Do you understand what you are reading?

"Do you understand what you are reading?"

This is the question Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53. An excellent question and one we ought to ask more often, as many people are in the eunuch’s sandals: “How can I, except some man should guide me?”

That is what I want to be in this post, “some man to guide you.”

The Bible is a big book and one can get lost in it. But God is good and has provided us many helps for understanding it: the Holy Spirit who inspired it, present day teachers and pastors to instruct and guide us, a whole history of teachers, as well as the Rule of Faith handed down by the apostles. But, are there any guides to help us “understand what we are reading?” I believe there are three.

1. Read the Bible as real history. Using the widest lens, the Bible is the story of the creation of the world, the formation of Israel, the coming of the Messiah, the formation of the Church, the restoration of all things when Messiah comes again and brings the kingdom. And the events along the way are portrayed as historical events: creation, the fall, the flood, the tower, Abraham, the exodus, Joshua, Samson, David, Goliath, the virgin birth, the miracles, the resurrection, the book of Acts etc. This way of approaching the Bible (literally, or as real history) is also known as the historical-grammatical method. In other words, "If the plain sense makes good sense seek no other sense.”

Of course there is also poetry, prophecy, parables; metaphors and similes. For example, in Matthew 23:37 Jesus says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! You can understand this literally until you get to the chicken part – Jesus is not saying he is a hen and we are really chickens! This is a simile. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Obviously, we are not literally sheep. This is a metaphor to describe our relationship with God. As you can see, reading the Bible literally or as real history does not deny that there are some non-literal parts in the Bible. Of course there are! A picture is created to make the message more vivid. And it is usually obvious when the imagery is introduced and what it is intended to convey.

2. The Bible is a Jesus book. The entire Bible is about Jesus:
+ The Old Testament points to Jesus in type, analogy, and prophecy.
+ the Gospels present the life, ministry and teaching of Jesus, and the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord
+ the Epistles give the apostolic explanation of the life, ministry, and teaching of Jesus, and what the death and resurrection of Jesus mean for us.
+ the Revelation is the coming again of our Lord and King; this is the climax of all the prophecies and promises of as well as the prayers for the coming of the kingdom.

Jesus brightly shines in the New Testament and casts his shadow all over the Old - that shadow is what is called a type. He is not hard to find and even has personal appearances throughout the Old Testament!

3. Start with the New Testament. We need to be firmly rooted in the gospel and grounded in the teaching of the New Testament. The entire Bible is an organic whole and one testament does not present a different God than the other, but we must approach the Old Testament from the light of the New. There is a very ancient saying, The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed. When you know the Gospel and the New Testament then the Old Testament will enrich what you know and help fill in the blanks.

If you begin in the Old Testament you can easily wind up confused. For example, many people start with the Old and read about the Sabbath and dietary restrictions etc, and not realizing that the Law is fulfilled in Christ, they think that we must observe the Sabbath and the dietary restrictions. (Isn’t it interesting that no one ever wants to build their house following the pattern of the Law or wear prayer tassels?)

Ahhh, do I hear you say, “But I thought the early church only had the Old Testament.” And for a short period of time that was true. But they had the apostles, and the Rule of Faith handed down by the apostles. Well, what was the apostolic tradition that guided the early believers in their reading of the Old Testament? Jesus is the Messiah, the Bible is a Jesus book and, Read the Bible as real history!

Praise the Lord, we are not on our own! Of course, we have the Holy Spirit, but we also have a storehouse of teachers who have labored in the Word. We are a part of the Body of Christ. So read your Bible. Then compare your understanding with others. You will enrich them and they will enrich you. Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you. And when you don’t understand something seek help from others.

So I encourage you, tolle, lege. When Augustine was in deep distress for his soul he heard a child singing, “tolle, lege” – “Take up and read.” So, he did - he read from Romans 13 and was converted. So, tolle, lege, and be blessed and fed and established in the grace of God!