Interpretation-Hermeneutics

This presentation presents a model of interpretation that seeks to convey Daniel's fourth and final prophecy as the continuation and fullest expression of the three that precede it, giving each power and emphasis proportional to what it receives in chapters 2, 7, 8, and 9. It emphasizes the parallel between Daniel 11:40a and Revelation 13:3, binding Daniel together with Revelation. It also emphasizes the parallel between Daniel 11:40b–45 and The Great Controversy chapters 35–40, binding Daniel together with the Spirit of Prophecy.

This presentation examines the six instances of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” that appear in the Gospel of Matthew, with the purpose of understanding its literary and theological meaning. These six phrases are read as symbolic descriptions, functioning as eschatological metaphoric images of exclusion and condemnation. Each phrase is investigated in its own literary context, establishing thematic connections between these pericopes and the Gospel of Matthew as a whole.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is usually described with cosmic language: cosmic signs in the heavens or earth-shattering events on this planet. This apocalyptic dimension seems to have a counter argument in 2 Peter 3:12—the believer is to look for and hasten the coming of the day of the Lord. On the basis of the translation of the participle speudontas some have taken this passage to mean that human beings can influence the timing of the second coming, while others have opposed this view—arguing instead that the participle should be translated as “eagerly awaiting” instead of “hasten.” Additionally, scholars have had different opinions about who and how people can influence the Parousia. Additional questions have been raised: Is this passage referring to the believer as an individual or the church as a body of believers? And is orthopraxy or social concern the criteria for the “hastening”? This presentation briefly examines various models of explanation for 2 Peter 3:12 and then resolves the passage by examining it in its larger context.

James 2:10 is declaration rather than demonstration. Acknowledging that truth, this presentation employs, and elaborates on, the explanatory power of Christ’s crucifixion to clarify the association between murder and lying, criminal violations whose common origins Jesus attributes to the devil. And whereas divine intervention in holy war is the historical manifestation of the cosmic conflict, this presentation seeks to show how the historical event of the crucifixion of the Warrior God who is Prince of Peace constitutes ultimate proof for Jesus’ linkage between murder and lying: implicating the devil as originator of both, identifying the devil as the original and unscrupulous aggressor in cosmic war, and discussing the pacific and restorative nature of God’s involvement with cosmic conflict.

From its first verse to its very last, Revelation is replete with the language of imminence. Its temporal emphasis poses a problem in light of the almost two millennia-long wait for the soon coming of Christ. This presentation identifies and analyses seven expressions of imminence in Revelation and makes an attempt to interpret the book’s temporal perspective, paying attention to the matter of genre and the salvation-historical thought framework of the biblical author, particularly to the Christ-event as the center of human history.

This presentation identifies the law of God, the Ten Commandments, in 1 Corinthians 15:56 and its implications on the eschatological church. The term “law” appears in isolation in the resurrection text, causing some to consider it an interpolation; however, its presence here not only heightens the continuity of God’s law in the eschatological church, but also its significance in the work of redemption and ultimate victory over sin and death, a development that will usher in eschatological rest in God’s entire universe.

Timely applications of the predictions made by biblical prophets often eclipse their timeless qualities. This presentation points to a need to pay more attention to the timeless aspects of biblical prophetic messages, particularly those that relate to the end times. To this end, statements like “the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, the stars will fall from the sky” are surveyed in their original Old Testament contexts and genres. The presentation closes with a call to Adventist biblical scholars to give more attention to the timeless aspects of biblical prophetic predictions.

Understanding and interpreting the last three chapters of the book of Daniel have always been a challenge to scholars and readers of the Bible. The central prophetic content of Daniel 11:2b–12:3 that refers to the mysterious kings of the north and the south has been particularly obscure. Though this section has been either studied superficially or totally ignored in Adventist literature, during the last twenty years there has been a change toward this prophecy. This presentation also evaluates new approaches to Daniel 11 facing Adventism. This study recognizes the basic importance of grammatical and syntactical work in the exegetical enterprise. Furthermore, it demonstrates that structural analysis provides better comprehension of the passage and the flow of thoughts contained in it. It also deals with the parallelism of the Danielic prophecies and hints the chapter itself provides for its interpretation. These guidelines offer a structure for understanding Daniel 10–12.

The most notorious number in the Bible is the enigmatic number of the Sea Beast, 666 (Rev 13:18). After discussing the visual representation of this number in the earliest Greek manuscripts in light of recent numerical and papyrological research, I will explore the meaning of the verb ψηφίζω in 13:18 and other biblical and extra-biblical texts. I conclude that 666 is not a number to be understood as a series of three sixes, that the interpretation of the cryptogram must be understood from the standpoint of psephical calculations of the numerical equivalents the letters of ancient alphabets, and that the symbolic meaning of the number, or of its factor of six, is not primary to the text.

Introduction The acceptance of Ellen G. White’s modern-day prophetic gift naturally raises questions about the relationship between her writings and the biblical writings. If the same divine source generated both sets of writings, one may legitimately ask for the authority and finality of Ellen W...