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Do you ever find yourself wondering about certain words, objects, places or people in the Bible? Do you ever get the feeling that there is something more to a specific scripture, but you just don’t know what it is or how to find it? If so, you are not alone. Please join us, as we journey through the pages of God’s Word looking for key items, specific words, phrases, places and/or people that might hold additional meaning for a more complete understanding of the Bible. The prophets of the Bible had the unenviable task of trying to explain heavenly ideas and visions to common everyday people, people with very little experience and/or knowledge about spiritual things. You see, back then, during Old Testament times, not everyone had the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of them. The Spirit of God stopped dwelling inside the hearts of man after the events leading up to Genesis 6:3 – “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” The Hebrew word for ‘strive with’ here can also mean to ‘abide in’ or to ‘remain in’. Looking at the bigger picture in context, this verse is referring to the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of man, as a whole, for the purpose of acting as judge through the conscience. The Holy Spirit ceased dwelling in the hearts of men on that tragic day in Genesis 6:3. The prophets, on the other hand, were endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit at various times, but by and large, the vast majority of people were not. The Holy Spirit did not return, de facto, to dwell inside the hearts of God’s People until Pentecost Day (Acts 2). Still, it was up to the prophets to communicate precisely what they saw and heard, before that day, to a people who did not have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual hears to hear. So how did they do it? How does one describe the realities of Heaven to someone who never even conceived of such a place? How does someone describe a beautiful sunset to a blind man? Perhaps we can all agree, this is no easy task! Fortunately, God is the God of meeting people where they’re at. God is not trying to hide the truth from anyone. Just the opposite, God wants everyone to know the truth, but only if they choose to know the truth by knowing Him. Since the Holy Spirit ceased to dwell in the hearts of man, it would become extremely difficult, if not impossible, for mankind to understand the things of God through the Spirit. Therefore, the prophets, under God’s direction, decided to use earthly ideas, things common to daily life, to explain the greater spiritual truths of God’s Word. The idea was, that man might have a better chance of understanding spiritual truths by looking at the earthly items those spiritual truths represent. All of a sudden, common everyday items such as fire, water, wind, food, etc.., mean a whole lot more to us than what’s on the surface. Each item is filled with additional spiritual meaning, information that will help us to better understand the truths of the Bible. Our goal in this study is to shed additional light on any word, item, place and/or person that might contain additional spiritual meaning for our better understanding of God’s Word. Let's begin with the great book of Revelation. Please click on the appropriate icon below for a detailed list of studies relevant to each chapter.
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This Bible study is a work in progress. Please continue to check-in with us for
frequent chapter and verse updates until we make our way through the book. For
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What
Does it Mean? - Bible Study Series
