Matthew Blewett - Class 1: A Meditation Approach

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:02

   You are listening to a Bible, talk recorded at the 2018 Western christadelphians Bible school, at Minooka, this is the first class in a series given by brother, Matthew blew it on the subject. Meditations in Revelation. This class is titled a meditation approach.

2. 0:27

   Thank you. Good morning everyone. Nice to be with you here from South Africa. I bring the love of all of your brothers and sisters from there. Some of you have been so you know who they are, others will be coming. I’m sure very soon. It’s great to be with you. And as you can see up on the board there on the screen, we’re going to be hopefully see we’re going to be enjoying some meditations from Revelation.

3. 0:50

   And if you had sort of known me, at least five or six years ago, you would have known that probably Revelation was the Lost book on my list to look at. It was a book like I’m sure many of you that I got to read once or twice a year in my readings and enjoyed certain parts of it but pretty much got pretty confused. By the time I got to chapter 7 and dragons and beasts were flying all over the place and horses were coming in and the chronology didn’t make sense.

4. 1:20

   So if you did to me a few years back that that I would be doing this, I want to see him possible. There is a reason for that and it’s quite surreal actually that I’m here telling you about this reason and that is that my good uncle. Look at her and I believe he was mentioned. Actually, the previous talk about half was saying so you’re getting quite a lot of Kudos I just before you may not have realized.

5. 1:42

   But so as I was saying, my uncle Harold’s been also a large influence of my life spiritually on the weightier matters of Law, primarily things like Faith, Justice Mercy, that we were talking about in the previous session and he was, he comes out to South Africa for some time and he was sharing his wisdom and he was about to leave. And I thought, well, you know, and I hate to say this to you and Harold I wasn’t sure without him again, you know, but look, he still fitting and healthy so this is good. So I said to, you know, let me try and get one last piece of jewelry of wisdom from him.

6. 2:18

   So I said to him, look, you know, in all the things That you’ve been thinking about, have you got something else that you can share with me so that I can capture? So I had my pen ready in my book for this final piece of wisdom. Now if you know, Harold lost it at all.

7. 2:33

   I mean he does always talk about Revelation. So you know, I might have expected something like this but it was like one of those situations when you don’t get the answer you expected because there’s answer was, yes, I have one last piece of wisdom and that is get into revelation. I was like, I don’t even need to write that down and you know, this book of dragons and beasts and fire and mass killings really just wasn’t something that I felt that excited about but, you know, you know, he said group, that’s what you need to do. So it really hurt me.

8. 3:08

   You know, I didn’t know what to do with this and I kind of thought, you know, what I’ll do is I’ll just put it at the bottom of my list. I have the blessing of sometimes, being able to do Bible talks at back home and and some Bible school. So I’ve got a list of things.

9. 3:20

   Things that I want to do. So, if I put it at the bottom, it’ll be like number 42, and I’ll probably be six foot under before I have to get to it. But, you know, just keep going on my mind. This, that I should look at the Book of Revelation in more detail.

10. 3:36

    And as I’ve said before, you know, I just thought about this book that, that seems so complicated, this chronology. This. A lot of blood coming up to two nostrils and things that didn’t really appeal to me. But he said one thing that caught My tension, and it goes so beautifully with what we were talking about in the first session with Bill when the second session and that is he said, because it’s a love letter from Jesus.

11. 4:00

    And I think that is what I didn’t think about. For me. That’s not how I view the Book of Revelation as a love letter from Jesus. And I think that was the kind of breakthrough moment for what I want to share with you. The approach that I’ve taken to Revelation and that’s all I really want to achieve together with you, is I know that they’ll be some, you’re like my own Uncle who are really very excited about Revelation and for you guys I really trying to make you even more excited and maybe give you some different perspectives.

12. 4:27

    For those of you who are in my camp, they’re typically have read it but like not too excited to sort of get too deeply into it. I really want to present an approach that has worked for me and that’s all I can do. It’s really has made an impact on me. Made me talk more about it and get excited about it and that’s what we’re going to do. And in this first issue, I’m sorry if it’s a bit more boring, I’m going to run through what that approach is, what I’ve learned how I’ve gone about.

13. 4:50

    Doing it. And then the rest of the, of the time we’re going to spend together, we actually going to practice that approach and I’m going to share some of the meditations and the spiritual lessons and insights that I’ve learned from this love letter and hopefully through that share the approach with you in more detail.

14. 5:07

    And also maybe share some of the lessons that come from this amazing book. That is no longer my 50th on the list under Hosea, which is also no longer 29th, because I’m now seeing that it’s a lovely it as well. So there’s lovely, it is all over. The place if you don’t get any from your wives anymore or your husband’s. So so, Why should we get into the Book of Revelation? And, you know, when you step back and you get over any issues, you may have with controversy, I see you had some quotes.

15. 5:38

    It’s interesting. I hope this isn’t about every book, but I’ve got some quotes about the Book of Revelation, as well as being the hardest and most difficult book, but I think Asia could trumpet. But, you know, you know, there’s a lot of information and we’ll talk a bit more about it about why it’s such a difficult book. Why are they so much controversy? Not just within our community but throughout Christian. Commentators, how are you meant to to deal with this book but even if that’s the case, if you zoom out and get out of that potential – and just think about why, why should we listen to Uncle Harold?

16. 6:10

    Why should we want to get in to the Book of Revelation? And yes, some points that I think you may or may not have known. I’m sure you probably did. The first is, it’s actually true. It’s a book, it’s a letter from Jesus. I love letter from Jesus. Now, we know that because The opening verse says this the Revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants which must soon take place that that phrase which is translated their.

17. 6:40

    I think this is the NIV from Jesus Christ is the genitive version of Jesus Christ. So it means belonging to Jesus Christ. I think the KJV says of Jesus Christ and both are true. You can translate it either way. So if this is true and I firmly believe it is here we have the only Look in the whole Bible, that’s actually given to us by Jesus Christ. Now obviously, we know that there’s large parts of the gospels, where we get Jesus speaking in the first person and incredible Insight that we learn from him. But here we have what seems to be a book a letter that’s written to us bar Jesus.

18. 7:17

    And I think if we view it like that we would say well why would he want to share us with us a final letter if it isn’t because he’s got some amazing Operation, some warnings, some encouragement that he wants to give to all of us as we live our journey towards the kingdom. I think it’s later on revelation, 22. It confirms this, I Jesus have sent mine Angel to give you this message for the church’s.

19. 7:42

    I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. So clearly a message from Jesus for you. Now, we rather romantically referred to as a love letter because we all love to receive love L. My darling wife gives me one at least every day, I have a D for me on my pillow. And We are stochastic from South Africa. So most of the things I’m saying he’d a big big dose of sarcasm, Revelation 1, verse 5 says, this is a part of the introduction. Still.

20. 8:13

    So we’ve jumped from verse 1 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Well I mean, if I’d wanted an intro about the love of God and what he’s prepared to do, but here is the love of God. Demonstrated in Jesus and he sending us this book. He sending us data because he loves us. So I think the description of Revelation which you may not have heard before as a love letter from, Jesus is quite appropriate and with that description in your mind, I think you start saying, hang on a moment. How would I read a love letter?

21. 8:51

    How would I, how would I want to get more out of a love letter? Especially from the most important man who ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that is Is I guess one of the biggest reasons why we should pay some attention to this book? Some more reasons. Well we know it is the last book of the Bible. It is the the 66 book of the revealed word of God. The greatest communication ever given to humans the Bible. I think we would all agree.

22. 9:18

    We heard a Bible School. 22 to study it and understand it. Here is the final book and it kind of presents itself. Not just that it’s the final book in the Canon of scripture. That at some stage, the early church fathers, It together, but it has a sense in which it, it wants that position.

23. 9:35

    There’s a lot of beginning and end statements in the Book of Revelation where it says, you know, and often their statements being made by God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, and the end the first and the last. So there’s the sense that this book is saying, this is the Capstone. This is the end of the revelation of God and, and so much.

24. 9:54

    As we will see that, that is because it’s the end is putting on the beginning, will see that when we pull a string. In Revelation, we can see it moving in Genesis and all the way in between is just so much excitement for us to go and discover so. So if it’s true that it’s the Capstone of the revelation of God throughout the whole Bible that he’s given to us, what? It’s kind of like going to the theater or going to a movie and you watch it and you’re really into the whole movie and it’s the last scene and then forget it, it’s walk out. You don’t do that.

25. 10:28

    You wait to see the last scene because often it To bring everything together. It’s going to bring the ideas or it’s like reading a novel. Great novel. Get to the Final Chapter just too much effort. Close the book? Leave it. You wouldn’t do that. And and and that’s a challenge for all of us. This book deserves for us to say, if it’s the final Capstone, let’s have a look at what it could be trying to say to each and every one of us.

26. 10:52

    And being well, taught in the word of God here. I’m sure you know this. I mean, we talk, I like to use that beautiful idea of that the Bible is full of cross-references, but the word cross-references of sounds of a technical Echo. So we we read our Bible and we’re so excited because as we reading we’re saying, I’ve heard that before, I’ve seen that symbol before, I’ve seen that image before, and all of the Bible does this, but there’s arguably no book that draws upon the rest of the books as much as the book of And it’s quite incredible.

27. 11:24

    You see, I spent a long time developing this diagram yet. Doesn’t look too clear there, but I was little Gadget. Yeah, I’m hoping is going to work. Let’s just see. This is my Gadget. Let me do that. How is it? Hey, that’s impressive. All the way from Africa. So I could magnify things on my screen.

28. 11:40

    So, what we have here, this diagram here is showing all the books of the Bible are, you can see them on the circle and it’s showing how they all every time. There’s a connection from one book to another book. It’s showing those Connections creating like the kind of pectin and network effect of the Bible.

29. 11:56

    Now, what you can do is you can see in that diagram over there is the book of Hope that you have relation Revelation, can you see what’s coming out of Revelation? It’s going loony. Just like the Book of Genesis, the to the beginning and the end book. Incredible links to the rest of scripture.

30. 12:13

    So so it’s such an exciting book because having read the 65 books and having heard about the, the, the, the, the the lessons, and The Parables that we were talking about the earlier, talk and the metaphors and similes, we’re ready to have them all pulled together in many respects in the Book of Revelation.

31. 12:31

    So another reason for us to want to look at The Book of Revelation you heard of this one, this is one of those ones that also used to work there but because it was last on my list because here’s this verse which says blessed is He who reads and hears the words of this prophecy and keeps those things that are written in it for the time is near.

32. 12:47

    So it seems and some would maybe argue that are the reference. There is to the whole bubble and I’m sure it is as well, but it seems as if there’s a special blessing that Jesus is saying is attached to reading this book. I want you to notice something here. It also says to keeping this book, I think there’s a clue to the Book of Revelation in that phrase, keeping the book, not just understanding it, not seeing the book of something that you would unlock, some secret code and then you can work out who the baddies are and make your sure you the goodie, but there’s something that says, if you begin to read this book and understand and try to understand it, they’re going to be things that you can keep as a result and I want to try and share.

33. 13:32

    Why? I think that is true in the approach that I want to share with you during our time together and then, finally, I guess what was always. There is the knowledge that even though there are some very complicated and some not so inspiring passages in the Book of Revelation. It is also full of the most inspirational passages. I was so excited to see bull, put one of them up there at the end of his talk that God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and look at these passages here I am I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice And opens the door. I will come in and eat with them and they with me, beautiful, beautiful passages.

34. 14:07

    I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven, and the first Earth had passed away. And there was no longer any sea, he will wipe away every tear. We spoke about that, I’m the alpha and then we can, we could go on, you know I’ve done before I really got excited about Revelation.

35. 14:19

    I used to love asking people about their favorites and asking people about their favorite Bible verse. You know how many people choose that verse wipe away every tear from their eyes. It’s right up there with the top and a lot of the versus people choose Inspirational versus come from The Book of Revelation, but those same people will say, it’s not a book, I’ve really got into give me the first three chapters. I’ll skip all the way to chapter 20 and then it gets exciting again, but what happens in between let’s leave for some PhD in history.

36. 14:48

    So again, if I can help to to inspire some of you, then I’d be really privileged. So that’s some of the reasons why I think we should give it the attention that perhaps we are going to do this week. But why is it that we find it so difficult. Now I was kind of knowing that I had to squish to talks into one and the session and we’ll make a very easy for me because he actually dealt with in Hosea.

37. 15:14

    So I’m going to do this very quickly Revelation like Hozier has as you know, a language that is full of these things and those are graphic. Aegis pictures, symbols similes metaphors and it’s very interesting, you know, often when you you hear expositions and interpretations of Revelation, it’s typically will be presented to you.

38. 15:39

    In what I will. I think I’ll refer to this a few times. I’ve got accused of doing this last week in a very tick box kind of linear approach. So someone will come to you and say, okay so that’s what the mark of the beast is and that is what 666 means and that is what the woman means and you just tick off.

39. 15:56

    Off the meaning of all the images and the metaphors and symbols. But you know what? When I began to read the book of Revelation again, I thought to myself, you know this book. Yes, it’s a book of Prophecy and we’ll talk about that in a moment but actually it’s like a book of poetry. And the one thing that I learned when I learn poetry, I love poetry.

40. 16:15

    And a lot of you may not love poetry. The one thing you never do to a part is say, I read your poem with all this beautiful metaphor and symbol, and I’ve worked it out. I can tell you exactly what your poem is trying to say. The whole point of poetry is to write something with meaning as it can have different perspectives. So, that different people at different times, can pick it up and see something in it.

41. 16:36

    And here’s the Book of Revelation written in this kind of style with this poet, Stop kind of like we would pick up Proverbs or Psalms. We wouldn’t pick up songs and try and go through, you know, 45, Psalms analytically working out every element of what the writer was speaking up. We would allow him to speak to us through his symbols and his metaphors. And I think there’s a, there’s a little clue in in a, in a way. Not the only way that we can then go about reading the book of Revelation.

42. 17:04

    Well, most likely reading a poem right since of using poetry. And I want to show how I’ve tried to do that. And of course, this idea of using poetry and symbols is used by Jesus when he taught in Parables. And again, look at those ears is being used in a way as a living Parable. So speaking in Parables was something Jesus did it says he answered and said to them because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But to them, it has not been given. Now, I want to stop there for a while and I think we begin to understand what is River.

43. 17:41

    Shouldn’t really trying to reveal to us. And I think, just, like, with The Parables that Jesus taught, it’s about the mysteries of, as he calls it, the Kingdom of Heaven. There’s another phrase that I’d like to use throughout the series and that’s spiritual truths. They are spiritual principles that are not that they don’t make sense often in the natural world. And, and Jesus is trying to share those those as it were Mysteries.

44. 18:07

    There any Mysteries? Because from a human perspective, they don’t necessarily make sense. yeah, but from God’s perspective, their life And he’s trying to share them with us and because they are spiritual matters, he doesn’t just use poetry and somebody to make it difficult, it’s because these are multi-dimensional Concepts. These are Concepts that are meant to be understood from different perspectives. It’s if we consider Revelation as, as the handiwork of God, it’s like his sculpture that he’s made and he presents it to us in symbols because these spiritual truths need to be looked at from different perspectives as we go through life and we’ll see some examples of this. I mean, you don’t go to the Louvre and see one of the incredible sculptures at Michelangelo has done. And you know you look at it from the front so it’s awesome. And not think to look at it from the side ogre around and look at it from the back, because there’s so much depth and it’s multi-dimensional.

45. 19:05

    And here we have the Lord Jesus Christ, wanting to share his, his spiritual truths with us, and he chooses to use a parabolic symbol based theme, because that’s the best way for him to reveal the incredible depth of the spiritual truths that we can learn from The Book of Revelation.

46. 19:29

    It’s also difficult to read not just because there’s a symbol in this poetry that they can sometimes put us off because the chronology is and we have to accept this very difficult, you will see some people and and I’m not trying to actually even give you an interpretation of you can’t to get one you’ll be highly disappointed but you’ll see that often when when you need to try and interpret the whole book, people will try and draw up some sort of chronology and I’m sure it is possible to do, but it’s very difficult to do.

47. 19:56

    Why? Because as you can see from this diagram over here, Keep getting brought back to the kingdom. So, although it seems to be this message, that’s bringing you to the point of the time, in which the lamb is Victorious. What happens is we would probably write that and get all the way to chapter 22 and deliver the final message in the chronologies they but we start with it in Revelation chapter 4, we’re already at the end, the lamb is there and the Saints are there and everybody’s happy and then we start moving, and he’s there again in chapter 5 and then in chapter 7, we keep going back to the end. So from a chronological point, It can also be quite difficult to read this book.

48. 20:36

    So the style that is used is often referred to as apocalyptic style. So I promise you not too much Greek here, but apocalyptic we call it the apocalypse. Now, unfortunately, that word has become to mean something totally different in our English. So for example, you’ve had some wild fires and in other world is it? I do a little California to get that every year but anyway you had some wildfires in California. Yeah, and when someone sees the devastation of an incredible fire, that often say it looks like the apocalypse. It’s apocalyptic scenes in California, but that’s just because they Associated the apocalypse with lots of fire and burning.

49. 21:14

    But really that word apocalypse actually means to reveal Jesus, in sending you, this lovely does not dry hot things from you. He’s not trying to hold back things from you, so that you’ve got to go and work out, some magical coat and then crack it. And then work out, how you’re going to get into the kingdom.

50. 21:32

    Through cracking, the code, he’s actually giving you these symbols giving you this beautiful thing to uncover to reveal, all right? And, and, and the clue to how you reveal it is to take these symbols and to take these metaphors and unlock them. The spirit and we’re told, this is a beautiful passage in 1st Corinthians 2 verse 13.

51. 21:55

    These things is poor. We also speak not in Words which man’s Wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual. So there’s a There is almost the key, isn’t it? Jesus is saying, I’m going to give you spiritual things, the the spiritual truths in my final letter and to help you to understand them, you need to take other spiritual things, to understand these spiritual things.

52. 22:25

    And, of course, that means when we read about a lamb in the Book of Revelation, or when we read about a name and the Book of Revelation to amplifier, what might be meant by that idea, that theme that metaphor. We’ve got to go back to the other parts of the other. The Bible, the other.

53. 22:41

    Parts of the spirit to unlock what we’re eating. And that’s really in essence, what we should be doing, dating as we sometimes say, the Bible interpret itself, the spirit, allowing the spirit to interpret itself. And Jesus says, if you do that, Again, talking about his Parables blessed are those who see and your ears that hear for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men, desire to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. What a privilege.

54. 23:09

    Maybe this is why it says, we can be very blessed if we read the book of Revelation because there are things that Jesus is revealing in their principles. Then it seems that Jesus is suggesting that that the men of old, some of the Patriarchs would have done anything to understand would have really wanted to see themselves and we have the opportunity to read about them and try to understand them and most important put them into practice in our lives. So here’s a question in Revelation, chapter 10 verse 1. It says that these are the words of the prophecy of the things which must shortly, come to pass. So some say, well, Matthew talking about the Book of Revelation as if there’s any spiritual principles and truths, and we’ll talk a bit more about exactly what I mean by that. But, isn’t it really just a book of prediction? I mean, that’s what it is.

55. 23:57

    It’s a prophecy. So, I want to stop for a moment and just think about that for a moment. So the text you probably would have to be really Superior in your Optics to It says, at the top there Greek I said you weren’t getting too much Greek. I was lying. Obviously, the Greek word for Prophecy in the New Testament is profe me PR. Oh, you know what, Pro is and femi and the only reason that’s important is because the way in which prophecy is used in the New Testament, and to a certain extent in the Old Testament is a bit different to the way we think of Prophecy. So we think a prophecy prediction, some prediction is being made, but in fact, the word means literally Row fourth to go forth, Fair me to speak to speak forth. So when people have the gift of Prophecy, for example, we didn’t necessarily mean that they would stand up and say, you know, John’s going to win the gulf.

56. 24:49

    And, you know, we’re going to have fish and chips tonight to eat. I want to suggest anything for the kitchen, but it wasn’t that kind of prediction. It was really that they could just speak God’s words so they were prophets a gift of Prophecy meant that they would stand. What they said was God’s words and it was coming from the Lord speaking forth. The idea was this that the words that they spoke often might have some predictive part of them, but in the essence, they were a principal, they represented a principal coming from God, something that that you could grab onto and make yourself. And this is a very important principle. I want to try and illustrate it through just one prophecy. You probably know well and that’s a prophecy that was given in the hosiery.

57. 25:35

    In verse 1. When Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt, I called my son, so he said, well there’s a prophecy so what what what happens in this easy prophecy? Well, first of all, we notice that their prophecy actually gets fulfilled, a number of times. So the predictive element isn’t just once it happens a few times. So for example, when Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt.

58. 25:59

    I called my son. What? At least the first performance of that would have been Before history, Exodus, absolutely. He took the people, the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt and took them out to the promised land. And then the next fulfillment, there were many others, but the next big one that this has been quoted as a fulfillment of later on, is Jesus.

59. 26:19

    Jesus taken into in the gospel of Matthew taken into Egypt because Herod was doing nasty things, and then comes back. All right, but hang on a moment, it’s going to happen again. We all going to hopefully be caught out of the way. Old and brought to, to the kingdom. And hopefully that’s going to be in the promised land.

60. 26:40

    But actually, what is happening here? This prophecy is actually first a principal. So when we look at that prophecy, it’s teaching a principle. What is the principal? The principal is all of us are in bondage in Egypt. We’re all slaves to Egypt and we have to be called out to be a Son. Of God means that we are called out from the Age of Egypt and become Sons and Daughters of God, that’s a principle. And no wonder, it’s been fulfilled because God’s principles because they are true, will be fulfilled in the big examples we’ve given and every time we see someone get baptized or commit to God, we see that prophecy being fulfilled.

61. 27:22

    So I hope you can see that that if you take a meditational approach, as I’m going to describe in a few moments, The Book of Revelation and you look for the principles that is not to say that the predictions may or may not be happening all over the place. The principles are also if not as important, maybe even more important because they describe the spiritual truth, that Jesus are sharing and there are things that we can make use of today and we can keep them so that we can be a part of the wonderful Kingdom.

62. 27:54

    He has planned for all of us though, much, this is Vines expository dictionary, though. Much of the Old Testament prophecy was purely predictive prophecy is not necessarily nor even primarily for telling it is the Declaration of that, which cannot be known by natural means beautifully. Put it is the fourth telling of the will of God, whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future.

63. 28:18

    So I think that encapsulates, this idea that Kant naturally be known. It’s the mind of the spirit, capturing a principle that we can make good use of in our everyday living. So Let us move on swiftly. There are a number of interpretation methods of the Book of Revelation and you hopefully or may not you’ll be familiar with at least one or two of these methods.

64. 28:44

    I’m going to go through this very quickly. So these are the four major categories by which people interpret the Book of Revelation. So the first one was quite popular actually by some of the writings of the the, the early, Christian father’s, if you want to term the net and it’s known as the preachers.

65. 29:03

    Interpretation. And that is looking at the book primarily from a predictive perspective and seeing most of the prophecies as predictive prophecies for food in the 40 years after the writing of the book. So up to 80 70 and a bit off 287 T. So that is the preachers View and with a little bit right at the end potentially in terms of the Fulfillment of Revelation, 21 and 22, then there is the historic category and the historic category which includes I guess the, the most traditional christadelphians top interpretation, which is the idea of continuous historic fits into that category which says that the Book of Revelation is primarily a predictive book and most of those symbols are prophecies that have been fulfilled throughout the course of history and most of it’s been fulfilled and there’s a little bit at the end that we’re getting towards that still has to be fulfilled so continuously historic and there’s a whole bunch of other historic, top interpretations. I’m going to jump the Someone got a futurism futurism is quite popular at the moment, you’ll find a lot of interpretive framework surround futurism and a lot of modern commentators. Take this view in this view.

66. 30:16

    The, the interpretation of most of Revelation is predictive for a period of about seven years that is likely to still come. So it’s a future event that’s going to roll out. And in fact, the predictive sort of commentators like to view a lot of what We would call symbol and simile and metaphor as actually going to happen in reality.

67. 30:37

    So because it’s impossible to have seen it happen in the past, they see it happening in the future and a lot of it’s going to actually happen. We’re going to see some of the stuff actually happening in reality and then I skip the one Viewpoint Court idealism. The idealistic view says the Book of Revelation is in fact a book full of principles.

68. 30:56

    When we read it we should be looking for the principles the approach. And I’m going to tell you Difference between, in my view, an approaching interpretation is in the moment that I’m suggesting probably ends up when it ends up as an interpretation mostly in the idealist category. However, pure idealists commentators believe there’s no predictive element to the Book of Revelation.

69. 31:19

    I don’t quite bothered as I showed you in that model earlier. I think there’s a very important role to extract the principles, but by their very nature, those principles are going to have massive performance as we See the course of human history, run its time. So in a sense, if you had to force where I’m going into a category, I would have to sit somewhere between idealism and I know this is like being a postmodernist and all the others together. So so that’s where we’re going now. What I do want to emphasize in, whatever time we have is, what I mean by a meditation approach.

70. 31:57

    So really what freed me to be able to listen to the advice Some of my sage uncle was actually freeing myself from an interpretation framework. I said to myself, you know, what, if this is a love L, then what I need to do is just be prepared to pick up one or two verses, a day from this book and to read it like a love letter. And, you know, I’ll be honest, I haven’t received many love letters recently, but I did receive some when I was going out with Mark Martin and I’m sure you received some right, some love L, and when you get a love letter, you hang on every word.

71. 32:36

    Don’t you what, how did she addressed me and you know, Did you what words did she use to describe how she’s feeling? Is she really missing me or just not missing me that much. We hang on the detail. And so for me it was you know what if I could pick up the Book of Revelation and just hang on the detail and hang on the words and focus on it.

72. 32:57

    And and not be bound by some framework that says well because I’m in chapter 9 and verse 7, and I’ve already worked out previously that this symbol means that and now my mind is more caught up in a framework, but Let those words speak to me. Through focus and through Echoes and I’ll share some of the techniques then, perhaps I can get some amazing spiritual Insight that I can take with me. And that’s really an Essence.

73. 33:22

    Why I say what I’m presenting is an approach. It’s a way that I’ve got to really enjoy the Book of Revelation, it doesn’t. Invalidate other approaches, it certainly doesn’t lead to a interpretation that I can share with you that will then compete against other interpretations. So if you come to me with your interpretations, Love to hear them and it would be a part of us having a great discussion of the Book of Revelation. But what I’m sharing with you is really just an approach. So I’ve already said it involves hanging on every word you know because Revelation is so full of complex symbols. If you try and take a Chapter or even eight nine ten verses you just get lost because they all these symbols. So when you can take a smaller piece of it, like you would do with taking one or two Proverbs for the day, you’ll find that. Actually, it’s not quite as intimidating. If you free yourself from the chronology discussion and your free yourself from some framework that says you have to look at it in the past or in the future or it’s got to be some prediction.

74. 34:17

    And you’re looking at, we did see a whole bunch of things actually becomes simpler. In fact, when I first started talking about this approach, which, you know, people misinterpreted, I said this is the free approach. They said, oh good, we have to pay any money for it. I said y’all there, too. But what I mean, is, it’s free from from a framework and from from previous assumptions, you may have made. Impacting, what you can get out of the passages that you’re looking at this morning or this evening or whenever you choose to to meditate, it helps us not to miss the wood for the trees and it helps us to take less with more time so that’s what we want to try and do now.

75. 34:55

    We’re going to be going at 9:00 for meditation with with John, right. So what do I mean by meditation? In fact, I practice I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot but I practice, a lot of the meditation that John’s referring to In fact, as one of the ways that leads into this meditation are I’m a great believer in breathing meditation trying to clear very busy Minds. We have this a way of thinking we can go from one activity into the other and there does need to be a transition. You’ll find that at this Bible week. First day second day, you’re getting into it, suddenly third or fourth day.

76. 35:29

    It just feels that you are in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that’s, that’s transition. So meditation is a great technique for transition. The kind of meditation, I’m referring to is I guess the way it’s you? Just in the Bible a lot. I think the Bible is also referring to just that moment of saying silent that moment and I love the idea, I think John just said in his message that actually the gap between meditation and prayer is, I don’t know that there’s a gap. They just merge into each other.

77. 35:54

    And and so I’m talking about deep contemplation of a small portion of the word of God that is meant to bring you to a point of worship and pray. You know, it’s something that I learned only very recently and that is that, no doubt every single passage of scripture and we’ll see this in a little having said that’s a free approach.

78. 36:14

    I’m going to give you a bunch of steps to follow. How’s that for for Paradox? But anyway, I have got that side of my character as well but we’ll just share it with you. The point is everything should bring us to a point of application in my view. If we, if we read scripture, we don’t get to the. You are the man point, then it’s like David listening to the great Parable that Nathan was And eventually he realizes, it’s about himself, so that’s important. But more than that or as important as that I should, rather say it should bring us to a new appreciation or to not necessarily a new but a real consciousness of our presence. Our of God’s presence around us and the Lord Jesus Christ presence around us and that’s actually what the word worship is all about worth-ship in his presence. So I hope that as you contemplate, some Of the passages from The Book of Revelation, that’s where we’ll get to, we’ll get you a point of worship and that’s meditation. So I did say that through the course of me trying to follow the sage advice and making this one commitment, this is what I can do.

79. 37:21

    My sage Uncle, I can’t pick up this book of Revelation. Start going through other expositions that’s just not going to work. So what I can do is I’m going to take just two or three verses every morning for 15 minutes and I’m going to sit with them and I’m going to try Here.

80. 37:35

    The message Jesus has for me this morning and that’s all I’ve done that in that process. I’ve developed a little bit of a process. I’m just going to shoot with you. You will come up with your own process and it’s pretty makes a lot of sense and you probably do this kind of thing. Anyway the first is this its focus and interestingly when you look up the word meditation which appears a number of times in the Old Testament, you’ll find that when that word appears, there’s a lot of these ideas that come together with the word.

81. 38:01

    So for example, in Psalm 119 the right, He says, I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your way. So what she’s suggesting is when he meditates, it’s helping him to fix his eyes on God’s ways. Is this idea of real Focus? We don’t get a lot of time to do that nowadays, don’t we, you know, I practice this with with a youth say we’re going to we’re going to meditate on one concept for three minutes.

82. 38:29

    It’s absolutely simple easy to do that. And of course you not get everybody quiet. Give them the concept and you give them three minutes after what you say, how many of you stuck with it for three minutes? First of all the three minutes take so long and as John also mentioned our minds, we can do want to.

83. 38:44

    So it’s not easy for us to do this because we live in a world where we’re just so used to interaction, people are interacting with right now. He’s sending you messages right now. Emails are coming through for you. Yes you can look at them when we finish and WhatsApp messages and text messages, it’s a very interactive world. So focus is at the essence of it. So I find a quiet place.

84. 39:03

    I do this in the morning. By the way, some people have is, how do you get that? Right? Well, we have readings with our kids in the morning and we follow a little bit of a discipline. And then I’m a good wife is trained them to go and make their own lunch for school. Otherwise, I don’t eat and in there, Tom, I escaped and practice, physical silence, and mental silence and actually take my few verses from The Book of Revelation and, and focus on the passage that I’ve chosen.

85. 39:27

    So, that’s the first thing then. One thing that that I think the psalm says they caused me to understand the way of your precepts that I might meditate on your wonderful Deeds too often. We can we can pick up a scripture and oven when we going into the detail. Before we go into the detail, we don’t understand what the basic messages. So before I get into the details of the passage and we will practice some examples of this I try and ask myself, very simply what simply being said?

86. 39:54

    Yeah, because most times believe it or not, even if you’re reading about a white horse or a dragon, you know, blowing fire or whatever you can. You work out something simple as being say. That might not be profound, but just stop and get the forest before you get to the truth. Because I can think the trees are exciting.

87. 40:08

    I love getting to the trees but stop with the forest if you can understand and then possibly the one that I certainly love as a Bible student, is the remember Psalm 143. I remember the days of long ago, I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. So the idea of listening for bauble echoes.

88. 40:30

    He’s talking to us about a lamb or about crowns or about a number 6. We have. I heard it before. What is it? Remind me of this is this idea of its spiritual work with spiritual, help me to understand your Insight. Your Truth through remembering and then I mentioned the point earlier that all of that ultimately for me at the end of my little 15 minutes, it’s a value because it brings me to the point of worship in some way having understood.

89. 41:00

    Would in some better way. What this passage was saying to me today, as a spiritual principle, I feel the very presence of our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, of course, you can leave the day with something that you can apply something from what may have started off as a fairly arbitrary piece of scripture from The Book of Revelation that has come out of it, a principle, a spiritual truth that you can go out for the day and say, you know what, I’m going to remember that, I’m going to change some behavior, I’m going to change. I’m thinking as a result of that Insight accorded, the, you are the man syndrome.

90. 41:35

    And, and really, that is the process I go through and all of that leads to spiritual insights that. I keep those in a journal. And as a result of that journal, I’m here talking to you about meditations on Revelation, and we will leave it there for today.