I. Packer) that this church compiled for their series on the 7 letters. Click here and scroll down to the first clip:
https://www.wchurch.ca/Ears-to-Hear
I have listened to many of the sermons from their series on Revelation and found them sound and illuminating. (I’ll make some of these available as well as other Reformed sermons as optional resources.)
I began to plumb Revelation with the help of Reformed Scholars like G. K. Beale and David Campbell. They did a commentary together, and then David Campbell, at the suggestion of his wife, did an even simpler commentary, the one I’d like you to get.
One of you on my e-mail list wrote and asked “What do you mean by the Reformed perspective?” That’s a big question, but as it pertains to this study, I told her: “Think Martin Luther and “sola scriptura.” It was Scripture that made a paradigm change for Luther that led to the Reformation.
We want to interpret Revelation on the basis of other scriptures, for it is absolutely true that the book is integrally tied to all that God has revealed before.
Early this month when I was stumped with a Revelation question, I was cheeky enough to reach out to one of the authors of a commentary I particularly liked by G. K. Beale and David Campbell. I found an email for Dr. Campbell and sent him a question. Within 5 minutes he responded in a way that brought me to tears. He was so kind, so clear, and so eager to help. His answer to my question absolutely turned the light on for me. That then led to a wonderful and prolonged e-mail exchange. I knew that was God, surprising his unlovely yet lovely Bride in the way He delights to do and still brings me to tears. Though I am so unworthy, the One who made the universe and came to earth is mindful of me! Every single one of His children is precious in His sight — not one is forgotten.
David Campbell is also from Canada. You can learn more about him here:
https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/profile/david-campbell/
Dr. Campbell’s wife suggested he write a shorter and simpler commentary on Revelation, and that is the book we are going to use. We will not only have his help that way, but he is going to be in the background. He asked me to have the blog sent to his mailbox, and he could even jump in with an answer to a question. Or if I can’t answer something, I know he will help me help you. That’s the kind of heart Dr. Campbell has.
Here is what Dr. Andrew Fountain said about Dr. Campbell’s commentary:
There are few commentaries, in my experience, that have such a depth of scholarly underpinning as this one, and yet can be read almost as easily as a novel.
This will be a longer journey than we usually do because I am committed to not overwhelm you. Many of you are balancing families, a career, and ministries. But we will study the whole book verse by verse. I will take it in sections so that new people can enter in, or if we feel we need a break, we can take a short one, but, God willing, we are going to do the whole book, and those who start at the beginning and stay the course till the end will be the most blessed. You can do it on your own time, pacing yourself to finish by the time I post a new study each Sunday. I know in my case I have heard many sermons on the 7 churches, but then they stop — and the 7 churches are integrally related to the rest of the book. The 7 churches, as you will see, represent the Church from Pentecost to the Return of Christ. They are us! He still walks among us. He still removes lampstands.
Truly, I’m so excited to do it with YOU, for the Lord has blessed us with a most unusual fellowship here.
I hope you will join me, for this is a GRAND ADVENTURE, and all the sweeter TOGETHER!
We begin officially next week. If you get it on kindle, this is what to look for on Amazon:
If you get the hard copy, this is what to look for on Amazon:
The hard copy has some additions in the introduction and in the beginning of one later chapter, but Dr. Campbell assures me it will be easy to work with them simultaneously — so get what works best for you. I will also provide a downloadable word document for those of you who want to print the week’s questions off and put them in a notebook. (I will skip any pictures or videos so you aren’t running up your printer bills!) Some of you do this study not here but in small live or zoom groups. But feel free to pop in here sometimes too and tell us what you’ve learned! For those of you who want to start with a shorter study, you can invite people to stay initially through the seven churches, which I am estimating will take us six lessons after this one. Then I’ll give another invite for those who want to jump on after that.
Word Document for Printing:
Sunday:
1. What stands out to you from the above and why? What is your experience with Revelation?
Monday: Why We Should Do This
In a short article on The Gospel Coalition, Dr. Campbell made me laugh when he said that if reading Revelation makes you feel like the horsemen of the apocalypse are chasing you, you aren’t reading it right!
2. Read the following article. What are some reasons Dr. Campbell said we should study Revelation? Thoughts?
https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/4-reasons-to-read-the-book-of-revelation/
Tuesday: A Paradigm Shift
The biggest changes in my life have involved paradigm shifts: understanding who Jesus really was and why He came; understanding that the Bible was not a series of rules or moral stories, but one great story about Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. Understanding that the root of my sin was idolatry was HUGE and I began to have success in overcoming the sins that so easily beset me. These were all paradigm shifts, but oh, how they have brought me to a better place, to higher ground. I believe you are about to experience the same in Revelation.
3. If you can, share a paradigm shift in your life that brought you to a wonderful new place.
4. The people below sincerely believed they were right — then God gave them a paradigm shift. What was it and how did it bring good to their lives?
A. John 20:24-28
B. Acts 9:1-6
C. Acts 10:9-23
In Paige Benton Brown’s study that so blessed me this year, she made me smile as she described Peter’s reaction to this paradigm shift. “Oh no, Lord — I know this is a test. I am not going to fail! You are not going to get me to eat those unclean animals.” But by the third time… (And God understood Peter’s skepticism so confirmed it again through Cornelius. I believe He will do the same for you if you are skeptical about something that is true. He looks on the heart.)
Wednesday: Interpret Scripture with Scripture
There are 500 scriptural references in the 402 verses of Revelation — compared to 200 in all of Paul’s letters. We here have grown to respect the Reformers. Their principle was scripture scripturae interpres, a Latin phrase that means Scripture interprets itself. When Jonathan Edwards applied this principle to The Song of Songs, he found the key to interpreting the book correctly.
5. For those of you who have traveled with us, here’s a challenge question. How did the puritan Jonathan Edwards become convinced, on the basis of comparing Psalm 45 to the Song of Songs to say, with confidence, that “the Song of Songs is no common love song or epithalamium?”
6. Revelation 3:20 seems to allude to Song of Songs 5:2-8. How does putting these two passages side by side help bring light to each?
I am so tempted to get into Revelation 1:1 and show you how Scripture gives light to the phrase “what must soon take place” — but I will wait until next week when you have your books! I want us all to start together on this adventure.
Thursday: Interpret Scripture According to Genre
Knowing the genre of a passage is vital to interpreting it correctly. I often remember a debate I had with someone I love who had been taught that the Bible says the world is flat. When I asked her to show me the verse, she said, the psalmist says “His eyes go to the end of the earth.”
But that’s poetry! That’s a figure of speech. Revelation is both pastoral, in that it is for us right now, like Paul’s letters, but it is also apocalyptic literature — the word “revelation” comes from the Greek Word apokalypsis which Strong’s defines as a revealing of truth, of mysteries. God is peeling back the unseen world for us to see, and He uses pictures or symbols to reveal. Why? Why doesn’t he just spell it out? Two main reasons.
Pictures move past the left brain and drop straight into the heart. Think about the advertisements Hallmark puts out at Christmas. They could just have written: “Send a Hallmark card — it will mean a lot to someone.” Instead, they painted a picture.
7. Share just one picture from Scripture that has moved your heart profoundly and tell why.
But there is another, probably bigger reason. Just as Jesus turned to parables to reveal truth to those whose hearts were tender and hide truth from those whose hearts were hard, as they would have trampled on it as pigs trample on pearls, now He does it again in His final book. Read this from Dr. Campbell:
Those who want to understand will pursue God for that understanding, while the rest will scoff and turn away from what they consider incomprehensible. Such, indeed, is the reaction of many to the symbolism of Revelation. Only those with a heart for God and for truth will go beyond the outward symbols to discover the true meaning in its Biblical context.
The way we react to symbols will either soften or harden our hearts. I want to be among those who pursue and persist, and truly I want you with me, for we see better together than any of us see alone. I want the blessing Revelation promises. Our own Diane said she wanted to go on this journey for she wondered if she had missed the blessing. I think many of us have!
8. For those of you who went through the Song of Songs with me, share a picture about Christ and His Bride that unbelievers might scoff at, but that has revealed a wonderful mystery to you.
Friday: Ask God To Help You Understand
9. What promise does 1 John 5:14 give us? What is the condition mentioned?
10. What could be more in the center of God’s will than asking Him to show you the truth and to walk in His ways? Use Psalm 119:17-19 as a springboard for prayer for this study on Revelation. Pray your prayer here. And pray now, that you will persist during the times you don’t feel like persisting!
Saturday:
11. What’s your take-a-way and why? Will you join us? Might you invite a friend?
169 comments
5. For those of you who have traveled with us, here’s a challenge question. How did the puritan Jonathan Edwards become convinced, on the basis of comparing Psalm 45 to the Song of Songs to say, with confidence, that “the Song of Songs is no common love song or epithalamium?” He studied them side by side and this was toward the end of his life so he had studied in depth the Psalms and Song of Songs prior. He saw that it was a love song between Christ and the Church.
6. Revelation 3:20 seems to allude to Song of Songs 5:2-8. How does putting these two passages side by side help bring light to each?
In Revelation Jesus is knocking at the door-inviting us in that whoever opens the door and lets him in is one who is wants to be with Him, but Jesus wooed first by knocking. Same with Song of Songs 5:2-8. Jesus knocked on her door and left myrrh on the door knob. She responded and though late, opened up to Him, but He wooed her first.
Oh yes Rebecca…”he wooed her first!”❤️
7. Share just one picture from Scripture that has moved your heart profoundly and tell why.
The picture drawn for us in Hosea has profoundly moved me.
Seeing the heartbreak of the Lord over our lack of fidelity to him. The blindness that we have in pursuing gifts and forgetting the giver, but most of all that he cannot relent from showing his dedication, he is determined to redeem, restore, to consummate his love for us.
This brings me to tears every time I spend time thinking about it.
I know myself to be fickle, blind and selfish, but I also see that God pursues me and draws me back in spite of my waywardness, somehow he wants me. He shows me that Door of Hope and offers a promise of relationship, complete and perfect of which I am unworthy- but it is who he is “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”
This is why I’m so glad you are here, Chris. You move my heart.
Oh Dee, you move mine too ❤️ Thank you for using your gifts so very well.
3. A paradigm shift that brought you to a wonderful new place.
I’ve been pondering this. There have been so many. Some of them seemed pretty small at the time, but like a one degree change in a pilot’s steering, you end up in a completely different place. So what I am picking is when I got it that God didn’t just save me because He saved people, generically, but that He actually liked me. This continues to impact me, causing me to wonder in awe over Him.
4. God gave paradigm shifts to the following people. What was it, and how did it bring good to their lives?
A. John 20:24-28. Thomas, who previously said he would not believe, having seen and touched Jesus for himself, proclaims Jesus to be Lord and God. It changed everything for Thomas. It gave him a different perspective, goal, even reality. He became not just a disciple or messenger, but one willing to give his life for this new life.
B. Acts 9:1-6. Saul, on the road to Damascus, sees Jesus. He is told he will serve and suffer for Jesus, and from that time on, he never turned back. He changed his name to reflect how changed he was. He did suffer, but considered it small in comparison to knowing Christ. And we have the majority of the New Testament because of him.
C. Acts 10:9-23.
Peter has a vision of unclean animals while being told to kill and eat. He is completely against breaking his religious and cultural laws. And then God reveals He isn’t talking about what can go into Peter’s mouth, but what is coming out of his heart. Three times of the same vision. Three gentile men at his door who need the gospel. And Peter begins to understand God’s love for all peoples.
You said that God will confirm truth that we are skeptical about. In each of the above cases, their skepticism was not condemned, but was confronted with truth. Makes me think of the Bereans being commended because they searched the Scriptures every day to make sure what Paul was saying lined up with God’s word. Praise God for keeping His word reliable for us!!
5. Edwards, in comparing Psalm 45 to the Song of Solomon, said that the Song was no common love song or epithalamium. How did he come to this?
I had to look up that big word….had never heard it before. Webster’s said it means a poem or song in honor of a bride or groom or both; a nuptial song. So how did Edwards recognize the Song as more? The illumination of the Holy Spirit. How do any of us ‘see’ truth in Scripture? Only when the Lord makes it come alive to us. Study, obviously has to be part of it. He can’t make it jump off the page to us if we aren’t in it in the first place. And He has a harder time bringing it to us in times of trouble if we aren’t familiar with it to start with.
6. Revelation 3:20 seems to allude to Song of Solomon 5:2-8. How does putting these passages side by side help bring light to each?
Side by side, you can see the similarities. You can start making connections, both the things that are exactly the same and the ones that contrast in such a way as to bring more shape to your understanding. As you think through them, God can bring other things you are familiar with to mind. Like the famous picture of Christ at the door, and how there is no way for it to be opened from the outside. In the Song, the bride had to be the one to open the door. In Revelation, Jesus says He leaves it for the one within to open it.
I am interested in taking this study!
Welcome, Nancy!
Thursday
7. Share just one picture from Scripture that has moved your heart profoundly and tell why.
When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, it was during harvest season and so the banks were overflowing…it was at its deepest. The priest carrying the ark of the covenant led the way and were told to step into the river and as soon as their feet touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance until the riverbed was dry. These priests had to put their faith in what the Lord told Joshua He would do. It wasn’t a blind faith, it was a faith in God that He would do what He said He would do. I can only imagine what was going through the minds of those priests as they took that step, but they did and God did not disappoint. He is the same God today and through each circumstance I need to remember that I can put my faith in Him…because He is faithful and never changing.
What a great picture, Sharon!
Thursday: Interpret Scripture According to Genre
7. Share just one picture from Scripture that has moved your heart profoundly and tell why. – Mark 16.7 “But go, tell his disciples AND PETER, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee.” I see a defeated Peter, knowing he messed up when he denied Jesus 3 times. I can see him sitting depressed thinking he messed up so bad that he will never see Jesus again. But then the disciples are advised to tell Peter too that he is not dead. I can just see his face light up, as he gets excited that Jesus is wanting him to know that he is not dead. The hope that his must have brought to Peter knowing he is getting another chance to be with Jesus. This verses, this little part AND PETER gives me hope. I mess up daily and feel that Jesus is just shaking his head at me, but I know that if I continue to try and do as his word instructs, I have a chance, just like Peter to follow him again tomorrow.
8. For those of you who went through the Song of Songs with me, share a picture about Christ and His Bride that unbelievers might scoff at, but that has revealed a wonderful mystery to you. – Poetry is so hard for my head to untangle and see the true meaning, but just the other day we were instructed to see the parallel between Psalm 45 and Song of Solomon 5.2-8. I can see it a little clearer as I said in my answer above that I feel it is showing God knocking for us to accept him, to grab hold of him and when we don’t the world will knock us around. And for me to have a hard time deciphering this, I can see how an unbeliever would think I’m crazy to see it. I may be totally wrong on the comparison, but hopefully I’m starting to understand a little bit at a time.
I will be with you all!
Wonderful, Liz!
9. What promise does 1 John 5:14 give us? What is the condition mentioned?
He will hear us when we ask for anything that pleases Him. The condition is pleasing Him.
10. What could be more in the center of God’s will than asking Him to show you the truth and to walk in His ways? Use Psalm 119:17-19 as a springboard for prayer for this study on Revelation. Pray your prayer here. And pray now, that you will persist during the times you don’t feel like persisting!
Dear Lord, Your Word is dear to me. Every time I open the Bible I learn something new about You. I love that it is a story of Christ from the beginning to the end! It’s SO cool. Sometimes I struggle to understand, and I perceive it will be this way with Revelation, with its imagery. Please help me clean what I need to from our study. Thank You for giving us hope. Thank You for Dee, and her willingness to help us understand. Help me take what I learn and put it to good use. In Your Holy Name I pray, Amen.
Pray your prayer here.
Father, I ask for your favor, it feels like too long since you have given me a season of showing me truths about you in a way that was undeniable, with the same message being shown from different sources, until I was sure, I could not deny that it was you. I am hungry for that.
I want to be like Mary, choosing the better thing. I want to be changed by beholding Jesus as we study. I know so often I am more like Martha, very concerned about things that don’t matter.
Please keep me, illumine me, I want to set aside my many distractions in favor of true food- true rest. I am weak, please remember me… help me.
Friday
9. What promise does 1 John 5:14 give us? What is the condition mentioned?
“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
1 John 5:14 NASB
Promise: We can have confidence…that He hears us.
Condition: We must ask according to His will.
10. What could be more in the center of God’s will than asking Him to show you the truth and to walk in His ways? Use Psalm 119:17-19 as a springboard for prayer for this study on Revelation. Pray your prayer here. And pray now, that you will persist during the times you don’t feel like persisting!
Dear Lord,
I have to trust that You have a purpose for me in doing this study…taking that step and having faith that you will back up the murky waters of my mind and see what You would have me learn. “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in Your instructions.” (Verse 18). I ask You Lord, “please be good to me, that I may live and obey Your word” (Verse 17). My hearts desire is to be in Your will, knowing that You are always by my side, as I am “a stranger on this earth;” please “do not hide Your commandments from me” (Verse 19). “Your commandments are pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:8b).
I ask that You would give each of us here a heart of perseverance in doing this study, may we pray and encourage one another and know we will be blessed. I thank You for Dee and her obedience in taking on this endeavor…go before her, fill her with Your wisdom and strength.
In the name of Jesus, the name above all names I pray,
Amen
7. Revelation is both for now, and also a revealing of truth and mystery. God is pulling back the unseen world, using pictures or symbols. Why does He do this! Why doesn’t He just tell us? Dee, you talked about how pictures drop to our hearts, either softening or hardening them.
I find that in trying to explain something to someone who has a more limited experience in what we are discussing, I search for something they can relate to, and then draw word pictures from what they do know to open up to them what they don’t know.
Share a picture from Scripture that has moved your heart, and why.
Ex 23:30 Little by little, I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
This wouldn’t seem to fit the request, as it is talking to the Israelites about taking over the Promised Land, however, God really placed it on my heart as a promise to me. That He is working on healing and growing me on the inside, and will continue to do so until I can take possession of all He has for me.
I love that picture, Mary. And yes — have you read The Language of Love? Smalley and Trent say the way to bypass your husband’s left brain resistance is with word picture.
I am always thinking and talking in word pictures….
2. Read the following article. What are some reasons Dr. Campbell said we should study Revelation? Thoughts?
Revelation gives a powerful perspective on the fact that faithfulness to God, though costly now, brings an eternal reward beyond compare. We follow the Lamb who was slain.
Revelation gives us confidence in the sovereignty of God. The devil is allowed only as much leeway as God permits, and is heading toward his eternal doom. We are on the winning side.
Revelation gives us a template for worship. Much of contemporary worship centers on the feelings and emotions of the worshippers, yet is ultimately unsatisfying. Worship must be focused on God and the Lamb.
Revelation provides a unique perspective on the purposes of God in human history. The Bible is all about the loss and the restoration of the presence of God, and the apparent destruction and ultimate fulfillment of the purposes of God.
3. If you can, share a paradigm shift in your life that brought you to a wonderful new place.
An old one for me was in college, recognizing my older-brother-ishness and my sin of thinking I was “good”. More recently the truth of our “union with Christ” has been working it’s way through my head to heart. The book Gentle and Lowly has helped me believe, as Dee taught, He doesn’t look at my sinfulness and turn away, but He turns towards me, with open arms. Some events over the last 3 years that have shook my world, have also shaken, thankfully, a lot of self-righteousness out of me. I recently said to a friend my favorite thing about all I’ve been through with “this” and “that” is that I cannot look at others and judge them worse than me. We’re all together. Different brokenness, different flaws to the perfect family portrait, but all the same. And all loved by God the way He loves Jesus.
4. The people below sincerely believed they were right — then God gave them a paradigm shift. What was it and how did it bring good to their lives?
A. John 20:24-28-Thomas doubted the others had seen Jesus. When he appeared again, coming through the walls, He showed Thomas His wounds and Thomas believed.
B. Acts 9:1-6-Saul was on the road to Damascus, and a light from heaven shone on him, he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And the voice answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
C. Acts 10:9-23-Peter has a vision about killing and eating all kinds of animals and reptiles, bird… Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
5. For those of you who have traveled with us, here’s a challenge question. How did the puritan Jonathan Edwards become convinced, on the basis of comparing Psalm 45 to the Song of Songs to say, with confidence, that “the Song of Songs is no common love song or epithalamium?”
Edwards believed Psalm 45 was a guide for interpreting Song of Songs. By comparing the 2, he was convinced that the Song was a redemptive song about Christ and the church. He called them both love songs.
6. Revelation 3:20 seems to allude to Song of Songs 5:2-8. How does putting these two passages side by side help bring light to each?
We see the One who knocks as Jesus, our Bridegroom. He pursues us in love but doesn’t force His way into our lives, He wait for us to answer and respond.
There’s our student, Lizzy!
Thanks Lizzy! I was struggling with the comparison of Song passage with Revelation. Your answer was just what I needed to get a better understanding.
9. The promise is that God will answer our prayer if we pray according to his will.
10. Father God, in the midst of so much distraction and busyness, in the times of turmoil we currently live, turn my eyes towards you. Be good to me oh God, not based on any merit of my own, but based on the grace and mercy of your Son. Equip and transform me to love your word and your commandments, that I might trust and obey. Open my eyes, that I might see the wonderful things in your word, melt my hardened heart, so that I might understand your word and your purposes. Help me to not only remember but to walk in the truth that I am a stranger and a sojourner on this earth. Forgive me God for time and again I identify with the world, and masquerade as a citizen of a nation rather than live as a citizen of heaven. Please heavenly father reveal your deep and abiding truths. Holy Spirit please reveal the mysteries from the darkness and bring deep darkness into the light. (Job 12:22) Help me to not only desire to know your commands but to love you well by obeying them. I recognize the lack within me Lord, and I know that perseverance in your word and in obedience comes from you. I need you Lord, help me need you more.
Amen, Tammy! Good prayer.
9. 1 John 5:14. What promise is given, under what condition?
We have assurance in approaching the God of the universe that He will choose to listen to us, if we are coming to Him in accordance with His will. It is like calling up the White House. The average person has no hope that anyone will hear them; listen to them. But here is Almighty God, willing to have us come to Him. Not for our selfish reasons, but for what we know pleases Him.
10. Psalm 119:17-19. Pray for God to show you the truth and help you walk in His ways. And especially that you would persevere.
O Lord, I am Your servant and a stranger here on earth. You placed me here as a sojourner, and I long to be where You are and to belong. I long to be at home. I get mixed up and confuse the things of here, which have little value, with the things of You that are beyond my ability to give an accurate value to. Woo my heart away from foolishness and onto Your truths. Help this poor one, so prone to wander, to consistently make the choices needed to not only come closer to You, but then to stay there. Put within me the ability and desire to hold on and hold fast to You regardless of circumstances or length of time. I want to be faithful to You, Lord. I want to stay in Your lap.
1. For those of you who have traveled with us, here’s a challenge question. How did the puritan Jonathan Edwards become convinced, on the basis of comparing Psalm 45 to the Song of Songs to say, with confidence, that “the Song of Songs is no common love song or epithalamium?”
I have found this wonderful site to answer your question, Dee. (since I am behind!)
https://feedingonchrist.org/jonathan-edwards-on-christ-and-the-song-of-songs/
2. Revelation 3:20 seems to allude to Song of Songs 5:2-8. How does putting these two passages side by side help bring light to each?
The “ eating” together of Revelation 3 and the coming together in the Song of Songs are both intimate occasions and an invitation from Jesus Christ to His Bride, the Church.
Dee, I watched the Hallmark ad and here I am bawling afterward. Left brain to my heart. “I’m a teacher.” All the little nuances added to a very profound message in just 2 minutes. “I may grow some bonsai trees for my retirement.”
1. Share just one picture from Scripture that has moved your heart profoundly and tell why.
I am sure there are many pictures from the Scriptures that have brought home the message to me. One of them is the story of the 4 friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus (Mark 2:1-5).
Then finding a crowd that hindered them from getting close to Him, they lowered their friend down through the roof.
I pictured the men with determined faces, holding each corner of the pallet. Nothing could have deterred them from finding their way to Jesus. Amazing faith and Jesus rewarded it with their friend’s miracle healing. There is power in persistent corporate or small group prayer for others. I have seen it here.
I’m glad it resonated with you, you blessed teacher who I just know has impacted so many lives! 🙂
Friday: Ask God To Help You Understand
1. What promise does 1 John 5:14 give us? What is the condition mentioned?
I love this Amplified version:
14 This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that [a]if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. 15 And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.
Oohhh…I need to do a word picture for this verse!
I should ask according to His will is the condition.
2. What could be more in the center of God’s will than asking Him to show you the truth and to walk in His ways? Use Psalm 119:17-19 as a springboard for prayer for this study on Revelation. Pray your prayer here. And pray now, that you will persist during the times you don’t feel like persisting!
Lord, keep my eyes open to see wonderful things from your law. Let Revelation come alive to me that I might live life on earth in your wisdom and in obedience. I do not want to miss you and your blessing.
Okay teacher — come up with a word picture for 1 John 5:14 for us!
I am for the challenge, Dee! I have some ideas. Creative Lord, help me put these ideas together to honor your Word.
Great!
1. What’s your take-a-way and why? Will you join us? Might you invite a friend?
I am in for the wonderful ride as often as I can!
My take away is when I ask according to His will, He hears and will answer.
May I share an answer to prayer: This week has been very physically and mentally tiring at work and the weekend didn’t look like my schedule will let up. I have come to the Lord asking for guidance on whether to take Friday off or not but did not feel right about it. I also asked that He provides the strength to do what needs to be done or do something to lessen my load.
Today (Friday), I only had 1(!) student in the PM due to school-related functions. So I was able to rest my voice and body and mind. I also found a resource that made my inquiry into the topic of dementia not so time-consuming. I was overwhelmed by His goodness and tears of gratitude were plenty today. And the weekend is looking manageable! The Lord showed mercy at a time when I felt like it was my fault that I overscheduled myself. He is most kind when I get myself in a pickle.
11. What’s your take-a-way and why? Will you join us? Might you invite a friend?
I can’t wait to know how Revelation is a blessing!
I will be here 😉.
I am inviting my friends!
I also meant to mention that I have experienced putting scripture side by side (choreographing John 1:1-14 and Proverbs 8:22-31) by stumbling upon it; I think I described this in the post somewhere?). I was reading the Bible in one year and was at the Proverbs bit when Dee asked us to memorize the John bit. I thought to myself, “Where have I read this before? I realized it was in Proverbs, and proceeded to choreograph both pieces intertwined with each other with 2 readers reading. It is probably the best thing I have ever done for Him ♥️. It was SO cool to have this experience and I can’t wait to have it here with Revelation!
That’s great. Laura.
9. What promise does 1 John 5:14 give us? What is the condition mentioned?
God hears us when we pray, whatever we ask, if we ask according to his will.
10. What could be more in the center of God’s will than asking Him to show you the truth and to walk in His ways? Use Psalm 119:17-19 as a springboard for prayer for this study on Revelation. Pray your prayer here. And pray now, that you will persist during the times you don’t feel like persisting!
It is so true and also encouraging that God loves to open his truth to us in His Word so that we will learn to walk in his ways. I do hope I can join in this journey in Revelation and that God will open my eyes to new truths in His Word.
Father, your Word is truth. But we are weak, blinded by our sins and the darkness in the culture around us. Guide us into your truth, Lord. Open our eyes. Help us to live and keep your word.
As the songwriter says:
Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me
Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free
Silently now I wait for thee, ready my Lord, thy will to see
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine.
I often sing that before I study!
7. Share just one picture from Scripture that has moved your heart profoundly and tell why.
in Luke 7 the picture of the sinful, humble woman who anointed Jesus feet with perfume, and the prideful obedient pharisees-what a contrast and what a picture of our (those who are His) dueling flesh and His Spirit in us. There is so much here but this picture moved my heart profoundly because of the tenderness Jesus displays and His response to her repentance and her love for Him. She didn’t love Jesus for what He could give her-She loved Jesus for Jesus. Her true repentance was shown in how she gave her whole self to Him-everything she was and everything she owned and asked for nothing in return but forgiveness and relationship. This picture so reminds me of the Song of Songs 4:10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume more than any spice! I’m not sure this relates, but it came to mind because it reveals His heart in the same way!
This is not only a picture of salvation but also a picture of sanctification for my heart is deceptive, who can know it? I can so easily revert to being a Pharisee but am SO grateful for His spirit in me to convict and melt me to turn and I want to grow in turning faster-not letting my flesh rule!! He has a lot of work left to do in me! So thankful He Loves me!
4. The people below sincerely believed they were right — then God gave them a paradigm shift. What was it and how did it bring good to their lives?
A. John 20:24-28 Thomas wouldn’t believe that Jesus was alive until he could physically touch Him. He became a true believer.
B. Acts 9:1-6 Paul was on his way to imprison Christians. He met Jesus on the road and became a Christian.
C. Acts 10:9-23 Peter was shown that nothing is unclean, whether food or Gentiles. He became one of the greatest evangelists to non-Jews.
8. For those of you who went through the Song of Songs with me, share a picture about Christ and His Bride that unbelievers might scoff at, but that has revealed a wonderful mystery to you. His passion, His love for the shulamite maiden is immovable even in her darkness and wandering time where He wooed and rescued her into a deeper passionate love with Him-He is her Joy and she is His joy. There is nothing on earth and no one on earth that can compare to Jesus and be as satisfying. Song of Songs 8: 5-14.
I think my take aways are just how much I have missed being here, and that I want the blessing that comes to those who read and take to heart the message of Revelation.
So glad to have you back!
Chris–SO thankful to have you hear, wise and tender heart
What stands out to me? I always want more of Revelation. I want to study it to help me to be bold in my witness, and to learn to endure through the hardships, knowing the awesomeness of worship of the Lamb who is worthy. I am continuing to work through the big picture with my friend, Debbie. I want to learn more and more. thanks for the opportunity, Dee.
Wonderful to have you with us, gentle and wise Shirley.
What stands out to me?
There is a small part that speaks of the end, but most of the book is for now.You will see how Scripture makes this clear. As our guide through this book (Dr. David Campbell) says:
Revelation is not a handbook for end-time events.
I have not studied revelation in a long time. You have peaked my curiosity! I’m very excited to try to understand this book and how it relates to me today! Thank you for the invitation. I’m ordering my book now.
Wonderful Chris!
My friend Mary told me about this Bible Study Blog. I must confess that Revelation intimidates me. I too read Hal Lindsey’s book way back when I was in college. My husband and I spent many years on the edge of our seats listening for “the trumpet”! We weren’t just waiting, we were learning, working, worshiping. I am eager to join you in this study.
So very glad to have you Barb — welcome! We love Mary too.
My friend Mary told me about this Bible Study Blog. I read the introduction to Dr. Campbell’s book and I’m eager to dig into Revelation with a new approach. I am usually intimidated by this book. I read Ha Lindsey’s book way back when I was a college student in the early 70’s. I sat on the edge of my seat listening for “the trumpet” for years. Thankfully I wasn’t just waiting, but learning, and worshipping too. God is so good to be patient with us and to continue to draw us close. Thank you for offering this study.
You know the old saying….”The best time to plant a tree is yesterday”? That’s how I’m feeling today. After reading through the study and these comments, I wish I had been studying with you gals all along. It sounds like I missed a great study in Song of Songs. And so many others. Well, I am here now (a bit late as you can see… plus, I’m still waiting on my book to arrive), and now is the second best time to plant a tree. 😉