Do you have trouble understanding passages in the Bible? Particularly those that may appear to be prophetic in nature?
Let us look at it from how a person may approach other forms of literature. As a reader, why do you read books that fit into a particular genre, such as horror, mystery or western theme books? Or, do you read items written only by a particular author? If you do so, why?
You read a particular genre or particular author’s books because you understand his/her style when you read it. Have you ever noticed that you can tell when your author has not written it and it was written by a ghost writer? That was because something is different. The same is true in scripture. You can not pull out the books of Revelations, Daniel or Ezekiel without having read any other books of the Bible. You will not understand any of it without a total comprehension of the context of the entire Bible.
Another problem occurs attempting to read books you are not capable of understanding. In that manner, to read particular books of the Bible you need understanding that comes after developing particular skills.
Ten Skills Needed:
You need to be a believer in God.
You need to
be a follower of His Son Jesus.
You must
believe that they both exist.
You must
have a personal relationship and have submitted control of your life to God.
You must be
living under submission to God’s authority.
Without submission you cannot accept the truths laid down in
scripture as being the word of God.
You must be
able to acknowledge that the Bible (as written) is the literal word of God.
You need to
have the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life in order to process the simplicity
of His word.
The anointing does not come without the Baptism in the Holy
Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who gives
the discernment and guidance needed when reading the words of God.
You need
daily time with God in prayer if you are attempting to understand His Words. If
the time is not
spent communicating with Him, how can there be any understanding
of what he says?
You need daily time reading of the Bible. Do you understand any book in which you have
read only the first and last pages?
Likewise it is foolish to have the mentally that says to God: “Okay, I
have an hour today, what are you going to show me?” Why waste His time? Approaching the study of scripture in this
manner leads to man inserting his opinion and interpretation into a passage.
You need an
open mind and heart. Be prepared to
throw away EVERY preconceived idea, thought and
opinion. Those are
all items that belong only to you and are not the Lord’s.
The following rules are mandatory requirements in order to understand
ALL SCRIPTURE stands together. There are no theological debates or interpretations. His word is what it is. All scripture is part of the entire package, no one verse stands alone. If it is not supported by other scripture then it is the idea of man and not God.
God does not need another new revelation of His Word. It is complete in itself from Genesis (the Beginning) to the end of the story the Book of Revelation. It can stand alone without man’s extra books of interpretation and self helps.
DO NOT ever attempt to make a passage “fit” into your understanding. If you must try to make or find scriptures to prove a theory or interpret it; then it is just another good theory. Throw it out!
At some point in history men decided that we must be able to explain things in a manner similar to the way we have for the past 100 years. This is a fallacy in understanding scripture. Deciding that something described must be equaled to something today does not have any place in God’s Word.
Example,
one writer in the 1960’s wrote that
In order to understand scripture, you must understand that you are not the center of the universe. God’s Word, centers on a chosen and specific group of people. This group is to be the focus of His Plans for the past, present and future. You need to be able to accept the following regarding who the Chosen People are.
The “chosen people” are not Christians. It is not the “church” of any form. It is the Jews! Jews are those that are of the seed of Abraham and no one else. God has had and will always have a special place for the “seed of Abraham”. The scriptures and all its words are focused/centered on that group of people. All prophecies are focused on or involve them. You must understand and accept that. If not you will have trouble understanding anything in the Bible. It is ONLY a privilege that the rest of the world (non Jews) will be allowed to be a small part in the story from beginning to end of the Bible. How we honor and respect that privilege will determine how we understand it.
