Subject: I just started reading the Bible and.... |
Bible Note: Pete, let's look at a few facts. Scripture is its own best interpreter, but you have only begun to scratch the surface of Scripture. A wise man examines the whole thoroughly before attempting to dissect its parts. When as a young college freshman I decided to take my major in English, I soon discovered that I did not become an expert on Shakespeare by reading through a couple of his plays, and that I was not by any means qualified to become a Shakespearean critic. A Bible commentator several years ago stated that under no circumstances would he write a word of commentary on any Bible book until he had carefully and prayerfully read the book through at least 50 times. .... You have read parts of Deuteronomy, the book of Matthew and now are in Mark. You will have questions, of course you will. Every serious reader of any difficult literary work, whether it is the Bible, Shakespeare or John Milton, will have questions. Write them down and save them for later. Continue with your reading, use a non-technical commentary or study Bible (suggest MacArthur's) if you get bogged down, but continue to read. Compare Scripture with Scripture, do some cross referencing, try to get an overall picture of all of Scripture first before you do anything else. This should be the time for looking at the whole forest, not the time for examining each tree minutely. Furthermore, your battery of questions sounds to me as though you are trying to understand the eternal words of God on your own without divine illumination. It will never happen. This is contrary to what the Scriptures teach: "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law" (Psalm 119:18). If you are a regenerate believer in Jesus Christ, and I pray that you are, then pray for illumination. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit by which He empowers Christians with understanding of the truths of God revealed in Scripture. And a parting word to you, Pete, from Proverbs 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." --Hank |