Christianity 102 Class 3 Lecture Notes on Interpreting the Bible

Christianity 102 Class 3 Lecture Notes on Interpreting the Bible Gregory Chao Feb 21, 2010 Frances Jane "Fanny" Crosby (1820-1915) was an American hymn writer and poetess, who wrote over 8,000 hymns during her life. One time a preacher sympathetically remarked, "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you." She replied quickly, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?" "Why?" asked the surprised clergyman. "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!" http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpcrosby.html To God be the glory, great things He has done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He has done. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Great things He has taught us, great things He has done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. 1

How to Read the Bible 1. Salvation History Time Themes God is constantly initiating to help humankind because of his http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/charts/chronological%20bible%20books.htm 2

Why does the Psalmist love the Bible so much (Ps. 19)? 1. the soul (v. 7); giving to the heart (v. 8) The Word contains speaks of God s love and mercy for us. God cares for you. 2. Making the simple (v.7) The Word helps one to live smartly 3. God s threefold revelation to us in Ps. 19 - Nature, Word, Personal a. What if our only revelation is through Nature? b. What if our only revelation is personal c. The Word provides and 4. Conclusion The Bible is meant to be a practical book used to help us in life. How do we read the Bible for practical purposes? 1. Get your own Bible; mark it up; bring it to church/work/etc. 2. Read it like a book Cover to cover 3. Read it Chronologically 4. Read it using a reading plan See sample in Appendix 5. Read the Bible expecting God to speak to you personally a. Learn about God s character b. Put yourself in the shoes of the characters in the story c. Apply the teaching 3

Bible Reading Plan - http://www.intothyword.org/ Week 1, (1/1-1/7) Genesis 1:1-18:19, Matthew 1:1-6:24, Psalms 1:1-7:17, Proverbs 1:1-2:5 Week 2, (1/8-1/14) Genesis 18:20-31:16, Matthew 6:25-10:26, Psalms 8:1-12:8, Proverbs 2:6-3:15 Week 3, (1/15-1/21) Genesis 31:17-43:34, Matthew 10:27-14:13, Psalms 13:1-18:34, Proverbs 3:16-4:10 Week 4, (1/22-1/28) Genesis 44:1-Exodus 7:25, Matthew 14:14-19:12, Psalms 18:35-23:6, Proverbs 4:11-5:23 Week 5, (1/29-2/4) Exodus 8:1-21:21, Matthew 19:13-23:39, Psalms 24:1-28:9, Proverbs 6:1-7:5 Week 6, (2/5-2/11) Exodus 21:22-33:23, Matthew 24:1-27:14, Psalms 29:1-33:12, Proverbs 7:6-8:36 Week 7, (2/12-2/18) Exodus 34:1-Leviticus 7:27, Matthew 27:15-Mark 3:30, Psalms 33:13-37:11, Proverbs 9:1-10:4 Week 8, (2/19-2/25) Leviticus 7:28-18:30, Mark 3:31-8:10, Psalms 37:12-41:13, Proverbs 10:5-16 Week 9, (2/26-3/4) Leviticus 19:1-Numbers 3:51, Mark 8:11-12:17, Psalms 42:1-47:9, Proverbs 10:17-25 Week 10, (3/5-3/11) Numbers 4:1-16:40, Mark 12:18-15:47, Psalms 48:1-54:7, Proverbs 10:26-11:6 Week 11, (3/12-3/18) Numbers 16:41-28:15, Mark 16:1-Luke 3:22, Psalms 55:1-61:8, Proverbs 11:7-17 Week 12, (3/19-3/25) Numbers 28:16-Deuteronomy 4:49, Luke 3:23-7:10, Psalms 62:1-68:18, Proverbs 11:18-28 Week 13, (3/26-4/1) Deuteronomy 5:1-20:20, Luke 7:11-9:50, Psalms 68:19-73:28, Proverbs 11:29-12:10 Week 14, (4/2-4/8) Deuteronomy 21:1-32:52, Luke 9:51-12:59, Psalms 74:1-78:64, Proverbs 12:11-24 Week 15, (4/9-4/15) Deuteronomy 33:1-Joshua 12:24, Luke 13:1-17:37, Psalms 78:65-84:12, Proverbs 12:25-13:6 Week 16, (4/16-4/22) Joshua 13:1-24:33, Luke 18:1-21:28, Psalms 85:1-89:52, Proverbs 13:7-23 Week 17, (4/23-4/29) Judges 1:1-10:18, Luke 21:29-24:53, Psalms 90:1-100:5, Proverbs 13:24-14:12 Week 18, (4/30-5/6) Judges 11:1-Ruth 4:22, John 1:1-4:54, Psalms 101:1-105:36, Proverbs 14:13-27 Week 19, (5/7-5/13) I Samuel 1:1-14:52, John 5:1-7:53, Psalms 105:37-109:31, Proverbs 14:28-15:7 Week 20, (5/14-5/20) I Samuel 15:1-28:25, John 8:1-11:54, Psalms 110:1-117:2, Proverbs 15:8-23 Week 21, (5/21-5/27) I Samuel 29:1-II Samuel 12:31, John 11:55-16:33, Psalms 118:1-119:80, Proverbs 15:24-16:5 Week 22, (5/28-6/3) II Samuel 13:1-22:20, John 17:1-Acts 1:26, Psalms 119:81-121:8, Proverbs 16:6-18 Week 23, (6/4-6/10) II Samuel 22:21-I Kings 7:51, Acts 2:1-7:50, Psalms 122:1-128:6, Proverbs 16:9-33 Week 24, (6/11-6/17) I Kings 8:1-18:46, Acts 7:51-11:30, Psalms 129:1-135:21, Proverbs 17:1-13 Week 25, (6/18-6/24) I Kings 19:1-II Kings 7:20, Acts 12:1-16:15, Psalms 136:1-142:7, Proverbs 17:14-25 Week 26, (6/25-7/1) II Kings 8:1-19:37, Acts 16:16-21:16, Psalms 143:1-149:9, Proverbs 17:26-18:8 Week 27, (7/2-7/8) II Kings 20:1-I Chronicles 6:81, Acts 21:17-26:32, Psalms 150:1-6, Psalms 1:1-6:10, Proverbs 18:9-21 Week 28, (7/9-7/15) I Chronicles 7:1-21:30, Acts 27:1-Romans 3:8, Psalms 7:1-11:7, Proverbs 18:22-19:12 Week 29, (7/16-7/22) I Chronicles 22:1-II Chronicles 8:10, Romans 3:9-8:8, Psalms 12:1-18:15, Proverbs 19:13-25 Week 30, (7/23-7/29) II Chronicles 8:11-25:28, Romans 8:9-12:21, Psalms 18:16-22:31, Proverbs 19:26-20:10 Week 31, (7/30-8/5) II Chronicles 26:1-Ezral 2:70, Romans 13:1-I Corinthians 2:5, Psalms 23:1-27:14, Proverbs 20:11-23 Week 32, (8/6-8/12) Ezra 3:1-Nehemiah 5:13, I Corinthians 2:6-7:40, Psalms 28:1-32:11, Proverbs 20:24-21:7 Week 33, (8/13-8/19) Nehemiah 5:14-Esther 7:10, I Corinthians 8:1-12:26, Psalms 33:1-36:12, Proverbs 21:8-22 Week 34, (8/20-8/26) Esther 8:1-Job 22:30, I Corinthians 12:27-II Corinthians 1:11, Psalms 37:1-40:17, Proverbs 21:23-22:4 Week 35, (8/27-9/2) Job 23:1-Ecclesiastes 3:22, II Corinthians 1:12-6:13, Psalms 41:1-46:11, Proverbs 22:5-15 Week 36, (9/3-9/9) Ecclesiastes 4:1-Isaiah 5:30, II Corinthians 6:14-11:15, Psalms 47:1-53:6, Proverbs 22:16-29 Week 37, (9/10-9/16) Isaiah 6:1-24:23, II Corinthians 11:16-Galatians 3:9, Psalms 54:1-60:12, Proverbs 23:1-16 Week 38, (9/17-9/23) Isaiah 25:1-43:13, Galatians 3:10-Ephesians 2:22, Psalms 61:1-67:7, Proverbs 23:17-35 Week 39, (9/24-9/30) Isaiah 43:14-62:5, Ephesians 3:1-Philippians 2:18, Psalms 68:1-72:20, Proverbs 24:1-12 Week 40, (10/1-10/7) Isaiah 62:6-Jeremiah 9:26, Philippians 2:19-Colossians 3:17, Psalms 73:1-78:55, Proverbs 24:13-27 Week 41, (10/8-10/14) Jeremiah 10:1-25:38, Colossians 3:18-II Thessalonians 2:17, Psalms 78:56-84:12, Proverbs 24:28-25:15 Week 42, (10/15-10/21) Jeremiah 26:1-38:28, II Thessalonians 3:1-I Timothy 6:21, Psalms 85:1-89:52, Proverbs 25:16-28 Week 43, (10/22-10/28) Jeremiah 39:1-52:34, II Timothy 1:1-Titus 3:15, Psalms 90:1-100:5, Proverbs 26:1-19 Week 44, (10/29-11/4) Lamentations 1:1-Ezekiel 11:25, Philemon 1-Hebrews 6:20, Psalms 101:1-105:36, Proverbs 26:20-27:2 Week 45, (11/5-11/11) Ezekiel 12:1-23:49, Hebrews 7:1-10:39, Psalms 105:37-109:31, Proverbs 27:3-13 Week 46, (11/12-11/18) Ezekiel 24:1-38:23, Hebrews 11:1-James 2:17, Psalms 110:1-117:2, Proverbs 27:14-28:1 Week 47, (11/19-11/25) Ezekiel 39:1-Daniel 2:23, James 2:18-I Peter 4:6, Psalms 118:1-119:80, Proverbs 28:2-14 Week 48, (11/26-12/2) Daniel 2:24-11:1, I Peter 4:7-I John 3:6, Psalms 119:81-121:8, Proverbs 28:15-28 Week 49, (12/3-12/9) Daniel 11:2-Joel 3:21, I John 3:7-Revelation 1:20, Psalms 122:1-128:6, Proverbs 29:1-18 Week 50, (12/10-12/16) Amos 1:1-Micah 7:20, Revelation 2:1-7:17, Psalms 129:1-135:21, Proverbs 29:19-30:6 Week 51, (12/17-12/23) Nahum 1:1-Zechariah 5:11, Revelation 8:1-14:20, Psalms 136:1-142:7, Proverbs 30:7-23 Week 52, (12/24-12/31)Zechariah 6:1-Malachi 4:6, Revelation 15:1-22:21, Psalms 143:1-150:6, Proverbs 30:24-31:31 4

Excerpt from The Fight by John White on Guidance, p.150-160 Counsel, Circumstances and Fleeces You will notice that so far I have given you no simple formula for being guided. Neither our wishes nor our gifts are conclusive, infallible criteria. Nor are counsel, circumstances or fleeces. Fleeces. Let me dispose of the least important first. Gideon, a young Israelite, had a vision calling him to deliver Israel. After praying about the matter, he used a "fleece of wool" as a means of confirming God's will (Judges 6:36-40). Gideon's fleece has become the basis of a practice among some Christians which is called "putting out a fleece." in essence, when you put out a fleece you say to God, "If you really want me to carry out plan A, then please make the telephone ring at 9:10 p.m., then I will know that plan A is what you want." (You can make the "fleece" anything you wish, just so long as it can serve as a "sign" to you.) I feel not only that it is inappropriate for Christians to behave like a semi-pagan (Gideon s home was a center of idolatry [Judges 6:25-26]), but that it is also inappropriate for them to design crude experiments in which God is part of the experiment. I'm sure Christians don't realize what they are doing, but this is indeed what it boils down to. Please God, jump into my box and perform. lf the Word of God is not enough for you, fleeces will also leave you in doubt. You are looking in the wrong direction for guidance, and you will be left floundering. Forget about fleeces. If you've never used them, don't start. If you have, then quit. Counsel. In seeking counsel from someone older and wiser, you are on more solid ground. When you look for counsel, however, there are certain ground rules. First, don't choose someone because you know they will tell you what you want to hear. Choose someone who seems wise enough and mature enough to be able to point out some aspect of your problem that you may not have taken into account. Second, don't go with the idea of letting your mentor make the decision for you. You want a firsthand relationship with God. The decision must be yours. Don't even allow yourself to worry about the approval of the person you talk to. You are going to have to answer to God, not to your counselor. The value of counsel lies in the additional data available to you as well as the different perspective. It would be so comforting if the counselor could tell you what to do, but you may have to go against his or her advice. This doesn't mean that you will have wasted your time, for it is never a waste of time to think through all aspects of a problem carefully Nevertheless the responsibility before God rests with you. If others could make your decision for you, you could blame them if things went wrong. Seek counsel by all means, but let the responsibility of deciding on the will of God be yours. Circumstances. Circumstances may or may not be a guide as to what you should do. If you have an umbrella and it starts to rain, you will not need special guidance to use it. If the house is cold, turn up the thermostat. But circumstances alone can never guide the Christian. A Page 1

door may be locked and marked "Keep Out," but these circumstances are not enough. If someone were lying injured on the other side of the door, you would be justified in breaking it down to help the person inside. When we speak of circumstances, we are talking only about those circumstances we perceive. There may be other circumstances unknown to us that would alter the whole picture. When Jesus made his last journey to Jerusalem, his disciples protested that the circumstances pointed against his going. He would face extreme danger. But Jesus took into account other circumstances that the disciples could not even contemplate. He went knowing that he would be crucified and that his death would provide a ransom for sinners. What it boils down to is that it would be far easier for us to know what to do if we knew all the circumstances. But since we never do, we will in practice make some sound decisions in spite of known circumstances and others because of them. You might conclude that circumstances are of no help to you in deciding the will of God, but you are wrong. It is always good to look at them squarely if for no other reason than to count the cost of your decision. But circumstances can never be the sole criterion. Circumstances should be given less weight than morality. The Voice of the Shepherd Sooner or later you will meet Christians who say, "I felt led to do such and such." Or "My friends criticize me for what I am doing, but I have real peace about it." sometimes you will be favorably impressed, and at other times you may wonder whether the person speaking is making God an excuse for doing exactly what he or she wanted. At any rate you will have stumbled across the thorny problem of subjectivism. The leading of the Spirit, inner peace, a sense of reassurance: all have to do with subjective feelings. How do I interpret my feelings? If I feel a strong urge to telephone a friend, how can I know whether the urge comes from God or from my muddled psyche? Some Christians warn us against paying heed to our feelings. They prefer to go by objective criteria, the plain teaching of God's Word, circumstances and others. They have been driven to this position because of their disillusionment with the way other Christians abuse subjective elements in guidance. I remember once being confronted by a group of earnest Christians who described to me a course of action they "felt led" to take. I felt that the action was unscriptural and morally wrong. "But you don't seem to realize, John," came the answer, "that we spent a whole weekend fasting and praying about it. We know God is leading us." The implication was plain enough: two days of fasting and prayer guaranteed that they were right. If my interpretation of Scripture made their actions seem wrong, who was I to differ with God's leading? Unfortunately it is not so simple as my friends thought. It is just as possible to "psych" myself into believing something I want to during two days of fasting and prayer as it is to do so in an hour. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." Once again we are facing the problem of dominance of our conscious and unconscious wishes. Page 2

lf you have an inner urge to do something that contradicts Scripture, you may be sure that the urge is not from God. Yet Christian experience must not be reduced to following a set of written instructions. Scripture emphasizes the presence of a Guide rather than techniques for being guided. "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." We are meant to enjoy the subjective experiences of comfort, reassurance and fellowship with God. The fact that some Christians allow themselves to be deceived, confusing the voice of their own desires with the voice of the Shepherd, must not make us retreat from the assertion that God has promised guidance as well as the experience of fellowship with him while he is guiding us. Yet if other Christians can be fooled, what is to prevent me from being fooled? When Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice," we correctly interpret him to say, "My sheep can distinguish my voice." But that is not all he was saying. The word used implies "My sheep pay heed to my voice." The sheep is not concerned about losing the way The shepherd knows the right way and will make sure the sheep is taken care of. What does concern the sheep is that the commands are obeyed. If I but concern myself with hearing the voice of the Shepherd, paying heed to Christ, obeying him, doing his will, I shall find that the problem of distinguishing his voice will begin to take care of itself. So will the problem of losing my way in life. And is not this the fear that paralyzes us, the fear of missing our way so that we cannot take a step lest we be deceived? "l dare not move," you cry "My heart is so deceitful. It is so possible for me to fool myself. It is better for me to take no step at all than to take a wrong step." At this point you may make your most serious blunder. You can't follow Christ if you stand still. It is often better to make a mistake than not to move at all. At the back of your mind you may feel that following Christ is like walking a tightrope. One false move and you're done for. Yet if the sheep strays a little, the shepherd will not abandon him or her. He will call the sheep, and if the sheep fails to respond to the call, he will fetch him or her. Guidance is not walking a tightrope. I don't encourage you to stray or to take a wrong path in life or to presume on the goodness of the Shepherd. But I do encourage you not to feel condemned to a second-rate life if you miss the way at some point. God is not primarily concerned with whether you wind up in Brooklyn or Bangkok so much as with your relationship with himself. Learning to be guided is in any case like learning to sail. Recently I bought a Laser, a fast but rather tippy little sailboat. The winds where I sail veer frequently and are gusty I found the Laser much more of a challenge than the more stable boats I had previously sailed. In learning to handle the boat I would capsize as many as ten times in one afternoon. But gradually I got the feel of the boat and it fairly hummed as it skimmed over the waves. Being guided is like learning to sail. At first staying upright is more important than reaching your final destination. If you find yourself floundering under water beneath an Page 3

upturned boat, it is all part of the fun, however alarming it may seem the first few times. Then little by little as you learn how to make the boat respond to different winds, you can take a more intelligent interest in your destination. In the same way, Gods object is to teach you how to be guided. You will capsize from time to time but no matter. Capsizing is part of learning. Prerequisites for Guidance There is no simple formula for getting Gods guidance. Since you never know all the circumstances, you may sometimes have to ignore those you do know. Your gifts usually, but not necessarily, have a bearing on your vocation. It is wise to seek advice, but sometimes you wiil have to go against it. Your inward desires may or may not point you in the direction God would have you go. Subjective sensations may represent the Spirit leading or your own self-will. Only moral laws serve as unchanging guides to conduct. How then can you be guided? It seems to me that what you need is not a formula but an attitude, an attitude with three related components: 1. You must share Gods outlook. 2. You must will God s will. 3. You must trust God. By sharing God's outlook I mean that you must adopt God s priorities. In doing so you will become more concerned about making an upright decision rather than a right decision; you will be more concerned about righteousness than about geography and about sanctity more than salary. Obviously you will be better equipped to discern God s will the more you know about Scripture. Yet knowledge of Scripture in itself will not help you. What you need is an attitude that so values the truth of Scripture that your chief aim will be to put its truth into practice. So study Scripture. Memorize it. Meditate on it. But do all this with the aim of finding how to live a life that pleases God. In this way your mind will be predisposed to understand the will of God more easily in a specific circumstance. In a sense you will already have begun to will God s will. By willing God's will I mean choosing it deliberately by an act of your own will. It is a decision to accept Gods will even though it may conflict with your personal longing. Insofar as you may not know the specific content of God s will, you are making a blind choice. Yet insofar as you know God himself, your choice is not blind. You know the character and the competence of the person whose will you choose. The choice may be between what you want and what God wants. On the one hand the two "wants" may coincide. But on the other they may not. In the case of a conflict of interests you are electing God's way in preference to your own. There is nothing particularly virtuous about making such a decision. Since God loves you and is all-knowing, it makes sense to prefer his plan to your own. Nevertheless the decision to Page 4

will his will my hurt, in part, because it means adopting his values and priorities that you do not automatically share. The third component which contributes to an attitude conducive to guidance has to do with faith. In order to understand what I mean by trusting God,we will have to look first at the reasons why doubts and misgivings arise about his guidance. It seems to me there are two basically different kinds of doubt. First, you may doubt that Gods will really is better than your own. Your own is something you understand and you feel safe with. Second, you may question your own capacity to interpret guidance. It sounds ridiculous to say that you would doubt that God's will is better. Though in theory we never question it, in practice we often do. It is one thing to believe that water can support your body. It is quite another (if you are a non-swimmer) to abandon yourself to the weird sensation of sink-float disorientation you experience in the water. In practice we do as the non-swimmer does. We retreat rapidly to something we have trusted in the past (putting feet on the bottom, grabbing the side rail, hanging on to someone). Mentally we freeze, blocking out of our minds any other possibility than the familiar one. Common sense flies away in the face of anxiety. Our fears about the will of God make us freeze in the same way. We cling to the side rails rather than risk the unknown. It is one thing to believe in the intellectual proposition of a loving, omnipotent God. It is quite another to entrust our destinies to him. We grow anxious and fearful as we become aware of how much hangs in the balance. We close our minds to what God would say, understanding only what we have already experienced. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Prov. 3:5-6) Therefore when you seek guidance, search your heart for anxiety What makes you so concerned to get the right" guidance? lf you have a personal preference for one particular way, does your preference indicate a fear of trusting God? If so, face your fear. Drag it into his presence and tell him you will trust him whatever he calls you to do. The second kind of fear is more perplexing. How can you be sure that you are being led by God and not misled by your own desires? Who can understand his or her own heart? You can cope with losing money, being in danger and risk to your family. You will face all of these things and more just so long as you can be sure that God is leading you. It is this-the assurance of a true relationship with God in a specific decision-that you crave. If you can be sure of this, you will make any decision, however much others might misunderstand or criticize you, or whatever hardships you might be called on to face. But how can you be sure? Page 5

Only by faith. Only by faith can you know that God is more concerned to guide you than you are to be guided, that by your mistakes he will teach you to go in the right direction as well as how to distinguish his voice. Only by faith can you have any assurance about anything. If you are trusting him for your eternal destiny already, is it such a big matter to trust him for guidance now? You say, "l don't trust myself" Precisely You are not called on to trust yourself but to trust in the Lord. You have neither the discernment nor the purity of motive to merit guidance. But guidance is given, not earned. You will never merit it. Therefore you must trust God to give it to you. You must trust his generosity, his ability to get through to you, his power to pull you up short when you go wrong, his ability to teach you the sound of his voice. Take courage, then, when you have a tough decision to make. Someone who cares deeply for you already knows what he wants you to do. He takes delight in having fellowship with you and wants the very circumstances you face to draw you closer to him. For him, the thing you call guidance is nor a perplexing problem but a means whereby he may draw closer to you. It would make good sense for you to adopt the same perspective. Page 6