Growing In Grace

Most Christians wholeheartedly agree with the old adage, "Let Scripture interpret Scripture." Most agree that instead of looking for an interpretation that is foreign to the text, we should first and foremost seek to understand how the original author uses the word that we are trying to interpret. Based on the author's established usage, we should then go about seeking to understand the passage being studied.  Using this Scripture to interpret Scripture principle can also help to untangle some of the symbolism in the book of Revelation. In this post we will seek to understand what John's intended symbolism was for his 7 uses of "lampstand" in the book of Revelation (1:12, 1:13, 1:20(2x); 2:1, 2:5; 11:4).  Revelation 1:12-13 - "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

There are two main words that the NT authors use from which we get our English word temple. The BDAG (probably the most highly recognized Greek lexicon) gives us these definitions:      1) naos is used 45 times in the NT and is defined as: a place or structure specifically associated with or set apart for a deity, who is frequently perceived to be using it as a dwelling, temple.      2) hieron is used 71 times and is defined as: sanctuary, temple. (In every instance both the NASB and the ESV translate it only as temple.) Though it might be a little overly simplistic to say it this way, the general difference between the two is that hieron is used to speak of the temple as a structure, whereas naos carries with it the additional connotation of dwelling place of God. With this foundation laid fist we will look at how Paul uses these two words in the New Testament. Only in 1 Corinthians 9:13 does Paul use hieron saying, "13 Do you not know that those who are employed in th

In the ancient world temples were believed to be places where the gods resided on the earth. People would then go to the temple to meet with their god and often times to offer up sacrifices and to worship. In the Bible the Jewish Temple of the Old Testament has a very similar purpose to the Israelites of that day. In this post I want to trace a very, very brief sketch of the history or theology of the temple beginning with the first place where man met with God and tracing it to the fulfillment. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve experienced a special meeting with God. Genesis says they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden and later it says that it was the presence of God that they hid themselves from. The point is that in the Garden the first man and women met with God, so that we might even call the Garden the prototype of the Temple. There in the Garden man met with God in a special way, but after the fall man was cast out of the Garden and was removed from that i