UNDERSTANDING THE WORD (Part II)

UNDERSTANDING THE WORD (Part II)

We begin with the recognition that “all scripture is given by inspiration of GOD.” (II Timothy 3:16) GOD’S WILL IS GOD’S WORD.  It is the divine and final testament of our Creator, disclosing the Mind of God, i.e. His past, present and future plans concerning us.  Accurate interpretation of Scripture always involves “HERMENEUTICS” [hur-muh-NOO-tiks], which may be defined as “the science of interpretation, especially of the Scriptures” (or) “the branch of theology that deals with the principles of Biblical exegesis.” [Dictionary.com]

Today, we commence the presentation of TEN PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS, which enable us to gain greater comprehension of the scriptural record.  It goes without saying that accurate interpretation requires consistent effort and openness to the leading/teaching of the Holy Spirit.

First of all, it is beneficial to define key terms that are useful in understanding biblical hermeneutics.  Let’s briefly examine four terms: INSPIRATION, INTERPRETATION, ILLUMINATION and REVELATION.

INSPIRATION is the operation of the Holy Spirit that imparts accurate and unified truths from the Mind of God through the hand of man.  Since inspiration is not dictation, the Holy Spirit utilizes the unique life experiences, writing styles, vocabularies and cultures of diverse authors to impart divine truth.

INTERPRETATION is the prayerful application of hermeneutic principles by which the reader arrives at an understanding of the Scriptures that is aligned with the God-inspired meaning.

ILLUMINATION is the operation of the Holy Spirit that convinces readers of the reliability of Scripture and leads us into a fuller acceptance of truth.

REVELATION is the operation of the Holy Spirit which unveils and discloses divine truths which cannot be discovered through human intellect, reason or interpretation. 

Now, let’s take a look at two of the TEN PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS.  We should note the fundamental fact that Scripture seeks to interpret itself – whenever the reader is open, dedicated and prayerful.  That is, these hermeneutic principles are embedded in the Word, itself, since various Scriptures skillfully serve to interpret other Scriptures in The Holy Writ.  This is accomplished by “precept upon precept…line upon line.” (Isaiah 28:13)

HERMENEUTIC PRINCIPLE #1: THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION PRINCIPLE 

Since Scriptures emerge from the Mind of God, we must take The Holy Bible at face value, first and foremost.  This is a common-sense approach.  For example, if I were to leave you a written note detailing instructions for a class assignment, your first instinct would be to read (and believe) that I said and meant exactly what was written.  You would observe this simple practice of acceptance before looking for any hidden or symbolic meaning in what I had written.   Therefore, the literal meaning of Scripture must come first and must serve as the foundation for any other interpretation.

In seminary, I was exposed to THE GOLDEN RULE OF INTERPRETATION: ‘When the plain sense of the Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.’  Our first impulse should be to take every word at its primary, literal and usual meaning, unless the facts of the Scripture context (studied alongside related Scripture passages) clearly indicate otherwise.

HERMENEUTIC PRINCIPLE #2:  THE SCRIPTURE INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE PRINCIPLE

As we study The Holy Bible, we may be assured of one simple thing.  Since the Word of God emerges from the MIND OF GOD, who is ALL WISE, He would never make the elementary error of communicating key truths through one scripture alone.  Jesus first said it; Paul later confirmed it: “By two or three witnesses…every word may be established.” (Matthew 18:16 – II Corinthians 13:1) Therefore, all essential Bible doctrines will be clearly explained and confirmed by more than one Scripture. 

This principle is the heart of TOPICAL BIBLE STUDY.  But there are two important rules to observe.  First, THE CONTEXT OF THE TWO (or more) SCRIPTURE VERSES must always be similar.  In other words, we cannot draw a conclusion about OFFERINGS (for instance) based on two Scriptures that reference two totally different situations, even though we are often tempted to extract a phrase from each Scripture that ‘seems’ appropriate to use in a particular situation.  In this instance, we are guilty of QUOTING SCRIPTURE OUT OF CONTEXT, which unfortunately happens quite often in many churches!  The second rule is that the Scripture passage that is the clearest (of the two) must always guide our interpretation of the Scripture passage that is more obscure, and not vice versa, however much we favor one of the Scriptures.  Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow!

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!