A COMPLETE COURSE ON BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION, PART THREE

We’re getting deeper! In the last part of this series, we started an exposition on the Human perspective of Biblical Interpretation.

Therein, we started deriving rules of Biblical interpretation that have to do with the Human perspective. It was indeed an insightful one. (You can stop by to read it here if you missed it).

Having discussed the rules to obey before your Bible study, we will now proceed to the rules you need to obey during your Bible Study in this part.

As we move into more in-depth parts of this series, I urge you to be very focused and alert as you read. Don’t just read these rules, apply them to your Bible study.

As you do this, be ready for a great transformation in your understanding of God’s word. Let’s get in!

Rules to Obey during your study

1. Determine if the Scripture is Prescriptive or descriptive

There are two major forms that most scriptures are written. They are written either in a prescriptive form, or a descriptive form.

The prescriptive form of scripture is a direct recommendation from the scripture on how you should live. This means that you should apply what is written in that scripture to your life in particular.

The descriptive form of scripture is not a direct recommendation but usually, a narrative part of scripture, to show you what took place.

When you find a descriptive portion of scripture, you are not necessarily obliged to apply it in your life because you found it in scripture.

The Bible is filled with the stories of imperfect men that God used to tell a perfect story. The Bible is a book of reality and truth; one that does not shy away from showing you the weaknesses of men used by God all in a bid to paint them as perfect to you.

Due to this, you will find the mistakes, flaws and weaknesses of great heroes of faith in the Bible. These details are recorded in the Bible intentionally because God wants us to learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before us and not replicate them.

There are direct instructions from scripture given to us as believers, while there are portions that do not align with God’s purposes but were recorded as examples for us so we can learn from them (1 Corinthians 10:6).

That you found something in the Bible does not necessarily mean that the Bible endorses it, find out if it is prescriptive or descriptive before you apply it to your life.

That you read in your Bible that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3) does not mean you should jump into doing the same. You have to find out if that is what the Bible recommends about the subject of marriage before you form your belief system on that topic.

One prescriptive standard that the Bible recommends for us is Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). In him, we find the express image of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3). The life of other characters in the Bible was laden with one weakness or the other but Jesus remains our perfect example.

When you want to know the prescriptive stand of the Bible on a particular matter, a good way to find out is to check out the life of Jesus and find out what was his stand on that matter.

2. Draw principles from Instructions

Due to the change of dispensations, between Bible times and our modern-day world, certain instructions from the Bible seem inapplicable to our daily lives.

This is also brought about because of the changes that came with the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament in the Bible.

Some instructions in the Old Testament are not to be practised again because we are now under grace and not the law (Romans 6:14). So, we feel lost when reading these passages.

This happens particularly when many Christians read the books of Moses in the Scriptures.

I’ve heard many people complaining about how boring the book of Leviticus can be. This is because they can’t relate it to their personal lives. I also had this problem personally until I began to understand the big picture of the Bible as a book.

You will get past this “Boring syndrome” when you learn how to look beyond the direct instruction of scripture to see the guiding principle that brought about the scripture in the first instance.

When you find a scripture that seems inapplicable or “boring” to you, it’s understandable because you didn’t live in Israel when the events were happening first-hand.

What to do in those times is to find the principle behind that scripture. The instructions may change but the principle will never change.

When you see the principles that were behind God’s instructions in the Bible, you would be able to relate with the scriptures better and apply them to your life at present.

For instance, circumcision of the male child was a core requirement to walk with God and be accepted as part of the people of God in the Old Testament (Genesis 17:10-14).

This instruction of foreskin circumcision to be accepted in God’s fold is not applicable today.

However, the principle guiding it remains valid to date; the principle of circumcision of the heart. We find in the New Testament that what makes you truly a believer as of now is circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:25-29).

Circumcision of the heart represents purification and purging of the heart to allow God to find expression through us.

All along, God was using the circumcision of the foreskin of a male child as a symbolic representation and emphasis on circumcision of the heart which is even more important in God’s sight.

In fact, the circumcision of the new testament extends beyond male children alone to all of God’s children (male or female). 

Looking at the instruction of Circumcision of the foreskin alone will rob you from finding the principle of the circumcision of the heart which still applies to us as new testament believers.

You can apply this same principle to many other scriptures in the Bible that seem like they are irrelevant today. This law of Bible interpretation is key in helping you understand God’s nature and his true emphasis in the Bible.

3. Use Scripture to Interpret scripture

As you engage in the study of the Bible, there are parts you will understand much more easily, while there are parts that will take you some more time to understand.

This should not make you feel bad. Some parts of the Bible are more technical to understand than others. Peter himself confessed that Paul’s writings are difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16).

If Peter called some parts of scripture more technical, then it means we will all encounter the same issue as we read the Bible. I have had portions of scripture that took me days or even months to understand.

The good thing about this is that when one person breaks into a revelation about a part of Scripture, they can share it with people and others do not have to take long before they access the same level of revelation. That’s why this blog is here for you; to simplify your Bible study journey.

When you study the Bible and you find a difficult portion to understand, what you should do is to check for other passages in the Bible that speak on the same topic.

As you meditate on other verses of scripture, you will find more light on the area of confusion. Using scripture to interpret scripture helps you move gradually from the known to the unknown.

The Bible has all the answers we need to every question. However, it may state it directly or indirectly. As you use scriptures to interpret scriptures, you will find answers to your questions even faster.

There are many materials online too that include works of various Bible Scholars that have researched into technical portions of scripture and found answers to them with evidence from other parts of the Bible.

You can also leverage this knowledge to understand difficult parts of scriptures better.

Conclusion

I am super excited as we progress in this series! Undoubtedly, these rules are time tested principles that will be a blessing to your study of the Bible. Once again, be sure to apply these rules, don’t just read them.

Do you have a question, comment or contribution to this series? Reach out to us in the comment section or through email if you prefer to be more confidential. Send your questions to us at unveilingthescriptures@gmail.com.

While you await the next part of this series, tell someone about this amazing series and ask them to hop in to be blessed!

Remain blessed!