Lesson 11, June 6-12
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Daniel 2:27-45, 7:1-25, 8:14; John 14:29; Numbers 14:34, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13.
Memory Text: “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14
Bible prophecy is crucial to our identity and mission. Prophecy provides an internal and external mechanism to confirm the accuracy of God’s Word. Jesus said, “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” (John 14:29; see also John 13:19). The crucial question is: How do we interpret prophecy correctly so that we know when the prophecy has, indeed, come to pass?
During the Reformation, the reformers followed the historicist method. This method is the same one Daniel and John used as the key for their own interpretation. The historicist method sees prophecy as a progressive and continuous fulfillment of history, starting in the past and ending with God’s eternal kingdom.
This week, we will study the pillars of historicist prophetic interpretation. “We are to see in history the fulfillment of prophecy, to study the workings of Providence in the great reformatory movements, and to understand the progress of events in the marshalling of the nations for the final conflict of the great controversy”. — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 307.
