Tips to Understand The Bible (Part 1)

See Part 2 here

 

I grew up among faithful saints whose education was limited, but whose love for The Lord was real. They passed on what light they had, and I will always honor them for it. Yet I have since discovered that much of what they taught was lifted out of context — single verses detached from their chapters, concepts colored by their socio-economic struggles, and moments divorced from the long sweep of The Lord’s strategy.

 

Sadly, many teachers today may be doing the same or similar things. They may read The Bible with a relatively narrow, religious mindset, for example:

—Quoting excerpts without tracing the flow (e.g., clinging to the ‘only one rapture’ notion);

—Clinging to traditions without asking challenging questions (e.g., what, not who, does The Bible actually reveal will be the bride of Christ).

—Settling for Sunday School-type answers, instead of seeking and deriving strategic insights from across the entire Bible (e.g., regarding the errant ‘once saved, always saved’, and the next rapture as the end of the world notions); and

—Failing to recognize The Lord’s many types and timings of people and events (e.g., Paul as a ‘New Testament Moses-type’, with much in common; and history's repetitive age-ending sequence).

 

This kind of religiosity blinds us to what’s really going on, and most importantly, what’s coming up! It tends to reduce much of The Word of God from a living, prophetic map of His dealings across the ages, to a collection of comforting slogans!

Brothers and Sisters, we can do better by reading and seeking to understand Scripture by:

 

1. Perceiving clues about the socio-cultural contexts that evolved across the ancient world, and those that are evolving in our day. At their cores, they’re not that different.

2. Perceiving the contrasting physical and spiritual ‘under currents’ hinted or signified in the passages. It helps to put a name on them. *

3. Perceiving and correlating diverse patterns that repeat, until The Lord inserts a shocking reversal event to capture folks’ attention. They often reveal His long-term Grace, followed by intense judgments, or vice versa! 

4. Perceiving The Lord’s Hand slowly unveiling His plan for humanity across the long arc of history. It helps to develop a general perception of the Biblical ages of human history!

5. Always keeping in mind His declared destination for everyone to whom He will have given spirit and breath. Revelation 20:15-to-Revelation 22 are clearly the most succinct declaration of His and our destination! Reading, re-reading, meditating on, and imagining these chapters regularly, will sharpen and deepen our understanding of our destination, and heighten our ability to see how every aspect of life brings us one step closer to achieving The Lord’s plan.

 

We can do this!

Let’s get to it…

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* Under current—Either a current (e.g., of water or air) flowing beneath a surface, or figuratively, a hidden tendency, opinion, or emotion that exists beneath the surface of what is obvious or expressed. It describes something that influences thoughts or feelings, but is not directly stated or easily apparent. From a Biblical perspective, they often are spirits, both righteous and evil. Naming them as ‘the spirit of X or Y’ helps to clarify complex passages.