The Bible Expositor's Handbook

By Greg Harris

The Bible Expositor’s Handbook provides a thorough introduction to the attitudes and practices required to deeply understand the message of the Old and New Testaments. Exhorting students of Scripture to approach the Bible with an attitude of humility and expectation, Greg Harris lays the groundwork for a Christ-centered interpretation that takes into account the redemptive story of the whole Bible. Employing a literal-grammatical hermeneutic, Harris leads the reader through the process of observing, interpreting, and applying God’s word. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781535924641

Book preview

Alone."

PART 1

THE OLD TESTAMENT

CHAPTER 1

So You Want to Be an Expositor?

To become a seasoned expositor of God’s Word requires a method, or a series of specific steps. Equally important, however, is one’s starting point, which is, sadly, quite often lacking. One’s starting point is important not only for learning how to become a better expositor, but also as a means of attaining reverence for God, another aspect of biblical exposition that is often overlooked. In this chapter, we will discuss the starting point for becoming a Bible expositor before we look at the process. In short, we start—and stay—with God.

I have had the high privilege and calling of teaching Bible Exposition classes for more than thirty years. Very often, when I finish a class on a book such as Isaiah or Hebrews, students will sigh and say, Oh, if we could only go back to the beginning of the Bible and do what we are doing now, it would be so tremendously rewarding!

I agree—such is the richness of God’s Word. However, I remind them that if we were to do that, they would be in seminary for twenty or more years and never leave our campus or go to minister to churches or institutions. Yet it is in response to this desire, and through God’s sovereignty, that The Bible Expositor’s Handbook: Old Testament Edition, has come into existence.

What most intrigued me about writing this series was the vision of B&H Academic to make the Bible the primary text. It is not that Bible research and commentaries are unimportant; there are wonderful resources available with which God has blessed His church throughout the centuries. But unfortunately too often, the more students progress in theological training, the less they use their Bibles. As my current and former students know, I do not permit computers in my classes. This is not punishment; it is intended as part of the process of hiding God’s Word in their hearts—not their hard drives. And there are no quick solutions for accomplishing this. We all learn throughout our entire lives. I tell students to bring a Bible they can mark as we follow some of God’s biblical trails. I hope that it will be a Bible they can take into the hospital room of someone facing death, use to comfort people in mourning or grief, or pull out as they witness to someone in the seat next to them on a bus or plane. What’s more, I fear a time will come when around the world, even in America, the Bible may be the only resource available to God’s people. Yet even then, owning a Bible could prove to be dangerous.

Of course, no single biblical resource could cover everything needed to be an expositor of God’s Word or deal with every theological issue or current hotly debated topic. And such is not my intent. The purpose of this book is to establish some biblical boundaries based upon several divine, and immovable, truths for understanding and expositing God’s Word. There are times, most would agree, when assistance is needed from a more seasoned believer in helping others better understand biblical truths. Acts 18:24–26 shows such an example, in Priscilla and Aquila:

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

My desire is that The Bible Expositor’s Handbook will be used in the same way. And while no book can cover every issue, it will be shown that there are some issues you must be aware of if you are going to understand God’s Word.

The Irreplaceable Point of Beginning

The discipline of hermeneutics can be defined as the rules by which the Bible is interpreted. With this in mind, hermeneutics serves an indispensable role in the formation of one’s methodology. While a sound methodology is utterly important and cannot be overlooked, true, God-honoring lovers of God’s Word need an even more fundamental starting point. Simply expressed, before the methodology (the how-to), we need to focus on—and prayerfully worship in Spirit and truth—the God to whom the Bible belongs.

Below are just a few examples (to which many more could be added) of some of the core biblical truths from which we can establish the irreplaceable point of beginning for biblical exposition. That beginning point entails knowing how to approach God and His Word. First, one must be humble before God, contrite in spirit, and trembling at His Word. Isaiah 66:1–2 reads:

Thus says the LORD,

"Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.

Where then is a house you could build for Me?

And where is a place that I may rest ?

For My hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD.

"But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."

Note the three divine requirements for approaching God and His Word: being humble, being contrite of spirit, and being one who trembles (in fear or excitement) at His Word. All of these spiritual dispositions, it should be observed, are mocked by the world and by many who are considered to be part of the Christian world.

Second, one must be a learner. In Matt 11:28–29, Jesus says, Come . . . learn of Me (KJV), with the word learn serving, in the Greek, as the base word for disciple. A disciple, then, is a learner, and that is just what God calls us to be. He did not say, come and I will teach you a method. He says, come and learn of—and from—Me.

Third, one must hunger for the pure milk of God’s Word. First Peter 2:1–3 states, Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. The biblical command here entails longing for the pure milk of the word—not theological studies (although that has its place), not coffee-table debates, and not philosophy. God wants us, even commands us, to long for the pure milk of His Word as a newborn baby would for his mother’s milk. Sadly, often as we grow in our faith, we get weaned away from the pure milk of the Word, and we replace it with something else, wrongly concluding, we can take it from here.

Fourth, one should strive to grow in grace and knowledge. In 2 Pet 3:18 the author exhorts us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Both grace and knowledge are required for spiritual growth. To grow in grace only, and not have that bound to true biblical knowledge, has no boundaries or basis for evaluation. Since the beginning of the church, many people have called—and still call today—virtually anything growing in grace, even if what is done is contrary to Scripture. Simply put, growing in grace must have solid biblical evidence for it, otherwise, it is not truly growing in God’s grace, no matter how well meaning it may be. Paul thus warned the church in Col 2:18, Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. Paul concluded Colossians 2 this way: These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence (v. 23). Many at the church in Colossae would have considered most or all of these components to be wonderful aspects of their Christian spiritual growth. Yet God—by means of the apostle Paul—did not find them to be acceptable to Him.

So to grow only in grace has no biblical boundaries for how that is accomplished or measured, or even if it has occurred at all. In a similar manner, the other extreme is valid to consider: to grow only in knowledge without grace not only treats God’s Word as a mere textbook, but also removes God Himself from the hermeneutical task. God does not permit either extreme in true biblical exposition.

CORE TRUTH: Never go to God’s Word merely for a sermon or Bible lesson; go to God’s Word for truth; the preaching or teaching comes from those truths.

Fifth, one must receive the Word with great eagerness. Acts 17:11 describes the Jews at the synagogue of Berea: Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. The prayer of the Berean Christian might be best summed up by Ps 119:18, Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. From this psalm about the truthfulness and treasure of God’s Word comes this prayer that God would open our eyes to behold wonderful truths in His Word. God is the ultimate teacher; God is the ultimate author; and God is the ultimate illuminator of His Word. And, while I do not want to sound overly mystical, there will always be a spiritual component to true biblical exposition that the world will never understand. Being a Berean Christian, then, is not only recommended, it is required for those delving into this book and for any other book that presents itself as teaching biblical truths. A Berean Christian, then, will carefully search the Scriptures to see whether what is being presented is true or not.

In summary, the fundamental starting point of true biblical exposition, that is, the irreplaceable point of beginning and staying, is to come humbly before God, contrite in spirit, and trembling at His Word (Isa 66:1–2); to come as learners, as His disciples (Matt 11:29); to hunger for the pure milk of God’s Word (1 Pet 2:1–3); to strive to grow in grace (from the inside out while walking with Him) and knowledge (true, biblical knowledge, not our mere emotion); and to receive the Word with great eagerness. For those who find these core biblical truths unimportant or overly simplistic, read—and fear—Jesus’s rebuke of the Ephesian church in Rev 2:1–7, who after doing so many things right had left their first love.

Why Do We Need a Bible Exposition Handbook?

One might ask why we need another book about Bible exposition. To answer this question, it is important to explain a few terms. This book will assume a clear distinction between Bible exposition and expository preaching or teaching. While these two tasks are related, they are not identical. I will use Bible exposition to refer to the expositional method and the expositional preparation. Expository preaching and teaching, however, are outlets for the truths you have found in God’s Word in your expositional studies. Therefore, this handbook will focus primarily on the content part and secondarily on the methodology undergirding that content. In other words, we are not seeking to sermonize the text but to grow in our understanding of biblical truth. Undergirding this approach are two important convictions:

CORE TRUTH: Your expository preaching or teaching will only be as good as your expository study—or lack thereof.

CORE TRUTH: Expository preaching is much more than expository calendaring.

It is important not to reverse this process. You can set up your calendar to ensure that all biblical texts are addressed in a particular order (e.g., week 1, Phil 1:1–4; week 2, Phil 1:5–7, etc.). To be sure, many would consider this approach to be expository preaching. But without solid Bible exposition (expository preparation), it is possible to use this method for years without ever addressing what the book is actually about. For instance, if you did not know that virtually everything Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his first epistle was extremely corrective in nature for what they were doing wrong, you could calendar preach through 1 Corinthians and ignorantly encourage your listeners to follow the same example of this multifacetedly sinful church. That is why this handbook will focus more on the study of the content than on the delivery of that content. One way we hope to achieve this goal is by implementing the hermeneutical methods you may have already been taught and applying them to key biblical texts. This approach will not only help readers grow in the understanding of God’s Word, but also make readers become more aware of some of the obstacles to learning.

A brief example might help illustrate the importance of moving from Bible exposition to expository preaching and teaching. While conceding that there are different ways to approach the text, we will confine our method to the oft-used trifold approach of Howard Hendricks’s Living by the Book, which includes (1) observation—what the text says, (2) interpretation—what the text means, and (3) application—what we can apply to our lives. This hermeneutical approach will be applied to Job 8:3–7, a discourse spoken by Eliphaz:

Does God pervert justice

Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

If your sons sinned against Him,

Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.

If you would seek God

And implore the compassion of the Almighty,

If you are pure and upright,

Surely now He would rouse Himself for you

And restore your righteous estate.

Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your end will increase greatly.

Although one could make a number of observations about this text, we will limit ourselves to one, namely that it begins with a rhetorical question that asks if Almighty God would pervert justice. Assuming a negative answer, a reader might draw several interpretive conclusions related to God delivering sinners into the power of the transgressions committed and then related to imploring one to seek God and His compassion. Further, the overarching meaning of the text might even be connected to Jesus and His work in the Gospels. Finally, an application might ask if anyone would like to partake of the same offer from God.

The problem with this interpretation, however, is that it is all wrong. You might reply, This cannot be wrong! How could this possibly be wrong or contrary to Scripture? Here we need to note a major truth: Scripture references are not fortune cookies or one-liners. One must consider whether there is other divine revelation that God has given earlier or later that gives clarification. In this case He has. The dialogue in Job 8:3–7 comes from the lips of Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends. Yet when we come to the end of the book, God warns Eliphaz and others:

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job. (Job 42:7–9)

Twice in this section God declares that Eliphaz and his two friends did not speak the truth concerning Him, and God strongly warned that I may not deal with you as your folly deserves. People who cite or quote from the book of Job often refer unwittingly to various passages from Job’s three friends whom God says do not speak accurately concerning him. Granted, some of these same concepts or truths may be found elsewhere in Scripture; that is not the point here. The point is that you can follow a time-honored hermeneutical procedure with an expositional calendaring of the texts and unintentionally fail to do either sound Bible exposition or the solid biblical expository teaching or preaching that would follow.

What is frequently omitted in such ill-advised approaches, then, is the continuity, cohesiveness, and unity of Scripture as a whole, which will be one of the primary emphases of The Bible Expositor’s Handbook. Where does a verse occur in Scripture? Who is being addressed or written about? What information has God already given? What does He give later to clarify or expand? This is a lifetime of learning for all of us, and no one ever learns all of it. Although we cannot cover everything in the Bible, there certainly are things we must cover.

That Bible exposition should give special attention to the continuity and assimilation of a given text is a focus of the present study; undergirding this effort is a literal-grammatical hermeneutic. More and more people are abandoning this hermeneutic as being outdated and out of fashion. Yet I will argue that the biblical writers themselves do not hold such a position. To clarify what I mean by literal-grammatical, let us consider the example above of the Bereans in Acts 17 who (1) were more noble-minded than those at Thessalonica, (2) received the word with great eagerness, (3) examined the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so. It is evident from this text that those so described received God’s Word, studied it carefully, and examined it daily to see whether these things were true. For them to study, compare, and make conclusions, they would have had to have employed the literal-grammatical hermeneutic, because that was the only way by which any of the claims could have been evaluated.

A literal-grammatical approach, then, takes the biblical text at face value, rather than an approach that spiritualizes much of the historical elements of a given text. Such spiritualizing approaches, however, often differ wildly from one interpreter to the next. Before abandoning the literal-grammatical hermeneutic, one ought to consider if such an approach fits within the unfolding message of Scripture. And while we cannot consider all the verses of the Bible, we can apply this approach to key verses. We will begin the next chapter with Jesus’s own understanding of the Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.

One Final Prayer for Us

We note one final item for this first chapter, and we do so by going to the Luke 24 account of Jesus with His two disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day He arose from the dead. Before Jesus revealed to them who He was and is, He mildly rebuked and admonished them in Luke 24:25–27:

And He said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

We note the following verses as well:

And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over. So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:28–31)

Following this grand encounter with the risen Christ, these two lovers of God’s Word responded in true worship, as recorded in Luke 24:32: They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’ May this hold true for you and for me—that our hearts would burn within us as we go through God’s Word, and that it would be multiplied and used many times over to the glory of God, as people feed on the Word of God and grow in true grace and knowledge of Him.

Conclusion

In this chapter we learned, first, that the starting point for becoming an expositor of God’s Word is God Himself, and there are no shortcuts. It takes time and effort to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18). And if you think you will ever outgrow this initial core concept that being a disciple means being a person who is ultimately taught by God, you will not have any true ministry resulting from your walk with Him. Second, we learned that one should not go to God’s Word for a sermon or a teaching outline; we go to God’s Word for truth. From these truths emerge expository sermons and teachings. Third, two additional truths from this initial chapter are interconnected: (1) Your expository preaching or teaching will only be as good as your expository study, or lack thereof. (2) Expository preaching is much more than expository calendaring. You can go through the text of a biblical book in sequential order and still not necessarily be handling God’s Word accurately. So even employing the tried-and-true process of (1) observation of a text, (2) interpretation of the text, and (3) application from the text will not necessarily involve rightly dividing the Word of God.

Part of the purpose of the Old Testament part of this book is to assist with the lifelong process of expositing God’s Word. While we cannot cover all of the Old Testament, we will highlight some incredibly essential texts and learn as we go by doing. Also, we will implement a literal-grammatical hermeneutic to see if this is indeed a logical means of biblical interpretation, and we will do so as we follow the biblical trail that God has set before us.

Deeper Walk Study Questions

1. From the texts given, list and summarize all the spiritual qualifications of being an expositor. Why are these verses important to understand at the beginning of becoming an expositor? What are some of the disasters (spiritually speaking) if one does not start with or keep these in mind throughout one’s entire life? What are you going to do to keep them from happening to you? Explain and be specific.

2. List and discuss five substantial truths regarding what the Ephesian church did that prompted rebuke by Jesus in Rev 2:1–7. List and discuss five disastrous truths if people do not heed the example of the Berean church in Acts 17:11.

3. Name five specific ways going to the Bible for truth differs from going to the Bible for a sermon or a teaching. Why is this so important to your overall Christian walk? Explain.

4. Make five sound deductions from the following sentence: Expository preaching is much more than expository calendaring. Why is this true? List some of this truth’s consequences.

5. List six deductions from Job 42:7–9 that help us better understand the book of Job. Make four deductions about how this relates to studying the rest of the Bible.

CHAPTER 2

The Old Testament Is the Story of Jesus

Ihave written The Bible Expositor’s Handbook for those who believe the Bible.

I do not argue for the Bible’s God-breathed origin and uniqueness; God does (2 Tim 3:16). Others have the God-given mandate/assignment to argue against those who reject God’s Word.

Many people expositing the Old Testament assume what I did for years, namely that the Old Testament contains many examples for us to use in our own Christian lives. Paul himself wrote concerning the wilderness generation, Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things, as they also craved (1 Cor 10:6), and then a few verses later, Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Cor 10:11). This is an example of a direct application of Old Testament texts. While applying them directly to our lives has its place, it becomes problematic when the entire Old Testament is treated in such a way. In this chapter we will explore the ways in which God has revealed just how He wants His Old Testament to be interpreted. We find these foundational truths in the New Testament and, by understanding these verses, we are able to look at the Old Testament with better clarity.

CORE TRUTH: A pitfall for many expositors is either to ignore the Old Testament as a text containing God-breathed doctrine, or to take a doctrinal truth set forth by God and turn this into life lessons.

Foundational Truths for Studying the Old Testament

God chose to disclose truths about the Old Testament so that when these texts are viewed accordingly, they make the Scriptures open up before our very eyes. However, one must, first, note what those truths are, and, second, apply them to the interpretation of the Old Testament accordingly. Let’s look at three foundational truths critical to our interpreting the Old Testament.

First, just like the New Testament, the Old Testament contains God-inspired doctrine. As a matter of fact, it is the Old Testament that serves as the scriptural context for the New Testament authors’ claim that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Consider 2 Tim 3:14–17:

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Many expositors are oblivious to or ignore the Old Testament as a text containing God-breathed doctrine, or they take a doctrinal truth set forth by God in the Old Testament and turn this into life lessons. However, 2 Tim 3:16 does not say, All [Old Testament] Scripture is profitable for application or life lessons. Not everything necessarily carries over from the Old Testament into the New. Nevertheless, if the God-inspired doctrine of the Old Testament is ignored, there remains a vast gap in the man of God being complete, equipped for every good work.

I will sometimes jokingly say to my classes, Let’s turn to the first verses of Scripture. While the students are turning to Genesis 1, I start reading out loud from John 1. Even though written many centuries after Moses wrote Genesis, John 1:1–3 contains Scripture references that refer to the earliest time in all the Bible: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. These verses refer to eternity past, long before Genesis 1. However, the creator aspect of the second Member of the Godhead is found not only in John 1:3 but also in John 1:10, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

CORE TRUTH: John 1 is a great section of Scripture to present to people in cults, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, who teach the false doctrine that Jesus was a created being and is lower in status than God the Father.

Second, according to the New Testament, the Pentateuch is the story of Jesus. Accordingly, it is doctrinal or, more specifically, Christological truth, not merely life lessons or application. Consider John 5:45–47:

Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

These important verses changed my perspective on the Old Testament. I had no doubt read these verses many times before, but I had failed to notice their hermeneutical significance. What’s more, I had read many books on the Pentateuch. I had even taught a class on the topic a few times before considering and implementing what Jesus revealed to the Jews who opposed Him in John 5:45–47. If you had asked me then about the Old Testament, I would have answered as most people do, that it is the story of creation, Adam and Eve, the fall, the flood, Moses’s birth, and so forth. But Jesus specifically said, Moses wrote about Me, and linked His teaching about Himself to properly understanding this biblical doctrine. So while the first five books of the Bible contain the creation account and Adam and Eve and such, Jesus specifically sets forth that the Pentateuch is His story—the story of Jesus. If you are looking for Him, you will clearly see Him in these first five books; if you are not looking for Him, you most likely will miss Him, as I did. Once I started factoring John 5:45–47 into my studies, the name of the class unofficially became Jesus in the Pentateuch.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: John 5:45–47 clearly states that the Pentateuch is the story of Jesus and is doctrinal truth—not life lessons or application.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: Watch out for the other extreme—instead of ignoring the teaching of Jesus in John 5:45–47, trying to make everything in the Pentateuch a picture of or a reference to Jesus.

A third truth: not only the Pentateuch, but all of the Old Testament is the story of Jesus. If you were like me, you may have started reading your Bible in Luke 2, the birth of Jesus, or in Gabriel’s pronouncement to Mary in Luke 1. Or perhaps you began with the cross of Jesus as the initial place to begin to understand the gospel. Yet in light of John 5, cited above, the first five books of the Bible are just as much a part of His story as the New Testament. I have taught these verses at various churches and Bible conferences, and it makes those who love God and His Word say, Let’s go find Jesus in the Pentateuch! instead of avoiding it. But there is more, for the story of Jesus expands well beyond the Pentateuch.

Luke 24 contains the account of the resurrected Jesus and the women at the empty tomb. It also contains the account of His special visit with two of His disciples later on that same day:

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began travelling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking? And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? And He said to them, What things? And they said to Him, The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see. And He said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:13–27)

Note especially the importance of the last sentence above: And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets . . . Jesus used a twofold division of the Old Testament to broaden it from John 5 and the Pentateuch to all the Scriptures. So beginning with Moses and then all the way through to the end, He explained . . . concerning Himself—eternal doctrine, not life lessons—in all the Scriptures. Of course, the reference to all the Scriptures at this time meant the Old Testament. So from this encounter, we should look for and expect Jesus not only in the books of Moses but all the way through Scripture.

But the story does not end there.

Later, on the same day, after Jesus had dined with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, after which He instantaneously vanished from their sight, they ran to report it to the eleven apostles, as Luke 24:36–47 explains:

And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling, He said to them,

Have you anything here to eat? They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.

Now He said to them, These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

In Luke 24:44, Jesus chose to use the threefold division of the Old Testament. But as with the earlier use in the same chapter, Jesus specifically established the biblical doctrine that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. So although not every individual Scripture verse given at the time alludes to Jesus, they most certainly collectively and definitively point to Jesus as the promised Messiah, Son of God. As mentioned previously, these are not life application lessons, this is the Life (John 14:6) teaching biblical doctrine in reference to Himself. One more item to note—the original need in Luke 24:45, namely that He opened their minds [literally, mind singular] to understand the Scriptures.

From Jesus’s twofold examples in Luke 24, we should not overlook a very important point: Jesus began—and stayed—in God’s written Word to point to eternal doctrines about Himself.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: On the day He was resurrected, twice in instructing His disciples, Jesus began with [the books of] Moses, not with any theoretical or presumed covenant of grace or covenant of works, to which many Christians hold. Everything Jesus taught that day was taken solely from Scripture.

Jesus began—and stayed—in God’s written Word to point to eternal doctrines about Himself.

A final foundational truth about interpreting the Old Testament is evident in Peter’s sermon in Acts 2: the death of Jesus was the predetermined plan—singular, not plans—and foreknowledge of God. Consider Peter’s words in Acts 2:22–23:

Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

These verses give both the human and the divine side of the death of Jesus; they also contain two tremendously important truths that help our understanding of the Old Testament. First, the death of Jesus was the predetermined plan and foreknowledge [where we get our word prognosis] of God.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: Acts 2:23 is good to cite to counter liberal critics who claim that events got out of control and that Jesus never intended to be crucified, an aspect of open theology, which teaches that God did not know how things would turn out; God was learning as events unfolded from Genesis onward.

Second, these verses also reveal that there was and never is any Plan B with God—only one plan. What’s more, this plan was set in motion long before the events of Genesis 1 and all that followed. That this plan would center on the person and work of Jesus who was foreknown before the foundation of the world is evident from 1 Pet 1:17–21:

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: Before there was the first sin, the Godhead had already determined the divine plan—singular—of salvation.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: Before the first sinners in Genesis 3, there was already a Savior—singular—in the mind of God.

Before creation and the subsequent fall of Adam and Eve, the Trinity had determined what Paul would so beautifully articulate in Phil 2:5–8:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Even prior to the first sin, according to Paul, the Godhead had already determined the divine plan—singular—of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Yet this is a unified plan that begins to unfold in Genesis and is subsequently written about and prophesied from Genesis all the way through Revelation. As such, it is all part of the overall love story of God, all part of the Old Testament being the story of Jesus. While space precludes an analysis of every aspect of the story of Jesus within the Old Testament, some treatment of its early development in the Genesis account is warranted here.

After the pristine beauty of God’s perfect creation in Genesis 1–2, an enemy approached unannounced and led God’s two children into sinful defilement in Genesis 3. Once the first sins occurred, the following took place in Gen 3:6–7:

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS: Sin kills; it always kills. Sin separates; it always separates. Also, it was Adam and Eve’s first sin—not their millionth—that made them unholy, defiled, and lost before the Holy God.

Subsequent to this failure of the first couple was the initial impulse to hide from their Creator. Genesis 3:8 explains, They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

In addition to shame and separation, the ramifications of their sin were manifest in God’s curse against Adam and Eve and their offspring, the physical serpent, and ultimately the serpent of old, Satan (Rev 12:9). Yet God also gave a revelatory promise in Gen 3:15:

And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.

The operative question from this point forward is, who is this One who will crush the head of the serpent? God knew the answer, long ago determined in history past; we who live this side of the cross know the answer as well. Those present at the time did not know, because it was not yet revealed to them. The Old Testament begins telling the story of the One who will not only crush the head of the serpent at the Savior’s death, but, far beyond this, it tells of His return in and reign in glory.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: The Old Testament is the story of Jesus—not was the story—because so much of it remains unfulfilled. If the Old Testament was the story of Jesus, every prophecy about Him would have already been fulfilled, but as we will clearly see, more prophecies remain unfulfilled about Him at the present time than have already been fulfilled.

We could add more, but one final grace gift in Genesis 3 should be noted. Genesis 3:7 states that after their sin Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. But God in His holiness and grace did not accept their man-made attempt to cover their own sin. Genesis 3:21 reveals that God took garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. While not stated explicitly, it is implied that this divine act represents the first blood sacrifice in history, the first substitutionary atonement.

This is not fair. Adam and Eve sinned, not this animal. This animal was holy, innocent, and undefiled. The text does not say what animal shed its blood as a temporary covering for the sins of the first couple, but a lamb would fit beautifully here. We will have to wait to get to heaven to see if it was indeed a lamb. Regardless of the animal’s species, its death must have been horribly sad for Adam and Eve. This was an animal they had named; this was an animal known to them; this is the first death recorded in Scripture—and it was done so that others might live by that death.

It is true that this is not fair—this is the grace of God.

Whether or not it was a lamb who died in Genesis 3, it most certainly will later be the Lamb who will indeed redeem with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (1 Pet 1:19–20); and if you believe Moses you would believe Him, for Moses wrote about Him (John 5:45–47). The Old Testament is the beginning of God unfolding His story.

Conclusion

In this chapter we learned the core essential truths for how God wants His Old Testament to be read. First, it is clear from passages such as John 5:45–47; Luke 24:27, 44; Acts 2:22–23; and 1 Pet 1:17–21 that the Old Testament presents many eternally doctrinal truths—not merely life-lesson applications. Second, and more specifically, it was shown that long before there was the first sin, the Godhead had already determined the divine plan—singular—of salvation; before the first sinners in Genesis 3, there was already a Savior—singular—in the mind of God. Genesis 3:15 promised that One will come and crush the head of Satan, and the Old Testament is the beginning of that blessed, unfolding story. Third, we learned that the Old Testament is the story of Jesus—not was the story—because so much of it remains yet to be fulfilled by the same God who already fulfilled the first part.

Deeper Walk Study Questions

1. What are the biblical significances of how Paul referred to the Old Testament in 1 Cor 10:6 and 11? As related to Bible exposition, name six pitfalls for taking these verses beyond Paul’s intentions.

2. List five theological problems that arise if one ignores the doctrinal parts of the Old Testament.

3. List five observations each about the importance of John 5:45–47; Luke 24:13–27; and Luke 24:36–47. Name three truths that would be missing if we tried to turn these into life lessons rather than receiving them as sound biblical doctrine.

4. What is the theological significance of Jesus starting in Genesis to explain Himself? How does this argue against so-called covenantal theology? Explain.

5. What is the theological significance of Acts 2:22–23 and of 1 Pet 1:17–21? List five truths found in each passage.

CHAPTER 3

Why Are There So Many Different Interpretations of the Bible?

Before I left for seminary, two dear friends asked me almost identical questions, summarized as, how can people who love God and His Word end up with such vastly different interpretations of it? I said I did not know but would see what I could find out. It took me years to determine that the answer comes down to two simple questions: (1) what is the first covenant of God in the Bible, and what are the hermeneutics used to interpret it?, and (2) what is the second covenant of God in the Bible, and what are the hermeneutics used to interpret it? How one answers these questions will set a governing trajectory for how the rest of Scripture—rightly or wrongly—will be interpreted. We will start by answering the first of these questions.

The First Covenant of God in The Bible Is the Noahic Covenant

As we know, Adam and Eve’s sin had a far-reaching impact. By the time Genesis 6 occurs, no longer could God call His creation good:

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them. (Gen 6:5–7)

After God informed Noah that God was about to destroy His earth and further instructed Noah to build an ark, God used a word that does not occur previously in Genesis—the word covenant in Gen 6:17–18:

Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

God Himself said that He would establish My covenant with you. We note two important points about this covenant, called the Noahic, or Noachian, covenant. First, God called it My covenant, not a covenant, your covenant, or our covenant. Second, God used the future tense, stating, I will establish My covenant with you. So whatever God was going to do, He announced it here first in Gen 6:18 but chose not to reveal exactly what that entailed until a later time.

Before going any further, it is important to establish a working definition for the word covenant and consider a biblical example that will help us understand the concept. In simplest terms, a covenant is a legally recognized and legally binding agreement between two or more parties. Covenants can apply to individuals or groups of people, such as countries signing a war treaty or entering into trade agreements.

Biblical covenants can also vary depending on the context, but perhaps the prophet Malachi best captures the nature of biblical covenants. Malachi 2:14 states, Yet you say, ‘For what reason [is God mad at us]?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

By this point in Israel’s history, the Jewish people had gone into the Babylonian exile because of their sins and had returned to their land because of God’s faithfulness. When they returned to the land, they started setting aside their older wives for purportedly new and improved Gentile wives. God rebuked His wayward people for their sins and in doing so set a clear example of what a covenant is. In short, whenever a couple gets married, they enter into a covenant agreement, being a legally recognized and legally binding agreement between two or more parties. There are, in general, terms of the covenant for one or both parties, which in contemporary society take the form of wedding vows. Covenants often have signs that they are in force, such as the exchanging of rings. More important, the covenant must have an official ratification or starting point. It is not until the one performing the wedding says I now pronounce you husband and wife that the marriage covenant is ratified; that is, it is now official in all its respects.

With this definition of covenant in mind, we can now resume our discussion of the Noahic covenant. Although the first explicit reference to a covenant occurs in Gen 6:18, God did not give the details of His covenant until after the flood in Gen 9:8–17:

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.

Several observations should be noted from this text. First, God referred to what He is doing as My covenant three times in this text (Gen 9:9, 11, 15). Second, He no longer used a future tense as He had earlier in Genesis 6:18, for His covenant was now being ratified. Third, as with other covenants, this covenant has a sign, namely God’s rainbow (Gen 9:12–13). Fourth, God viewed this agreement as an everlasting covenant (Gen 9:16). Fifth, this covenant is between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth (Gen 9:16). Sixth, God stipulated that He will never again destroy the earth by means of flood.

CORE TRUTH: Whoever makes the covenant is the one who has the responsibility of doing his or her part. In the Noahic covenant, it is God alone making a covenant with Noah and the earth’s living beings from that time forward.

This sixth point deserves special treatment. Whoever makes the covenant is the one who has the responsibility of doing his or her part. This agreement does not entail both God and Noah making a bilateral covenant with each other. It is God alone making a covenant with Noah and the earth’s living beings from that time forward.

In this particular covenant, God binds Himself under His own word to accomplish certain future actions, but He does not bind Noah and his descendants under any obligation. They—and we—simply enjoy the benefits of the covenant that God alone ratified.

Thus God calls it My covenant throughout, not our covenant, although we are the beneficiaries of His good grace. God is the One who has the stipulations in this part, namely, never to destroy His earth by means of flood. God is the One who creates the sign of this covenant in the sky. So after it rains, and you look and see God’s rainbow in the sky, you are looking at God’s rainbow of the covenant He ratified, as described in Genesis 9.

Some of you may be thinking, Well, that’s all fine and good, but what’s the big deal about the Noahic covenant? What does this first biblical covenant have to do with there being so many different interpretations of Scripture? Here comes our first parting of the ways biblically in how one answers this critical question that must be answered:

THE FIRST KEY INTERPRETATIONAL QUESTION: What is the first covenant of God, and what are the hermeneutics used to interpret it?

Again, we are not addressing liberal Christians who deny the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture. Their hermeneutic is irrelevant, because they have not even properly identified the source from which they are reading. Most of them view Genesis 1–11 as fairy-tale material, certainly not literal truths explaining events from the creation through the flood.

But for those who love God’s Word, this question must be answered, and how it is answered affects their interpretation of so much else of the Bible. Is the Noahic covenant the first covenant of God?

Many teach as doctrine one or two covenants that are not in the Bible and are not used by Jesus in either of the Luke 24 accounts when He teaches doctrinal truths about Himself. What is their hermeneutic? Also with this, what is the hermeneutic used to understand the Noahic covenant for those who accept the Bible as God’s Word? Do they take this biblical account to be an application or life lessons, akin to 1 Cor 10:6, 11? For instance, is the point taught in this section along the line of God wants you to make rainbows out of your rainstorms? As you can see, it is extremely important how one interprets—or misinterprets—this Scripture.

To reiterate: I hold that the Noahic covenant of Genesis 6–9 was the first covenant of God and that God intended a literal-grammatical hermeneutic. Noah and his sons were real people. There really was a worldwide flood sent by God. People outside of the ark perished when God sent the flood. God preserved Noah and seven other humans and different animals on the ark through the midst of the flood. After the floodwaters subsided, God Himself entered into His first covenant with Noah and his descendants and every living creature of all flesh. God alone ratified this covenant; God called it an everlasting covenant; God gave His rainbow in the sky as the visible sign of His covenant. Further, bound now under His own word, God will never again destroy the world by means of a flood.

All of these details about the Noahic covenant make sense with a normal understanding of language, a normative literal-grammatical interpretation. Nothing is wild and bizarre; nothing has to be pounded into an interpretation, for instance, if someone were to propose that Noah’s ark was actually a space capsule that orbited Earth. We accept God’s Word for what it is, and in this case, a normative understanding of this Scripture passage makes good sense.

The Second Theological Divide for Bible Believers

I’ll put this out for us to consider:

THE SECOND KEY INTERPRETATIONAL QUESTION: What is the second covenant of God, and what are the hermeneutics used to interpret it?

Although it may be hard for some people to accept it as such, how these two questions are answered affects how one approaches and interprets the rest of the Bible, all the way up to the book of Revelation. Someone will do very well when measured against the warnings in Jas 3:1, that God holds those who teach His Word to a stricter judgment, and some of us are not going to do so well when we stand before the LORD at the Bema Seat Judgment. We saw in Job 42 how seriously God takes those who inaccurately present Him and His Word.

The second covenant of God occurs relatively shortly after Genesis 9, in Gen 12:1–3:

Now the LORD said to Abram,

"Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father’s house,

To the land which I will show you;

And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Although the word covenant is not stated here, it is used elsewhere. In Gen 12:1–3 God promised three particular elements that He would give: a land (not described yet), a seed (or lineage), and a blessing for all