TOOLS FOR INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE PART 3

Jude Chapter 1













Today we are walking in: Tools For Interpreting Scripture Part 3










Today we look to the word-DECEIVE-H5377 nasha'-- to beguile, deceive to be beguiled









The Torah testifies...............




Genesis 3:13




And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, H5377 and I did eat.







The prophets proclaim..................





Jeremiah 9:5




And they will deceive H5377 every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.






The writings bear witness...........................





2 Kings 18:29




Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive H5377 you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:






Interpreting the Scriptures for Ourselves

One might ask, "Why is it important to correctly interpret the Scriptures for ourselves?"




The answer to this lies in the fact that our understanding of Scripture is dependent upon our interpretation of Scripture!




When we misunderstand the Scriptures, it becomes easy to embrace man-made substitutes instead. When we practice the man-made 'Religious Traditions' and 'Commandments and precepts of Men,' rather than what the Scriptures actually say, we create stumbling-blocks for ourselves.




When put into practice, these Religious Traditions actually cause us to deny Messiah; that is, they turn us away from practicing the Truth — for they cause us to deny the obedience of Messiah Himself, who lives within us! (See Titus 1:14, 16).




Let us recall from Scripture, that if we have been Born-Again, Messiah Yahushua now lives within our fleshly body, in our spirit. And He desires to walk in the same obedience today, living within our fleshly body, that He did when He lived in His own fleshly body, two thousand years ago!




Our walk [Messiah's walk while living in us] is to be a walk of Righteousness, a walk of obedience to all of Scripture. But there are many stumbling-blocks that prevent us from walking of obedience to all of Scripture!




In Scripture, these stumbling-blocks are shown to originate from the Religious Traditions and Doctrines of Men. These stumbling-blocks come as a result of holding on to a false understanding of Scripture, which comes from Bible teachers having a non-Biblical interpretation of Scripture.




Both Paul and Jude warn us of these stumbling-blocks, and of the teachers who have crept in to our assemblies unawares, bringing false doctrines based on a false understanding of Scripture (Romans 16:17; Jude 1:3-4)




These false understandings of Scripture may come from many sources. Today false teachers, false prophets, and deception abound. Likewise there are many sincere Bible teachers, who unknowingly pass along truth mixed with error. But whatever the source, these false teachings come from mixing the Truth of Scripture with the Religious Doctrines of Men.




The end result is that many Citizens today unknowingly hold to error, and continue to practice a vast collection of man-made, religious traditions that have been built up over the centuries, and passed down as truth.




Those Citizens who do not study the Scriptures for themselves have simply entrusted their eternal destiny, and their eternal, Great Reward of inheritance, into the hands of their Religious Leaders. Many of these Religious Leaders, however, are spiritually blind, and they are leading multitudes astray.




And so we can now see the great importance of studying the Scriptures for ourselves, and of correctly interpreting the Scriptures for ourselves.




If the Reader will adhere strictly to the Bible-based Study principles, he will be more likely to correctly interpret the Scriptures, and to become a "DO-er" of Scripture, thus avoiding deception. He will then be able to identify and remove the many stumbling-blocks that prevent us from walking in THE WAY!




Today The Most High is restoring the Bible-based Study principles to His people. He is calling all His people to return to the Bible-based Study principles, so that they may correctly interpret the Scriptures. Only then will His people be able to let go of the many stumbling-blocks they have embraced in their ignorance, the religious baggage they have carried for centuries.

If we are to closely follow Messiah, we must correctly interpret and understand the Scriptures!




But how do we find the correct interpretation, so that we might avoid deception?




Interpretation: What Does it Mean? - Avoiding Deception




Perhaps the most important item to examine is the issue of interpretation. For any given Scripture passage, the question arises: "What does it mean?"




We might ask further, "What is the correct interpretation?" and most importantly, "What does this Scripture passage mean for me — how does this apply for me today?"




This last question is the very center of the battlefield of deception today. This question is where many are being led astray by Religious Tradition and Doctrines of Men, which all give false answers to this question.




Fortunately, the Scriptures themselves give us the correct answer to this question. Finding the correct answer, however, requires that each one dig deeply into the Scriptures for himself, to search out the Truth — as if searching for gold, jewels, and hidden treasure!




To find the correct Bible Interpretation, there is only one General Rule to be followed:




The Scriptures alone must interpret the Scriptures!




Within the confines of this one General Rule, there are many additional and important considerations. Although secondary to the Biblical Guidelines of what the Scriptures actually say, there are topics such as context, word definition, historical background, and many others that must be considered.




In this teaching, we will codify and present only the Biblical guidelines of Biblical Interpretation. Hidden in plain sight in the Scriptures, these Biblical guidelines are of greatest importance, yet virtually unknown in the Religious world.




Today the Biblical Guidelines — what the Scriptures themselves actually give as Guidelines for correct Scripture interpretation — are now being restored!




The Scriptures themselves tell us what these Guidelines are. They tell us what the Scriptures consist of, how they are to be divided, and how they are to be seen as a unified message. And of greatest importance, these Guidelines tell us how we are to 'apply' the Scriptures to our lives today!




We begin with an overview of what the Bible says about the Scriptures themselves.