How do we master the Bible?
From the course notes for Bull’s Bible School.
The Bible is bread for children and wine for adults, but many believers never mature beyond the bread in their understanding of the Scriptures.
Even worse, much so-called Bible teaching is not actual bread. It is human traditions and opinions rolled in some Bible breadcrumbs and placed on God’s table.
While this misuse of the Scriptures is sometimes a deliberate attempt to give the appearance of divine authority to man’s ideas and philosophies, it is usually caused by a failure to truly understand what the Scriptures are saying.
The solution to this problem is threefold: firstly, we must read the Bible as a book; secondly, we must read it as a revelation to Man, that is, a book from God; and thirdly, we must use the key given to us at its beginning. This final step is one that is unknown even to most biblical scholars.
1 The Bible is a book
The fact that the Bible is the Word of God does not mean that we should treat it as something other than literature. Like all books, the Bible was written for human beings, and so it uses the same literary techniques and devices that are common to all quality literature of all ages. This does not make the Bible “common.” Rather, it makes the sacred text the ideal work of literature, the one to which all our lesser works of literature aspire.
As a result, if we are baffled by what the Bible says, it is usually because we are overlooking one or more of the basic aspects of the text: context, continuity, and recapitulation.
Observing these three characteristics as we read and study takes us from a childlike familiarity with the outward features of the Bible to a profound and prophetic understanding of its inner workings. In other words, we become aware of “what makes it tick.”
Just like getting to know another human being, especially a spouse, we are no longer mystified by its words and actions; rather, we perceive how its external behaviour—everything it says and does—flows from the deep spring of its spiritual core and divine purpose in the world.
Then, instead of giving us only fleeting glimpses “behind the curtain,” the book throws open a window for us into the very mind and heart of God. This does not mean there are no surprises, but it does mean we understand where they are coming from, and why.
a) Context
While it is not true that people only use 10% of their brains, it is true that most Christians only use 10% of their Bibles. The Bible is the most famous book in the world, but like most “classics,” it is very long and looks very complicated. Because it remains strange and opaque to many Christians, the best they feel they can do is extract an isolated verse from here and there, like panning for gold nuggets out of the mud. So if we removed all the parts of the Bible that few people read, it would be a very thin book.
A popular practice is to use an isolated Bible verse to prove something or to provide comfort without first studying the reasons for its existence. The excerpt is treated like a “fortune cookie,” a novelty biscuit served in many Chinese restaurants in Western countries. The cookie is hollow, and it contains a small piece of paper with a (hopefully) wise saying printed on it. The Bible contains many such wise sayings, and the ones in the Book of Proverbs were indeed written to be meditated upon in isolation from their immediate context. But the Proverbs as a whole did have a context. They were to be understood as a development in the history of Israel. The Psalms and Proverbs heralded the era of wise kings who meditated upon the Law of God and responded to God in kind—by writing literature in order to lead their people in God’s ways.
Another isolating practice has been called “red letter Christianity,” referring to Bibles in which the words spoken by Jesus are printed in red. Some Christians treat these words as if they are somehow more true than the words printed in black. But this practice tends to remove Jesus’ words from the situations—both personal and historical—in which they were spoken.
This does not mean that Jesus’ words must be limited to those situations. But we must interpret the words correctly before we attempt to apply them. If we jump to application without proper diligence in interpretation, we might be drawing the wrong conclusions from what Jesus said.
The prime example of this is the application of Jesus’ parables without understanding their legal purpose. They were spoken to the Jews, with particular regard to the Jewish leaders. The reason His parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-13) seems confusing to us, and thus so difficult to apply, is that the target was the religious rulers of Jerusalem who had been abusing their authority and judging their own people without mercy. Once the original purpose of the parable is understood—in its historical and legal context—it is easier to interpret and thus easier to apply.
As with any story, whether fact or fiction, any words that are said, or any events that take place, must be interpreted within their context. When somebody takes a statement or even an entire story out of context, the removal from its location or situation can make it more difficult to interpret, not less. And when it comes to Scripture, isolating texts from their context tends to hinder, rather than help, the reader’s understanding.
This does not mean that Bible verses cannot be understood or quoted in isolation. But in the same way that a word without a sentence has limited power, so also a Bible text without its context is set adrift from the reasons why it was spoken or written. The difference is that an isolated Bible verse or story, unlike an isolated word, does indeed have a context that anchors it to an intended meaning. And once the context is taken into account, the meaning becomes clear.
The Bible was written for us, but it was not written to us. So we must treat all Scripture as if we are reading somebody else’s mail. We do this naturally when we read Paul’s letters to various churches, since they are actual mail, but we fail to observe this important principle when it comes to reading most of the Bible.
This results in another error, which is assuming that every Bible story was given to us to illustrate some moral principle. While every part of the Bible has a necessary moral component, that is not the only reason that many things were preserved for us.
Perhaps the most famous example of this blundering approach is the wrongful condemnation of Jacob for his deception of his father, Isaac. Due to this misunderstanding, even the English translators tell us that Jacob was a “quiet” man when the Hebrew clearly says that he was a “blameless” man.
It is assumed that although the story is part of the larger narrative of the origins of Israel, the main lesson to be learned here is the importance of honesty. Jacob is portrayed as somebody who failed to wait upon God and took it upon himself to fix the situation. But that is not the case at all. God had told Rebekah that Esau, the firstborn, would not rule over Jacob, as would be the case in the natural order of things. So, like the Hebrew midwives who deceived Pharaoh, Jacob was doing God’s work and was blessed as a result.
Fortunately, most other examples of passages where the meaning of the text is overshadowed by an imposed moral are easier to deal with. But in all cases, the key is to allow the text to speak for itself instead of forcing it to support what we think we already know. Being aware of its context will help us to comprehend the author’s wider intentions and prevent us from presenting the texts as mere morality tales.
Finally, sometimes the Scriptures are taken out of context, not by accident, but deliberately. A lack of understanding often results in Bible teachers unwittingly giving the words a meaning that was never intended, but sometimes this is done in order to portray the Lord’s words, or the events of history, in a way that distorts the truth.
The prime example is the way the devil, in Genesis 3, added to what God had said to Adam in Genesis 2. Even though some words were the same, the additions told quite a different story about God from what was actually true. Indeed,
it replaced Adam’s true situation with a scenario that was entirely fictional. It did so by placing the true words of God within a false narrative. This removal of the words from their context enabled the devil to change their meaning or their intention without changing the actual words.
In the same way, the devil repeatedly quoted the Scriptures in his attempts to cause Jesus to betray the Father (Matthew 4:1-11).
If we do not wish to mislead people, either accidentally or deliberately, concerning what God has said to us in His Word, we must make the effort to interpret everything in the Bible in its context to the best of our ability before we attempt to apply it.
b) Continuity
The context of a passage includes both the local or immediate context (what was happening at the time, to whom the text was written, and why) as well as the global or universal context (as part of the long history of mankind).
In other words, we must not only observe whom the texts were delivered to and why, but also the point at which the situation took place within the grand scheme of sacred history. We must take seriously the fact that the Bible is one big story, not just in general terms, but also in the details.
This is of particular importance when it comes to the New Testament. While it is more obvious that the Old Testament prophets were writing with regard to judgments that we know took place in ancient history, many interpreters fail to interpret the New Testament in the context of the imminent destruction of the old order of things. While it is not news to us, the end of the Temple system and its sacrifices would have been unthinkable to a first-century Jew.
Many Christians mostly ignore the Old Testament, especially the prophets, because it all seems too difficult to comprehend. But the problem with that approach is the fact that the context of the New Testament is the Old Testament. It is like the culmination of a long-running saga. Nobody thinks they can understand a book by only reading the final chapter.
As a result, there are many things in the New Testament that are not only misinterpreted, but also misapplied by many teachers and preachers. In less serious cases, the application is correct, but we do not fully understand the text because we have not considered how it would have been received by its original intended audience.
Continuity also includes the use of symbolism, since the meanings of the symbols in the Bible are found in earlier Scriptures. The prime example is the Book of Revelation, which is a mystery that is entirely comprised of clues. Every image in the prophecy is as reference to something in previous texts. This means that, although we still have work to do, God has provided us with everything we need in order to interpret the toughest parts of His Word.
c) Recapitulation
To understand the whole Bible, we must come to terms with the fact that God does not communicate only through propositional truth, that is, plain statements of fact. He also communicates through symbols, parables, songs, proverbs, and even architecture. What this means is that many readers, especially moderns ones, do not have the required “bandwidth” to understand the Bible. We have not been trained to pick up most of the “signal” that is in the text, so we think it is just noise.
The most overlooked facet of the Bible when it comes to interpretation is its use of recapitulation. The Scriptures not only make references to objects, people, and events in its previous texts, but these references include a deliberate repetition of entire sequences. The reprise of patterns in the text, and even in the histories, is a channel of communication of which most readers are totally unaware.
Perhaps the most famous example of the Bible’s use of recapitulation is the literary bracket comprised of the first chapters of Matthew’s Gospel.
Because there are four Gospels, we often wonder why their authors chose to include certain things and omit other things. The answer is that they were always making a theological point. In the case of Matthew, his purpose was to highlight how Jesus had come to fulfill the Law of Moses. So his first chapters recapitulate, that is, repeat the process or sequence, of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses.
The genealogy of Jesus (literally, “The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ…”) Just as Genesis describes the “birth” of Israel, so Matthew explains Jesus’ birthright to the Davidic throne.
In his attempt to kill the Christ, Herod slaughters the infants like Pharaoh did. But in a great irony, Joseph and his family flee to Egypt for safety.
John the Baptist, the son of the Levite priest Zechariah, baptizes Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. It is significant that this occurs when Jesus is thirty years of age, the minimum age required for the qualification of a high priest.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Numbers is called “In the wilderness.” Jesus is tempted in the wilderness as Israel was, but Jesus does not sin.
Jesus delivers the Sermon on the Mount, like Moses delivering the law to a new generation of Israel who will soon inherit all the promises.
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Matthew’s Gospel was written primarily for Jews, so when it was read to its first audience, his purposeful recapitulation of the Pentateuch would have had a profound effect. Unlike us, they would have perceived his implicit, unstated proclamation that Jesus was a better Moses. Moreover, this fulfillment of the Law highlighted the purpose of Jesus’ ministry as the greater Joshua, the one who would finally bring His people into their spiritual inheritance and fulfill all the promises made to Abraham in a much deeper way.
Once this particular recapitulation is pointed out, it seems obvious. But the fact is that the entire Bible is comprised of recapitulations which the reader or hearer is expected to notice and interpret. As intertextual references, these repeated sequences are every bit as important as the use of allusions and symbols to refer to previous events.
When we do not perceive the use of repeated structures, we are missing out on what is often the key to the purpose and interpretation of a difficult passage. But when we do identify them, it is like the dawn suddenly breaking upon our understanding. Instead of panning the text of the Bible to sift out some specks of gold, our eyes can be opened to see that all of it, without exception, is a treasure of gold, silver, and precious stones. Instead of searching for crumbs amongst the stones, or trying to survive on “fortune cookie” Bible verses, the whole book becomes a never-ending feast for the mind, the heart, and the soul.
2 The Bible is a revelation
As we learn to read the Bible with an awareness of the three related aspects of context, continuity, and recapitulation, we come to realise that instead of taking pieces of it and incorporating them into our own thinking, the shape of the text begins to reshape our thinking according to the mind and ways of God.
This process is one of intellectual humbling. It can only occur when we take the step of faith that is an acceptance of the Bible is superior, not inferior or subordinate, to the minds of men. Put bluntly, we will never be able to truly understand the Scriptures if we do not first submit to them.
There is a pride among modern interpreters that results from the assumption that, because the Bible is an ancient text, it was composed by men who are our intellectual inferiors. While that is the case with other ancient writings, it is not the case with the Word of God. Some today claim that the Bible is Man’s written response to God, and is thus helpful but not inerrant. But the truth is that every part of the Bible is indeed a revelation to us of something we needed, and could otherwise not have composed or invented on our own.
So if we wish to master the text, we must first be mastered by the text. And the first step in that process is the willingness to become extremely familiar with all the Bible, regardless of our level of understanding. Once we know the Bible, the Spirit has something to work with. As we continue to read and study, He will bring things to mind, showing us echoes and connections within the text that only make sense to those who have purposefully and faithfully read it.
But we are often unwilling to humble ourselves and read all of the Bible, mostly because much of it is uninteresting to untrained minds, and some of it seems utterly impenetrable.
Instead of doing the hard yards, many Christians attempt to take shortcuts, wasting money on little Christian books that make big promises. But the material in these books rarely connects with what we find in the Scriptures in any profound way. What we get is merely a box of “fortune cookies” rather than anything that will feed us.
We are to read the Scriptures regardless of how limited our comprehension of them might be, but this should not stop us from being inquisitive. There is a humility that questions God, not because of unbelief, but because it trusts Him to provide the answers. We ask Him things because He is our Father.
The complex and mystifying parts of the Bible are often considered to be the deep things of God. This is true, but only partly so. The main difference between the bread and the wine in the study of theology is something that few people consider. The bread is the “what” and the wine is the “why.” This level of understanding set Jesus apart from the other rabbis, and it still sets Him apart from much of Christian theology. If we know what is in the Bible but not why it is in there, our comprehension is lacking. If we can list all the things that God said and did in the Bible, but cannot explain why He did them, then we do not have much insight into those things.
Believers are taught that they must not question God’s Word. Yet the Scriptures record many things that were written for the precise purpose of provoking questions. The enigmatic parables of Jesus seem simple when compared to many of the strange rites and laws in the Books of Moses. And many passages in the prophets continue to confound even the world’s best Bible scholars.
Many of us have grown so accustomed to the Bible that we have forgotten how astonishingly eccentric it is. Our familiarity with the text often means that we fail to ask the right questions, the most important of which is simply “Why?”
This is not the “Why?” that revels in looking for crude curiosities, brutish caprice and blatant contradictions so that these can serve to justify its dismissal. It is the “Why?” that desires to know the mind of God, to get at the cause behind the effects. It is a “Why?” that diligently searches the Scriptures for clues concerning the things that God has veiled from us. It understands that the Author has given us delicious glimpses through that veil of what lies beyond to whet our appetites for more.
It is sad that many faithful Christians are not interested in discovering why the Bible is so strange. They trust in linguistic technicians who most often study without an ounce of the humble, childlike imagination the Bible requires to be understood. They follow teachers who no longer ask “Why is it so?” For them, it is simply so, and must be accepted without question. The oddities are merely tricks of the text, or a reflection of the times of the original audience rather than a reflection of who God is and how He communicates with His people.
If we are not asking “Why?” the Lord cut into Adam, “Why?” Moses’ hand became leprous, “Why?” David heard angels in the tops of the trees, or “Why?” an ax head floated in the Jordan, we are not sitting like children at our Father’s feet.
Instead of desiring to see the logic behind His idiosyncrasies, which are sometimes delightful but most often bizarre, we act like staff members too afraid to question our eccentric boss, yet willing enough to question his character.
We look for wisdom elsewhere, as did Adam, and wind up listening to the slanderers of God. We must be bold enough to question God, as Job did. He stood against his accusers and discovered through faithful perseverance that the answers he sought had been all around him the entire time. God had hidden them in plain sight in the world He created.
Biblical theology is the art of “Why?” By faith it understands that we have a God who hides things because He loves to be found out by those who persevere in faith. And He never opens our eyes without also opening our hearts (see John 16:25-33).
Closed-minded readers skip like tiny pebbles across the face of the Bible’s wondrous literary fathoms. Until we open our minds like children once again, and learn to ask “Why?” we will be unable to progress in our understanding because we are unteachable.
The Bible is a revelation, but it is a gradual revelation. Our spiritual eyes must adjust to the light of God. Our understanding begins at dawn, not at noonday, or we would be blinded.
If we honour God in this priestly labour of reading and questioning, He will honour us with kingly understanding and prophetic wisdom. If we submit to the Word as faithful children, God will grant us a maturity beyond our years.
Paul told the Christians in Corinth that they must be “adults in understanding” (1 Corinthians 2:6-16; 14:20). This describes not only a good comprehension of the Bible, but also an ability to judge beyond the mere appearance of things.
For example, when Isaiah described the people of Judah as destitute and sick, he was speaking about the spiritual condition of those who were enjoying a time of outward prosperity (Isaiah 1). Because they were not rich towards God, they would be given over to physical destitution. The Apostle John makes a similar prophet revelation in a more explicit way in his warning to the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22).
Prophetic wisdom comes to those who have humbled themselves before the Word. Only as we learn to interpret the Bible will we be enabled to interpret what is happening in the world today. If we come to understand why God said and did what He did in the often chaotic episodes of sacred history, we will perceive what He is doing behind the scenes in the trials and tribulations in our own day. This brings a Bible teacher and his people much hope and also much comfort.
3 The Bible has a key
We must work on all of the skills described above if we wish to handle the most powerful tool for interpreting the Scriptures. As mentioned, the church father Origen described the Bible as a house with many doors and many keys. However, the Bible also gives us a “master key,” a special key that opens all the main doors of the house.
Also known as a “skeleton key,” a master key can open multiple locks because it has been reduced to its essential parts. In the same way, the Bible gives us an essential pattern in its first chapter that helps us to unlock every part of the Word.
With this key, we can open the book anywhere and instantly have a handle on what is going on and why. Instead of feeling like we are lost in a town with an unfamiliar language and strange customs, we now feel right at home. We not only know our way around in general terms, but also know all of the short cuts.
This key opens the Bible in a way that makes reading and study a consistent inspiration and delight. It “unveils” the entire Word of God as the deeply practical “power tool” that it is. It increases our faith, improves our spiritual discernment, and advances our Christian maturity.
Once we know how God works in the big picture, we become less vulnerable to confusion, doubt, and fear—and to the subtle, opportunistic false teaching that so often preys on God’s children. This is the real definition of “prophetic wisdom.”
If this “key” really exists, how is it possible? The answer is that the Bible’s apparent complexity is all the result of a single, simple pattern that is common to every part of Scripture. If you learn that one basic formula you will understand the Bible’s internal logic and your comprehension will be raised to a level you could never otherwise achieve.
The pattern of Creation described in Genesis 1 shows us how God does things, and this “parent” sequence appears again and again throughout the Bible in numerous forms. This structure is like the Bible’s DNA. The same sequence is repeated over and over in different ways, but each instance is a variation on the same theme.
Once you are familiar with the basic pattern, you will recognize it everywhere in the Bible. Moreover, you will start to notice it everywhere in the world.
Importantly, this sequence describes a process of development and transformation. It is not only the sequence of the Creation of the cosmos, but also of all its “children.” It is in the cycle of a human day and a human life, and in every heartbeat. It is in the process of sowing and reaping, of building and furnishing a house, of cooking and eating, of sex and gestation, of growing up and raising a family, and even of starting and running a business. It also undergirds the speeches, Laws, and acts of God, and governs the rise and fall of families, nations and empires.
Learning and discerning this pattern is the prophet’s key to all reality. It will open the Word, and the world, for you like never before.
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