GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 16

liveinthelightofourlord November 16, 2023 Leave a Comment

GOD’S WORD FOR NOVEMBER 16 ~ ~ Psalm 119:165 ~ ~ “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.”

From the book, How to Read the Bible by Dr. Michael Youssef

(Eight principles for handling God’s entire Word)

Ask the Holy spirit to open your understanding and real His Truth.

As you read, ask the Holy Spirit to guide your reading just as He guided the writing of the Bible. It is impossible to accurately understand God’s Word without the illumination of God’s spirit. Filtering the Bible through our human intellect invites misunderstanding. As Paul told Timothy, “Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.” (2 Timothy 2:7)

In my own human fallibility, I am prone to misunderstand and misinterpret God’s Word. So whenever I open the Bible and study God’s truth, I begin with an earnest prayer: “Holy Spirit, open my eyes that I may see wonderful truth from the Bible. Illuminate my mind, so that I can discover the deep meaning You have for me in Your word.

Avoid Proof Texting.

What is proof texting? It means taking short passages of Scripture, sometimes a single verse, and giving it a “spin” or interpretation – usually different than the writer intended—to support a particular belief or doctrine. I often say, “Put the text in its context.” When you quote a Biblical text out of its context and offer it as proof that the Bible supports your position, that’s proof texting. Instead of obeying God’s Word, you are twisting Scripture to make it serve your purpose.

Here is an example: the Apostle Paul wrote,

“but (God) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I have heard people quote this verse out of context and apply it to moral weaknesses. They say, “I used to struggle against the temptation sexual sin or substance abuse, or uncontrolled anger. But then I read that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. So I don’t need to struggle against temptation. I will just accept my moral weaknesses.”

Now, it’s obvious from the context that Paul is writing about physical weakness, about a chronic medical condition that would not heal. God told Paul to rely on His grace to endure the suffering he was experiencing. Paul was NOT encouraging people to give in to their moral weaknesses! But this is how some have twisted Paul’s meanings through proof texting, in this and other verses.

Know when to take God’s Word literally or figuratively.

You might say, “I take the entire Bible literally!” But there are several places in Scripture where it would be a serious mistake to do so. There are certain linguistic principles that need to be observed, whether the passage was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. If you don’t understand these principles, you will misunderstand what God is saying to you.

In all Semitic languages – language groups that originated in West Asia and North Africa – there is something known as “Hebraic hyperbole.” It’s the use of extreme, even absurd exaggeration to make a forceful point.

In Matthew 18:9, Jesus uses Hebraic hyperbole when He says, “And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” I know that a lot of Christians struggle with the temptation to sin with their eyes – but I have met very few one-eyed believers. So this is apparently a Bible passage most Christians interpret figuratively, not literally.

Jesus exaggerates to make a strong and important point. If your eye causes you to sin, please don’t blind yourself. Instead, consider unsubscribing from that streaming service with all the immoral content that tempts you. Or ask a close Christian friend to hold you accountable for your internet viewing. Do whatever it takes to remove temptation from your eyes.

There are many ways to flee temptation and keep sinful images out of your mind without literally gouging out an eye. When you read Hebraic hyperbole in the Bible, don’t take it literally – BUT by all means, TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!!!

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Isaiah 50:7 For the Lord God will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Isaiah 58:10

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:

Isaiah 59:19

So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

Ephes 1:19