Who? What? When? By D. Davenport I often hear someone say: "The Bible Says"....followed by a misquoted fragment of a verse during a personal or political discussion. I suppose that we've all done this at one time or another---we quote the highest authority that we can cite in order to give a higher weight to the point we are trying to make! A good example of this surrounds the political discussion of International Relations--specifically the United States relationship to Israel. The verse that is often misquoted is: Genesis 12:3 "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. " This verse is often cited as "proof positive" that if The United States were to discontinue its financial and military support of Israel then God would "withdraw" His blessings on the USA and instead find His curses on our political and financial freedoms. To be sure it is good to trust in the Bible and quote it as the final authority on all issues political, social, personal, spiritual, and psychological. But the problem is that unless the CONTEXT of a particular verse or passage is clearly understood then it is useless and even harmful to quote the Bible at all---in particular, in a situation where someone is trying to make a point to their own advantage. It comes as a surprise to many people, even long-saved, water baptized, Sunday School attending, Schofield Bible-carrying fundamentalists (lol) that most of the Bible is not actually written TO them or even ABOUT them. For example, the Nation of Israel was formed through Moses in Exodus chapter nineteen......and continued for Millenia as God was working through a NATION, sometimes under KINGS and PRIESTS, under Moses LAW, and given signs and wonders, and blessings and cursings. In contrast, the Apostle Paul goes out of his way to point out to the Body of Christ that God has set Israel aside (see Romans 9-11), is not working through a NATION anymore but rather a BODY (of which Christ is Head), and that the members of the Body are "NOT UNDER (Moses) LAW"....anymore....but "UNDER GRACE".....and walking by FAITH, not by SIGHT (as did the Israelites under their signs. The implications should be fairly clear. We cannot quote most of the Bible as FOR us today because God has made a dispensational change under the Apostle Paul. A dispensation is a "program" in which God states the terms of obedience and the way of expressing saving faith in a particular "economy" or "administration. To put ourselves under the instructions given to the Nation Israel as outlined in the books from Exodus to Acts (when Israel was still under Moses Law) would be disastrous and confusing. A good example of this is when people quote the verse in Matthew 24:13: "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." it comes as a shock to people to realize that like all of scripture, this verse is written FOR us to understand....but is not written TO us today in the Body of Christ. Why? The solution is as simple as following the admonition in Second Timothy chapter Two: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." The word "divide" in the Greek is "Orthotomeo"---which literally means to "dissect straightly". Since Paul was a tentmaker he knew exactly how to cut patterns which differed one from another but which fit perfectly in the end result. In the case of the people instructed to "endure to the end" to be "saved" these instructions applied to THEM, at that TIME, and had a CERTAIN MEANING. Which leads us to our main point of discussion: In order to rightly divide the Bible, one book/passage/section/ and Dispensation from another, we need to ask some fundamental questions. In my own personal journey I've found the following questions to be helpful (you may find some that work just as well for you). 1. WHO IS BEING SPOKEN TO in the Passage or Verse? (An individual, a group of people, a Nation, The Body of Christ, or an individual of the Body?) ?? 2. WHAT IS BEING SAID ?? 3. WHEN DOES IT APPLY ?? In this case, the Israelites during Christ's time on Earth..... Were told to endure in order to be saved........ DURING the approaching Tribulation (the time of Jacobs Trouble was "at hand"). By rightly dividing we know in the Body of Christ that this is not written TO US because Paul's letters written to us as the "uncircumcision" (see Galatians 2:7) show clearly that we are ALREADY saved regardless of any enduring that we do or don't perform. We also know from the "Mystery" as outlined by Paul (see Romans 16:25) that when Israel was set aside, God delayed Daniel's 70th week and ushered in a new dispensation comprised of "NEITHER Jew nor Gentile". Thus, we can see that the "Kingdomic" book of Matthew (when Israel was still UNDER Moses Law) sets forth all kinds of "conditions" which do not apply to us today. Much of this reality has been lost to the mainstream evangelical church and people "quote" scripture indiscriminately and out of context---which leads to all sorts of confusion, fear, and chaos. In short, people generaly do not understand that it is possible for a Bible passage to be SCRIPTURALLY correct......but DISPENSATIONALLY incorrect. For example, it would be scripturally-correct to say that God prohibited people from eating Pork. But it would be DISPENSATIONALLY incorrect to say that He prohibits it TODAY since the Administrational change that God made through Paul. God's dealing with man CHANGES according to God's purposes and we have to know about those changes and "rightly divide" them in order for the Bible to make sense: Hebrews 1:1 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,....." I take this to mean that God speaks: 1. AT DIFERENT TIMES 2. IN DIFFERENT WAYS 3. TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE 4. THROUGH DIFFERENT PEOPLE For today we know that God has revealed a dispensational program through the Apostle Paul as outlined in the books of Romans through Philemon which uniquely described the Body of Christ as "not under Law"...and "walking by faith"....and comprised of "neither Jew nor Gentile." This is in clear contrast to Exodus through Acts (before Israel and Moses law was manifestly "set aside" for a time)........and Hebrews through Revelation (which outlines the fulfillment of Daniel's seventieth week). The failure to ask WHO? WHAT? WHEN? leads to all sorts of confusion, misapplication, and uncertainty. By rightly dividing the Bible we find certainty, correct application, and understanding. greenvillegrace@yahoo.com (864) 420-4347
I often hear someone say: "The Bible Says"....followed by a misquoted fragment of a verse during a personal or political discussion. I suppose that we've all done this at one time or another---we quote the highest authority that we can cite in order to give a higher weight to the point we are trying to make!