Interpreting Scripture by Scripture
1 July 2007
Haus Edelweiss
Heiligenkreuz, Austria
Our study of how to read Revelation continued today, with special focus on how John used the Old Testament to communicate what he saw and heard. A couple of observations from the session.
First, the students resonated with the call to allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. They acknowledged that far too often people allow current events to interpret Revelation rather than:
(a) John’s historical setting;
(b) John’s use of the Old Testament; and
(c) the layers of context within Revelation itself.
There was consensus that if certain interpreters are correct in reading Revelation through the lens of contemporary events, why can’t these post-modern day interpreters agree with one another? Are they like those who interpret the writings of Nostradamus, making his words fit whatever is going on in today’s world? Not a bad insight!
Second, after reviewing with them some examples in which John uses the Old Testament, I suggested that they need to spend hours of time reading through the Old Testament allusions that I have included in the back of my book. They need to see if those allusions help us see a dominant thought revealed in a symbol that Israel carried with them through the centuries. And then the fun began. At random I assigned each a verse or two and asked them to look up all of the allusions and then share with the class what they had discovered. Allowing several minutes for them to work, I then asked them to share what they had discovered. They were excited. They could understand the concept John was teaching not by going to commentaries outside of Scripture but by allowing the Old Testament Scriptures to help them understand Revelation.
At the conclusion, one of the students observed that perhaps we ought to spend more time soaking our heads and hearts in Scripture rather than in focusing on news headlines or reading commentaries. Not a bad suggestion!
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