ENCORE!! ENCORE!!! How to Study The Bible: Principle of Interpretation Part 1

2 Timothy 2

We are walking in today: ENCORE!! ENCORE!!! How to Study The Bible: Principle of Interpretation Part 1

Witness preserve  throughout the Bible:  H8104 shamar--to watch, observe; to keep, preserve, protect; pay heed

Pro 16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth H8104 his soul.

The Torah testifies...............
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The prophets proclaim..................
 1 Sa 30:23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved H8104 us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

The writings bear witness...........................
 Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve H8104 thee, understanding shall keep thee:

Psa 12:7 Thou shalt keep H8104 them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

How to Study The Bible: Principle of Interpretation Part 1

How to study and interpret the Bible is what we are going to look at this morning. What is the source of the interpreters principles? The interpreters principles, in other words, where does the interpreter who comes to the Bible, that's you--you are the interpreter. Where did you get your principles from? What frame are you using as you approach, this is a very exciting and important, yet challenging piece of literature? Number one, the importance of interpretation is where we must begin. There is so much information, let's first deal with the word hermeneutics.

Hermeneutics those of you who will go to college and you study in the seminary, this word becomes very common to theologians. A theologian is simply one who studies the Most High so don't be afraid of that word. You are a theologian because you are studying your Abba. Is that clear? So don't let no one impress you with robes and rings and and chains the crosses on them. You are all theologians and every student of the Most High, should be a theologian of high degree. Because we live and move by the Word of the Most High. Hermeneutics is a term, that is a Greek context and I want to specifically state, that it simply means to interpret or explain. Hermeneutics means to interpret or explain. Hermeneuein which is the Greek word, from the Greek noun herminia and it means interpretation. So herminia, hermo means to explain--hermeneutics means the process of explanation. The noun herminia, means literally to interpret or interpretation. I would say then, that hermeneutics means explanation. Explanation to interpret. That's what it means so, if you want to sound deep you are taking a hermeneutics class. So for this kind of teaching we will be doing on Fiveamprayer, would be similar to what you would take in Bible colleges. That's what they call this class, hermeneutics class, which means a class of what? Interpretation, that's all it is. Now this word hermeneutics which is a Greek term from the Greek language, is used not only for the Bible. It's used for all historical documents and that's why it's very important to understand the importance of interpretation.

Interpretation as a discipline is important because meaning has to do with the core of man's thinking. Interpretation is necessary, because meaning is what we're after. The meaning affects our thinking. And thinking is the foundation for your life. Which means if your meaning is wrong--then your thinking will be wrong. Therefore your life will be wrong. Proverbs 23:7(KJV) For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. So Fiveamprayer, you got to get your thinking right! And thinking comes from what?

Meaning, whatever you consider something to mean--that determines your thoughts about it. And whatever you think about it, determines your life. Now, you know, meaning better be right. Meaning is not in words, but in people.That is a tough reality. I am going to say that again, meaning is not in words, but in people. There's a course that is taught in many colleges. Called Communication Arts. And in that class, they have a session where they study the writings of a man named. Mr. Hayakawa. And he did some studies in meaning and translations, he concluded that meaning truly is in people, not in words. Which makes sense. That's why the Bible is very dangerous!! There's a study he did, where he shows a picture of two different cows and has people look at and describe the picture of these animals. What he determined is that you will get two different descriptions from each person of the same cows! In other words, the meaning is not in the cow. Because interpretation or meaning is in the person who is translating or communicating to you. Boy, that's dangerous--therefore if meaning is in people, then you better get in the people--to get the meaning! No one knows what you mean, except you. That doesn't matter what you say, how many times have you heard these words or have said them? That's not what I meant? Well, what you're saying, is I knew what I meant to say, or, no, I knew what I meant to mean. But what I said, I obviously didn't mean to say cause, you didn't get what I meant. See? And so, you have this danger of confusing the words that a person says with what they meant. Meaning is the foundation for thinking. And thinking equals your life! So this becomes very challenging. Now, the need for interpretation is not peculiar to scripture. In other words, we'll be talking about whether hermeneutics is important to everything that is historical. And if you understand that, it will help you live more carefully. Any document ancient or modern must be interpreted, every document. When you take class in Composition and English--they give you a little test. Sometimes they would say, read this and then write a 350 word essay.

And what they really want you to do is, to read this little story and then you've got to interpret some things from this story. And if your class of 30 children in it, you're gonna have 30 different stories from the same original information, but the interpretation is completely different.

Because meaning is in people. Now doesn't that create a challenge? Do you know that the the greatest problem in all of our countries, especially a nation like the United States which is over 200 years old, is the fact that they have difficulty interpreting the Constitution. Because the Constitution was written by a dead man, they are all dead. Now if you want to know how important hermeneutics is and why is it important? Hermeneutics created the supreme court.

The job of the supreme court of any nation is hermeneutics. Get it? That's how dangerous error is! Do you know that the supreme court judges in the United States are there for life?

Why do they call them judges, because they have to read the Constitution and judge it. They gotta pass judgment on what it means. That means, you can't have that as a temporary job. Your entire life, your entire being--everything you are is to be consumed by the document called the Constitution. That's all the supreme court judges live for, they live for the Constitution. In order for you to be appointed to the supreme court, you have to achieve a certain level of expertise in constitutional law, before they appoint you. Once you've been appointed they cannot un-appoint you. That's why they call it the what, the supreme court. That word is only used for the Most High. In other words, this group of people is the highest court. When these people say something, ain't no one that can challenge it. When you go to a local court and you believe that you didn't get the proper interpretation of the law you can make an appeal to a higher level of court and the the last stop and final decision is the supreme court! So if you go to the highest court in the land and they change the verdict the other court decision is overturned. All this has to do with interpreting the law. Let me give an example of how important hermeneutics is again. Several years ago, someone burned an American flag--there were riots going on. They burned it in public and there was a big reaction to that. They said, oh my they are desecrating the the national symbol! Arrest them. So the police came and arrested them. You know, they burned a flag--this flag, representing the whole nation! They put him in jail--well the American Civil Liberties Union, woke up. They are called the watchdog's of the civil responsibilities and rights of the people. They appealed to the courts and said this person has a right to burn the flag, and then they quoted from the Constitution. They said if you look at the Constitution of the United States, you see where it says your freedom of expression. Now the only problem is, that statement was written by a dead man who's over 200 years dead. Now what did George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and all those guys meant, when they wrote freedom of expression? What did they mean? We are not sure. Because meanings are not in words, they are in people and the only problem is we can’t wake them up, and ask them, “what did you mean?” So now this statement can mean anything your lawyer can interpret it to mean. Watch how deep this thing is now, so we are not sure anymore what the Constitution means when it says rights of speech, or freedom of speech. I got a right to express my feelings toward America, if I don't like what it's doing--I'll burn the flag.

And guess what? They had to release the guy from jail. And he got out and burned another flag. I am not sure that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and the others who wrote the constitution, ever considered the flag being burned as freedom of expression. That's not what they meant or did they?? Now you see why Hermeneutics is important! Because it protects you from putting your own interpretation on things you read. That's why it's important! Do you know that the issue of homosexuality now, they have gone to the Constitution for that one, too.

They say that every man has a right to seek happiness. Okay, and they are quoting the Constitution, now George Washington was basically a Christian man. These were men and women of God. And these people were very clear about the attitude toward, you know abnormal behavior, but their writings--they are not here to defend their writings. They are dead.

We got a better book, you know? Guess what? The author of our book came back from the dead to make sure that we don't fool around with what he said! And he sent the Ruach HaKodesh in our hearts to make sure that you get the right information. Sometimes you hear something and you say that it doesn't sound right. That's the Ruach talking to you, but you see when you read the Constitution, you know George Washington will not come to you to give you his interpretation of what he meant. These fellows are dead and they are gone. So you keep interpreting and reinterpreting and do you know that the laws in the United States keep changing? Because every new generation has to reinterpret this document. So the interpretation becomes subjected to the person who's reading this thing. And that is what we gotta protect against, in the Bible. The Bible is the most interpreted document in history! When they found the Dead Sea Scrolls some years ago these were scrolls that were over 2,000 years old! They found them in Israel in a cave. What was good about these documents is that the documents over 2,000 years old verify most of what we have been teaching as being the truth. And that's why those discoveries are so important. In other words, they discovered the whole book of Isaiah, the whole book of Jeremiah. They discovered part of Ezra, they discovered all kinds of Old Testament books. They are so perfect in their record that it gave certainty that these books of the Bible are true as they were 2,000 years ago, today. These books were written before HaMaschiach--which is a very important discovery. That's why you may hear people talk about the Dead Sea Scrolls all the time--but you are not sure what they are talking about. What they're saying is, look our interpretations were on target. Because what they were saying over 2,000 years ago, we are still saying in February of 2020. That means we are right on and the scholars were excited about that. Because you know, sometimes when you lose contact with historical verification then you become confused. We need to appreciate the importance of interpreting the Bible. Now when you get a letter from somebody in the mail--how do you know what they meant when you read that letter? You just read this thing and some of you read real fast. You just assume that's what they meant. But how do you know for sure? You'll be amazed how much you thought you understood, was not correct. But isn't it amazing that you got to interpret that letter--you read words, but you got to interpret what you think they meant. Hermeneutics is applied to anything that is historical even if it was just yesterday or this morning. As long as it has been recorded, you have to interpret it and that's why it's so important!
Shema Selah what is on our mind is what we mean.  We have to understanding the intent of the person writing the words that we read.