by David Brandt Berg

"PRIVATE INTERPRETATIONS"

6. The Bible says that "No prophecy of God is of private interpretation".--2Pet. 1:20.--In other words, it must be generally accepted. And the basic principles that I have taught you have been generally accepted by the church for centuries, even by the Catholic church, & you can prove them because Scripture after Scripture after Scripture confirms it!

7. I didn't get all of our prophetic interpretations from myself or in personal revelation from the Lord--although I've gotten a lot of the details filled in--but the bulk of what I've taught you are things on which most Bible students & scholars of Bible Prophecy agree! It's not just our private doctrine, but things on which most of them are agreed. So just because I may make a little change or clarification in the order of events, don't start doubting God's Word & the prophecies & the overall foundation truths He has given us!

8. When you're talking about prophetic interpretation of the past, you can prove that many of the prophecies are true because they already happened, those Empires have come & gone. It's not hard to teach & follow that kind of Bible Prophecy, fulfilled Bible Prophecy, it's already happened & you know it's true. But where you're getting on touchy ground is when you start getting into the future, the time periods that haven't happened yet. And this is where most people's particular little shibboleths & doctrines & interpretations tend to differ!

9. But just because some of it is unclear or controversial is no excuse to do like some people do & say, "Well, nobody agrees on Bible prophecy so let's just toss all Bible Prophecy away & never talk about it!" God's Word says, "Blessed is he that heareth & understandeth the words of this prophecy."--Rev.1:3. It takes an effort, it's work to try to understand Bible prophecy & to study it & to figure these things out! It sometimes takes years & years of study & working at it, comparing Scripture with Scripture, going back & forth through the Word of God to arrive at the most plausible interpretations.--But God says you're blessed if you do!

10. Of course, the main thing you need to know is just two verses, John 3:16 & Acts 1:8! The first one gets you saved & the other one gets you busy! You don't have to know all the prophetic details of the future, they'll happen whether you know'm or not, don't worry! But it's a good thing to know, & it's a good thing to understand His predictions so you'll be able to warn & instruct others, & you'll be able to know what's going on, what's happening. Paul himself says, "I would not have you ignorant, brethren!"--1Thes.4:13-18.--Neither do I want you to be caught flat-footed & dumb bunnies that don't know what's going on!

GUIDELINES TO INTERPRETING

11. There are a few major rules of interpretation of God's Word. The first choice is always interpret it literally if possible. It should not even have to be interpreted if it can possibly just mean exactly what it says, then you can just let it go at that! Try not to read into it some unusual, undercover significance of some kind. I always try to take literally what I obviously don't think could possibly be symbolic! I mean, if it makes sense literally, take it literally!

12. But if it doesn't sound reasonable or logical or it just looks like it's virtually impossible to interpret it that way, study its context thoroughly for an explanation in case it's symbolic. Look at the rest of the chapter to see if it's explained. This happens in Daniel time & time again. Take Daniel's Image & his beasts for example: They are all interpreted by the Angel or the man & you're told what each of these things stand for & represent & symbolise, so it's obviously symbolic. You're told, "This is that & that is this" etc. You're given the interpretation of this Image & what these beasts symbolise.

13. So thoroughly study the context of the chapter & read the explanation. When you get some new equipment to operate, for example, you read the instructions, you don't just try to put it together yourself, right? So when you read the mysteries of God's Word, let God put it together for you, ask Him to show you how to put it all together!

14. If you can't find the explanation right there, then you need to study the rest of that Book of the Bible, or even the whole Word of God all the way through in order to find out where the same terms are used & how they're used & the way they're used & what it means in these other places.

GOD LOVES A MYSTERY!

15. We cannot be completely dogmatic & always exact to the nth degree in the application or interpretation or even the categorisation of many of the prophetic Scriptures. Often the Prophets saw distant events like ranges of mountains one after the other in which only the mountaintops & peaks were outstanding, whereas the valleys were somewhat obscure. Also, if you've ever noticed as you view mountains at a distance, you cannot always distinguish between the ranges, & sometimes two or three ranges can look like one range from a distance.

16. The Prophets looked into the future & saw the coming events like a row of mountaintops. You can see them all at once, like you look at a whole scene at once, but actually, as you travel along you don't get to them all at once. As you drive closer & closer, all you can see is the one range right in front of you, it looks like only one mountain range.--But when you journey up that mountain & get to the top, some of those mountains that you thought were the same range turn out to be another 20 or 30 miles away! So in the Scriptures these events are kind of mixed up sometimes, just the way the Prophets saw them!

17. So don't feel bad if you feel a little confused, mixed up & misunderstand something! Poor Daniel, he didn't understand any of what the Lord was revealing to him! He said the cogitations of his head bothered him & he was even sick in spirit within!--Dan.7:28. He was really puzzled by the whole thing. So you've got good company, the Prophet Daniel himself was also puzzled by his own prophecies!

18. There are many mysteries that God has hidden for Himself & which He has reserved for us only to know sometime in the future or perhaps in Heaven itself! The Prophets who received many of these revelations never even explained them, often because they didn't understand them either! God's ways are above our ways, as high as the Heaven's above the Earth!--Isa.55:9. So we're not expected to understand everything God does & has & knows! We're just simple little finite men & we have pretty small minds & we can't possibly comprehend all of the wonders & mysteries of God & the future!

19. So you must understand, of course, that much of what we have passed on to you has been our personal opinion or personal interpretations of our personal revelations, & our own theories & logic & reason, which we consider within the reason & wisdom of the Lord & we ourselves are convinced of & believe. I certainly haven't got all the answers, but thank the Lord, little by little we have received a little more light on some of these things. The sun doesn't just pop out in the morning, boom, like that, all of a sudden! First there's a long period of dawn, & it begins to get a little lighter & a little lighter & a little lighter, & finally the sun itself begins to show a little bit. But it doesn't jump right up into the noon sky!

20. God seems to be fond of doing things slowly & thoroughly, slow but sure, so that things won't be too sudden, & that's the way He's revealed Bible Prophecy & interpretation to us. He keeps giving us a little more light & a little more light as we go along, & it's a wise man who is smarter tomorrow than he was yesterday. So I guess the Lord knows we're not that smart, that our heads can't hold too much at once!

WHY THEORISE?

21. It's when you get bogged down in too many of the details & too many specifics of Bible prophecy that you're bound to make some mistakes, because it's often a little too mysterious & you can't be too dogmatic.

22. Often when you spend so much time on all the little insignificant details, it just seems to be a waste of time. But the point is, you need to know these details, so that when the prophecies begin to happen, to come to pass, you can say, "Ah, there, that's it for sure! Now we know!" I am the first to admit that I don't know & fully understand all of the details, but I throw out suggestions, guesses & theories that get you to think about it! One of these days you may say, "Oh there, that's it, that's the answer! That's what the Lord was talking about!"

23. It's almost like a scientist going through experiments in a laboratory. You try everything, you try all the possibilities. You try it by the process of elimination, this doesn't do it & that doesn't do it & something else doesn't do it, until finally you've got it whittled down to when suddenly you hit it, you recognise that's it! That's how you find out a lot of things when you're working with Bible Prophecy, by the process of elimination, & finally by the process of actual recognition of the fact.

24. But if you don't have the questions in mind, how are you going to find out the answers? So I give you the questions about some of these things & events so that even if we don't have the answers now, when it happens, you'll recognise the answer! Savvy? And that's a lot of what the study of Bible Prophecy is. You don't understand everything that's said, but why do you think God said it when you don't even understand it? So that when it does happen you'll recognise, "Oh, that's it! That's what He meant! That's what He was talking about!" See how important it is to be interested in some of these details & questions even if you don't know the answers yet?

25. Sometimes I even offer you options & alternatives other than my own opinion, then I go back & say, "But I believe such & such." Do you know why I do that?--Because I've heard so many Bible teachers teach dogmatically that "this can only be this way", & never even mention the other possibilities or interpretations! It's just like they teach Evolution in the public schools, they don't even mention Creation, that there is another possible way. And I've heard many Bible Prophecy teachers teach like that, teach only their own interpretation.

26. So I have tried to be fair & I have given you many various theories of prophetic interpretation. I give all these different opinions so that you will be informed & know about them & not be stuck on just one, the one that we believe, so you will at least be aware of these other different opinions.

27. Sometimes I throw theories out like little bombs, just to wake you up & shake you up with a minor explosion, & make you think & dig into the Word & study, to see if these things be so!--Acts 17:11.--And this is good! Even if you don't find the answers, you'll learn something! If I don't do anything but arouse your curiosity, I've made you want to know, & that's half the battle for any teacher! Amen? PTL!

28. I guess I like the shock treatment! I like to shock people, challenge them, stir them up, arouse them, awaken them out of their lethargy, even cause them to explode over something I've said, at least get them to do something!--Like the time I dropped a bomb in a class by asking the old proverbial question, "Where will you spend Eternity?--Heaven, or Hell?" And then, instead of giving the usual prosaic, traditional, fundamental answer, I said, "I'm not going to go to Heaven or to Hell, & I hope you aren't either!"--And then went on to prove from the Bible that the place we're going to dwell with the Lord is His Heavenly City that's going to come down from God, out of Heaven, to a New Earth, & God's gonna come down & live with us, & us with Him!

29. But when I said, "I'm not going to Heaven", a new babe in my class leaped to his feet & shouted, you're not, Buddy, but I am!", & stomped out, never even giving me a chance to say, "Heaven's going to come to me!" & let me prove the point! I had lit the fuse by challenging his traditional churchy beliefs & he couldn't take the shaking of his faith! He couldn't stand the shock of a new doctrine!--It shattered his frame of reference, his cherished traditions, & he tottered on the brink of the abyss of the chasm threatening his so-called faith! It left too big a hole in his nice little preconceived notions, & he hadn't enough truth to fill it, so he was terrified by the sight, exploded & walked out! At least it made him do something!--He'd sat for years in church without moving! It actually started him thinking!--So much so that he later returned & apologised, & asked to know more!--How will you react when your traditional concepts are challenged?!