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Question: Does one need intelligence, grace, inspiration, or luck to interpret the Bible?
Understanding the Bible.
Prayer and perseverance needs to be applied.
The first thing to say, is that the Bible is the Word of God to all mankind; and as such is worthy of serious study, and effort to understand and see what The God of all Creation wishes us to understand.
The very confusing fact is that there are many “Churches” and groups claiming to be the only source of Truth regarding God’s Bible, His message to us all.
The history of the Christian Churches (Christendom) shows that the early Church fathers (all Gentiles) made decisions regarding the Bibles teachings that restricted and confused people then (AD 100+); and still does!
Those errors were reinforced by the Emperor Constantine; who with his mother Helena, added Babylonian Pagan teachings into the Roman Church; with the results which the brave Martin Luther fought so successfully against during the Reformation period.
One major basic error was to exclude Israel from the teaching and understanding of the Bible; especially in the New Testament; and to what has been termed “Gentile-ise” all teaching from then on; which has produced hundreds of years and generations of people all over the world who think of themselves as “the new Israel”. See: Replacement Theology.
This gross error has also been partly responsible for many acts of genocide and persecution against the Jewish people in their “diaspora” state all over the world!
It was not until about AD 61-2, that the Apostle Paul’s efforts ceased with the Jewish people at the Synagogue in Rome. At that stage he had completed his task of visiting the main Synagogues of the then known world; which the risen Christ had tasked him to do, with His later instructions to Paul; as Paul explained to King Aggripa: See: Apostle Paul: and Apostle Paul's Accusers.
The visit to the Roman Synagogue coincided with Paul’s statement in Acts 28:25-28; which was a major change in the events regarding Israel and the Gentiles. Up to that stage, the first priority of teaching was “the Jew first”, with Gentiles secondary. This was the Grace of God in action towards His “Firstborn son”; (see: "Israel; My Firstborn son") and was in part an answer to the prayer of Jesus on the cross “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do”! See: Bible Dispensations.
However; as history shows, the Jews would still not accept their Messiah; so Paul’s emphasis changed to the Gentiles with the Jew secondary; and as the narrative shows, he knew “they will hear”; which has been the case since, and will remain so “until the number of the Gentiles is made up, and the Gentile Age finishes”!
For this reason; when reading and studying the Bible, it is important to see who is being addressed, why, when and to what purpose; to use the words of the famous Miles Coverdale!
Returning to study of the Bible; there a few basic understandings needed:
The Bible cannot be understood unless a person:
1) Reveres God, and sincerely studies His Word, (Isa. 29:11-13).
2) Must want to know His Word, (Psm. 119:162), and rejoice in it.
3) Must labour (work at) the Word, as a task (which becomes joyful) (2 Tim. 2:15).
The statement is made by the Holy Spirit in His Word that "it is perfect", (Psm. 12:6), "and purified 7 times". For such a statement to be made by Almighty God, means He is using the perfect language (Hebrew) to convey His message. It is a fact that Daniel 2:4 to 7:28 is written in Aramaic/Chaldee, but that is to differentiate the Gentile historic section, and to compare it to the Jewish prophetic section (in Hebrew) regarding "the time of the end", (Comp. page 1178). The fact that the New Testament is in Greek, means the Holy Spirit has refined the use for His purpose, and that therefore the Greek can be used also for Gematria. However; when the "time of the end", is reached, Hebrew and Greek Gematria can be cross checked! See: Ancient Aramaic Manuscripts, Pshitta O and A: and Corruption of the Bible Text:
The argument is presented by some scholars, that there are many errors in Scripture. By others that many parts are written after prophetic fulfilment. These are inevitable attacks. Those who are sincere go on to study the Word with their minds and hearts stayed on Christ / Jehovah God, and come to realise that the so called errors are Satanically inspired and conspired over the centuries, by human and demonic interference.
However, Christ Jesus confirmed the Word (Scripture).
Changes Made To The Old Testament
A good Bible translation should be used such as JKV or NKJV; care is needed in this choice, as many modern versions are biased towards wrong teachings.
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