Ed. Note: The following is an excerpt from "Echoes Into Eternity" by Michael Bagby. The following is used by permission of the author, who spent time flying A-6 Intruders in the U.S. Navy:
The aircraft that we flew in the Navy were
complicated, expensive machines. The A-6
Intruder was manufactured by Grumman Corporation, and was the most
sophisticated attack aircraft in the world- and one of the most expensive of
it’s time - $37 million each. There were
over 300 switches and circuit breakers in the cockpit that had to be properly
set for the aircraft to function normally.
The Pilot and Bombidier/Navigator had to go through eights months of
special training just to learn all the aircraft systems and become proficient
in accomplishing the all-weather attack mission of the Intruder.
All the information for the systems and flight performance for the Intruder were in an almost four-inch-thick book called the NATOPS manual. “NATOPS” is short for Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization. This was the book that was the “Bible” for all of us in the A-6 community. This book told us how the electrical, hydraulic, engine, radar, and weapons systems functioned, how the airplane performed in all situations, and what to do in case of emergencies. It was the complete guide to “How to survive flying the A-6 Intruder through mountain passes in foul weather at night, delivering a variety of bombs, rockets, and missiles onto a target, and flying back to the ship to make an arrested landing.” We memorized large portions of this book. We were required to take a very through examination each year to prove our proficiency. It was serious business! We were told that the pages were “written in blood” by crews who had been killed through many accidents over the years.
Fortunately for the followers of Jesus, God has also given us a “NATOPS” manual that tells us about our spiritual world, how we operate, who God is, His “procedures for life, and the Grand Plan for all mankind. It is called the Bible, and it is the all time best seller. All serious Christians at some point begin to study the Bible. How we interpret this all-important book can result in focused productive lives, or in confused, religious behavior. It all has to do with our methods of interpretation, which we call hermeneutics.
The Bible claims itself to be inspired by God, even though written by at least 39 human individuals. It claims authority over all portions of our lives.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
When the first missionaries took the Gospel from Israel to the Roman and Greek cultures, People naturally began interpreting Bible through their own cultural understanding. Here are how the major centers of Christianity understood the Bible:
1) Jerusalem: Scripture calls all believers into harmony with God’s promises and restrictions to the Jewish people. As to this new movement, many wanted the Gentile believers to understand God’s special relationship with the Jews, while others wanted all Gentiles to become Jews.
2) Alexandria: the home of the allegorical belief. The Hebrew Scriptures were not accepted on face value and made to be “allegories”. There was a separation of “modern Christian” thought from “ancient Hebrew” writings. From this “school” came many of the “Lost” gospels of Thomas, and others.
3) Antioch: less extreme than Alexander, but showing a disdain for Jewish practices among believers; Ignatius best illustrated this approach. A light mix of allegory and generally divorces view of Jewish and Christian literature.
4) Rome: A variety of approaches to the Scripture evident. The Apologist School of Justin Martyr reflects the notion that Jesus offered the revelation that began through men like Socrates and Plato. Justin had a particular bend against the Jewish claim to the Scriptures. On the other side were men like Clement who was well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures and acknowledged a respected Bible teachers
During the past two millennium, interpreting the Scriptures has covered the entire spectrum from literal word-for-word application to a total allegorical understand discarding any passage of Scripture when convenient. Here are some examples of hermeneutics gone off course:
#1
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. John 15:5-6
In the 14th century, Spain began the
Inquisition, which was infamous for torturing and killing “heretics”. People with beliefs about Christianity that
differed from official church dogma were questioned under torture, forced to
“confess their sins” and recant their “heretical beliefs”. If you look at the issues, it appears that
many of us (including modern day Catholics!) would have been on the torture
rack!
The grand inquisitor was monk named Tomas de Torquemada, who appeared to take this passage from John 15 literally. About 2000 people were burned at the stake during Torquemada's term of office. As it was in other European judicial systems, torture was used to gain evidence, and a wide range of offenses were prosecuted, including heresy, witchcraft, bigamy, and usury. The major debate among the priests was not whether this torture was proper in accordance with God’s Word, but rather that when it came to killing one of these “heretics”, could the priest actually do the killing, or should the executioner be somebody else? After all, a priest has his role as a guide to life. Do you think these priests were missing major chapters and verses from their Bibles? How do we explain this torture and killing in light of the Scripture?
#2
So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign of authority because the angels are watching. 1 Cor 11:10
When I first went to Central America in 1984 to work
with Miskito Indian refugees, I immediately noticed many Miskito women wearing
lace doilies on their head when they were in a church. When I asked why, I was
told simply the Bible says a woman should not be in church without her head
covered. After all, Paul told the church in Corinth that their women should
have their heads covered. It seems there
was something going on in Corinth that caused Paul to order this practice.
Research reveals that there was a prominent temple to the goddess Aphrodite in ancient Corinth. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and her temple was at the top of the acropolis where hundreds of priestesses joined the men in a very sexual form of worship. The head priestess became the richest and most influential person in town, along with other temple prostitutes. Eventually the women of Corinth dominated the men of the city. When families began to come to Christ, many brought this same attitude into the church, which was out of God’s order. When Paul ordered the women to “cover their heads” (1 Corinthians 11), Paul was recommending a symbol of submission to God’s order (verse 3) “because of the angels”. Since prostitutes often had short hair, Paul was probably also recommending a head covering “of authority”, meaning that these former prostitutes were now members of Christ’s family, while their hair was growing back to a more culturally respectable length. When the missionaries brought the Gospel to the Coco River 80 years ago, women began wearing things on their head when they came to church, even though there is not the same problem of female dominance or short-haired prostitutes in Miskito culture that there was in Corinth.
#3
O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks! Psalm 137:8-9
What do you do with this verse? Phil Yancy spent a chapter in The Bible That Jesus Read on trying to figure out how this verse fits into the Bible. This is an example of lamentation literature and a Jewish style of praise called “Tehilah”, where one pours out his heart to the Lord and tells him exactly how he is feeling. This is not an instruction, commandment, or principle. It is simply one man’s anguish over his captivity. Yet many times this verse and others have been used to justify a slaughter of innocents “in God’s name”.
#4
“______________________” (no verse)
During my high school years, a friend took me to her church, which was across the street from mine. As I looked around while waiting for the service to begin, I noticed the absence of an organ or piano. When the worship leader got up to begin the singing, he leaned over and blew into a small pitch pipe. The singing began, without using any musical instruments. We sang acapella and it was very nice. Afterward I asked my friend why they did not use any instruments, and she replied (quite proudly!): “We are a New Testament church, and there is no mention in the New Testament of the use of any instruments. That’s why we worship with our voices only.”
I had to think about that one for a while. David used musical instruments, but I guess
that was “Old Testament”. Does it make a
difference? I did notice an attitude of
exclusivity among that congregation because of their “true” form of
worship. There was very little
interaction with other churches in the town.
In recent years, we have spent time at the School of Worship in Jerusalem, and studied the culture of the early church. The early Christians were worshiping God according to Jewish customs. One of the words in the book of Psalms that is translated “praise” in English is the Hebrew word “zamar” which means to praise the Lord by using a musical instrument (Psalm 108:1). Doesn’t this command still apply?
Here is another example of modern men and women who love the Lord interpreting and applying Scripture in a “modern” fashion, ignoring or ignorant of what was happening in the Early Church, and in the process building walls separating them from the rest of the Body of Christ.
According to our
friend Dr. Randall Smith, there are often Three Problems when we try to make
sense out of the Bible:
1) We have a False Division of the Bible: “Old” Testament and “New” Testament, and confusion over the meaning of the “New Covenant”. Actually there are seven types of literature in the Bible.
2) We have a faulty interpretation: We try to fit Scripture into our culture and time.
3) We often have a false application: We forget that Scripture was not written to us, but for us- for our benefit. We forget it is the principles that we are to follow, not necessarily the cultural practices prescribed in the Bible, and end up binding people to restrictions that God never intended us to follow. We forget the heart of God that is revealed in the Scriptures, and focus on our list of convenient “rules”.
How do we
avoid these modern and ancient pitfalls of understanding Biblical truth and
applying it to our personal lives?
Anthropologists tell us it is essential to understand the Bible within its own cultural and historical setting. This is the first step required if we are to draw Truth from the Scriptures for our own lives, and for the benefit of the people around us.
Dr. Paul Heibert, professor of Anthrogology at Fuller Seminary, is one of many experts who points out in his classic, Anthropological Insights For Missionaries (p.14), the essential value of knowing the cultural-historical context of the Bible, as well as understanding the culture of the people we are trying to reach. Without these two essential elements, we are in danger of proclaiming a message to other cultures that has no meaning.
The Challenge for us today is to:
First: Understand the Bible in its historical and cultural context;
Second: Extract Biblical Truth that we can apply to our own lives.
Then we are qualified to proclaim this Message and give this Truth to those around us.
Long ago, a famous Biblical refugee named Ezra faced a similar challenge.
For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. Ezra 7:10
How then are we to discern what the message of
the Bible actually is?
As Peter declares (1 Peter 2:9), we are a nation of priests. We have all been given the right to read and personally interpret the Scriptures. Our interpretation must be accurate and faithful to the Biblical text. It cannot be viewed only through our modern cultural perspective, but must be understood within the context of when it was originally presented.
As we do this it is important to remember that the Bible has a culture of its own: the values, moral, and truths of the Bible stand alone and above all other “cultures”.
When we open the Bible, we literally step out of the 21st
century and back into time. The writers of
the Bible wrote to a particular audience. They never realized there would be people
2000 years later reading their books and letters. However the Holy Spirit did! This audience
spoke a different language and thought in a different manner than we do. In addition, the writers assumed that you,
the audience, knew certain things, many of which we have forgotten today. It is
important to understand that just because two people “understand” exactly what
was said doesn’t mean that the two of them have the same concept of what was
being communicated at all. That happens in marriage and especially in
cross-cultural communication.
My friend Randy Smith, while he was an archeology student living in St. Anne’s convent along the Via Dolorosa in The Old City of Jerusalem, innocently invited the 15 year-old daughter of the Arab cleaning lady to see the John Wayne movie playing at the local cinema. She turned white, spun around, and ran away. The next day the cleaning lady came excitedly to Randy telling him how happy she was that he was going to marry her daughter. Randy immediate went to his professor asking “What happened?”
His professor explained that in Arab culture, a lady only goes to the movies with her husband. Randy’s innocent invitation was a marriage proposal. It took months of delicate procedures to extract himself from that arrangement while maintaining the honor and reputation of the Arab girl.
Here is Dr. Smith’s perspective:
“As we come
into the Scriptures and try to understand what is going on in the pages, we
have to realize when I open my Bible, I step out of my 21st century world and
go to another culture in another time.
So it is a little more than just reading it and believing it. Mark Twain
is the one who said, “We know a lot of things that just ain’t so.”
“The reality
is this: There is not one word of Scripture written to me personally, but every
word of Scripture was written for me.”
“When God
spoke, He spoke to a specific people at a specific time in a specific place to
benefit me much later- but not to me. He
said it to them in a way that they would understand it. I’ve got to do something more than just read
it and believe it.
It’s like
putting a tea bag into hot water- I’ve got to allow the Scripture to permeate
my “water” and change who I am by the principles involved in it. It is the
principle behind the cultural practice that I am after. What everlasting truth can I draw from this
story that is relevant and applicable to my life today? We believe that there
is a simple and direct manner to understand Scripture.
We call it:
The Principle Approach to Scripture.
Look at a simple example from Leviticus 1:
Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.
‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. Leviticus 1:1-3
In verse
one, we see God calling out to Moses.
From this I know God often takes the initiative in His fellowship with
mankind. This is an important principle
for me to remember when I am feeling far from God.
In verse
two, God orders the people to bring an offering from their own herd or flock. I can conclude that God wants me to return to
Him some of the things He has freely given me.
This is a good principle of relationship between God and me, and an
important principle of God’s economics.
In verse
three, God says to bring an animal without defect. From this I see God wants my best; He will
not be happy with a half-hearted response from me. If He asks me to give $100 to the
missionaries, He will not be pleased if I give only $50. If I am to paint the
widow’s house, He wants me to use the best paint I can afford.
According to some teachings, I could throw out Leviticus by saying “We are not under the Law!”, but I then would miss many of God’s Truths that apply very well to my life today. If we read the Scriptures, searching for the principles and truths behind the specific cultural practices, then we begin to receive life from the Word of God, not just dusty, out-of-date commandments.”
One thing to realize is that the Bible is a library of 66 books. This library, like many modern libraries, contains different types of literature. The “Type” of literature determines the steps to take to understand and extract the everlasting truths and principles. Let’s face it, we read a court document much different that we would read the lyrics to a love song. It is the same with the Bible.
Here are the
The Seven Types of Literature in the Bible
1)
Biography: Many parts of Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers,
parts of the History books, Daniel, Jonah, the Gospels & Acts. Notice the
“acts and scenes” which the narrative is divided into and look for the points
the author is trying to make.
2)
Prescriptive Epistles: Paul’s, Peter’s, John’s, Jame’s. and Jude’s
letters. Ask yourself “What are the
problems that the writer is addressing?”
“To whom is the letter addressed?” “Is this letter written to a certain
people group or an individual?”
3)
Lamentations: Includes selected Psalms, Lamentations,
Habbakuk. Notice how the writer moves
from the human perspective to the Divine.
4)
Legal Code and Covenant Treaty: Parts of Exodus, Leviticus, and
Deuteronomy. Look at the behavior and the consequences and seek to determine
God’s chief concern. Ask yourself “What
part of God’s heart is displayed in this passage?”.
5)
Wisdom Literature: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. Focus on the “Truism”
or principle, not the specifics. These
offer guidance, not guaranteed success.
6)
Poetics: Many of the Psalms, parts of Exodus. Treat like the illusive lyrics of songs,
which they are. An understanding of images used is essential to understanding
the often veiled truths.
7)
Prophetic works: Most
of the Minor Prophets and Revelation. The writers focused on Coming Judgment
and Blessing, Exposing sin, and Political Commentaries. These are filled with understandings of God’s
heart and principles for living.
Understanding the type of literature is the first
step in receiving the intended message and a safeguard in keeping our
hermeneutics on course.
In our years working with Dr. Smith, we have come up
with some guidelines that may help us understand the Bible as the believers in
it’s cultural context, as the First Century did and extract the everlasting
principles for our lives today.
Guideline #1
God always speaks to mankind
in a way they can understand.
In Genesis 15 we see God making a promise to Abraham and Abraham’s belief. Why did Abraham so firmly believe that God was going to do what He promised? It was through a very unusual (in our modern eyes) cultural practice that “God sealed the deal”.
And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” 8He said, “O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?” 9So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. 11The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. . . .17It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. Gen 15:5-17
· What
significance did the split carcasses have for businessmen of Abram’s time?
Jeremiah 34:18-20 explains that in those days, business men, politicians, and friends made pacts by cutting animals in half, and walking together through the split carcass, pausing in the middle and looking at each other saying “If I don’t keep my end of this deal, may I become like this dead animal.”
· What
caused Abram to believe God?
When God passed through the split carcasses by himself, Abraham knew that God’s promises did not depend on whether Abraham keep his end of the deal.
This is a great example of how God spoke to a person in a way that he would understand, even though it makes little sense on our world. People in ancient cultures thought differently that us. When God walked by Himself between the halved animals, this gesture had a major impact on Abraham. It changed His world. He suddenly got very excited about what God was doing. But it makes no sense to us. We say to ourselves “What IS going on here?” Perhaps now is a good time to ask the question:
How did the Biblical Jews
and Greeks think?
First of all there is:
Function vs. Form
Hold up a coffee cup and ask the First Century Greek and Jew to describe it. The Greek will tell you its color, the shape, how tall it is, how wide it is, and what the curve in the handle is like.The Jew will say simply: “With this I can drink coffee.”
Greeks think in terms
how it appears. Jews think in terms of
what it does.
This is helpful when it comes to understanding a particularly confusing passage found in the Song of Songs. Here the writer describes his beloved by saying:
Your belly is like a heap of wheat fenced about with lilies. Song of Songs 7:2
Around my house, saying that would get me the cold shoulder or a quick slap. We are Greek thinkers. But the Jewish lover is saying that his beloved will be very fruitful, bearing him many children from her belly- her womb- the heap of harvested wheat. Having many children meant that you would have income in your retirement years.
This functional thinking causes God to describe
Himself as:
I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. Lev 25:38.
“This
is what I did and what I am going to do.”
When
we read the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus describing himself seven times as “I
Am. . .” , The Bread of Life, The Light of the World, The Door,
the Good Shepherd, The Way, The Truth,
and The Life. These are images John uses to appeal to the Greek
thinking person.
Along
with these seven “I Am’s” John also gives us seven miracles: Turning water into
wine, Healing at a distance, Raising the paralytic, Feeding the five thousand,
Walking on water, Healing the Blind, and Raising Lazarus from the dead. This
would appeal to the functional, Hebrew-thinking person. Since John’s ministry
was among both cultures, it is natural that he would include functional and
form descriptions of Jesus. This is what
makes John’s Gospel successful in its universal appeal.
Acceptance and Obedience
vs.
Speculation and Application
Jewish rabbis taught that it was the duty of
God’s people to accept the revelation God has given them and simply obey. They saw the pillar of fire and smoke at Mt.
Sinai. This was God. As to what was above that pillar, they not
only didn’t know, but they felt they didn’t have the right to even speculate
about what God may or may not be. Their
duty was to obey.
Greeks
have a thing called logic that is very prominent in their culture, even
today. They believe if they know “A” is
greater than “B” and “A” is less than “C”, they can figure out the relationship
between “B” and “C”. Remember they are
the inventors of geometry! If they know some things about God, they can apply
their logic to figure out the rest. When
Greek-thinking people came into the church in large numbers in the Second
Century, theology was born. The speculation of who God is, what He is really
saying, and how we are to respond began at this point in time.
Jews
never really developed a theology of God.
They didn’t feel they had the right to.
When you study Church history of the third through sixth centuries, we
see councils, schisms, and excommunications.
Applying logic to God often had divisive and disastrous results. When Emperor Constantine called the first
major church council in the Fourth Century, many survivors of the persecutions
of preceding emperors were present. It
was a scene of amazement that those who, a few years earlier, were official
enemies of the state were now dining with the Emperor in his royal palace. At one of the banquets, it was reported that
Constantine approached one bishop who had lost an eye to torture and kissed him
where the eye had been. When these
church leaders (mostly Greek) later began their meetings to establish official
church doctrines, they couldn’t agree, and many wanted to excommunicate each
other. All agreed the Scriptures were
inerrant, but many believed “inerrancy” applied to their logical interpretation
of these Scriptures. That was a problem
(and still is!), and finally Constantine intervened, forcing the council to
come to an agreement on some of the major issues. This was the result of “speculation and
application”. The Church has never been
the same.
The
First Century church was a Jewish church, but in the Second Century, there were
more Greek-speaking and Greek-thinking Christians. The church literally went through the Greek
Car Wash. The character of the church
changed and issues that were not important to the First Century church suddenly
became paramount.
Tribal Mentality vs Individualism
Most
Jews were raised in an environment that emphasized the collective (the good of
the many) over the individual (good of the one). They thought of themselves as first family
members, then extended family (clans), next members of one of the twelve
tribes, and finally the nation of Israel.
Their mentality dictated that what benefited the group was more
important than individual gain and comfort.
Thus the king could offer lifetime tax exemption to the families of the
sappers (who crawled under the walls of the enemies’ city and dug out under the
rocks until they finally collapsed on top of them!) and have volunteers for
this important but often suicidal job.
Greeks
were more “individual” thinkers. Their
literature portrayed the “Lone Hero” who overcame great odds, or fell prey to
the schemes of the gods or his own failings.
Painting and sculpture focused on the individual male and female forms.
The importance of the individual gave rise to a unique form of government,
Democracy, where every man had a voice in society. Democratic concepts didn’t
really exist in Jewish society.
Greek
influence was strong in Jewish society by the time of Jesus. In the First Century, Jews began burying
their dead in individual “kochim” style tombs (where each body had its own
separate chamber) instead of more traditional tombs where bodies were placed on
a flat surface for decomposition, and after about 18 months, when the body
decayed, the bones were place in a common ossuary (bone box) along with the
bones of other family members.
A
major theme of Paul’s letters to the churches deals with a concept of the Body
of Christ (Gr: soma) and the importance of leaving behind a
self-centered individualism and of adopting a “tribal mentality” of Christian
community. He used the term at least 30 times in his letters.
Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Eph 4:16
He
knew that this “collective” idea was a foreign concept to these Greek thinking
Christians, but he also realized the important value that God places on giving
to and doing what’s best for others, even when we have to sacrifice our own
interests. After all, this value of
self-sacrifice is at the very center of God’s heart.
This
is also a new concept to many modern “western” thinking individuals who come
into the church, and become part of the Body of Christ. We naturally model our lifestyles, our
ministries, and our church government on democratic, individual-oriented
principles, often without realizing that the Biblical model points us in
another direction. That’s why The Holy Spirit included at least 21 commandments
for loving “one another” in very practical and selfless manner in the Christian
Scriptures.
Guideline
#2
There is a difference between
Narrative
Scripture and Instructional Scripture.
Sometimes we place more meaning into a passage of Scripture than the writers intended. Paul cautioned the Corinthian church not to do that. Other times, things are recorded that just are not so. Remember the lengthy conversation between Job and his friends? When God appeared, he rebuked the three because they spoke things that were simply not true.
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and with your two friends, for you have not been right in what you said about me, as my servant Job was.” Job 42:7
It
is helpful to note that there are three things that Scripture contains: FACTS, TRUTH, and
MYTH.
Fact is most of what happens. But
remember when you tell a story you summarize it. You don’t give every detail,
just the facts that make your point. The result is that in a Biblical
narrative, there is often only partial information.
Truth is a little harder to
grasp. When Jesus teaches, he uses a
parable such as “There was a man traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem. . .”
and you can imagine the crowd yelling out “What was his name?” What did he do for a living?” It doesn’t matter. The parable or illustration gives us a true
Biblical principle, an everlasting truth applicable to all of mankind in all
cultures. The point of the parable is just a truism. Details don’t necessarily matter. Hopefully the illustrations we use are like
windows, opening our eyes to a Principle of Truth.
The third category is much more difficult to lay your hands on. This is Myth. These are often capitalized on and misused by various groups trying to use the Bible to prove a particular point. “Myth” is when the Biblical records accurately something that is not true. There is Satan saying to Eve “You surely shall not die!” Now you can read that. It’s in the Bible, but it doesn’t mean it’s true. It is true to say there are untrue things written in the Bible, but you have to read it understanding the writer is saying “This is not true but this is what was said.” In first chapter of the book of Ruth, Naomi declares: “for the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me” (1:13). This too is myth, because the entire book of Ruth is the story of God’s hand turned toward Naomi.
There is a major difference in the Bible between a
narrative of what happened or what was said, and instructions for the believer.
In the text we have to ask ourselves “Is this an instruction, or a report
of what was said?”
Here is an example of
Narrative Scripture:
Late one afternoon David got out of bed after taking a nap and went for a stroll on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent for her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. 2 Samuel 11:2
This is obviously a narration of something David did that was not a good thing for him, or his country. Can you imagine if we tried to use this passage as a Biblical Instruction with our wives? “Honey, adultery is in the Bible. . . .David, one of our heroes did it. . .”
Instructional Scripture is different:
Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. Ephesians 5:18
This is a clear instruction of how to handle alcohol beverage.
What about Gideon? He was a man who received a command from an angel and responded by the famous Fleece Test.
Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.” And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground. Judges 5:36-40 NAS
Are we to lay out fleeces when God commands us to do something? This seems to be a common practice in our present Christian culture. Just because Gideon put his fleece out doesn’t mean we must teach our churches that we must all go out and buy fleeces, put them out, and this is how we make decisions. That is a report, a narrative of what Gideon did. The “Fleece Test” is the result of a man of God not believing a message from God given through an angel.
The instruction is to study the Scriptures, to
know the Word, and then to walk with God through His Word, not through fleeces.
Guideline #3
The Bible is a complete
unit!
The Old Testament and New Testament are a
continuous,
linked revelation of God to Mankind
Many modern Christians focus their Bible reading and study on the New Testament. Look at your own Bible and notice which pages are worn.
We naturally want the new, improved version of laundry detergent, toothpaste, deodorant, stereo, television, and automobile. Old is simply “old” and ready for the dumpster (or to be sent to the missionaries!). We bring this same attitude when it comes to studying the Word of God. We think the New Testament is actually the “new and improved” Word of God, and the Old Testament is an archaic document no longer applicable to our society.
The reality is quite the opposite. The Bible is one continuous revelation of God to mankind. When we study the New Testament, it is hard to appreciate what God was doing in those latter times, unless we understand what He did in the pages of the Old Testament. Not only that, the writers assume you know the backdrop of the Old Testament to fully understand what they are describing in the pages of the New Testament.
For example, when you read Acts 2, the birth of the Church, it says, “and when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all in one accord and in one place.” The story tells of the sound of a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire on their heads, they begin to speak in known and unknown dialects, and people around them accuse them of being drunk. Peter says it’s early in the day, and they are not drunk. Rather this is what was spoken about by the prophet Joel, an incredible move of God, and he speaks a message.
At the end of this message many people are broken in their hearts and ask, “What shall we do?” And Peter replies, “Repent, and be baptized for the remission of your sins”. 3000 people were added to the church that day. The writer tells this wonderful story about what happened in Jerusalem and he expects you to understand verse 1: “When the day of Pentecost had fully come. . .”
What was Pentecost?
The first Pentecost took place in the wilderness with Moses and the ex-slaves from Egypt at Mt Sinai. Moses brought the people out of Egypt, and Exodus 19 tells us they arrived at the Mountain of the Law, 50 days after Passover. Moses goes up to the top of the mountain to meet with God, and he is there is for 40 days.
There is incredibly strange weather: fire, wind, and thunder. Moses comes down the mountain with the Law and what does he see the people doing? Are they waiting patiently for him saying, “Oh that we would hear from our God?” No! They are having a party, a wild sexual party. Moses tells the Levites to strap on their swords and kill all who are involved in this party. That day 3000 people died.
When Luke writes this account of the Second Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, he assumes you understand the common elements with the first Pentecost story: wind, weather, all in one accord, fire, 3000 people, so you will understand the second story.
The point is very simple: With the going up on
Sinai and the coming of the Law came knowledge of my sinfulness and death. But
the coming of the Spirit brought a new revelation of God to write the Law
within my heart, and brought life everlasting.
Luke thought the point was obvious, assuming you understood the significance of Pentecost as those First Century believers did.
Another example of how the Scriptures are inexorably linked is Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John Chapter 3. Here is this learned teacher of the Jews, coming to speak to Jesus at night. Jesus tells him he must be “born again”. Nicodemus is confused and asks if he must crawl inside his mother’s womb again. Jesus says, “No, I am talking about spiritual things, a spiritual birth.”
Then Jesus, as all good teachers do, brings the student (Nicodemus) to a point of reference, of understanding. This point Jesus refers to is one of the most bizarre scenes in the Bible, Numbers chapter 21. It was the time when Moses was leading the people through the desert, and they were grumbling about their food, about water, about almost everything. Finally they spoke out against Moses’ leadership, saying “Why have you brought us into this desert to die?”
At this point God has had it, and sends venomous
snakes into the camp. People get bit and start dying. They realize their sin, ask Moses for
forgiveness, and God for help. God says, “O.K.” and tells Moses “ to
make a snake out of bronze and attach it to a pole for all to see, so that
anyone who looks at the snakes will be healed of the snakebite” (Numbers
21:9).
Reading this passage of Scripture alone can be very confusing! It appeared like some ritual cultic activity was happening that does not fit in with the rest of the Bible. Jesus brings it all together for Nicodemus (and us) when He says, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert “I the Son of Man will be lifted up so that anybody who looks upon me with faith will have that poison called sin removed from their body and they will have eternal life.” John assumes we know Nicodemus knows as those stricken people looked at the serpent, the fatal poison injected by the snake into their body was removed. How can we appreciate Jesus on the cross unless we understand this picture God gave His people over a thousand years before in the desert?
When reading the Gospels, it is often not only
helpful but imperative to look back at what happened in the Old Testament to
have a full appreciation and understanding of what is actually being
communicated. Otherwise it is possible to get lost, not catch the full
flavor, or have the greatest appreciation that God wants us to have. In the worst case, people may get off on some
weird doctrine, which historically happened many times to those who
didn’t understand the historical and cultural context of a passage of
Scripture.
What about the “Old ” and “New” Testament ?
The first reference to the Hebrew Scriptures as the “Old” Testament comes from an un-named Egyptian writer in a second-century document. The church in Alexandria created a movement to allegorize the stories in the Hebrew Scriptures and to marginalize Hebrew cultural influences. Greek Christians tried to distance themselves from Hebrew culture and like Marcion, minimize any Hebrew influence over Christianity.
The name “Old Testament” is actually a misnomer. We usually refer them as the “Hebrew Scriptures”, because when you say “old” you suggest that it is something out of date. The term “Old Testament” is mis-derived from the passage in Hebrews 8 that says:
When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside. Heb 8:13
If you look at the context of this passage, the author is talking about Levitical sacrifices verses the sacrifice that is Jesus. He is making the point that the Levitical sacrificial system is obsolete and out of date. The Roman even removed the place of sacrifice in 70 AD when they destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem!
In our view, both testaments are new, alive, and sharper than any two-edged sword and are busy in my life. Whether Abraham is being directed to do something or Paul is writing to Timothy, our understanding is there is one author of all this and He is the Spirit of God, a God who desires to draw us to Himself. And He does that in different ways in different places in the Scriptures. Understanding that helps pull it all together in a cohesive manner. So we don’t use the term “old” and “new” in regard to the Scriptures. Instead we refer to the two major portions of Scripture as “Hebrew Scriptures” and “Christian Scriptures”.
Are there
differences between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures?
What about the
character of God? Did He really change?
Some think the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is a harsh, strict character demanding obedience and ready to smash us when we step out of line, while the God of the Christian Scriptures is one of Grace who says, “Call me Daddy”, inviting us to jump in His lap. This was one of Marcion’s beliefs for which he was later excommunicated.
Psalm 103, in the Hebrew Scriptures, declares:
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He ransoms me from death and surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:3-5
It is obvious that many “Old Testament” people viewed God as merciful, loving, and the Giver of all Good Things.
For the Lord God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right. O Lord Almighty, happy are those who trust in you. Psalm 84:11-12
Regarding the
perception that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is one that demands obedience, it is the “God of the Christian
Scriptures” (Jesus) who declares:
If you love Me, you will keep
My commandments. John 14:15
Notice the order: If you have a relationship of love with me where you trust me for everything, and know that I have your best interests at the center of my heart, and that I will do anything for you- even die for you, then obey the things I tell you to do. It’s not “Obey me and I will love you more.”
Regarding salvation,
how was a person in the Hebrew Scriptures
saved?
Many think it was strict observance of the Law, yet David
declares:
You take no delight in
sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally
understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said,
“Look, I have come. And this has been written about me in your scroll: I take
joy in doing your will, my God, for your law is written on my heart.” Psalm
40:6-8
God was never satisfied with the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats.
For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:1,4 NAS
Even though the Bible refers to these sacrifices as “covering” sin, it wasn’t the covering that turned His wrath away. The Old Testament believer always came to God in the same way as the New Testament believer, by grace and through faith, because God was interested in your heart.
People may think they are doing what is right, but the Lord examines the heart. The Lord is more pleased when we do what is just and right than when we give him sacrifices. Proverbs 21:2-3
Now the outward actions determining obedience in your heart were different. I don’t have to sacrifice and stand in line at the altar, because the book of Hebrews is clear that there has been one sacrifice and I don’t need to do that anymore. I don’t need to afflict my soul, bow into the ashes, and moan into the sky. Whatever it is I have to do as a symbol of outward obedience is not what saves me; it’s what is going on in my heart.
So when blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, it
was not the blood that did it. It was the action of reaching out the hand. The same action that defiled man in the
Garden (the reaching for the forbidden fruit) is the same action that later
helped him. Both were a reflection of what was going on in the heart. The High
Priest reached out to pour that blood, his heart was right, and because his
heart was obedient, and what was inside was right with God, the outward action
came. We have a lot of believers who run around saying, “Keeping the Law
saves people.” Keeping the Law never saved anybody. Walking with God saved people.
And how did that happen? When I submitted my heart and life to the God of the Ages, and then demonstrated obedience in whatever way He told me. If He told me to sacrifice a bull or goat, that is what I did. If it was to see the sacrifice of the Lamb on Calvary, and to accept it, then I did that. Whatever Truth was revealed, the important thing was always the heart response. We get caught up on the mechanics and the mechanics are not the issue. The “Old Testament” prophet Micah recognized this when he wrote:
What can we bring to the Lord to make up for what we’ve done? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and tens of thousands of rivers of olive oil? Would that please the Lord? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for the sins of our souls? Would that make him glad? No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8
The Old Testament Believer and the New Testament Believer were always saved by grace through faith. Some say “salvation by faith” is a Christian doctrine of the “New” Testament, yet the Hebrew Scriptures state plainly:
And Abram believed the Lord,
and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith. Gen
15:6
You don’t really believe something unless you act on
it. Mental assent is not going to get you to heaven. Ultimately God is satisfied when my heart is
submitted to Him. We can simplify this
down to one sentence. God has only one objective in your life,
only one: To get your attention on Him, and keep it focused there. Everything else, as good as it may be, is not
the Number 1 objective. Everything in my
life must be submitted to this.
A close examination of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures reveal a consistency in important areas like worship, the importance of the Word, and the relationship between Mankind and God. That’s because it is the Living Unchanging God who is the author of all. He has not changed, nor have His ways. His desires for mankind remain constant, and none of His Word is “Old” and outdated, only updated! It’s like what the writer of Hebrews said:
Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. Heb 1:1
In essence he said: “I am going to put on skin and down there myself and tell exactly what it is I meant by what I said. You heard me, but you didn’t catch my heart. And I am not interested in the outward appearance of cutting the lamb’s throat with the knife in a certain way, and putting the blood in the proper place. I am interested in that, but to me it is a means to an end. That end is that you understand my heart and walk with me.”
Guideline
#4
Context is
Everything!
God gives us His Word so we may have understanding. He wants us to have more than just “blind faith” in our relationship with Him. He gives us example after example of who He is, and how He interacts with mankind in the pages of the Bible. That’s the value of understanding the culture, language, geography, and political background, the context, of the Biblical text.
The challenge is to first understand the Bible
in its historical and cultural context.
It is only then we can draw out principles and everlasting truths to
apply to our own lives. Once we do that,
we can take the message to any place, into any culture, with any people. If we don’t have understanding of what God is
really communicating in the Scriptures, we can easily become “religious” and
try to fulfill the letter of the Law without understanding the intent.
Context is everything! Here are some examples of how knowing the background, or context, of the passage of Scripture changes the way you interpret it and apply it to your life:
Culture
How Biblical people lived provides insights into the message of the
Bible. Here are some relevant points:
·
The
Greek Culture was a “missionary” culture that sought to capture the hearts and
minds of the world. Alexander the Great
had Aristotle as his tutor. He was as
interested in spreading the superior Greek culture as he was in conquering
nations! Gymnasium, athletic competitions, drama, and worship of the Pantheon
were the usual means of dispersing Greek Culture, and it was very successful in
most of the places where Alexander and his armies went;
·
Jewish
Culture clashed heavily with the Greeks.
Worship of many gods and morality were big issues. For a Jewish boy to
go to a Greek ‘gymnasium” meant he would have to discard much of the Biblical
morality, as athletic competitions were done in the nude;
·
Religious
Jews lived apart from the Hellenistic (or Greek-thinking and -speaking)
Jews, and would not go into a town where there was a pagan temple. This may explain why Peter, James, and John
moved away from their hometown Bethsaida, where there was recently discovered a
temple to Julia, the mother of Caesar Augustus, to Capernaum.
Understanding Greek
Culture affects our understanding of the Scriptures:
Paul wrote to a church in Greece:
If I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a sounding brass or a
clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1
We have various understandings of this passage, but to Paul’s audience, the message was perfectly clear. Here are the clues to understanding the principle:
Sounding Brass:
a metal drum that was used by Greek actors to simulate the
voice of a god backstage.
Clanging Cymbal: a piece of copper sheeting that was
dropped to simulate the sound of thunder.
Paul says if I do all these things without love, I “simulate” being a Christian, just as those Hypocrites (Greek word for actors) “simulated” being gods. His audience in Corinth understood the conventions of Greek Drama. They receive very clearly a message that often gets muddled in our modern interpretations of this famous passage.
There are some Jewish
cultural symbols that help our understanding of important parts of the
Scripture:
As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it and eat it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many. Matthew 26:27-28
When a young Hebrew man decided to marry the girl of
his dreams, the first person that he went to was her father. He usually began his discussion by saying
something like this: “Jacob, I was in my fields the other day when your
daughter walked by. She is so ugly that
all my sheep ran away and it took me three days to find them all”.
To which the father replied: “You are mistaken my son, my daughter is a
beautiful girl.” Thus began the
negotiations for the dowry- the price of the bride. After they had decided how
many sheep, goats, barrels of oil and bushels of wheat she was worth, the girl
was called in. She came with a cup full of wine and a plate with bread. Without any words, the young man broke the
bread, ate, and passed a piece to her.
He then took the cup, drank, passed it to her. By these gestures, in his cultural way, he
was saying “I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you be my bride?” The young Hebrew
maiden knew what the bread and cup of wine gesture meant, and if she took the
cup and drank from it, she was culturally saying “Yes, I accept your
proposal of marriage”.
When Jesus passed the cup of wine to His disciples, they understood the cultural language He was using, and realized that He was inviting them into the closest possible relationship. Afterward, they began referring to themselves (The Church) and the Bride of Christ. This marriage relationship is the ultimate in intimacy. This is what God has invited us to be – intimate family members.
Geography
The form of the land, the climate, roads, trade routes, and vegetation play a big part in understanding the message of the Bible. Weather patterns are Wet and Green in the North and West, Brown and Dry in South and East. Elijah confronted the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel, in the wet, green corner of the country. The Prominent geographical features in Israel are a Flat Coastal Plain, a Rolling Piedmont, a High Central Ridge, and the Deep Jordan Valley Riff. Going “up” to Jerusalem means walking uphill. From Jericho to Jerusalem is less than 15 miles with a 4000 feet elevation gain. Trade Routes and the location of Tax Stations help us understand why Jesus chose to locate his evangelistic headquarters in Capernaum.
Here’s one example of
an important geographical context:
Now when Jesus came into the
district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say
that the Son of Man is?” And
they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still
others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said* to them, “But
who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,
because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My
Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this
rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Matthew
16:13-18
This was the famous final exam of the disciples. Jesus took them to a Gentile region, away from the religious Jews. Caesarea was the site of temples dedicated to Pan and other gods. Behind the ancient city is a huge rock formation with carved out ledges where the statues of the idols stood. Inset in the rock is a huge cave from which flows one of the four tributaries of the Jordan River. This cave was so deep the locals referred to it as the “Gates of Hell”. (Rabbinical writers also referred to Gentile cities as the Gates of Hell.)
This famous statement “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it” has led to many doctrinal controversies. The Roman Catholic Church claims this is where Jesus declared He would build His church on Peter, as the head guy. Later, Reformation Protestants declared “the rock” was not Peter but the truth that Peter had uttered that Jesus was the Messiah. However when you stand in the ruins of Caeserea and gaze at this huge rock formation where intense idol worship took place, the meaning to the disciples seems obvious. Jesus was going to build His church right on top of this culture of idol worship, and the church would be such an offensive force nothing could hold it back.
What does that do to the often-held concept of the
church as a defensive fortress holding out the influences of the world- a place
where we can retreat to once a week to get healed and ready for the next
onslaught of satan and the world?
The
Message: God’s church is an awesome offensive force.
Politics
The political environment in an important background in the Biblical story.
·
Herod the Great, a ruthless ruler, was
paranoid of anyone who might try to usurp his throne. He slaughtered thousands
of his own subjects during his long reign.
Josephus records as Herod neared his death, he ordered all the leading
citizens and priests to be jailed at the Hippodrome in Jericho and that on news
of his death, his soldiers were to kill all these prominent members of Jewish
society so there would be “true mourning” at the time of his death, since he
knew that no one would mourn his passing!
Fortunately his children did not carry out this final command.
·
Pax Romana (Roman Peace) was often cruel and
oppressive for the average person. Taxes
were heavy, and Jews were subject to forced labor and confiscation of personal
property. In court, they had fewer
rights than Roman citizens.
Understanding this political climate helps us get the meaning of a very familiar event:
On the next day the large
crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, 13took the branches of the palm trees and went out to
meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed
is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” 14Jesus,
finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 15“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King
is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” John 12:12-14
Palm branches? This always mystified me as a young boy trying to visualize what was happening on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem. Was this a sign of worship? Or was it a hot day and this was the First Century version of an umbrella? The palm branch appears on coins minted during the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66-70 AD. This was their national symbol, a national flag.
Hosanna? Was this a word for “Praise the Lord”? The word is a actually a Hebrew phrase meaning “Save, We Pray!” What was happening this first Palm Sunday? A crowd of Jews who were tired of the heavy yoke of Roman rule was welcoming their Messiah, who they thought was going to be a political leader, into his capital city with encouragement to use his divine powers to literally destroy the Roman legions. They waved the national flag and shouted “Give us our freedom!” This explains how a disappointed crowd could call for his execution only a few days later.
This day was the first day in the Passover week, the most holy Jewish holiday. It was the day pilgrims and locals streamed into the city to select their animal for the sacrifice on the following Friday. It was the day that The Lamb chose to present Himself to His people as the ultimate sacrificial offering. They didn’t get it, expecting Jesus to be the conquering king.
Linguistics
Understanding
the meaning of the original words may change your application.
Praise (Hallal) the LORD!
Praise (Hallal) God in his heavenly dwelling; Praise (Hallal) him in his mighty heaven! Psalm 150:1
There are seven Hebrew words used in the book of Psalms that are translated “Praise” in English. Zamar, Barak, Todah, Shabach, Yadah, and others clarify the meaning of “Praise” to a specific practice or activity (instrumental music, bowing low, shouting loud, and hand motions for these words). In Psalm 150, the word Praise is actually the word Hallal, the word we get Hallelujah from. Hallal means to praise the Lord by celebrating, by dancing, by shining forth, by acting clamorously foolish. It is a very robust, liberating kind of praise.
How does this translation affect the way you
worship the Lord?
For many of us brought up in churches where we were told “quietness is reverence to God” and to talk softly, not get excited, or move too quickly, this gives a new meaning to the word “praise”. I have “hallaled” when my team scores at the football game. There is a lot of that going on at many sporting events and concerts. It seems God wants me to “hallal” when I worship Him as well.
Textual
The Scriptures are to be read as a whole, not
as disjointed paragraphs or sentences.
We often read a portion of the Bible apart from the surrounding chapters and verses, and then attempt to make a doctrine out of the portion. This would be like taking one of the many letters which I wrote to Laura from Honduras before we were married, cutting out a paragraph from the middle of the letter, and then defining our relationship on that one paragraph. Letters are written as a whole, with introductory remarks, and summary comments. It would be unrealistic to simply read a paragraph somewhere in the middle of our letter and use that to define the relationship. It would be the same if we recorded a random five minute conversation between us during the course of the day, and used that “out of context moment” to define our relationship “They are always discussing who is going to change the baby’s diaper!” or “They are always hugging and kissing!” The truth is we do both and more!
Sometimes we read a verse or chapter of Scripture and come away with an incorrect impression of what the writer was communicating. We then incorporate this disjointed interpretation of Scripture into our thinking, which results in traditions and church practices that are inconsistent with the whole of Scripture. Denominations and cults are born out of this practice.
One Common Example of
a disjointed interpretation:
“If your brother sins, go and
show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
16“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you,
so that by the mouth of two or three
witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17“If he
refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen
even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18“Truly
I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and
whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
19“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth
about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is
in heaven. 20“For where two or three have gathered together in My
name, I am there in their midst.”
Matthew
18:15-20 NAS
Does verse
20 mean that Jesus is not present unless we are with another believer? What is this passage of Scripture referring
to?
This is the meaning often assigned to this passage-
that it takes a small group for Jesus to be present. However the context suggests that it is
referring to discipline within the church.
Reading this
passage in its entirety gives us a very different
interpretation of its meaning. Paul’s letters were also meant to be read and
understood in the same manner.
We hope these perspectives will inspire you in your study
of the Word.
These four guidelines given
here are not by any means a complete list, but we believe these will help in
your search for timeless truths in all parts of the Bible that are life
changing and life giving!
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