How To Study The Bible For Your Self
By Dr. James. A McBean D.Th., MCC
Copyright © 2008 Library of Congress
Washington.D.C.20559
I n the book: (Manners And Custom Of The Bible) By James M. Freeman. Bridge Publishing, Inc. 2500 Hamilton Blvd. South Plainfield,. NJ 07080. Preface: “Though the Bible is adapted to all nations, it is in many respects an oriental book. It represents the modes of thought and the peculiar customs of a people who, in their habits, widely differ from us. One who lived among them for many years has graphically said: “Modes, custom, usages, all that you can set down to the score of the national, the social, or the conventional, are precisely as different from yours as the east is different from the west. They sit when you stand; they lie when you sit; they do to the head what you do to the feet; they use fire when you use water; you shave the beard, they shave the head;” Failures to understand the customs of the people to whom the Bible was written, will provide ground for you and I to misunderstand the Bible. You and I will never understand the Bible until we understand Israel, and all that are pertained to them. Misunderstanding and lack of knowledge is the death of humanity
Because of these discrepancies, there have to be a rule, a Rosetta Stone, an alphabet in how to be sure what we are reading in the scriptures are right and correct. All the false teachers and those who hated the Bible have taken advantage of these discrepancies down through the ages.
In the book. (Knowing Scripture) Written by. R.C. Sproul. Publisher. Inter varsity Press. Downers Grove IIIinois 60515. Page 42. “If we examine the history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, we see that one of the most severe and abiding threats to Israel was the threat of the false prophets or false teachers. More often than by the hand of the Philistines or the Assyrians, Israel fell to the seductive power of the lying teachers.” “The New Testament bears witnesses to the same problem in the primitive Christian Church. The false prophets were like the hireling shepherd who was concerned more for their own wages than the welfare of the sheep. They thought nothing of misleading the people; leading them into error or to evil. Not all false prophets speak falsely out of malice; many do so out of ignorance. From the malicious and the ignorant we should flee.” The sincere false prophets who love the lord, but do not know what his lord teaches, and cannot decipher his master letters, but are shouting command to the sheep ignorantly, is worst than all, the malicious false prophets. The sincere fool with a big mouth and no knowledge behind it, is a danger to himself and to others. People can sense the animosity in the malicious false prophets, and refuse to take them seriously base on that. But, people are held captive by the sincerity of the ignorant prophets
ALWAYS LOOK WHO THE BIBLE IS TALKING TO
God told Ezekiel to eat man's dung before Israel. People who read things in the Bible, then name it and claim it, better exercise common sense. It is not every thing we saw in the scriptures belong to all people and to every man. Some things were for the people it was spoken to. We can learn a few lessons from it. However, it was not written to us. This verse shows me the obedient of the prophet. This prophet has to know God personally to follow in a request like that.
EZEKIEL WAS TOLD TO EAT MAN'S DUNG
Eze 4:12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it with dung of the excrement of man, in their sight. Eze 4:13 And Jehovah said, Even so shall the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations, where I will drive them. Eze 4:14 Then I said, Ah Lord Jehovah! Behold, my soul has not been defiled. For from my youth up, even till now, I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither did there come any unclean flesh into my mouth. Eze 4:15 Then He said to me, Lo, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread with it.
A CERTAIN PROPHET WAS TOLD TO GET SOMEBODY TO HIT HIM
1Ki 20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, By the Word of Jehovah, please strike me! And the man refused to strike him. 1Ki 20:36 And he said to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion shall kill you. And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.
JEREMIAH WAS TOLD NOT TO MARRY A WIFE
Jer 16:1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying, Jer 16:2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. I do not believe that this was for all God’s people. However, the obedience of the prophet was remarkable. It is Good to know God’s voice. Because many people have been fooled into listening to a voice that are not the voice of God.
HOSEA WAS TOLD TO MARRY A PROSTITUTE
Hosea 1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
WHAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND
Even before we open the Bible, we need to understand something about its language. The language it was originally written into, and the language it is transplanted into. You will need to understand the Idioms of that language it was written into. And, you need to understand the Idioms of the language it is transplanted into, and above all, you need to understand the parable, and the hyperbole. Hyperbole means deliberate exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally.
THE HERMENEUTICS
In the book. (Knowing Scripture) Written by. R.C. Sproul. Publisher. Inter varsity Press. Downers Grove IIIinois 60515. Page 45. “Hermeneutics The Science Of Interpretation.” The purpose of hermeneutics is to establish guidelines and rules for interpretation. It is a well-developed science that can become technical and complex. Any written document is subject to misinterpretation and thus we have developed rules to safeguard us from such misunderstanding. We will restrict our present study to the most important and basic rules and guidelines.” The book. (Hermeneutics) Written by Henry. Virkler. Publisher. Baker Book hose Co. Grand Rapid, Michigan 49516. Page 16. “In its technical meaning, hermeneutics is often defined as the science and art of biblical interpretation. Hermeneutics is considered a science because it has rules and these rules can be classified into an orderly system. “Hermeneutics is the mathematics of the Bible. Any where in the world you go, ten fours always equal forty. Also, four tens also equal forty. Hermeneutics are the universal exegesis. The exegesis means to explain what Scripture says. The word comes from the Greek word meaning, “to guide out of.” These provided the foundational concept of Bible interpretation.
THE HYPERBOLE
Hyperbole means deliberate exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally. People use hyperbole in the interaction with each other, every minute of the day. In our writing and in every thing we do and say. I do not know how we over look them in the Bible. To understand the Bible we must be able to know what part of speech is being use. For example: regular Psalm might contain a prophecy, a parable, a proverbs or a hyperbole. The reader must be able to pick up on it before they can even begin to decipher what is being said.
1 Cor. 4:15 (KJV) For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
For example: I Cor 4:15 Speak about ten thousand instructors. However, it is believed that ten thousand people were not living at Corinth at the time of the Apostle Paul, much more ten thousand instructors. But, you and I have to understand the language or the part of speech that is being use here.
THE TIME GAP OR TIME IT WAS WRITTEN
We must bear in mind that in every generation, words change and take on different meaning. I asked one lady what she remembers of me when I was growing up. She replies, “You were always gay.” I was not upset because the time of the conversation between us, the word “Gay” means a person that is happy. Ten years after the conversation, the word “Gay” took on a different meaning. We must find out what the word mean during the time when the apostles or prophets wrote them. What it mean when the apostle wrote them, is its true meaning. Not necessarily what it mean to day.
THE CULTURAL GAP
Custom also changes from one generation to the next. We need to find out if the passage or chapter that we are reading, have a customary background! And does it still applicable in our time?
THE HISTORICAL GAP
The Bible recorded history. It recorded what good men say, as well as what evil men say, true or false. It is up to us to examine the history and know if it is correct. The Bible records what Job's friends say, but later on God rebukes them for what they say to job. Every thing that these men say to Job, look and sound good, but that was the philosophy of the East at the time.
THE PARABLE
“Parables” Are discreet saying. To decode a parable, one has to come of age. One has to be paying close attention. I remember flirting with a woman at the hospital. There was basket of fruit on the table beside her. I looked on the basket of fruits, and say to her, “It that you?” A big smile came upon her face. She gave me one of the apples, as soon as I bit into it I said, “It this you that I am eating?” The flirting continued in code until a little lady caught on and shouted out, “You are flirting with her! God! You are really flirting” The lady replied for the first time and said. “He is not only flirting, but he is doing it very effectively.”
I was surprise that the apostles did not understand the parables of our lord. In fact, he also asked them. “If you do not understand this parable, how are you going to understand all parables?” To understand a parable you must be paying attention.
THE PROVERBS
A proverb is wise saying. For example, “Do not shoot your way out, when you can walk out” All this is saying is to look for the best, easiest, and simplest way to deal with a situation. Violence must be the lost resort. If the enemies will let you walk out in peace it make no sense trying to shoot your way out.
SYMBOLS, TYPES, AND SHADOWS
Ecc 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt finds it after many days. Ecc 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? All the sacrifices that were being done in the Old Testament were only shadow and type of what Christ would do on his coming. These no longer applicable since our Lord already made the one supreme sacrifice.
THE SPIRIT OF LAW
The Jews of old were strangulated by the Old Testament laws. Because they failed to understand the spirit of the laws, they could not help but break it. Today if a motorist does not understand the spirit of our traffic laws. He or she could die on their right of way. There are times when one has to go through the red light to avoid being rear-ended by people who are driving and talking on the cell phones. One of my mental health patients attacks me by bear hugging me around the neck. I have to punch out his rib cage, to stay alive. Religion should not suppose to strangulate anyone, but it does because the people do not understand the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.
Knowing Some Simple Truth.
Every doctrine of the scriptures is under attacks. Good and sincere people are preaching and teaching things that are damaging to the scriptures and to the faith, due to the fact of misunderstanding. In the book of Acts chapter one, “The former treatise have I made. O Theoph-i-lus” One preacher, who has not gone to Bible school, misinterprets the verse. The word “former,” was mistakenly use for farmer. The “Former treatise” Was seen as machetes, forks, shovels, and plows. The preacher made these fatal mistakes, because he does not know the different between the two English words. “Former, and farmer” There are some other words. “Pillar and Pillow” Then we have (similar names) in scriptures. We have some six different Mary, and about four different Judas, different Johns, and different James. We have conflicting verses, which stand out. If pastors and Christians workers cannot explain difficult verses, they will never be able to defend the faith that they were called to defend.
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS
Genesis 15:13 (KJV) And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; Acts 7:6 (KJV) And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS
Exodus 12:40-41 (KJV) Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. [41] And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Galatians 3:17 (KJV) And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. Because of these discrepancy, there have to be a rule, a Rosetta Stone, an alphabet in how to be sure what we are reading in the scriptures are right and correct. All the false teachers and those who hated the Bible have taken advantage of these discrepancies down through the ages.
If you do not know why one verse said four hundred years, and the other one said, four hundred years, you could dump your faith. From the time Moses Stand before the king of Egypt. And said. Thus, saith God. “Let my people go” In God mind; the people were free. But, the elders of Israel, pharaoh and the tasks maskers of Israel were not ready. By the time the people of Egypt decided to let them go that is where the addition of time comes in. .
In the book. “Knowing Scripture” Written by. R.C. Sproul. Publisher. Inter varsity Press. Downers Grove IIIinois 60515. Page 42. “If we examine the history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, we see that one of the most severe and abiding threats to Israel was the threat of the false prophets or false teachers. More often than by the hand of the Philistines or the Assyrians, Israel fell to the seductive power of the lying teachers.” “The New Testament bears witness to the same problem in the primitive Christian Church. The false prophet was like the hireling shepherd who was concerned more for his own wages than the welfare of the sheep. He thought nothing of misleading the people; leading them into error or to evil. Not all false prophets speak falsely out of malice; many do so out of ignorance. From the malicious and the ignorant we should flee.” The sincere false prophets who love the lord, but do not know what his lord teaches, and cannot decipher his master letters, but are shouting command to the sheep ignorantly, is worst than all, the malicious false prophets. The sincere fool with a big mouth and no knowledge behind it, is a danger to himself and to others. People can sense the animosity in the malicious false prophets, and refuses to take them seriously base on that. But, people are held captive by the sincerity of the ignorant prophets. In human society, sincerity is look upon as truth. We must never take lightly the damaging effects of ignorance, in the hands of sincere and zealous believers. When the blind is leading the blind, it is a dangerous sight to behold. They are walking and talking loud, headlong into traffic.
The Bearer’s Of The “Mind Sword”
