Therefore, it is vitally important that he pay special attention to both the meaning and the context of the scriptures used.
The importance of context in interpretation began to dawn on me over ten years ago, when I was first beginning to be a serious student of the Bible. I didn't know much then, but I still remember a couple of instances in which I instinctively began to suspect a preacher's interpretation of Scripture.
The first instance is so ridiculous that it is almost laughable. I was listening to a radio preacher who sounded so articulate that I thought, at first, that he must know what he was talking about. He was explaining Acts 2:6, "When this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because every man heard them speak in his own language" (KJV).
Now "when this was noised abroad" can be interpreted "when they heard the commotion" or even "when the news got around."
But it is a far stretch to claim, as this commentator did, that God created a great noise like a sonic boom in order to attract attention and draw people to the event. The word "noise" or "sound" (Greek phone) could perhaps be used to describe a sonic boom, but his explanation simply goes beyond what we are told within the context of the passage. Moreover, the same phraseology (in Greek) appears in Luke 1:44, Acts 19:34, and elsewhere.
In the second instance, a woman came to a certain church preaching the confession of scripture verses as a means of getting one's prayers answered. She taught the single women to "confess" the verse, "every one with her mate . . . . none shall lack her mate; for my mouth . . . it hath gathered them" (Isaiah 34:15-16).
Consulting the scripture for myself, I found that it was not a promise of blessing but of future judgment, "the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompense" (34:8), when at Armageddon mankind will be laid waste and the land taken over by wild beasts. Obviously, this passage has nothing to do with courtship. One is ill-advised to lift any such "promise" from its context.
Since those days, I have had a lot more experience with Scripture, and have observed many other such abuses. Similar to my last example, Joel 2:1-11 inspired the popular song, "Blow the Trumpet in Zion." But if one will consult that passage, one will find that it speaks of terrible judgment rather than rejoicing.
I once heard a particular preacher quote Hebrews 11:1 and then preach on the subject of "now faith." He asserted that when Christians were not immediately healed, it was because they didn't have "now faith." Whether or not his premise is true, he could not "prove" it by that phrase. "Now" in this instance is simply an incidental word which introduces the sentence to follow. It in no way refers to when faith or healing might take place. Moreover, healing is not mentioned at all.
While in Hebrews, let me mention another example. Many times I have heard it preached that Christians have a "great cloud of witnesses" (either angels or glorified saints) watching whatever we do (Hebrews 12:1). However, in chapter 11 the writer has just recited to us the "Faith Hall of Fame." Reading 12:1 in the context of chapter 11 (the chapter divisions were added much later and are not inspired), it is clear that these witnesses do not observe us. Rather, they bear witness to us, through Scripture, of the character of faith.
Finally, I would like to mention a dangerous trend in many circles today. It has become popular to search the Scriptures for promises of blessing to claim for oneself. Certainly, God promises blessings upon the righteous and obedient. But there are many blessings which we cannot legitimately claim for ourselves because they were meant for a specific person, nation, place, or time. We cannot claim Abraham's promise that God will make our seed into many nations. We cannot claim all of the blessings promised to Israel in the Promised Land. We cannot claim for ourselves the earthly kingship promised to David and his descendants. Nor can we yet realize the promises of the future Millennial Kingdom.
In short, we must be careful at all times to correctly "divide the Word." We can, of course, keep right on applying Scripture broadly by analogy. We can keep on inspiring others with the story of David and Goliath, for example, even though they are unlikely to ever do battle with a literal giant. But when we tell them what Scripture means, we must take care to interpret and apply it within the context in which it was intended. After all, if we misinterpret or misappropriate God's Word, we have in effect changed its meaning.
Copyright 1996, 2002 Paul A. Hughes
Last updated January 2002. For more information, comments, or suggestions, write westloop@yahoo.com.