Tonight we are headed to a city made by God called the New JERUSALEM,
It has Twelve Gates named after the 12 JEWISH Apostles,
There are Twelve Foundations named after the 12 Tribes of ISRAEL,
God sits on a hill called ZION,
And we are heading to a Feast with ABRAHAM, ISAAC and JACOB already SEATED!
Geography is very important to Bible study and interpretation. Everything happened somewhere; and if God repeatedly uses a special place, we should take note.
That brings us to the “most mentioned” place in God’s Word: Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is BIG in God’s Word
The most mentioned place in the Bible is a city called Jerusalem.
The center of the world and the prophetic universe is the same city.
Jerusalem is the city that God has chosen for Himself. 1 Kings 11:13 (NKJV)
Ancient maps put Jerusalem In the center of the world, and I think they were right.
When Jesus told His disciples and us about the future he built every word of it around one spot on earth (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). Jesus framed His words about the rest of the history of this planet by the sight of Jerusalem in all its earthly glory spread in front of Him.
Look again at Christ’s very first words in Matthew 24:2. All that He says about His second coming is introduced by those words. He said keep your eye on Jerusalem. I am ascending from the Mount of Olives (the center of Jerusalem then and now) and I am returning to the Mount of Olives.
When Jesus told His disciples and us about the future he built every word of it around one city on earth named Jerusalem (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). Jesus framed His words about the rest of the history of this planet by the sight of Jerusalem in all its earthly glory spread out in front of Him. Jerusalem is the trigger that will set off the grand finale for planet earth.
Jerusalem is the Trigger
Twenty-six hundred years ago God foretold that the fate of the entire planet earth would hinge upon one city.
Jesus explained world events would be tied to Jerusalem in Matthew 24, where Jesus also saw a Jewish Temple rebuilt and part of the Tribulation events.
So for this to Temple to be built (that Paul, John, and Daniel also saw prophetically, with Christ), something must happen during the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). That may be what we are seeing happening all around us in the world events touching upon the Nation of Israel.
New Testament Gospel History. Our faith is so tied to the events of the NT. God picked a spot for the Drama of Redemption, and that history is so tied to the Land and the Book. Again, the history of the New Testament is written is a flow that ties each of the 27 pieces together. The books are each in themselves a map that traces the history so dear to us. Come and see how our New Testaments are 27 books but one amazing event: Christ! Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, & Acts all are filled with real historical sites you can see, feel, and almost hear the sounds of what really happened there just as your Bible records.
Tonight we are headed to a city made by God called the New JERUSALEM,
It has Twelve Gates named after the 12 JEWISH Apostles,
There are Twelve Foundations named after the 12 Tribes of ISRAEL,
God sits on a hill called ZION,
And we are heading to a Feast with ABRAHAM, ISAAC and JACOB already SEATED!
As a student of God’s Word for over 40 years, there is one simple question that fills my heart and mind as I read the Bible, “What does this passage mean?”
Bible teachers are called to explain the Bible, to help people understand what the Bible means, and how it fits together into one powerful message from God to us.
The only way to apply God’s Word correctly is to understand first what God has said, what He meant, and then what response He desires from us. That is why we have started a monthly study of the elements of Biblical Interpretation.
One of the amazing elements of Holy Land travel is that you are seeing the entire spectrum of Old Testament events all at once. Many sites have witnessed everything from Abraham through Christ and up to the present. So, for most believers this is bewildering. Through a few very easy memory devices we can grasp the flow and key events of the Od Testament events and how the 39 Books fit into that flow of history and tie together with the Land itself. This is like a Jet Tour of the Old Testament in a time machine. This class will change how you look at your Bible.
As a student of God’s Word for over 40 years, there is one simple question that fills my heart and mind as I read the Bible, “What does this passage mean?”
What is Biblical History?
How Do the Books of the Bible Fit Into History?
How Do We Know the Dates of Events in the Bible?
What are Some of the Key Events in the Bible Everyone Should Know?
The Bible is a Book that came from a geographic place, that place is long ago and far away.
The origin for each of the words is from beyond earth, since God Himself breathed out each word. But the writing down of the text of each book, that makes up the Book of Books called the Bible, took place on three continents: Europe (some of Paul’s Epistles), Africa (some of Moses’ writings), and Asia (where most of the Bible was written and took place in the Middle East and Asia Minor).
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