How to Read the Bible

As we approach the text we should meditate on the fact that God is absolutely Christ-like. This includes that:

• God is good, and only gives good gifts.

• God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness.

• God is Life, and in Him there is no death.

• God is merciful, and His mercy endures forever.

Our interpretation of the Bible must align with the revelation of God through Christ.

When reading the Bible...

We should bear in mind while reading the Bible that:

1. Scripture is not always a revelation of God. It is also a revelation of our own flawed view of God. Those who wrote the Old Testament, still awaited the full revelation of God, which God in Christ revealed to us only after the cross.

2. Not every word is the word of God. The Bible sometimes includes the words of fallible humans, and even words of demons and the devil. We must ask ourselves; who is speaking? And who is he speaking to? And does it contradict the words of Jesus? 3. The written words must submit to the living Word. Any Scripture that claims to be a revelation of God, but does not line up with the revelation of God in Christ, must submit to God incarnate. If Moses says this and Elijah does that, but Jesus says and does something different, then we always go with Jesus. Just as Peter had to submit to Christ when God told him on the Mount of Transfiguration, “This is my Son, listen to Him,” so we submit to Christ.

4. God is love. Period. All Scripture must be read with that understanding. The concept that God is love only came by virtue of what Christ did on the cross. The Old Testament authors did not have the same understanding. 5. The Bible is a progressive revelation of God. God’s children paint a picture of God the best they can, but as they grow older their picture changes and becomes more beautiful. Only when Christ came as the “image of the invisible God” did God’s children see the “full picture.” 6. The Bible should not be read from beginning to end. First we must learn who Christ is, and what He’s accomplished through the cross and the resurrection, then we can read Scripture out of that revelation. We should let Christ interpret the Old Testament, instead of letting the Old Testament interpret Christ.

Reading the Bible like Jesus and the Apostles...

Jesus and His disciples often read the Bible allegorically.

Jesus claimed that the story of Jonah was a story of Himself, (Matt. 12:38-41). In fact “Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” were written “concerning Me,” He said. Paul claimed that Hagar and Sarah were symbolic of the two covenants, (Gal. 4:21-31). And that the rock in the desert was a “spiritual Rock,” because “that Rock was Christ.” And the manna they ate was “spiritual food” because Christ was the manna from heaven, (1 Cor. 10:1-4). Furthermore, Jesus died, was buried, and rose again “according to the Scriptures,” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). “The Scriptures” here are the Old Testament. Thus the Old Testament stories are symbolic of Christ’s passion.

Peter claimed that Noah’s flood was an antitype of baptism, (1 Pet. 3:21).

Reading the Bible as a gospel-story...

Without having had an encounter with Christ we read the Scriptures through veils. Someone who reads the Bible through a veil reads the Bible by the letter (literalism). Paul’s literalism prior to his revelation of Christ caused him to kill Christians. But after his encounter he read the Bible “in the Spirit.” He read it as gospel. And if we don’t read the Bible as such, the message becomes a source of death and condemnation. But when we read the Bible as gospel, we unveil the text and it becomes a source of life and reconciliation, (2 Cor. 3:5-18).

So how do we read the Bible as gospel? We do it by imagining that the whole Bible is a long version of the parable of the prodigal son.

In the tales where we see the trials of Israel’s wandering, exile, slavery, or destruction – we read it as the younger son’s pigpen experience. And we read all the stories of retribution, condemnation, legalism, and laws, as if the older brother is speaking. The passages about grace and rejoicing, then, find their place in the son’s return, the father’s welcoming, and the homecoming party.

And most importantly, we find Jesus in the story! Christ is the impulse to return home, He is the way home. Christ is the Father’s embrace. He is the Father’s house, and even the open door into the house. Christ is the ring, the robe and the fattened calf.

Christ is the treasure to be found in every story!

• When God’s people suffer, Jesus suffers.
  

• When God’s people cause suffering, Jesus suffers in their victims.
  

• When God’s people win victory, we see Christ’s ultimate and more beautiful victory over satan, sin and death.
  

• When God's people are delivered, Christ is the deliverer.
  

• When God’s people go into exile, Jesus goes with them (He dies).
  

• When God’s people are led out of exile, Christ leads them (He is resurrected).
  

• When the priest offered a sacrifice, Jesus was the High Priest.
  

• When the lamb was sacrificed, Jesus was the Lamb.

On and on it goes.