“In contrast to this popular reading of the passage, I contend that Paul describes his life under the Mosaic Law (or impersonates someone living under the Mosaic Law) before his redemption in Christ and the endowment of life in the Spirit.” - Word by Word
“I would argue the passage is a warning, and as a warning it alerts us to lurking dangers that entice us to forsake Jesus. It does not announce faith’s possible failure.” - Christ Over All
“So what I would do with Matthew 11 is outline the various options, give a few reasons why each are plausible, and then make some application.” - C.Leaders
“The vast majority of supposed “contradictions” in Scripture are relatively easy to reconcile. However, for the sake of honesty, I must acknowledge that there are a handful of problems in Scripture that are exceedingly difficult.” - R.C. Sproul
“…one of the greatest weaknesses of the West is our commitment to autonomy….We think we should be able to read the Bible and come up with its proper interpretation all by ourselves….God told us that one of His chief gifts to the church is teachers (Eph 4:11).” - DBTS Blog
“…avoiding these texts doesn’t make them disappear. Eventually you or someone you love will want an explanation.” - TGC
“Gleason Archer puts everything in perspective when he describes this large roving band of teenagers as ‘a serious public danger, quite as grave as the large youth gangs that roam the ghetto sections of our modern American cities.’” - C.Index
Read the series.
I’ve said quite a lot about already about the angel of the bottomless pit, but I’ve not finished. I believe certain passages of Scripture act as hermeneutical touchstones. Decisions about what direction to take can be either determinative of where the exposition is going to go, or they highlight the assumptions brought to the text. One thinks of the Olive Tree metaphor in Romans 11, or the exhortation given to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 43. The first eleven verses of Revelation 9 are like that. They ask the interpreter, “Are you going to hold your nerve?”
We are now in a position to look at the angel of the bottomless pit. Here is the principal (some say only) verse referring to him:
And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrewis Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. (Rev. 9:11)
Read Part 1.
When I say “an already darkened sun” I do so because of Revelation 8:12:
Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
