Interpreting Scripture (Protestant/Evangelical Caucus and Devotional)

I have made it home safely from my journeys and will now resume posting the devotionals from Ligonier Ministries.

Nearly everyone who has been a part of a small-group Bible study or Bible discussion group has heard these words spoken: “To me, the verse means. . . .” Sometimes this is said innocently, and all the speaker intends is to convey what he thinks the author of the text is teaching to all people. All too often, however, people who say such things are actually reflecting the radical subjectivism to which they hold, whether consciously or unconsciously. In such cases, the person assumes that the verse can mean one thing to him and something completely different to someone else without either of them being wrong.

Such a radically subjective view ends up divorcing all meaning from the text. If the text can mean many different things at the same time, it can mean anything, and if it can mean anything, it really means nothing. Scripture becomes, as Martin Luther put it, a wax nose that can be shaped into whatever form the interpreter likes. When this happens, the interpreter cannot be corrected by the text; rather, the interpreter becomes lord over the text.

Yet, if the Bible is the Word of the God of truth, such subjectivism cannot stand. The Lord “cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). Therefore, no text of Scripture can have many different, mutually contradictory meanings. A text might have a complex meaning that can be summarized in different noncontradictory ways. The text’s meaning might have different practical applications to different people depending on their particular situation. But if two people read a text and find contradictory meanings, one or both of the readers must be wrong. They cannot both be right.

Knowing how to interpret Scripture correctly, therefore, is as important as knowing that the Bible is true. And since the Bible was written by authors with specific intents, the way to determine a text’s meaning is to discern the original author’s intent for it. To do this, we employ the grammatical-historical method, which examines the writer’s historical context and the text’s grammatical structure. We treat verbs as verbs and nouns and nouns, for while the Bible is God’s Word, it is written according to normal grammatical conventions, not in some esoteric tongue. Moreover, we look at the historical setting of a text so that we can discern the issues the author is addressing. Such things help us get into the mind of the author so that we can know what he means.

If we divorce the meaning of the biblical text from its author’s intent, the text can mean anything we want. This happened during the medieval era, when all sorts of fanciful allegorical readings were used that had little if any connection to the author’s original intent. To obey God rightly, we must know what the author He inspired meant, so learning how to interpret the Bible rightly is as important as knowing Scripture’s content.

Deuteronomy 6:6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

Nehemiah 8: And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, won the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, y“Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,1 helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,2 and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth

To obey God rightly, we must know what the author He inspired meant, so learning how to interpret the Bible rightly is as important as knowing Scripture’s content.

Exodus 3

1. And Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock far away into the desert, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb:
2. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed:
3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt:
4. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses; And he said, Here am I:

Exodus 4

1. And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you:
2. And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod [mateh]:
3. And he said, Throw it to the ground; And he threw it to the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it:
4. And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail; And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5. That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you:

Continuation of the conversation with Nicodemus, regarding his taking things too literally (spiritual rebirth, how can a man be born again):

John 3

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius,[1] also known as the Staff of Asclepius (sometimes also spelled Asklepios or Aesculapius) and as the asklepian,[2] is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine. The symbol has continued to be used in modern times, where it is associated with medicine and health care, yet frequently confused with the staff of the god Hermes, the caduceus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius

The Star of Life is a blue, six-pointed star, outlined with a white border which features the rod [Hebrew: mateh] of Asclepius in the center, originally designed and governed by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (under the United States Department of Transportation, DOT). Traditionally in the United States the logo was used as a stamp of authentication or certification for ambulances, paramedics or other EMS personnel. Internationally, it represents emergency medical services units and personnel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_Life

Numbers 24

16. The speech of one who heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, who saw the vision of the Almighty falling down, but having his eyes open [revealed]:
17. I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near; there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter [shevet] shall rise out of Israel, and shall strike the corners of Moab, and destroy all the sons of Seth:

("And he said, Throw it to the ground...")

that the world through him might be saved...

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