How to understand the bible is a mystery many have failed to unravel. The Bible is unlike any other book, for first and foremost it is a spiritual book.
A Library
No one in their right mind would stand at the door of a library and claim that they are in the business of fully understanding every book there. Yet, the Bible is a library of books, written by numerous authors across 1500 years.
There are 66 books written from differing perspectives, each with its own particular emphasis. It was written in different languages, in different times and different places.
The only constant is that the Holy Spirit of God was the inspiration to each writer, for the Bible is the only true revealer of God.
A Hebrew and Jewish Book
The Bible is also a Hebrew and Jewish book written against the background of customs and rites of nations foreign to most of us. The word Hebrew has the meaning of to pass through or cross over. It was first used with Abraham, Genesis 14:13. You are a holy people to the Lord, your God. The Lord has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth, Deuteronomy 14:2.
The term Jews was first used in 2 Kings 16:6, talking about the people from the Kingdom of Judah. Jews are a people whose traditional religion is Judaism. They are God’s chosen people, commissioned to reveal the one true God to the world.
The Israelites failed in their God-appointed calling, but that does not negate their position as a nation. The Book of Revelation is all about God calling His people back to their rightful place.
Eternal Plan
The great I Am That I Am, Exodus 3:14, has a plan that was made in eternity long before anything was created. He desired a people who would worship Him in spirit and in truth.
God created a perfect Adam, however Adam disobeyed God and sin entered the entire human race. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. Yet, God desires a personal, two-way relationship with followers of Christ. This can only be achieved when a person accepts that Christ died in our place and took the penalty of our sin, Galatians 3:13.
One day all mankind will stand before God, Romans 14:10-12. The unbeliever to eternal judgement and condemnation, 2 Thessalonians 1:9. The believer to stand in eternal fellowship with Him, Revelation 3:21.
Relationship
God had a plan where that broken relationship would be restored. He sent the Son to pay the redemption price that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life, John 3:16. The Bible shows us the Way back to Him, John 14:6, for only through Christ can that relationship be restored.
In Christ, Jew and Gentile alike, Colossians 3:11, can enter a personal relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, the Bible is a book for believers. Only those who believe and have a yielded heart will have the ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying through the Word of God.
Hidden Treasure
When Jesus was on earth He spoke to the people in parables, or dark sayings, concealing deep truths from the unbeliever. Do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces, Matthew 7:6.
The message of the Bible is not for the unregenerate mind, but for those who are morally receptive. Natural man makes man the ‘star of the show’ and is therefore unable to comprehend the deep things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:10. Therefore, the impenitent heart finds the Bible as nothing more than a skeleton of facts, without flesh, or life, or breath.
Living Word
The Bible is a living word for it is a spiritual book full of life, with the power to change lives and with a vital power that is essential to itself. The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. Piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart, Hebrews 4:12.
It is a privilege to have the written Word of God in our hands, where we can spend time digging into its hidden treasures. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter, Proverbs 25:2.
The Seed
Jesus likened the Word to a seed, Matthew 13, that finds various rates of reception. There is hard, well-trodden ground, and stony ground that cannot receive the Word. There is also thorny ground that chokes out the Word of God.
Then there are three levels to the fertile soil. We can receive the Word but only produce a 30-fold harvest from it. Then there is a 60-fold understanding and yield.
However, when you truly know how to understand the Bible you will bring forth a 100-fold return on the seed. These are the few that by faith, allow the Holy Spirit of God to be their teacher, 1 Corinthians 2:10.11. They alone know the depths and wonders of searching the holy scriptures.
Gift From God
In the natural world belief follows the demand of evidence, for natural man must know in order to believe. However, in the spiritual world man must believe in order to understand. Faith in the saving act of Christ and a gift from God, Ephesians 2:8,
Without faith it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11:6. This type of faith is a miracle, for it there that God reveals Himself the most.
It takes faith and obedience to have what is necessary for a right understanding of the Scriptures. Understanding means reading the context of any scripture and with a prayerful heart.
How to Understand the Bible
There is a simple formula on how to understand the Bible. You must be Born Again, John 3:1-21, and have an earnest desire to seek out the deep things of God.
It’s like going for a swim in a river. You can play around the edges and only paddle up to the ankles. Or you can wander deeper in up to the knees, or let the water reach your thighs. The few who delight in the joy of the Word of God will get in and swim, Ezekiel 47:3-5.
These people know they can never reach the end of plumbing the depths of God. His mercies are new every morning, Lamentations 3:22. For all eternity they will discover new things about God. That is why it is important to begin to understand the Bible in our finite human capacity, while on earth. The Bible is a spiritual book and can only be understood through supernatural aid – the Holy Spirit, John 14:26. He was the God-provided inspirer of the Book and is now our teacher.
Dr. Wendy Stenberg-Tendys is a freelance writer who enjoys researching a topic and sharing words of encouragement from the Word of God.
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