Rightly Dividing The Word
The world is full of
religious traditions, philosophies, and man's opinions. We each
have our own opinion of what the truth is and what we think God has
said but our opinion may or may not be the same as Gods.
God’s opinion will not change, so if we are to be in agreement with
Him, we must change our mind lest we find ourselves in opposition to
God. The Bible is God’s Word of Truth, but if it is wrongly divided it
is not the truth. We have Word of Truth only to the extent that we
rightly divide. (Continued below)
The wrongly divided word is
everywhere. Verses are scooped out of context and used to prove
doctrines and preconceived ideas. The world is filled with
frustrated Christians that never seem to get answers to their prayers
because they are expecting answers according to a false doctrine or
opinion. God is faithful to do what he said he would
do. But, very few have taken the time to find out what God really
said.
The prevailing thought is that the Bible is
a difficult book and only scholars can understand it. God
provided the bible for you and me in a way that is understandable by
almost anyone who desires to know the truth. There
are a few basic principles that will allow the bible student to rightly
divide the Word of Truth for themselves.
I claim no
ownership of these concepts because they are biblical concepts.
No man owns the words of God. God has given His word freely to
whosoever wills to understand and receive the blessings of
God. God has indeed instructed us to rightly divide
His word: Read along with me in Second Timothy Chapter two, verse
15:
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. (KJV)
The Word of Truth:
Study: spoudaso 4704 to make effort with speed
Workman: ergates 2040 a toiler
Rightly Dividing: orthotomounta - Right
or Straight Cutting
ortho - right or straight + tomounta - cutting
If we are to learn to rightly divide the word of truth:
We
must be willing to unlearn: Religious traditions, philosophies, and
man's opinions because if we come to the word with preconceived
opinions, we read them into the word.
We must be willing to
learn: How to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Let’s talk
about the way the bible has been divided:
Divisions of the Word:
Man's Divisions and God's Divisions
Two Testaments: Old Testament, originals in Hebrew.
New Testament: Originals mostly in Greek.
Only
in the modern versions are the two bound together in one book. The
originals were individual scrolls of papyri or leather and called the
"writings" or "scripts" hence our word "scripture."
Old Testament:
The order and groupings of the books are man's doing not God's. The modern theological grouping of the Old Testament is:
1) The Law
2) Historical Books
3) Poetic Books
4) The Prophets
Jesus' grouping was:
1) The Law
2) The Prophets
3) The Psalms
Luk
24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
psalms, concerning me.
Jesus rightly divided the books according to the old Hebrew grouping. The grouping we now have is man's, not God's.
New Testament:
Has always been grouped:
• 1) The Gospels
• 2) The Acts
• 3) The Pauline Epistles
• 4) The General Epistles
• 5) The Apocalypse
The New Testament was grouped by man according to type and purpose, not chronological order:
The
Gospels: Historical accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Technically the gospels are a part of the Old Testament because the law
of Moses (The Old Covenant) was still in effect.
The Acts: Historical account that provides a time line of the birth and history of the early church.
The
Pauline Epistles: Letters to churches and individuals that are
addressed to and directly relate to the church of our present time
period.
The General Epistle: Letters written to believers of the early acts period. The "mystery" was not yet revealed.
The Apocalypse: Vision of the future in figurative language.
Chapters, Verses and Punctuation:
Original Hebrew:
Marks to show the end of each verse.
First five books divided into 54 sections for reading the law through in a year.
Original Greek:
No division of chapters: Added by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury prior to 1227.
No division of verses: Added by Hugo in 1248, modified by Robert Stephens in 1551.
No punctuation: Added by every editor and translator as they saw fit.
Running Hand – the words were not separated and the text WAS ALL CAPITAL or all small letters.
Chapter Headings, Study Notes: Added by the editors and publishers.
Example: (Isaiah 29, 30 and 1:1)
All
divisions of the text, chapters, verses and punctuation is man made,
not God made. They are good for reference, but not understanding or
rightly dividing the word.
To Whom Written:
It is a
common belief that every part of the Bible is to be interpreted
directly as referring to the church of God, or as pertaining to every
person, at every stage of world history.
While the word is written
for all persons, and for all times, every part is not addressed to all
persons or about all persons in all times. All parts of the Bible
are for our learning, but each part of the Bible is addressed to one of
three groups of people:
The Jews
The Gentiles
The Church of God
1 Corinthians 10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (KJV)
Romans
15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope. (KJV)
We must determine to whom each section of the Bible is addressed.
Time Periods:
The
Bible presents seven distinct divisions of time. We must be
careful to know which time period the scripture is addressed to:
Paradise: Started when God created Adam. (Gen 2:7) Ended when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. (Gen 3:23,24)
Patriarchal Time Period: Started with Adam as the first patriarch. Ended with Moses and the law. (Ex 19:5-25)
Law
Time Period: Started with the giving of the law (ten commandments) to
Moses. (Ex 20:1-17) Ended with the proclamation of the kingdom by John
the Baptist. (Luke 16:16)
Christ Time Period: Started with the
preaching of John the Baptist. Ended the day of Pentecost with
the giving of holy spirit. (Acts 1:7-2:4)
Grace Time Period:
Started with the giving of holy spirit on the day of Pentecost. (Acts
2:4) Will end when Christ returns. (I Thes 4:16)
Appearing
Time Period: Will start with the return of Christ. (I Thes 4:16) and
includes the events prophesied in the book of Revelation. Will end at
the time foretold in Revelation 20:15.
Paradise: Will start at the time prophesied in Revelation 21:1. Will not end.
The words must be correct.
Italics:
In the King James Version, a word in italics signifies that the
translators have inserted the italicized word and it is not in the
original. Other version give you no help in determining the added
words.
Changed Meanings:
Isaiah 1:13 "away with" = tolerate
James 5:1 "Go to" = come now
Luke 17:9 "trow" = imagine
Luke 21:9 "by and by" = immediately
I Thes 4:15 "prevent" = precede
Rom 16:18-19 "Simple" = without gile
Mistranslation:
There are easy to use tools available for the English reader to confirm
the original meaning of the words. If you have access to
the internet many tools are freely supplied. Strong’s
concordance, with it’s Greek and Hebrew dictionary with a numbering
system that has been applied to many other Greek and Hebrew
tools. The Strong’s number system makes it easy to research the
original word meanings without learning Greek or Hebrew.
A
mistranslation of a tiny word like “of “ or “in” can change the meaning
of the sentence and create strange doctrines. If we are to know
the truth we must study to rightly divide the word of
truth. The individual words have to be correct if we are to
get at the truth of the word.
Customs - Figures of Speech - Orientalisms
Keys:
1. The Bible was written in Eastern culture and must be understood in light of this fact.
2. Customs are apparent in the bible and need to be recognized as such when studying the Word.
Luke 10:34-Use of oil and wine for wound cleansing.
Luke 28:13-Smiting the breast as an expression of grief.
3.
Figures of Speech are used extensively in the Bible and are placed
there by God for emphasis. There are over 200 major figures of speech
with hundreds of sub-divisions. For example; Hyperbole or exaggeration,
so called because the expression enlarges or diminishes the statement
made:
Deut 1:28-to express the great height
of the cities,
John12:19- The Lord's enemies expressed indignation
at the vast multitudes which followed him.
4. Orientalisms
include traditions, thoughts, phrases and parables essential to
understanding biblical writings. The so-called contradictions in
the Bible will be solved once the orientalisms are understood.
Matt17:24-27 How Peter got money from a fish's
mouth to pay tribute money.
5.
Christianity was founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ however, he
was an Oriental and spoke and thought as an Oriental. The Bible is the
Word of God but was written in the Orient, by Orientals, to Orientals
of the time. Many figures of speech in the Bible are incorrectly
understood or misunderstood totally by the majority of the Western
mind.
There are over 200 distinct types of figures
of speech with many variations in the bible. The figures of
speech were used in the original languages of Greek and Hebrew.
Some were originally used in Hebrew, quoted in the New Testament Greek
then translated into English. It is no wonder that we find verses
that seem confusing.
Six Basic Keys to Understanding The Bible:
Ask
yourself the following questions each time you read a portion of the
Bible. If these questions are answered properly, you very likely have
the rightly divided word of truth.
1. To whom is it written?
2. What time period is it addressed to?
3. Do I understand the individual words?
4. Does my understanding fit with the context of the verse?
5. Is there an orientalism or figure of speech involved?
6. Unclear verses must be understood in light of clear verses. (God does not contradict Himself)
Let’s
briefly apply these simple principles of rightly dividing the word to a
couple of passages to demonstrate how they clarify the word.
Our first example is Malachi chapter three …
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
1. To whom is it written? The Jews.
2.
What time period is it addressed to? The book of Malachi was
written approximately 450 years before the birth of Christ. He
lived at the same time the prophet Nehemiah did. It’s
called the “old” testament for a reason. It is the old testament
or covenant that was replaced by the new. This is addressed to
Jews that were under the Laws of Moses a few hundred years before Jesus
was born. If we try to drag this into our time period, we negate
the completed work of Christ.
3. Do I understand the individual
words? The English translation seem pretty clear except for the
KJV word ye. Ye is the plural form of you. If you are
reading another English version it is likely instead of ye the verse
uses you. You does not convey the full meaning of the
original. Whoever this verse is addressed to it is more
than any single individual. To find out who the word ye is
referring to we must read the context.
4. Does my understanding fit with the context of the verse?
The context is:
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will
rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits
of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time
in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
5. Is there an orientalism or figure of speech involved?
Yes
several but just one here will suffice for explanation. The word
devourer is a figurative way to say the devil without naming him.
The figure of speech is called metonymy, in which one word is
substituted for another.
6. Unclear verses must be understood in light of clear verses. (God does not contradict Himself)
This
verse is not unclear unless you wrench it out of context and try to
make it fit in another time period. There are many religious
organizations that use this passage as though it has to do with the
body of Christ. It does not.
So we now can read
this passage knowing that it was written to the people of Israel in the
law time period. It is not addressed to us, but it is provided
for our learning and understanding. Now, let’s look at a passage
that is addressed to us in this time period:
Our second example is Ephesians chapter two verse 9.
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
1.
To whom is it written? It is addressed to the faithful in Christ
Jesus; those who have been born of God’s seed. Us!
It’s addressed to all who have been “raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
2. What time period is it addressed to? Our time period, the time of grace.
3. Do I understand the individual words? Yes, the English words are easy to understand.
4. Does my understanding fit with the context of the verse? The content of the verse is:
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph
2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph
2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph
2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
5. Is there an orientalism or figure of speech involved?
Yes, several but for an easy example the word “walked” is used figuratively for our way of living.
This is also the figure of speech metonymy, in which one word is substituted for another.
6. Unclear verses must be understood in light of clear verses. (God does not contradict Himself)
The
world is full of religious traditions, philosophies, and man's
opinions. We each have our own opinion of what the truth is and
what we think God has said but our opinion may or may not be the same
as Gods. God’s opinion will not change, so if we are to be
in agreement with Him, we must change our mind lest we find ourselves
in opposition to God. The Bible is God’s Word of Truth, but if it is
wrongly divided it is not the truth. We have Word of Truth only to the
extent that we rightly divide.
2 Timothy
2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (KJV
God bless you.
Link to 29 minute audio Rightly_dividing_the_Word.mp3
