The video for this post is available at the URL:
Hello, I’m Pastor
Amos and this is the study: Bible Interpretation?
I've been a
Christian for most of my life and I've always been conditioned to think and say
that our act of interpreting the Bible is the right thing to do. Even while I was in Divinity School, I had
classes and books on biblical interpretation.
This study
explains that our act of interpreting the Bible is actually incorrect. Nevertheless, I want to make clear
that I'm not talking about translating (Nehemiah 8:8) or studying (John
5:39), which are expected of us.
Deuteronomy 30:11a teaches, “For this commandment which I am
commanding you today is not too difficult for you.” This verse tells us that the Bible is written
in such a way that we can all understand it.
All throughout the Scriptures (especially in Proverbs) over
and over again, God is asking us to understand His words. Nowhere does God ask us to interpret His
words.
Understand and interpret are two very different words. To understand means to perceive the meaning of the information.
To interpret means to explain the meaning of the
information. When we don't understand
something, we ask the speaker to explain what he or she said. The only time we seek an explanation from a
third party, is when the original speaker has a problem communicating with us.
Now I'm going to go right out and say it plainly: God is
not a child, nor is He dead, that He would need us to “explain” His words for
Him.
The only
interpreters assigned by God during the Old Testament were those that
interpreted dreams. God did NOT assign
interpreters to His Word.
During the 400
years between the Old and New Testaments, the Jews developed religious
traditions that were not a part of God's Law.
For example: synagogues, Pharisees, Sadducee, the Talmud and experts
in Mosaic Law.
The New Testament
refers to these experts as lawyers because they made the Law their
business. Among other things, these
lawyers claimed to have the ability to interpret God’s Word. But as far as Jesus was concerned, He always
referred to these lawyers in a negative way because the position of being a
lawyer or an expert or an interpreter of the Word is not a position
established by God.
You see, interpreters are manmade. Not everyone is an interpreter. But understanding comes from God and all
healthy minded humans have the ability to understand.
Now according to
Jesus, Salvation is from the Jews. So
that if God did not grant the Jews the privilege of interpreting
the Scriptures, why would He give us the honor?
Interpreting the
Bible is not an option for us Christians.
The only gift of interpretation that has been given to the church is the
one that has to do with speaking in tongues.
2nd
Peter 1:20 is clear, “Above all, you must understand that no
prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of
things.” Therefore, if the men
that had the honor of writing down the words of God were not allowed to put
their own interpretation onto it; what would make any of us think that we have
such authority?
Our interpretation of God’s Word has led to errors that
have resulted in many calamities, divisions, sufferings, slavery, deaths,
crusades and wars.
And our interpretive meddling into God's Word is not just
something that we did in the past.
Today, millions of us misinterpret God's Word.
For example: Malachi 3:10 clearly reads, “that there may
be food in my house.” Now I
know that I know that we all understand the meaning of the word ‘food.’ It is something edible and most of us enjoy
it on a daily basis. You don't need an
education to know what food is. No
interpretation is needed. It’s one of
the first words we learn to say. Yet even
today, millions of us interpret the word ‘food’ in Malachi 3:10 as ‘money.’
Jesus made it clear when He said, “Let the reader
understand.” Matthew 24:15. The reader; not the pastor, nor
the teacher, nor the prophet.
Therefore, the
Bible is a book for us to understand, not interpret. We don’t need to bring it up to date, for God
is the same yesterday, today and forever.
No changes are required to the text, because not the smallest letter nor
the least stroke of a pen shall pass until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:18) No human mediator is needed to take the place
of the reader. You don’t need a pair of
sacred eyeglasses to perceive it.
There’s no need to decode a secret message. You don't need to go out and buy the latest
bestseller on Bible interpretation to understand it.
And even if an angel comes down to us from Heaven and
brings us a new interpretation of the Bible, let that angel be cursed for all
eternity.
Now, what is required of us is to obey God’s simple
instructions...
“Let the reader understand.”
Simple, read and understand. And if I were to add anything to that, I
would say, enjoy.
Thank you for listening.
Until next time, remember, God loves you, not your money.
God bless.
Video Description:
Words have meanings.
When someone doesn't like the meaning of the words, they seek an
interpretation that will be more to their liking. The words in the Bible are our food. In the relationship between a pastor and his
sheep, the pastor leads the sheep to green pastures but the pastor does not put
the food into the sheep's mouth. Sheep
know what food is. They understand and
can identify their food and they know how to eat it. The pastor does not need to explain this to
them. In the same way, Moses did not
gather the manna for the Israelites. Nor
did he stuff it into their mouths. This
simple concept is understood in the words of Jesus, “Let the reader
understand.” When it comes to the
nourishment that lay members get from God's Word, this verse (Matthew 24:15)
removes the interpreters from the equation.
Yes, even if said interpreter is the pastor, because interpreters
sabotage the readers opportunity to do their part, which is to read and
understand.
