Page 17 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

examining His Word in CONTEXT. Never study a verse in isolation. The context (the story flow and
neighboring verses) of a particular verse or phrase, with related texts in other parts of the Bible, often
hold clues to interpreting a verse's full meaning. We should never take any scripture, rip it out of
context, and build a doctrine on it. Unfortunately, this is a common practice in the church today. Verses
are used as proof texts for our personal opinions.

An example of this happened to me several years ago. Our church pastor came to me and gave me a
lesson on giving to the church. He told me that every class in the church was going to stop and present
that lesson, and that I needed to teach it the next Sunday in my adult class. I looked the lesson over
which started with Malachi 3: 8 -10

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
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offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now
herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

The author of the lesson said this verse applied to all church members and attenders who were not
tithing or giving 10% of their gross income to the church – they were robbing God. And then he said
that the tithe belongs to the church because this verse commands people to bring their tithe into the
storehouse of God (which he said was the church).

It was obvious that the lesson writer had not studied this passage in context, ripped it out of its context,
and made the verses say things they did not really say, but what he wanted them to say. Needless to
say, I did not teach the lesson as he wrote it, and as a result, interviewed by the pastor, and asked to
step down as the teacher.

Principle #2

Literal vs. figurative language
Be careful to distinguish between literal [factual] and figurative [pictorial]
language. When possible, every verse should be understood literally, unless
something in the verse expresses an obvious non-literal application. Understand
Scripture in its literal, normal, natural sense. Now there will be figures of speech,
but that’s normal language. There will be symbols, but that’s normal language too.
When you study apocalyptic passages like Zechariah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and
Revelation, you will read about beasts and images. Now those are figures of speech
and symbols, but they convey literal truth. Interpret the Bible in its normal, natural
sense. Otherwise, you’re taking an unnatural, abnormal, nonsensical interpretation.

For example, the rabbis said that if you take the consonants of Abraham’s name, b-r-
h-m, and add them up, you get 318. Therefore, when you see the word Abraham, it means that he had
318 servants. That’s not what it means. It means Abraham, the father of a multitude and the fulfillment
of God’s covenant of promise.

The language of the Bible reflects a culture and society quite different from modern English. "...medieval
scholastic theologians for almost a thousand years obscured the literal, historical meaning of Bible

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