I've only done 2 chapters in about 3 days, so this race is for the tortoises and not the hares! I'd like to share a couple of things I have learned. The first is that the revelations were not written "for pen or brush" (Bro. Draper) but for the mind. They are, in a sense, a riddle, not unlike Jesus' parables. Profound teachings are presented as simple and sometimes not humanly possible things. One must prayerfully search them even to begin to mine the spiritual depths and truths they contain. In that way, the new believer who needs milk will gather milk and the more mature believer who is capable of meat will find meat.
Another thing I've learned is that I need to look at the symbols as to what they would have meant to someone who knew Jewish tradition and the Greek language. I am fortunate that I found a scripture site on lds.org where you can read and listen to the scriptures. There are highlighted words that are links to study helps. When you click on them, they pop up a window with further scripture references or links to the BD (Bible Dictionary) and other study helps without leaving the main page. I've used the online scriptures for years, but until this week hadn't clicked on the links. My, what I've been missing!!! If you want to try it, here is the link. It uses the King James Version of the Bible:
Text copyright Gebara Education January 2013
Picture of John writing the Apocalypse from his cell on the Isle of Patmos from www.commons.wikimedia.com
*You will notice that the browse window is back on Blogspot! I hope it stays around awhile so I can add pictures to my posts.
Just for fun, here is a photo of Dr. Draper. He is a Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. He is the author of several books on apocalyptic literature in the Bible. This picture is from www.deseretbook.com
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