June 2008 - Volume 58 - Number 5

2 June 2008 ACTSSuggested Donation $2.75

An Overview of the HistoricalWritingsBy Dan DiFranco Page 4

Three Missing KingsBy Noel Rude Page 8

How Readest Thou?Three Questions You Must Ask ofEvery TextBy Jerry Griffin Page 11

Coming Up…July/August:Gleaning God’s Truths(Wisdom Literature)

September:A Call to Repentance:The Prophets

3Advocating Christ The Savior

From the Editor“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as

warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”I Corinthians 10:11, NIV

With the fall of Troy and the Mycenaean cities in Greece and the decline of Egypt, dramaticchanges swept across the ancient Near East. The survivors, known as “sea peoples,” settledon the plains of Palestine. In fact, the term “Palestine” comes from the name of one of thesesea peoples—the Philistines. The arrival of these peoples changed the political landscape, withrivalries forming among local and regional groups as opposed to the previous empires like theEgyptians and the Hittites. In Iron Age I (1200-930 BC) the Philistines used iron and gained acritical advantage against the Israelites (Judges 1:19; I Samuel 13:19-22).

From Joshua’s entry into Canaan to about two centuries later, the twelve tribes governedIsrael as a loose confederation. The book of Judges mentions a total of four times that “in thosedays Israel had no king” (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). Because of a lack of political order and for-mal structure, “everyone did as he saw fit”, alluding to the period’s chaos. God heard theIsraelites and commissioned the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul. Due to Saul’s failure to obeyGod, he was rejected. The next king was “one after God’s own heart,” the shepherd David (ISamuel 13:14). David’s reign is marked as Israel’s golden age due to the degree of stabilitymaintained by uniting the tribes and defeating the Philistines. David and Solomon’s reigns arecollectively known as the “united monarchy,” a short-lived time of peace and prosperity in bothIsrael and Judah (I Kings 4:25).

Solomon, like Saul before him, failed in his relationship with God. Solomon allowed himselfto be influenced by his foreign wives and “turned his heart after other gods” (I Kings 11:4). AfterSolomon’s death around 930 BC, the united monarchy became the divided monarchy.Jeroboam I became king of Israel and Rehoboam as king of Judah. Later, Israelite kings Omriand Ahab blatantly combined elements of Mosaic Yahwism with Canaanite Baalism. Israel had19 kings within a couple of centuries, continuing and adding to the cycle of political instabilityand religious apostasy.

Dramatic changes occurred in ancient Israel in Iron Age II (930-539 BC). With a weakenedEgypt, Assyria was able to gain hegemonic control over the ancient Near East. During the firstpart of the eighth century, Israel and Judah both flourished due to internal strife within Assyria,but both suffered from social injustice and lack of morality. Within a few years, Tiglath-PileserIII’s aggressive military campaigns led to the conquering of Samaria by his son, Shalmaneser V,in 722 BC. The southern kingdom had many kings who remained faithful to the covenant,though it suffered from a more gradual apostasy. By 587 BC, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians.The loss of the temple and kingship proved to be a crucial point in Israelite history.

Ushered in by Cyrus and lasting until Alexander the Great, the Persian Age (539-332 BC), thelast archaeological age of ancient Israel, is also known as Iron Age III. Cyrus allowed the exiledJews to return home and rebuild the temple, completing it in 515 BC. Whereas Ezra focused onthe spiritual condition of the Israelites in his return, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem with themission of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. With that, the Old Testament historical period ends withboth faith and hope.

In His Name,

John R. Kennedy, Editor ACTS

4 June 2008 ACTS

The Old Testament in the Bible is general-ly divided into the following categories: thePentateuch, or Torah which comprises thefirst five books of the Bible, the historicalwritings of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2ndChronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, thepoetic and wisdom writings which includeJob, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, andSong of Solomon, the major prophets includ-ing Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel,and Daniel, and the minor prophets ofHosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,Zechariah, and Malachi. In examining thehistorical writings, as the name would sug-gest, the writings detail some of the historyof the Nation of Israel, specifically from theentrance into the Promised Land until thebuilding of the second temple.

Joshua (c. 1407-1367 B.C.)*The book of Joshua details the children of

Israel’s journey into and the conquest of thePromised Land. The famous battle ofJericho was fought during this time period.Until this time, Jericho was an impenetrablefortress. God commanded Joshua to fightthis battle with unconventional methods.The people were to circle the city once a dayfor six days. On the seventh day, they cir-cled the city, blew trumpets, and all gave ashout. The walls then came down and thecity was taken.

Under Joshua’s leadership, the children ofIsrael drove many of the inhabitants out ofthe land as God had commanded. Also, dur-ing this time, the land of Israel was dividedand given to each of the tribes.

Judges (c. 1367-1064 B.C.)The period of the time of the judges fol-

lowed a cyclical pattern: 1) Israel began toworship the gods of other nations; 2) Godallowed other nations to oppress Israel; 3)the people turned to God for help; 4) Godraised up a leader to deliver them; 5) a timeof peace. The stories of Deborah, Gideon,and Samson take place in this time period.The period of judges can best be describedin the last verse of the book: “In those daysthere was no king in Israel; everyone didwhat was right in his own eyes” (Judges21:25).

Ruth (c. 12th century B.C.)

Ruth is the storyof a family fromIsrael that travelsto Moab, where thetwo sons takeMoabite wives forthemselves. Whilethere, the fatherand both sons die.Naomi, the mother,tells the daughtersto stay with theirpeople while shereturns home.Ruth does not wantto leave her moth-er-in-law and tellsher that she will fol-low her wherevershe goes. Naomi and Ruth end up goingback to Israel. While there, Ruth begins toglean the fields of one of Naomi’s husband’srelatives, a man named Boaz.

An Overview of the Historical WritingsDan DiFranco

Advocating Christ The Savior 5

Boaz was impressed by Ruth’s determina-tion to leave her country and comfort Naomi.

There was a custom in this time that thenearest relative to a widowed women’s hus-band would take her as his wife. Ruth askedBoaz if he would fulfill this obligation, butBoaz informed her that there was a next ofkin who was closer. Boaz asks the closerrelative if he would redeem Ruth as his ownand he declines. Boaz and Ruth are marriedand end up being the ancestors of KingDavid and Jesus Christ. The book of Ruth isoften looked at as a foreshadowing of therelationship Christ has in redeeming thechurch.

I & II Samuel (c. 1064-971 B.C.)

The books of Samuel begin with the birthof the priest Samuel, who was dedicated toGod by his barren mother Hannah. Samuelobeyed God throughout his life in spite of apoor example by Eli the priest and his twosons. When Samuel got older, the childrenof Israel made one of their biggest mistakes:they wanted a king like the nations aroundthem rather than a priest for a leader as Godhad intended. Saul was chosen to be king,but he did not obey God’s commands. As aresult, David was chosen to become king.However, Saul remained king for about tenyears, which allowed for many altercationsbetween himself and David. David alsokilled the giant Goliath during this time peri-od, and won more respect of the people thanthey had for Saul. Later, Saul was injured inbattle and consequently committed suicide.When David finally became king, he wasthirty years old. He reigned over Judah for 6½ years, and over all of Israel for 33 moreyears. During his reign, he was a good andjust king, so much so that he was called aman after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:13-14). Two of David’s notable sins include hisadulterous affair with Bathsheba and subse-quent murder of Uriah, and his numbering

the people of Israel rather than relying onGod.

I & II Kings (c. 971-586 B.C.)

The books ofKings begin withSolomon beingproclaimed kingand the death ofDavid. Solomonis approached byGod in a dreamand is asked forwhatever he want-ed. Solomon asksfor wisdom andGod grants himmore wisdom than any person in history aswell as riches and honor. Solomon starts offhis reign following God. He builds the firsttemple, which is said to have been one of themost beautiful buildings ever made.Solomon soon begins to fall away from Godas he begins to take foreign wives for himselfand disobey the laws for kings as God hadlaid out in Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

After the death of Solomon, his son,Rehoboam, tells the children of Israel that hewill rule them much more harshly than hisfather. As a result, all of the tribes but Judahsecede and Jeroboam becomes king overthem. The kingdom becomes split and failsto become united again. From this point onIsrael, also referred to as Samaria, does nothave a good king. Elijah, Elisha, Amos, andHosea were notable prophets in Samariawhom God raised up to witness to the kingsand the people of their wicked ways.Unfortunately, Israel did not listen and wastaken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722BC.

Judah, on the other hand, had a mix ofgood and bad kings. To one degree oranother, the kings Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash,

6 June 2008 ACTS

Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, andJosiah were good kings. The leadership ofthese kings and their various attempts to rootsin out of the land, and set a good examplefor the people, help prolong the length of thekingdom of Judah. Like their northern broth-ers, Judah eventually fell to the Babyloniansin 586 BC, thus ending the period of thekings.

I & II Chronicles (c. 4000-538 B.C.)

Chronicles begins with a genealogy, start-ing with Adam, and finishing around thetimes of the kings. This genealogy, alongwith one from the book of Matthew, show usthe lineage from Adam to Jesus Christ.Much of the information contained inChronicles is similar to that of Samuel andKings. One Jewish tradition claims that Ezrawrote Chronicles and Jeremiah wrote Kings.God may have wanted two authors to writesimilar accounts, to give differing viewpointson this time period, much like the time ofChrist is accounted by four different Gospelauthors in the New Testament. Anothernotable difference between the books is thedecree by Cyrus, the Persian ruler, at theend of Chronicles to let the Jews rebuild thetemple.

Ezra (c. 538-458 B.C.)

The Persians conquered the Babyloniansin 539 BC. The Persian people would oftenlet conquered people return to their home-lands, so the Jews were allowed to return toJerusalem. King Cyrus also gave them all ofthe gold and silver that was left, from whenNebuchadnezzar had taken it when the tem-ple was first destroyed. Zerubbabel andJeshua, the high priest, led the people backand helped restore the laws and customsthat God had previously ordained. The foun-dation for the temple was laid at this point,but opposition to its completion began andconstruction came to a halt. After about 15

years, the prophets Haggai and Zechariahencouraged the people to begin building thetemple again and it was soon completed.There is a gap of about sixty years in thebook until Ezra comes on the scene. Hereturns to Jerusalem and continues to steerthe people back toward God’s laws.

Nehemiah (c. 445-433 B.C.)

Nehemiah was a servant of the king ofPersia. He received word that the walls ofJerusalem were in ruin and he was motivat-ed to return to Jerusalem to help with therebuilding. Nehemiah returned and despitemuch opposition, led the way to the rebuild-ing of the walls in 52 days. After the buildingof the walls, Ezra read to the people thebook of the law and it caused them to under-go a national repentance. They realized howsinful they had become and how far they hadfallen from God and His laws. The peoplethen made a covenant with God to obey Himand keep His commands.

Jeremiah 36:4 Baruch writing Jeremiah’s prophecies.By Gustave Dore’ Dore’ Bible Illustrations

7Advocating Christ The Savior

Esther (c. 483-473 B.C.)

King Ahasuerus of Persia had a disobedi-ent wife and he decided that he wantedanother one instead. He and his advisorsfelt that if the queen would not obey the king,it would set a bad example throughout all theland. Word was sent out that the king waslooking for a new queen. Mordecai, a Jew,was the primary caretaker of his orphanedcousin Esther. Esther became one of thepossibilities of the king’s new wife. The kingfavored Esther over the other women andshe became his wife. Soon thereafter,Mordecai discovered a plot to kill the king.He told Esther who in turn told the king, andhis life was spared and the conspiratorswere executed.

A man by the name of Haman was promot-ed to be second in command under the king.All the king’s servants were to bow and payhomage to Haman, but Mordecai refused.Haman was furious and decided to get backat Mordecai by killing all of the Jewsbecause he found out Mordecai was a Jew.Haman persuaded the king to declare adecree that all the Jews were to be killed.Haman also decides to kill Mordecai andbuilds gallows to hang him on. Esther endsup telling the king about Haman and his plot,and Haman is hung instead and Mordecai ispromoted. Esther ends up saving her peo-ple and the Jews began to celebrate theFeast of Purim as a celebration of the event.

“Those who do not learn from history aredoomed to repeat it”—George Santayana.There is much truth in the preceding state-ment. Many people find history dry and

boring to learn, but there are many things wecan learn from peoples past mistakes andtriumphs, especially those in the Word ofGod. We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration ofGod, and is profitable for doctrine, forreproof, for correction, for instruction in right-eousness, that the man of God may be com-plete, thoroughly equipped for every goodwork.”

All scripture includes these historical writingsof the Bible. In these writings, we can seehow God deals with individuals. We canexamine the life of a man like David and tryto emulate him where he succeeded and toavoid his examples where he failed. We canalso look at the example of how God dealswith nations. Israel had a continuous cycleof obeying God and receiving His blessingsto disobeying God and receiving His chas-tisement. The same can be said for today.Any nation that obeys God and His laws willreceive blessings, any nation that does not,will be punished. These historical writings inthe Bible were written down to be examplesto future generations including ours. As theapostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:4: “Forwhatever things were written before werewritten for our learning, that we through thepatience and comfort of the Scriptures mighthave hope.” We would do well to spend timestudying these books of the Bible. They willgive us insight into how to conduct our per-sonal lives as well as how to live as a nation.

Dan DiFranco is the Pastor of the New Life Christian Church inMarshfield, Missouri. Dan and his wife, Jennifer, have two chil-dren. All Scripture is from the New King James Bible. *All datesare from King James study Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers1998.

“Those who do not learnfrom history are doomed torepeat it”—George Santayana

These books of the Bible willgive us insight into how to con-duct our personal lives as well ashow to live as a nation.

8 June 2008 ACTS

Three names are missing from Jesus’genealogy in Matthew. Where Matthew 1:8has, “And Asa begat Josaphat; andJosaphat begat Joram; and Joram begatOzias,” it might have read, “And Asa begatJosaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; andJoram begat [Ahaziah; and Ahaziah begatJoash; and Joash begat Amaziah; andAmaziah begat] Ozias” [Ozias is the sameas Azariah or Uzziah]—this at least wouldaccord with the book of Second Kings assuggested in the accompanying chart (Seebelow).

The story of those kings is an interestingchapter in the history of the two kingdoms—the house of Israel and the house of Judah.It begins with Joram (or Jehoram) king ofJudah (2 Kings 8:17-18):

“Thirty and two years old was hewhen he began to reign; and he reignedeight years in Jerusalem. And he walked inthe way of the kings of Israel, as did thehouse of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab washis wife: and he did evil in the sight of theLORD.”

(Evidently Joram’s wife was the daughter ofAhab and granddaughter of Omri.)

The house of Israel had departed fromGod under the leadership of its first king—Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. After each kingof Israel, the Bible says something like(1Kings 16:26), “For he walked in all the wayof Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sinwherewith he made Israel to sin, to provokethe LORD God of Israel to anger with theirvanities.” And of all the kings Ahab was oneof the worst:

“And Ahab the son of Omri did evil inthe sight of the LORD above all that werebefore him. And it came to pass, as if it hadbeen a light thing for him to walk in the sinsof Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he tookto wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal kingof the Zidonians, and went and served Baal,and worshipped him. And he reared up analtar for Baal in the house of Baal, which hehad built in Samaria. And Ahab made agrove; and Ahab did more to provoke theLORD God of Israel to anger than all thekings of Israel that were before him”(1 Kings 16:30-33).

Three Missing KingsNoel Rude

9Advocating Christ The Savior

This is the wicked queen who killed theprophets of God and whom Elijah chal-lenged, “And Elijah came unto all the people,and said, How long halt ye between twoopinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him:but if Baal, then follow him. And the peopleanswered him not a word” (1 Kings 18:21).Later, God says to the house of Ahab,

“And [I] will make thine house like thehouse of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, andlike the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah,for the provocation wherewith thou hast pro-voked Me to anger, and made Israel to sin.And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, say-ing, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall ofJezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city thedogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the fieldshall the fowls of the air eat. But there wasnone like unto Ahab, which did sell himself towork wickedness in the sight of the LORD,whom Jezebel his wife stirred up”(1 Kings 21:22-25).

The man God chose for the job of extin-guishing the line of Ahab and Jezebel wasJehu, to whom God said,

“. . . I have anointed thee king overthe people of the LORD, even over Israel.And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thymaster, that I may avenge the blood of Myservants the prophets, and the blood of allthe servants of the LORD, at the hand ofJezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shallperish … And I will make the house of Ahablike the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat… And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the por-tion of Jezreel, and there shall be none tobury her. . .” (2 Kings 9:6-10).

Jehu accomplished the job (2 Kings10:17), yet astonishingly he himself pledgedto serve Baal (verse 18), “Ahab served Baala little; but Jehu shall serve him much.”Nevertheless, God promises Jehu,

“Because thou hast done well in exe-cuting that which is right in Mine eyes, and

hast done unto the house of Ahab accordingto all that was in Mine heart, thy children ofthe fourth generation shall sit on the throneof Israel” (2 Kings 10:30).

But was every last member of the houseof Ahab wiped out? Remember Joram(Matthew 1:8 - “and Josaphat begat Joram”),he begat Ahaziah (1 Kings 8:24) of whom itsays (verses 26-27),

“And his mother’s name wasAthaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.And he walked in the way of the house ofAhab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD,as did the house of Ahab: for he was the sonin law of the house of Ahab.”

Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab (2 Kings8:18) and may have been the daughter ofJezebel, though Ahab had seventy sons (2Kings 10:1), let alone daughters—obviouslynot all Ahab’s children were by Jezebel.

Ahaziah reigned one year in Jerusalem (2Kings 8:26) at which point Jehu was able tocarry out his divinely appointed death sen-tance (2 Kings 9:27). But Judah’s royaltywas different than Israel’s, as it says (2 Kings8:19), “Yet the LORD would not destroyJudah for David His servant’s sake, as Hepromised him to give him always a light, andto his children.”

So, what happened in Judah when theking was dead and the royal seed were ofthe house of Ahab on their mother’s side?

“And when Athaliah the mother ofAhaziah saw that her son was dead, shearose and destroyed all the seed royal. ButJehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sis-ter of Ahaziah, took Joash the son ofAhaziah, and stole him from among theking’s sons which were slain; and they hidhim, even him and his nurse, in the bed-chamber from Athaliah, so that he was notslain. And he was with her hid in the houseof the LORD six years. And Athaliah didreign over the land” (2 Kings 11:1-3).

10 June 2008 ACTS

Thus all the seed of Ahab came to anend—here by the hand of Ahab’s owndaughter—all the seed, that is, save one sonof Ahaziah, namely Joash.

In 2 Kings 11 we see that Athaliah wasdeposed and killed in her seventh year andher very young grandson Joash ascendedthe throne (2 Kings 11:21), “Seven years oldwas Jehoash when he began to reign.” And,as it says (2 Kings 12:1-2), “… forty yearsreigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’sname was Zibiah of Beersheba. AndJehoash did that which was right in the sightof the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiadathe priest instructed him.” So, here we havea righteous king, but one left out of Jesus’genealogy in Matthew. Why?

It’s the penalty for idolatry (Exodus 20:5):

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself tothem, nor serve them: for I the LORD thyGod am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity ofthe fathers upon the children unto the thirdand fourth generation of them that hateMe...” (See also Exodus 34:7; Numbers14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9).

Even though Joash was righteous hisname is left out of Messiah’s genealogy. Butnote how God cleansed the line—Joash waseducated by a priest of God. And all threekings whose names are blotted out tookwives from the southern kingdom of Judah(2 Kings 12:1; 14:2; 15:2). God sparedJehu’s line for a limited number of genera-tions (2 Kings 15:12),

“This was the word of the LORDwhich He spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sonsshall sit on the throne of Israel unto thefourth generation. And so it came to pass.”

But David’s line is forever (Psalm 89:36):

“His seed shall endure for ever, and histhrone as the sun before Me.”

Yet the line of Athaliah daughter of Ahab iserased until the fourth generation fromJesus’ genealogy in Matthew.

And I think there might be another fasci-nating twist to those missing names.Athaliah, in a sense, is like Eve. She partookof the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,and she grasped at dominion no doubtdeceived by the Serpent; nevertheless, herseed (Joash) sat upon the throne of David,just as, we might say, Eve was to beredeemed by her seed (Genesis 3:15; 1Timothy 2:14-15).

We might see here also the absorption ofthe seed of Ephraim (Genesis 48:19; cf.Luke 21:24; Romans 11:25), “and his seedshall be the fullness of the Gentiles,” into themessianic line.

If the Scripture does not explicitly say thatOmri was of the line of Ephraim, perhapssuch ambiguity is itself a clue. For if thepriesthood of Melchizedek passes throughthe seed of Ephraim (Genesis 48:19;Jeremiah 31:9), then maybe there is meantto be no explicit genealogy, as indicated inHebrews 7:3,

“Without father, without mother, with-out descent, having neither beginning ofdays, nor end of life; but made like unto theSon of God; abideth a priest continually.”

Maybe also we can sense a subtle rela-tionship between the three missing kingsand the four Gentile women in Matthew 1.The four women—Tamar and Rahab andRuth and the wife of Uriah—each might in asense represent Eve, a women of the worldhopeful of redemption via “her seed”(Genesis 3:15).

Whether these musings catch your fancyor seem utterly silly, one thing is sure: TheBible speaks even when it is silent.

Noel Rude writes from Pendleton, Oregon. You can visit hiswebsite at www.hebdomad.com

Advocating Christ The Savior 11

“How readest thou?” Jesus once askeda Bible scholar that very question. The storyis in Luke 10:25-37. It begins with the schol-ari testing Jesus’ own scholarship to seewhat He would say.

The scholar’s test question was “Whatmust I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesusresponded with a counter-question: “What iswritten in the Law? How do you read it?”ii Inessence, Jesus turned the table on thescholar by implying, “You’re the scholar; youtell me. How do you interpret what theScripture says?”

That’s the million-dollar question thatechoes across time and down to you today.How are you to interpret the Bible, and to doso correctly? Well, it isn’t as complex andarbitrary as some think. In fact, much of itboils down to common sense and a basicunderstanding that the Bible is a written doc-ument whose forms of expression are similarto other works of literature. As with any liter-ary work, you must pay careful attention notonly to what the writer is saying, but also tohow he’s saying it, that is, to the literary tech-niques he’s using to communicate histhoughts. So it is with the Bible. The whatand how are both important.

One of the best methods for digging outthe what and how is for you to engage thetext, so to speak, in a mental dialogue orconversation, or, better yet, an interview. Inthis technique, you allow the text to reveal itscomponents by asking it the right ques-tions—exegetical questions—and then bystepping out of the way to listen objectivelyfor its answers.iii This listening type of dia-logue or interview begins with three funda-

mental questions that you must ask of everytext:

1) What does the text actually say?2) What did the text mean to the original

audience?3) What is the meaning of the text for

today?

What does the text actually say? Thisquestion involves content—the five W’s ofthe text: who, what, when, where, and why.

a. Who is speaking, who is being spoken to, and who else is present?

b. What is happening, what’s the situation, what’s the issue?

c. When is it happening?d. Where is it happening?e. Why is it happening?

To answer these questions properly, youwill need to read the verses or chaptersbefore and after a passage for the completecontext.

Determining what the text says alsoinvolves paying attention to its composi-tion—the sentence structure and wording ofthe text. How is it being said grammatically?What is the subject of the sentence? Whatis the tense of the verb? What are the defi-nitions of the words?

Concerning the definition of words, sever-al points are important. First, words must beunderstood within their immediate contexts.Any given word may have several meanings,but not all of its possible meanings applyeach and every time. Choosing the correctdefinition is not like ordering from a menu

How Readest Thou?Three Questions You Must Ask of Every Text

Jerry Griffin

12 June 2008 ACTS

where you may pick from a variety of itemsto suit your taste. Rather, it is the use of aword in a given context that determines itsmeaning. Take, for example, the word“house.” It normally refers to the buildingwhere one lives. But it would be misleadingand somewhat ridiculous to use that defini-tion in Joshua 24:15: “As for me and myhouse, we will serve the LORD” (KJV). Herethe word means “family,” rather than “build-ing.”

Another caution is also in order. Like allmodern readers, you will have the tendencyto define biblical words with twenty-first cen-tury concepts in mind. Instead, you shouldstrive to understand biblical words accordingto the definitions used in biblical times. Thisis not always easy to do; yet the task is notimpossible. Always start with the context.Often the biblical writer will define his termi-nology or give a clue to a word’s connotationwithin the text itself. Allow him to define hisown terms; don’t impose your definitions onhim. If you need more help than the contextprovides, then consult a biblical languagedictionary. Stephen Renn’s ExpositoryDictionary of Bible Words (Hendrickson,2005) or W. E. Vine’s Complete ExpositoryDictionary of Old and New Testament Words(AMG, 1996) are helpful and easy to use,even if you have no knowledge of Hebrew orGreek.

One last word about words—not only dobiblical words need to be understood accord-ing to biblical times, but the words of anyEnglish translation must also be understoodaccording to the time period of the transla-tion. This is especially true of older transla-tions like the King James Version.

For example, in 1611 when the KingJames Version was first published, the word“let,” as used in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, meant“to prevent.” Today, “let” means the exact

opposite, “to allow.” You can easily be mis-led if you apply modern English definitions toold English terms. Therefore, wheneveryou’re unsure about the meaning of a word,the best advice is “Don’t presume; look itup.”

What did the text mean to the originalaudience? This question involves puttingyourself in the sandals of those who firstreceived and read the text. What impact didthe words have on them? How did theyunderstand and respond to what was said?

Here again, you must be careful not toread your modern-day presuppositions intothe text. Try to think historically. Pay atten-tion to the overall context for clues concern-ing the historical, religious, cultural, andphilosophical backgrounds. If you let thetext be your first source of information aboutthese matters, then much of the Bible’s mes-sage will come through. Although it wouldbe nice, it’s not necessary to become anexpert on the ancient world in order to makesense of the text. Just the awareness thatthe Bible is speaking from an era and life-setting different from your own is half thebattle. If you need more help, consult whatthe historical experts have to say in a com-prehensive Bible dictionary or commentary.

Keep in mind, however, that the mainobjective is not to focus on the historicalbackground per se, but on the intention ofthe text within that background. It is themessage the biblical writer conveyed to thepeople of his day that is important.

What is the meaning of the text fortoday? This question involves applying theoriginal intention of the text to modern life.But be careful not to put the cart before thehorse. You should ask this third questiononly after you have adequately answered thefirst two.

Advocating Christ The Savior 13

Don’t be like most people who skip ques-tions one and two and go straight to questionthree. Remember, you must first listen to thetext—to hear what it says and what it meantto the original audience—before drawing anyconclusions. Otherwise, you run the risk ofreading into the text ideas that were neverthere in the first place. Try to get an objec-tive handle on the text before subjecting it toyour subjective feelings.

More mistakes are made here than any-where else, precisely because each of usbrings his or her own emotional, cultural, andreligious baggage to the text. This is whythere are so many different opinions aboutwhat the Bible teaches. Yet, the properapplication of a text does not need to be amatter of guesswork. The pitfalls of subjec-tivism can be avoided if you’ll follow a fewbasic guidelines.

1. Let the text establish its own parame-ters of application. A text cannot meansomething today that would have beenentirely foreign to the original author and hisreaders. This principle may not always leadyou to what the text means, but it will helpset limits on what it cannot mean. This isespecially helpful when interpreting prophet-ic passages.

2. Compare your application of a given textto the major themes and teachings foundelsewhere in the Scriptures. No modernapplication should be contrary to the per-spectives offered in the Bible as a whole.

3. Don’t assume that the Bible functionsas a divine “ouija board” to answer all of yourpersonal questions: who to marry, where tolive, what job to take, etc. It was neverintended for that purpose. On this point,Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart have this tosay in their book, How to Read the Bible forAll Its Worth:

[The Bible] contains all that a Christianreally needs in terms of guidance . . . Butit does not always contain answers asspecific and personal as some peoplewould wish, and it does not contain all itsinformation in every chapter of everybook! Too impatient to find God’s willfrom the Bible as a whole, people makemistakes—they allow themselves to mis-interpret individual parts of theScriptures.iv

4. Distinguish between texts that are pre-scriptive (commanding what ought to be)and those that are descriptive (reportingwhat was). Also distinguish between textsthat have a universal application and thosethat pertained to a particular circumstance.In other words, don’t assume that all textshave direct applications, issue direct com-mands, or establish universal norms fortoday. Many texts are addressed solely tothe people and situations in biblical times,and therefore simply describe what tookplace.

For example, Acts 2:42-47 reports that thevery first Christians in Jerusalem sold theirpossessions, pooled the proceeds, and “hadall things in common.” The text is descrip-tive. The first Christians engaged in a formof communal living centered on daily meet-ings in the Temple courts and shared meals.Notice, however, that the text gives no pre-scription or command that a communallifestyle should be the norm for all Christianshenceforth. Neither is there any indication inthe rest of the New Testament that such wasthe case as primitive Christianity expandedbeyond Jerusalem.

Even if a text is prescriptive, however, becareful to note whether the command is uni-versal or particular. For example, in 1Corinthians 16:1-4 the Apostle Paul issues aspecific command for each member of the

14 June 2008 ACTS

Corinthian church to set aside a sum ofmoney at the beginning of each week for thefamine-stricken church in Jerusalem. Paulintends to collect these donations when hearrives in Corinth and then deliver them toJerusalem. Obviously, the particular crisisthat concerned Paul in the first century is athing of the past. The circumstances havelong since changed. Thus, these verses arenot a direct command for you to aid thosesame famine-stricken saints. Nor do theseverses command you to give an offering atchurch every Sunday morning, as some liketo apply them. However, even though thedirect command in this text is no longerapplicable, you may still draw a general les-son or principle from Paul’s example, name-ly, giving generously to those in need. In thissense, you can learn something from everyBible passage, even though every passagemay not be a direct command or have directapplication to you.v

Summary: The three questions you mustask of every text are part of what’s known asthe grammatico-historical method of inter-pretation. The grammatico portion concernsquestion one: What do the words of the text,in terms of their grammatical content andcomposition, actually say? The historicalportion concerns question two: What did thewords mean in the life and times of thosewho first heard them (i.e. the historical, reli-gious, cultural, and philosophical context).These first two questions involve carefullyexamining or “listening” to the text.

Question three (“What is the meaning ofthe text for today?”) involves application.Answer it by evaluating the information gath-ered from questions one and two, and thenappropriating the applicable information, ifany, to your life.

In essence, these three questions arehermeneutics in a nutshell. They are thefoundation of the interpretation process. Allother principles and techniques are built onthem. Don’t read the Bible without them!

Jerry Griffin is the former director of Summit School of Theology.He writes from Denver, Colorado. ã 2007 by Jerry Griffin.

i Literally, a “lawyer” that is, an expert in the Law of Moses:someone who devoted his life to the study and interpretation ofthe Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.ii “How readest thou?” in the King James Version.iii Otherwise, you interject your presuppositions and agendasinto the conversation. You engage in a monologue, rather than adialogue with the text. You slant the interview to make the Biblesay what you want it to say. The end result is that you use theBible the way a drunk uses a lamppost—for support, rather thanillumination.iv Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible ForAll Its Worth (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1982), p. 84.v Deriving moral lessons or principles from a text, provided theyare in accord with recurrent biblical teaching, should not be con-fused with the subjective and inappropriate practice of “spiritual-izing” a text for the purpose of creating some novel or self-serv-ing application.

“One of the best methodsfor digging out the whatand how is for you toengage the text in a men-tal dialogue, conversa-tionor interview. Allowthe text to reveal its com-ponents by asking it theright questions—exegeti-cal questions—and thenby stepping out of the wayto listen objectively for itsanswers.”

Advocating Christ The Savior 15

Camp Meeting 2008!

Preparing for the FutureBuilding on the Past

Come and join us we have 28 RV Hookups/campsites; Restrooms/Showers; and 3meals a day are available. The following motels are just some that are nearby, locatednear I-84 (Exit 44) and Meridian RD; this is not a complete list by any means:

Mr. Sandman Inn and Suites1575 S Meridian RD e-mail-info@lodgingboise.comMeridian ID 83642 (208) 887-2062 web-http://mrsandmaninn.com

Motel 61047 S Progress AveMeridian ID 83642 (208) 888-1212 web-http://www.motel6.com

Best Western Ramada Inn1019 S Progress e-mail-gm.rimrd@bhghotels.comMeridian ID 83642 (208) 887-7888 web-http://bestwestern.com

NOTICE: the 4th of July is on a Friday this year, SO, we will be holding ourAnnual Business Meeting on Thursday, July the 3rd.