Learning How to Read #4

I'd like to mention now one of the most basic principles of Biblical interpretation:  scripture interprets scripture.  Related passages in the Bible essentially interpret each other.  In particular, we can sometimes use clear passages shed light on the more difficult ones.  Allow me to toss out some examples of using scripture to interpret scripture.  Genesis 2:2-3 provides the foundation for hallowing the sabbath, the seventh day.  More meaning comes from looking elsewhere in the Old Testament.  There are numerous examples of "sabbatical years" in the Old Testament.  Leviticus describes a sabbatical year for the land in which nothing was planted.  The writer then declares that after "seven weeks" of seven years- 7 X 7 years there would be a Year of Jubilee in which existing debts were cancelled.  Turning to Hebrews 4 we find even more about the Sabbath.  Entry into the promised land is portrayed as a kind of sabbath rest.  Beyond that, the writer implies that Christ himself is our Sabbath.

In Genesis 15 we find a particularly unusual vision.  Abraham had been commanded to cut several animals in half and lay them down.  As the night grew very dark he saw a vision of a fire pot pass back and forth between the halves of the animals that had been sacrificed.  In Jeremiah 34 we read where the people are commanded to walk between the halves of a calf that had been sacrificed as form of enacted curse for breaking the covenant.  God told them that they would become like the halves of the calf because they had broken the covenant.  Applying this principle to Genesis 15, God who passed between the parts of the animals in the form of a fire pot, is calling down a curse on himself if he does not abide by the covenant he is making with Abraham.  This particular example is an excellent case of using something clear to explain something murky.  The implications of Jeremiah 34:18-19 are crystal clear, yet they give meaning to a passage that at first blush is pretty strange

What Christian reader of Isaiah 53, the famous "suffering servant" passage can ever read the passion narratives in the Gospels the same way after having seen the Isaiah passage.  Another example is also in Isaiah.  Isaiah 7:14 tells us that "the virgin/young woman will be with child."  Virtual holy wars have been fought over how to correctly interpret the Hebrew word almah.  It can mean either virgin or simply any young woman, and various translations of the Bible do render it either way.  However, Matthew uses this as a Messianic prophecy in Matthew 1:23 referring specifically to a virgin being with child, lending weight to translating it as "virgin."

Let me make one final statement about how we read scripture.  Totally apart from the mechanics of interpreting a passage, there is always an element of faith involved.  In fact, the very reading of scripture is an act of faith.  It implies that the words do have meaning and power.  The very reading implies that we in some sense need them.  We come to scripture knowing that apart from faith, it is impossible to fully understand any part of the Bible, or the whole thereof.  Orthodox, meaning traditional, Christian thought has always held that the Bible is inspired by God himelf.  Apart from knowing the God who inspired the writers, it is not possible to really understand what those writers recorded so long ago.  God did not just inspire the prophets, psalmists, and apostles of old, he also illumines our hearts and minds as we read.  The Holy Spirit is active in both the writing and reading of the Bible.  Therefore, my friends, read the scriptures prayerfully and humbly.  Be content not to understand everything you read, but be assured that God will give you everything you need from reading.