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Another new blogger, Derek Joseph , introduces his new series on Hearing God in the Bible.  If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance that you’re interested in God. You want to know Him and experience Him. And you might even know something about the Bible being His book. But if the Bible remains mysterious, even cryptic—maybe you know a bunch of stories from it but don’t understand how they relate to you—then the Bible won’t bring you much comfort, much less pleasure.
This is the first article in a series of articles about interpreting the Scriptures. My goal with this series is to show you how to experience God through the Bible. And right at the outset here, I want to dispel any notion that there’s a sort of ‘magic bullet’ through which you can understand the Scriptures. Knowing Greek and Hebrew is not a key to understanding God’s word. Seminary isn’t. More education isn’t. Being able to completely reconstruct historical situations isn’t. So I’m not going to give you a magic bullet. Studying the Bible is not easy. But let me assure you – it’s not impossible. There are a set of skills and tools you can apply as you study, and you will be rewarded with God himself as you do the work. We’ll get to those tools in the articles that follow, but it’s best to start with a look at what the Bible actually is. THREE VITAL TRUTHS ABOUT THE BIBLE: 1. Every word is there because God intended it to be there.2 Peter 1:20, 21; John 10:35; Matthew 22:28-32). If you look at those verses, you’ll note that they say that every verse of Scripture has a specific, intended meaning. It’s not open for interpretation. Jesus holds people responsible to what God intended. God spoke and he holds us responsible for what he said. 2. Scripture will only affect you to the extent that the Holy Spirit causes it to. So we’re to understand the Bible a certain way. But it will only be effective as God the Holy Spirit makes it so. In 1 Corinthians 2:7-16, Paul tells a church that God has appointed apostles to interpret God’s truth to God’s people. But the Holy Spirit must be at work in those people so they’ll understand and accept it. So the Holy Spirit needs to work for us to really get God’s word. 3. The Bible is about Jesus. Last, the Bible is a book about who Jesus is and what he did (Luke 24:27; Hebrews 1:1-3; John 5:39). In other words, it’s about the gospel (John 6:39; John 10). I have my students memorize the gospel in a sentence like this: it’s the good news that Jesus’ obedience to God, suffering the punishment for rebellion in dying, and resurrection reconcile everyone who believes in him to God. That’s a little complicated, and it is all necessary – but let’s boil it down for the time being to something simpler. The Bible is about Jesus bringing his people into his kingdom. It’s not about rules. It’s not about how to live. It’s a story with a hero – Jesus – who is bringing you to God, provided you cling to him for life. So where do you start? Well, first, since God’s word isn’t going to do anything in you unless he does it, ask him to act. Pray. Ask him to give you an understanding of what he said, to open your eyes to see his glory, to show you your sin, and to prove his love in Jesus’ cross to you. Second, grab a Bible. Almost every English translation is decent – but they have different purposes. Some versions are translated to sound as if they were written in English, so they paraphrase a bit; some were translated to retain the original Greek and Hebrew sentence structures as much as possible. The former (including the NIV and NLT) are more useful if you’re going to read the whole book through. The latter (including the ESV and NASB) are more useful if you’re going to study a passage in depth. Third – read. I’d recommend simply reading through Ephesians, Galatians, John and Mark. Don’t pick a place in the middle, read it, and close the book. The Bible’s a collection of individual books. You wouldn’t pick up a Harry Potter book, read a few pages in the middle, and claim to get the story, would you? Same applies here. Read through the books as if they’re, well, books. Fourth – look for two particular things. First, look for how God’s word says you disobey. Let God do his work in uncovering how you rebel against him. Second, let God’s word show you how Jesus is a perfect savior. Look at what he’s done to forgive you, what he’s working in you to make you more like him, and how he will bring you to be with him forever. Hopefully by now you’re feeling like the task of studying Scripture is a bit less daunting. You can do this. You may, however, notice that as you read, you’ll come up with a lot of questions. You should. You need to admit when you don’t understand things. If you think you understand everything, you’re probably forcing meaning on Scripture rather than simply accepting what it says. So it’s good to have questions, to not know everything. In the next few articles, we’ll be examining three different ways of viewing passages and their contexts to seek to answer some of the above questions. In the meantime, as you read and have questions, one good place to go is commentaries. John Calvin’s commentaries, which take up a shelf and a half on my bookshelf, are all free online. And if you simply must have a paper commentary on the whole Bible, check out the 21st Century Version of the New Bible Commentary.
Until next time, jump in that Bible prayerfully, use your head, and look at how great Jesus is in saving you.
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