10. Interpretation

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If you could only speak with one word for the rest of your life, what word would it be?

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Friday, May 22nd, 6-9:30

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Lesson

The Value of Interpretation

What is interpretation? Why is it important? (Knowing how a passage works and what is its meaning)

We’ll never know how to apply God’s Word correctly if we don’t know what it means. Take this for example...

Vacuum used as lawnmower

- Right actions come after a right understanding

(NEW SLIDE)

This is exactly the way Scripture lays it out for us. The psalmist’s prayer in Psalm 119:34 was this,

Psalm 119:34 NKJV

34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Some people get interesting ideas about interpretation, they’ll say the Bible can mean whatever you like, as long as it means something to you. We could look at the same passage and have totally different perspectives.

Take the story of David and Goliath for example.

What is that story all about? (God’s power & holiness)

Others will say, “No! The way I interpret it, it’s all about how I can conquer the giants in my life and get success. The giant in my life is financial debt, so God promises me that I’ll conquer and get rich!”

What’s the problem with this second approach to interpreting the Bible? (You’re saying whatever you want, not taking it literally)

If I asked Elissa to grab be a glass of milk, what’s she normally going to do? (Get a glass of milk)

- But Elissa comes back weeks later, with no milk in her hands, and tells me, “Based on your request for milk, I booked a three week all inclusive cruise to Mexico.”

Is that what I was asking for? No!

The Bible doesn’t have any hidden meanings, so we don’t have to treat it that way. God wrote the Bible to be understood as it is. When the Bible tells you to turn left, you turn left! When it tells you to turn right, you turn right! So, our job for interpretation is to understand the meaning of the passage.

Why Interpretation?

Why do you think it’s so hard to interpret the Bible? (Lots of barriers that go in our way of understandting the truth)

Who was the Bible originally written to? (Jews, Gentiles)

When were these ones around? (thousands of years ago)

Has our world changed a little bit since then?

Imagine trying to explain...

- Snapchat to Peter

- Cars to Moses

- Movies to Abraham

If these people have no clue what a phone is, are they going to have an idea of what’s going on in our modern world?

Why not? (No context, no understanding)

Same thing goes the other way. We’ll have a very hard time understanding the Bible if we don’t have an idea of what life was like back in the first century and before that.

Is Babylon in charge of Canada today? (No, but Daniel lived in those days)

Are you following the laws of the sacrificial system? Bring any lamb to the altar lately? (No, but the Israelites lived like that)

Does anyone here speak fluent greek or Aramaic? (No, but Jesus spoke in these languages)

Are you starting to understand the barriers that are in our way now?

Let’s take a look at a few barriers that we need to break through to understand the Bible’s meaning...

1. Language Barriers

Who has ever learned a foreign language?

Is learning the words enough to speak fluently in that language? What else do you need? (Active learning, in person)

What languages were the Bible written in? (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic)

We need an understanding of what’s going on in the original texts of the Bible! Now, I’m not telling you to sign up for Hebrew class. But, there are plenty of incredible resources out there that you can use to help you understand what’s going on.

Study Bible

2. Cultural Barriers

We’ve touched on this a bit earlier, but we live in a totally different world of cultures today than people did in the Bible times. We’re going to have a hard time understanding the meaning of the Bible if we don’t have an idea of what life was like then.

We especially have a danger of assuming the culture of the Bible times was the same as ours. Take a look at 1 Peter 2:18

1 Peter 2:18 NKJV

18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.

This talks about slaves, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that word? (African slaves in Southern States)

Is this the picture the Bible is giving us? (Sound effect)

Brief explanation of slavery back then.

3. Literary Barriers

The Bible was written in many different literary genres: You’ve got poetry, epistle, narrative, parable, apocalyptic, wisdom. And we’ve got to know what genre we’re reading when we read the Bible!

Reading Song of Solomon like it’s Romans...

4. Communication Barriers

Even though God clearly revealed Himself through His Word, there are certain passages of Scripture that are difficult to understand. Even Peter admits this!

2 Peter 3:16 NKJV

16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

It’s not all easy to get what the Bible means. So, as we learn how to interpret the Bible, we need to be okay with not knowing everything, because we can’t!!

Handle With Care!

Hazards to Avoid

1. Misreading the text

Have you ever been misunderstood? “That’s not what I was saying!!”

We’re going to be in a world of trouble if we don’t take the time to read the Bible properly...

Examples of misread texts:

Jesus said,

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

But what happens if I read it like, “I am a way, a truth, and a life.” I’ve misread it, and what’s that going to lead me to believe? (Multiple ways to God)

1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Read it without, “love of” and “kinds of”

What would that mean? (Money is evil)

Psalm 37:4 NKJV

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

What’s the condition to getting the desires of your heart? (Delight yourself in the Lord)

Take out the first half

What would this mean? (I can get anything I want!!)

We’ve got to be careful we read the text for all that’s there.

2. Distorting the text

This has to do with shaping the truth of God’s Word into something else you want it to say.

(NEXT SLIDE)

This is something many people do, but for example, take a look at John 1:1,

John 1:1 NKJV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Mormons don’t believe Jesus is the One true God, they don’t believe He is equal with God the Father. They won’t tell you this, but they believe Jesus is one of many gods. So, do you think they’ll have a problem with John 1:1? Absolutely! They don’t want it to say that Jesus is God, so, they distort God’s Word, they change the meaning.

Here’s the Joseph Smith Translation, an “inspired” revision of the KJV.

1 In the beginning was the Word gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with God the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Word Son was of God.

See what they did there?

The Word does not mean Jesus, it’s the Gospel

Jesus is of God (Came from God)

That’s a full distortion of the Bible, it’s not what it means!!!

3. Contradicting the text

This is when we disagree with what the Bible says.

What are we calling God when we disagree with the Bible? (A liar!)

This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden

Remember what Satan said to Eve?

Genesis 3:4 NKJV

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

You’re going to run into some Bible verses that are hard to understand, hard to even accept sometimes. But before you disagree with the Bible, take a minute to study the background, ask a godly person what they think it means. Whatever you do, just don’t jump to conclusions!

4. The Bible is all about me

This one has to do with your emotions.

Some people put way too much emphasis on emotions as they read the Bible.

“God spoke to me in this particular verse. I immediately cried after reading this, I couldn’t help it. This pulse of God’s love just flowed through my whole body.”

What’s the dangers with reading the Bible like this?

Emotions over facts

Hobby horse

This is a lazy way to read your Bible!

Now, are emotions bad? Is it bad to get emotional after reading some verse? (No, it’s very good actually! But it can’t be more important than the truth of God’s Word)

5. Making the Bible say whatever I want

Meaning is relative, the Bible can say whatever I want it to say!

“Wonderful things in the Bible I see, things that were put there by you and by me!”

This totally goes against the way we talk on a day to day basis...

I tell Carly her new puppies are cute...

She says, “How dare you say I’m ugly!” and slaps me, did she get the point?

She just wanted an excuse to slap me so she twisted my words to say what I never said.

6. Overconfidence

You can study a chapter of the Bible for 60 years and never uncover the depths of the meaning.

So, let’s not get upset if this takes time.

And, don’t think you’ve got all the answers after studying for 30 minutes!

What Type of Literature is this?

Biblical Genres

We’ve got lots of musicians in the room, what different kinds of music are out there?

Before you enter a performance, does it matter if you know what music genre you’re about to play?

Show up to a symphony orchestra with a banjo and blue jeans, thinking you’re at a bluegrass show.

When we’re reading the Bible, we need to know what kind of book we’re reading!

1. Epistle

Straightforward, clear instructions, lots fo doctrine

2. Narrative & Biography

Stories, plots, climaxes, characters

3. Parables

Short stories that teach a moral principle

4. Poetry

Writings that appeal to emotions, bringing out a worshipful heart

5. Proverbs & Wisdom literature

Short, pointed nuggets of truth, written for your practical life

6. Prophecy and apoctalyptic

Prediction of the future, picturesque wording