When you open the Bible to read the books of the Prophets, you will notice they are not listed in chronological order. I have stated time and time again that while I believe every Word in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, I do not believe the divisions of chapters nor verses are inspired. Like the division of chapters and verses, I also do not believe the placement of where all the books themselves are located was inspired.
by Chuck Ness
To fully appreciate “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”, one must read it in conjunction with passages from other books of the Bible. Specifically, but not exclusively, Scriptures found in Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and various verses found in the New Testament. I also believe having an understanding of world history, economics, and politics is a must to get a proper perspective of the end times. However, even with all these tools at ones disposal we find no shortage of opinions as to what these visions of John represents.
A quick search on Google shows that there are almost 100 million sites claiming to have insight that can help the reader understand this book, and that is just the English web sites. What and who to believe can be greatly influenced by each individual’s understanding of a select number of Scriptures and ones understanding of when this letter was written. Even among those who agree on the major points find that they disagree on many minor issues. To make it a bit simpler, there are four four distinct interpretations when it comes to eschatology, Preterist, Historicist, Spiritualist, and Futurist.
by Chuck Ness
I was in an old used bookstore the other day. I like looking for old books written by Christians who came and went long before we lived. If I find one I like I purchase it. Well as I was looking I came across a Picture Bible, put together for children. Now it's not as old as many I find, it was actually published in 1979. I just could not resist. Every page is illustrated with just enough words added to tell the story.
As I flipped through it I was impressed at the accuracy of their short explanations they added to the illustrations. As you know, with children you must truncate stories to get the idea across to their young minds, without sacrificing the message of the event.
I took some pictures of the story they illustrated about king David and Bathsheba. Many are familiar with the story. The pictures have few words added, but enough to do a good job of summarizing the story. Even if you are an adult you will enjoy it.
I created a new chart that lists 23 women from the Scriptures. There are more than 23 women I could cover, but I took the 23 I felt were more recognizable to most Christians. Now, we all know who these women are, and their stories. From Eve to Mary, these women have had as great an impact on mankind as the men. Three, or maybe 4, are not known for their love of the One true GOD, while the others are remembered for their strength and courage in the face of adversity.
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