Category Archives: Using the Bible

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 10

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We cannot believe that such could happen

God often stretches us just a little farther than what we think is possible. That is what he did with Abraham, or as his name was at first, Abram. First God appeared to Abram (the name means exalted father), and made great promises to him.

“1 … “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great. You will be a blessing.””
Gen 12:1-2

So Abram left at age 75, and Sara his wife was 65, to obtain the promise that he would become “a great nation.” It was actually kind of late for him to have children when he was called, but Abram believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:22). Later the promised was expanded to include a certain land, but … still no children were coming to Abram. Abram was even promised that his descendants would be a countless as the stars of heaven in Genesis 15, but … still no children were coming to Abram.

Then Sarai thought of a way to maybe “help” God.

Perhaps Sarai could have a child through her personal slave Hagar, and perhaps that was what God intended. So they tried that and Abram did finally have a child by Hagar at age of about 85. It was a son, Ishmael. So finally Abram did have a child.

Finally God appeared to Abram again at age 99 in Genesis 17. God told him,

“… “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless. 2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.””
Gen 17:1

Then God went on to change his name to Abraham (which means father of a multitude) and said, “… for the father of a multitude of nations have I made you.” Gen 17:5.

Then came one of the real tests of Abraham’s faith.

At age 99 God told Abraham that He would make Abraham’s promised offspring to come from Sarai. Abraham was astonished and he pleaded, Can I really have a child at age 100, with Sarah being 90 years old? O that Ishmael might live before You, Gen 17:17. But God said, No, the promises will come through a child from Sarah, Gen 17:19. And Abraham believed it!

There were more tests to come, but Abraham did not waver in faith, and in the end had a child at age 100 by Sarah, and did receive the promises.

Similarly God tests our faith in what He says.

Will there really be one evil man who will be worshipped by the entire world (2Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 13)? Why that is unbelievable! And that man will die and be raised from the dead, Rev 13:3? Why that is unbelievable! And this man will overcome the church world-wide, Rev 13:7? Why, that is unbelievable? So we reject what we have in fact, truly seen in Scripture.

The issue is not believing God.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 9

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Walking in the Dark

The opposite of being alert and watchful is being in the dark, either mentally or spiritually.

“5 You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, 6 so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunken are drunken in the night.”
1Thes 5:5-7 WEB

If you are in the dark, you won’t see what you need to see.

“Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.”
Jn 12:35 WEB

Sin, doing what is wrong, blinds us,
hobbles us, changes how we see things.

“You shall not twist justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.”
Deut 16:19 nf

You don’t have to be ignorant or ruined for wrong things to affect you, and to affect your judgment! You can be wise and righteous, and these things can affect you. We can be very sophisticated and learned people and end up darkened in our sins.

“Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding. ”
Hos 4:11 WEB

Rejecting the commandments puts
blinders on us.

The commandments do test us and sort us out. When we hesitate and halt at doing what God says, it places limits on what we can see and comprehend and experience in those directions. Sometimes it is simple things of mercy and compassion for others that we reject, so we end up going around in mental and spiritual circles which lead nowhere.

“But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
1Jn 2:11 WEB

In their distorted logic on oaths, Jesus said to the leaders of the scribes and Pharisees,

“You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?”
Mtt 23:17 WEB

Satan will deliberately blind us if we will let him.

“in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.”
2Cor 4:4 WEB

Jesus can give us relief from our darkness

“ Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” ”
Jn 8:12 WEB

But sometimes we know our deeds are evil,
so we don’t want the light.

“This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.”
Jn 3:19 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

nf is my own translation based on the WEB.

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 8

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Forgetting the power of God,
or underestimating it.

I think that quite often men do CORRECTLY understand various prophecies, either from Revelation or of the prophets of old, or of in between things such as the eventual conversion of the Jews as a nation, and then immediately reject what was said, because they do not understand how that could ever happen! So the initial correct reading flies out the window, forever forgotten, and never again to be considered, because they thought, “That could never be!”

I think really this happens all the time, and it becomes unthinkable to ever reconsider these things.

“Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe …”
Lk 8:12

No better example of this sort of blindness can be seen than that of,

Israel in the wilderness.

Moese had brought them the Ten Commandments under spectacular circumstances, and they had seen many power actions by God, but they still did not understand His power.

Psalm 106 touches on some of these things at times. It does seem to have been written during the Jewish captivity in Assyria and Babylon, Psa 106:47. Although the author is unnamed, he zeros on Israel’s failings in these matters time after time. The Psalmist remarks on when Israel came to the Red Sea.

Indeed they had already seen incredible powerful actions of God while they were still in Egypt. But when the irresistible force met the immoveable object of the Red Sea, they forgot everything they should had learned, and fell apart when Pharaoh’s army approached on their rear. They had no reason really to distrust God’s power, but instead fell back on “common sense,” and failed. “Nevertheless, God saved them for His name’s sake.”

“Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt.
They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses,
But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.”
Psa 106:7

But then it says,

“13 They soon forgot his works.
They didn’t wait for his counsel,
14 But gave in to craving in the desert,
And tested God in the wasteland. ”
Psa 106;13-14

They wanted something better to eat, but instead of humbly asking, howled protests in the wilderness.

“21 They forgot God, their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
And awesome things by the Red Sea.”
Psa 10621-22

“24 Yes, they despised the pleasant land.
They didn’t believe his word,
25 But murmured in their tents,
And didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice.”
Psa 106:24-25

And so do we many times.

For a fact, many astonishing things happen
in history.

And that is not merely in Biblical history, but also in secular history. Who would believe the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), or the Russo-Finish War or the Battle of Midway in World War II, IF they had been related in the Bible?

But we should be men of faith, not stumbling at what we may think could never happen. Then it is easier to get what we need out of prophecy.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 7

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Having our facts wrong, of Scripture, or of history

John 7 is instructive of the many ways that wrong facts or ideas can blind us. The Feast of Booths was coming up, but Jesus did not immediately go. Everyone was looking for Him, but were not talking openly about Him for fear of the Jewish leadership.

Finally Jesus showed up, speaking and teaching and calling the hand of the Jewish leaders. He said they were trying to kill Him, and this was answered immediately by saying, “You have a demon. Who seeks to kill you?” Jn 7:19-20. Still the crowd was whispering, isn’t this the one they are trying to kill? Jn 7:25 WEB.

So where did Jesus come from?

Then the crowd surmises from popular ideas:

“However we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
Jn 7:27 WEB

Ah! He really came from God. So Jesus said,

28 … “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know. 29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
Jn 7:28-29 WEB

Of course Jesus speaks here of His coming from God, which it doesn’t seem is exactly what the crowd had in mind.

Then the chief priests and Pharisees sent troops
to arrest Jesus.

The crowd was debating.

“41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?””
Jn 7:41-42 WEB

So there were conflicting opinions.

Finally the officers came back empty handed. Their superiors asked why they had not brought Him in. Their answer was that there had never been a man who spoke as this man had.

The leaders were furious, and answered, are you also led astray? Have any of the leaders believed in Him? But of course majorities have never been a measure of truth. Compare the story of the true prophet of God Micaiah as opposed by the 400 false prophets in 1Kings 22, or of Jeremiah alone telling the truth in his time. In fact Jesus says,

“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
Lk 6:26 KJV

Nicodemus protested their condemnation without hearing Jesus answers, and they answered,

“… Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.”
Jn 7:52 KJV

But the truth was,

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. They thought of Jesus as from Galilee, but He wasn’t actually from Galilee. He was actually from Bethlehem, as the prophets foretold (Micah 5:2), and from God (Isaiah 40, Deut 18:15, etc.). The Pharisees, though well educated, had their facts wrong, so they were either puzzled, or reached false conclusions.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Mountains in Scripture

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An audio lesson.

Mountains have commonly been associated with high and exalted worship. Take for instance the Greek “gods” were associated with Mount Olympus. This association also exists in Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus told the Samaritan woman,

“Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father”
Jn 4:21 WEB World English Bible

Of course the ultimate mountain for worship is Mount Zion in the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the earthly is only a type, Heb 12:22-24. It is NOT “a mountain that might be touched,” Heb 12:18.

Listen to this audio lesson here, or click on the Audio Player to download as an MP3 file.

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 6

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Missing the Symbolism or Over Symbolizing

Admittedly this may be difficult at times. Further, over symbolizing can be as bad for the truth as missing the symbolism.

Take Jesus speaking of the leaven of the Pharisees.

To get the context we have go back to Matthew chapter 15. In the middle of the chapter Jesus had gone from the area of Tyre and Sidon back to the sea of Galilee. Many people were coming to Him, seeking His words and seeking His healing. Jesus said in Mtt 15:32 that He felt sorry for the people. They had been with Him for three days with nothing to eat, and He was afraid they might faint on the way back with nothing to eat. The disciples asked where would they get enough to feed this large crowd in such a deserted place. Jesu asked what the disciples what they had to eat, they said they had seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Jesus took what they had, blessed it and began breaking it and feeding it to the people. In the end, with that small beginning Jesus feed “four thousand men, besides women and children,” and picked up seven baskets of left-over pieces.

Somewhere in the events that followed,

The disciples came to the far side of the Sea of
Galilee, but forgot to take along
some bread, Mtt 16:5.

Then Jesus said to them,

“… Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Mtt 16:6

The disciples began talking among themselves and thought that Jesus said this because they brought no bread.

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said

“… Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, ‘because you have brought no bread?’”
Mtt 16:8

Jesus reminded them of the five loaves for five thousand people, and how many baskets of left-overs they had picked up! Also He reminded them of the seven loaves for four thousand and how many baskets of left-overs they had taken up!

“How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Mtt 16:11

Jesus never directly told them He was
talking symboliclly about teachings.

But they finally got the point. That is the way it will often be with us.

“Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Mtt 16:12

Also at times it is not an either or thing,

Prophecy Principles, discusses in detail that double prophecy in 2Samuel 7.

especially with symbolic persons, places, things, or events, sometimes called types and anti-types. Sometimes a passage my have both a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. In 2Samuel chapter 7 the prophet Nathan talks about a special son of David who would build a house/temple for the Lord. It actually has a double meaning. Solomon the son of David fulfills this (1Chron 22:9-10), and built a physical temple to the Lord , and Jesus the Son of David also fulfills this (Heb 1:5), and He is in the process of building a spiritual temple to the Lord (Mtt 18:18, 1Pe 2:5, etc.).

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Most History and Most Prophecy is not Strictly Chronological!

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An audio lesson.

Scripture is often unfairly criticized for not being strictly chronological. Actually the basic format of much of prophecy bears it greatest resemblance to human converstions. God is having conversations with us about the future. And the truth is that even most of the secualar histories which we read, are not strictly chronological!

Listen to this audio lesson here, or click on the Audio Player to download as an MP3 file.

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 5

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Getting swamped in false interpretations

And you think you have trouble because you have heard so many false interpretations? It is Satan’s tactic used all through history. You have heard many different things, some of them contradictory, and you simply do not not know which one of them to believe.

It was a huge problem in Jeremiah’s time.

Jeremiah was trying desperately to get everyone to listen to the Word of the Lord, and save themselves and their nation from destruction. But the word was constantly muddled by false prophets. They were assuring the people that everything would be alright.

“12 They have denied Yahweh, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them.”
Jer 5:12-13 WEB

It is summarized at the end of the chapter.

“the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their hand; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end of it?”
Jer 5:31 nf

Or consider when the prophet Micaiah
had to appear before the kings.

The kings of Israel and Judah were joining hands to go to war against Aram, Hebrew aram (which is called Syria in some translations). The King of Israel called up all of his prophets, to see what they said. There were 400 prophets according to 1Kgs 22:6, and they were unanimous that victory was assured, and some of them were prophesying by the the LORD, that is Yaweh, according to 1Kgs 22:8, 26. Then a true prophet of Yahweh was called, Micaiah. So, who should you listen to? At first he said, sure, go ahead. Then the King of Israel put him under oath to tell the truth, and Micaiah prophesied disaster and death. There is more to tell in the story, fascinating, but too long to repeat hear. Finally the king said about Micaiah,

“… Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.”
1Kgs 22:27 WEB

Micaiah replied,

“… If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me. He said, Hear, you peoples, all of you.”
1Kgs 22:28 WEB

So what was the standard?

“when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.” Deut 18:19 WEB

Prophecy is ALWAYS logical and consistent,
and always is TRUE.

Parts of Daniel it is true are sealed, according to Dan 12:9. Revelation is for sure not a sealed book.

“He said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.””
Rev 22:15WEB

Sealed? No! Deliberately ambiguous in parts? Yes, and for good reasons. Understandable? Also yes, for we are commanded to obey this book, Rev 22:7.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

nf is my own translation based on the WEB.