July, 2008
by: Jack Hughes
Reading the Bible? Sounds simple, but there are some important bits of information a person should know before reading the Bible. The Bible is unlike any other book and therefore should be approached not as a fiction book or as a history book but as “God’s operating manual for a life that brings Him glory.” What this means is that the Bible gives us instruction from God for everything pertaining to life and godliness (II Pet. 1:3). Therefore we must seek not only to read the stories, the history, and the teaching, but we must seek to understand the mind of God in relation to our own personal lives, and what He would have us to do or know based on what He has written. We have learned so far that in order to have thrilling, edifying times reading your Bible:
- You must truly be saved.
- You must have your sins confessed.
- You must believe the Bible is the very Word of God and without error in what it teaches.
- You must remember that the Bible is not a history book but a theology book that contains history.
- You must remember that God gave us the Bible so we could be saved and grow in godliness.
- You must keep in mind that God gave us the Bible to reveal truth to us, not hide it.
So, having covered these important aspects of reading for edification and spiritual growth, we will continue.
7. In order to have thrilling times in the Word you must understand the context of what you are reading. Now I hope this doesn’t sound overly technical or laborious because it is not. The principles mentioned above are not difficult, hard to understand, or apply. Listing them together may create what appears to be a formidable list, but most of the principles mentioned above are truths you must accept or know. However, understanding context does require some work, but not too much. The purpose of reading the Bible is to understand what God is saying to you through the text so that you obey His Word. Yet in order to understand what the text means by what it says, you must pay attention to the context because – “CONTEXT IS KING!” Context reigns supreme over the realm of Bible study principles. To ignore the context often leads to missing the meaning of the text all together. There are several kinds of context, some are more important than others. Let me mention them, give some examples, and tell you where you can easily find this information.
Historical context is the historical information about the author, the people he is writing to, what they were going through at the time, etc. Historical context helps you put yourself into the shoes of the audience and consider what is being said in light of how the original audience would have understood what was written to them. For instance, in the New Testament we are told to submit to the governing authorities. It is good to know that the governing authority at that time was Rome. Rome was pagan, wicked, and idolatrous. Yet this is the government system Christians are told to submit to as even pagan governments are established by God.
Cultural Customs and Context is similar to historical context but seeks to understand details in the text which had a specific cultural meaning in New Testament times. A parable, for instance, might mention a wedding or wedding feast. What were Jewish weddings like? Why were the ten virgins waiting up for the bridegroom to come? Why in another parable was a man cast out because he didn’t have proper wedding clothes? Cultural customs and context answer these questions. It helps you understand how the original audience would have understood what was written.
Far context comes in multiple levels. You can look at a text in relation to how it fits into the Bible as a whole, or how a text fits into the Old or New Testament, or how it fits into other books written by the same author (all John’s books for instance), or how it fits into books of a similar kind (Gospels for instance), but usually it describes the far context of the book that is being studied. Far context tries to look at what comes before and after the text you are reading or studying. It helps you understand the flow of the author’s thought in the text you are reading both before and after. When you understand the author’s progression of thought, it can help you better understand what you are reading. It is helpful to know that the first three chapters of Ephesians are mostly doctrinal and the last three chapters are mostly practical. The first three chapters tell us who we are in Christ and the last three chapters exhort us how to live because of who we are in Christ. Thus by understanding the far context we can better understand the text we are reading or studying.
Near context is the most important level of context. Far context may look at several chapters before and after what is being read but near context looks at what comes immediately before and after what is being read. Near context is the most important of all contexts. It helps you understand words in relation to what is being said in your text. Let’s say you are reading Mt. 7:1 that says, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” If you look at that verse by itself and ignore the context you don’t know who is speaking to whom about what. You would probably come away with the false idea that Christians are not to judge, which is what many people believe because they have read Mt. 7:1 divorced from its context. Yet when the context is examined, we receive great clarity on what is being taught.
Examining context tells us that the Gospel of Matthew is the first book in the New Testament describing the birth, life, teachings, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We learn from the far context of Mt. 5-7 that Jesus is giving the sermon on the mount. We learn from the far context of Mt. 5:20 that Jesus is letting his listeners know that they have to be more righteous than the most religious people in society, the scribes and Pharisees, or they can’t get to Heaven. Cultural customs would tell you about the scribes and Pharisees. In fact, Jesus says you need to be perfect as God is perfect (Mt. 5:48). Thus the far context lets us know that Jesus is raising the standard of entrance into Heaven so high that no man could ever attain to it on his own. Of course, this is just what Jesus wants them to realize. We can’t save ourselves, we need God to save us.
Then in Mt. 6 Jesus warns against several sins and ends the chapter with exhortations and examples why we shouldn’t worry or be anxious. This then becomes the near preceding context. The context that is really helpful in understanding Mt. 7:1 is the near following context. The near following context tells us specifically what Jesus means when He says, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Jesus is talking about hypocritical judgment, like the scribes and Pharisees practiced. The scribes and Pharisees judged others for not observing man-made rules when they themselves were breaking God’s commandments. Thus they were hypocritical judges. Jesus uses the illustration of having a log in your own eye and yet trying to take a speck out of your brother’s eye. The log and speck represent sins. The log represents very large sins, the speck represents very small sins. Jesus says first remove the log from your own eye, quit sinning, repent and confess your sin to God, and then you will be able to clearly see and help your brother remove the speck, small sin, from his eye. In the analogy, “judging” is referring to seeing sins in other people’s lives, confronting them, rebuking them, admonishing them, and encouraging them to turn from their sins. Jesus is not saying, “Don’t judge” but “Don’t judge others if you yourself are in sin.” We know this because He says in Mt. 7:4, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Notice Jesus is not saying, “Never judge.” In fact He is encouraging judging as long as it is not hypocritical judging. We then come away from the text with a totally different understanding. Christians need to judge others, help them turn from sin, but they should never do this if they themselves are in sin, especially greater sin. Thus understanding the near context is critical to an accurate interpretation and understanding of the text.
Having looked at these various kinds of context you may feel a bit overwhelmed. You may be thinking to yourself, “Is Bible reading that complicated?” Relax, it is not difficult to learn how to read your Bible for edification and growth. It just takes a little knowledge and some practice. Soon you will be used to applying the principles listed above. Most of the information above can be readily found in several kinds of resources. Let me list them for you and how they can be used.
Study Bibles have all the information described above in them. At the beginning of each book all the contextual information is given for that particular book. So all you have to do is read a few paragraphs of introductory material before reading a book and you can learn all about the context of the book, its historical setting and context. If you want to see the far context all you need to do is look at the outline of the book. Looking at the outline will help you see the subjects leading up to and away from the text you are reading or studying. Near context can be observed by merely taking notice of what comes immediately before and after what you are reading. Cultural customs are usually mentioned in the footnotes of the text you are studying. Study Bibles were invented to facilitate profitable Bible reading and study. They are good tools for helping us have thrilling and edifying times in the Word. If you have never tried a study Bible, I would encourage you to do so, especially if you are just learning how to study the Bible for yourself.
What study Bible should you get? First you need to know that you need to decide what Bible translation you are going to read from. I think the two best translations today are The New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the English Standard Version (ESV). You need to read and study from a solid translation. I use the NASB. My favorite study Bibles which come in the NASB translation are The MacArthur Study Bible, The NASB Study Bible, The Open Bible, or Ryrie Study Bible. All of these Bibles come in the NASB translation and a few of the other popular translations as well.
Special introduction books will also help you access the information listed above. One of my favorites is Talk Thru the Bible, by Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa. There are charts, maps, and about 4 to 8 pages of information on each book of the Bible. The book is charted out graphically, with outline, theme, author, date, context, theme, etc. all included so you can get at the information you need in a very short time. This will help you understand what you are reading and get more out of your times in the Word.
Cultural Customs books are books that focus on providing information that original audiences would have understood and been familiar with but which we may not understand. A cultural customs book is either used like a dictionary (subjects listed in alphabetical order) or sometimes they are listed in categories and all you need to do is look at the subject index to find what you want. I would recommend The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times by Ralph Gower, or The New Manners and Customs of the Bible by James Freeman and Harold Chadwick, or Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible by J. I. Packer, William White, and Merrill Tenney. Finally, if you want great cultural customs information on Jesus and the Jewish culture get The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred Edersheim.
Be encouraged, most of the information only needs to be looked at once, then you know it as you read through a book or portion of the Bible. There is more, but we have run out of space. Until then, keep reading and studying your Bible!