Learning to Read Scripture
“You keep infusing yourself into the stories of the Bible like you’re the hero. Now this happens all the time. Right, so I want to be straight, I love you enough to be straight. You’re not David.”
This quote is from a sermon by Matt Chandler from 2012. Today, I would say “Amen!” to “You're not David,” but that was not always the case. Infusing myself into the stories of the Bible was all I ever knew. I grew up in a Christian home. I loved Jesus. I loved the Bible, and I thought I knew the Bible pretty well. But when it came down to it, the point was to find myself in the text. Doesn't everyone do this? After all, this is how we can find out how God is going to take care of us in a given situation by putting ourselves in the sandals of David, Abraham, Joseph, etc.
To illustrate how this works, I was going through a long and painful trial several years ago. My daily Bible reading was in the book of Isaiah, so when I came to chapter thirty-seven and the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, I did what I always did. I put myself and my situation into the text. Consequently, I cast myself in the role of Hezekiah, of course, and the people who were causing my trouble were cast as Sennacherib and Rabshakeh, of course. Thus God was telling me to spread out my situation before him like Hezekiah, and he would deliver me just like he delivered Jerusalem.
“Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” Isa. 37: 33-35 (NASB)
I was desperate for deliverance, desperate for one word of comfort, and one word of assurance that God would take care of me. But this comfort in the Word was fleeting. I would read a passage, and think, “Aha. This is how God will come through,” and I would wait and see. But if the circumstances did not go according to what I imagined was promised, my trust was shaken. That is until I found another passage in which to insert myself and wait yet again. This is how I read the Bible for decades as a Christian because no one ever took the time to show me otherwise. That is until I joined my present church.
Our pastor spent a few weeks in Uganda teaching a seminary class on hermeneutics (how to interpret the Bible). Since his lecture notes were all prepared, he taught a version of that class, minus the homework and tests, to the women in the church. There were two classes. One was during the day for the moms with young kids with childcare provided and a second class in the evening for those of us who worked. The class lasted about 12 weeks, and I can honestly say that many of these concepts that Christians may take for granted were completely new to me. Such as:
Authorial intent versus reader response. If God has imparted meaning to the text, I need to know what his meaning is, not “what it means to me.”
Verbal plenary inspiration—the human authors were consciously thinking and writing. Simultaneously and mysteriously, God superintended the process so they wrote the exact words that God wanted them to write.
Understanding the different genres used in scripture and interpreting accordingly. In other words, don't interpret wisdom literature like historical narrative and vice versa.
The context of a verse, the chapter, and the book in relation to the whole of scripture matters (i.e. a verse doesn't stand-alone). For example, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13) isn't a Pauline pep talk before the big game or the final exam. The Apostle is writing to the Philippian church about being content in all circumstances—which in his case was a Roman prison.
The Bible interprets itself and is a unified whole of God's revelation of himself and his plan of redemption— it isn't a collection of separate books with no connection. Shadows and types, such as the Tabernacle and the Day of Atonement, point to their fulfillment in the perfect Lamb of God sacrificed once and for all. Thus a formerly confusing and seemingly repetitious book like Leviticus makes sense in the light of Hebrews.
By the time the class was over, I saw the Bible in a completely new light and engaged it in a completely new way. I learned that it was okay and actually normal to think and use my brain when reading the Word. And most of all, I learned that the Bible wasn't about me but about God Himself. You may think that this offered less comfort than reading myself into the text, but rather I found quite the opposite.
From Genesis to Revelation, I began to trace the promise of Genesis 3:15 to its fulfillment in the coming of Jesus and the final consummation in Revelation. I began to see how God was faithful to preserve the line through which the Messiah would come despite the unfaithfulness of his people. And when the world's stage was perfectly set, in the fullness of time, Christ was born—fully God and fully Man to perfectly carry out the Father's will and complete the work of redemption. If God was able to do all this, then surely he will be faithful to keep and preserve me to the very end (Rom. 8:28-30). My security changed then from trying to put myself into verses to resting in the gospel and the certainty that God has put me in Christ:
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:6 NASB)
As I was writing this, I checked to see how long it has been since we had this class. It's been seven years, and to this day, I still use the concepts that I learned back then, and I still marvel at the storyline of the Bible. But I also get a little teary-eyed as I consider that our pastor would take the time to train us especially when people are still arguing today over whether it is worthwhile for women to learn theology or not and even have the wherewithal to comprehend it. The solution isn't to keep the Bible off-limits and to be told what to believe for fear we will misinterpret it but to learn the principles of handling the Word correctly in the context of a Christian community.
When the class was over Pastor Ryan said that he would consider it a success if the women in the church are a little less intimidated by the Word and more faithful in our interpretation. If this isn't a pastor's heart, I don't know what is.
