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NASB | Nehemiah 8:18 He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Nehemiah 8:18 Every day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days; on the eighth day there was a [closing] solemn assembly in accordance with the ordinance. |
Subject: Questions to ask while Reading the Word |
Bible Note: Hi, sonofmom... It is always a pleasure to see you posting. You have posted correctly! Any sound hermeneutic takes into account the genre of the text under exegetical examination. There are passages of many different genres in the Scriptures that include things like narrative, pedagogic, prophetic, poetic, epistolary, etc. Even the gospels are a unique genre -- part sermon and part history, etc. You are right that parabolic interpretation is a special kind of teaching. Way back in 2005 I posted some notes on parables. See #157835 if you are interested. I culled together those points from my hermeneutics class in seminary. What a blessing it was! (By the way, the little book by Gordon Fee entitled "Reading the Bible for All Its Worth" can be enormously helpful in using good guidelines to the proper interpretation of the Word. He is a Pentecostal professor, well recognized for his skill in this area. Reformed schools all over use his text.) Yes, the preacher you mentioned made a number of fundamental errors in his interpretation of the parable of the treasure in the field. Without a proper education in the interpretation of literature, those kinds of folks come up with all kinds of bizarre messages. That fellow missed the entire point of the parable. You were very right to be on your guard. These kinds of things were quite common in church history. Unfortunately, some of those servants of the Enemy were very clever. Today they end up sounding silly. This is not because the Enemy himself is silly. Quite the contrary. What we have today is many gullible listeners, in search of men who will tickle their ears. Thus, the teacher doesn't have to be very sophisticated in his misdirection. Enter 157835 in the box that says Word(s) or ID# on the upper right hand side of your screen. Take a look at my notes on parables there and let me know what you think. I was going to conclude by congratulating you in the wisdom that allowed you to detect the Enemy. Indeed, that is a blessing. But the one we can really be proud of is as you intimated, the Holy Spirit. I am proud of what He is doing in your life! He brought you a long way, ma'am. That also made me mindful of how dependent we are on the Holy Spirit to help us in the study of the word. Our Confession, the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, right up in the first chapter concerning the Holy Scriptures, puts it this way: "The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Galatians 1:8,9; John 6:45; 1 Corinthians 2:9-12; 1 Corinthians 11:13, 14; 1 Corinthians 14:26,40)" 1689 LBCF 1.6 What a marvelous blessing it is that He grants grace to those who sincerely seek Him. In Him, Doc |