Interpreting Life; The Importance of Effective Hermeneutics

In the past, I have been guilty of just reading the Bible.

Let me elaborate. I would merely read the Bible to simply check off a box of things to do in my day. Reading the bible when I was younger was just an obligatory task, as simple as doing my morning ablutions. I would grab my Bible, sit down, pray, and read whatever happened to be on the docket for that day from the scriptures. I would then close it up, put it away and forget about it until the next required reading time the following day. My prayer time and devotional time were simply transactional at best.

When I read the Bible, though, I realized that the commitment that we need to have to the Bible can’t be a one-and-done relationship. It can’t be simplified into a daily chore of what is simply expected of us. So often, I hear youth, but more particularly young men, say they are disappointed with God and the Bible because when they spend time in the word and prayer, they don’t get anything. My first question is, ***

What does that “time spent” look like? Are you actually giving time, or are you simply allowing time out of obligation?

When we think about it, ***

Spending time in prayer and the word of God is spending time in our relationship with God.

No relationship flourishes when we superficially give it time, but every relationship flourishes when we actually invest in it.

Hebrews 4:12 brings to life the word by saying:

Hebrews 4:12 NASB95

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This verse (along with others) begins to bring to life the Bible. Jesus Himself, when He was being tempted in the wilderness, in Matthew 4:1-11, said in verse 4

Matthew 4:4 NASB95

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Jesus was pointing back to the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 8:3

Deuteronomy 8:3 NASB95

“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

What is interesting to me is the LONG relationship that is recalled in Deuteronomy 8. Everything that happened during the 40 years in the desert takes mere pages to read through, and maybe that does us some injustice because it reflects on our culture today. We are an instant culture, we feel the obligation to do good while taking as little time as possible to do it. We read the Bible to complete our obligations to God (or maybe as a youth, we know our parents will ask if we have read our Bible, and we want to be able to say yes, out of obligation to our parents), ultimately giving God just a blink of our day. Even more so, some experience the Bible's interaction only on Sundays and wonder why they are no longer feeling fulfilled by the word… This is because you are malnourished; you are not taking in the word as you should be.

Prayer and reading the scriptures are formational! It is life-giving! Being in the Word fulfills the spiritual beings that we are.

I have found that as I have dove into the world of Bible college and seminary there are things I have learned that I wished I would have known when I was much younger. Coming from a fundamentalist background, I would only hear the encouragement to read the Bible. No instruction or importance was placed on how we read the Bible. We understood that the Bible is God-breathed, meant for teaching, rebuking, and bringing up the young man in righteousness; you know, the other 3:16 verse. 2 Timothy 3:16. I would just read the Bible, almost haphazardly. As I got into Bible college and we began to look at methods of Interpretation such as word usage, repetition, and parallelism, this started to slow down the Bible's reading process. Instead of running, we were encouraged to walk. Then, we learned about two things that happen through interpretation: Exegesis and the science of Hermeneutics.

I have been working with the youth on some of these terms. Let's see if we can get a definition from some of the youth. Let's start with Eisegesis.

Youth, What is Eisegesis?

In simplest terms,

Eisegesis means that you take your preconceived ideas and read them into the Bible.

Eis literally means into.

Alternatively, What does Exegesis mean?

Again, in its simplest form,

Exegesis means that you read the scriptures for what it is and critically interpret the Bible based on what it is saying.

A phrase I would use to describe this is

Sola Scriptura (or Only the Scripture), nothing else, just you, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Exegesis calls us to read and understand what the author was meaning and what that Biblical truth is. As we all know, the author was indeed God, as he divinely inspired the writing of the Bible. However, to help us dig in, we need to know who the writers were. This begins to dive us into

The Science of Hermeneutics which literally means the science of interpreting the written word.

This sounds like a lot of work, interpretation, hermeneutics, exegesis, etc. It might look like a lot of work at first, but I love what Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2

2 Timothy 2 NASB95

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

If that isn’t work I don’t know what is, but go back to 2 Timothy 2: 6. “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive the share of his crops.” Tell me that farming and toiling over some land happens haphazardly; I would love to sit down with you and a farmer at their kitchen table over coffee just to hear the conversation that happens. Jump to 2 Timothy 2: 15: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

How do you diligently present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed? How do you accurately handle the word of truth?

Answer: Through Exegetical study.

That means giving it the time the word of God deserves. Otherwise, your contribution could simply be as worthless as gangrene to the body (2 Timothy 2: 17).

2 Timothy 2:15 actually mandates the usage of the proper science of hermeneutics or interpretation.

I am going to rapid-fire some principles at you that are important to note. First, I want to address how to avoid becoming “gangrene” to the body of Christ and even yourself. To avoid making errors with hermeneutics, we need to avoid many things, but I think these four points are critical:

FOUR CRITICAL ERRORS TO AVOID:

Refrain from making a point at the price of proper interpretation:

This is where Eisegetical studies come in. Sometimes, we are so hell-bent on a topic that we become tunnel vision, and to prove our point, we begin to use scriptures out of context with what the overall passage is talking about. (Example: Ephesians 5:18; Argument: Ecclesiastes 9:7; and 1 Timothy 5:22-24)

Avoid superficial study:

Accurate Bible study cannot be done by simply flipping through the Bible. People who think that a Pastor worth his salt just reads what is being said in the Bible are sorely mistaken. There is a common misconception that the Bible is a white man's religion, made by the white European for the white European. That couldn’t be the farthest from the truth. To accurately interpret the Bible, we need to take off our cultured glasses and enter into the world of the Bible. Which, truth be told, is foreign to us. Today we find ourselves 2000 years into the future, and oceans away from these events that took place in a different culture. We answer to different authorities, we have different consequences, and speak a different language that didn’t even evolve from the same base roots as Hebrew, Arabic, and Koine Greek, let alone modern Greek. Studying the Bible takes work especially if you actually want to find out what the original truths that were being spoken are.

Here is an important point: studying the Bible should take work, but it isn’t so hard to study that there is no way we can’t find those truths. Once the work has been put in, it is outstanding how clear the Bible actually is. It just takes a little effort to yield its clear meaning. It isn’t as simple as checking off an obligatory box for the day.

We can’t refuse inspiration and illumination:

We know through 2 Timothy 3:16 that we have an inspired text. Even with the inspired text, we need to allow the Holy Spirit room to work in our lives by illuminating what the scriptures say. Paul demonstrates what divine spiritual illumination is in 1 Corinthians 2. In the last week, I have heard a truth twice spoken by two different preachers. One preacher, Reg Clayton, was at my parent's church in the Greater Vancouver area while I was visiting them, the other preacher was John Macarthur as I was braving the roads at 2:30 AM on Monday morning driving back to Melville from the Airport. The truth which was repeated was “God has already said what God is going to say. Anyone seeking a new revelation or a new truth is not going to find it. Instead, if they allow the Holy Spirit to guide them as they read the word of God, they will find that the truth the word is trying to bring will become illuminated.”

Don’t Spiritualize or Allegorize the text:

This is done by neglecting the three don’ts above. Spiritualizing or Allegorizing the text is simply done by making a story out of the text and taking it entirely out of context. A verse I quite like is Jeremiah 29:11, which says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In its simplicity, there is nothing wrong with this, but at the same time, you can set someone up for failure if they don’t know the context of this passage. It gives an unfair expectation that from here on out, you will find prosperity. But in actuality, when we read the verse in context, we learn from Jeremiah 29:10 that this verse is a promise to the exiled in Babylon that after 70 long years, God will then complete the promise to them that we read in Jeremiah 29:11. Before Jeremiah 29:11 happens, Jeremiah 29:10 needs to happen first. If anything, it demonstrates the long walk of commitment we must have when it comes to our relationship with God. It isn’t as simple as reading a singular verse out of context and then giving it to a graduate as a verse to live a life in expectation that they don’t have to contribute to.

Those four points were things you should avoid when interpreting the Bible. I am going to try to wrap this all up with some principles that I use when I am attempting to work hermeneutically, holding myself accountable to the standards stated in 2 Timothy 2:15.

5 Principles of Biblical Interpretation

Literal Principle:

Interpreting the Scripture according to everyday language, real people, and real history:

To me, this is rather simple. I do not believe that the Bible was written to be confusing. The words of scripture are meant to be read and understood by everyday normal people in the course of any daily use of their normal language. Ultimately, whatever the most obvious meaning, simplest meaning, or clearest meaning, I would argue is the actual meaning intended. Even when we are presented with parables in the Bible, the intended truth is more often than not made abundantly clear.

Historical Principles:

All theologians agree upon this. Culture, geography, politics, religion, the thinking of the people, the world view, what was historically going on… all inform the interpreter on meaningful historical contexts that may help understand a passage. E.g. Jeremiah 29:11. Here it can be helpful to pick up commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and anything that can help you reconstruct what was happening at the time.

Go read Romans 13 while understanding the historical context of what was happening around A.D. 56 and what the Christians were beginning to face under the emperor, Nero Claudius Ceaser, at the time; it gives you a further understanding of submitting oneself to tyrannical governing authorities.

Grammatical Principles:

This principle can be fun. It involves looking at the passage's language, syntaxes, and lexicons.

The youth and I had fun the other day looking at what are called Chiasims, or Chiastic structures. But so as not to steal a conversation you can have with our youth, I will let you find a youth after the service, and hopefully, they can tell you what a Chiasim is (remember youth X marks the spot).

Lexicopraphies is diving into a word study and seeking definitions using the original languages.

Syntax is looking at how the words are structured and why.

Using grammatical principles can get rather in-depth but can be very revealing.

Like I said, a couple of Sunday schools ago the youth and I were actually having fun diving into Biblical grammatical principles. To put a couple of youth on the spot, you can talk to the Gilbert girls, the Buhler girls, or Lachlan Fisher.

Synthesis principle:

The expression that is sometimes used is Scriptua Scriptorium Interoreteur or let the Scripture interpret the Scripture.

The idea is you can look up every verse and find every other verse in the Bible that refers to the same idea and exact truth.

In fact, the bible references itself more than 60,000 times. To be able to get a complete idea of what the Bible is saying, one needs to allow for the Synthesis principle to play out.

This is abundantly true because we can see examples of Jesus referencing scripture and Paul referencing scripture.

We need to be willing to dive into the word to get into the word.

The Practical Principle. AKA Now What?

After digging into the scriptures using all of that, we have to ask ourselves what the implications are.

What has the Holy Spirit illuminated after we have committed so much to studying the living word of God?

This can have a few sub-notes of its own because, along with seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we study the word of God, we are also supposed to seek to share and grow from communing with others over what was said, read, or learned. We are called to read the Bible in community with others. 1 Timothy 4 addresses this well in verse 13 by saying: Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and teaching.

Again, context is key, so I encourage you all to read 1 Timothy 4 in its entirety as well.

Hopefully, you see that as Christians, if we are to present ourselves to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth, as Paul describes in 2 Timothy 2:15, we need to do our due diligence and do a little work. However, ***

The reward that we will find in good Hermeneutical or Interpretation practices is not just informative but also formational.

When we seek to understand God’s Word in its entirety, the Living Word of God becomes life-giving.

Let’s Pray.