Interpreting Parables and Prophecies, Part II (Religion)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Thursday, January 17, 2013, 22:27 (4326 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

Part II-Prophecy in the bible becomes a sticky subject, but it is not impenetrable. The primary difference between interpreting parables and prophecy in the bible is that you have to cross-reference history as well. The bible itself will give you enough detail to identify the references, but without a working knowledge of history the references will not always be clear.-An excellent example of this is in the book of Daniel, chapter 8. In this chapter, Daniel receives a vision of some creatures, and, more importantly, and explanation that we can use as a reference:-18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.-19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.-20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.-21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.-22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.-
Let's see, a powerful king of Greece that was 'broken' and replaced by four others... Alexander the Great. More importantly, we have a creature representing a world power and a horn representing a King. What about the rest of the prophecy? Did any of them ever achieve the success of Alexander, no. After the death of Alexander, Greece was never again a world power equal to what it was during his rule.-This particular chapter of the bible is what I like to refer to as a Key chapter, not because of its importance, but because it unlocks understanding of other parts of the bible. More examples will follow in the posts to come.-Key Scriptures-As mentioned previously, key scriptures unlock understanding of other prophecies. For example, the prophecy here in Daniel bears a striking resemblance to the prophecies of the wild beasts, and for good reason! The explanation of the words in Danial provide the basis for understanding the explanation of those same creatures in Revelation. -
There are several such key scriptures, and as this series of posts progresses I will do my best to link the key with the lock, as it were, so that you can verify it for yourself should you be so inclined. -Part III of the introduction to this thread is going to be (hopefully) the last post before we get into the meat and potatoes of some prophecy, and it is going to cover error checking methodology and warnings from the author about how to read and use the book.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.