How I read the Bible

In this clip Herschel hears God talking to mosses and because of his limited view of the situation he mistakingly applies everything God is saying to Moses to himself. Ridiculous, but not as uncommon as you might think. It happens to us when we read the bible.

You see, when you read the bible in many ways you are reading someone else's mail.

There is application for you, but because you were not the primary recipient, you cannot not always directly apply the message to yourself. A method of biblical interpretation which safe guards against this mistake is essential.

In an attempt to avoid mistakes such as this I try to apply the following four steps in biblical interpretation:

1) The Holy Spirit:

Because the Holy Spirit has been sent to lead us into all Truth, and it is the true meaning that we seek in scriptures, how can we hope to advance towards that truth without the aid of the Holy Spirit. It is not only good to be mindful of this when studying the scriptures, it is essential. Invite the Holy Spirit into your study, ask it to be your guide to the Truth. This is not the best starting place, it is the only starting place.

2) Exegesis:

Each book of the bible was a specific composition written in a specific time and language, by certain people to certain people. The context of its creation is inextricably tied to its meaning. It is imposable to divorce the particular elements of a biblical composition from its ultimate relevance and truthfulness. They are an essential part and as such must be discovered as we journey towards understanding.

3) Universal Generalization:

After the context of the passage has been examined the thematic elements can be lifted. What is the universal truth that is being illustrated by the particulars of the composition? These themes will not concern themselves with the specifics of the text, but will be the ideas which, along with the particular details of each situation, gave birth in the authors mind to the words which he wrote.

4) Existential Instantiation:

At this point, one can take these universal themes and ask how they would apply in the specifics of their own circumstance. Now the universal Truth takes on flesh once again, and lives in the moment. It might not look just as it did in that other time, but its soul is the same Truth or principle.

So using Herschel's example let's examine how this could have gone differently:

Firstly had he been listening to the Holy Spirit he might have avoided the whole embarrassing situation. Secondly, a little inquiry would have revealed to him that God was in fact talking to Moses, and not him. Some more universal truths that could have been derived from the things God said are: God speaks to us; God is a liberator; or His presence is holy. Some particular applications for Herschel would have been: God might also speak to me; if I am to model myself after the character of God, I am to have a heart for liberation; I should revere the presence of the Lord.

These examples are little odd, but the point bares out. It is important to be deliberate in our pursuit of the Truth in the bible, and not to haphazardly apply the things it says to our lives without an understanding of HOW those things should apply to our lives. relative to our specific situation.

Jesus Heals the Official's Son

In the 4th chapter of the Gospel of John Jesus heals an official's son. As with most things in the bible this story works on many levels.

In just a straight forward sense we see Christ snatching a life from the jaws of death. He is able to display his authority over the universe. His deity is further illustrated by the great distance which is breached by His power--though the boy lies ill miles off, he is still subject to the hand of the almighty and omnipresent God, whose incarnation has said "go, your boy will live." All of these things serve to advance John's consistent goal to establish Christ as a deity equal in every way, and in fact synonymous with, Yahweh.

An analysis of the recipient of this miracle may shine some further light on what John was communicating to us. This man is said to have been a "religious official." Galilee, at that time, was under the rule of Herod Antipas. Herod was a Gentile, and was generally despised by his people. It would only make sense that these feelings would be communicative to those who officiated on his behalf.

Why is this significant?

Well let's take a look at all those who Jesus has rubbed shoulders with so far: 1) Galilean commoners at a wedding feast; 2) Jewish religious crowds at the temple; 3) Nicodemus; a highly respected religious authority; 4) a triply despised Samaritan/woman/adulterer; and now a, in all likelihood, despised political official, the symbol foreign rule in Israel.

Jesus got around.

We are just starting and he has addressed his message and miracles at the low and the high; the admired and the despised; Jew, gentile, half breed--rich and poor; week and powerful. He is God not for the few, but for the many, not for some, but for all.

The final point which jumps out at me (though by no means the end of possible themes or applications) touches on the exchange which takes place between the official, Christ and those standing around. After being begged to heal the Officials son, (who lay some 20 mi. off) Jesus makes this statement, that "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe."

This is followed by the dismissal of the official along with the promise that his son would live.

Now what is strange about this is that there were none in that moment who experienced anything particularly miraculous. The servants 20 mi. off see a sick person who takes a turn for the better, wonderful but not necessarily miraculous, and those with Jesus only hear this ambiguous promise that the boy would not die. In the moment they are all very much denied the miraculous "sign and wonder" that they craved.

A possible application of this is that though we all want to see God move in the miraculous, hungering to see not only an end to suffering but also the evidence of the Divine on earth, we cannot always appreciate the miracles happening in front of us because of our finite perspective.

In retrospect, with the accounts of all those involved, John was able to see a miracle, but in the moment some heard a promise and others saw a boy recuperate. The miracle was there but hidden. For us it may often be the same. God has a desire to reconcile and to heal, and we are commanded to ask for these things, but when they don't become immediately apparent we need to not jump to grandiose conclusions. It could simply be that our perspective is too finite to perceive the miraculous which is taking place right under our noses.