BIBLE INTERPRETATION SERMON SERIES
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I have in my hand a Bible. What is in it? Where did it come from? Who wrote it? Can I understand it properly? Why should I trust this collection of writings over any other religious books? What makes it unique?
These are very important questions because millions of people have trusted their eternal life to the principles in this book. Millions of people have made the Bible to be their foundation for understanding truth. Why? Should you also trust your eternal life to this book? Or should you trust your eternal life to another book? Or perhaps to no book at all?
Today we will make a brief introduction to the Bible. Later we will look into more detail at each one of the questions I have raised. Key to answering these questions lies in the correct manner in which the Bible should be studied and understood. So as we investigate the Bible in general we will also lay down principles for correctly understanding or interpreting it.
The book I am holding is called the Bible. (The English word Bible comes from the Greek word biblos which simply means book or more properly, roll or scroll. This is because in ancient times writings were frequently made on papyrus, leather or parchment which was rolled up as a scroll.)
This book is actually a collection of prophetic writings from many authors. In English the 66 different writings are referred to as books. Because each of the writings are relatively short, in Turkish they might properly be referred to as booklets.
There are 39 books that make up the collection of the writings of Hebrew prophets before Jesus. Christians call this collection of Hebrew prophetic writings the Old Testament. It is believed that Moses wrote the first five of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Those five books are also known as the Torah and include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
In addition to the Torah, the other 34 books of the Old Testament contain the Psalms and the writings of many other prophets including Daniel, Jeremiah, and King Solomon. In Turkish some people refer to the entire Old Testament as the Tevrat and attribute all these prophetic writings to Moses. But Moses did not write them all. Some people refer to only the first five books (Torah) as the Tevrat. So when conversing on these subjects in Turkey one needs to be careful about how someone is using the terms.
There is likewise confusion in Turkey regarding what writings constitute the New Testament. Many people in Turkey, when they refer to the New Testament, are thinking about the four stories about Jesus’ life that were written by four of his followers. These four books were named after the authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are known as the four gospels. Each gospel describes the life and ministry of Jesus from their perspective and include the actual words that Jesus spoke. If you read through a New Testament you will notice that it also contains letters written by other followers of Jesus who received revelations from God. These include Paul, James, Peter, and Jude. In total, there are 27 books in the New Testament.
In a modern translation of the Old and New Testaments called the Kutsal Kitap, it sometimes says on the cover: Tevrat, Zebur and İncil. The reader should understand that the Kutsal Kitap contains all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. They are not restricted to the books of Moses (Torah) and the four gospels. The reader should be aware of these differences in terminology. In this sermon when I say, "Tevrat, Zebur and İncil" I am refering to the complete collection of Old and New Testament prophetic writings. These are also called the Bible (Kutsal Kitap) or the holy scriptures. In Turkish there is an older translation of the Old and New Testaments called Kitabı Mukaddes. I will also refer to the Old Testament collectively as the Tevrat.
Which books were selected to be a part of the Bible and who selected them? The 39 books of the Old Testament were recognized by the Jewish people as prophetic writings before Jesus was born. This happened over time as the people themselves recognized them as prophetic writings. It was not decided by a committee or a king or a small group of religious leaders.
In the same way, the 27 books of the New Testament were recognized as prophetic writings by congregations of believers long before any formal church council made a decree concerning them. It did take time for congregations to accept certain books like Revelation but this was done independently of church councils which basically were just confirming what the various congregations of believers had already accepted.
Let's turn in our Bibles to the New Testament to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 3 and let's go to verse 16.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The prophetic writings carry the unique characteristic that they were inspired by God. We will explain in greater detail what we mean by inspiration as we go along. But for now we want to emphasize that the Bible is not simply the opinion of some religious teachers. The content of the writings has its origin with God. Therefore the writings carry supreme importance and authority.
The text tells us that the Bible is to be used to establish doctrine and for reproof and correction and for instruction in righteousness. The purpose of the Bible is moral. It may contain history but it is not primarily a history book. It may contain aspects of science but it is not a science book. That is not its goal. Its goal is to establish human beings in righteousness. It has a moral purpose.
Throughout history people have criticized the Bible because of the way it portrays history and science. We will look at this more closely another time but remember: the purpose of the Bible is not to teach science and history. Its purpose is to present events in history to understand the moral implications of the activity of both God and human beings.
Let's go to our next text. It is found in 2 Peter 1:19.
2 Peter 1:19-21 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the prophetic word is create faith in your hearts. It is compared to the rising of a morning star. The passage of scripture goes on to say that the Scriptures are not the personal thoughts and ideas of individuals. The words of Scripture were spoken as holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. Again, this passage is saying that the origin of Scripture comes from God. The message of Scripture is not a philosophy. It is a revelation of truth by God who uses human beings to communicate the message.
The text does not say that the Scriptures came from one man but many. So while there are many authors of the various holy writings, they all have as their essential author the Holy Spirit of God.
Our next text comes from 2 Timothy 2:15:
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The text tells us that there is a right way to understand the Bible and a wrong way. Obviously this is the cause of the many different belief systems and denominations. They all claim the same writings as their source of truth but understand them differently. Everyone can't be right. In that environment, how can we know if we are understanding the Bible correctly?
That is a good question and we will be answering this over the course of several sermons. We will begin by remembering that the author of the Scriptures is the Holy Spirit of God. We should pray to God for the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding as we read the scriptures.
Many people approach the reading of the Bible like they would approach the study of higher mathematics. They think that in their own wisdom they will be able to understand the Bible and apply its principles. But because they come to the study of God's Word with their pride, they receive no help from God and they come to wrong conclusions according to their own so-called wisdom. Let me give some examples.
Mark 12:18-27 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: 19 "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 "Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. 21 "And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. 22 "So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. 23 "Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife." 24 Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken."
The Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament. In those books there is not much spoken about the resurrection of the dead so the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. They were so proud of their belief that they came to Jesus with a trick question. Jesus answered them from the first five books of the Bible. Jesus said they did not know the scriptures. The Sadducees read the Bible, not to find truth and obey it, but rather to confirm their own ideas.
In contrast to this is the prophet Daniel.
Daniel 8:27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
Daniel sees a vision. Daniel himself doesn't understand it. What does he do?
Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans -- 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel studies the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. Now Jeremiah lived at the same time as Daniel. Daniel did not say, "I am a prophet. I don't accept anyone else as a prophet." He studies the prophecy of Jeremiah and yet he still doesn't understand the vision he himself had seen.
Daniel 9:3-10 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 "we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 "Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 "O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day -- to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 "O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 "To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 "We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
Daniel comes to the Lord in prayer. He is praying for wisdom. He does not come with pride in his ability to understand the word of God but prays in sackcloth and ashes. How does the Lord respond to such prayer?
Daniel 9:20-23 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23 "At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
If you want to understand the Bible, you need to pray. Come to God with humility and He will give you understanding. Come as a learner. Don't come simply to learn something only to boast to your friends that you know more than they do. This is a wrong approach to scripture.
Today we established the first principle to understand the Bible: we must pray for it.
These are very important questions because millions of people have trusted their eternal life to the principles in this book. Millions of people have made the Bible to be their foundation for understanding truth. Why? Should you also trust your eternal life to this book? Or should you trust your eternal life to another book? Or perhaps to no book at all?
Today we will make a brief introduction to the Bible. Later we will look into more detail at each one of the questions I have raised. Key to answering these questions lies in the correct manner in which the Bible should be studied and understood. So as we investigate the Bible in general we will also lay down principles for correctly understanding or interpreting it.
The book I am holding is called the Bible. (The English word Bible comes from the Greek word biblos which simply means book or more properly, roll or scroll. This is because in ancient times writings were frequently made on papyrus, leather or parchment which was rolled up as a scroll.)
This book is actually a collection of prophetic writings from many authors. In English the 66 different writings are referred to as books. Because each of the writings are relatively short, in Turkish they might properly be referred to as booklets.
There are 39 books that make up the collection of the writings of Hebrew prophets before Jesus. Christians call this collection of Hebrew prophetic writings the Old Testament. It is believed that Moses wrote the first five of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Those five books are also known as the Torah and include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
In addition to the Torah, the other 34 books of the Old Testament contain the Psalms and the writings of many other prophets including Daniel, Jeremiah, and King Solomon. In Turkish some people refer to the entire Old Testament as the Tevrat and attribute all these prophetic writings to Moses. But Moses did not write them all. Some people refer to only the first five books (Torah) as the Tevrat. So when conversing on these subjects in Turkey one needs to be careful about how someone is using the terms.
There is likewise confusion in Turkey regarding what writings constitute the New Testament. Many people in Turkey, when they refer to the New Testament, are thinking about the four stories about Jesus’ life that were written by four of his followers. These four books were named after the authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are known as the four gospels. Each gospel describes the life and ministry of Jesus from their perspective and include the actual words that Jesus spoke. If you read through a New Testament you will notice that it also contains letters written by other followers of Jesus who received revelations from God. These include Paul, James, Peter, and Jude. In total, there are 27 books in the New Testament.
In a modern translation of the Old and New Testaments called the Kutsal Kitap, it sometimes says on the cover: Tevrat, Zebur and İncil. The reader should understand that the Kutsal Kitap contains all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. They are not restricted to the books of Moses (Torah) and the four gospels. The reader should be aware of these differences in terminology. In this sermon when I say, "Tevrat, Zebur and İncil" I am refering to the complete collection of Old and New Testament prophetic writings. These are also called the Bible (Kutsal Kitap) or the holy scriptures. In Turkish there is an older translation of the Old and New Testaments called Kitabı Mukaddes. I will also refer to the Old Testament collectively as the Tevrat.
Which books were selected to be a part of the Bible and who selected them? The 39 books of the Old Testament were recognized by the Jewish people as prophetic writings before Jesus was born. This happened over time as the people themselves recognized them as prophetic writings. It was not decided by a committee or a king or a small group of religious leaders.
In the same way, the 27 books of the New Testament were recognized as prophetic writings by congregations of believers long before any formal church council made a decree concerning them. It did take time for congregations to accept certain books like Revelation but this was done independently of church councils which basically were just confirming what the various congregations of believers had already accepted.
Let's turn in our Bibles to the New Testament to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 3 and let's go to verse 16.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The prophetic writings carry the unique characteristic that they were inspired by God. We will explain in greater detail what we mean by inspiration as we go along. But for now we want to emphasize that the Bible is not simply the opinion of some religious teachers. The content of the writings has its origin with God. Therefore the writings carry supreme importance and authority.
The text tells us that the Bible is to be used to establish doctrine and for reproof and correction and for instruction in righteousness. The purpose of the Bible is moral. It may contain history but it is not primarily a history book. It may contain aspects of science but it is not a science book. That is not its goal. Its goal is to establish human beings in righteousness. It has a moral purpose.
Throughout history people have criticized the Bible because of the way it portrays history and science. We will look at this more closely another time but remember: the purpose of the Bible is not to teach science and history. Its purpose is to present events in history to understand the moral implications of the activity of both God and human beings.
Let's go to our next text. It is found in 2 Peter 1:19.
2 Peter 1:19-21 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the prophetic word is create faith in your hearts. It is compared to the rising of a morning star. The passage of scripture goes on to say that the Scriptures are not the personal thoughts and ideas of individuals. The words of Scripture were spoken as holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. Again, this passage is saying that the origin of Scripture comes from God. The message of Scripture is not a philosophy. It is a revelation of truth by God who uses human beings to communicate the message.
The text does not say that the Scriptures came from one man but many. So while there are many authors of the various holy writings, they all have as their essential author the Holy Spirit of God.
Our next text comes from 2 Timothy 2:15:
2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The text tells us that there is a right way to understand the Bible and a wrong way. Obviously this is the cause of the many different belief systems and denominations. They all claim the same writings as their source of truth but understand them differently. Everyone can't be right. In that environment, how can we know if we are understanding the Bible correctly?
That is a good question and we will be answering this over the course of several sermons. We will begin by remembering that the author of the Scriptures is the Holy Spirit of God. We should pray to God for the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding as we read the scriptures.
Many people approach the reading of the Bible like they would approach the study of higher mathematics. They think that in their own wisdom they will be able to understand the Bible and apply its principles. But because they come to the study of God's Word with their pride, they receive no help from God and they come to wrong conclusions according to their own so-called wisdom. Let me give some examples.
Mark 12:18-27 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: 19 "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 "Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. 21 "And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. 22 "So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. 23 "Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife." 24 Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken."
The Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament. In those books there is not much spoken about the resurrection of the dead so the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. They were so proud of their belief that they came to Jesus with a trick question. Jesus answered them from the first five books of the Bible. Jesus said they did not know the scriptures. The Sadducees read the Bible, not to find truth and obey it, but rather to confirm their own ideas.
In contrast to this is the prophet Daniel.
Daniel 8:27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
Daniel sees a vision. Daniel himself doesn't understand it. What does he do?
Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans -- 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Daniel studies the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. Now Jeremiah lived at the same time as Daniel. Daniel did not say, "I am a prophet. I don't accept anyone else as a prophet." He studies the prophecy of Jeremiah and yet he still doesn't understand the vision he himself had seen.
Daniel 9:3-10 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 "we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 "Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 "O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day -- to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 "O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 "To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 "We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
Daniel comes to the Lord in prayer. He is praying for wisdom. He does not come with pride in his ability to understand the word of God but prays in sackcloth and ashes. How does the Lord respond to such prayer?
Daniel 9:20-23 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23 "At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
If you want to understand the Bible, you need to pray. Come to God with humility and He will give you understanding. Come as a learner. Don't come simply to learn something only to boast to your friends that you know more than they do. This is a wrong approach to scripture.
Today we established the first principle to understand the Bible: we must pray for it.