In earlier posts, I’ve shared some ways to study the Bible (topical method, abcd method, Character study, word study, paraphrase method). In this post, I’d like to look at some of the ways NOT to study the Bible.
As I’ve said previously, reading the Bible is in some ways like reading the daily newspaper. God uses stories and figures of speech to make His points. The problem is when we take everything in the Bible as absolutely literal and try to dig deeper in areas where it is not called for. Isaiah 55:12, for instance, says “the trees shall clap their hands.” Trees don’t have hands. This is a metaphor, a figure of speech. To try to do a Bible study on trees clapping their hands will end in frustration and maybe even in error.
Bible critics even use these figures of speech to say the Bible doesn’t make sense. Isaiah 11:12 says Judah would be gathered from, “the four corners of the earth.” The critics point to this passage and say the Bible is claiming the earth is flat. Of course, this is just foolish. Again, it’s just a figure of speech.
The pitfalls arise when Christians take these figures of speech literally. I have read odd expositions on God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 32:12 that his offspring will be like the sand of the sea. The writers explain how many grains of sand exist on the earth and argue that’s how many offspring Abraham would have. Some argue Jesus will return when that number is reached. But, is that the meaning of the passage? Isn’t it saying the number would be so high we can’t count it?
If the number of Abraham’s offspring equaled the number of grains of sand of the sea, it would also equal the number of widows in Jer. 15:8, the number of birds in Ps. 78:27, and the amount of grain mentioned in Genesis 41:49. The operative word in all these passages is “like.” The number is “like” or “as” the sand of the sea. These passages are using similes, exaggerations to make a point.
How many times have we heard someone say that in prophecy a day equals a thousand years since with God, a day is as a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8)? I hear this all the time. The rest of the verse say a thousand years is like a day to God. So, do they cancel each other out? No. Again, the operative word is “as” or “like” here. The verse is just saying time for God is not like it is for us.
Another pitfall in Bible study is the parable. Jesus used a lot of parables in His teaching: The Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan. Parables are stories making one point and one point only. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus is telling us our hearts need to be ready in order to accept the gospel. In the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, He says we should be willing to give up everything to gain the kingdom of God. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, He tells us even those who have fallen far away from God can be restored gladly by the Father. And, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, He tells us everyone is our neighbor.
Bible study is rewarding and exciting. Sometimes we will find a nugget of truth and start to dig deeper. We follow a vein of gold until we hit a Mother Lode of treasure in God’s Word. When this happens, we are so thrilled we want it to happen again and again and again. Sometimes, we seek out those veins when they simply aren’t there.
To read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, for instance, and try to mine a deeper truth than the simple direct meaning of the passage can lead us into all sorts of errors. We want to make something of why the priest passed the injured man. Why a priest? Why did he cross the road to the other side? What do priests wear? If he had been a scribe, would he have acted that way? When we do this, we miss the point is trying to explain: “Love your neighbor, and everyone is your neighbor. Act like it.”
When we major on the minors of life and of Bible study, we can lose our way. If you want to dig more deeply into God’s Word, there are plenty of places to do that. Start with the Sermon on the Mount, Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter 2, or work through Romans chapter 8. Don’t start digging where the treasure is obviously right there on the surface for all to see.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 