Do you know the Billy Preston song, “Nothing from Nothing“? He talks about relationships, but his message that you can’t get something from nothing is applicable to biblical interpretation, as well.
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
In science, we observe an event then form a hypothesis in order to figure out how it was caused. Through experimentation we try to reproduce that same event to validate our hypothesis. Criminologists use a similar methodology, observing the clues left behind, deducing how the crime was committed and by whom.
In biblical exegesis (interpretation), we read what is written and using the rules regarding proper biblical interpretation, we determine if what we read is validated by other, similar statements or comments found anywhere else in the Bible.
At this point, you may ask, “OK, Steve, what’s this got to do with the song?“
I’m glad you asked.
The song indicates that you can’t get something from nothing, and when people start with what they want a Bible verse or phrase to mean, they are really starting out with nothing. All they have is a thought or a feeling, and when people like what they are thinking, they say it is “spirit led”.
But in my experience, way too often what people say they got from “the Holy Spirit” really came from their own spirit.
To properly interpret what the Bible is telling us, we need to start with something, and that something is what is there. Then, we need to verify it with what else is in every other part of the Bible, before we can really state that what we think it means is what the Bible means.
The use of Hermeneutics is one way we do this, and the other way (and just as necessary to be correct) is using Circles of Context, which means interpreting the phrase or verse within the context of the sentence, of the paragraph, and of the entire letter or book, also taking into consideration of who wrote it, to whom, and for what reason.
For example: if I read that God said not to eat pork (Lev. 11, in case you were interested) and later, in Mark 7:19 I read that Yeshua declared all food to be clean, I cannot say that the Kosher laws were done away with by Yeshua, which is a traditional Christian interpretation.
Why can’t I say that? Because it can’t be validated by hermeneutics (God already said pork wasn’t clean), and when we look at that one statement within the context of the entire event, we see that Yeshua wasn’t talking about Kashrut (Kosher) laws, but rather about a hand-washing ceremony traditionally done before eating food to prevent contamination of the food.
And when we consider (culturally) what a First Century Jew considers to be food, he or she is talking about what God said is food, not what we today consider to be food. In other words, pork was NOT food to them, so when Mark said Yeshua declared all food clean, he was talking only about food allowed by the Torah.
We should also note that declaring all food clean was Mark’s statement-Yeshua never really said that.
To properly understand what the Bible means, we have to start out, like with a science experiment, thinking we know what it means (our hypothesis), but not accepting that as true until properly validated by using the established rules of interpretation.
I am sure you have had conversations with people who tell you what verses mean, and you know that their interpretation is wrong, but you can’t convince them because they do not understand how to properly interpret the Bible.
Yes, there are many times that people are given a supernatural understanding through the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), but just as we are told to test prophets by what they say must come true (Deut. 18:22), we must also test every interpretation of the Bible against what the Bible says- literally- and within the context of where that statement is found, using hermeneutics to verify that it is consistent with what God said in the Torah.
And, like it or not, the Torah is the only place in the entire Bible where, using Moses as his stenographer, God- himself -tells us what he wants us to do.
And I think anyone who truly worships God will agree that whatever God says we should do is what we need to do, and no one, not even his son, can overrule God.
Christianity will disagree with this, but the biblical fact is that throughout the Torah God tells the Jews how he wants them to worship him and treat each other, then he chooses them (hence, the “Chosen People”) to be his nation of priests (Ex. 19:6), so that they can bring the Torah to the world.
The real New Covenant is not in the Gospels or the Epistles, but in Jeremiah 31:31, where God says he will write his Torah on our hearts. So, by God’s own words, if you do not have the Torah written on your heart, you cannot be in covenant with God. That is bad news for almost every Christian, because Christianity teaches the Torah is not for Christians.
So, by definition, Christians who do not have the Torah written on their hearts can’t be in covenant with God. And, with regard to proper biblical interpretation, this statement is hermeneutically and contextually validated by what is in the Bible.
Think about that.
I have gone into much more detail about how to properly interpret the Bible in a teaching series: here is a link to that teaching: How to Properly Interpret the Bible.
Let me leave you with this last thought: the best way to know if a biblical interpretation is valid is to know the Bible. DUH! So… READ IT!
Thank you for being here; that’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!
