Reading the Bible in the end times

How is it that believers who love the Lord Jesus and God's Word can still come to very different views on a variety of topics. In this blog, I would like to share some reflections. Not that this says it all, but I hope it will take us further together in our search for truth, for God's Truth.

• The confusion is huge
• How to read the Bible
• Before we go any further: the Gospel stands firm
• Are we willing: do we really want to know?
• Wanting to know is also very risky
• It is not book wisdom but dealing with the Lord
• Happiness and joy in reflection
• Pondering the Word and asking questions
• To ponder is to examine: the Spirit of God at work
• Living in the last times: is anything going on?

The confusion is huge

The topics on which you can think differently are many, and I will mention just a few here. About marriage, divorce and remarriage there are almost infinite views. But also about how to be "church" with each other, how to make it practical and what is biblical or not in that? How do we celebrate Holy Communion and how is baptism administered and what is its meaning? Or the question of conversion, rebirth and salvation? Can you lose faith or not? And what about the doctrine of the future, eschatology? What is and when will the rapture of the church come? And so on and so forth.

Now this is just a small sample, but it seems like there is more and more confusion today in all these kinds of questions. When we say that God's Word is the Truth - and in doing so we are imitating the Lord Jesus Himself (John 17:17) - we all do have made a mess of it. Each one of us is in a circle of believers - regardless of the name of the denomination - where certain views prevail on all these kinds of issues. These are the things that you have in common and that you normally are not going to question. That means we take as truth what is held to be truth in our group - "among us.

How to read the Bible

Still, we must ask ourselves what we hold to be true and base our own beliefs on the Bible. But in doing so, of course, the question is how we read it. I will just keep it a little personal and share a little of my own experience. Not with the intention that someone else should do as I do, but I hope it can help one experience that God's Word is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12).

Where I grew up, only books were read "from one's own circle. That was fine, because it gave you knowledge of many things from God's Word. I think it somehow taught me things of great value. Above all, of course, the gospel: that you must repent to God and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior in order to be saved forever! But in addition, all kinds of other insights that stay with you. Some of those books are still on the bookshelf.

But it was quite a shock when I first read a book "from other circles": "The God Who Lives" by Francis Schaeffer. It was remarkable that someone who loved the Lord Jesus and the Bible was apparently reading the Bible in a different way and getting things out of it that allowed him to understand the world around him in a different way. That was incredibly refreshing. Sometimes it still happens that you read books or something comes your way that makes you experience something like that again and move forward in understanding the Word of God.

Just a disclaimer. This is not a plea to go read everything you find in the evangelical or Christian bookstore. Nor a recommendation to go read or watch everything that presents itself as Christian on the Internet. I think most of what you find there is not edifying for your life of faith.

The key question is whether the Bible is still the living Word of God for us. We can read the Bible with the understanding we have already received. That's good and that's the way it should be. But then, is God's Word still alive and powerful? Or am I just reading in it what I already know? Then we are in danger of the Bible becoming a dead book for us.

By the way, what we should especially not do is just take everything that is different and new and run after it. Not just take for granted what others say or write. We will really have to examine it ourselves in God's Word so that the Spirit of God can teach us from it.

Before we go any further: the Gospel stands firm

Before we go any further, we should note that a lot of things in the Bible are just crystal clear. When we take the Bible for what it says, the meaning is also clear. Without being able to explain everything. Then we may simply trust the Scriptures, the Word of God.

Furthermore, there are historical facts on which faith in Christ is based. His miraculous birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension, for example, are things that the Bible clearly states are true. Not because I have examined the historical evidence, but because the Bible itself tells it multiple times and at length. The believer does not need science to know whether these things are true or not.

The same applies, by the way, to creation, the Fall, the Flood and what preceded it, and all the other - often miraculous - events mentioned as history in the Bible. Even in these things, as a believer, you trust the clear and reliable speech of Scripture. To trust Scripture is to trust God's Word, which is to trust God.

Are we willing: do we really want to know?

When we move on now, we are talking about the things that other believers read differently. So these are not the views of historical (salvation) facts. About that, I think, there can be no misunderstanding. But it is the other things, the spiritual and prophetic things - where we can read the Bible differently.

When it comes to that, of course, the great example for us is the Jews in Berea who had heard Paul's proclamation in their synagogue. They did not immediately reject that Word, but

 “(...)they received the Word with great readiness and examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so." (Acts17:11)

The first and most important thing is that they were willing. That means they wanted to know what the Lord had said in the scriptures and whether Paul's explanation was correct. It starts with the will; my will, our will, and the willingness to know God's will. Because no doubt they had their own interpretation of the scriptures and now there came this Paul who had also been divisive in Thessalonica telling them something new. Despite that, they wanted to know what was true and were willing to set aside their old views. But not after they had been convinced by the Scriptures themselves.

Wanting to know is also very risky

When a person is willing to want to know what God's thoughts are, he is taking a great risk. Because at the same time you know that you will probably have to let go of your current views, without knowing where you will come out.
Therefore, it is scary to be willing and it seems that human beings by nature do not have this. We prefer to stay with the old and familiar and, moreover, that binds us to the community. It is the general resistance to change and added to this is the idea that we already know the truth. So what new thing would there be to tell or teach?

Why would I want to risk giving up my securities, possibly giving up my place in the community or having to turn my whole life upside down? It is something that no one wants and that everyone naturally feels great resistance to.

In the end, the only decisive thing is that a person wants to know the will of God in order to do it. That is what the Lord Jesus said:

“If anyone has the will to His [God] will, he will know from this teaching whether it is from God, or whether I speak from Myself."(John 7:17)

Do I want to do the will of God? Then I also want to know what He wants and then I will willingly receive the Word. It requires an open and inquiring attitude on the part of the believer in reading and examining the Scriptures. Or in other words, it requires an open attitude toward the Bible to hear from the Lord God Himself what He wants to say and make clear to us.

It is not book wisdom but dealing with the Lord

So reading the Bible is also exploring her and means dealing with the Lord God. It is fundamentally different whether I receive insight from His Word in dealing with the Lord, or whether I learn things about biblical and spiritual things in a course, training or from books. The latter can provide us with things that can help us, but ultimately what matters is whether we experience that the Lord Himself makes things clear to us from His Word.

The Bereans did not immediately believe what Paul told them, but they did not immediately reject it either. They wanted to know if these things were indeed in Scripture. So they examined the Scriptures they had, and these confirmed to them what Paul had taught (Acts 17:11,12).

Paul tells Timothy to reflect on what he has written to him and then the Lord will give him insight.

“Consider what I say, but let the Lord give you insight into all things." (2 Timothy 2:7).

This is also a very important point for us which we often forget. We need not immediately reject a view, but may ask the Lord to confirm to us from His Word what we have heard. It is important to note, however, that it is not a completely elaborate lesson from a book, a theory lesson as it were, but that it is usually done step by step. The Lord often confirms it step by step. Or, and this can also be good, He makes other things clear to you that are somehow related to this.

Happiness and joy in reflection

The Psalms begin with the extraordinary text:

"Blessed is the man ... who finds his delight in the law of the LORD and contemplates His law day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2)

There can be all kinds of circumstances in life that can keep us quite busy and sometimes rob us of sleep. To put it mildly, that's not nice. But the psalmist knows something else and knows that it gives joy to be occupied with the law, the Word of God. Then you find joy. Because those things can occupy you and keep you busy, but then that is a joyful occupation.

There are many text places that show the same thing and I quote just a few here.

• "In the way of Your testimonies I rejoice more than in all possession." (Psalm 119:14)
• “I rejoice in Your decrees, Your word I do not forget." (Psalm 119:16)
• “Your word was to my joy and gladness in my heart" (Jeremiah 15:16)

The joy to be found in engaging with God's Word lies in the fact that in that Word the Lord comes near to us. This is how He said it to His people Israel when He gave them His law (cf. here): I give you My Word, but I am also close to you. The Word is His Word, written by His own finger (Exodus 31:18).

In that Word we meet Him, and when we seek Him we do so through and in His Word. The Lord and His Word are intimately connected for us, as the Psalmist also testifies:

“Blessed are those who observe His testimonies, seeking Him with all their heart, (...) I seek Thee with all my heart, let me not depart from Thy commandments." (Psalm 119:2, 10)

When we want to know the Lord better, we must delve into His Word, as Solomon also described.

"(...) if you cry out for understanding, if you sound your voice for insight, if you seek it like silver, pursue it like hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD, find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, out of His mouth [His Word]  come knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:3-6)

Pondering the Word and asking questions

There is something else special about pondering God's Word. This is what struck me in an English Bible about the word "pondering" from Psalm 1:2. For there was the comment there that the word "ponder" has the meaning of "to reflect by talking to oneself.

This is separate, because how can you talk to yourself? What it doesn't mean is that you are always telling yourself the meaning of what you are reading. Because that's pointless and doesn't really help you gain insight. And rehearsing the text within yourself can degenerate into a mantra, which is praying in a "pagan way" (see Matthew 6:7). With that, so to speak, you are even "further from home.

Therefore, I think it means asking yourself questions about the text of God's Word. It is the same as what the Lord Jesus did when He was in the temple as a 12-year-old boy: "He sat in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and answers." (Luke 2:46-47). Listening and asking questions, trying to understand and asking questions again.  

Asking questions is a special quality God gave to man. At a young age, your children are already asking you questions. It is part of becoming an adult and should last throughout life. To keep asking is to keep growing, even in heavenly things, the things of God (John 3:12; 1 Corinthians 2:11). Paul indicates that we have to change our thinking¹ need to keep renewing and he does not specify an age limit with it:

• “(…) be changed by the renewal of your mind [thinking]" (Romans 12:2)
• “(…) That you be renewed in the spirit of your thinking" (Ephesians 4:23)

In a sense, we must always remain young in this so that the Lord God can continue to reveal His things to us. The things that are hidden from man by nature.

“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to young children." (Matthew 11:25)

TO THINK ABOUT:
ETERNITY IS IN SOME WAYS A CONTINUATION OF OUR EARTHLY LIFE.
SO WE DO NOT STOP GROWING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER AND
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND OF THINGS ABOVE.

To ponder is to examine: the Spirit of God at work

The things of God are hidden from the natural man, the Lord Jesus told His Father. Paul also writes something similar to the Corinthians:

“But it is as it is written, What no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no human heart has conceived, that is what God has prepared for those who love Him. ¹⁰ To us, however, God has revealed it through His Spirit. After all, the Spirit investigates all things, even the depths of God.
¹¹ For who among men knows the things of man but the spirit of man which is in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God but the Spirit of God. ¹² And we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is of God, that we might know the things which are graciously given to us by God." (Corinthians 2:9-12)

I wrote about this part years ago and I think it still holds true today². But what I want to talk a little bit more about here is that the Spirit of God 'explores'. This is an "attribute" of the Spirit of God, but also of the spirit of man.
The word "examine" usually simply means to search and it has to do with seeking or inquiring about information. Looking at the use of this word in the New Testament, we see that it has to do with examining Scripture or the heart³.

It seems to me that the mind of man enables him to examine what the truth is. What is the true meaning of the things that the Word of God says. With the mind we can read and understand the words, but when it comes to the question of what they really mean - what the truth is - that is something that the mind investigates "in cooperation with" God's Spirit. The Spirit of God is not called "the Spirit of truth" for nothing (John 14:17, 15:26; 16:13).

When you lose your house key you will first think and try to remember some things. Then you search the places where it might be until you find it. So it is the same way in seeking the meaning of God's Word, the truth. That is a process of asking questions and seeking answers and continuing to search until you find it. It is a process that absolutely cannot be done without the Spirit of God and in which He wants to lead us.

“Pray, and you will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9)

Living in the last times: is anything going on?

We live in the time of the end and we are fast approaching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In connection with this, there are a few topics that should (should?) be of special interest to us. They are the things that the Bible writes prophetically about and that must happen before Christ appears and establishes His kingdom here on earth.

God has written to us in His Word about that. But even then there is the big question of how we read it. Prophecy is also quite a subject on which there are completely different opinions. Explanations are strongly colored by the doctrinal views of the denomination and no one escapes it, including me.

Yet your view - how you read the Bible - determines how you look at the world today. Our perception of the world should be steeped in God's Word, in His view of things.

Below I will give an example that shows that it makes a lot of difference how you read the Bible, or in other words, through which glasses you look.

I. If you assume that the rapture of the church will take place before Revelation 6, then you may still be able to give a biblical interpretation to the symbols of the scroll, seals and horsemen, but interpreting the various horsemen is more or less looking at the coffee table. You can do little more than parrot the Bible text and say what a terrible time that will be. In this view, this terrible event - and everything associated with it - remains rather distant. These are then all things for after the rapture of the church.

II. But if your premise is that the rapture of the church need not necessarily take place before the four horsemen of Revelation 6, then the question is whether this may already be in play now. You can then conclude - as we have already pondered earlier⁴ - that from the time of enlightenment Satan is engaged in his final attempt to tear all mankind away from God. According to this interpretation, since the 19^th century by force. According to this view, four seals have already been broken and we are now living under the fourth horseman, whose name is "death.

According to Roger Liebi, the end times began in 1882, when the globally dispersed Jews returned to the land of their ancestors. He described this in a book, in which he examined the extent to which Bible prophecies had already been fulfilled. From that, he drew the conclusion that at the end of the 19^th century the biblical end time has begun⁵.
I find it particularly striking that Johan Schoor's interpretation of the four horsemen from Revelation 6 is almost seamless with Liebi's conclusion. In terms of focus, they are different; one is aimed at the people of Israel and the other at the Christian world. But in terms of timing, you can superimpose them so much.

Now you might say that these things are not written that way in the Bible. That is indeed true, literally it is not like that. But remember that both have done historical research in light of the Bible and have drawn their conclusions from that. They are not just interpretations or out-of-the-blue views, but they are historically based. In doing so, they are in line with the Bible, because the entire Bible reports on historical facts. From beginning to end, it deals with actual events. We can also interpret Revelation 2 and 3, for example, as a historical account of Christianity, and most of us have no problem with that either.

I hope this clearly illustrates that our way of reading the Bible can rather obstruct our view of its truth. The Bible is reliable, not only about history, but also about the present and also about the future.

But let us renew our thinking by reading and letting God's Word speak questioningly and with an open heart.

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Footnotes

1. In the two texts below, "disposition" and "thinking" are the same word in the original Greek. ↩︎
2. See here: https://goddienen.nu/wij-hebben-de-gedachten-van-christus/ ↩︎
3. For example, in John 5:39;7:52; Romans 8:27; 1 Peter 1:11. ↩︎
4. See here (https://goddienen.nu/symboliek-in-openbaring-6/) and here (https://goddienen.nu/terugkijken-om-vooruit-te-kunnen-zien/) ↩︎
5. "Are we really living in the end times? ISBN 9789066031630. See also here: https://goddienen.nu/terugkijken-om-vooruit-te-kunnen-zien/#aioseo-hondervijfenzeventig-vervulde-profetieen ↩︎