7: Interpretation - How Can We Read it Right? (part 2)

NOTES: https://bit.ly/SolaScripturaDevo

Last week we began to determine how can we make sure we read the Scriptures right, knowing that the writers expected the audience to respond to what they meant, not what the audience wanted it to mean.

DON’T ASK: “What does this mean TO YOU?” (reader response) It doesn’t mean what we WANT it to mean. It has been said, “It can’t mean what it never meant.”

In speaking someone who told me I was wrong I said, “Why did you say I’m stupid?”

The person acted surprised and said, “I didn’t say you were stupid.”

I responded, “When you said I was wrong, you’re saying that I’m stupid.”

“That’s not what I meant”, he said.

I smiled and said, “That’s what it meant to me.”

And, suddenly, he understood that the AUTHOR’S INTENT determines the meaning, not the READER’S/HEARER’S RESPONSE.

Suppose you get a bill from the electric company, charging you $333 for the electricity you used in the previous month. Do you have the option to determine the meaning of that text (bill)? Can you simply say, “That’s not what the text means to me?” You move the decimal point over one spot to the left so your bill is now $33.30, not $333? You can say what it means to you, but you will soon start reading your texts in the dark because the electric company will shut off your power!

SO DON’T ASK: “What does this mean TO YOU?” (reader response) - DO ASK: “What does this MEAN...and how should you apply it to your life?” (authorial intent)

In order to read it right we learned our 1st rule:

Never read a Bible verse.

Let me give you an example on why reading A Bible verse is so dangerous.

One popular author, a pastor many in this room respect, including me, writes about how God uses the passions that He gives us to honor Him. This author refers to this passion as your ‘heart’ and I think he’s right, but as I was reading his training material, one of the passages he used stuck out to me. He writes:

God has given each person a unique “heartbeat.” God had a purpose in giving you your inborn interests. In fact, your emotional heartbeat reveals a very important key to understanding God’s design and intention for your life. Then the pastor quotes part of Rev. 17:17: “God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose ...”

So let’s apply our 1st RULE, 1) Never Read a Bible Verse.

Revelation 17:16–18 (NIV84)

16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

Is that telling us how God gave us a unique passion to live a purpose driven life that honors God? NOPE!

Last week I left you with some homework, some questions I want you to ponder this week:

John 3:16: Who had Jesus just been talking to and what was it about? Jesus had been talking to Nicodemus and teaching that

John 3:3 (CSB) "...unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now, whether Jesus or the writer declares Jn 3:16, we do not know, but most who know Jn 3:16 don’t know Jn 3:18. Let’s take a look at it:

John 3:16–18 (CSB) For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes [trusts] in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes [trusts] in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe [trust] is already condemned, because he has not believed [trusted]in the name of the one and only Son of God.

Whoa! So Jn 3:16 isn’t just about GOOD NEWS…it’s also about BAD NEWS! Many read this out of context from the rest of the chapter…and the rest of the writing! BELIEVE means TOTAL TRUST. Let’s go back and read it THAT WAY....inserting TRUST for BELIEVE. [go back up to passage]

Matthew 7:1 One of the most quoted verses in our day is NOT John 3:16…but another one that goes like this: “Do not judge”. But where does is “Do not judge” and what does the surrounding passage teach? (Matthew 7:1-6)

Matthew 7:1–6 (NIV)

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [here’s the rest of the passage] For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Jesus is not teaching His disciples to never judge. Instead, Jesus is teaching them HOW TO JUDGE - with mercy and without hypocrisy. He doesn’t say NOT to remove the speck from your brother’s eye - only to make sure you get the plank out of yours first. The dogs and pigs are those who PEOPLE who trample the Godly counsel (what is sacred, pearls) you give them. Disciples of Jesus are to JUDGE THEM as unclean people, leave them, and go on to those who will listen.

Disciples of Jesus are to judge with mercy and without hypocrisy. In fact, Jesus later commands His disciples TO JUDGE later in the same writing - Matthew 18 and it is attached to the next passage I want you to see.

Matthew 18:20 says this: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.” What is that passage all about? Let’s back up in the passage and see:

Matthew 18:15–20 (NIV)

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Note that these are believers who are to JUDGE those who have sinned, to go and point out their fault - to CONFRONT and CORRECT with the hope of genuine restoration. Those who do NOT turn from sin are bound, while those who do respond are to be loosed. * While people often use "binding” to refer to stopping demons in their tracks, this is NOT what Jesus told the disciples to do.

Now, let’s move on to RULE #2

RULE #2: Author & Audience before Application.

I asked you to read Jer. 29:11 and then answer this question: Who is being written to and what does verse 10 say?

Let’s look at verse 29 first…and then practice RULE #1 & 2: Never Read A Bible Verse & Author and Audience before Application.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 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.

Many of us are quick to point to Jer 29:11 as a “life verse”. Why? Because we LIKE it! We have read it in “The Bible Promise Book”, memorized it, stitched it on pillows, and quoted it to others when they go through tough times. But, let’s back up the truck and look at verse 10.

Jeremiah 29:10 (NIV) This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.

Hmmmm…Why don’t we quote, memorize, and point others to THAT verse? Here’s why: We DON’T LIKE IT. After all, anyone who is older than about 10 probably isn’t going to make it back after all that time.

So, after 70 years, who is going to be taken from Babylon and where are they going to be taken?

That leads us to ask this question about the audience: Who is YOU?

Jeremiah 29:1 (NIV)

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

So, WHO is the author? Jeremiah

WHO is the audience? Jewish exiles in Babylon.

WHERE is God promising to return them? Back to Jerusalem.

Skipping down to v 4 for the sake of time, here’s the rest of it. I have PURPOSELY left out the verse numbers so that you can read it without interruption. As we read it, answer this question: “Who is YOU?”

Jeremiah 29:4–14 (NIV)

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

I hope it has become clear to us - that YOU isn’t about YOU and ME. “YOU” was written to the Jewish captives who God had not forgotten. You can’t rip verse 11 out and claim it while you leave v10. This is not BIBLE BUFFET.

This made me MAD before it made me GLAD. It helped me to see my prideful arrogance as I actually caught myself asking, “If this isn’t a promise for ME…then why should I read it?”

Here’s what God hit me with. The Scriptures tell us about our FAITHFUL GOD! Just as God had promised, HE DID send the Jews back to Jerusalem in 70 years! God didn’t forget his people, even though they had been unfaithful. AND…for you and me…God has been faithful in the PAST and He will be faithful in the FUTURE!

What can we lean and APPLY from Jeremiah 29?

God punishes those who continue in disobedience. God sent them to Babylon.

God’s promises can be trusted. This is EXACTLY what happened! God brought the Jews back after 70 years! (see Daniel 9:2)

God LOVES to restore those who repent! This is the focus of the gospel of Jesus - to restore people to God.

God does have a plan and purpose for your life and you don’t need one verse to prove it - you have the whole of Scripture. - Jackie Watts

Let’s look at 1 passage that seems to be a universal truth for ALL followers of Jesus.

Romans 8 is from Paul to Roman believers, some who have suffered for following Jesus. But this is more than just a word to Romans, it is a word to the universal church...’us’!

Romans 8:31–39 (NIV)

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Does God have a hope and a future for you? Yes! Our current and future hope is the fact that Jesus died for us! We can trust Him and rest in His promise that nothing can separate us from His love!

FEET2FAITH Memorize & marinate on chunks of passages (you choose which) we studied today. Become familiar with the context and get prepared to respond to others with misuse them, with grace and truth.

Girl tells me she appreciated my teaching, but that she won’t judge others who are in sexual sin. I ask WHY. She responds, “It’s wrong to judge.” I responded by asking why she thought that. She responded, “Jesus said so.” I asked “Do you know where that is in Scripture?”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How did reading these passages IN CONTEXT challenge your view of what the authors actually meant? Why are we quick to jump to personal application instead of digging to consider the author & audience first?

Share with another believer how you have misinterpreted or mishandled the Scripture in the past. Recognizing that God was patient and gracious with us helps us to extend the same kind of patience and grace to others.

NEXT WEEK - start with Romans 4:17 (Osteen, Meyer)