Interpret The Bible…Why?

2 TIM 2:14-18; 2 PET. 1:20

THEME: We need to understand how the nature of humanity impacts how we interpret the Bible. 

                                                                                                           

RELEVANCY: Every Believer needs to know how to interpret Scripture accurately to explore and satisfy God’s plan.

Differences of Interpretation Arise Simply Because Some People Do Not Understand How to Draw Information from Print.  In fact, the same principles used to interpret the Bible are used to interpret the U.S. Constitution or the writings of Plato and Shakespeare. If we disregard those general guidelines, we will misconstrue the meaning. So even considering our natural tendency to interpret things differently, we can minimize faulty interpretation by knowing the principles of interpretation, which are what we want to look at in the next few studies. First, we will consider human nature and how the nature of the written word itself necessitates interpretation.  

Lesson:

BECAUSE THE NATURE OF MANKIND DEMANDS INTERPRETING THE BIBLE

From time to time one hears the protest, “Why do you have to interpret the Bible? Just read it and do what it says!” At one level, it is easy to understand and sympathize with this sentiment.

But often the battle does not merely start with reading and doing what the Word says, but with our very own depraved nature.

Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Hebrews 3:12-13, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. [13] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 

(See also these verses about the heart of man and his depraved nature.  Gen 6:5; Gen 8:21; Job 15:14-16; Ps 51:5; Ps 53:1-3; Prov 28:26; Eccl 9:3; Jer 16:12; Matt 15:19; Mark 7:21-22; Heb 3:12; James 1:14-15)  

Because of the deception and depravity of our own hearts we are not even slightly inclined to accept God’s standards and perceptions of us.  This predisposition often makes us reluctant to interpret certain passages as strictly and purely as we should.  They hit far too close to home for comfort!    

1.  The Meaning of Many Biblical Passages Does Seem Straightforward to Us. Furthermore, for most of us, our major problem with the Bible is not the parts that we don't understand but with the parts that we do—that is, in obeying such commands.

Romans 12:12, Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Romans 12:17, Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.  

        

2. Other Passages Are Not So Easy to Understand. For a few examples consider, 

   a.  The Example of John 16:23.

          1.  Interpreting John 16:23 at Face Value Could Easily Lead to a "Name-it, Claim-it" Teaching.   John 16:23, And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

 We would conclude that all Christians need do to receive anything he wants is ask for it in Jesus' Name.

          2.  Comparing Scripture with Scripture, However, Shows That Prayer Is Conditional. To ask in Jesus' Name means to ask according to His will (I John 5:14,15), to ask by faith-that is, according to the Word of God-(James 1:6), and to ask as one who is abiding in Christ (John 15:7), etc.

1 John 5:14-15, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: [15] And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

 James 1:6, But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

 John 15:7, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

  

  b.  The Example of the Israelites In Egypt.

A numerical discrepancy has been imagined when comparing Genesis 46:26 (66), Genesis 46:27 (70), and Acts 7:14 (75).

Genesis 46:26-27, All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six; [27] And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

 Acts 7:14, Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

This is resolved when we see that: 66 people came with Jacob into Egypt; that these 66, together with Jacob, Joseph, and Joseph's two sons made a total of 70 people in Egypt; and with Joseph's 4 grandsons and 1 great-grandson (Genesis 50:23; 1 Chronicles 7:14-22) making

another five, we arrive at the total of 75 who were in one room with Joseph.

3.  The Preconceptions of the Reader. 

Also, all of us then bring to the Bible our own knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about God, religion, and “reality,” which will influence the way in which we construe the meaning of a biblical text.

For example, when we read the word “church” we often think of a particular type of building, despite the facts that a biblical meaning of “church” is “the community of scripturally baptized believers who are organized to carry out the great commission” and the early churches met in homes rather than in church buildings for the first three hundred years of Christianity’s existence.

4.  People Tend to See Things Differently.  Not only is interpretation unavoidable, but different interpreters do not always agree.

   a.  Christian Groups.

“Christians” disagree about such things as the mode of baptism, whether one can lose his or her salvation, and the nature of restrictions on the participation of women in the church. Some Christians assert that God’s will for all Christians is material prosperity on the basis of texts such as 3 John 2, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health” (kjv) [usually omitting the qualification “even as thy soul prospereth” (emphasis added)], a verse that has nothing to do with financial prosperity.

   b.  Modern Cults and Pseudo-Christian Groups.

Many cults misread and distort the meaning of various biblical passages. This would include JWs, Mormons, Christian Science, Catholics, Etc. Some groups even regard other books or traditions over the Bible, but still claim to be Believers…?  However, as Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart point out, “The antidote to bad interpretation is not no interpretation, but good interpretation based upon common-sense guidelines” (How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth).

Clearly our own nature as fallen human beings interferes with handling the Bible accurately and interpreting it skillfully. We tend to resist those truths we do not want to hear while over emphasizing the ideas we want. As a result, we misunderstand precisely what God is saying in the Scriptures. Knowing this about ourselves help us guard against this tendency and ques us to be more open to the difficult things God is truly stating in the Word. We are prompted to maintain the balance the Scriptures themselves present free of embellishments.