Prague, Czech Republic
October 1998
A proper and accurate understanding of the Bible is so
important that our very salvation hinges on it. Whether we walk in Truth will
hinge on our grasp of the Truth. Paul told Timothy: “Take heed unto yourself,
and unto the doctrine [proper teachings]; continue in them: for in doing this
you shall save both yourself, and them that hear you,” 1Timothy 4:16.
For a variety of reasons some passages create
difficulty. Doctrinal problems result if care isn’t taken to rightly
divide the Word.
Some Bible students approach the Word in a piecemeal
way, yanking verses or parts of verses out of context with damaging and even
dangerous results. The story is told of a man who did this very thing while
looking for an answer to a dilemma in his life.
Not knowing where or even how to look, he closed his
eyes, flipped through his Bible’s pages, and happened to drop his finger down
on Matthew 27:5: “Judas went and hanged himself.”
That wasn’t much help so he tried again, this time
stopping on Luke 10:37, where Yahshua said, “Go and do likewise.”
He’d try one more time, his finger landing on John
13:27, “That thou doest, do quickly.”
Basic Principle
The Word is given for proper doctrine, correction, and
instruction in righteous living, 2Timothy 3:16. Paul also told Timothy, “Study
to show yourself approved unto Elohim, a workman that needs not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the Word of truth,” 2Timothy 2:15.
So how can we study Yahweh’s Word and know that we are
properly understanding it? Five principles of Bible study will help guide us in
getting the truth from each verse, while solving most problems presented by the
more difficult passages.
Principle One: Take it at Face Value
The first principle of proper Bible understanding is to
take the passage just as it reads. Look first for the literal meaning. A
symbolic or deeper sense of the passage will often be evident, especially in
combination with other related verses.
When Yahweh commands, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy,” Exodus 20:8, and then explains that we are to work six days and rest
the seventh, He means to keep the Sabbath literally by resting from work. He
does not mean to remember it by just thinking about the Sabbath or its
significance while continuing to labor on the seventh day. The passage would be
better rendered, “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,”
which is how a few versions render it. This shows that the command is not
intended for just a spiritual application, as some teach, but for literal
ceasing from labor, a fact made obvious by consulting other translations.
Principle Two:
Read the Passage in Context
When faced with a difficult verse, read all the verses
surrounding it. Read what comes immediately before and after the passage. Read
the entire chapter, if necessary. Often this will reveal the true meaning.
As obvious as this principle is, even many “experts”
fail to apply it and end up twisting a passage or missing its meaning entirely.
An example of this is Romans 14:5, which has been used to support Sunday
worship. “One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day
alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”
By reading the entire chapter we can plainly see that
Paul is addressing the practices of fasting and vegetarianism, and is not
discussing the day of rest.
Principle
three: Let Scripture Explain Itself
The biggest mistake of popular worship is a failure to
harmonize the Scriptures, a violation that has led to a myriad of contradictory
teachings. A verse will never disagree with any other passage in the Word.
In John 10:35 Yahshua said the Scriptures cannot be
broken (“broken” is the Greek luo, meaning to loosen or dissolve). Paul
in 2Timothy 3:16 tells us that ALL Scripture is inspired, meaning it is “Yahweh
breathed.” And Yahweh never contradicts Himself, Hebrews 6:18.
We can’t say Paul did away with the law in Galatians
3:13 only to have him upholding it in Romans 7:1, 12.
In the same way we cannot read of the Savior’s plain
instruction to the young man, “If you will enter into life, keep the
Commandments,” Matthew 19:17, and then turn right around and say he abolished
the law at His death, rendering His directive to the young man useless and
pointless.
When a particular view of a passage does not seem to
hold up in light of other Scriptures that say the opposite, then something is
wrong with our understanding of the passage.
Principle Four: Know the Context
You often need to know the reason a passage was written
in order to understand it properly; it may also be very helpful to know to whom
the passage was written and why.
For example, 1Corinthians 16:2 has been grossly
misinterpreted to support worship on the first day of the week. “Upon the first
day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as Yahweh has
prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” “Lay by him in store”
does not refer to passing an offering plate at a church service on Sunday
morning. Rather, Paul is seeking help for a drought-induced famine situation in
Jerusalem. He asks that the brethren in Corinth have their aid ready to give to
the Jerusalem brethren on the first day of the week so that he can pick it up
when he comes by. “Day” is not in the Greek but is an added word by
translators.
No reference to a Sunday worship service is intended or
implied. A careful reading of the first 4 verses reveals the truth of the
circumstance and will dispel any erroneous conclusions drawn from this passage.
Some believe that Paul taught against observing Sabbaths
and Feasts in Galatians 4:8-11: “Howbeit then, when you knew not Elohim, you
did service unto them which by nature are no g-ds. But now, after that you have
known Elohim, or rather are known of Elohim, how turn you again to the weak and
beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? You observe
days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labor in vain.”
If we understand that the Galatians were converts from a
pagan place called Gaul (an area of old France from which they derived their
name), then it is clear that he is telling them to stop going back to their old
heathen ways. The “days, and months, and times, and years” he is speaking about
is not the Sabbath and Feasts commanded at Sinai, but their old false worship,
which is defined as “weak and beggarly,” being without substance and truth.
Yahweh’s days are never referred to as weak and beggarly,
but part of His laws that are defined as “holy…and just,
and good,” Romans 7:12.
Principle
Five: Language and Grammar
Anyone who has studied a foreign language knows that
nuances of meaning are often lost in the translation. By returning to the
original languages as much as possible, one can come much closer to
understanding the passage.
The common interpretation of Romans 10:4 is that Yahshua
did away with the law. “For Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to
every one that believes.” The Greek word “end” is telos and means “goal.”
Far from being the termination of the law, Yahshua is the very purpose for the
law! The law aims at Him. The law transforms us to be like Yahshua when we
adhere to it. He said in Matthew 12:50, “For whosoever shall do the will of my
father Which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.”
Now we can employ principles three and five together.
The same word telos is found in James 5:11, “…you have heard the
patience of Job, and have seen the end [telos] of Yahweh, for an example
of suffering affliction, and of patience.”
The same word telos is used in both passages. If telos
means “end,” as in end of the law, then Yahweh has come to an end, too. In
truth, telos means “goal” in both verses.
Another example of the importance of knowing the
original meaning of words is in Matthew 25:46, which has been popularly
interpreted to say that the wicked go to an ever-burning hell fire to roast in
agony for eternity. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but
the righteous into life eternal.”
The word “punishment” is from the Greek kolasis,
and signifies a “lopping off.” It derives from No. 2849 in Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance Greek dictionary and means to curtail. Properly
interpreted, the verse tells us that the wicked will forever be “cut off,”
their lives “curtailed.”
This agrees with 2Thessalonians 1:9, which reads that
the wicked “shall be punished with an everlasting destruction from the presence
of Yahweh and from the glory of his power.” Destruction” in this verse is the
Greek olethros and means to destroy, not live forever sizzling in
sulfurous flames for an eternity in a world of fiery brimstone.
