HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE

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HowtoUnderstandtheBible

P R E S E N T S

Introduction

T

he Bible is the world’s best-selling book.Year after year millions of copies are soldor given away. Although most ancientbooks have disappeared from memory,the Biblecontinues to be printed more than any other book on earth and is available in more than 2,000 lan-guages. It has helped form the basis for Westernsociety and has shaped much of its religious,eco-nomic and social outlook.Yet,in spite of the Bible’s popularity,it has alsoaptly been described as the world’s most misunder-stood book. Although millions of people are Biblereaders,many ﬁnd it hard to understand. Someeven give up trying,thinking it too confusing.Possibly you have been one of those who havefound the Bible difﬁcult to comprehend. Perhapsyou wish you knew how to better apply its time-less principles,how to use it to build a right rela-tionship with its author,your Creator.How can you become one of those who

do

understand what the Scriptures say?Let’s look to the Bible itself for the answer.There are ways to better grasp what it says tomankind. Throughout its pages are principles that,when applied,can help your comprehension. Wewill examine seven keys that will help open upthis Book of books to your understanding.

Things to Keep in Mind About the Bible

“Today there is not a language in thecivilized world into which this word ofGod has not been rendered” (

The Inter- national Standard Bible Encyclopedia,

Vol. 1, p. 492).“One of the most notable conversionsto the Bible was Sir William Ramsay. Hewas an atheist, and son of atheists. He waswealthy and proudly bore a Doctor of Phi-losophy degree from Oxford University.He gave his whole life to the study ofarchaeology so he could refute the Bible.He finally departed for the Holy Land,with his chief aim to refute the book ofActs. After 25 years of work, he becameso impressed with the accuracy of Luke, itswriter, that he finally concluded it was anexact account even in its smallest details.In his attempt to disprove the Bible, SirWilliam Ramsay discovered hundreds ofhistorical facts which confirmed the Bibli-cal account. Finally, in one of his books, heshook the world of the Bible critics whenhe confessed he had accepted Christian-ity” (D. James Kennedy,

Why I Believe,

1980, p. 28).“It has been my custom for many yearsto read the Bible in its entirety once ayear” (John Quincy Adams).“A thorough knowledge of the Bibleis worth more than a college education”(Theodore Roosevelt).“Belief in the Bible, the fruit of deepmeditation, has served me as the guideof my moral and literary life. I have foundit a capital safely invested, and richly pro-ductive of interest” (Johann Wolfgangvon Goethe).“If we abide by the principles taughtby the Bible, our country will go on pros-pering” (Daniel Webster).“I believe the Bible is the best giftthat God has ever given to man. All thegood from the Savior of the world iscommunicated to us through this Book.I have been driven many times to myknees by the overwhelming convictionthat I had nowhere else to go”(Abraham Lincoln).“The majesty of the Scriptures strikesme with admiration, as the purity of theGospel has its influence on my heart. Pur-sue the works of our philosophers with alltheir pomp of diction, how mean, howcontemptible are they, compared withthe Scriptures” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau).“It is impossible to rightly govern theworld without God and the Bible”(George Washington).“The Bible is the rock on which ourrepublic rests” (Andrew Jackson).“It is impossible to mentally or sociallyenslave a Bible-reading people” (HoraceGreeley).“The foundations of our society andour government rest so much on theteachings of the Bible that it would bedifficult to support them if faith in theseteachings would cease to be practicallyuniversal in our country” (CalvinCoolidge).“We reject with scorn all these learnedand labored myths that Moses was buta legendary figure. We believe that themost scientific view, the most up-to-dateand rationalistic conception, will find itsfullest satisfaction in taking the Biblestory literally” (Winston Churchill).

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The Good News

Expanded Edition

First key:

Ask for God’sGuidancein a Proper Attitude

C

uriously enough,we find that the Bible isnot a book that can be readily understoodby everyone. How,then,can we come tounderstand it?Our first step is to humbly ask God for help.Prayer,coming to God to humbly ask forHis help,is the first vital key to understandingHis Word.God describes the kind of attitude and approachHe respects:“But on this one will I look:on himwho is poor and of a contrite spirit,and who trem-bles at my word”(Isaiah 66:2).God does not play favorites; He is not con-cerned with the color of a person’s skin or hisnationality. He looks on the heart,the attitudeand approach,to determine whether to give under-standing. Peter tells us,“In truth I perceive thatGod shows no partiality. But in every nation who-ever fears Him and works righteousness isaccepted by Him”(Acts 10:34-35).Jesus Christ thanked God the Father for the wayHe chose whom to give spiritual understanding:“I thank You,Father,Lord of heaven and earth,thatYou have

hidden

these things from the wise andprudent and

revealed

them to babes ... No oneknows who the Son is except the Father,and whothe Father is except the Son,and the one to whomthe Son wills to reveal Him”(Luke 10:21-22,emphasis added throughout).God reserves the right to choose those to whomHe will reveal spiritual understanding. Sometimesone whom God so chooses may indeed hold toviews that oppose the truth,as did the apostle Paul.God miraculously called this man who had vigor-ously persecuted the early Christians,then openedhis mind and used him as a powerful tool to reveala wealth of spiritual truth and write much of whatwe know as the New Testament.Notice the importance of God’s involvement inour understanding of the Bible. Christ said to Hisdisciples:“These are the words which I spoke toyou while I was still with you,that all things mustbe fulﬁlled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerningMe. And

He opened their understanding, that theymight comprehend the Scriptures”

(Luke 24:44-45). It was not their intellect that let them grasp themeaning; they had to have divine help.Many overlook this point in studying the Bible.Even though we might possess the world’s bright-est minds,if God does not act to open our minds,the Bible will remain closed to us. The apostlePaul explained:“These things [God’s Word] wealso speak,not in words which man’s wisdomteaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches,com-paring

spiritual

things with spiritual. But the nat-ural man

does not receive

the things of the Spiritof God,for they are foolishness to him; nor can heknow them,because they are

spiritually

dis-cerned”(1 Corinthians 2:13-14).Because God inspired the Bible,it follows that itis not a mere book that takes only a measure of intellectual effort to understand. God reserves theright to grant an understanding of His precioustruths to whomever He will.

How

we read the Bible—our motivation instudying it—is important. If we feel compelledto read it to please others or pore over it only as areligious duty,God likely will not open the Scrip-tures’true meaning to us. His truths will remainhidden. How,then,can we find these truths?As we have seen,the first key to understand-ing Scripture is to ask for God’s help with a rightattitude:“And you will seek Me and find Me,

when you search for me with all your heart”

(Jeremiah 29:13).Why is attitude so important? Paul reveals theanswer:“But God has chosen the foolish thingsof the world to put to shame the wise,and God haschosen the weak things of the world to put toshame the things which are mighty; and the basethings of the world and the things which aredespised God has chosen,and the things which arenot,to bring to nothing the things that are,

that no ﬂesh should glory

in His presence”(1 Corinthians1:27-29). No one will be able to boast that he wasable to rightly understand God’s spiritual truthswith only his native intelligence and his own effort.On the other hand,once a person humbly asksGod for help and is committed to obeying what helearns,he is on the right track. Christ explained thisto His disciples:“Assuredly,I say to you,unlessyou are converted and become as little children,you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.Therefore whoever

humbles

himself as this littlechild is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”(Matthew 18:3-4). No matter how intelligent wemay be,if we don’t humble ourselves and becometeachable as a small child,God will not help usgrasp His Word.God promises that He will faithfully answer ahumble request for understanding from those with

September/October 1997

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