Interpretation | Knowable Word

We Love to Give Gold Stars

October 24, 2022 By Ryan Higginbottom

People love stories, and the Gospels and histories are some of the Bible books we’re drawn to most. But interpreting these narrative books can be tricky.

Here’s one hurdle. We have an impulse to label every character. We want to know: Are they good or bad? Was this particular action praiseworthy or condemnable?

We pose these black-or-white questions because it’s much easier to have Biblical characters in stark categories when we turn to application. We should be like the good person, and we should not be like the bad person.

Most often, the Bible does not bow to our desires for quick labeling. Applying narrative texts requires the hard, slow work of wisdom.

Jacob vs Rahab

Let’s consider Jacob and Rahab. Jacob’s story reads like a winding path, so we feel a strong impulse to grade him in each scene.

Here is the beginning of Genesis 35.

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem. (Genesis 35:1–4)

Those foreign gods are curious! Did Jacob hide them under a tree so he could retrieve them? Or did he do it so there would be a defined marker of repentance?

The text doesn’t answer these questions. We are far more concerned about handing out (or withholding) gold stars than the Biblical authors were.

Compare this small incident in Jacob’s life with the story of Rahab, which begins in Joshua 2. Rahab was a prostitute living in Jericho, yet she hid the Jewish spies when they arrived to scope out the city (Josh 2:1–5). She lied about the spies to the king’s men, and this allowed the spies to return safely to Israel (Josh 2:23).

When Israel came to Jericho and “devoted all in the city to destruction” (Josh 6:21), Rahab and her family were rescued, just as the messengers had promised (Josh 6:22–23). Rahab was welcomed as an ethnic outsider into Israel (Josh 6:25), and the author of Hebrews praises her for her faith (Heb 11:31).

My point is not to contrast Jacob with Rahab. Rather, notice how the text directs us to view these incidents. The Biblical authors commend Rahab’s actions, many of which seem to violate Mosaic law. On the other hand, the Biblical authors are silent about Jacob and the idols.

The Dangers and Effects of a Grading Mindset

This is a discussion about interpretation. There is no harm in asking scores of questions related to observations of a Biblical text. However, we must be careful to answer only the questions the Bible itself answers.

When we obsess about the ethics of every action of a character in a Bible passage, we are likely to miss the main point. We should investigate why the author wrote this passage in this way; if they were not concerned with parsing the moral grade of a character’s actions, we should not be either.

Our desire to grade each character’s actions often leads us to speculation. We assume that people in the Bible will think, feel, or act like us (or like someone we know), and our subsequent conclusions can lead us off course. We must be mindful of when we are making good and necessary deductions and when we are in the midst of conjecture.

This Too Points to Christ

We want our characters (or their actions) to be good or bad, but the Bible does not bend to this binary. We want to point to a hero, to someone whose actions are consistently and thoroughly good so that we can listen to and follow them.

In other words, we want Jesus. He is the only person in whom there is no sin (1 John 3:5, 1 Peter 2:22). His actions were perfect, and his good works atone not only for our bad works, but for our bad thoughts, desires, and natures.

Like us, Biblical characters have flaws, some of which are on bright display. But those flaws are not the point of the passage as often as we think. When we fixate on these questions, we drift away from what matters most.

What to Do When the New Testament Quotes the Old

October 14, 2022 By Peter Krol

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (Matt 1:23)

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46)

“Not one of his bones will be broken.” (John 19:36)

“You are my Son, today I have begotten you.” (Heb 5:5)

Since the Bible had no verse divisions until the 16th century AD, we ought to consider what this implies about how to read and study the Bible. Ancient readers had no map or reference system to pinpoint particular statements. They could not speak with precision about a textual location such as Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14.

Instead, they referenced Scriptures by broad indicators such as:

“…in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush…” (Mark 12:26)
“…the scroll of the prophet Isaiah…He found the place where it was written…” (Luke 4:17)
“the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah…” (John 12:38)
“he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way…” (Heb 4:4)

They did not quote things the way we do. They did not have MLA- or APA-style citations, word-perfect precision, or bibliographical indices.

In fact, most people didn’t read their own copies of the Scripture. Most of what they knew about Scripture came through oral delivery, repetition, and memorization.

So if we read our Bibles only like 21st century students at institutions of higher education, we will not be reading them like 1st century commoners, or even nobility, receiving these remarkable works of literature from the hands of Jesus’ first followers.

What does this mean?

1. NT quotes of the OT are referencing passages, not verses.

Often there’s a verbal connection to the exact verses being quoted. For example, when Peter wants to make a point about being “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5) he grabs a few key statements with the word “stone” in them (1 Pet 2:6-8). But his goal is not to produce sound bytes fitting for a radio interview, or back-cover blurbs promoting a book. He believes the referenced OT passages have something of their own to say, building a theology of God’s stone-construction program, which Peter now interprets and applies for a new audience.

2. Don’t read past the OT quotes.

When a NT author quotes the OT, he believes the OT passage has an argument to make that he now commandeers for his own use. The quotes are not window dressing, with the real argument coming before or after the quote. No, the quotes are a fundamental part of the argument. The quotes contain the premises upon which the conclusion stands. We might misunderstand the conclusion if we haven’t identified the premises (in their original context).

3. Look up the OT quotes and study them in context.

To use the four quotes from the top of this post: “Immanuel” had a fulfillment in Isaiah’s day that illuminates why Jesus’ fulfillment was so much greater, and even unexpected (Isaiah 7-8). Jesus’ feelings of abandonment don’t capture the whole story of what happened on the cross (Psalm 22). Jesus’ death was more about the idea of Passover than it was about checking off a prerequisite prediction about bodily injury (Exodus 12). Christ’s appointment as high priest involved more than a particular pronouncement from on high; it involved lasting victory over the rebellious kings of the earth (Psalm 2).

4. Consider how the NT author employs the OT context and repurposes it for his audience.

Sometimes the NT author applies a timeless principle. Sometimes he makes a theological connection to the person or work of Jesus Christ. Sometimes he sees a shadow that has become reality. Sometimes he identifies a pattern of life meant to be followed.

5. What seems obvious may not be all that obvious.

When Jesus explains the parable of the soils to his disciples, he references Isaiah 6 (Mark 4:11-12). Many quickly conclude that Jesus is laying out a strategy for intentional deception by parable. This seems obvious if we look only at the precise words and statements being quoted. But go back to read Isaiah 6, in the context of Isaiah’s book of prophecy, in the context of all the prophets, and only then does it become apparent that Jesus’ parables are actually meant to remove deception, to make things crystal clear (something which Mark explicitly suggests—Mark 4:21-22). Jesus is not trying to make people blind. He’s trying to expose the fact that they are already blind because they worship blind and deaf idols and refuse to listen to him. They become like what they worship.¹ We see in many other places that the parables were far more illuminating than obfuscating (Mark 3:23ff, 7:17-23, 12:12; Luke 12:41, 15:1-3, 18:1, 18:9, 19:11).

Conclusion

Bible study is for everyone, even ordinary people. But that doesn’t make it quick or easy. Let’s do good work so we can understand the meaning these authors intended to communicate to us, especially when the NT uses the OT to make its point.

Additional Resources

Nothing surpasses Beale and Carson’s tome, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker Academic, 2007), which analyzes every NT quotation of and credible allusion to the OT. This reference work shows how important it is to look up OT quotes in their context.

The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers (Kregel Academic, 2018). In this book, Abner Chou explains how biblical writers made use of earlier scriptures. Along the way he gives many examples to prove that the quoting authors were concerned with the quotes’ original context, and Chou shows how the quoting authors appropriated that original context for their new purposes.

Thanks for visiting Knowable Word! If you like this article, you might be interested in receiving regular updates from us. You can sign up for our email list (enter your address in the box on the upper right of this page), follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our RSS feed.

¹I am indebted to G.K.Beale, We Become What We Worship (IVP Academic, 2009) for these insights about Jesus’ parables and Isaiah 6.

Amazon links are affiliate links.

Take Care With Idioms

September 21, 2022 By Peter Krol

A crucial presupposition we must make when studying the Bible is that, while it was written for believers in all ages (1 Cor 10:11), it was not written directly to us. We are reading someone else’s mail.

That means that we must be aware of and alert for idioms. Those turns of phrase that have a unique meaning in a particular culture but would make no sense when translated to another language. For example, if I describe my child’s theater performance as having “knocked it out of the park,” people in another time and place might presume something got broken or that the play was performed in an outdoor venue.

With the Bible, this issue works in both directions. Ancient authors used idioms, for which word studies will be no help. (Imagine looking up “knocked” and “park” up in a dictionary.) And at the same time, we cannot read modern day idioms back into the text, even if the words are the same.

For example, Alan Shlemon explains the fact that when Jesus told Lazarus to “Come out” (John 11:43), he was not inviting him to publicly identify as gay. This may be self-evident to some, but such basic principles bear repeating. We must seek to understand the Bible the way the original audience would have understood it. Only then can we draw legitimate applications in our day.

Shlemon’s piece skillfully draws out this principle with respect to some of the ways people read the text today.

Check it out!

Ephesians: Uniting All Things in Christ, Part 1

August 19, 2022 By Peter Krol

The blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation by grace through faith. Knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Speaking the truth in love. Putting off the old self. Walking in love. Making best use of the time. Loving wives as Christ loved the church. The whole armor of God.

Despite its brevity, the letter of Ephesians has a remarkably high concentration of beloved verses and memorable sayings. But how do they all fit together? What is Paul’s chief argument in this theological masterpiece?

Literary Markers

Ephesians marks its main sections through logical connector phrases and major shifts in topic. As with many of Paul’s letters, a salutation (Eph 1:1-2) and benediction (Eph 6:21-24) bookend doctrine (Eph 1:3-3:21) and application (Eph 4:1-6:20).

Paul begins to transition from doctrine to application in Eph 3:1, but breaks off mid-sentence to discuss the gracious nature of his ministry. He completes the transition in Eph 4:1, which labels the two main sections of the letter as “the calling to which you have been called” and “the urging to walk in a manner worthy of that calling.”

Greeting of grace and peace to the saints – Eph 1:1-2
Doctrine: The calling to which you’ve been called – Eph 1:3-3:21
Application: Walk in a manner worthy of this calling – Eph 4:1-6:20
Final greeting of peace, love, and grace – Eph 6:21-24

Part 1 Walkthrough

The apostle of Christ is so by the will of God, and the saints in Christ are so through faith. There is much harmony between the will of God and the people of God in this opening. In addition, “grace” and “peace” become more than a simple greeting in this letter, as both words play major roles in the rest of the letter.

Part 2 Walkthrough

Paul begins with an extended doxology (word of praise) to “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3-14). Why is this God blessed? Because the Father is a God who blesses, by choosing in Christ and predestining through Christ, according to grace (Eph 1:3-6). Christ the Beloved is both redemption and inheritance of grace for those who hope in him (Eph 1:7-12). And the Holy Spirit seals and guarantees the inheritance, that is Christ, for believers who will one day possess him fully. In short, Paul blesses the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each person working in perfect harmony with the others to accomplish the plan he set for the fullness of time—that toward which all history is moving—”to unite all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:10). Since verse 10 tells us what these tremendous blessings are all for, we must not miss its crucial role as a thesis statement for the letter.

Paul’s first prayer, then, is for God to grant his readers to know him (Eph 1:17), which requires heart-perception of his hopeful calling, his rich inheritance, and his great power (Eph 1:18-19). This very power overturned death and reunited heaven and earth in the person of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:20-23). Therefore, in Jesus Christ, the church on earth now has an unimpeachable head of state. All things are now poised to be united in him—but we desperately need God to answer the prayer that we might see with our hearts that it is so.

Next Paul discusses the glorious transfer from death to life, from earth to heaven, undergone not only by Jesus himself (Eph 1:20-23) but also by all who trust him (Eph 2:1-10). So uniting all things to Christ requires the overturning-of-death and the reunion-of-heaven-and-earth to become the experience of all of Christ’s body, not solely that of the head. What a gift (Eph 2:8)! And that gift comes with expectations of good works, prepared for us well in advance (Eph 2:10).

If all things will be united in Christ, the process must begin in the church, where people of all nationalities are being remade into a single new humanity by faith (Eph 2:11-22). Jesus, who preached peace to those near and far, is himself our peace. All are now fellow citizens and members of the family. All are part of his new temple. We have access to the Spirit, so true unity in Christ is not only possible but expected.

This causes Paul to reflect on the gift of grace given to him, not only in his redemption but in his apostleship (Eph 3:1-13). Grace was given to reveal that Gentiles are now fellow heirs (Eph 3:1-6). And grace was given to preach this eternal purpose—and thereby to offer bold access to people from all nations—in full view of the spiritual powers of heaven (Eph 3:7-13).

And such reflection on the grace of Paul’s apostleship leads him into his second prayer (Eph 3:14-19) and doxology (Eph 3:20-21). He knows better than his readers—who otherwise wouldn’t even know to ask—that they’ll require supernatural strength to comprehend that which would otherwise be incomprehensible: the unifying love of Christ for his church.

First Half Conclusion—The Church’s Calling

The God who is fully unified with himself has a glorious plan for the future: to imprint his unity on the rest of the universe by graciously uniting all of heaven and earth under one head, Jesus Christ. To get there, he first unites a new humanity with himself through faith in Christ. And that new humanity is now called to live in unity with itself in Christ. In other words, the church’s calling is to walk in true unity. The power for that unity originates from the unity the church already has with the fully unified Trinity. And that present unity anticipates the coming unity of all heaven and earth in Christ.

To violate the church’s unity, therefore, is to tell lies about who God is and what he is doing in the cosmos. Disunity in the church—which is disobedience to the church’s calling—is a path to surrender to the course of this world, to the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), and to his demonic authorities in the heavenly places, who want nothing more than to thwart the manifold wisdom of God to unite all things in Christ (Eph 3:9-10).

I’ll save for next week’s post the letter’s second half, which provides the practical instruction for how the church can walk in a manner worthy of this calling to unity.

Interpretive Outline

Grace and peace to the saints – Eph 1:1-2
Doctrine: The unity to which you’ve been called – Eph 1:3-3:21
- Praise to a unified and unifying God – Eph 1:3-14
  - Prayer for eyes to see what that God is doing – Eph 1:15-23
    - The gift of grace that unifies people with God – Eph 2:1-10
      - The unity of the new humanity in the peace of Christ – Eph 2:11-22
    - The gift of grace that revealed and now preaches the unity of people with God and with each other – Eph 3:1-13
  - Prayer for supernatural strength to comprehend such divine, unifying love – Eph 3:14-19
- Praise to an astonishing God who empowers unity in ways we could never imagine – Eph 3:20-21

This post is part of a series of interpretive overviews of the books of the Bible.

Context Matters: The Whole Armor of God

August 12, 2022 By Peter Krol

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Christian’s armor that must be worn to serve God faithfully. The key passage in Ephesians 6 is famous enough that you may have even handed out coloring pages to children (or colored a few yourself in days gone by). This passage is worthy of its fame among Bible students and Sunday school programs. But what is real point of it? To what end does the apostle employ his extended metaphor in light of his argument in the letter to the Ephesians?

Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not simply as a collection of vibrant metaphors for vague spiritual truths—we’ll discover that some of our most familiar passages may have far more usefulness than we’d previously assumed.

Immediate Context

When Paul instructs his readers to “put on” (Eph 6:11) and “take up” (Eph 6:13) the whole armor of God, he does this to elaborate on his chief command: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph 6:10). That first overarching command governs the paragraph and ought to guide our understanding of the armor.

But what does it mean to be strong in the Lord and in his might? Does it mean we need to do more spiritual pushups and sit ups to increase our godly muscle mass and stay in shape for some sort of invisible battle?

Most commentaries will quickly reveal that the Greek verb translated as “be strong” is in the passive voice. That means it is not primarily something we do but something that is done to us. The CSB makes the passive voice more evident by translating it as “be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength” (Eph 6:10, CSB). Interestingly, Paul uses the same syntax in 2 Tim 2:1, and the ESV translators chose to keep the passive voice explicit in that verse: “You, therefore, my son, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

The point is simply this: Paul’s instructions to put on and take up the whole armor of God explains, or fleshes out, what it looks like for the Christian to become strong by receiving God’s own strength. By putting on God’s own armor. And Paul did not invent this idea of God’s strength, God’s armor, because Paul knows his Bible.

Biblical Context

While Paul’s language draws in part on the vocabulary of the Roman military (after all, he likely dictated this letter while chained to one such soldier – Eph 6:20), he synthesizes the Roman imagery with that of the prophet Isaiah.

Observe Isaiah 59:17, speaking of what God does when he perceives both injustice and a lack of heroes to help:

He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.

And observe Isaiah 11:5 and Isaiah 49:2, speaking of God’s Chosen One (the Messiah) who will serve him by ushering in an age of peace:

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins…

He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.

So when Paul instructs his readers to put on and take up the whole armor of God, he speaks not of armor one wears only in honor of God. He speaks of borrowing God’s own armor, having been tailored to fit the Messiah, and now also on loan to all who follow him. “Be strengthened by the Lord and by the strength of his might.” But why do Christians require such strength? What sort of battles should they expect to face, battles that cannot be won without the empowerment of him whose mighty strength is far above all rule and authority and every name that is named (Eph 1:19-21)?

Larger Context

I believe the main idea of Ephesians is best summed up in the words of Ephesians 1:10. What is God’s plan from before the foundation of the world, for the fullness of time? “To unite all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth.” This letter is a letter for unity.

Paul’s framework for unity begins with the foundation of God’s unity within himself, among the persons of the Trinity, who work together in perfect harmony to execute this plan for the ages (Eph 1:3-14, 4:4-6). The Lord, our God, the Lord is one (Deut 6:4). And that one God consists of one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:4-6).

The unity of all things then proceeds to encompass a cosmic unity between this one God and his people (Eph 2:1-10). God raised his son from the dead and seated him in the heavenly places (Eph 1:20). So also those who are “in Christ Jesus” have been raised with him and seated with him in those same heavenly places (Eph 2:5-6). Because none of this is granted as payment for works, but is only a gift of grace, it is available to all who simply believe (Eph 2:4-5, 8-9).

But that’s not all. God is one with himself. God is also one with his people. By implication, then, it must also be true that his people are to be one with each other. This is why the church of Jesus Christ is made up of not only Jews but also Gentiles from all nations (Eph 2:11-22). The great mystery has now been revealed through special revelation to Paul, that Gentiles are fellow heirs and members of the same body as Jews (Eph 3:1-6). Paul’s ministry is a gift of God’s grace to make this Jew/Gentile unity take place, in full sight of all the spiritual forces and powers of the universe (Eph 3:7-13).

For this reason, it requires supernatural strength from God to even fathom the depth of this uniting love of Christ (Eph 3:14-21). And it is of great importance that particular local churches now walk in the very unity to which they’ve been called (Eph 4:1-6:9). To highlight just one moment in the argument: Anger toward others is a particularly effective disunifier. We must give it special attention, lest we give the devil an opportunity to rip apart the unity God seeks to build in his church (Eph 4:26-27).

I won’t walk through all of chapters 4 through 6, but suffice it to say that Paul concludes his practical application with three pairs of hierarchical human relationships where unity is often rare to find and comes at a premium: Wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters (Eph 5:22-6:9).

Conclusion

So in the argument of Ephesians (with reference to Isaiah), what is the chief spiritual battle for which the church of Jesus Christ requires supernatural strength and God-granted armor? It is the fight to maintain unity among God’s people, of all nations and flavors (Eph 4:1-3). To maintain the unity that ought to flow from their inseparable unity with God, and from God’s own unity within himself. The very unity that threatens the dominion of darkness in the heavenly places.

Because the devil employs the full weight of his resources to disrupt the unity of the church, it is of chief importance that we recognize who our real enemy is. It is never the fellow church member who disagrees with you, annoys you, or offends you (Eph 6:12). The real enemy can be defeated only with the unifying strength of God through Christ. Real unity will therefore require truth, righteousness, and a readiness to preach peace (Eph 6:14-15). Real unity will not be maintained without faith, salvation, Scripture, or prayer (Eph 6:16-20).

Next time you get in a fight with a brother or sister in Christ—perhaps even within your own household—please let the whole armor of God strengthen you to the ends of peace and victory over the devil’s divisive schemes.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, such as the widow’s mite, the love chapter, and all things work together for good, click here.

Check the Context Before and After

August 5, 2022 By Peter Krol

As we’ve sought to demonstrate that literary context matters, we’ve focused primarily on specific verses or short segments of text that are commonly used without regard for the author’s argument to his original audience. But there is another way to make use of literary context in our Bible study, which is simply to pay attention to the texts immediately before and after the text under study. This practice aids interpretation by helping us identify not only what a passage says but also what it is doing to assist the author’s larger argument.

Here are some examples.

Help from the Preceding Text

2 Kings 2 tells the story of Elijah’s ascension into heaven and Elisha’s taking up the prophetic mantle from his mentor. A quick look at what comes immediately before reveals a king who died without a son (2 Kings 1:17-18). That setup (that King Ahaziah has no heir) introduces the chief concern that chapter 2 takes up: What will happen when Elijah goes? Will Israel be left without a prophetic voice?

The armor of God passage in Ephesians 6 begins with an overarching command that governs the rest of the passage: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph 6:10). We ought to ask: How does one do that? What does it look like for someone to draw strength / be strengthened by the Lord and his strength? Perhaps help can be found immediately prior? In Paul’s command to masters, he suggests that the power to do good to their servants and cease with threatening comes from “knowing that he who is both their Master and your is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him” (Eph 6:9). So a spiritual battle requires heavenly strength, which will come from trusting that Jesus is seated in heaven, far above all rule and authority (Eph 1:19-21), and giving good gifts to men (Eph 4:7-14).

Help from the Following Text

Genesis 38 tells a dark and tragic story about Judah, his sons, a daughter-in-law, and his eventual heir. Besides the dark content, it is especially strange for having been inserted right in the midst of a larger narrative that is supposed to be about Joseph. In fact, Gen 37:36 and Gen 39:1 repeat the same information in order to signal the fact that the main story line is being put on hold just to narrate Judah’s situation (which took place not all at once but over many years). Just keep reading into chapter 39 to see a number of clear contrasts between the half-brothers Judah and Joseph: experience of power, figurative use of garments, perspective toward God’s moral commands.

In Matthew 4:12-25, Jesus begins his public ministry, and Matthew describes it in a way that parallels Isaiah’s prophecy of a dawning light (Matt 4:15-16): beginning in Zebulun and Naphtali (Matt 4:12-17), passing by the way of the sea (Matt 4:18-22), and going beyond the Jordan (Matt 4:23-25). The next passage informs us that the light is here (speaking with the authority of God from the mountaintop – Matt 5:1-12) and is infecting the new people of God (Matt 5:13-16).

Help from both Before and After

Revelation 4 describes a magnificent scene of the vigorous worship offered in heaven to the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. Immediately prior to this scene, Jesus comes knocking on the door and inviting those who persevere in bearing witness to him to join him on his throne, just as he joined his Father on his throne (Rev 3:20-21). That highlights the significance of Jesus’ own invitation to witness the scene of heavenly worship (Rev 4:1). In addition, the following scene (Rev 5) shows Jesus himself as the only one worthy to receive authority from the Father to execute judgment on the earth. He acquired such authority through his death and resurrection (Rev 5:6). Noticing the flow of thought helps us to preach the gospel very specifically from each text. In chapter 4, the gospel is not one of death and resurrection, particularly, but of Jesus opening the way to the Father. In chapter 5, this gospel is fleshed out by showing how Jesus opened that way and became qualified to receive all authority in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 8:23-9:8 contains three brief narratives of Jesus performing great miracles. The stories hang together as a unity to explain Jesus’ great authority, on both heaven (Matt 8:28-34) and earth (Matt 8:23-27), to forgive sins (Matt 9:1-8). So much, so good, but look at how much more the surrounding context adds. Immediately before, we have would-be followers of Jesus confronted with the great cost of following Jesus (Matt 8:18-22); the question of whether they are willing to pay that cost is left hanging and unanswered. And immediately after, we see not a “would-be” but an actual follower of Jesus responding immediately to the call (Matt 9:9-12). Perhaps the chain of three miracles is there to explain what makes the difference. To explain the chief reason why it is worth paying the cost to follow Jesus. Can sick sinners find authority like this anywhere else?

Conclusion

Whenever you study a passage, one simple discipline to develop is to look at what happens immediately before and after. As you do, consider how those surrounding texts help you to understand what your passage is doing in the larger argument. In just a few minutes of effort, you may get significant help toward interpreting the main point of your passage.

Not Every Interesting Detail is Important

July 29, 2022 By Ryan Higginbottom

anonymous (2011), public domain

As Christians learn to study the Bible, we pay more attention to the details. We notice repeated words, names, grammar, and genre. We train our eyes to spot anything surprising or out of place.

What we do with these observations is just as important as making them in the first place. Observing the text is like stocking the pantry. We gather raw materials, but we don’t know what we need until it’s time to cook.

The Problem with Interesting Details

Most of our Biblical observations arise because a detail captures our attention. We’re interested in a certain feature, conversation, or nuance in the text.

Yet when we move from observation to interpretation, we must be careful. Though there might be curious or compelling details in the passage, we should try to zero in on the main point. We’re likely to miss what God has for us if we concentrate on what is intriguing instead of what is most important.

Ideally, we should give our attention and thought to themes and details in proportion to their importance. Granted, we don’t usually know the major thrust of a passage until we’ve spent some time with it. But if we want to land on the main point, we should give our energy to the evidence and supporting truths that point in that direction. If we camp out on curiosities, we might be off the mark when stating the main point. And if we miss the main point, our application might be unnecessary or misdirected.

Additionally, we should avoid the trap of speculation. If we get obsessed with a detail or surprise in the passage, we’ll wonder why it’s there. When we interpret, we’ll try to answer related questions even though the answers are nowhere to be found in the text. While enjoyable on an intellectual level, this is merely spinning our wheels—expending mental energy without making progress.

What’s Important?

The natural question, then, is this: How do I know if a detail is important? How do we know what to keep and what to discard?

Here’s the brief answer. If it leads to the main point, it’s important. If it doesn’t, it’s not.

In other words, when you follow the author’s train of thought, is this detail included? Is information about this character or description repeated or used later in the passage? It this detail were omitted from the text, could you still make your argument about the main point?

Here’s an example. The fifth plague is described in Exodus 9:1–7, and we read in verse 6 that all the livestock of Egypt died. However, both later in chapter 9 (verse 20) as well as in chapter 14, additional livestock are mentioned. How can this be if all the livestock died? You might pay attention to the phrase “livestock which are in the field” in Exodus 9:3 and speculate about exactly where the pestilence affected the animals. You might wonder whether Egypt simply stole animals from surrounding nations after all their animals died.

We’re not told. And all the wondering and worrying distracts from the main point of the passage: God judged Egypt and not Israel. The later reappearance of livestock is an interesting detail, but not an important one.

Build on the Main Point

It’s irresponsible to build doctrine on or draw application from mere curiosities in Scripture. Some of the oddities in the Bible are interesting, but not valuable.

When you ask questions related to your observations and turn to answer them, be vigilant. Answer only answer those questions where the text provides an explicit answer or one drawn through reasonable deduction.

We honor the Lord as we draw our main doctrine and application from the main points of Scripture. And to get to the main point, we must make sure to focus on what’s important, and not only what’s interesting.

Does Genesis Have Two Creation Accounts?

July 27, 2022 By Peter Krol

How are Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 related? Benjamin Shaw states the issue as follows:

One often hears the idea that there are two creation accounts in Genesis 1–2, almost as if it were intuitively obvious. There are certainly differences between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. But the question is whether we have here two separate accounts of creation that have been joined together by some much later editor, or whether we have one unified account with different emphases. The former view came from the skeptical scholarship that arose from the Enlightenment. The latter has, for millennia, been the view of the church.

He goes on to briefly defend the latter “traditional” view. What do you think? Does he make a persuasive case? Does he show it from the text?

Regardless of whether you think Genesis presents one creation account or two, can you do more than simply assert your position? Can you demonstrate from the text itself that your conclusion is how the original author intended the text to be read?

Check it out!

Bible Interpretation that Dignifies God as Original Author

July 13, 2022 By Peter Krol

Jacob Toman has a thoughtful post on how to think about Bible interpretation. It is quite common and tempting to interpret the Bible in a way that focuses on “what it means to me.” However:

When we read and interpret the Bible, we should seek to do so in a manner that if we were to have a conversation with God, God would have no corrections for us. This means our interpretation should defer to what God intended in a passage, and also how God chose to communicate that passage, through a historical writer.

Any meaning that God himself would disagree with, however meaningful it may be to the reader, fails to dignify God or do justice to his truth.

Check it out!

Framing the Book of Revelation from the Beginning

July 6, 2022 By Peter Krol

Have you been confused by the book of Revelation? Has your confusion kept you from reading or studying it? James Durham is here to help.

In this post, Durham walks clause by clause through the book’s first three verses to show you how to frame the book. How are we to approach this book, and what did the author seek to communicate? This is a revelation after all—a showing forth and disclosing. It was never meant to be an illusion or obfuscation.

It may look very presumptuous to read this book, or attempt to explain it. Indeed there is need of much humility and soberness in going about such a work, and much need that the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who has given this book as a benefit to His church, would help us to take it up rightly…
Yet its subject matter is very profitable and comforting to the church, to the end of the world. And when Christ gave it, as His last will and word to His church, his aim in doing so was to give a revelation, to make known His mind to them. This is why John is forbidden to seal it up – so that it would remain open for the good of His church. There is also plenty to motivate us and encourage us to read and search into it, for example the blessing in verse 3, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy,” a saying which is repeated again after the prophetic part is immediately closed (chapter 22:7,14).
These all add up to notable encouragements, not only to try to read and seek to understand the Book of the Revelation, but also to lay it on us as a duty. We therefore resolve, through God’s grace, to attempt it, so that it will not be altogether useless to the “servants of God” to whom it is sent, according to verse 1.

Check it out!

« Previous Page