I have heard it said many times that the Bible is up for interpretation, but that simply isn’t the truth. The Bible is a book written as a message from God to us. God has stated that every word of it is true and useful for teaching. He has told us that it is complete and cannot be changed (Deuteronomy 4:2, Proverbs 30:6 and Revelations 22:18-19). God said what He said, and He meant what He said. I have no problem with the Bible being translated into a language or jargon that is easier to understand. I don’t typically read from a King James Bible; so I’m clearly not one to say it is the only “real Bible”. Although, I do think it is generally a good idea to reference different translations when studying scripture.
I recognize certain sections, such as Revelations and the parables, of the Bible require interpretation to understand. If you read the story of the prodigal son and only see the story of a father and his two sons, you will clearly miss the point. You have to recognize the symbolism of the father being God and the sons being us to truly understand that story. Many of the prophecies and visions require the same level of interpretation. You have to find the symbolism that is being used to be able to make any sense out of it. That being said, I am not attempting to warn people of this type of interpretation.
God didn’t give us the authority to interpret the truth. He gave us the truth so we would live accordingly.
The interpretation that is so damaging is when people will take one small section of scripture and try to extrapolate a truth from it without taking into account the surrounding verses, much less the rest of scripture. They will take those two verses, make some type of bold “truth” claim, and if they are called out on it they typically respond with, “well that is my interpretation.” God didn’t give us the authority to interpret the truth. He gave us the truth so we would live accordingly. The problem with this type of interpretation is it leads us to a misrepresentation of God. We make claims in the name of God that God never said. One that I have heard several times in my life is that interracial marriage is a sin. People seem to believe this because God told Israel not to marry the people of pagan nations as they took over “the promise land” (Deuteronomy 7:3). They will take one or two verses out of context and then make the claim that God said we shouldn’t marry outside of our race, but that isn’t at all what was being said. The problem with them marrying other nations had nothing to do with their race. God had set them apart to worship Him and to be His people. He told them not to marry these pagan nations because they would be led to the of worship false gods. In fact, if you look at Numbers 12:1-15, you will find that Moses married a Cushite woman and when Aaron and Miriam spoke ill of Moses because of this God punished Miriam not Moses. Actually, God tells Aaron and Miriam, “he is faithful in all my house.” Miriam was struck with leprosy because she spoke against Moses and his marriage. Clearly, the anti-interracial marriage “interpretation” paints a false and twisted portrait of God.
If the question is: “Is God wrong or am I wrong?” The answer is always, “I’m wrong.”
If we interpret the Bible, we will have a tendency to pull out statements that allow us to create a truth that is the most convenient for us, instead of searching for the truth that God actually wants us to see. We have to keep in mind, as we read the Bible that it never contradicts itself. So if you are interpreting the Bible to say something that doesn’t match other parts of the Bible, then you are wrong about what the Bible was actually saying. If the question is: “Is God wrong or am I wrong?” The answer is always, “I’m wrong.”
Some things you find in the Bible will be hard to understand and some will be tough to swallow, but we shouldn’t be following God because we think it is easy.
Misinterpreting and misrepresenting the Bible is something Satan likes to do to lead us astray. He attempted to do it to Jesus in the wilderness and He has done it to mankind since the very beginning. He twists scripture and makes it mean something else. He takes the truth and perverts it to match his agenda. Don’t be a part of that. Some things you find in the Bible will be hard to understand and some will be tough to swallow, but we shouldn’t be following God because we think it is easy. We follow God because we recognize who He is and recognize He knows everything and we don’t. Just like a child obeying his parents. We may not like it or understand it, but we still have to do it.
The Bible is a wonderful book. It is called the “Living Word” for a reason. It is always true and always relevant.
We need to be reading the Bible to find God’s truth not our truth. If we start interpreting the Bible instead of accepting it, it we will always lean towards our “more convenient truth” and slowly turn farther and farther away from God’s absolute truth. The Bible is a wonderful book. It is called the “Living Word” for a reason. It is always true and always relevant. More information and understanding is revealed to me every time I open and read the Bible. I have come to realize that it isn’t about academic knowledge; it is a source of truth, hope and love for me. When I read the Bible, I know God is breathing life into me. However, we only get to have that life when we recognize that God gave us the truth and it is our job to accept it; not interpret it.
