Reading for Today:

• Amos 4:1 Chapter 4 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink. –5:27
• Psalms 141:5-10 5 Let the righteous smite me, `it shall be' a kindness; And let him reprove me, `it shall be as' oil upon the head; Let not my head refuse it: For even in their wickedness shall my prayer continue. 6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock; And they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. 7 As when one ploweth and cleaveth the earth, Our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol. 8 For mine eyes are unto thee, O Jehovah the Lord: In thee do I take refuge; leave not my soul destitute. 9 Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, And from the gins of the workers of iniquity. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, Whilst that I withal escape. Psalm 142 Maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a Prayer.
• Proverbs 29:26 26 Many seek the ruler's favor; But a man's judgment `cometh' from Jehovah.
• Revelation 4:1-11 Chapter 4 1 After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, `a voice' as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter. 2 Straightway I was in the Spirit: and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne; 3 and he that sat `was' to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and `there was' a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon. 4 And round about the throne `were' four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones `I saw' four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. And `there was' seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like a crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first creature `was' like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature `was' like a flying eagle. 8 and the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, `is' the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. 9 And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever, 10 the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.

Notes:

Amos 5:25, 26 In addition to worshiping the Lord in the wilderness, Israel also worshiped other gods, carrying along “Sikkuth [or “tabernacle”] your king [or “Molech”] and Chiun, your idols.” Molech worship included the astrological worship of Saturn and the host of heaven and the actual sacrificing of children (2 Kin. 17:16, 17). Warned against Molech worship (Deut. 18:9–13), Israel nevertheless pursued all facets of it, continuing with Solomon (1 Kin. 11:7) and his descendants (1 Kin. 12:28; 2 Kin. 17:16, 17; Jer. 32:35) until Josiah (2 Kin. 23:10). Stephen recited Amos 5:25 25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? –27 when he recounted the sins of Israel in Acts 7:42 42 But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer unto me slain beasts and sacrifices Forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? , 43.

Revelation 4:4 twenty-four elders. Their joint rule with Christ, their white garments (19:7, 8), and their golden crowns (2:10) all seem to indicate that these 24 represent the redeemed (vv. 9–11; 5:5–14; 7:11–17; 11:16–18; 14:3; 19:4). The question is, Which redeemed? Not Israel, since the nation is not yet saved, glorified, and coronated. That is still to come at this point in the events of the end. Their resurrection and glory will come at the end of the 7-year tribulation time (Dan. 12:1–3).Tribulation saints aren’t yet saved (7:9, 10). Only one group will be complete and glorified at that point—the church. Here elders represent the church, which sings the song of redemption (5:8–10). They are the overcomers who have their crowns and live in the place prepared for them, where they have gone with Jesus ( John 14:1 Chapter 14 1 Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. –4).

DAY 14: Are there different approaches to interpreting the Book of Revelation?

No other New Testament book poses more serious and difficult interpretive challenges than Revelation. The book’s vivid imagery and striking symbolism have produced 4 main interpretive approaches:

The preterist approach interprets Revelation as a description of first-century events in the Roman Empire. This view conflicts with the book’s own often repeated claim to be prophecy (1:3; 22:7, 10, 18, 19). It is impossible to see all the events in Revelation as already fulfilled. The Second Coming of Christ, for example, obviously did not take place in the first century.

The historicist approach views Revelation as a panoramic view of church history from apostolic times to the present—seeing in the symbolism such events as the barbarian invasions of Rome, the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, the emergence of Islam, and the French Revolution. This interpretive method robs Revelation of any meaning for those to whom it was written. It also ignores the time limitations the book itself places on the unfolding events (11:2; 12:6, 14; 13:5). Historicism has produced many different—and often conflicting—interpretations of the actual historical events contained in Revelation.

The idealist approach interprets Revelation as a timeless depiction of the cosmic struggle between the forces of good and evil. In this view, the book contains neither historical allusions nor predictive prophecy. This view also ignores Revelation’s prophetic character and, if carried to its logical conclusion, severs the book from any connection with actual historical events. Revelation then becomes merely a collection of stories designed to teach spiritual truth.

The futurist approach insists that the events of chapters 6–22 are yet future and that those chapters literally and symbolically depict actual people and events yet to appear on the world scene. It describes the events surrounding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (chaps. 6–19), the Millennium and final judgment (chap. 20), and the eternal state (chaps. 21; 22). Only this view does justice to Revelation’s claim to be prophecy and interprets the book by the same grammatical-historical method as chapters 1–3 and the rest of Scripture.

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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