Hermeneutics Lesson 13

---

Progressive Revelation and Questions for Secondary Levels of Revelation.

1. Progressive Revelation Explained.

In the Bible, we often see God use buildings to teach certain concepts.  This is because we often have to build knowledge one layer at a time, just like a building is (normally) built one floor at a time.  So, for example, we have different grades that teach different levels of Math with first grade teaching numbers and how to count.  Only after that do we learn to add, subtract, multiply and then divide with Algebra coming much later.  This process of learning new things only after we learn basic concepts is called 'progressive revelation'.

The majority of this class has been on how to get a true Biblical foundation for our ministry in the word of God.  Please remember that a foundation is not seen while the building on top of it is seen.  Most Hermeneutics classes are on how to build the building (visible ministry) with very little about the Biblical foundation of the Biblical wise man.  The rest of this lesson will cover what most classes spend the whole class on.  Thus, if you want more details on how to get applications to preach, you may want to take one of those classes for their details.  Yes, they will help you more in building a visible ministry, but they will not help you avoid all of the doctrinal error that was pointed out here because the preachers who preached those doctrinal errors to me all took those other Hermeneutics classes.  Those classes teach you how to build the building (visible ministry).  This class concentrated on the foundation which is not seen but which Jesus Christ said is required if you want that ministry to survive the storms of life.

I once read an excellent article written by the head of a society that provides Bible translations into the various languages of this world.  As I recall, there are over several hundred (I think over 1,000) languages in the world.  He talked about the problem of dealing with vocal languages with no written language and how the translator had to first create a written language, and teach it to the people, before they could do any translation.  He talked about the problems where certain concepts had to be introduced to a language and culture before it could be used.  Think about our English word baptize,  which came from the Greek because there was no matching concept or word in the English.  Think about the Spanish version of computer,  which came from the English.  The bottom line is that there are often things which have to be done before you can start a job of translation.  In Isaiah 28, the preparation is started in the first 8 verses where we are told to eliminate the source of error.

One of the things that the Bible translator pointed out was that God revealed His word over time.  At first, men only had the first 5books from Moses, and possibly the book of Job.  For a long time men only had what we call the Old Testament while the New Testament wasn't written until after the resurrection.  Likewise, when our Bible was translated to English it took 7translations to produce the 1611 KJV.  What this author was saying is that when translators start on a new language, they often have a lot of preparation work to do first and then, once started, they translate John and Romans before adding the other books of the Bible.  That is: they did not have a lot of visible results for a long time even though they were very busy.  However, the results, when they were finally produced, were far more reliable than hurried results would have been.

In our personal spiritual lives we had to learn certain basic concepts, such as the fact that there is a God, we are sinners and we face judgment for sin, before we could get saved.  Even after being saved, there is still a growth process for each individual that requires each of us to accept and obey basic doctrines before we can progress to more substantial doctrines.  Think about 1Corinthians where Paul talked about the milk  of the Word and the meat  of the Word.  Thus we see progressive revelation in our own physical learning and in our own spiritual learning.  While the application of the principal of progressive revelation is different when we compare our personal experience, God's revelation of His Word and the work of Bible translators, the principal of 'progressive revelation' is the same within each application.

In Isaiah 28 we saw God's pattern of progressive revelation that He uses with all individuals and groups when God teaches knowledge and...makes to understand doctrine.  This class has taught us God's way  to do this and it should not have to be repeated here.  One thing to note is that since God does not change, He uses the same way,  whether He is dealing with a group of His people or teaching an individual directly [28:10-11].

Not only does God use the same way  for groups and individuals, but God also uses the same way  for each level of our 'progressive revelation'.  We saw this with the fact that Isaiah 28:10 and Isaiah 28:13 both tell us that God's way  is precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little,  even though the first verse gave us the way  of interpretation and the second verse gave us the way  of application.  Thus, once we receive a level of revelation on a given Bible subject, then we must repeat God's way  in order to receive further revelation.  Once we are past the first level of revelation, one of the main sources of error, that we need to eliminate, is the belief that 'I know what that Bible passage says'.  If we think we know what a Bible passage, or a doctrine, is, then we close our mind to correction and new revelation.  (Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.  [1Corinthians 10:12]).

God will not force new revelation upon us but will wait patiently for us to open our mind to Him.  However, if we refuse to open our mind to Him, then He gives us the judgment of fools.  Bottom line: always open your mind to God and close it to any source in opposition to God.  Always approach your Bible study with prayer an expectation that God will reveal something new or correct a prior erroneous belief, if we are willing to receive this from God.

One last consideration on 'progressive revelation': God teaches each saved person the lessons of life which He determines that they need when He determines that they are ready for that particular lesson.  Thus, some people learn lessons that others might not be taught.  Sometimes two people might learn the same lessons but at different times within their individual lives.  However, some lessons are taught to all of God's people.  Within these lessons, some lessons can only be received after we understand earlier lessons.  Thus, if we refuse to learn a lesson that God is trying to teach us, we can stop all of our own spiritual growth.

Why this concept is critical to proper understanding of scripture.

When you start from a single source (Bible) and end up at two different results, you have two different procedures which took you to the two results, or your procedure has a variable which changed and is critical in determining the result.  We find this type of variable in the procedure which produces our many applications, but can not have such a variable within a procedure which produces the single interpretation.  Further, you can not get the one result while following the procedure that leads to a different result.  That is: you can not get the single interpretation while following the procedure that produces many applications.

As we have already seen we get the single interpretation only if we limit our procedure to our never-changing God and what He literally wrote in His Word.  We get our many applications be adding in any consideration of men or circumstances.  Men and circumstances are variable les which allow much change and many different results.

The main job that preachers have is to produce many applications and show people how to apply the word of God to their life.  The main problem that most preachers have, with Hermeneutics, is that they are using the way  to study their Bible for messages and expect to get the single interpretation instead of one of several applications.  That is: they have been taught to include the factors that change from one person to another and to consider circumstances found within the Bible.  As already pointed out, including these considerations can produce the many applications but can not produce the single interpretation.  Thus, this is a consideration that preachers have to keep in mind.

Proverbs 24:3-4 says Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  Here we see that wisdom,  understanding  and knowledge  each produce different results.  There are many well-known preachers who had the wisdom  required to build a house (ministry).  However, the fact that it did not last more than one generation past their death, and often less time than that, shows that the lacked the understanding  that was required to make their ministry last (be established).  This class was created to give the 'man of God' the understanding  that is required if their ministry is to last (be established).  Having provided that, we will now lightly deal with what is required to build a house (ministry)  on top of that foundation.  This is where most Hermeneutics classes start.  Having said that and shown the difference between this class and most, it is recognized that most people will get more of what follows from another Hermeneutics Class.  However, remember to never allow these methods to move you off of God's foundation.

There is one more important point that needs to be considered before we get into the rest of this lesson.  Several young preachers have said that the preacher needs to understand the Bible in order to preach because his message is based upon the Bible.  This is true.  However, they also implied that this makes them an expert on interpreting the Bible, which is false.  All we have to do is consider all of the 'faiths' which claim to be Christian  and claim to have the correct interpretation of the Bible.  It is obviously impossible for each of these 'faiths' to have the single correct interpretation of the Bible when they disagree so much.  Further, people who belong to these different 'faiths' all believe that they are following a good godly preacher who interprets the Bible correctly.  Therefore, without argument we must conclude that there are preachers who are very good at preaching and applying the word of God while also being able to make significant errors in the interpretation of God's Word.

Regardless of whether we do our own interpretation or get it from someone else, we needs to remember that that there are many good godly preachers who provide many excellent applications of the Bible while not being expert in interpretation.  We can follow these men in their application while also being very careful about any interpretation provided by these people.  The fact is that it takes a lot of time to be good at application of the word of God and it also takes a lot of time to be good at the interpretation of the word of God.  As has been pointed out several times, these are two different methods of using the word of God.  It is advisable to question a claim that a person is expert in both methods because we all have a limited amount of time and most pastors (experts in application) have other responsibilities demanding part of their time.  Regardless of that, being a preacher, or being at applying the word of God, does not automatically and magically make a person and expert in interpretation of the word of God.



2. Progressive revelation applied to a particular part of scripture.

We can get into doctrinal error by doing the right thing the wrong way or at the wrong time.  These questions are important to proper interpretation once we are past the foundational literal interpretation of what is said.  These questions are also critical to the proper application of the word of God in peoples' lives.  That is: these questions are to be used when we start to look at what is said with a consideration of how to apply the Bible to lives.  These questions must be applied the right way and at the right time.  In particular, the answers to can not change the literal interpretation that we should have already found before applying these questions.  In the Biblical analogy of a building, what God literally said is part of the foundation.  These questions help us to build the various levels of the building (ministry) that is built upon the true foundation (literal interpretation).

• 'Who':  There are at least 3beings involved in this question.  Each time a passage is read, for understanding and interpretation, we should be seeking new information about each.  Many people have reported God showing them something new within a familiar verse.  2Peter 1:21 tells us For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.  This is like you using a pen and moving  it to write your name.  Yes, the pen that you use might be important but not as important as who moved  the pen and not as important as the message.  The most important 'Who' to remember is God as the author of His Word.  This is a critical distinction to always keep in mind.  Forgetting it is the first step towards a sin of pride and judgment by God.  After all, if the preacher can lift up the human writer, then they are justified in feeling that they, as the preacher, are much more important than the people in the pew.
  
  The man that God used is far less important than the fact that God was the true author of the Bible.  The argument about if Paul wrote Hebrews, or if it was someone else, distracts from people looking at the message from God.  Having said that, I must recognize that different holy men  had different experiences, concerns and styles of expression that affected what they wrote and how they wrote.  For example, we see Paul presenting general principals of doctrine at the start of his epistles and presenting the application at the end.  Therefore, someone saying that a general principal of doctrine comes from the end of a Pauline epistle should raise questions.  Likewise, John pretty much presents a spiritual view of things.  Therefore, a claim that something from John has no spiritual significance should be questioned.
  
  Having said that, we must also recognize that in some parts of the Bible we have God reporting what another being, like Satan, said.  While God's report is true, that does not mean that the statement from this other being is correct.  Thus, the Bible correctly reports the lie of Satan and only a foolish person would believe that God wants us to believe his lie.  (Yes, I have met more than one such fool.)  However, in addition to Satan we have the Bible reporting what other people said and we need to keep in mind that humans make errors.  Thus, if a man is being used to write God's Word then it is reliable.  However, if the context makes it clear that the Bible is reporting the words of a man then we need to verify what is said with other parts of the Bible before using the words of that person as doctrine.  For an example, think of Job's three friends and all that the Bible reports that they said.  Their arguments are used by many religious person while they do not match the doctrine of the Bible.
  
  In addition, to those considerations, we must also recognize that God had certain men include their name for a reason that went beyond giving them recognition.  However, this reason becomes important at a 'higher level of revelation' and can not be used to change what was revealed at a 'lower level of revelation'.  Thus, the fact that Luke was a physician helps us to understand that his lineage is the physical lineage of Jesus which comes through Mary.  Further, understanding some things of culture helps us to understand that, within the Jewish culture, the father-in-law of a married person was called their 'father' after the marriage and that women are often dropped from Jewish lists of lineage with their husband's name used instead.  Thus we do not see the name Mary but see being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.  Heli  was the physical father of Mary.  Moving on, the fact that Matthew was a tax collector, and an employee of the government, helps us to understand his concern for the things of government.  Thus, his lineage is the legal (government) version which comes through Joseph.
  
  Thus we see that there is no conflict between these two different lineage.  However, the person who has God's foundation  would have concluded that the claimed conflict is due to an error in the understanding of men and not in God's perfect Word.  The person who is on a different foundation is subject to the temptation of pride and the belief that something found at a 'higher level of revelation' can prove that there is an error in the 'lower level of revelation', which is the literal interpretation.  This so-called conflict only occurs when we go beyond what is literally written in each section and compare two different sections while being ignorant of relative facts even while assuming that you have all of the facts required to make a proper judgment.  This level of study is beyond most believers and the simplest thing for them to do is to admit their ignorance ('lack of knowledge') and trust the Bible to be correct even if they can't explain it.  God's truth is not limited to what we can currently understand and explain.  However, if a person is going to claim to do this level of study then they must be responsible enough to do all of the research required for this level of study.  Unfortunately, many people are tempted by pride to claim to be an 'expert' on a subject that they personally did not study but they are actually using the results from someone else.  This is a fraudulent claim of being an 'expert'.
  
  The 'Who was this written to' can be very important.  A parent of many children makes a promise to all of his children one way and a promise to a single child another way.  A promise to one child can not be claimed by another child, although, that other child can ask for something similar.  So, people teach doctrinal error when they claim that 'All of the promises in the book are mine'.  This error comes from the people who claim that God replaced the Jews with the church.  However, if God did that to the Jews for any reason, then He can do the same to us and no promise found in the Bible is reliable because the reliability of a promise is always based upon the reliability of the being giving the promise.  This claim is an attack on the character of God and the child of God needs to resist it and fight against it.
  
  Within the Bible we have many stories where people are named.  These names are important but do not change the basic story which is literally presented.  These names help us to get a 'greater understanding' or 'higher level of revelation', which is often necessary for the application of the passage even if it is not required for basic understanding.  For example, we read about the prophet telling king David a story about a man taking his neighbor's lamb.  What is literally read is the story given by the prophet.  When we consider that this story was given to a king, and pay attention to the indirect way that God's messenger delivered God's message to a powerful person, we learn an application of how to approach a powerful person with a message that they don't want to hear.  However, that application is based upon understanding what was literally said and seeing how the prophet used what was literally said to get the king to consider God's true message.  Thus, the application is based upon the proper interpretation and does not change it.
  
  Many people, especially preachers, talk about the struggle to read through all of the names which are listed in one part of the Old Testament.  At one point I started studying some of those names and found out that certain types of sins run in families.  For example, most of the descendants of king David had a problem lusting women.  Other men inherited the same sin problems that their fathers had.  Thus, we see one use for these names even though most people will not do the level of study that uses these names that way.  However, these names are useful in other ways.  One way to use them is to find different sections of the Bible that mention these names and that will indicate different things which were happening at the same time.  (However, you need to be careful to separate what the Bible says about two different people with the same name.)  This additional knowledge will sometimes help us understand why something happened like it did.  These names are also useful to teach us about how someone lived and learned the spiritual lessons that they were given.  The testimony  of Bible characters can help us learn how to handle problems of life.  However, all of these things teach us the application of God's Word and can never change the basic interpretation of what was literally said.  When people make that claim, they are in error.
  
  One last note about 'Who' within the Bible.  The name of Jesus  occurs 983times with 981 being 'the Son of God in human flesh' and two times being for other men.  As has already been taught, ignoring those last two occurrences is what led to the doctrine of true Biblical antichrists.  Further, it tells us that the true definition of Jesus  is 'the name of a literal physical man' and lets us know that the Bible teaches us the doctrine of the humanity of the Son of God by using the name of Jesus.  Further, the study of Christ  and of Lord  revealed that these are not names but roles like 'husband' is a role.  Thus, the study of 'Who' and of names is a very important study in the Bible but one that requires much more diligence than most people are willing to give.  Beware of 'experts' who did not do their own study but are claiming credit for the work of someone else.  Also, realize that this type of study is a higher-level of revelation and can not be found just reading the literal level of the Bible.  It also can not change what is said at the literal level of the Bible.



• 'What':  This is probably the more important question of those listed here other than recognizing that God is the main 'Who' within the Bible.  This is the main question of interpretation and of application.  However, we need to remember progressive revelation as we consider this question.  God progressively reveals more to us as we keep an open mind and as we apply what He has already revealed to us.  God is going to reveal the basic meaning of a sentence in the literal translation.  We already saw that we get additional revelation when we study the Bible for the Biblical definitions of words.  We also saw how punctuation makes a difference in how we understand what God literally wrote.  Now we are seeing additional methods to increase our understanding and provide the many applications that are preached.  Thus, the literal interpretation is only the first level of understanding 'What' God said.
  
  The questions presented here, and the answers to them, can provide further revelation beyond the initial literal interpretation.  There are also secondary questions of 'What' like 'What is the application that I can apply this interpretation to?'  Before you can apply a Biblically correct application, you have to be sure to at least consider all of the relevant secondary meanings which are found by also answering all of the questions posed within this section.  People who did the homework for this class should have experienced receiving greater revelation as they applied the study methods taught here.  Thus, 'What' they understood on the first reading and 'What', they understood after further study should be different for some parts of their study.  If not, then the student rejected God's correction and further revelation.
  
  In addition, context is one of the main considerations when we answer the question of 'What'.  Often, what is done or said is in response to what came before or is in support of what will be said or done next.  Ignoring the question of context is the main source of a wrong answer to the question of 'What'.  If you look at the summary section at the start of the Book Study on Romans, you will see several connecting words listed there, such as the word and.  That section explains the role of these words within Romans and how people get into doctrinal error because they overlook these connecting words as well as following the practice of looking at a few verses there without considering their context within the chapter and their context within the entire book.
  
  The facts are that we are human, sinful, have been taught to use the wisdom of man / this world,  and other things which will lead to our initial 'understanding' being something different than what God actually wrote.  That is one reason why we should read a section of the Bible out loud when we first start to study it.  The passages which we stumble over, as we read out loud, show us where there is a conflict between different parts of our brain.  One part of our brain tells us what to expect the passage to say.  Another part of our brain tells us what our eyes are literally reading.  When the two parts disagree we have a preconceived notion about the passage that disagrees with what is literally said.  Thus, we need correction from God.
  
  Further, we have all been taught to use the word definitions that come from men.  We saw how that using God's definitions changes what we believe the Bible says with the simplest example being God's use of words like ye,  thee,  thou  and others to tell us about our personal relationship with God.  Thus, what the Bible says does not change but what we understand that the Bible says changes as we mature spiritually and as we apply more accurate study methods when we study the Bible.
  
  Please note: this question is very important to the application of the word of God, in addition to the interpretation.  In particular, the answer to this question, when considered with the answers of these other questions, teaches us the lessons that God wants us to apply to our lives and to the lives of people that we minister to.  Thus, the answers to this question and to other questions are very important to the preacher but they can never change the basic interpretation.



• 'When':  This is the basic question of history.  The problem is that history is often taught using the wrong emphasis.  History teachers like to test on facts like names, dates and places.  While this makes testing easier for the teacher, it does not deal with the main questions of history.  Because of this wrong way of teaching history, people have been taught to look at history the wrong way.  People want to get dates in an absolute value like we use today.  However, the Bible uses relative dates like we see in Isaiah 6:1.  This shows us that the real value of dates is in determining when something in one part of the Bible occurred in relationship to another event.  People arguing if some book of the Bible was written in 59AD or in 60 as distracts from people studying the message of the Bible.  Yes, it might be important to know if someone had access to one book when they received another.  However, we can get that answer with relative dates of the Bible and do not need to argue about absolute dates like 59AD.
  
  Assuming that someone had access to some book before another was written, and basing that assumption on dates that come from man outside of the Bible is foolish.  Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time in a third-world country; or done any extensive travel in places where it is done by boat or animal or foot; knows how ridiculous it is to assume that the time required for communication and delivery of items comes anywhere near what we see in the first-world countries of today.  Yes, the one book may have existed but that does mean everyone had access to it.  Therefore, you have problems with any doctrine that is based upon an argument that people had one book before they had another unless the Bible literally tells us such of a thing happened such we know that as 1Timothy was sent before 2Timothy.  Thus, people look at the wrong thing and make invalid assumptions when they concentrate on absolute dates like we use today.  We need to use relative dates, just like the Bible does.



• 'Where':  This question can be important in understanding non-primary levels of revelation.  At the primary level of interpretation it is not important unless the place is literally named.  Even when the place is literally named, having that name is usually not relevant to the initial literal interpretation of the passage.  There is always a purpose why the place was named but that purpose is often not clear when we are just reading the immediate context of the passage.  Often you will have to search the context of all other verses in the Bible where the place is named in order to know why it is important.  Usually we need to do this search to see what is common about things that occur there or what is common about the people from that place.
  
  So, for example, we see that people from Asia  were at Pentecost (Acts 2:9).  We also see that these people were some who were disputing with Stephen  (Acts 6:9).  Then in Acts 19:8-11  we read that many from this region were (again) disputing  in spite of the fact that God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.  We also see that these people were involved in starting the riot that caused Paul to be arrested and beheaded.  We also read in Revelation 1:11  that the churches mentioned there were all in Asia.  Further, the other references to Asia,  all show that this area is a place of continuous disputing.
  
  Once we understand this, we can get a better (secondary level) understanding as to why Acts 16:6  says Paul and company were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia.  At our first (literal) level of revelation we see that they could not go there.  Many people never understand why but can accept the literal translation without knowing more.  Those people who use the 'Where' to study out what these people were like will learn that this area was a constant source of doctrinal disputing.  That lets them understand the 'Why' of Acts 16:6.  From this additional revelation the pastor can build an application about our general attitude, and the general attitude of our church, affecting the spiritual gifts and blessings that God is willing to give.  But, if people reject the basic literal translation and start trying to change what God said, they will never learn this secondary revelation.
  
  Now compare what we learned about Asia  to what the Bible says about Macedonia.  Acts 16:9 says And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.  We can also learn that Philippi...is the chief city of that part of Macedonia  and Paul's letter to that city is known as the only Pauline epistle without correction of doctrinal error.  We also see that, although these people were very poor, they supplied missionaries who traveled with Paul's group with a primary function of working and providing physical and financial support to the missionaries who were focused upon giving the Gospel to people (2Corinthians 11:9).
  
  In 2Corinthians 8:1-2  we read Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.  As we search more about this area and the people and churches that were there we constantly see a people who were persecuted by man and blessed by God.  Thus, we can understand the 'Why' of Acts 16:9 and Paul's vision.
  
  Just like we saw above, this secondary level of revelation does not change the literal meaning of that vision.  Neither does it change the Biblically correct applications that many preachers make from the vision,  even when they don't realize this secondary level of revelation.  Therefore, the true Biblical answer to this question can be very important in providing secondary levels of interpretation and in providing applications, but the lack of this answer does not stop us from receiving the basic literal interpretation.
  
  Now look at how often the Bible, especially the Old Testament, mentions Jerusalem.  This city is used to symbolically represent the place where God meets His people.  People went there to meet God.  Thus, it is more important for the symbolic meaning than for being a physical place.
  
  In the Old Testament places were more important than in the New Testament.  In the New Testament we have the indwelling Holy Spirit.  In the Old Testament they had a more physically oriented religion because most of the people were too spiritually immature to handle the meat of the Word.  We know about the most important Old Testament places through religious tradition.  However, we need to be more careful to verify claims about other Old Testament places and New Testament places because, after religion gets us to trust it and not verify religious claims, the devil gets religion to slowly introduce error until we are believing a significant error.  Therefore, all of the places require personal study beyond the basic literal meaning.  While this can give us very important doctrine at a secondary level of revelation, it does not change the basic literal meaning.
  
  The question of 'Where' can be important in understanding non-primary levels of revelation.  At the primary level of interpretation it is not important unless the place is literally named.  Then, the context can make it clear that there is a purpose why the place was named but you will usually have to search the context and other related parts of the Bible the know why a place is named.  Quite often the Bible names a place so that we can connect different events that are reported in the Bible and see trends repeated.  However, this relating different events within the Bible is done after we read and understand the literal statements. 



• 'Why':  This is one of the most significant questions for applying the lessons of the Bible but it is also one that is most often answered wrongly and that wrong answer leads to doctrinal error.  The doctrinal error which comes from a wrong answer to this question often leads to God's people suffering the judgment of God which often includes sickness and death.  Look at 1Corinthians 10.  The chapter starts out telling us about how God killed hundreds of thousands of His people in the wilderness.  It warns us that they were examples  for us and warns us of God's judgment coming on His people of today who do the same sins.  It then names several sample sins such as lust after evil things,  be ye idolaters, (when they) sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play,  commit fornication,  tempt Christ,  and murmured.
  
  When we look at the true Biblical definitions of these sins we see them happening a lot in churches of today.  We also see that the main prayer request in American churches is because of sickness and death.  We also hear many people asking 'Why do bad things happen to good people?'  Obviously, they do not have the correct answer to this question of 'Why'.  If they had the correct answer from just 1Corinthians 10, they would understand that they do not meet the Biblical requirement to be considered good.  If properly taught, they would not ask the question that they are asking.
  
  Now return to the Book Study of 1Corinthians and look at the notes for all of the sentences of Chapter 10.  You should see that what is required to fully answer this question of 'Why' took a whole lot more than just getting the literal meaning of the chapter.  First, the places that Paul references in the Old Testament do not come with a Bible address.  Someone had to search the Old Testament to supply the links that are within those notes.  Further, the words used within this chapter had to be Biblically defined and those definitions often do not match what most people think is the definition.  Neither do those definitions match men's dictionaries.  However, properly answering this question of 'Why', to the full extent, requires having the proper Biblical definitions of Biblical words.  Yes, we can get the surface level answer to this question of 'Why' strictly by using the literal interpretation of this chapter.  However, the number of people who claim to be saved and still do these sins and receive the judgment warned of here and still ask 'Why', shows that either God's answer is not preached or the people do not believe God's answer.
  
  Thus, we often can answer this question of 'Why' with just the literal interpretation, but that answer will usually be shallow and not sufficient to really get God's people to to do right.  This question is probably the main question that the preacher has to pray over and answer correctly.  Getting the correct answer to this question definitely makes a major difference in the lives of God's people.  However, it requires a lot of prayer and study by the preacher with a strong faith in Hebrews 11:6 (God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him).
  
  
• 'How':  Errors in finding the answer to this question is what leads to people claiming that something is a miracle, when it is not, and to people denying true miracles.  Errors in finding the answer to this question also results in frustration because people are sure they did what was required to receive a blessing from God, but did not receive it.  Most important: errors in finding the answer to this question, when applied to salvation, results in spending eternity in the lake of fire.
  
  God has several places where He tells exactly 'How' we are to do something.   Unfortunately, religious people do not obey and it is often because they do not know God's procedure and have been lied to about it or know nothing about God's procedure.  In addition, most people don't know how to find and follow God's procedures.  Thus, when the Bible says For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved,  many believe the lie that this means 'Say a prayer to Jesus'.  However, when God gives a procedure He expects us to follow it exactly.  This is probably one of the most important lessons from this class.  For example, very few other classes will tell you that semi-colons are used in the Bible to show steps in a procedure.  Also, many people ignore the order that God put in His Word that is seen by paying attention to the order of chapters, sentences, phrases and words.  Often God gives us steps of a procedure within the order found in chapters, sentences, phrases and words.  One simple example is found in Luke 11:1-4 and explained in the Personal Application Document.  There we find that one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray  and Jesus answered by telling them 'How' to pray.  If we don't know 'How' to pray then we will not pray God's way and we will not get our prayers answered.  As a result of no answers, even full time workers have a hard time praying.  They knew that they needed to pray but were having a hard time of it.  Therefore they asked teach us to pray.  However, Jesus answered with what they really needed, which was to teach them 'How' to pray
  
  In addition, to God telling us 'How' to do things, God also tells us 'How' He does things.  For example, God is always righteous.  Therefore, God will never bless (do) anything that is unrighteous nor that is done in an unrighteous way nor anything that has anything unrighteous associated with it.  Neither will God use any unrighteous method to do anything.  Thus, we can know that anything that has any part that is unrighteous is not of God but is of the devil.  Therefore, is critical for us to understand 'How' God does things if we want to avoid confusing what is done by God with what is done by a devil.
  
  Moving on, we also see that 'How' God works is totally and obviously different from how man and devils do things.  Thus, by looking at 'How' something was done we can separate the different authors.  This is important because people like to blame God for things that He did not do and they like to deny that God did some of the things that He did do.  A simple example is the claim or denial of miracles.  Men claim that God does miracles when it is really a trick done by man or it was done by a devil.  Men also try to find ways to deny the miracles of the Bible.  For example, since men have fixed eye problems with surgery, they try to claim that the surgeon did the same as Jesus did when He healed the man that was born blind.
  
  Therefore, one of the main purposes for answering this question is to tell who is the true author of an action.  This type of answer is only slightly less important than knowing how to do what God tells us to do.



• 'God's Order':  The order that God puts things within the Bible, within a book, a chapter and even within a sentence makes a major difference in the understanding that we get from the Bible.
  
  As we saw with our lesson on punctuation, God uses semi-colons to specify steps in a procedure.  God literally specifies the order that things are to be done when He uses semi-colons.  However, God also specifies order in all of His Word. He not only says let all things be done decently and in order,  but He does as He commands us to do.  In the Book Study on Romans we saw repeatedly that the proper interpretation of sentences was determined by what came before it and what it had to support which was said after the sentence.  We also saw God using buildings as an example and we saw how doctrine in one chapter of Romans had to be presented before the doctrine in later chapters could be understood properly.  This is just like having to build one level of a building before you can build higher levels.
  
  We can find many examples of people using Romans to support doctrinal error.  However, to the best of my knowledge, each of those errors can be answered by the context of Romans, especially if we consider the limits imposed by the doctrine of earlier chapters.  One of the things that new people often miss is the order that God put things into.  They try to do what the Bible says and don't get expected results and don't understand why.  Like with the solution to many puzzles, you have to get the order correct to be able to find the correct solution.



• 'Figures of speech':  The Bible tells us when it uses figures of speech.  In some cases it literally says so like in Romans 5:14 Where we are told that we were told an even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression  with similitude  being a figure of speech.  In other places the context makes it clear that the Bible is using a figure of speech.  You can tell just like you tell in any other book.  Just don't be like the fools who insist upon taking everything literally even when the context makes it clear that you are reading a figure of speech.  We also want to avoid claiming that something sis a figure of speech when it is to be taken literally.  For example, one religion insists that fallen angels  are not angels.  Anyone reading this must have already had plenty of classes on how to read English.  God wrote His Word to reveal Himself to His people.  However, He also gave us a brain and expects us to use it.  So use your brain and what you have been taught about reading English.  Please also consult an English grammar text to learn more about 'Figures of speech'.



• 'Parables':  We find forms of the word parable  65times in 63verses of the Bible.  Webster's 1828 defines parable  as: 'n. L. parabola; Gr. to throw forward or against, to compare to or against; as in confero, collatum, to set together, or one thing with another. A fable or allegorical relation or representation of something real in life or nature, from which a moral is drawn for instruction; such as the parable of the trees choosing a king, Judges 9.; the parable of the poor man and his lamb. 2 Sam. 12.; the parable of the ten virgins, Matt.25.
  PAR'ABLE, v.t. To represent by fiction or fable.'
  
  There are three critical truths in this definition: the story told is not true; the real life events represented by the parable  are true; and the story is presented as a 'fable or allegorical representation'.  In other words, the language of the parable  must contain words which make it obvious that a figure of speech is being used.  In Numbers 24:17 we read a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.  It should be obvious that Star  Sceptre  are symbolic and not literal, which makes this a parable,  as the context literally says it is.
  
  In Matthew 13 we read 'the Parables of the Sower'.  After telling the story, Jesus says Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,  and provides not further explanation at that time.  Thus the context makes it clear that there is another lesson beyond what was literally said.  Even though this could be taken literally, the context makes it clear that it should not be taken literally.
  
  In Luke 16:19-31 we read about Lazarus and the rich man dying.  Neither the story itself nor the context support a claim that the lesson is not what was literally said.  Neither do we have figures of speech and symbolism involved.  Therefore, this is not a parable  but is a true event, regardless of what some people will claim.
  
  With parables  we have doctrinal errors taught.  The proper thing to do is what we do with all other parts of the Bible where people teach doctrinal error.  Prayerfully and diligently study every place that the Bible literally says is a parable.  Let God's Holy Spirit teach you what a parable  truly is according to what is in the Bible.  Find what is common for every section that the Bible says is a parable  and use that criteria and nothing more.  Until you have personally done that, do not claim that anything is a parable  unless the Bible literally says it is.  Doing otherwise is what leads people to claim to have 'hidden knowledge' and 'hidden meanings' for what the Bible wants us to take literally.  This error leads people to reject what God literally says and is one of the first steps to becoming a 'Bible corrector'.



• 'Symbolism':  This is a separate complex area of study that I am not qualified to teach.  Having said that, I must recognize that there are a lot of people who teach error in this area, especially to spiritually immature audiences.  Others who claim to be 'experts' are either lying representatives of the devil, lost and prideful fools, or saved fools who are making their claim based upon having read what some other liar or fool claimed.  Errors in 'Symbolism' is one of the main sources of false 'prophecies'.
  
  One of the main problems in using 'Symbolism' is that it is not always consistent, or at least does not always seem to be consistent.  The snake or serpent often represent the source of sin, but the serpent on the brass cross that Moses made represented salvation from sin.  Yes, the Son of God was made...to be sin for us  (2Corinthians 5:21) on the cross, but this connection is not obvious and, therefore, missed by most people.  In addition, to these problems, we have things like Egypt.  Egypt is often used to represent the world symbolically, but not always.  While we can draw lessons by looking to what happened to God's people who went to Egypt, it is easy to draw the wrong conclusion based upon some instances such as when Jeremiah went to Egypt.  Thus, this is an area that is easy to get wrong and an error in using 'Symbolism' can have significantly bad results.
  
  While I use 'Symbolism' in interpretation that I do, I am not good enough to tell others how to do it.  The main rules that I use is to keep to what the Bible literally says symbolically represents something else, and keep in mind that it might not do so all of the time.  In addition, with extreme care and an extremely narrow selective process, I will accept the teaching of symbolic representation from some well experienced and knowledgeable preachers.  While I know that there must be more involved, I confess ignorance ('lack of knowledge') and leave the reader to find more help elsewhere.



• 'Cultural Influences':  This can be very important, especially when we are dealing with something that the Bible speaks about and which is also in our culture, but which our culture does differently.  Through ignorance ('lack of knowledge'), people apply what they know about the event in their own culture and draw wrong conclusions because they are not adjusting for cultural differences.  The simplest example that I can give is the many Word Studies, such as on Adultery.  Most people, including most religious people, get wrong doctrine about adultery  because they are using the definition from man and are ignorant about the difference from God's definition.  Likewise, when people apply their own cultural practices and are ignorant of Biblical cultural influences, they can draw wrong conclusions and bad doctrine.
  
  Take the arguments about wine.  When you water down wine enough with water, it doesn't get you drunk but does kill germs in the water.  We hear all of the time today that we shouldn't drink the water in strange places because it can make us sick.  People have taken an accepted way of killing germs that was used in Bible lands and Bible times and pervereted it as an excuse to get drunk.  People even take 1Timothy 5:23 (Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.)  completely out of context and use it for an excuse to get drunk.  Because of people justifying drunks, or because people are afraid that they will be accused of justifying drunks, we can no longer use this item wisely and for necessary health purposes.  Many people get sick because of bacteria in strange water when it could be prevented without the person getting even tipsy.  Also, people suffer constantly with problems like Timothy had, and in places where they can not get other medicine, because of drunks.
  
  The fact is that there are very few places where people can not get other medicine, but many places where people can not afford the alternative medicine.  It is also true that most drugs used for medicine will cause problems if taken by a person who does not have the medical condition which requires that medicine.  If we considered the conditions and cultures of Bible times when we deal with these types of perversions of God's Word (justifying drunks, etc), then we can tell people why the Bible does not justify sin in spite of what Bible preventers say.  However, the fact is that if a person is Biblically wise and using God's way,  then they will apply precepts  (eternal truths which do not change with conditions) and know that the Bible can not be saying what people claim that it is saying.  Even when they can not say what is right, the wise person will know when a claimed interpretation is wrong.  Thus, one of the uses for 'Cultural Influences' is to correct doctrinal error that is accepted by fools but rejected by the Biblically wise.
  
  Another use of 'Cultural Influences' is to get a better secondary level of revelation.  From this increased understanding we can draw applications.  Thus, we can find a way to purify water if nothing else is available.  (Think about boiling water in a desert with no fuel available and a need for cool water.)  Also, we can find a possible medicine for stomach problems which cause often infirmities.  While there are other things in the Bible that we can better understand by considering 'Cultural Influences', I know of nothing in the Bible where 'Cultural Influences' have a significant doctrinal application beyond correcting fools.



• 'Greek and another tongue':  God does use other languages.  We've covered that in earlier classes.  The problem is that people use these other languages  at the wrong time and with the wrong emphasis and for the wrong reason.  As we covered, these other languages  are not to be considered until after getting the complete meaning from the basic language of the Bible that you use to show people how to get saved.  Then, the other languages  only provides an application and not the interpretation, unless you could not get the interpretation from the basic language.
  
  The problem is that people have misused another tongue  (specifically the Greek of the Bible) and have taught people that misuse is doctrinally correct.  This has been going on for over 100 years.  Do an internet search of 'chinglish' and realize that the computer programs which produced those examples were far more intelligent in language translation than almost all so-called 'Greek scholars' of today.
  
  In spite of all of the evidence we find people everywhere who want to know what others can tell them from 'the Greek' and are absolutely convinced that 'the Greek' is more reliable than the language that God used to save them.  This error is one of the basic reasons that so many people feel that they can correct their Bible, can claim that there are 'problem verses' and is the basis of so many different 'faiths' which claim to be Christian  in spite of the fact that the Bible says we are to have one faith.
  
  With so much rampant doctrinal error and the coming judgment of God due to that error, the only safe thing to do is to avoid anything to do with 'Greek and another tongue', unless avoidance is completely impossible.  Then, only use 'Greek and another tongue' for applications of God's Word and not for interpretation.  However, if you are going to use 'Greek and another tongue' more often than what is recommended, then please restrict your usage to applications and not interpretation.  This advice is to help you personally avoiding the judgment of God for misrepresenting His Word.  Please also be aware that the minimum that can be correctly interpreted is a full sentence, not just a single word, and even then the full context and other things must be considered if you do not want your God to judge you for following the method used by Satan when he tempted Jesus.

Bottom line:  We only get God's promised blessings when we meet God's requirements for getting those blessings.  Many people criticize the 'Name it and Claim it' crowd, but then do the same thing for blessings which they want to have but don't want to do what God requires us to do in order to receive those blessings.  Even when they do some religious thing, or fulfill part of what God requires, they still don't receive God's blessings because they came short of the glory of God.  When this happens, many people accept a substitute blessing from a devil.  They then destroy their own credibility by claiming to have something that they really don't have because, at some level, people know that their claim is false.  They destroy God's credibility by claiming that others can have the blessings of the Bible if those people submit to religious rules which disagree with what God literally says or which use a different way  than God uses.  When people don't receive the promised blessings, they blame God instead of admitting their own error.

Please don't destroy God's credibility or your own.  Do not claim something to be a Biblical doctrinal truth until after you have searched the Bible itself, while receiving guidance from God's Holy Spirit, and met God's requirements to prove  your doctrine.  Claim it as your own belief but not a Bible doctrine if you have not done all that God requires in order to prove  the doctrine.

Home