Events as interpretation

[Guest]

I hope I can word this right.

When it comes to biblical interpretation I have heard people use world events and sometimes local or personal situations that have happened recently in their life to interpret Scripture instead of using Scripture to interpret the event or situation. I obviously take the latter approach while trying to understand the times (past, present and future).

My question: are using current events (e.g. the nation of Israel's situation) to interpret Scripture equivalent to using historic events (e.g. 70 AD) to interpret Scripture?