How To Read The Bible: Week 1

1 Tim. 2: 8-15

“Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

Well, good morning! Now that’s a verse you don’t hear too often these days. I opened with that verse, because over the next 4 weeks You and I are going to be going on a journey. We are going to a hard to reach destination, called the land of hermenutics…and the verse I read from 1 Timothy Ch. 2 is the text we will be taking with us on our journey. In short, hermenutics is the art of interpretation, which I will explain in more detail. For now though, hermenutics is all about how the principles we use when trying to interpret scripture.

All joking aside, whether we know it or not, we all have a set of principles that we use when reading God’s word. Biblical interpretation is of the utmost importance to those who regularly read God’s Word. This series is a teaching series. I would ask you to do your best and not view it as me standing up here and preaching. This series is going to be different than what you are used to. This first week will largely be setting up all of the principles that we will use in the next few weeks. So, for this series, you’ll need to put on your thinking caps; however, I will do my absolute best to make it understandable. Let’s pray

PRAY

OK, so, why am I going to take the time to teach a series on the topic of biblical interpretation? And why in the world did I choose such a controversial passage or topic. Why not just preach a regular sermon on the passages I read a few moments ago, like I normally do?? That is a great question, and I’m so glad you asked that. Here is why:

How we view God, the gospel, and other people is determined by the way we interpret scripture.

Trust me when I say that it would be much easier and less time consuming to craft a sermon . It is much more difficult to do what I am going to attempt…it’s my desire to teach you HOW I develop the content I use every Sunday and Wednesday. Over the next few weeks we are going to take a specific passage of scripture and do a hermetic deep dive. What I mean by that, I am not just going to present the passage and preach on it, that would be exegesis and what a pastor normally does…to pull out the theological principles and apply it to our lives. Rather, we are going to go through the steps I use, so that I am able to stand up here and present God’s word to you all. It’s my desire that everyone who hears or watches this series will develop the ability to properly interpret or divide God’s word. The more we fall in love with God’s word, the more we fall in love with the divine author.

Week one will largely be setting up the subsequent weeks. Today, I plan to

Introduce the topic of hermenutics and define it.

Introduce the steps of interpretation

Walk through a brief example of this process

Give an overview of which steps we will cover in the upcoming weeks.

So, first up, we are going to watch a 7 minute video that will explain some terms and what you can expect learn during this series.

SHOW VIDEO ON HERMENUTICS

let me give you some definitions. It’s possible you’ve never heard these terms before, but they are important for the purposes of our series.

Hermenutics

I realize this sounds like a fancy word, but it is rather simple in reality.

Hermenutics: Biblical hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation. Hermenutics is often confused with

Exegesis: The interpretation of a specific Biblical text.

Hermeneutics: The principles we use in order to perform a proper exegesis or explanation of scripture.

In other words, in order

to properly understand and explain a specific passage of scripture (exegesis), we must first have a set of overriding principles that we use (hermenutics).

Hermeneutics can unfold a new meaning or reveal something that is hidden from casual readers of the Bible. Also, and just as important, when we apply proper hermenutics to how we interpret scripture we are more likely to have consistency. Consistency is the key to interpreting the Bible in a faithful manner.

Whether you know it or not, every time you read God’s word, you are applying a set hermenutic principles. When we read something, our minds automatically try to figure out how the passage is applicable to us.

Good hermenutics gives us the tools to interpret scripture in a consistent manner, rather than interpreting one set of passages with one set of principles, but using another system of interpretation on a different verse. We do this all of the time, without even thinking about it. As we go forward in this series I will give examples of what I’m talking about.

So, that is why I’ve chosen to take on the task of doing a series on hermenutics. As to why I’ve chosen a difficult set of passages, I’ve chosen this section of 1st Timothy because there is no better example in scripture to showcase the process of hermenutics. Not every set of passages are as difficult to wrap our minds around.

So, what is my main goal with this series? Is it to convince everyone that watches that women should have an equal place in church leadership? No, that is not my goal. First off, I would never try such a thing, as I believe that is wrong. Is my goal to present the topic as a “my way or the highway” type of senerio? Without a doubt, no. That would run counter to everything I’ve been preaching about unity. I’ll tell you what my goal is:

To present a proper example of biblical hermenutics and to present what I strongly believe is Paul’s original intent, when he wrote this text.

Every believer must reach their own conclusions, according to their convictions.

Before I introduce the steps I use to properly interpret a set of passages, let’s first read out of the book of Joshua. After we read it, then we will go over the steps of interpretation. Then to close, we will do a very abbreviated walk through of the passages in Joshua using our interpretive steps.

Joshua 1:1–9

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God issues some great promises in these passages, that is for sure, but before we can properly interpret these passages, we must apply our principle of hermenutics. So, what are these principles?

In order to help you understand the steps better, we are going to refer to this process as the

Interpretive Journey

Hermenutic Steps/Principles:

Step 1: Grasp the text in their town.

Step 2: Measure the width of the river to cross.

Step 3: Cross the principlizing bridge.

Step 4: Consult the biblical map.

Step 5: Grasp the text in our town.

In our interpretive journey, those are our 5 steps. It is important to note that there is a big difference between the N.T. and the O.T. The overall steps are the same, but there are a few differences that we will cover, once we start talking about 1 Timothy. That said, these are still the steps, whether we are reading the O.T. or the N.T. Now, I’ll explain them in more detail…then, after we go through them in more detail, then we will apply them (in abbreviated form) to our text in Joshua.

Step 1: Grasp the text in their town.

What did the text mean to the original audience?

In step one, we are not trying to interpret or come to any conclusions about the text. The first part of Step 1 is to read the text carefully and observe it. In Step 1, try to see as much as possible in the text. Look, look, and look again, observing all that you can. Scrutinize the grammar and analyze all significant words. When we do step 1 with 1 Timothy, we will be picking out a couple of words to study, so you will see what that looks like. Likewise, study the historical and literary contexts; in other words, find out as much about the time period and culture of the people the passage was written to. We do that to understand why the passage would have been meaningful to them.

How does your passage relate to those that precede it and those that follow it?

When all of that is done, write out what the passage meant for the biblical audience. Use past-tense verbs and refer to the biblical audience. For example:

God commanded the Israelites in Joshua 1 to . . .Paul exhorted the Ephesians to . . .Jesus encouraged his disciples by . . .

Be specific. Do not generalize or try to develop theological principles yet. Just figure out what the instructions were and who they were to.

As I said, the steps for N.T. interpretation are the same, yet, especially when looking at the N.T. epistles, or letters, we want to focus our attention on the author and his background more so than we do with the O.T.

Step 2: Measure the width of the river to cross.

What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?

As mentioned above, the Christian today is separated from the biblical audience by differences in culture, language, situation, time, and often covenant. These differences form a river that hinders us from moving straight from meaning in their context to meaning in ours. The width of the river, however, varies from passage to passage. Sometimes it is extremely wide, requiring a long, substantial bridge for crossing. Other times, however, it is a narrow creek that we can easily hop over. It is obviously important to know just how wide the river is before we start trying to construct a principlizing bridge across it.

In Step 2 you will take a good hard look at the river and determine just how wide it is for the passage you are studying.

In this step you look for significant differences between our situation today and the situation of the biblical audience.

If you are studying an Old Testament passage, also be sure to identify those significant theological differences that came as a result of the life and work of Jesus Christ.

In addition, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament,

try to identify any unique aspects of the situation of your passage.

Step 3: Cross the principlizing bridge.

What is the theological principle in this text?

All of these steps can be challenging, but this is, generally, the most challenging one, most of the time. In it you are looking for the theological principle or principles that are reflected in the meaning of the text you identified in Step 1. Your task is not to create the meaning but to discover the meaning intended by the author. This is always important, but is even more critical in the N.T. . As God speaks through the authors, to specific audiences, he is also giving universal theological teachings for all of his people through these same texts.

To determine the theological principle, or the universal principle that God intented for all time and all people, first recall the differences you identified in Step 2. Next, try to identify any similarities between the situation of the biblical audience and our situation. I will give you examples of these steps when we look at Joshua 1.

To find the theological principle we look at the “meaning” we saw in step 1, then we find what is the same between us and the biblical audience the passage was written to.

The main theological principle is the bridge we walk across to get us from the original audience to us…the universal principle is what spans the gap.

We should see the theological principle in the text.

The principle should be timeless and not tied to a specific situation.

The principle should not be a matter of a specific culture

(I’ll explain more about this later on)

The principle should be relevant to both the biblical and the contemporary audience.

Then, what I do is write out the theological principle (or principles) in one or two sentences.

Step 3 involves a lot of different things we must do, that is why we it can be challenging. We are taking all of the information in step’s 1 and 2 and combine them. Then after step 3, we move on to:

Step 4: Consult the biblical map.

How does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?

If step 3 is the most challenging, then step 4 is the one that is most often skipped over. The most crucial questions to ask are:

Is your principle consistent with the rest of Scripture?

Do other portions of Scripture add insight or qualification to the principle?

If your principle is valid, it ought to “fit” or “correlate” with the principles found in the rest of scripture rest of the Bible. The universal principles found in scripture are not mentioned one time or even two times, especially when we see it in a very specific context.

If you are studying the O.T, it’s important to run your theological principle through the filter of the New Testament, looking for what the New Testament adds to that principle or how the New Testament modifies it. We must both interpret and apply the O.T. from the perspective of N.T. Christians.

At the end of this step we fine tune out theological principle that we’ve determined transcends culture and context…that is why it’s refereed to as “universal.” It applies to all people at all times.

So, as we set out on our interpretive journey, we first take the text and look at it in relation to the biblical audience…we grasp the text in their town, then we measure the width of the river that we will need to cross…or we determine the difference between the intended audience and us, how wide is the river? Then we cross the bridge and find the main theological principle the author intended to convey; after that, we consult the biblical map…determining if the principle that we found is common and repeated in other parts of scripture. Lastly,

Step 5: Grasp the text in our town.

How should individual Christians today live out the theological principles?

So, we’ve determined that the author communicated a universal theological principle. It has nothing or little to do with culture, applies to the original audience and us, we see the principle in other parts of scripture, so we want to know how modern day Christians, living in the US can apply this principle to our lives in a consistent manner

In Step 5 we apply the theological principle to the specific situation of individual Christians in the church today. We have to grapple with how we should respond to that principle in our town. How does it apply in real-life situations today?

While for each passage there will usually be only a few (and often only one) theological principles relevant for all Christians today, there will be numerous application possibilities. This is because Christians today find themselves in many different specific situations. Each of us will grasp and apply the same theological principle in slightly different ways, depending on our current life situation and where we are in our relationship with God.

Grasping the text in our town is where we move from head knowledge to actions…where we stop being merely hearers of the word and become doers of the word.

OK, now, let’s take these principle and look again at

Joshua 1:1–9

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

So, after the death of Moses, Joshua became the new leader of Israel. They had been wondering in the desert for 40 years, a long time. It was finally time to go into the land that God promised to give Abraham. Remember, the last time the Jews approached this area, 12 spies were sent in to check out the land. 10 of the spies came back with a negative report. They said that there are giants in the land. This made the people afraid…however, 2 of the spies came back with a good report. Joshua was one of them. How, here Joshua stands again, 40 years later. God tells Joshua that the land promised to Abraham is theirs for the taking. God tells Joshua to be confident. He also tells Joshua how important it is to study and know the Law of God. God declares:

Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

That will preach for sure! So, that’s a brief synopsis of these passages, now, let’s quickly take these passages and go on an interpretive journey. I chose these passages because it can serve as a good example.

Step 1: What did the text mean to the biblical audience?

This would have served as an encouragement to Joshua, but also a warning to Joshua. The Lord commanded Joshua, the new leader of Israel, to draw strength and courage from God’s empowering presence, to be obedient to the law of Moses, and to meditate on the law so that he would be successful in the conquest of the Promised Land.

Step 2: What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?

We are not leaders of the nation Israel (although some of us may be leaders in the church). We are not embarking on the conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land. We are not under the old covenant of law.

Step 3: What is the theological principle in this text?

To be effective in serving God and successful in the task to which he has called us, we must draw strength and courage from his presence. We must also be obedient to God’s Word, meditating on it constantly.

Step 4: How does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?

The rest of the Bible consistently affirms that God’s people can draw strength and courage from his presence. In the New Testament believers experience God’s presence through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit rather than through his presence in the tabernacle. Likewise, throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament God’s people are exhorted to pay close, obedient attention to his Word.

Where else can we find the idea that we can draw strength and courage from God’s presence?

2 Cor. 12:9-10

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

That is but one example. What about the 2nd principle we pointed out, that we are to pay close attention to God’s word…I won’t take the time…but that is most definitely a universal principle that is all throughout God’s word.

Step 5: How should individual Christians today live out the theological principles?

In other words, how do you and I take the universal principle and use it today, in our lives. There are numerous possible applications. Here are a few suggested ones:

Spend more time meditating on God’s Word by listening to worship music as you ride in your car.

Be obedient, keeping a focus on the Scriptures.

Pray that the Holy Spirit would give you a new-found boldness in your walk with Christ.

So, that was a very quick and abbreviated application of our steps of interpretation. Hopefully that gives you some idea of what this looks like in practice. Admittedly, that Joshua 1 is a fairly easy one for us today.

I mentioned at the beginning why I’ve decided to teach this series like I am…it’s my desire that everyone has the skills and know how available to them to properly interpret God’s word in a consistent way. Most of you know, I am very Pentecostal in my personal beliefs, so, I am going to pick on my fellow pentecostal preachers for a moment. In today’s church the main problem is the lack of ability or willingness to apply consistent interpretation principles to every area of scripture. For example, many Pentecostals will take the O.T. idea of prophets and want to apply that same authority to their ministry…except, they do not want to apply the same level of accountability found in the O.T. I’ll give you 2 examples, then we will end.

This first example is one I just saw the other day.

Amos 3:7

“Surely the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.”

As I was researching for this series I came across a sermon by a well know charismatic preacher. This person used this passage as a way to affirm his own authority as a preacher/prophet. When he said it I was thinking to myself, OH GOOD LORD! The question I ask is: Does he not know any better or is he using this verse on purpose to try and manipulate. I really pray it is out of ignorance, but I will not judge his heart, but it is for sure he was in major error…not good at all. It is that sort of stuff that gives well-meaning Pentecostals a very bad name.

Second example:

Imagine that a church is growing and needs and wants to build a new building. Great goal, right! Well, the first thing the church wants to do is raise some money, so the pastor preaches a sermon on Joshua 1:9 and takes what God said to Joshua and applies it to the people’s desire to build a new building. The pastor quotes

No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

Now, that may preach well and might serve the pastor’s purpose for the moment, but that is not what the passage is about at all, It’s not about a church wanting to build a new building. But, it sounds good and will get the people excited. The pastor is claiming a promise that doesn’t belong to them or the church today. I am unashamedly pentecostal, but I’ll be the first to admit that we in the charismatic world are very guilty of doing things, exactly like this all of the time. In fact, I hear it all of the time. I am not perfect in this regard, but I do my best to not fall into that trap, purely for the sake of emotion. I will say though, one of the challenges is when well meaning people get caught up into the trap of reading the Bible as though everything was written to them, personally.

So, we covered a lot today. I promise that the next few weeks will not be as intense, as far as me throwing a bunch of different concepts at you, all at one time.

Psalm 19:7

“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

This was true when David wrote it and it is still true today! It is my passion that every one of you fall in love with God’s Word! How that happens is to know it as much as possible. I’ll end with an analogy

We’ve all heard of the corona virus, right. Tiny microscopic organisms that we are not able to see with the naked eye. Viruses are particles that infect or enter our cells and then use the DNA in that cell to make copies of themselves and then spread to surrounding uninfected cells. It was long thought that there was no such thing as a “helpful” virus. Science has long known about helpful bacteria…that that in yogurt. Viruses were looked at differently though…as only being bad for the host that is carrying the virus. If you get one of the many types of cold viruses, you are the host.

Well, recently science has actually discovered helpful viruses…similar to that of helpful bacteria. Scientists have discovered a virus that attacks cancerous cells and tumors. This virus clears out the cancer, similar to chemotherapy, but it does not damage the cell like chemotherapy does.

Oncolytic viruses are being used as a form of therapy in certain types of cancer.

This particular virus is inserted into your body, then it replicates itself…anyone know where I’m going with this?

It is my sincere passion that each of you become infected with God’s Word. That God’s word becomes such a part of you that you that you naturally pass on the virus when you come into contact with other people....that when you are around people who aren’t infected, they will see that something is different.

But for us to become infected with the life giving good news of God’s Word, we must know it. We must become infected first.

Here is where a lot of people in academia get into trouble…they may know everything I just told you…but they failed to follow the last step and become doers of the word and not just hearers. None of this does any good if we don’t put it into practice in our daily lives and allow God to change us.

Let’s Pray!