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.

Israels Wilderness Wandering as a Type

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An audio lesson.

This shows how the historical wanderings of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, typify both our everyday Christian lives, and also our ultimate Exodus out of this world to go to what we often call “heaven,” and which Scripture often refers to as a new universe, i.e. a new heavens and a new earth!

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

Common Pitfalls in Interpretation, Part 4

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And More Naive Assumptions: Thinking we know
what God may want or desire.

Without realizing it, we as men may read into what God says what is really human desires and objectives. We can do this in prophecy and also in many other things.

Take for instance food.

God speaking by the mouth of Paul has said,

“for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Rom 14:17

Still some may think, it is about how you eat, and what you eat. That is part of what righteousness is all about, and blithely ignore passages like,

“But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don’t eat, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the better.”
1Cor 8.8

So much for God telling us plainly.

Or thinking if we like something for worship,
God must like it too!

Now you may like big band music, or rock music, or whatever, and that is your prerogative. But does that mean that God also likes what you like, and you should introduce it into worship? Really? This listen to what God says by the mouth of Isaiah.

“8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isa 55:8-9

It is foolish to introduce worldly entertainment into worship, confident of God’s acceptance. So how would we know how to correctly worship God? He would have to tell us.

“For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit.”
1Cor 2:11

And it very simple things which God’s commands.

“What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
1Cor 14:15

There is more to say, but that is the gist of it.

And what is God’s kingdom all about?

We have already seen that it is NOT about food and drink, Rom 14:17. But further even from that, we can see clearly that it is not really even about this world at all. Not ultimately! For when we see Jesus was on trial for His life before the Roman governor Pontus Pilate. Pilate asked Him, “What have you done?”

“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.””
Jn 18:36

No, it is about a new heavens and a new earth after this present universe is burned up, 2Pe 3:10-13.

The premillenialists have it all wrong. They are confusing verses about heaven, with verses about this present world.

Once again, so much for God telling us plainly.

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