Daily Devotional, Year 2 – OCTOBER 1 (Strong Delusion in Scripture, Part 4: “4 Rules of Proper Bible Study”)
By admin On February 6th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – OCTOBER 1
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Strong Delusion in Scripture,
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Part 4:
“4 Rules of Proper Bible Study”
To read Part 1, click here…April 27 (Strong Delusion in Scripture)
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There are many today who do not understand how to properly interpret the Bible. And so, there exists much confusion on how to understand the Bible.
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Oh yes, there are many statements in the epistles which seem to be easily understood…
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For instance, this following statement is pretty straight-forward…“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 1st Peter 3:13, 14
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Yes, this above statement is a pretty clear spiritual statement, and needs no further spiritualizing. Oh yes, it must also be harmonized with the rest of the Bible to be in context. But there is no need to allegorize.
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But there are many other passages which are not so straight-forward…
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Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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BY FIRE & SWORD
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For example, the Bible says… “For by fire and by His sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.” Isaiah 66:16
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Well, Ephesians 6:17 reveals that God’s sword is His Word. And Hebrews 1:7 reveals that God’s ministers are “flames of fire”. So by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we now derive the true meaning of this passage… “For by fire (God’s ministers) and by His sword (God’s Word) will the LORD plead with all flesh:”
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ABOVE PICTURE: soldiers of the cross – armor up! – Orion & The Revelation 12 Dragon constellation (comprised of Hyades & Pleiades and other constellations) – www.signsofheaven.org
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So, in this case, God’s “sword” and His “fire” needed to be spiritualized in order to rightly interpret the true meaning of this passage.
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FOUR RULES OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION
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Now, this above spiritualizing of Isaiah 66:16 brings us to the point of laying down four major principles of proper Bible interpretation…
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1. That all the Bible concerns the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nothing deals with mere worldly concepts.
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2. That the Bible is a totally spiritual book, requiring all types and symbols to be spiritually interpreted.
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3. Types and Symbols must be properly interpreted, comparing scripture with scripture, and spiritual things with spiritual to find the correct spiritual meaning of any particular passage.
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4. Whatever spiritual interpretation we come up with must be in harmony with the entire Bible.
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Magnifying Glass – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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WAS ISAIAH 66:16 RIGHTLY INTERPRETED?
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nd so, was Isaiah 66:16 interpreted according to these four principles?
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1. That all the Bible concerns the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and nothing deals with mere worldly concepts.
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Yes, that God uses His ministers (flames of fire) to preach the Gospel is certainly part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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2. That the Bible is a totally spiritual book, requiring all types and symbols to be spiritually interpreted.
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Yes! Here again, the types and symbols “fire” and God’s “sword” were spiritualized as meaning God’s ministers (fire) and God’s Word, the Bible (His sword).
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3. Types and Symbols must be properly interpreted, comparing scripture with scripture, and spiritual things with spiritual to find the correct spiritual meaning of any particular passage.
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Oh yes, scripture was used to find the spiritual meaning of “fire” (God’s ministers) and “sword” (God’s Word, the Bible).
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4. Whatever spiritual interpretation we come up with must be in harmony with the entire Bible.
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Yes, this finished spiritual statement found in Isaiah 66:16 can stand the scrutiny of any and every other passage in the Bible… “For by fire (God’s ministers) and by His sword (God’s Word) will the LORD plead with all flesh:”
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George Whitefield preaching – by John Collet – www.wikigallery.org US public domain
John the Baptist – James Tissot – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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BAD BIBLE INTERPRETATION
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But let’s suppose we used a non-biblical method of Bible interpretation…
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For instance, let’s take a passage from Revelation 9… “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power…And they had hair as the hair of women,” Revelation 9:3, 8
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There are those who look at this passage and attempt to interpret it according to newspapers and history books. In other words, they look through the newspaper in attempt to find something that resembles locusts. “Oh, it must be speaking of black helicopters, because they look like locusts!”
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And there are a few who look at the words, “And they had hair as the hair of women,” and look into history books and exclaim…“ancient Middle Eastern warriors had long hair like women! So this must be the meaning of this Revelation 9:8 passage!”
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The problem with all this kind of Bible interpretation is, 1. that it is not concerning the Gospel of Christ, 2. nor is it a spiritual statement, 3. nor was it found by comparing scripture with scripture, 4. nor does it harmonize with any and every thing else in the Bible.
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black helicopters – Wikimedia – US Army – Public Domain
Hindoo Faakir with long hair – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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WHAT DO LOCUSTS AND WOMEN’S HAIR REPRESENT?
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But if we applied these four principles of proper interpretation, we would discover that locusts are used in the Bible to represent God’s chastening of His materialistic people, by allowing their riches to be devoured in one way of another. (see Joel, Chapter 1, for instance)
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And in the Bible, women’s hair represent the covering of Christ. (1st Corinthians 11:15)
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And so these two types and symbols, “locusts” (God’s chastisements) and “women’s hair” (The covering of Christ over His people) now can be tested and approved by these four principles of proper interpretation.
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Locust attack – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
Woman why weepest thou – Jesus – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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STUDY, MEDITATE, PRAY!!!
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Well, this is just a very quick look at these four basic principles of proper Bible
interpretation. But the Bible student can prove this method by engaging in personal Bible study.
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And instead of ending up with non-biblical interpretations, the Bible student, by applying these four principles, will arrive at an interpretation which will be of a spiritual benefit to him!
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And of course, we must all be searching God’s Word daily, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
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Chaplain reads Bible – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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TO READ PART 5, GO HERE…
February 2 (Strong Delusion in Scripture, Part 5: “The Great Hermeneutic Scam!”)
Cyrus Scofield – 1920 – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to inculcate these principles of Bible study into my daily study…
The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…October 6th (Revelation 9: Locusts), or you can also read…October 3rd (The Revelation of Jesus, Part 1, Seeing Jesus in Prophecy)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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FIVE WISE VIRGINS STARS
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This constellation was identified on May 22nd, 2014. It is simply five stars, two from the Serpens Constellation, and three from the Hercules Constellation.
Wikipedia Star-Chart – Corona Borealis
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What gives this constellation impetus and significance is that it appears as five evenly positioned stars, in a slight oval pattern, as if they were sitting in a meeting, listening, or perhaps watching someone.
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Second, they appear to be gathered in front of The Crown of Revelation 12 Constellation. (just below Corona Borealis in this Wikipedia star-chart, in which the editor of this site sketched in these two constellations)
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AT THE FEET OF JESUS
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Now there is another extremely incredible aspect to this star-group! You see, if we could step back far enough (about several light-years backward) we would see this next constellation! It is called “The Sign of the Son of Man Constellation”. As it now stands, it spans both the Summer and Winter skies, so that only half of it can be seen at a time.
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It is more curved than this drawing. But you will notice that the Five Wise Virgins are gathered at the right foot of Jesus. This reminds us of the story of Mary and Martha, when Jesus came for supper.
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MARY, THE “HEARER” & MARTHA, THE “DOER”
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“I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Job 23:12
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One of the most well-known and beloved stories of the Bible is the account in Luke Chapter 10, of Mary and her sister Martha, on the day when Jesus came for dinner.
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As the story goes, Martha was slaving in the kitchen, while her sister, Mary, was “sitting at Jesus’ feet, hearing His Word”. This made Martha angry.
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Listen… “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”
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Now the Bible makes it very clear, that, “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, Mary…” John 11:5.
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But Mary was definitely a Hearer, while Martha was more of a Doer. Martha, today, might be called a “multi-tasker”, or perhaps a “Type-A personality”, or even a “workaholic”.
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Martha & Mary by Joachim Beuckelaer – Wikipedia – US public domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…THE FIVE WISE VIRGINS STARS
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TOMORROW…
OCTOBER 2 (A Living Sanctuary – Part 2: 3rd Temple Almost Complete!)
Temple items – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS IS STUDY #639 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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