Revelation misconceptions, part 1: audience, prophecy, and genre
The hosts list the first three of five misconceptions about Revelation. First: readers assume the book is about them, when it was a pastoral letter of hope to churches in Asia Minor. Second: prophecy is misunderstood as only future-talk, which lets readers steal the letter from its original audience. Third: people insist something must be literal to be true, missing that apocalyptic literature communicates truth through image, metaphor, and symbol — John is painting a picture, not writing a technical manual.
More on Prophecy
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Ask the Pastor: why did the temple guards need Judas to kiss Jesus?
- Why did the temple guards need Judas to identify Jesus with a kiss?
Boova (speaker-2, handed the Ask the Pastor at seg-00011) asks why, if Jesus was a public figure with priests plotting at Caiaphas's house, anyone needed Judas to point him out.
From No. 533 · You Can Buy Me Phalanges
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Is Job literal or a parable? Prophecy discussion
- Is the book of Job a literal story or a parable?
- What is prophecy, and can it be infectious or physical?
The hosts dig into the hard question of whether the book of Job is a true story or a parable-style teaching, noting it may be the oldest written book of the Bible.
From No. 504 · Saul, Naturally
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Sidebar: spiritual gifts you would not want
- Is there a spiritual gift you would not want to have?
- What is the difference between preaching and teaching?
The second sidebar: which spiritual gifts would you refuse? Tongues and prophecy top the list, with Ezekiel's watchman ('his blood is on you') terrifying one host; Boova says he…
From No. 494 · 500-ish
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Critiquing Tony Evans's prophecy sermon on Russia, oil, and Israel
- Why would all of them have a problem with Israel?
- Where does predictive prophecy preaching miss the target the most?
The hosts read and critique a report of pastor Tony Evans walking his congregation through a prophetic calendar based on Matthew 24:3, predicting conflict between Russia and Middle Eastern nations over oil.
From No. 461 · Acid, Stupidity and Russia