Sometimes we become so familiar with Bible stories that we forget how surprising some of them really are.
Was there something you discovered while reading Scripture that made you stop and think, “I never knew that!”?
It could be a person, an event, a detail in a familiar story, or even something you had always assumed the Bible said but discovered it didn’t.
I was surprised at how much simpler the Book of Revelation became once I recognized who it was written to, and the relevance of this book to those who first read it.
Get the time frame right, and the whole New Testament pops into vivid focus and makes sense. God is GREAT! His plans are AMAZING! Let’s go move some mountains for His glory!
Most of the prophecies in the Olivet Discourse, and John’s more detailed retelling of that discourse in prophetic (visual, right-brain) imagery, refers to the Jewish War, which lasted 7 years, started on schedule 40 years after Jesus pronounced God’s pending judgment upon “this generation,” and kicked the feet out from under the Kingdom of God’s two chief enemies – Rome, and apostate Israel.
Get the time frame right, and you can even explain Apocalypse to Turkish Muslims in a way that makes sense. (Hey, that’s where the original seven churches were. And more than half of the NT was written by two sidekicks from Asia Minor!)