KNOWING THE BIBLE
Read and pray: "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God" (1 Co 10:32)
By the same principle, God promised His chosen people in the Old Testament that they would prosper and expand their territory on the earth. But in the New Testament, the opposite occurs.
If today, quoting words from the Old Testament, you preach to brothers and sisters saying, "Thanks be to God, He promised us that if we fear Him, He will expand our territory and we will all be owners of large portions of land," that would be completely wrong. Such a promise exists in the Bible; however, that promise is not under grace but under the law. In the New Testament, God said that we must give up our lands and sell them to give to the poor. This is exactly the opposite of the Old Testament.
Although all are words of the Bible and inspired by God, we must not take words from the old dispensation and apply them to the current dispensation. Catholics and many Protestants are mistaken in this regard.
Many things in Catholicism come from the Judaism of the Old Testament. Even the priests’ garments and their worship rituals are borrowed from Old Testament principles. Of course, these things are mentioned in the Bible, but they are not for the present dispensation.
When exposing and interpreting the Bible, one cannot say: "Isn’t this a word of the Bible? If it is, we must keep it." We cannot speak in this way. We must differentiate the eras; that is, we must clearly know to which dispensation a certain word belongs. If you are not in a certain dispensation, then the words of that dispensation have nothing to do with you. We will talk more about dispensations later.
When exposing the Bible, we must consider the people to whom a certain word is addressed. Some words are directed to the Jews and are not related to the Gentiles or the church. Some words are said to the Gentiles and have nothing to do with the Jews or the church. Some words are spoken to the church and have nothing to do with the Jews or Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 10:32 says: "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God." In the Bible, there are at least three types of people to whom God addresses His words: Jews, Gentiles, and the church.
In the Old Testament, most of the words were spoken to the Jews. In the New Testament, some words are spoken to the church. Likewise, both in the New and Old Testament, some words are spoken to the Gentiles.
We must differentiate them clearly when reading and discover to whom they are spoken. We must distinguish the various people to whom the words are directed, whether to the Jews, Gentiles, or the church. Only after identifying the person to whom the word is addressed can we make the correct judgment.
For example, some Bible scholars have greatly debated for whom the book of Matthew was written. Many exposers claim that Matthew was written for the Jews and not for the church.
They refer to the Jewish background of the words in Matthew, saying that the Lord Jesus clearly referred to bringing offerings to the altar. For them, this is proof that these words are for the Jews.
The Lord Jesus clearly spoke about the judgment of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a Jewish organization. They also refer to Matthew chapter 24 which mentions the abomination of desolation in the holy place. For them, the holy place unquestionably belongs to the Jews.
The Lord also said that when the great tribulation comes, people should pray that their flight does not occur on the Sabbath. Should the church keep the Sabbath? Since the people to whom this word is addressed keep the Sabbath, are they not Jews?
These scholars show many examples like these to prove that the book of Matthew is directed to the Jews. If this were the case, it would be very serious because the entire book of Matthew would no longer be our inheritance.
After carefully reading the entire book of Matthew, we must admit that the words in Matthew 5 certainly have a Jewish background, but they are not addressed to the Jews; they are addressed to the people of the kingdom of heaven.
The people of the kingdom include not only the saved among the Jews but also the converted among the Gentiles. The people of the kingdom are the church. Because among the people of the kingdom there are those who had previously been in Judaism and had a Jewish background, the Lord Jesus had to use those things related to that background when He gave His sermon on the mount.
There are many discussions about Matthew chapters 24 and 25. If you read carefully, you will discover that a portion was addressed to the Jews, a portion to the church, and a portion to the Gentiles.
In chapter 24, verses 1 to 30 are addressed to the Jews, verses 32 to 30 of chapter 25 are addressed to the church. Verse 31 to the end of that chapter is addressed to the Gentiles. When studying the Bible, before making an interpretation decision, we must first define the person to whom the word is addressed. Only then can we understand and interpret the words accurately.
We know there are many types in the Old Testament. Some of them are simply individuals, such as Isaac, who typified the Lord Jesus as the heir son, and Rebekah, who typified the bride gained by Christ—the church.
Some types are events, such as the Passover of the Israelites, representing our salvation before God when we receive Christ slain as our Savior. Another example is the Exodus from Egypt by the children of Israel, typifying our departure from the world. There are also types that are objects, like the lamb typifying Christ and the bronze serpent, also typifying Christ.
In the Old Testament, many people, events, and objects are types, but it is not up to us to decide whether they are or not. We must find clear evidence in the New Testament. If there is no mention of the object, event, or person in the New Testament, we should not hastily assume it is a type. At most, we can only borrow that object, person, or event as an illustration and use it to explain the truths in the New Testament. To say something is a type means it is much more than an illustration.
Here, we only briefly present and show these ten principles of Bible interpretation. These principles gradually evolved from hundreds or thousands of years of experience in Bible study. They are like the cream of milk and the honey of bees and are very precious.
I hope we can all remember them clearly. All this is for our help and restraint. I hope that from now on all brothers and sisters will apply these principles in their Bible study. If we apply them, we will find new meaning in the Bible and gain a better, more accurate, and complete understanding.
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