Matthew 24:29
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"
30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,c and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."
STUDYING THE BIBLE is FUN
when we Know that we are ENABLED by THE HOLY SPIRIT
to arrive at a correct understanding
of WHAT GOD WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND.
We can arrive at a correct understanding
of Matthew 24 and the Great Tribulation,
by Following The HOLY SPIRIT and READING GOD'S WORD,
IN 'A WAY' THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT SHOWS US
WHAT GOD WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND.
IN THAT WAY: STUDYING THE BIBLE is FUN.
'A WAY' THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ENABLED to SHOW US
that STUDYING THE BIBLE is FUN
and WHAT GOD WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND
is by Following The HOLY SPIRIT and READING GOD'S WORD,
employing Important common sense Interpretive Procedures:
If one is to arrive at
a correct understanding of the Olivet discourse,
he must follow Biblical Principles of Interpretation
(i.e. one must adopt a genuine
grammatical-historical theological hermeneutic,
meaning:
grammatical = WHAT DO THE WORDS SAY?
historical = WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE?
theological = THE STUDY of GOD,
hermeneutic = THE SCIENCE of "Interpretation")
...
Some basic principles of Biblical Interpretation are as follows.
(1) The section of Scripture in question
( Grammatically = WHAT DO THE WORDS SAY?)
must be interpreted in light of the original audience.
( Historically = WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE? )
For example, would a first-century Jewish audience regard a phrase such as
“blood, fire, vapor and smoke”
THESE ARE BIBLE WORDS and GOD PUT THEM THERE.
THE BIBLE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD.
When The Bible Passage includes the Words
“blood, fire, vapor and smoke”
THEY WERE WRITTEN TO PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE,
FOR THEM TO HEAR and UNDERSTAND, at THAT TIME.
Acts 2:19, 20;
"And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs in the earth beneath
-- blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
"20
The Sun will be turned into darkness,
and the Moon into blood
before that Great and Notable Day of the Lord Come."
...
Revelation 6:12; cf.;
"And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal,
and lo, there was a great earthquake,
and the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the Moon became as blood;
"13 and the Stars of Heaven fell to the Earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs
when she is shaken by a mighty wind.
"14 And the Heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together,
and every mountain and island
were moved out of their places."
...
Joel 2:28-32;
"And it shall come to pass afterward
that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and your daughters will Prophesy,
your old men shall dream Dreams,
your young men will see Visions;
"29 and also upon the servants
and upon the handmaids in those days
will I pour out My Spirit.
30 "And I will show wonders in the Heavens
and in the Earth--
blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
"31 The sun will be turned into darkness
and the Moon into blood,
before
The Great and The Terrible Day of The LORD Come.
"32 And it will Come to Pass,
that whosoever will call on The Name of The LORD will be delivered;
because in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
will be deliverance,
as the LORD Has Said,
and in the remnant whom the LORD Will Call."
...
So, by INCLUDING ALL BIBLE PASSAGES,
and READING GOD'S WORDS,
"GRAMMATICALLY" and "HISTORICALLY",
as to,
"WHAT DID THOSE WORDS MEAN
to THE PEOPLE WHO THEY WERE WRITTEN?
would we 'come up' with
"blood and fire and vapor of smoke",
as 'referring' to 'nuclear war' (??)
or
that,
"blood and fire and vapor of smoke"
are OLD and NEW COVENANT PROPHETIC IMAGES
THAT GOD AS ALREADY PLACED in THE OLD and NEW TESTAMENT
TO "PICTURE":
God's Impending Judgment on Israel?,
In Jerusalem, in A.D. 70.
See How FUN that is?
And How IMPORTANT it is,
SIMPLY to READ THE BIBLE?
That was with One common sense
Principle of Bible Interpretation.
...
Here is a second Principle of Bible Interpretation
that MAKES BIBLE STUDY FUN.
(2) Scripture must be used to interpret Scripture.
In Matthew 24, Jesus uses the terminology
that comes directly from the Old Testament Prophetic books.
What makes more sense?:
using the Bible to give us the meaning
of such Apocalyptic Images,
in THE BIBLE'S OWN WORD PICTURES?,
or using 'speculations'?,
PURELY DREAMED UP, OUT OF NOWHERE (???)
'founded' upon the New York Times or Newsweek?
...
Thirdly,
(3) One must Interpret Biblical Passages
according to their Literary Type.
Many Prophetic passages use the poetic metaphor
and the "Word Pictures", of Apocalyptic Imagery.
Apocalyptic or poetic imagery
must be treated in a different manner
then a straightforward Historical account.
Once again the key to understanding Prophetic Imagery
(e.g., Stars falling from Heaven,
the Sun becoming dark,
the Sky rolled up like a scroll, etc.)
is to see how such Imagery
is used in the Bible,
rather than 'use' (??) current events
and modern scientific discoveries to 'speculate',
OUT OF THIN AIR (??),
and "INVENT" IMAGINARY TRASH about supposed:
nuclear war,
bar codes,
computer chips in the hand and forehead,
attack helicopters,
tanks, etc.?
THE BIBLE DEFINES ITS OWN "WORD PICTURES".
Most books THAT PEOPLE
HAVE 'REASONED OUT with THEIR MIND",
(which HAS BEEN EFFECTED by THE CURSE of SIN)
'attempt' to say they are writing on 'Prophecy' today
are COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED
Exegetically from the Biblical text
for ANY Critical explanation or analysis,
to INTERPRET WHAT GOD SAYS
and thus are nothing more
then the 'clever fantasies' of the different authors,
WHICH ARE MEANINGLESS,
OTHER THAN BEING a PURE WASTE of TIME and BLASPHEME.
...
Forth:
(4) The time indicators, HISTORICALLY,
within the discourse and the immediate context
that relates to the discourse
(e.g., MATTHEW 23:36;
"Truly I Say to you,
all these things Will Come upon this generation"
must be taken into account
when determining the meaning
of this section of Scripture.
The time indicators
(if taken at face value,
i.e. according to the normal etymological meaning)
prove that Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 24,
at verse 15, through 34,
is answering the Discipal second question,
after Jesus had referred to the Temple and told them,
“Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;
every one will be thrown down.”
The First Question was concerning the time
leading up to The Abomination of Desolation,
the coming of Jesus in Providential Judgement
upon the Jews at Jerusalem, A.D.70)
“Tell us,” they said, ",
In other words, "when shall these things be?", i.e.,
"not one stone here will be left on another;
every one will be thrown down,” of the Temple?
Jesus answers their First Question, in Matthew 24:4-14.
...
con't