HINDSIGHT

Some have said to me, 

“How come I can’t see the same things out of scripture that you see?”  

My answer is, “You can!  Kind of!”  

You have to understand that this is my calling by God and my career at Gateway, 

and I absolutely 100% love it.  So I’m paid to read, study, research and further my knowledge of scripture.  

I read more  books on how to interpret scripture than any other kind of book.  

I taught college level Bible interpretation courses.  So I have this background and these resources that you may not have.  

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t gain some really great skills at reading and interpreting scripture. 

Let me pause for a moment and say this, 

“KNOWING SCRIPTURE AND APPLYING IT TO YOUR LIFE  ARE BOTH IMPORTANT BUT KNOWING IT IS NO GOOD IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO APPLY IT.”  So even if a Pastor knows scripture really well but doesn’t apply it, it’s worthless.  

So I try to apply scripture just as much as study it.

The disciplines that we talked about Sunday really are the building blocks of Bible interpretation. 

OBSERVATION:  

Taking the time to really understand, “What does it say?”  

Reading the same book over and over again for a month is a great way to allow scripture to seep into your mind.  You’ll start to see words that are repeated.  Word repetition is the key to understanding the topic that is being addressed.

INTERPRETATION:  

“What does it mean?”  

Not what does it mean to me!  

But, what did the original author mean it to mean to the original readers.  

I can make the Bible mean anything if I take enough statements out of context.  

I can make my wife kiss me every time I see her because it says, 

“Greet one another with a Holy kiss.”  

But in context that statement was made to men greeting men like two Russians or Frenchmen greet with a kiss on the cheek.  It was a very appropriate and acceptable warm welcome in the first century.

CORRELATION: 

“What other scriptures impact my understanding?”  

The best way to correlate is within the same book.  

If I read James correctly I need to pay great attention to the word, “Lord.”  

James calls himself a “servant” and his theme is growing spiritually under the leadership coaching of our “Lord” Jesus.  We are build a life that is in conformity to what Jesus wants our life to be.  So I should pay close attention to what issues/topics he’s addressing because my obedience is asked for by my “Lord!”

So what?

APPLICATION:

“What does this mean to me personally?”

HINDSIGHT

The title of the sermon this past Sunday (2/19/12) was, 

“Seeing what God wants me to see.”  

We, mostly me, discussed the story of Balaam.  

I was trying to make the point that Balaam was a seer, 

a visionary, who spoke for God after God revealed a message to him.  

This seer who was to look for and deliver the message of God was 

blinded by his own selfish greed.  

Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel and God commanded Balaam to bless Israel.  

Balaam was considering becoming a spiritual prostitute by selling his 

loyalty to God and becoming a paid false prophet to Balak.  

Spiritual blindness is a real issue.  

Balaam was initially warned by God, “…but do only what I tell you.” (Numbers 22:20)  

As Balaam marched across the desert he began to strategize.  

“How can I be loyal to God by blessing Israel, but also be responsive to Balak 

and curse Israel, so I can receive Balak’s reward but also God’s blessing?” 

The big idea of the story is, 

“If Balaam the seer weren’t blinded by his selfish greed he’d be as 

insightful as his donkey and respond appropriately to God’s command.” 

 

While on mission the donkey responds to God correctly.  

He turns away from confronting God on the road, 

he goes around God on the vineyard path, 

and he lies down in submission to God in the very narrow place.  

The donkey sees and responds to God in fearful respect.  

Balaam the seer and prophet of God is blinded to the danger of disobeying God.  

Only after God opens Balaam’s eyes and he sees God does he respond in 

absolute commitment to Him.  God repeats his earlier statement, 

“…but speak only what I tell you.” (Numbers 22:35)

Why does Balaam have to have this near death experience before he’ll listen to the Word of God?

Why do I have to have near death experiences’ before I’ll listen to the Word of God?

God commands me to pray, but I wait until I’m in crisis to pray.

God commands me to love, but I wait until I’m properly motivated to love.

God commands me to ____________________, but I wait until I’ve got the _____________________ to ______________.  (go ahead and fill in the blanks for yourself!)

This Balaam/donkey stuff is way too convicting for me today!  

Maybe we can discuss something soft and fluffy next week.  

What does the Bible say about bunnies?

Hey Church!
I've got this new blog.  What am I going to do with? I'm going to reflect on all the stuff: I wanted to say this past sunday but didn't have time for, I heard that you wanted to hear what I didn't cover, I wished I would have thought of before, I feel would be helpful to your understanding of scripture.  That's why I'm calling it "hindsight."
So what ... about this past Sunday?
Let me remind you of the Bible study principle I included during the sermon.
When you're reading Hebrew poetry, each verse is normally composed of two lines, line A is usually a small general kind of statement and then line B is usually a larger bigger effect!  So Robert Alter the Biblical scholar calls that, "...reading Hebrew poetry as, line A WHAT'S MORE line B!!!"  I like that because in Hebrew poetry (the psalms specifically) there are, in general, two different kinds of statements.  The first kind of statement is that line A and B are somewhat synonymous as in, "Your word is a lamp to my feet; and a light to my path."  Lamp and light are very very similar as are feet and path. So you might read that and say "What's the big deal?  What's the difference?  Why the repitition?"  If you know the formula, "line A what's more line B." it helps you understand that the flashlight of lamp to feet is transformed into the high beam of a car in a light to my path.
The second kind of statement is that line A and B are totally antithetical as in, "For they are free of the fetters of death, and their body is healthy."  So the first line speaks of death and the second speaks of health, those are totally antithetical.  But it's still, "line A what's more line B!"  So it's read, "they are free of death and what's more they are totally healthy!!!"
Hopefully this will be helpful to you as you read the Psalms.
God bless and see you this Sunday as we deal with, "Seeing what God wants me to see."
Pastor Ed