FEB 17

1 Corinthians 2:13
Memorise 1 Corinthians 2:13
“…comparing spiritual things with spiritual…”

As the verse above tells us, there is a difference between how man’s wisdom might interpret Scripture, and the truths that the Holy Ghost would teach believers. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Because the Bible is spiritual in nature, no one can discern its teachings correctly without the Holy Spirit’s help. The unbeliever might read a passage and try to make sense of it according to his own wisdom. The believer who is filled with the Spirit will take Scripture as truth; he can be taught how to compare the spiritual truth taught in one passage with the spiritual truth taught in other passages in order to discern the truth. The scary thing is that many so-called Christian scholars interpret the Bible to fit man’s wisdom! For example, many Bible commentaries argue that 1 Samuel 6:19 is a mistake, as 50,070 men from the town of Bethshemesh could not have died since most scholars agree that this was only a small town!

David Cooper’s golden rule of interpretation can be summarised thus: “when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.” Since the Bible literally says 50,070 men, then we should take it literally. There is no contradiction in taking such an interpretation with the rest of the passage and with Scripture elsewhere. How can one claim that the Bible has a mistake just because it does not tally with the secular science of archaeology? Indeed, a careful reading of the passage shows 50,070 “of the people” died (the Bible did not say 50,070 died specifically only from Bethshemesh), and this could perhaps have included Jews from the other towns harvesting in the same valley (v13).

Dear Teen, the Bible is not like any other book whereby we simply pick it up and read it. It must be approached in a reverential manner. This means the Bible must be read with faith and humility so that we do not question God when we encounter passages that may seem contradictory or incorrect or are difficult to understand. This is why we must always pray for the Holy Spirit’s help before we begin to study the Bible. Commentaries and Bible teachers can help us better understand the Bible but we must seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance to grant us understanding.

Thought: Even the faith to believe in the Lord Jesus and His Word is a gift from God Himself.
Prayer: I praise You, Father, for not just my salvation but also for the joys of knowing Your Word more deeply.