Understanding The Bible

Introduction

A few things about myself:

I’ve been married to my wife, Katie Fields, for 7 years. She’s a stay at home mom who loves coffee, swimming and photography.

I don’t like social media, but I’m on it all the time. I feel like it is a continual car crash that you can’t shield your eyes from.

We have three children, Noah James (5), he’s 100 mph all the time, loves water and trucks. Emma Kate (3), she’s a fire ball who is into dance, princesses, and coloring. And Anna Claire (18 months), she is the adventurous one. She loves to climb anything.

A few things about myself:

I don’t like social media, but I’m on it all the time. I feel like it is a continual car crash that you can’t shield your eyes from.

I love reading, mostly Christian stuff, though I do read fiction from time to time.

I love reading, mostly Christian stuff, though I do read fiction from time to time.

Lebron over Jordan

I enjoy a good, black cup of coffee.

I think going to the pool counts as a bath for the day.

Dunkin’ Donuts over Starbucks, for that matter, almost any coffee over Starbucks.

I prefer LOTR over Star Wars, but like a good mole Star Wars is growing on me.

I’m a student pastor of 6 years. Served at the same church, that I was saved and baptised in. That’s cool.

Patriots dynasty will be over as soon as Belichick and Brady are gone, but the Cowboys are the closet thing to an eternal dynasty.

Talk radio over music.

Not doing the Keto Diet

I’m a normal guy, for the most part, graduated from TTU and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Transition: now you know more about me than you ever wanted to know and still nothing about our topic.

What is the most daunting thing about reading the Bible?

My hope in our time together is to relieve you of some of these fears about the Bible, give you a biblical base line, and then a couple of tools going forward.

Saint Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo (not the animal, but the city, he was born in 354) once said, “The bible is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim.”

Isn’t that comforting? That the design of God, with this book, is that even the most feeble and weak child, can listen to a story, hear a verse () and begin to get a sense of the knowledge of God, if he has the Spirit of God? People like you and I, normal people, we won’t drown and we don’t need floaties! And at the same time, guys like Jason Earl & Sammy Lopez, who’ve spent decades in this book, well they’ve yet to touch the bottom. They are the elephants in this analogy. Just clearing things up for you.

The Beginning Point of Understanding

As we begin to think about Understanding the Bible there is a beginning point that can’t be missed.

John Calvin once said (paraphrased), when we look around our world, at each other, the tree’s, the rivers, the signs on this campus, we may begin to think that we have great power of sight. That it’s sharp and acute. Yet, go out and look toward the sun on a cloudless afternoon. What you will find is that though you do have sight to see what is around you and near, the greatness and distance of the sun cannot be seen with the naked eye, at least not well. And our eyesight that we thought once sharp and acute - has little to no power to perceive the sun and stars.

In the same way, the Bible, though we can read the words and understand the meaning of sentences and stories, without the Holy Spirit we will never see the brightness and true beauty of the Bible or experience the great worth of the Bible - that it imparts to us life in Christ - both spiritual birth and nourishment. Here’s how the Scriptures speak of this:

1 Corinthians 2:12–14 ESV

12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Cor 2:12

So bottom line - it’s the Spirit of God who gives us understanding of the things given us by God, i.e. the Bible. And the natural person, that is the person without the Spirit of God living within them, the person that is lost, does not accept the things that lie within these pages, Paul said they are foolish to him.

Why are they foolish?

Because a lost person can’t understand them - he does not have the help of God’s Spirit. So if you want to get this right, primarily, you must see Jesus and love Jesus and know Jesus as your King and Savior. Those who do have the Spirit, they have eyes to see the sun and stars.

What if you’re not a believer, what should you then do?

Keep reading this book, but do it humbly and with prayer asking God to give you insight and to change your mind about His Son Jesus Christ. Listen to :

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So, if you don’t have Jesus as your savior, keep hearing the truths of this Bible, keep listening to your pastor, keep going to Sunday school, keep opening the Bible and asking God to make His Son wonderful to you, rather than distant and boring.

So -

So, before moving on, what is the beginning point to understanding this book?

Yes, being saved and having the Spirit residing within you.

Is this book to deep for a child?

No.

Is this book to shallow for your pastor?

No. Okay, then let’s move on.

God’s Great Story

Here’s the story of Scripture in 30 minutes:

In the beginning God created () everything. Like an artists He created the universe, the heavens and the earth, to tell all about His () goodness, and strength, and love, and kingship. And God made Adam and Eve ( & ). He wasn’t lonely or in need of company - He simply wanted to share His glory. So He put them in the garden. They were happy people who knew their God. During that state of innocence it was a wonderful time to be God’s children in God’s world.

But that innocence did not keep. God had an enemy - it seems that Adam and Eve did not know this. And the aim of the Great Enemy, that lover of evil and suffering, that old Crafty Serpent, was and is to put a stop to God’s plan of spreading His love, fame and joy. So Adam and Eve met that Tricky Snake in the garden one day and rather than taking God at His Word, they faltered, and they believed a horrible lie, and in rebellion to their good and loving God they took a bite of that fruit and everything changed.

They now knew what life apart from God meant. Their eyes were open. It was a great and terrible fall from innocence. So God cursed them and that Crafty Serpent, but God also made a wonderful promise, a covenant with Adam and Eve and their children. That they would be at war with the Great Enemy, but one day from Adam and Eve’s children would rise a Victor. A Victor that though being wounded by the Snake He would land the ruining blow. But now Adam and Eve and all their children to follow were corrupted. No longer could God walk with them in the garden. Sin was a barrier. No longer could God’s crowning creation stay in His presence. That curse of death - was certainly physical, but more importantly it was spiritual. Now all mankind were under a curse of spiritual death. But, even during this terribly dark day we see God’s mercy and kindness on display. Adam and Eve naked and ashamed - deserving of the death penalty for their rebellion - are spared and they are covered by the skins of an animal by God. An animal was sacrificed and blood was shed for mercy and kindness to be given to Adam and Eve.

Isn’t it great that God has always been in the business of giving us what we don’t deserve?

Well, in time Adam and Eve had two boys. Cain and Abel. Cain did not trust God, but Abel did. God rejected Cain’s offering, but accepted Abel’s. And what followed was the first murder in history. Things were not looking good. Sin had taken root in the heart of man. And man only got worse. Time passed and people grew more and more rotten. So God was going to make a new beginning with Noah and his family. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (). Noah loved God, talked with God and obeyed God ().

And thus he built a large Ark to hold two of every animal. God was sending a flood to take man, and all of life, from the earth. But he was also providing an Ark as a vessel of salvation for Noah, his family, and the animals. It was a new beginning for God’s people. A restart of the world. The flood came and the people perished, but not Noah’s family. Salvation came to his house through judgment. And God made a special promise to Noah, a covenant, that never again would he hit “restart” on the world by flood. That as long as the earth remained so would the 4 seasons.

I very much like seeing rainbows in the clouds because to me it’s nature shouting, “hey, God’s real, God’s true, God’s glorious - bank your life on Him.” I love rainbows.

But here’s the problem with this new start. This recreation of sorts. Noah was too much like Adam. Even though he was a friend of God, in his sinful ways, he still resembled Adam. In fact, not long after Noah got off the Ark Noah get’s drunk and one of his kids ended up being cursed by God, just like Adam was back in the garden.

It was like a replay of the garden. Things had not gotten better. Later the people came together and built a tower to show off how great and powerful they were, but the problem was it was so small that God had to come down to actually see it. Rather than listening to God and filling the earth, they built a city to hunker down in, they were actually rivaling God - and so God scattered them. It was not looking good. And that promise that God would bring a Victor from Adam’s children, well it wasn’t looking very promising.

But God.

But then God started unfolding His great redemptive plan. His rescue plan. He called an unlikely man by the name of Abraham to leave his home and go to a new country. And when God called Abraham He made a covenant with Him. He promised to make Abraham into a great nation - that Abraham’s descendants would be as uncountable as the stars. He promised to bless Abraham. He promised to protect Abraham. He promised to give a land flowing with milk and honey to Abraham and his family. And He promised to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham’s lineage. When God’s promise to Adam was looking bleak He reaffirmed this promise to Adam’s descendant Abraham. But it took forever for Abraham to actually have a kid - so he rushed God’s promise and took it into his own hands and took his maidservant and had a baby with her.

It may be wise to remember that patience sometimes looks like trusting God when the circumstances of your life haven’t changed.

But Ishmael was not the line that God would eventually conquer the Crafty Snake through. It was through Sarah ‘s child - Isaac. So after years of waiting Isaac was born. God is faithful. The promise to Abraham was unfolding even though Abraham in many ways was just like Adam. When Isaac grew to be a young teen Abraham, on God’s command, took Isaac to sacrifice him on a mountain. It was a three day journey. When they arrived atop the mountain Abraham bound his son and laid him upon the wood.

It is well worth noting that following Christ, church, will almost never make you comfortable. It won’t be comfortable, but it will always lead to greater joy and satisfaction.

So Abraham lifted that knife to take Issac’s life and as he did it looked as if God wasn’t going to keep his promise. But Abraham had faith that God could raise his son from the dead. And at the last moment God said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And God gave a ram to offer instead of his son.

God was helping Abraham to see that he is worthy to be trusted. That God would provide the sacrifice, God would provide the redemption and what he needed was to rest and trust in that.

Isaac grew and married and had two sons: Jacob and Esau. Jacob was the younger and Esau was the older. God chose Jacob to bless and not Esau, even though Jacob was a liar, trickster, and swindler. So, God used Jacob’s uncle Laban to swindle and cheat away many years of Jacob’s life. God has a way of humbling us. But through Jacob’s time with Laban he had twelve sons, which later basically became the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. Oh, and God eventually gave Jacob a new name - Israel which means wrestle or strive with God.

Anyway, two of Jacobs’ (or Israels’) sons are worth noting at this point - one, being Judah because before Jacob passed he received the best blessing of the 12 brothers. He was told that royalty would come through his lineage and that a ruler would come that would receive the obedience of the people. A lion of a leader Judah’s Son would be. A confirmation that the Adam’s child Victor would come through Judah’s line.

And, second is Joseph. Because it is through the favoritism of Jacob, the treachery of Joseph's brothers, the integrity of Joseph and the faithfulness of God that God brings Abraham’s large family to Egypt. It all started with a fancy colored coat - you know the story.

In Egypt, Joseph and his now large family is beloved, but in-time Joseph dies and the new Pharoah (fancy name for the king of Egypt) doesn’t know Joseph or his family. And for 400 years the family of Abraham - the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. In their despair they cried out to God - for Him to remember them and His promises. And God remembered. In fact, God had not forgotten, He was just setting up the world to see the fame of His name.

And here’s how God continued to make good on His promises: He raised up a man named Moses. He was the baby that survived the basket trip on the Nile. Who was scooped up by daughter of Pharoah. Who killed an Egyptian and then ran away to Midian. Married Zipporah. And met God in the burning bush. Moses was called by God and sent by God to rescue His people from bondage in Egypt.

Remember, God was going to give a land to this massive family - a land that flowed with milk and honey. And land that would be their own. And so God had to do some rescuing. God used Moses to pour out His plagues on Pharaoh. 10 Plagues to demonstrate who ruled the world. 10 plagues to tell the world - God is king. 10 plagues to deliver Israel.

The tenth plague was the most decimating - the death of every one’s firstborn son. God did however make a way for the salvation of those sons - a lamb must be slaughtered and it’s blood painted upon the frame of each families home. Salvation would come through judgment for those who hid under the blood. Eventually, after Pharaoh had lost everything and was humiliated (God has a way of humbling us) God opened Pharaoh’s eyes to see that the people had to go. So he let them go and all of Israel asked the Egyptians for provision and they gave them gold and silver and goods.

But Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued Moses and the Israelites to the Red Sea. God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross through on dry ground and as soon as Pharaoh and his army attempted to cross the sea “boom” God turned the dry land back to sea. God had rescued Abraham’s family, the Israelites, after 400 years in slavery. So they sang and danced in joy on the other side of the Red Sea. They were free from bondage, rescued from slavery. God’s people experienced salvation whilst Pharoah and Egypt experienced judgment.

And thus God was going to take this now massive family into the land He’d promised to Abraham. But here was the issue. The people of Israel were bad. They just couldn’t do the right thing. They were son’s of Adam. In fact, it was so bad, that while God was making a promise to Moses, a covenant on the mountain - where he received the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law - the people in the valley were forging an idol to worship. A shiny golden calf.

The Israelites were just like Adam, by nature wicked, choosing anything to their God. So, God’s chosen people were, from the start, breaking God’s covenant with them. They couldn’t keep it. So God made them wander around in the desert. 40 years they wandered. Even Moses didn’t get to go into the Promised Land, because, well he was like Adam. But in the midst of the peoples rebellion God was faithful to His promises. And He raised up another leader, Joshua, and though he was timid - God used him to bring them into the land of milk and honey. God’s promise to Abraham was coming true. It was like they had reached the garden again.

But, you know how we are. When we get comfy and cozy and we think “things are really going our way, we are good people,” well when that happens usually bad things follow.

And for the Israelites in the promised land that’s exactly what happened. Their bellies were filled but their hearts were vacant of God. Israel went through this wicked tailspin where they just did what they thought they should do - whatever was right in their own eyes they did it. They were bad at keeping God’s commands and they really had this thing about wanting to be like all the surrounding nations.

Be careful what you wish for. As CS Lewis once said, “All get what they want, though they do not always like what they get.”

So they demanded God to give them a king - all the other nations had a king. So God did. But for the most part that was a bad thing for Israel, because God was supposed to be their king.

The first king, Saul, he looked the part, but he was a major let down. David, the second king, well he reigned during the golden age of Israel. As a boy, God’s hand was upon him and he ripped through lions, played the harp, cared for sheep and defeated Goliath. When David reigned things were looking good for Israel. Maybe David was that promised Victor, the One who would bless all the nations?

You don’t have to read to long in David’s story to realize that he wasn’t. Though David was a man after God’s own heart, he was also a son of Adam. Even David, the greatest of the kings of Israel, when he took his eye off God ended up doing some really awful things like adultery, murder and lying. But even though David was flawed, God was faithful. He was still making good on all His promises.

The brightest part of David’s reign, the most important part was that God made a promise to David, a covenant with him. God promised David that he would have a boy that would be king and that his kingdom would never end. It would be an eternal kingdom.

What a promise. It was an fuller picture of the promise God made to Adam and to Abraham. That Victor that would come to defeat the old Crafty Snake, the promised one who would bless all the nations, would also be a king that would reign forever. God was still making good on all His promises.

After David died Israel just did what their king did. Sometimes they were good, but most of the time they were bad and unruly children. They just couldn’t seem to take God at His word. So, God sent them priests so they could worship Him rightly. But the priests weren’t all that good - so much of their worship was in vain. God gave them wisdom words - but conforming to God’s wisdom seemed to be to counter to all the other cultures. So they turned their nose to God’s wisdom. God sent prophets to speak His words directly to them, but Israel wouldn’t listen. They just plugged their ears. And killed most of the prophets.

And sadly God scattered His people from the Promised Land. He sent foreign nations to take them away to other lands. He was punishing His children for all their wayward ways. It seemed like night had come on the bright promise God made to Adam, and Abraham, and Moses, and David. It seemed like all had failed when...God did something that no one really saw coming. That Victor that would crush the Crafty Snake, Satan, well he came. The promise of blessing to all the nations, not just to Israel, well he came. The king that would reign over all, forever, he came.

As a baby - to Mary and Joseph. The scene was a bit scandalous for they not were married. They were teens. But Mary conceived by God’s Spirit. The hope of Israel, the light of the world, the bread of life, the truth, the way, the resurrection, the great I Am, the door, the gate, the lamb of God, the yes to all of God’s promises, the true king, he came - as a baby.

But His arrival was barely noticed. Some smelly shepherds and animals greeted this newborn king. Some pagan wise men sought him out to pay him tribute when he was just a toddler. But this Jesus grew and he was zealous for God. When Israel was looking for the Messiah to come and sweep away the enemy that was Rome, Jesus was collecting a group of nobody’s, foolish men by the world’s standard, to accomplish his mission.

Jesus was bringing the Kingdom of God. In compassion he would heal the lame, he would touch the leprous and make them well. He would give sight to the blind, health to the sick, food to the hungry and even bring the dead back to life. Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. He was God’s Son. He walked on water, spoke to calm the wind and multiplied loaves. He is master and king of creation.

All those rules that Moses and the Israelites couldn’t follow - well, Jesus could and did. Jesus was the perfect prophet who spoke with authority. He was the better David that ruled with perfect wisdom. His teaching was out of this world. It had power. It wasn’t just inspiring - it brought life where there was none. Jesus was not what Israel thought the Messiah was supposed to be. What was most odd about this promised Victor, this blessing to all the nations, this king that would reign and rule eternally was that God chose Him to die. And die is exactly what He did.

But, how? How could the promised Victor of old die? How could this Jesus bless all nations if He was dead? How could He be king forever if He was no longer around?

That Friday when Jesus died on that old rugged cross was the darkest day ever, but it was also the best thing that has ever happened in this world. Which is exactly what we should expect from God.

Israel taught us that we break promises, and so God must keep His promise. Israel taught us that we run from God, so God runs to us. Israel taught us that we suffer for our sin, so God would come (in His Son) and suffer for us.

God showed us again and again and again that through judgment salvation would come. He showed us glimpses of salvation with the skins God clothed Adam and Eve in, the Ark that he saved Noah with, the ram God provided Abraham with, the lamb’s blood that purchased the life of the first born in Egypt, and all the sacrificial laws that He gave Israel. The Victor suffered for our sin so that we might share in His sinlessness.

And so, this Jesus didn’t stay dead. He couldn’t stay dead. Death had no claim on him, that Tricky Snake had no case against Him. And sin had no wages that He could not pay.

So on the third day God raised this Jesus from the dead. The wounded Victor defeated that sin loving Devil. See Jesus was a second Adam. A better Adam. He was not like the first Adam. He always loved God and always obeyed God. He was the forever and perfect sacrifice. And so that bumbling band of disciples, now 11, saw Jesus alive and victorious. And so did many others. And before Jesus went to the Father to prove that He had accomplished all that the Father sent Him to do He gave his children marching orders. Make disciples. Baptize them in the Trinity. And teach them to obey everything. And then Jesus shot off to heaven and sat at the right hand of God.

It would seem like that day would be sad - no more Jesus with them, no more parables to listen too. No more proverbs and words of life, but Jesus had made a promise earlier to his children. That it would be better for Him to leave because He would send the Helper to all those who, by faith, would run to Him. And so Jesus and the Father sent the Spirit of God to the disciples at Pentecost. And thousands were saved and followed Jesus.

The presence that Adam and Eve felt with God in the garden, the hope Noah had in the recreation of the world, the desire and longing that Israel felt about entering into the Promised Land - all of those things Check-Mated or better superseded by the wounded Victor’s gift of His indwelling Spirit. And now we, can, by faith, have the power and peace and presence of Christ with us all the time - everyday.

And through the persecution and death of Jerusalem’s deacon Stephen, the early church spread. There is a time coming when God will bring us back to the garden in the great city of Jerusalem, a better and most perfect garden and city.

​ ESV12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Transition: that’s a bird’s eye view of the Bible. Certainly, we could spend more time on the way this world will come to a conclusion, but I just wanted you to have a footing.

And,

Tools for your Travel

Finally, let’s end our time together with me giving you a few “Tools for your Travel” from here. The truth is you have your life in Christ ahead of you. Lot’s of mornings and evenings that you get to open your Bible to search out the understanding without me standing before you.

Here are some “Tools for your Travel”:

(1) Read Prayerfully.

​ ESV14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

This reflects the beginning point of understanding the Bible that we talked of earlier. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of the Bible:

2 Peter 1:21 ESV

21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, because we are small, finite, sinful people, we cannot handle Scripture correctly on our own - that’s how we began our time together - we must seek help. And, it is specifically the job of the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth:

John 16:13 ESV

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Pray for Him to open your mind and shine His light so that you can understand.

(2) Find Jesus and Think Big Story.

That’s exactly what we just did. Read the Bible as a book that points to Jesus because it really is all about Him and see every passage as a Grand Story.

(2) Read Prayerfully.

Hero Worship. Recognize that God is the only Hero of the Bible. The human characters are shown honestly, with their flaws as well as their strengths. Only God is always good, and this is ultimately a book about Him.

Read Prayerfully. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of the Bible, and that same Holy Spirit lives in everyone who believes in Jesus. Because we are small, finite, sinful people, we cannot handle Scripture correctly on our own. However, it is specifically the job of the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth (, ). Pray for Him to open your mind and shine His light so that you can understand.

We don’t wait idly. The stakes are too high. Those in the first Adam will perish in their sin. Church, we must take up Christ’s marching orders. Our wounded Victor, our promise to all the nations and our eternal king is coming quickly. And the truth is, anyone who has experienced Jesus longs for Him to come again. We long to be with the One who is at the center of “God’s Great Story.” So we march on. We make disciples. We share God’s story with others. We teach our children about “God’s Great Story”. We trust Jesus and take Him at His w

Find Jesus. Read the Bible as a book that points to Jesus. It really is all about Him. Some of it shows us why we need Him, and much of the Old Testament lays the groundwork for His coming, but always draw the biblical line to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of the Bible:

The Big Story. Read every passage in light of its place in the Grand Narrative of Scripture. These are not disconnected stories, and it matters where each individual passage lies in the Big Story of the Bible. For example, if you read the dietary laws in without knowing Jesus’ comments on them in , you will probably reach a very inappropriate conclusion!

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of the Bible

2 Peter 1:21 ESV

21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, because we are small, finite, sinful people, we cannot handle Scripture correctly on our own - that’s how we began our time together - we must seek help. And, it is specifically the job of the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth:

John 16:13 ESV

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Because we are small, finite, sinful people, we cannot handle Scripture correctly on our own. However, it is specifically the job of the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth (, ). Pray for Him to open your mind and shine His light so that you can understand.

Pray for Him to open your mind and shine His light so that you can understand.

(3) Context is King.

Read everything in context. An illustration a friend who worked with the IMB shared with me is like this: think “leaves, branches, tree’s, forest.” So words in the bible are the leaves and they are shaped by the branches - the sentences are the thin branches and the paragraphs are the thick branches and the branches are shaped by the tree which is the chapter of the book (or what bible scholars call the pericope) and the trees are shaped by the forest which is the book.

So words are leaves. What this means is that you can understand a word like “salvation” but it only really has meaning in its sentence on it’s branch. So in the book of Exodus “salvation” is normally physical salvation. In the book of Romans “salvation” is normally spiritual. So the type of branch truly shapes the type of leaf. Never read anything into a text of Scripture that does not flow naturally from the text in its context.

Word studies—think of them as “leaves” on a tree—can be useful, but ultimately, a given word has meaning only in the context of the actual sentence in which it is used. Sentences—thinner branches on the tree—only have meaning in the context of their paragraphs. Paragraphs—thicker branches— only have meaning in the context of their chapters, and so on. Never take anything out of context. Never interpret a verse to mean something that doesn’t fit into the flow of its paragraph, chapter, and book—trees—of the Bible—or forest. Always ask, “What is the point of this word/phrase/sentence/verse in the flow of the larger passage in which it is written?” Never read anything into a text of Scripture that does not flow naturally from the text in its context. Make sure you read the large context around each verse or passage before you interpret it. Remember: Forest, Trees, Branches, Leaves! This may be the most important rule for interpreting the Bible.

(4) Scripture interprets Scripture.

God does not contradict Himself. Never interpret one part of the Bible in a way that contradicts another part. If one passage is unclear to you, find other places in the Bible that speak to the same issue more clearly, and let the clear parts interpret the less clear parts. Never build a basic doctrine on that which is not clear in the Word.

(5) Read with the Church.

We all have blind spots. We need the community of fellow Christ-followers to interpret the Bible safely and well. Listen to what the Bereans did:

Acts 17:11 ESV

11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

So what this looked like when I was a kid your age is I had a buddy, who I mentioned earlier shared the “leaves, branches, tree, forest” illustration with me. We would get up early and read the bible together. We both loved God and we just read together and asked good questions and sought to grow. It was amazing.

hat community includes your own church fellowship and also the fellowship of all believers across time and geography. If you come up with an interpretation that no one else has ever thought of, it is almost certainly wrong!

Reading with the church looks like listening well to your Sunday school teachers, growing under their teaching - don’t make them waste their time on you, listening to your Youth Pastor open up God’s word, listening to your Pastor open up God’s Word. Searching it out for your self and asking them good questions.

Finally, this includes all Christian’s from all ages. One of the greatest things that has happened for my spiritual health is that I’ve grown to love reading. Reading good books and sermons from men and women of God from the past is awesome and helpful.

Here are six resources I’ve found helpful in Thinking Big Story: (1)Jesus Storybook Bible, (2) Big Picture Bible, (3) Biblical Theology, (4) The God Who Is There, & (5) Promises Made/Promises Kept.

So, (1) Read Prayerfully, (2) Find Jesus and Think Big Story, (3) Context is King, (4) Scripture Interprets Scripture, & (5) Read with the Church.

Questions? Comments?

Let me end with this quote from the Prince of Preachers (Charles Spurgeon): “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.”

So Tolle Lege: Latin for “Take and Read”.

Pray