Tag Archives: Bible study

The importance of context

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As part of my work at Herald of Truth, I do a 15-minute program, Monday through Friday, called “Lea La Biblia” (Read the Bible).

The program itself is divided into segments. During the first part of the program, I do a 3-4 minute segment on Bible study, offering up tips on how to study the Bible. (And I’m always looking for suggestions on that! Feel free to chime in with tips you think would be useful)

One of my favorite subjects is the subject of context. I like to mention that the word context comes from Latin words basically meaning “with knitting.” I like the idea of the Bible as a knitted garment, made up of many threads that are all brought together as one.

Years ago, I sold clothing in a men’s clothing store. One day, I was delivering a pant to a customer when I noticed that there was a thread sticking out. Being a helpful clerk, I started to trim the thread. From across the store, one of the longtime employees yelled, “NO! You’ll ruin the pants.” She knew that cutting that thread would cause it to continue unraveling.

To me, pulling a passage out of context is a bit like that. One thread doesn’t tell you what a finished sweater looks like. Pulled out of the sweater, it’s just a bit of trash, and the sweater is damaged.

I also use the example of a note of music. One note doesn’t tell you what the symphony sounds like.

When I preach and teach, I try to use as long a passage as possible. There are times when I teach topically and quickly refer to a verse here or there, but I try to stay away from that. We need to learn to study the Bible in context.

The old saying goes, “A text without a context is a proof text for a pretext.” (I’ve also heard “pretext for a proof text,” but this way makes more sense to me) When it comes to Bible study, context is king.

Can you think of examples of passages that are often lifted from their context?

More Audio from Ray Vander Laan

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A while back, I posted links to some audio by Ray Vander Laan. Ray does a wonderful job of providing insights into the Jewishness of the Bible, helping us to understand the message in its context. He has a very helpful website: FollowTheRabbi.com

I first discovered Ray through Jay Guin’s website. Yesterday I noticed that Jay had posted a link to more audio files. Since several people commented that they found the previous links helpful, I thought I’d point to these files as well. You can download recordings of lectures that Ray gave in Idaho by going to this URL: http://www.box.net/shared/6bs7nk5g62 

Here are links to the individual files:
File #1 (23.1 MB)
File #2 (23.6 MB)
File #3 (15.5 MB)
File #4 (23.5 MB)
File #5 (22.8 MB)
File #6 (22.8 MB)
File #7 (17.2 MB)
File #8 (22.7 MB)
File #9 (15.4 MB)
File #10 (22.7 MB)
File #11 (22.8 MB)
File #12 (20.8 MB)
File #13 (22.0 MB)
File #14 (2.3 MB)

Usual disclaimers apply: I don’t agree with everything Ray says in his lectures. I haven’t studied his doctrine fully, but wouldn’t be surprised to find things there that I disagree with. I listen to these lectures for the cultural insights they provide.

Snooze or the Light of Christ

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Writing about wisdom literature reminded me of a study I did a few years ago. Inspired by the hermeneutic used to condemn alcoholic beverages, I undertook a study of an evil that is similarly condemned in Proverbs and other books. Here’s something I wrote back then (the title played off a similar title that was sent to me):

SNOOZE OR THE LIGHT OF CHRIST

It’s time that we warned the church about: sleeping! Yes, though the Bible at times seems to speak favorably of sleep, I think we can see the evils of sleep outweigh any possible benefits we might find in that practice.

Let’s look at what the Bible says:

“Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:4-11)

“Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.” (Proverbs 20:13)

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” (Proverbs 24:33-34)

Yes, Solomon, the great wise king, has much to say about the dangers of sleeping. But what about the New Testament? Revelation urges Christians to resist this temptation:

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” (Revelation 3:2-3)

We can also see that Paul did not approve of sleep: “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11) Though this is figurative, we can see that sleeping is used as a figure of evil.

It’s also connected with drunkenness: “For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:7)

And Paul makes it clear that we have to choose: “This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”” (Ephesians 5:14) We can either sleep or we can have Christ shine on us.

Obviously positive references to sleep involve mere napping or nodding off, not sleep like we think of it today. We have no approved examples of Jesus or his apostles sleeping in a bed with a pillow and have no reason to think they would have condoned such behavior. Brothers, as we seek to stamp out the evils in our congregations, let us not forget this slumberous sin.

The Bible & War: The time of the judges

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Continuing our look at what the Bible has to say about war, we come to the time of the judges.

As we mentioned, the Conquest had been incomplete. As horrified as we may be at the instructions God gave the Israelites, we should be just as horrified at the cost of their not following those instructions. The Promised Land did not become what it was meant to be, because the Israelites spared some of the people that were living there and because they failed to destroy the idols of those people.

During most of the period of the judges, Israel was a nation only in the loosest sense of the word. The best description is “the twelve tribes of Israel,” for this was basically a loose confederation of tribes. The Law established no government, and, as the writer of Judges describes it, “there was king over Israel and each man did what was right in his own eyes.” It wasn’t meant to be that way, of course. As Gideon rightly recognized, God was intended to be the ruler of Israel, and each man should have done what was right in God’s eyes. But that didn’t happen.

They were basically polytheistic, with brief moments of revival and turning to God. During most of this time, they were oppressed by other peoples. God would raise up judges, deliverers of his people who would fight the enemy and free Israel from this foreign domination. At times the judges basically acted alone, like Samson. At other times, they led the entire nation, like Ehud. Most of the time, they directed a few of the twelve tribes, leading them to military victories.

Most of the fighting in the book of Judges is defensive, trying to expel foreign invaders. Some of it, particularly at the beginning of the book, is a continuation of the Conquest. That can be said for almost all of the fighting we see in the Old Testament.

The Bible & War: The Conquest

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The Conquest of the Promised Land is, for many people, a troubling time in Israel’s history. I’ve talked before about God’s ordering the destruction of the peoples of Canaan; I won’t spend time on it now. What I want to focus on is the role of God in the Conquest.

He had promised the Israelites that He would drive out the peoples of this land, little by little. He told them that the battles would not depend on the strength of Israel’s army, but on the strength of Israel’s God.

So, what happened? Why were the Israelites unable to complete the Conquest? The Bible points to their unfaithfulness, beginning with the foolishness of the treaty with the Gibeonites. Later passages suggest that they failed to destroy the idols of the nations of Canaan, and that this failure was the biggest contributor to their failings.

In the end, we need to see that the Conquest was the fulfillment of a promise made to Abraham and repeated to his descendants. These battles were fought to secure the land of their inheritance. God was also using them to punish the people of Canaan. Israel was, in this specific instance, the tool of God for punishing the nations, just as were Assyria, Babylon, etc. in later times. This case is unique in that God used His people for this task, but I think that had to do with the Promise.

To some degree, many of the battles fought by Saul and David would have to be included in the Conquest, for they were securing land which had been promised to the Israelites. By my calculations, the Conquest ended with David’s wars, but I’m open to correction on that.