Can We "Plop & Point"?

_{Handout 17}

Can we always plop the Bible open, point to a verse, and apply it directly to ourselves?

A. The Issue I the Question:

In this course we have been studying how to interpret the Bible. We have seen that a lot of the Bible can be read in a very straight-forward manner, and can be applied in a common-sense way directly to Christians. But can all of it be read that way? In specific, the question is this:

Does the entire Bible, just as it is written, apply directly to Christians?

Some Bible interpreters state the question this way: Do we read the Bible as a “flat text”?

The two main assumptions of a “flat text” approach are:

• We read and apply every verse in the Bible in a flatly-literal way.
• Every verse in the entire Bible applies to Christians in the same way.

Another way to put this question is:

Is it God’s intention that we can read any & every verse of the Bible by itself and can always find in it a direct instruction for what we should believe and how we should live?

To put it very simply -

Can I plop open my Bible, point to a verse at random, read it, and assume that I am getting direct instruction from God?

If the answer to this question were yes, there would be no need for the present course.

The focus of this handout, then, is to identify some reasons why some passages in the Bible do not apply directly to Christians, just as they are written. This issue is especially important for reading and applying the Old Testament.

Drawing on what we have covered in this course, we will suggest five reasons why some passages in the Bible might not apply to Christians directly.

B. Five Reason Whv Some Passages in the Bible Might Not Apply Directly to Christians:

1. Some verses do not give general guidance, but gave specific instructions to a specific individual for a specific purpose.

   Gen 22:1 Abraham was instructed to sacrifice…

   Hosea 1:2 Hosea was commanded to marry…

   Ezek 4:9-17 Ezekiel was commanded to…

   Ezek 12:2-7 Ezekiel was instructed to…

   Ezek 21:18-20 Set up a signpost to…

2. The Bible does not recommend everything that it records.

   Just because something is recorded in its narrative & historical passages, does not mean that it is given to us as a good example to follow. In fact, it would go against the teaching of the Bible to assume Since somebody did this in the Bible, so should we.

   After all, the Bible records people committing murder, committing adultery, robbing people, etc. Clearly, such actions are condemned by the general teaching of the Scriptures.

   Also consider passages such as 1 Sam 28, and 2 Sam 17:23. Are they examples for us to copy?

   Further, consider 1 Cor 10:7-11, which tells us:

   7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play “ 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

   So it is not(!) the case that, if somebody does something in the Bible, it is alright for us to do the same thing. The Bible records many actions which it clearly condemns. The Bible does not recommend everything that it records.

3. If verses fall in the middle of an argument, do not yank them out of their context and read them on their own; instead, read them in the context of the entire argument.

   Recall a verse we have seen before in Paul’s letter to the Romans: Romans 2:13.

4. We Need to Recognize the Nature of the Poetic Passages in the Bible:

   We have looked at the nature of poetic language in the Old Testament.

   Some poetic passages do not apply directly to Christians, just as they are written, because they are a figurative use of language, and are not intended to be taken flatly literally.

   Rather, the reader needs to recognize that they are figurative, and read them the way one normally reads and interprets figurative poetic language.

   In particular, sometimes a poetic passage might not be describing the literal reality, the actual facts, but might be describing how it feels to the speaker.

   Consider the following:

   • Ps 12:1

     Save us, O Lord, for there is no longer any that is godly; the faithful have vanished from among the children of men.

   • Ps 13:1

     How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

   • Ps 44:23

     Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?

   • Ps 74: 1

     O God, why do you cast us off forever?

   Other examples could be cited, but these illustrate the point. Such language is clearly highly emotional, and is not intended to be taken as a straight-forward statement about what is ultimately true. Rather, they describe how it feels to the speaker. Such highly charged language often involves hyperbole, the deliberate use of exaggeration to make a point. Such language is not intended to be taken in a flatly literal manner.

   Nonetheless, the passage is making a point, and that point may well apply to Christians.

   But in poetic sections of the Bible, if the language is figurative, we are not intended to understand and apply the words in a flatly literal way.

5. We need to bear in mind where the passage falls in the overall redemptive-historical context of the Bible. And we especially need to bear in mind if the passage is connected to a particular covenant.

   We have mentioned the five main covenants of the Bible before in Handout #09 & Handout #16. They are:

   • God’s covenant with the whole earth through Noah (Gen 6-9).

   • God’s covenant / promises with Abraham and his seed (Gen 12, 15, 17 & 22).

   • God’s covenant with the nation of Israel through Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exod 19-24).

   • God’s covenant with David and his son (2 Sam 7; Ps 89; 110; 132). The new covenant (Jeremiah 31; Hebrews chs. 8 & 10).

   It is beyond the scope of the present course to elaborate on these covenants in detail. However, some brief observations will be helpful.

   • The covenant made through Noah applies to the whole earth, and everyone in it.

   • The covenant with David and his son affects Christians, but does not apply directly to us. It is between God and David and his son.

   • The Old Testament and the New Testament both teach that Christians (= those who revere God, those who have faith like Abraham’s faith) will inherit the promises to Abraham (Gen 17, Ezek 47, Zech 2, Rom 4, Gal 3, Eph 2 & 3). So the promises to Abraham do apply to Christians.

   • Clearly, the new covenant applies to Christians.

   • The remaining covenant is the covenant Israel entered with God at Mt Sinai, sometimes called “the Sinai covenant.” It is the covenant that contains the 10 Commandments and the Law. It is between God and the nation of Israel. So the question becomes: How do the Law and the Sinai covenant apply to Christians?

   The Law, the Sinai covenant, and Christians

   The foundational passage for the Sinai covenant is Exod 19-24. But after that, much of the rest of the Pentateuch sets forth the rest of the laws / the rest of the Law.

   It is widely agreed that the fundamental moral laws of the Sinai covenant do apply to Christians: Do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not commit murder, etc.

   It is also widely agreed that the sacrificial laws, and the food restrictions, do not apply to Christians.

   But for other laws in the Law, it is not so clear whether they apply to Christians. Two examples:

   • Are Christians required to observe the Sabbath?

     Did the early Christian church continue to meet on the Sabbath?

   • In Leviticus 25 God gave Israel the following command concerning their crops, and promised them a blessing, if they obeyed it. Does this command and blessing apply to Christians today?

     Leviticus 25:1-5 + 18-22

     1 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.

     18 Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

   It is not the goal of this handout to settle such questions. The goal is to point out that, as we read and interpret the Bible, we need to bear in mind where we are in the overall redemptive-historical context of the Bible. And in particular, we need to consider which covenants apply to Christians, and which don’t. [The one over which there is a question is the Sinai covenant.]

C. Summary:

In general, much of the Bible can be read, just as it is written, and applied directly to Christians. But it is not the case that the entire Bible was intended to be read that way. We cannot simply plop our Bibles open, put our finger on a verse, and assume that it is direct guidance from God on what we should believe and how we should live.

The following summarizes the reasons why a given passage might not be able to be applied directly and literally to Christians:

1. It might not apply directly to us because — it is addressed to or refers to someone specific, someone else. It is not a general command for the people of God.

2. It might not apply directly to us because — the Bible does not recommend everything that it records.

3. It might not apply directly to us because — the verse is part of a larger argument, and the writer is not finished with his argument.

4. It might not apply directly to us as it stands written because — the language is figurative, is poetic, and is not intended to be taken flatly-literally.

5. It might not apply directly to us because — it is a part of the Sinai covenant which is no longer in effect (the sacrifices), which does not apply to Christians.