Overview of Course

Over the next six weeks, we are going to learn the following things:

1. The way we should approach the Bible.
2. An overview of how the Bible works together.
3. Rules for interpreting the Bible.
4. Techniques for studying the Bible.

• Today, we are going to discuss how the Bible is unique and how it isn't and set some ground rules for how to understand the Bible.
• Next Sunday we are going to take a look at the Bible from 10,000 feet and understand the big picture of the scriptures.
• On the third Sunday we are going to talk about how the scripture includes different types of literature and how we should approach each one and we will also talk about whether or not the scripture contains errors.
• On week four, we are going to talk about rings of context and how each ring effects the meaning of what you are studying.
• On week five we are going to talk about interrogating the scripture.
• On the last week, we are going to show you have to do word studies and show you some other tools you can use to help understand the Bible.

Goals for Lesson

So let's talk about our goals for today. The title of today's lesson is supposed to be confusing.

"Not like any other book and just like any other book." What does that mean? You'll see before we are done.

Here are my goals for the lesson today:

• Today we are going to look at the two overarching principles you have to consider when you are approaching the Bible.
• We are going to talk about what makes the Bible special.
• We are going to make some rules for interpretation based on the divine nature of the scripture.
• We are also going to talk about how the Bible is still a book, and needs to follow the rules of understanding you would use for any other book.

Introduction

The Bible is a unique book.

For one, it is unique in its human authorship.

It was written over a period of 1500 years by approximately 40 different men, who spoke three different languages and lived on three different continents.

To say these men had very different backgrounds would be an understatement:

I mean, in the Old Testament, you have everyone from Moses - who had the best education Egypt could provide - to Amos - a farmer from the middle of nowhere. It was written by Kings, by scribes, by shepherds and by prophets. It was written in Egypt, in Canaan and in exile in Babylon.

The New Testament writers included a doctor (Luke), a former scribe and pharisee (Paul), a tax collector (Matthew), a man from a well to do jewish family (John Mark) and at least two fisherman (John and Peter.)

Think about this: how much do you have in common today with a man who lived in 524AD? But there was that much difference between John and Moses - and yet their is a unity in their writing.

So it's authorship is unique. But also it's inspiration is unique.

Who wants to read 2 Timothy 3:16 for me?

[!bible] 2 Timothy 3:16 - KJV 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Ok, who can read 2 Peter 1:21

[!bible] 2 Peter 1:21 - KJV 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Bible claims to be inspired by God. Inspired by the Holy Ghost. The reason why there is unity is because even though there was a great diversity in the human writers of scripture, and even though God used their circumstances and personalities in the writing of scripture, the Holy Spirit inspired the scripture.

The Bible is also unique in its lasting appeal.

The Bible is the best selling book of all time. It has been distributed into 5 to 7 billion copies. It has been translated into nearly 700 languages with the New Testament having been translated into over 1,500 languages.

Today, in our town, over 30 different churches are going to be sitting around opening the Bible and discussing it. Think about that! We are a small town in the midwest, 2000 years and 6,300 miles removed from the events of the Bible and today, thousands of people in our town and all across the world are going to be opening this book and thinking about it.

Can you think of any other book that has the same cross-cultural, lasting appeal?

Our Bible has so much influence on society that dozens of common phrases and idioms used by people who aren't even Christians come out of the scripture:

• Feet of clay
• writing on the wall
• Skin of my teeth
• Bite the dust
• At wits end
• No rest for the wicked
• Like a lamb to the slaughter
• Baptism by fire And dozens more.

The Bible is God's Word

The Bible makes claims for itself that no other book does.

It claims to be the word of God.

[!bible] 2 Timothy 3:16 - KJV 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

[!bible] Matthew 4:4 - KJV 4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

It claims to be perfect.

• What part of scripture was inspired according to 2 Timothy 3:16?
• In Matthew 4:4, what did Jesus say man needed to live on? (Notice, not some words, but every word.)

It claims to be the truth

[!bible] John 17:17 - KJV 17. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

It claims to be alive and powerful.

[!bible] Hebrews 4:12 - KJV 12. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It claims to be a source of wisdom and flourishing.

[!bible] Psalms 1:2-3 - KJV 2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

[!bible] Psalms 19:7 - KJV 7. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

[!bible] Luke 11:28 - KJV 28. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

It is part of God's evidence for condemning the world.

[!bible] Luke 16:27-29 - KJV 27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28. For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

• Who is speaking in these verses?
• What was the rich man's request?
• What was Abraham's reply?
• What does that tell us about the testimony of scripture?

It claims to have saving power.

[!bible] 2 Timothy 3:15 - KJV 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

[!bible] 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 - KJV 3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

So the Bible is a unique book. It is unique in it's authorship, in it's inspiration, in it's effectiveness, in it's appeal and in it's claims.

The Bible can be misunderstood and misused.

Two times in scripture we see Satan trying to tempt people, in both cases, Satan twists the scripture to do it.

[!bible] Genesis 3:1 - KJV

1. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

• How did Satan twist God's words (from Genesis 2:16-17)?

[!bible] Matthew 4:5-7 - KJV 5. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

[!bible] Psalms 91:11-12 - KJV 11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

• What phrase did Satan omit in quoting this Psalm?
• Does the omission change the meaning God intended?

One of Satan's greatest tools is to get people to misunderstand and misapply the scripture.

• What are some of the dangers in misunderstanding the scripture?

Read 2 Timothy 2:15

[!bible] 2 Timothy 2:15 - KJV 15. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If you can rightly divide the word of truth, doesn't that imply there is a wrong way to divide it?

The word "workman" signifies a craftsman. Think about a craftsman building a piece furniture. There is a great deal of knowledge involved.

I have a shop full of wood and old fashioned tools. I want to build some blanket chests. But just because I have the materials and a desire doesn't mean I know how to build a chest.

Just because you have the word of God and you have a desire to read it and understand it, doesn't mean you can't get it wrong and misunderstand and misapply it.

This whole course is going to be about learning the principles and practices to help you study the Bible and rightly divide the word of truth.

Today, I want to teach you the two main principles of Bible interpretation.

Principle 1: Not like any other book

As we have already established, the Bible is a God-breathed book with supernatural power and so it should be approached in a special way.

Robertson McQuilkin put the principle this way:

Since Scripture is God-breathed and true in all its parts, the unity of its teachings must be sought, and its supernatural elements recognized and understood.

Basically, what we are saying here is that because the Bible is inspired by God, because it is true, there are some things about it that you have to keep in mind that is different than how you would read any other book.

Understanding that the Bible is divine leads us to three principles for understanding the Bible: The Unity Principle, the Perfection Principle and the Authority Principle.

The first principle I want you to understand is...

The Unity Principle

Basically, you need to remember that scripture isn't going to contradict itself.

Because the Bible is all inspired by God, because Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost - the Bible isn't going to contradict itself - there is going to be a coherence in the meaning of scripture.

Here is what that means, if one passage seems to indicate we are saved by works, and another clearly indicates that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works, we have to keep studying the Bible to determine the meaning, because the meaning isn't going to contradict the teaching of the scripture.

Usually, when something seems to be a contradiction, one of these things is going on:

• We aren't understanding what we are reading
• We are taking it out of context
• The thing we are reading is a false quote that is dealt with in context.
• The misunderstanding will be clarified later in the text.

What we can't do is just say "ok, there are contradictions here, I guess this isn't trustworthy" and close our Bibles. The meaning of the scripture will not contradict itself. You have to keep studying until you figure it out (and you will.)

So that is the unity principle. The second principle is...

The Perfection Principal

What this means is you must commit to seeking an explanation for any apparent error.

The Bible is God breathed. There are no errors in teh Bible. But that doesn't mean that there doesn't seem to be errors in the Bible.

For instance, two different books will tell the same story and the details will be off or the timeline of one book will seem to contradict the timeline of another book.

If you want to rightly divide the word of truth, you have to start with the premise that the Bible is inspired and work out those errors. There is always an explanation.

It's also important to understand that when we say that the Bible is without errors, we are not saying some things:

• We aren't saying it follows the rules of grammar. Those are man made.
• We aren't saying that it doesn't use figures of speech or literary styles.
• We aren't saying that the numbers have to be precise.
• We aren't saying that it has to meet the technical specifications of modern science.
• We aren't saying that every quotation of another scripture has to be exact.
• We aren't saying that the exact words of Jesus have to be contained.
• We aren't saying that every detail of every event has to be recorded.

(Taken from Dr. Charles Feinberg)

The point is that there are explanations for any error in scripture and we have to work that out in a way we probably wouldn't if the book didn't claim to be inspired by God.

So we have the unity principle, the perfection principle. One more...

The Authority Principle

In other words, we must receive the teaching of the scripture personally, unless the Bible itself limits the audience.

Another way of saying this is that all of scripture was written for you, even though all of scripture was not written to you.

You don't read Les Miserables or Oliver Twist looking for direction and rules for your life - but you do read the book of Genesis or Joshua that way - because it is inspired by God and has authority.

So we have to understand that the Bible is not like any other book. It's inspired by God.

But that's only half of the lesson today - remember, the title is "Not like any other book and just like any other book."

So the second guiding principle is this:

Principle 2: The Bible is like other books

The Bible might be a book that is inspired by God - but it is still a book. It might be the Word of God, but it is still words.

When you approach the Bible, you don't put everything you know about words and how they are understood on the back burner.

One of the biggest criticism of Bible believing Christians is that we take the Bible literally. The thing is, we should take the Bible literally - but literally in the sense of literature, not always in the sense of literal.

Again, listen to how Robertson McQuilken puts this principle:

Since the Bible was written by human beings, it must be treated as any other human communication in determining the meaning intended by the writer.

The language principle

When you study the Bible, you have to study it's language using the rules of language. You have to study the words like you would study other words, you have to understand those words in a sentence and you have to understand that sentence in a paragraph and those paragraphs in the book.

If you were trying to understand a passage of Shakespear or Dickens - this is how you would do it, and this is how you do it with scripture. God chose to reveal himself using words, strung into sentences and paragraphs. So you have to understand the Bible in that context.

The second principle is...

The context principle

When you are trying to understand the Bible, you have to understand each part in it's historical, physical and cultural context.

The Bible was not written in 2024. The characters in the Bible were not americans. They would have had no idea about apple pie or the fourth of July. We have to work to understand their time and culture and understand the Bible in light of that.

Again, this is the same way you would approach any old book. If you were reading Sun Tsu you would understand he was writing to Chinese people 2500 years ago. If you were reading Homer, you would have to understand some of the culture and history of the greeks.

The literature principle

When you are trying to understand the Bible, you have to understand that it contains different types of literature, and that each of those types requires a slightly different approach.

For instance, a large part of the Bible is poetry. You don't read poetry the same way you read prose. There are special rules.

A large part of the Bible is history, while some of it is laws. You don't read those two things the same way.

A lot of Jesus teaching came in parables. There are special rules for that. There are rules for understanding prophecy.

So you have to take the type of literature into account when you read and apply the scripture.

One more principle and then we'll be done.

The figurative language principle

The Bible makes use of figurative language sometimes. You have to figure out where the Bible is speaking figuratively and figure out what the literal meaning is.

We use figurative language all the time. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." No you couldn't.

That guy moves like a cat. No he doesn't. But you know what I mean.

The Bible sometimes uses hyperbole, it uses metaphors, it uses simile, it uses figures of speech and idioms. We have to figure out when it is doing that and figure out the meaning behind it.

So the Bible is not like any other book but it is just like other books.

Does that make sense now? We have to interpret the Bible using the rules of langauge while remembering that the Bible is God-breathed.