I open my Bible every morning and read the inspired Word. I love books like Ephesians that apply to my life and yield more easily to my understanding. But, right now, I’m reading Genesis where I find passages in which I understand the story, yet recoil in disgust or dismay. In those hard passages knowing what the principle is and how it applies to my life is more difficult. For example, today I read of Abraham’s second lie about his beautiful wife which he explains by implying she was, in fact, his half-sister! Why does God seem to give Abe a pass when he sins? He lies and the other guy gets punished. Then I read the famous story about Abraham’s trip to Mt. Moriah, where God asks him to sacrifice his son. Human sacrifice? That’s just wrong, yet there it is. Of course, at the last minute, as Abe stands with knife raised over his bound son, God makes the wonderful substitution of the ram caught in the bushes. Isaac was saved and Abraham calls the Lord, “Yahweh Yireh,” The LORD, my provider! That part, at least, is encouraging. (Please don’t send me long ‘explanations’ about inspiration, cultural context, etc. Thanks.)
My point today is that understanding the Bible as the Word of God requires more than the ability to read words. The Scripture only yields wisdom when we read it with the help of the Holy Spirit. If we read it just as literature or history, but fail to have the Spirit’s wisdom, do not consider the counsel of others who have studied, or fail to keep our mind open to the ‘mystery’ involved with discerning His purposes; we will surely miss the point. We will reach conclusions that are just plain wrong or we may decide to ignore passages that are admittedly hard to understand. Paul taught Timothy, and by extension, teaches us that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV) That’s does not mean that all passages are easily accessible!
Making the Bible into something God never intended, a book of formulas for life, will lead to terrible results. The Bible is God’s story! It is a record spanning 1600 years in which the Lord of glory reveals Himself through the humanity of those who loved and followed Him. Sometimes they did it well. Sometimes, just like us, they made a real mess of things! Honestly, Genesis without Revelation, Deuteronomy with Hebrews, Joshua without John, would be dismal. We need to be diligent students of the whole Bible so that we will ‘correctly handle the word of truth.’ (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV)
It’s quite all right to reverently say, “I just don’t get that.” Some passages need time to settle into our understanding. Others make much more sense when our own journey takes us into a place where the Spirit brings a formerly incomprehensible chapter to mind and we say, “Ah, that’s just for me now.” Disciple, you and I will encounter parts of the Bible that baffle us, challenge us, or even resist our understanding. Never the less, we must keep reading! Remember that "the holy Scriptures …are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:15, NIV)
In an excellent book, Reason for God, (Riverhead Press, 2008) Timothy Keller writes, “If you don’t trust the Bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you. … Now, what happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God who can contradict you? You won’t! You’ll have a God essentially of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction. Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle, will you know that you have taken hold a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So, an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition for it.”
" Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105, NIV)
"The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119:130, NIV)
No comments:
Post a Comment