D. The Hermeneutical Questions Questions: 1. What John's audience would have perceived the book as  a "yet to be", we see it as ____________________ 2. What are the 5 suggestions that the authors make to us as we attempt to understand this difficult book? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The End!!

C. the Historical and Literary Context Questions: 1. For a brief review, What are the 5W's of Revelation (the to and by whom, what, where, when and why) 1. These are not in the text as such; it is to challenge you to think about this difficult book in a logical manner. 1. The Historical Context 1. What is the main theme in the book? 2. The church and the state are on a ____________ course. 3. What is the difference between the way John uses the word Wrath and Tribulation? 4. What are the 2 crucial questions in the book? (P.258, last paragraph) 2. The Literary Context 1. The authors give us a thumbnail sketch of the book in this section. They say they do this because this book is one of a kind and, thus, hard to understand; yet, it should be understood as a whole. 2. Fill in the headings for each passage: 1. Ch 1-3   _____________________________ 2. 1:12-20  _____________________________ 3. 2:1-3:22  _____________________________ 4. ch 4-5  _____________________________ 5. ch 6-7   _____________________________ 6. ch 8-11  _____________________________ 7. ch 12 _____________________________ 8. ch 13-14 _____________________________ 9. ch 15-16 _____________________________ 10. Ch 17-22    _____________________________

B. The Necessity of Exegesis Questions: 1. The 'lack of sound exegetical principles has leads to _______________' (P. 253-4) 2. The primary meaning of this book is____________________ (P.253 p1) 1. Therefore, our task is to_________________ 3. How can we overuse 'the concept of the "analogy of Scripture" in the exegesis of the book of  Revelation'? 4. What are some of the major and minor sources of imagery that John uses? (P.255) 5. " good exegesis of Revelation requires___________________________ 6. Apocalypse and Revelation in particular, seldom____________________ 1. [ A personal aside: I've seen this error of interpretation frequently]

Week 11 The Revelation: Images of Judgment and Hope A. The Nature of Revelation 1. Though Revelation is included in the inspired Word of God, most of us don't know what to do with this book. (P.249 paragraph 2) 1. What are some of the reasons for this? 2. What kind of literature is Revelation? It's a blend of 3 types; name them. 3. The dominant type is ________ . What do you understand by this word? 4. What are the common characteristics of an apocalypse? 1. Why did the authors of an apocalypse look on to the future? (P. 251 #1) 2. What is the method of transmission of an apocalypse? 5. The Revelation as prophecy and epistle (letter) 1. As an apocalyptic document it deals with "end time", AND as a prophetic document it deals with ______ 2. Being concerned with the present situation, it implies that there are certain _______ that John is attempting to address. 3. Re-read Rev 1:4-7 and 22:21; note how it reads as a letter intro and conclusion.

D. Wisdom in Job, Ecclesiastes & Song of Solomon 1. Wisdom in Job 1. Questions: 1. What is the goal of this dialogue? 2. What common reasoning do we use that is frequently in error? 3. What do the Scriptures NOT teach? 1. How often do we fall into this misunderstanding of the things? 4. When Job is confronted with the question of whether everything in life is fair, What does Job find to be the answer? 1. Have you ever felt this way? 5. What is true wisdom as found in Job? 2. Wisdom in Ecclesiastes 1. Questions: 1. "Ecclesiastes is a very difficult book to read" 1. What to the 2 basic ways that many view the book? 2. What term do we have to understand in reading this book? 1. How are you going to interpret this word as you read Ecclesiastes? 3. What are the 4 realities that seem to dominate the mind of the author of Ecclesiastes? 4. When you read this book, which overriding theory will you apply? Why? 5. What is lacking in the book? 1.  Wisdom in Song of Songs 1. Questions: 1. What is this book about? 2. Because this book often makes us feel uncomfortable we will ________ . 3. What are the 4 'considerations' that the authors suggest will help with interpreting this book? 4. Perhaps you should now re-read the Song of Songs and look at you relationship with your spouse if you are married.

Wisdom: Then and Now (cont'd) C. Some Hermeneutical Guidelines Questions: 1. Proverbs are NOT legal guarantees from God 1. "the particular blessings are ______to follow if one chooses  the wise course outlined in the proverbs". 2. Proverbs must be read a collection 1. " The more in isolation one reads a proverb, the less clear its interpretation may be". 1. What are some of the risks of  doing this? 2. Since most of the proverbs deal with materialistic things, what may we forget if we live too much by the proverbs? 3. Proverbs are worded to be memorable, not to be theoretically accurate 1. "No proverb is a complete statement of _______." (P. 238) 1. What do you think of this statement by the authors? 4. Some proverbs need to be "translated "to be appreciated 1. Any other proverbs that you can think of that need 'translation' to our era? 5. The 9 'rules' on P.240-241 are worth re-reading and contemplating as you start to read in Proverbs.

B. Wisdom in Proverbs Questions: 1. What is 'prudent wisdom'? 2. What are some of the limitations and pitfalls of the proverbs? 3. What are some of the characteristics of a 'life of folly'? 4. If we don't realize the limitations of a proverb, how can a proverb mislead us?  1. (See the last paragraph on P 234.)

Week 10 (Day 64-70) Wisdom: Then and Now A. The Nature of Wisdom Questions: 1. Which books of the Old Testament are in this grouping? 2. What is the definition of  "wisdom"? 3. Abuse of Wisdom Literature 1. What are 3 ways that these books can be misused? 2. Have you ever heard such portions of scripture misused? Done it yourself? 4. Who is Wise? 1. The wise person is the one that ______ and ____according to truth when ____________ 2. The authors suggest that life can be viewed as a ________________ 3. Wisdom has nothing to do with _________ 4. The goal of wisdom is _______________________ (P{.228,p3 5. Teachers of Wisdom 1. What were the instructors in wisdom called? 2. What did the instructor called hos student? The student his instructor? 3. 6. Wisdom in the Home 1. How are parents teaching their children wisdom? 7. Wisdom among colleagues 1. How do we refine our ability to make wise decisions? 8. Wisdom expressed through Poetry 1. What are some of the techniques that the poet/author might use to get across his points? 9. The Limits of Wisdom 1. Re-read the last sentence in this paragraph and think about it.

F. A Special Note on the Imprecatory Psalms Questions: 1. These psalms (or parts of psalms) help us deal with our anger. How? 2. It is difficult to read in the Bible such emotions.  1. How do you feel when you read Psalm 137? 2. In the Psalm, the word, "hate", is used how? G. Some Concluding Hermeneutical Observations 1. What are 3 benefits of the Psalms? 2. What do the psalms NOT guarantee?

1. Thanksgiving Psalms Questions: 1. What are usual 5 elements of a thanksgiving psalm?

E. An Exegetical Sampling 1. Laments Questions: What are the usual 6 elements of a typical lament?

C. The Use of the Psalms in Ancient Israel Questions: 1. What function did the psalms play in the lives of the Israelites? D. The Types of Psalms Questions: 1. What are the 7 types of psalms?  1. Give a one sentence description of each type. 2. Which is the largest group?

B. Some Preliminary Exegetical Observations 1) The Psalms as Poetry a) What are 3 points that the authors wish to add? b) When the author of a psalm uses Hyperbole, how do we then interpret the psalm? c) How do we handle metaphors when used by the psalmist? 2) The Psalms as Literature a) What are 5 features of which we should be aware as we read the psalms? b) How can we avoid missing the point of a psalm?

The Psalms: Israel's Prayers and Ours A. Introduction Questions: 1. What are some of the various ways  that a psalm can be 'from' or 'to' ? 1. How can this complicate how we interpret a psalm? 2. The authors pose many questions in the main paragraph on P. 206. Have you run into any of the problems posed in these questions?

Week 9 (Days 57-63) The Prophets (cont'd) E. Some Hermeneutical suggestions 1. A Caution: The Prophet as Foreteller of the Future 1. Most of the prophecies deal with the _____ future 2. Some prophecies of the near future are set against the background of  _______  ______ future. (P 200,p3) 3. The 4 characteristics that we should be looking for in a prophecy are______ (P. 200, p2) 1. b) c) d) 4. A Concern: prophecies and second meanings 1. Some OT prophecies have been given a "________ meaning by a passage in the NT. 2. Why shouldn't we give prophecies 'full meaning'? 3. We are called to orthodoxy and orthopraxy as were the Israelites in the OT. (P. 204) 1. What simpler words would we use? Do we do that? ( Since this is a larger number of pages, Day 58 is shorter)

D. The Exegetical Task (cont'd) 7)  d) The Enactment Prophecy 1. How did the use of visual aids help?        e) The Messenger Speech 1) How do these begin?       f) The Prophets as Poets               1) What are some of the advantages of the prophets using poetry?  2) What are 3 features o of the repetitive style of OT poetry?

D. The Exegetical Task (cont'd) 1. The Isolation of Individual Oracles: what are some of the problems that will be encountered? 2. The Forms of Prophetic utterance 1. The Lawsuit 1. What are the parts of the lawsuit form? 2. The Woe 1. What are the 3 elements of this form? 3. The Promise 1. What are the 3 elements of this form?

D. The Exegetical Task Questions 1. Do you think that you should be able to understand the Bible the first time that you read a passage? 2. What are 3 kinds of helps as we try to understand a passage? 3. The Historical Context 1. What are the two types of this? 4. The Larger Context 1. Why is there such a concentration of prophecies in the years between 760 BC-460 BC? 5. The Specific Context 1. What are some of the specifics that we should be attuned to, as we look at book?

The Prophets (cont'd) C. The Function of Prophecy in Israel Questions: 1. The relationship of the prophets to the Law was? 2. What are some of the classes of blessings and curses that the prophets might express to the Israelites? 3. When did the northern kingdom go into captivity? The southern? 4. What type of prophecies dominated before theses dates? After? 5. Whose message was it that the prophets delivered? 6. The prophets message was _______ . 7. Are the messianic prophecies not original?  Why not? 8. We see prophecies of the coming of Jesus in the Law as early as which OT passage?

The Prophets: Enforcing the Covenant in Israel A. Introduction Questions: 1. Why have we divided the Prophets into Major and Minor? 2. Into what error can that lead us? B. The Nature of Prophecy Questions: 1. Of the prophecies in the these books, what percentage apply to various important Christian themes? 2. What was the main way for the prophet to communicate his message? 3. Why might it be difficult to read one of the longer books in one sitting? 4. In what does our distance from the religious, cultural and historical life of ancient Israel result?