Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 52.

Appendix: Bible Interpretation – Some Suggestions

The Bible is a complex book. Some parts of it are difficult to understand. Mark Twain is supposed to have remarked that it wasn’t the parts of the Bible he didn’t understand that bothered him, but the parts that he did. Perhaps he was referring to some of the things Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, where He put forward a radical morality.

I’m not an expert on Biblical interpretation. But I think there are some principles that we should follow in interpreting the Bible. Here they are:

1) Don’t take something literally it if wasn’t meant to be. If a phrase is poetry, or irony, or a figure of speech, then it wasn’t meant to be taken literally. For example, Psalm 46:2 speaks of not being afraid even though the mountains be moved into the sea. The whole Psalm is poetry, and this phrase seems to have been a figure of speech. See Psalm 114, for another example.

2) Don’t use a single verse, phrase, or sentence without considering the context, and what the rest of the Bible says on that subject. For example, in Romans 11:26, Paul says that all Israel will be saved. Does that mean that all Israelis will go to heaven? Certainly not. In chapter 10 of the same book, Paul says that his desire is that the Jews be saved, strongly implying that many of them won’t. He also calls them a disobedient people. And, more importantly, Paul’s message in the entire book, indeed in all his letters, is that salvation comes by faith in Christ as savior, not by birth into a particular ethnic group.

This principle should be applied to many passages in the Old Testament. The Jews were under a different regime than Christians. The Jews were often commanded to destroy other nations. Christians aren’t. In fact, based on the New Testament, God seems to deal much less with nations than in the Old. Instead, He now deals with us as individuals, for the most part. Various Old Testament laws, for example dietary laws, do not apply to Christians, unless they have individual convictions about these matters. The New Testament makes that clear. The context of these laws does not indicate that they apply to non-Jewish Christians today. (Several moral laws, first introduced in the Old Testament, but re-emphasized in the New, do apply to Christians, but that’s another topic.)

3) Be careful in interpreting prophecy. The New Testament points out some examples of fulfilled prophecy about Jesus. Those, it seems, we can understand, because we know how they were fulfilled. The Old Testament has some examples of fulfilled prophecy, that we can understand for the same reason. But be careful about prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled. Very careful.

4) Don’t ignore or reject scripture that you don’t like. In fact, sections of the Bible, for example about gossip being a sin, and that we don’t like (if we like to gossip) are the ones we should pay the most attention to!

Carefully consider that someone else’s interpretation, be that someone an individual, a church, an institution, or a denomination, with doctrines different than yours or mine, might be correct. God may be trying to discipline or instruct us, through scripture, or scripture interpretations, that we don’t particularly like.

Read the Bible carefully and prayerfully. Read it on a regular basis, using some plan, such as those in a devotional guide, or by reading scripture that accompanies sermons or group lessons, in your church.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the matter of a physical body after death, is here.This is the last post in the series. Thanks to anyone who may have read all or part of these posts. I didn't plan that it would take a year to finish this -- it just worked out that way. God willing, next Sunday's post will be from a more important author, whose work is in the public domain.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 26

[Continuing a discussion on interpreting Bible prophecy:]

The above analysis is meant to raise cautions about prophecies of end times, so popular in our own day. We don’t know how those prophecies will be fulfilled, because they haven’t been fulfilled yet, and most of them are no clearer than the prophecies discussed above.

What we do know about end times

Here’s what Jesus said: Luke 12:35 “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning. 36 Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them. 38 They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.” [All quotations from the World English Bible, public domain.]

So here’s what we do know, for sure, about Christ’s return:

1) His coming will be unexpected.

2) We need to be ready.

These two facts ought to be enough, but human curiosity drives us to try to want to know more.

Different views of eschatology

The study of end times is called eschatology. For more information, see the Wikipedia article on Christian eschatology:

“The major issues and events in Christian eschatology are death and the afterlife, Heaven and Hell, the Second Coming of Jesus, the Resurrection of the Dead, the Rapture, the Tribulation, Millennialism, the end of the world, the Last Judgment, and the New Heaven and New Earth of the World to Come.”

(Each of the capitalized terms has its own article.) Many Bible scholars believe that each of these events and issues are described in the Bible. Some disagree. For example, some Bible scholars don’t believe that there will be a rapture.

The Wikipedia also tells us that there are four main schools of thought on eschatology, as follows:

Preterism is the belief that most or all of the events in the above paragraph have already happened.

Historicism is the belief that many of the events listed above have happened, since the time of Christ.

Futurism is the belief that most of the prophecies concerning the above list of events are yet to be fulfilled.

Idealism is the belief that the descriptions of coming events in the Bible are symbolic, mostly of the battle between good and evil, rather than of actual observable events.

I quoted Luke 12 above. Here are two other passages, also telling us what Jesus said to His disciples about His return.

Matthew 24:29b the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Matthew 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. 36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

Matthew 24 and 25 are apparently part of the same discourse by Jesus.

These descriptions (which are prophecies) don’t seem to be compatible with a preterist, historicist, or idealist view. They seem to be describing events so momentous that, if they had already occurred, we would know about them. That supports the futurist view. Again, such support must be flavored with the same kind of caution mentioned above about prophecies about Christ’s first appearance on earth. Nonetheless, I won’t discuss the other schools of thought any further. Futurism is the prevailing view among “conservative” Christians. (Conservative in regard to Bible interpretation, not necessarily in regard to politics.) However, some common futurist ideas are not firmly supported by scripture.

Futurists mostly believe in a rapture, wherein believers are removed from the earth, and in a tribulation, generally a seven-year tribulation. There are several varieties of futurists. These include pre-tribulationists, mid-tribulationists, and post-tribulationists. These differ on the timing of the rapture and the tribulation. A pre-tribulationist believes that there will be a rapture before the tribulation.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 25

[Continuing a discussion of the first four prophecies about Christ in the book of Matthew:]

The second prophecy listed by Matthew as fulfilled is

Matthew 2:6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah,

    are in no way least among the princes of Judah:

for out of you shall come forth a governor,

    who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’

The original statement is:

Micah 5:1 Now you shall gather yourself in troops,

    daughter of troops.

He has laid siege against us.

    They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

    being small among the clans of Judah,

    out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel;

    whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

3 Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth.

    Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.

4 He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh,

    in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God:

    and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.

5 He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land,

    and when he marches through our fortresses,

    then we will raise against him seven shepherds,

    and eight leaders of men.

6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,

    and the land of Nimrod in its gates.

It is clear that at least one scholar understood that verse 2 referred to the birth of the Messiah, because he communicated that to the Wise Men. But the context, before and after, involves warfare, in particular against the Assyrians. Would anyone familiar with this prophecy, when it was given, have understood that it was talking about the birth of God’s Son, the Savior?

The third fulfilled prophecy, according to Matthew, is this:

Matthew 2:14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Here’s the original:

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,

    and called my son out of Egypt.

2 They called to them, so they went from them.

    They sacrificed to the Baals,

    and burned incense to engraved images.

3 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.

    I took them by his arms;

    but they didn’t know that I healed them.

4 I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love;

    and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks;

    and I bent down to him and I fed him.

5 “They won’t return into the land of Egypt;

    but the Assyrian will be their king,

    because they refused to repent.

This seems to be speaking of the Exodus, and subsequent events. (Ephraim is sometimes used, in the Old Testament, to signify the Northern Kingdom.) Apparently God meant this prophecy to cover more than one event, one national – all the Israelites – and one related to the early life of Christ. Matthew tells us that it is, in part, anyway, a prophecy of Joseph, Mary and Jesus going to Egypt. However, note that Hosea prophesied that the Israelites wouldn’t return to Egypt. Clearly, that didn’t include the Holy Family.

The fourth prophecy, a sad one, is:

Matthew 2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

    lamentation, weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

    she wouldn’t be comforted,

    because they are no more.”

The source is Jeremiah 31:11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. 12 They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says Yahweh. 15 Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. 16 Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your latter end, says Yahweh; and your children shall come again to their own border.

It would seem that this would have been difficult, or impossible, to read as a prophecy of Herod killing the boy babies to try to kill Christ. The passage, as a whole, is a prophecy of the restoration of Israel.

We know that these four prophecies have been fulfilled, and how they were fulfilled. The Bible tells us that they have been fulfilled. But, in their own time, they would seem to have caused real difficulty for anyone trying to understand them the way Matthew did. All of them had more than one meaning, and the first meaning was not related to Christ’s early life. God could, of course, have especially revealed the second meaning to an individual, or more than one. Perhaps He did this in relation to Micah’s prophecy of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. These four examples are not atypical. Additional prophecies referred to in Matthew, who, more than the other Gospel writers, emphasizes fulfilled prophecy, seem equally obscure in their original context, unless we know how they were fulfilled.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.

The following is not excerpted from my book:
On September 24, 2019, the Resurrecting Orthodoxy blog posted an examination of the use of Isaiah 53 (the suffering servant passage) in the New Testament, and concludes that most people's understanding of it (including mine) are wrong. More examinations of the use of prophecy in the New Testament are to be added, in this series.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 24

Seven: Is prophecy easy to understand?

You already know the correct answer to that statement. It isn’t. And Christians don’t agree on the meaning of many prophecies. However, God has shown, over and over, that He is able to communicate what is necessary to people, in Bible times and since then. Even though prophecy seems obscure, if it’s important that we understand it, God can show us. But it is also true that not everyone who thinks she understands a prophecy knows the correct interpretation. There are many unfortunate examples of wrong interpretations and predictions, such as the one by Harold Camping and his followers, that the world would come to an end on May 21, 2011, based on Camping’s interpretation of the Bible. It didn’t, and there were several obvious flaws in Camping’s interpretation. Also, he was presumptuous, since Jesus said:

Matthew 24:36 But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Camping has acknowledged that he erred in making this definite prediction. [Note - Camping passed away recently.]

Prophecies relating to the early life of Christ

The New Testament, especially the book of Matthew, which was apparently written with a Jewish audience in mind, frequently reminds us of Old Testament prophecies about Christ, and how they were fulfilled by Christ. I’m going to present and discuss the first four of these, to illustrate why Christians should be cautious about interpreting prophecy.

The first fulfilled prophecy about Christ, in the New Testament, is this:

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child,

    and shall bring forth a son.

They shall call his name Immanuel”;

    which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”

This is a quotation from Isaiah 7:14. However, here are additional verses from that chapter:

Isaiah 7:10 Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.”

13 He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken. 17 Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 18 It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

Matthew says that Isaiah 7:14 was a fulfilled prophecy about the birth of Christ, so it must have been. But it would have taken extraordinary wisdom to find such a prophecy in Isaiah’s original proclamation, which seems to be a prophecy about God’s judgment on the kingdom of Ahaz. There are other difficulties. Did Jesus ever have to learn to refuse evil? Was there a child born in Ahaz’s time, who also fulfilled this prophecy? (My NIV study bible suggests that a betrothed wife of Isaiah may have been referred to.) It is unlikely that Ahaz, or even Isaiah, would have taken Isaiah 7:14 to be a prophecy about the coming of Christ. Matthew, and you and I, can see that it was, but that’s in hindsight.

An interesting sidelight about this prophecy is that some scholars have translated the Hebrew word from Isaiah, which the WEB has rendered as “virgin,” as “young woman.” This includes a recent translation, the New American Bible, Revised Edition, which has the approval of the U. S. Catholic Bishops. The Bishops, of course, are not changing their belief that Mary was a virgin when Christ was conceived, but are convinced that the Hebrew word did not have to mean “virgin.”

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.