Article: How to Interpret the Bible Yourself, #1
“That’s just your interpretation,” is a common quip when talking to people about the Bible. As one of the most ancient documents in existence, it’s said that the volume of interpretation has made the Bible impossible to interpret. God thinks differently. God clearly says to the readers of the Bible “let the reader understand” (Matthew 24:15). The Bible according to God is meant to be understood.
Now, some things in Scripture are harder than others to understand – the apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:16 “There are some things in [Scripture] that are hard to understand.” And this ought to be expected of a document written by an eternal being – that is, if the Bible is truly God’s Word, then we ought to expect it to have God’s character, which is ultimately beyond our creaturely comprehension. That is, like our inability to grasp everything in God, we will not grasp everything in Scripture, some things are mysterious; however, like our ability to truly know God, we can truly know a great deal, because God has revealed himself that we might know him. Deuteronomy 29:29 says it this way, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”
So, the first thing we ought to know to interpret the Bible ourselves is this: we can interpret the Bible and understand what it says. God even tells us the Bible belongs not merely to the learned people, but to illiterate children in that same passage in Deuteronomy 29:29.
God does not prevent us from coming to Scripture – on the contrary, he praises those who do come to Scripture and read it! Acts 17 speaks of the Berean Jews, who – instead of merely hearing other people speak about Scripture – read and interpreted Scripture for themselves. And how does God regard these people? Acts 17:11 tells us: “These Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica… they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
Therefore, do not be discouraged by the dust people stir up around the Bible as they “twist to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16) inherently clear things. But rather, be bold and prayerfully act upon what god has taught in his Word – even if some places are harder to understand, his word is understandable, especially to the one who “examin[es] the Scriptures daily to see if these things [are] so.” Let us hear what Scripture says, not what talking heads tell us Scripture says – For God is clear, even when man is not.